A mummer is a pretender or actor, and a farce is a play or other pretense in which the mummer acts out stereotypes and exaggerates the foolishness of a character for an audience. In A Dance with Dragons, Martin uses the motif of the mummer’s farce and mummery to develop all three major themes of the novel. Deception and manipulation are major plot elements throughout the whole A Song of Ice and Fire series, with many characters putting on shows of their own.

In many ways, it is Ned Stark’s resistance to reducing himself to a mummer’s farce that sets the machinations of the entire series into action, and every character must contend with or enact some level of deception to maneuver through the threats to reach their goals. Arya Stark and Tyrion Lannister both must completely reinvent themselves to stay alive and to reach their goals of revenge. Daenerys Targaryen tries to stay willfully true to herself until she realizes that this truth was never true to begin with.

Though deception and dishonesty are often major motifs present in high fantasy as a genre, Martin creates a world where survival depends on it, and honesty and being true to oneself are often deadly.