Armies of the Vale

[Stannis Gotta Stan]

I'm just curious, is there any general consensus of what the armies in the vale will do? Only them and Dorne havent committed there armies anywhere and we can speculate that Dorne will back one of the Targs... But since the Vale holds the largest untouched army (by this I mean army that hasnt fought anyone yet) what will become of it? Its likely it will fall under littlefingers sway...

but who and where will it fight? Is there a generally believed theory or is the vales fate/allegiance completely up in the air?

[viking warrior]

The lord delcerants seems in general to be against littlefinger, so I don't think he'll get command over the armies

[Stannis Gotta Stan]

The lord delcerants seems in general to be against littlefinger, so I don't think he'll get command over the armies

werent most of them in his pocket by the end?

[not in the face]

Going by their track record in the books, nothing.

[viking warrior]

werent most of them in his pocket by the end?

Thought they just went along with his ideas, but not much else

[Groat]

werent most of them in his pocket by the end?

In one year enough of them will be dead or bought so that they will eventually be in his pocket. Bronze Yohn will continue to defy him, but he is nothing by himself, and Ser Lynn Corbray will continue to tell his hate for LF to anyone who will hear, and be included in any plot to bring LF down. In a year LF is planning to have firm control of the lords of the Vale.

[Morienthar]

Baelish controls some of it and Royce some of it.He has given Littlefinger 1 year's time to get the vale back to normal,If that doesn't happen I see Littlefinger bolting to the North or Harrenhall and Royce under Robert "Make Them Fly" Arryn will be in control of the armies.

[andrew_]

I'm thinking Harry the Heir will play a larger part in WoW, plus the book is called the Winds of Winter, that could partially mean Sansa finally does something right and gets the armies of the vale to stand for her cause.

[ckal]

The lord delcerants seems in general to be against littlefinger, so I don't think he'll get command over the armies

He has unexpectedly swayed many to his side, to the shock of the others. Remember the marriage for Lord Lyonel Corbray (Lord of Heart's Home) masterminded by Littlefinger? From the wiki:

The Lords Declarant were supposed to shun Lyonel Corbray's wedding. At the end, Lord Belmore, Lady Waynwood and the Knight of Ninestars attended, as well as the Lords Waxley, Grafton and Lynderly.

(Ser Symond Templeton is the Knight of Ninestars).

Also from the wiki:

Their demands were however stymied by a display of beligerence from Corbray, which shamed the Lords Declarant into giving Petyr a year to show his prowess at raising Robert and ruling the Eyrie. As it turns out, Petyr had his own agent among them and believes the weaknesses of the Lords will make them easy to manipulate from now on.

Lyn Corbray is under LF's employ:

Petyr notes to Sansa how fortuitous Corbray's action was, and Sansa correctly guesses that Corbray must be on his payroll. Petyr confirms this, and confides in Sansa his plans to use this time to eliminate, win over, or marginalize the lords who stand in his path, and to allow Corbray to use his supposed disgust for him to facilitate his joining, and covertly informing on, any conspiracy against the Lord Protector ^[17].

I'd say LF is going to have the Vale under his control fairly well. On top of that, LF plans to regain the North with Sansa.

[Stannis Gotta Stan]

any speculation on whose side a Baelish vale would take?

"that could partially mean Sansa finally does something right and gets the armies of the vale to stand for her cause."

now thats interesting... the starks HAVE to start a comeback at some point, Sansa winning over the Vale doesent seem that far fetched, arent SAnsa and Royce related?

interesting

[kkae]

At this moment it seems to me that if they fight then they fight first among themselves.

[Victor227]

It really is a tough one, if the Vale's army even enters the fray at all. The North seems far from ideal with winter setting in. I'm betting that Littlefinger will wait until the conflict shapes up in the south (that's where his eyes are, or so we're led to believe), then stir up the armies of the Vale and use them as a king or queen-maker.

Really though, that seems pretty farfetched as well. What does Littlefinger -want-? If he wanted Sansa? He could have her easily enough right now, and his plan to marry her to Harry the Heir runs contradictory. A Lord Paramount position? He has that. Hand of the King? That would be an easy thing to sweep up at this point.

The Vale is the only kingdom that has yet to call the banners. Even Dorne has massed its hosts in the Boneway and Prince's Pass, and are slowly bleeding away its strength day by day from boredom and attrition. Littlefinger might just be shooting for the Iron Throne, and letting the realm burn itself down until he's a viable king.

[HouseHarrison]

Baelish hasn't subdued the Lords Declarant, only fought off their first attempt.

That being said, some clueless Knights and Lords can't overcome Littlefinger. He definietly has a scheme going to consolidate his rule over the Vale. And when that happens the armies of the Vale will do whatever Littlefinger plans, probably the most chaotic solution.

[Ser Duncan of Flea Bottom]

Littlefinger has the lords of the Vale in his pocket

after Lyn Corbray drew his sword in a peace meeting, and they were shocked and with that action, he won the title of Protector of Lord Robert Arryn

it's not official, but it's a matter of time

Lyn Corbray was in league with Littlefinger

[juanml82]

I guess he'll use them to consolidate his position in the Riverlands. I think that he hopes Stannis will defeat the Boltons and, with Sansa in his pocket, he won't need to march North.

After that, he'll turn south and try to turn the tide to whichever side is the most profitable for him. If Danny arrives to Westeros with her dragons, I can see LF siding with her.

Things won't unfold that way, though. Sansa isn't the Lady of Winterfell, the BwB will probably recover Riverrun and, just maybe, the Northern hostages will be freed in their way to Maidenpool.

[Kernest]

Regardless of what's going to happen, winter has come and if I recall correctly, the mountain passages become impassable, making Gulltown and ships his only available exit... Also I highly doubt he'll manage taking the North especially once it becomes public knowledge that Stannis is there with Rickon as the supposed Stark in Winterfell, there's no way Sansa would go along with slaughtering his fathers bannermen even if they all declared for Stannis through Rickon, not to mention the Vale lords themselves wouldn't be as stupid as that.

Tough to say what his plan is, but I think the concensus is that Sansa nuts up and pushes him through the moon door or something when she realizes he's going to kill Sweetrobin, so his plan will never come to fruition.

[Fire Eater]

I think the Vale will fight for Dany in the second Dance of Dragons as the Vale fought on Rhaenyra's side during the first Dance.

[unSonofStannis]

What I hope to happen is Stannis wins the Battle of Winterfell and installs Rickon as Warden of the North meanwhile in the Vale Sansa outsmarts LF and either kills him or imprisons him and seeing that Stannis has installed her little bro in Winterfell (whom she thought was dead) will then declare the Vale for Stannis.

[Olligarchy]

What I hope to happen is Stannis wins the Battle of Winterfell and installs Rickon as Warden of the North meanwhile in the Vale Sansa outsmarts LF and either kills him or imprisons him and seeing that Stannis has installed her little bro in Winterfell (whom she thought was dead) will then declare the Vale for Stannis.

I see a flaw in your thinking... Stannis loaths LF and LF knows it. He'd never willingly give 30k+ swords to the man that will most likely have him hanged once he has won. More likely LF would either declare Sansa as the Queen in the North after marrying her to HH and then have the Vale attempt to invade the North to install Sansa as the monarch... with her children being Arryns.

That or just wait quietly to see how things turn out and side with the winner. I've a hard time picturing his end game though... he's already Lord Paramount of the Riverlands, owns Harrenhal and other honours... what else could he hope to gain? There's no way he'll end up the king in the end, and ruling the Vale will end once Sweet Robin either dies or grows up.

[The Monkey]

I seem to recall that LF specifically said that the Vale could field 20,000 men. If Sansa ever gets some control/influence through Harry the Heir, those 20,000 could be used to defend the Wall if she receives pleas from the NW, especially if Jon Snow asks her. Those 20,000 could very well determine the future of mankind.