"See, you should've just married an orphan. That solves all problems when it comes to dealing with at least one side of the family. I should know." See, it's better to joke about such circumstances then crying about them. It hurts too much to think about his parents, so he uses humor to mask his real feelings.

Poor Letha. She'd probably run for the hills if she was aware of even half the things that Ivar has done. He's most certainly not a nice man.