(aWoW Spoiler) Stannis's Comment: "Yet."

[E-Ro]

This leaves time for manderly to arrive and join stannis taking his sword and later letting Stan into wf.

[Ponys123]

"We hold the ground, and that I mean to turn to our

advantage."

"The ground?" said Theon. "What ground?

Here? This misbegotten tower? This wretched little village? You have no high

ground here, no walls to hide beyond, no natural

defenses."

"Yet."

"Yet," both ravens screamed in unison. Then

one quorked, and the other muttered, "Tree, tree,

tree."

Two questions:

1) What does Stannis mean by "yet"? Does he intend to cut down trees and

fortifying the outlying perimeter? The Old Gods (and Bran, and Bloodraven) won't

be too rosy about that.

What else would he be referring to?

Earthworks. Or snow-works. Of course, he'll likely chop some trees down to make chevaux de frise and the like (not that cavalry would be too useful under these conditions), but what's more important is moving the earth, or in this case, tons of snow.

[1234567]

The question is, how is he going to lure the other forces into charging over the lake? Is he going to camouflage it some how?

Hopefully Snow.

The Freys don't know the territory and may charge over a snowy field not realizing there is Ice beneath them.

[Timzy]

The question is, how is he going to lure the other forces into charging over the lake? Is he going to camouflage it some how?

Manderly is my opinion as he may be the rear guard as the Freys will definitely be in the charge i.e Ser stupid. Bolton won't want to keep them together after the fighting so the manderlys can herd them into the ice.

:)

[TheGriffonReborn]

I anticipate Stannis getting a lot more fans after this goes down.

[Panic71]

I betting the Stannis uses a tactic similar to what was used against him in his assault on King's Landing... There he was lured in and then trapped... Like most, I suspect he will use the lake in some way, but perhaps he doesn't actually try to lure them onto the lake but rather cuts down the trees to make a clear path around one side of the lake... once the Freys/Boltons march into clear path, Stannis attacks at the flank in some way as to drive them toward the lake that traps them on the other flank....

...it obviously may not happen exactly like that but I can see the lake being used as some sort of trap where the Freys/Boltons have a choice of either marching forward into some sort of slaughter or retreating back onto the lake where they begin to fall through the ice and drown.... It would make for a nice bit of irony since Stannis was defeated with a similar method at King's Landing.

[the Scorpion Knight]

The question is, how is he going to lure the other forces into charging over the lake? Is he going to camouflage it some how?

the leaders of the host are ser hosteen frey and ramsay snow a known to have a short fuse. goating them with theon would, or sitting on the other side of the lake shouting "bastard" would imho do the trick

[Damar]

Didn't they mention they've been drilling a lot of holes into the ice for fishing?

[Erudain]

Well if you recall from one of Asha's chapters in ADWD, one of the leaders of the mountain clans who showed Stannis' men how to ice-fish declared the fish were all but gone and so many holes had been made by men to fish that the ice covering the lake looked like swiss cheese.

:agree:

They will somehow cammo the lake and the holes, after all Freys are not experts on northern geography (and Ramsay doesn't stike as a brillant guy either...) they won't know where they are and will lure them to charge.

Then a couple years later Frodo, Gollum and Sam will walk around the area an Sam will remark "there are dead things, dead faces in the water"

[Mace Cooterian]

The question is, how is he going to lure the other forces into charging over the lake? Is he going to camouflage it some how?

IIRC they are in the middle of one hell of a snow storm. So the lake and everything around it is going to be covered up. Right?

[Knight errant]

I don't know why people are saying remarks like "How would they cammo it". It doesn't need camo, if not in the chapter itself than the Asha one before she mentions being barely able to see and the deep snow etc. Like Ser Stupid will see how weak the lake is. He'll see Stannis and have this thought process : "ooo Stannis, charge men !!!111!", Manderly guy : "Sure dude, right after you..." all Freys then charge onto the lake and drown.

I didn't at any moment assume he'd actually build defenses...

[George W. Lannister]

Alternatively --

1) Asha is the one who suggests executing Theon at the weirwood:

"Take him out across the lake to the islet where the weirwood grows, and strike his head off with that sorcerous sword you bear. That is how Eddard Stark would have done it. Theon slew Lord Eddard's sons. Give him to Lord Eddard's gods. The old gods of the north. Give him to the tree."

Maybe she has her own plan to drown Stannis's forces in the ice and then escape? She might be sharper than Stannis.

2) Given that Bolton's forces will arrive in waves (eg, the Freys first, then the Manderleys who will change sides, then maybe even Ramsay), how will this battle go down? I'm guessing that the lake trick would work with only one group.

[Fire Eater]

The village is in between two lakes, and I think Stannis plans to have moats dug between the lakes on both sides, effectively turning the village into an island, maximizing the effectiveness of the terrain. Any force consisting of armored horse will risk sinking through the frozen ice to reach Stannis's forces.

[Grip]

I believe the theory that says that Stannis will prepare the lake, making holes, and then have the Frey's and whatnot marsch across it to their doom.. A more important question though is how the hell can anyone fight in the conditions they are facing? I mean come on, try walk across snow that reaches halfway up to your knee and its a pain in the ass. Fighting in it, in heavy armor? Must be hell to try and keep the formations together..And I am saying this as someone who is used to snow, and walking in it..We know that not everyone is equipped with bear paws either, perhaps the reason that Stannis chooses have his army fight dismounted (besides the heavy casualties amongst the horses)..

[Lord Varys]

Stannis and his people will have the ground if the Bolton allies have to fight in the water. Depending on how and when the ice is going to crack he might actually entrap not only the Freys on their horses but men on foot as well. And the lake is going to be their death, even if they survive the initial fall into the water. The cold is going to kill them.

As to Asha's idea about sacrificing Theon to the tree:

That could lead in a lot of directions. Asha most likely only wants to give Theon a decent death. I very much doubt that she has an elaborate plan of her own, nor do I believe that Bran or Bloodraven have contacted or warged into her.

My guess is that this sacrifice is going to happen before the battle which most likely means that Bran is going to reveal himself to Theon and Stannis when they reach the island. I don't know if Theon is going to survive this, but the outcome of this revelation might be an understanding/a pact against the Others formed by Stannis, Bran, and the Northmen standing witness to Theon's execution. If Bran wants Theon to survive he will ensure that Stannis spares his live, if not, Theon will die. I can't predict what Bran is going to do.

Bran and Bloodraven most likely know that Stannis is not Azor Ahai, but he is nevertheless the only King in Westeros who takes this whole Others thing seriously. In fact, he is the only king in Westeros who knows about the threat the Others pose. If Bran and Bloodraven want to unite the North against the Others they will need Stannis.

Bran and Bloodraven will tell Stannis about Manderly, Davos, and Rickon. And they might also enter into the battle on Stannis's side. The trees may come to life when the Boltons attack, and the ravens and crows might also join the battle. The result may very well be utter annihilation of Frey-Bolton-host. If Stannis sneaks into Winterfell afterwards, using a hidden passageway, it will also be Bran who tells him about that (Bran should know more than anyone about Winterfell by now!).

Perhaps Stannis will have to accept one or two condition for Bran's help. Bran might force him to tell Jon the truth about his heritage and abdicate the Iron Throne in favor of Jon when the war has been won. That would be a very interesting turn of events, but I could see it happening. Stannis and Jon could become Ned and Robert with reversed roles. GRRM already hinted at their evolving friendship.

[gogorath]

I don't know why people are saying remarks like "How would they cammo it". It doesn't need camo, if not in the chapter itself than the Asha one before she mentions being barely able to see and the deep snow etc. Like Ser Stupid will see how weak the lake is. He'll see Stannis and have this thought process : "ooo Stannis, charge men !!!111!", Manderly guy : "Sure dude, right after you..." all Freys then charge onto the lake and drown.

I didn't at any moment assume he'd actually build defenses...

Thank you. It's a blizzard. It'll just look like solid ground.

[Tyryan Lannister]

I like the theory that he plans on luring the Freys into marching across the frozen lake.

:agree:

[The Sunset King]

The lake theory sounds like a very reasonable possibility as to the "yet."

I very much doubt that Asha the remotest notion of what Bran/Bloodraven are doing or that she developed any major plan of her own. Asha dislikes death by burning and appears to believe that decapitation at the weirwood would be the best way to die, both in terms of slight reputation redemption and less painful.

The ravens became chatterboxes in the sample chapter so it appears that Bran and/or Bloodraven endeavoring hard to get something to happen, though no one in Stannis's camp (including Asha) realizes this. In some instances, the ravens acted in a very coordinated fashion when doing different things from each other.

[Lucamore the Lusty]

I suspect Stannis will camo the lake with smaller trees. Since its doubtful that even the Manderlys and the Boltons know about this lake being there; a few half froze over fishing holes and a few small trees and I can see the Frey/Bolton host charging headlong into a watery death. A few small catapults can facilitate the ice breaking as well.