the parellels between the hunter's dream at the beginning of the chapter and jorah's appearance if/after they've been shackled are so, so tasty. that desperation of a hunter in this no win situation where the only option HAS to feel like fighting to death or giving up with the knowledge that giving up's been trained out of them (and they're so exhausted and vying with so much both physically and mentally from the fight to the vel so the training is all they have to fall back on) only for all of that to be turned on its head by this man who's been one of the only sources of comfort? oof. masterful, tbh.
thank you so much!!!
that dream/flashback sequence is definitely what i built a lot of the fight with Duncan around - i wanted it to feel familiar, and in general i like emphasizing a lot of similarities between Duncan and Jorah. their grey eyes, their familiar ruthlessness, and even the way they fight and twirl their swords. similar but very different.... and contrasting the training and earlier command of "get up" from Jorah with Duncan shackling you or nearly killing you and then Jorah stepping in to stop the hunter instead has been one of my favorite moments so far. i had that dream written for over a year (i literally posted it as a preview for ch2 on patreon in march of last year 😵💫) and it's just been really satisfying to finally feel like it's complete; the dream and the fight mirror each other just like Jorah and Duncan.