How fractured/dismantled is the BWB?

[JaegrM]

My first readthrough I'd assumed Tom Sevenstrings was Legitimately looking at Riverrun as a place he could possibly hole up for the winter. I thought he'd grown tired of living hand to mouth and was just being practical, it wasn't until I read on these forums that he was acting as a spy or saboteur that I thought my initial understanding could be incorrect.
Edric Dayne is MIA for all intents and purposes.
Thoros is unsatisfied with the direction Lady Stoneheart is leading the group.
Gendry is a glorified babysitter doing some smithing on the side.

Everyone loved Beric, Stoneheart seems only able to lead by sating the groups bloodlust and the fact that she used to be Catelynn Stark/Tully.

For the people of this forum who seem to be knowledgeable and pick up on cues/foreshadowing and have keen attention to detail, I'm just wondering if people tend to think that under LS's leadership the group is destined to fall apart or fracture.

[James Steller]

They're already quite fractured, but Stoneheart will doubtless lead them to committing their most infamous acts. 

[Lord Wraith]

Actually I think they are far better organized than most people think. True they have divided into two major factions it seems with the death of Beric but I figure there are cells of the BWB all over the Riverlands and perhaps beyond.

[Curled Finger]

The more I read the more convinced I become that the BWB is far more organized than anyone knows with long reaching tentacles throughout the Riverlands.   Moreover, outside of LSH's little vigilante group, they seem to be well connected to noble and higher lords/houses for a myriad of purposes.   Gendry is doing more than babysitting and smithing.   He's been knighted.   You have to believe he's up to something.  Thoros is the sticky one for me.   He really does seem disillusioned with LSH.   I hope he does the right thing when Jamie & Brienne wander back.  

[Wizz-The-Smith]

Hi JaegrM.  The BWB is in my opinion far from fractured.  We as readers get scraps of info throughout the series that once put together really start to explain the magnitude of this well organized group. The BWB has a number of friends/allies in the RL's, as we see in Arya's ASOS chapters.  These Quotes are under Beric's command.

BWB network of friends

- Arya + BWB meet Lord Lychester : '' Lord Lychester's songs died in Robert's rebellion. '' [ Arya IV , ASOS ]

- When they meet the Lady of the Leaves, Jack-be-Lucky is also with her, and claims he is from Piper lands. '' My father got himself good and hanged by Lord Piper's bailiff '' [ Arya IV, ASOS ]

- When at Acorn Hall, they met Lady Smallwood. '' Lady Smallwood welcomed the outlaws kindly enough '' [ Arya IV, ASOS ]

- They then visit the Stoney Sept. -- Next is the Hound's trial. He is accused of killing people from houses Roote, Charlton and Bracken. The Hound of course refutes these claims.

- They then meet with a guy called Notch, from Goodbrook's village. '' Notch was a stooped man, born in these parts. This was Lord Goodbrook's village '' [ Arya VIII, ASOS ]

- The BWB has also been in contact with the Vance Maester. '' Lord Vance's Maester will know more. '' [ Arya VIII, ASOS ]

So families noted : Lychester, Vance, Roote, Goodbrook, Smallwood, Piper, Bracken and Charlton.

We skip to Jaime at siege of RR, [ While the BWB is under LSH's command.]  quote : '' Jaime noted all the banners of Lychester and Vance, of Roote and Goodbrook, the acorns of House Smallwood and Lord Piper's dancing maiden ''

-- He then muses about the fact the Brackens are fighting the Blackwood's. The one missing is House Charlton, who are sworn to the Frey's, and probably with their retinue.

While at RR, it's notable to mention that their seems to be prostitutes there. '' Down besides the river, he watched as two washerwoman jousted in the shallows, mounted on top of a pair of men-at-arms. '' [ Jaime V, AFFC ]

These hookers are working for BWB. In the Appendix for AFFC, '' At the Peach, a brothel in Stoney Sept '' They certainly have connections there, there was a brothel in Stoney Sept, and they certainly visited there. And we know for sure , as you noted JaegrM, that Tom-o-Sevens has infiltrated RR, and the prostitutes seem to be all over that camp as well.  Ryman was with a whore just before he was killed, the one with Robb's crown no less, he was soon dead and the crown retrieved, if only we a P.O.V present.  Also Petyr pimple was killed after time spent with a whore, and the whore Hildy was in Jaime's presence just before he was apprehended by Brienne.  Very suspicious, it seems this BWB infiltration has a wide reach, from prostitutes to Nobles, in reality I think it's a coming together of RL's peoples to regain power asap.  And the BWB guerilla tactics and slick organization has helped the cause greatly.

Just to add some perspective, Piper and Vance are major players in this movement and big BWB sympathizers, and have been all along.  They set up the release of the Red Wedding prisoners and the parlay Jaime had with the Blackwoods and Brackens, all of which has played into the BWB's hands, with informants everywhere.

The places they frequent or have used are numerous, The Inn/orphanage, High Heart, Oldstones, Stoney Sept, Fairmarket, lots of Noble houses/lands etc.....  There are also reports to Jaime of unknown signal fires at night, perhaps more signs of communication ?  They know of the hidden pass at the Golden Tooth, maybe a help in any attempt to rescue Edmure and Jeyne ?  There is more but I hope this helped to flesh out the BWB and their associates a bit. 

Edit: Edric and other missing BWB members are up for debate, and could be considered fractured.  But there was no mention of animosity when the parties split, and there could be multiple speculations on their whereabouts.  It's hard to say.  I feel Edric may have headed home, but as for the rest, I'm not so sure, Beric put in a lot of work and as the turn out of Nobles at RR shows that hasn't been forgotten.  I feel some may still be following Beric's plans and we may see them again, I hope so anyway.  Maybe they join forces with the wondering Darry's ? 

[LongRider]

dupe

[LongRider]

Hi JaegrM.  The BWB is in my opinion far from fractured.  We as readers get scraps of info throughout the series that once put together really start to explain the magnitude of this well organized group. The BWB has a number of friends/allies in the RL's, as we see in Arya's ASOS chapters.  These Quotes are under Beric's command.

BWB network of friends ~~~~snip~~~~

There is more but I hope this helped to flesh out the BWB and their associates a bit. 

      ~~~~another snip~~~~

 

One might say that the BWB have a bit of a 'web' in the Riverlands.   

[Wizz-The-Smith]

One might say that the BWB have a bit of a 'web' in the Riverlands.   

Haha!  Hey Longie, exactly!  You may have read something rather similar to this elsewhere.   

[LongRider]

Haha!  Hey Longie, exactly!  You may have read something rather similar to this elsewhere.   

Good times, good times. 

@OP, the BWB and it's presence in the Riverlands  was one of many ideas kicked around in a series of threads known as "The Riverlands Web"  that went on for seven threads.  Some great info and research when into these threads, along with shipping, puns, jokes, hilarious stories and other, um, stuff.  They were fun.  Here is a link to the The Riverlands Web 4 which has other links if you're interested. 

[Good Guy Garlan]

Do we know for sure or have any hint that Edric and Anguy effectively defected from the BwB and are not on an undercover assignment a la Tom o' Sevens?

[The Fattest Leech]

It's apparent that they are a web working from under ground holes up to northern houses. 

It seems that the LSH group is an outskirt ring that enjoys torture almost as much as Ramsay does. My biggest question is what is going to happen after the death of LSH or, maybe more importantly for the BWB, what are they going to do when the north is restored? Disband or run vigilante in the north, possibly extorting families and villages for supplies, or maybe run south and reek havoc there? Where do a thousand people do after the job is done but they have no lands or wealth? 

The BWB/ Northern storyline is probably the one I am most excited for in Winds and Spring. ( certainly not that Benny Hill-Bewbs mess of a show) 

[Lord Wraith]

Do we know for sure or have any hint that Edric and Anguy effectively defected from the BwB and are not on an undercover assignment a la Tom o' Sevens?

Not defected but the appendix lists the BWB into two different groups.

[Dorian Martell]

Ned left the group because he was Beric's squire. With Beric's death, he probably headed home as he is the lord of Starfall. Under Beric's leadership, the BWB fought for the smallfolk in the riverlands, folk who were ravaged by everyone, Lion or Wolf. Under Stoneheart's  leadership, the BWB has become a revenge tool for her. That is why a number of them left