what do you feel about barbrey dustin?

[Lord Warwyck]

this is somewhat of an dilemmna, somewhat like liking or hating the TV Tywin.

On one hand she's cool. She's attractive, intelligent, has ruled pretty well by herself for 14 years and is quite brave. Cat had a much higher standing than her but never that much courage. She spits openly on ramsay's face despite knowing consequences it might bring to her. Plus she is attractive too, you can't leave that one out. A true aristrocatic south american lady.

But again she does have some bad traits. She's quite malicious about certain things. Carrying a ridiculous grudge on Ned. And she maesters as snakes in human skin. But again is she truly wrong on this? With the exception of aemon, luwin, cressen and colemon almost everyother maester is a schemer or a traitor.

How do you guys feel about her?

[aryagonnakill#2]

She may hold a grudge against Ned, but if she really loved Brandon she would never betray his house. It seems to me there was a lot more to her convo with Theon than at first glance. One possibility is that she wanted to confirm what Manderly told her about Bran and Rickon hiding out in the crypts instead of running away.

[Queen of Whores]

Pylos is a very good maester too, don't forget :)

Anyway, I think she's a spiteful and bitter woman who needs to be put down before she can do any harm to Ned's bones.

On the other hand I like that she doesn't put up with some of Ramsay's bullshit. To me she's like Genna Lannister. I somewhat enjoy them and am entertained by them, but I won't mourn either of them should they die.

[Chatty Duelist]

She can burn in seven hells for all i care.

[Knight Of Winter]

I like her. Despite her being pointlessly embittered after 15 or so years, she still has many quite enjoyable and quite admirable qualities - intelligence, wit, determination, fiercness...

Anyhow, I'm in the camp which believes she's faking her loyalty to Boltons and actually works for Manderly.

[fuem]

She may hold a grudge against Ned, but if she really loved Brandon she would never betray his house. It seems to me there was a lot more to her convo with Theon than at first glance. One possibility is that she wanted to confirm what Manderly told her about Bran and Rickon hiding out in the crypts instead of running away.

:agree:

[KingOfTheDirewolves]

I like her. Despite her being pointlessly embittered after 15 or so years, she still has many quite enjoyable and quite admirable qualities - intelligence, wit, determination, fiercness...

Anyhow, I'm in the camp which believes she's faking her loyalty to Boltons and actually works for Manderly.

I doubt it, she may not like the Boltons, but she holds such a grudge against Ned I think she will continue to support Roose just to spite Ned's memory , the only thing she loved about Brandon was his ****

[Queen of Whores]

I doubt it, she may not like the Boltons, but she holds such a grudge against Ned I think she will continue to support Roose just to spite Ned's memory , the only thing she loved about Brandon was his ****

Yeah, I never really got the impression she felt true love or dedication to Brandon, more like she just enjoyed being fucked by him and was mildly annoyed he died :dunno:

[sertravisredbeard]

I'm pretty sure Roose has overestimated Barbrey's grudge towards the Starks. Even if she does still resent the Stark family for the way Rickard promised Brandon to Catelyn, then Catelyn also "took" Ned from her, and Ned for her husband dying in the war, this demonstrates that the woman knows how to hold a grudge. If she holds that kind of grudge against a family for those somewhat far-fetched reasons, she'll surely hold one against the guy who she believes killed her beloved nephew Domeric. Ramsay's behavior since then probably hasn't dissuaded her of that notion, so it won't take much to throw her allegiance to the Boltons under the bus.

I hope she gets to dispense Roose's false confidence in her supposed allegiance to him to his face before it's all over.

[jet199]

Babs Dunstin is a a great actress. I don't trust a single thing she says to Theon. As far as she is concerned Theon is controlled by the Boltons and everything she tells him is going straight back to Roose and Ramsay. When Theon asks her why she has a problem with the Starks she reads it as the Boltons wanting to know if she is loyal, she knows that her support for them after the Lady Hornwood murder seems strange to anyone with a brain, so she goes over the top with her supposed hatred of Ned. It seems like a poor excuse because it is. Like when Jon joined Mance people lying about allegiances tend to come up with an emotional reason rather than a practical one. Think how much more believable it would have been if Babs had said she was against the Starks because she wanted their land. She can't do that though as she knows Roose wants loyalty not fair-weather friends.

The main reason she dislikes Ned is that he didn't bring her husband's bones back. She says this after she has just told us Brandon was her true love so that undermines her point straight away, she is not pinning away for either of them. Also she could have, at any time in the last 16 years, asked someone in Dorne to send her husband's bones back or gone down to Dorne and got them herself. There is no reason to hold a grudge against Ned for something she could easily have sorted out herself. She is using her reputation for holding a grudge to disguise exactly who that grudge is against.

Babs's confession mirrors the other odd confession we get in Theon's chapters, Roose's suspicions that Ramsay killed Domeric. Why would Roose decide to tell Theon that Ramsay killed Dom when most people believe he died of an illness? I think it is because Roose knows one important person suspects him of killing his son so he starts to muddy the waters. Dom was Babs' nephew, she is the person most likely to cause bloody mayhem if Dom's death gets linked to Roose.

Another thing she chats about is the so called maester's conspiracy. The other person we get this from is Marwyn who is a reject in the Citadel and the former tutor of Qyburn and MMD so he is not a reliable narrator. He claims Aemon's career was scuppered by an anti-magic faction when we have heard from Aemon himself that he choose the Wall because he didn't want any power. He also claims the Citadel caused the dragons to die out but we see from tPatQ that it was know by everyone at the time that dragons raised in King's Landing were smaller, it was not some trick, and Aegon III had every reason to want to kill the last of them off.

If we look at the issues surrounding the pink letter it can not have been sent without either Roose knowing about it or the maesters doing it behind his back. When Babs shouts off about the maesters it is a case of the lady doth protest too much. She want's Theon to tell Roose she doesn't trust the maesters because she does trust them and wants to distance herself from them. The only person the maesters in Winterfell are disloyal to is Roose and the maesters conspiracy is with Barbrey and either the GNC, the Mandely/Stannis alliance or just a general RW revenge plot.

[SkaggCannibal]

this is somewhat of an dilemmna, somewhat like liking or hating the TV Tywin.

On one hand she's cool. She's attractive, intelligent, has ruled pretty well by herself for 14 years and is quite brave. Cat had a much higher standing than her but never that much courage. She spits openly on ramsay's face despite knowing consequences it might bring to her. Plus she is attractive too, you can't leave that one out. A true aristrocatic south american lady.

But again she does have some bad traits. She's quite malicious about certain things. Carrying a ridiculous grudge on Ned. And she maesters as snakes in human skin. But again is she truly wrong on this? With the exception of aemon, luwin, cressen and colemon almost everyother maester is a schemer or a traitor.

How do you guys feel about her?

Cat captured a son of the mightiest Lord of Westeros. Cat fought off a man trying to kill her son. Cat took care of Brienne after a shadow-assasin encounter. Cat risked the wrath of the North by freeing Jaime Lannister. At the Twins, Cat fought to the bitter end and then some. Just because Cat doesn't resent people in public doesn't say she isn't courageous. She's one of the most courageous people out there.

[Valyrian Spoon]

"The lady doth protest too much, methinks"

William Shakespeare can sum it up better than I can.

[SkaggCannibal]

Barbrey Dustin is the prime example of the opportunism than is in abundance both in the North and in the South. She will turn her wagon again when things go wrong with the Boltons, I doubt she "protests too much". Everyone seems to protest too much these days, as long as it fits the omnipresent GNC-theory.

[Lion of the West]

To me it seems that she got dealt a less than deseriable hand, but still a good one, in life and worked with it from there. What can I say. She seems human.

[joluoto2]

Sh's playing her own game of thrones, and if Roose and Manderly don't look out they'll both be outplayed.

[Luddagain]

Agree

Dustin is playing her own game. Not sure what it is. I was disturbed that she has a "smile like Ramsay"

[Queen Alienor]

She's playing her own games. She wants to come out on top, no matter which side wins. In the moment, Bolton has the upper hand, so she fakes loyality to him, but IMO, her only true loyality is to herself. She couldn't care less who rules the North in the end, as long as she got something out of it and doesn't have to fear for her position. I don't really buy her hating the Starks but not Ramsay, I think she will arrange herself with whatever outcome there is. She is a bit like LF that way, only that she doesn't do politics because of itself but rather jumps up when there is a chance to get something.

[ghosts in winterfell]

I love Lady Barb!

[Ferocious Veldt Roarer]

Like her. And don't believe a single word she says. OK, maybe some. "The North remembers, Frey." B) A nice line.

But whatever she tells Reek about her unquenchable hatred against Starks... Yeah. No. It might be true, but it just as well might be a huge pile of BS, and I see absolutely no reason to take it at the face value.

[The hairy bear]

It's true that we must question everything Barbrey says to Theon, but the fact remains that Barrowton sent as few men to Robb as possible. Back then, one or two thousand men more could have meant a lot. (Let's imagine what would have happened if the Battle of the Green Fork had ended differently). Barbrey's resentment is real and exists.

I feel pitty for the woman. He wanted to be the lady of Winterfell. Probably, she has had more power that Catelyn ever had, and doubtlessly she'd been unhappy as Brandon's wife. But still, she can't help feeling rejected.