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James Steller

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Posts posted by James Steller

  1. 11 hours ago, House Cambodia said:

    I'm just looking at the last chapter in ACOK where Bran wargs into Summer. Lots of colours - black, brown and grey! Can wolves distinguish brown? Tricky thing is those are the only colours Northerners typically see anyway, other than green leaves, but this is autumn.

    Apparently wolves can’t see red or green, so that’s some clever attention to detail on GRRM’s part.

  2. I can’t recall how it goes in the books, but when characters warg into animals, can they still see colour?

    Far as I recall, wolves don’t have colour vision, nor do cats or bears. Did GRRM keep that in mind or is it just another aspect of warg magic?

  3. 2 hours ago, Alden Rothack said:

    I wish Martin had given us even as much about population as he did about army numbers, the North takes 2 or 3 times as long to gather its full strength as the southron kingdoms because its as large as the next three largest kingdoms combined

    we can't know how many men they can field unless we know how many men they have to recruit from and we don't, what we have are some educated guesses at best.

    Probably for the best. We nitpick enough as it is, heh. If things are vague, then GRRM can dredge up details when he needs them and it isn’t a contradiction. That’s why the Manderlys, Ryswells and Dustins suddenly have most of their strength intact and are also very powerful houses to boot. 

  4. 4 hours ago, Craving Peaches said:

    I think people might be mistaking characters being shy/stubborn/selfish with them being autistic. You can be all of those things without being autistic. I asked a psychiatrist I know (one of my parents :blush:) and they said that they didn't think any of the characters were autistic, with the possible exception of Stannis. They said that Cersei wasn't mentally ill, just amoral.

    Not even Vaegon?

  5. I know such a thing is impossible to determine properly, but I feel like there are some obvious examples. Vaegon and Aerys I, for example, strike me very much as people with some level of autism (assuming that’s still the correct way of saying it, and I’m very sorry if it isn’t).

    Stannis could possibly be another one; someone else on this forum speculated as much and they made a compelling case for it. 
     

    Any others?

  6. 8 hours ago, Craving Peaches said:

    I agree because I am so sick of the blatant Blackwood favouritism.

    I’m mostly a fan of House Blackwood, except for Brynden Rivers. One of the most repulsive and evil characters that GRRM ever created. 
    On the other hand, I’m mostly indifferent to House Bracken. I have especially mixed feelings about Bittersteel. Yes, he’s partly responsible for the Blackfyre Rebellion, but he’s still better than Bloodraven.

  7. 19 hours ago, Craving Peaches said:

    Desperate times call for desperate measures. Removing the Old Way requires radical action.

    Stannis would be proud.

    Joking aside, I firmly agree that the Old Way is awful and needs to be expunged from people’s mindsets. The II need to be dragged kicking and screaming out of that belief system.

  8. Tough question, but my guess is that 

    (A) Alysanne wanted to tie the North closer to the other kingdoms

    (B) she didn’t want Viserra’s kids to be serious rivals for the Iron Throne when there was already a surplus of heirs

    (C) Theomore Manderly had done some great service for the Iron Throne which Gyldayn breezed over

    (D) Alysanne disliked Viserra for being an ambitious narcissist and wanted to humble her without banishing her to the Starry Sept

  9. Considering that Maegor’s offspring proved to be unnatural monstrosities (if the records can be believed) and considering how strangely powerful and strong he was from an early age, and also how unstable and psychopathic he was, my guess is that he had no “father” in that sense. Visenya doesn’t strike me as someone who’d sleep around like Rhaenys did. I’m guessing that she used some kind of sorcery and black magic to create the perfect heir, and it came with consequences that she didn’t anticipate.

  10. 1 minute ago, Universal Sword Donor said:

    The siege of dragonstone is definitely over. No doubt in my mind about that. If I had to pick between two options -- Renly let the garrison surrender and sail off to join stannis or it was stormed and Loras isn't really hurt -- the former is the more likely but the latter seems more like GRRM.

    Do you mean Rolland let the garrison surrender?

  11. I don’t need to go over the suspicions that people have had with the details we’ve gotten regarding the siege. Nor do I have to regale you with the counter-arguments against any theorizing. 
     

    based on what we’ve been told so far, do you think the siege played out as it’s been claimed? Was it all a lie? Something in between truth and lie?

  12. 2 hours ago, Craving Peaches said:

    So, how much damage do you think Stannis is doing to his teeth?

    Tough to say, but probably a lot.

    Doesn't help that he regularly drinks lemon water. While it’s really healthy for you in several ways, the citrus acid can be damaging to one’s teeth. So he’s not doing his dentist any favours. That’s why I always drink it through a straw.

  13. 3 hours ago, astarkchoice said:

    Well it didnt stop a certain fat english king robert may be  partialy based on (henry 8)

    And look at the consequences of such an action. Look how much changed in European history with such a controversial decision. Henry and his descendants had to deal with social and religious backlash, wars, and permanently reshaped cultural and political lines. The after effects are still playing out to this day.

    It’s debatable whether Henry fully understood the gravity of his situation and what he was getting himself into with that decision. But Renly seems completely oblivious of any such consequences.

  14. 15 minutes ago, astarkchoice said:

     

    As for putting kids aside  if tywin rages and is provoked robert will put him down with the quickness, he could try and disown the kids with cersei as half traitor and disown them....of course just like renlys claim such a thing would have 0 merit and no precedence but tied into the north,vale, riverlands, crownlands and now the reach it wouldnt matter! Tywin and cersei would be left to rage impotently and robert and margeys kids would have the 'legitimacy' of the backing of 5-6kingdoms. 

    I really don’t think that would be so simple. Robert wouldn’t be have any reason for divorce except that he just wants a new wife. It would set a bad precedent in terms of marriage in the eyes of the Faith, plus Tywin would be able to lend a golden thumb on that scale. Plus the nobles would see it as a threat. If Robert snubs and insults the Lannisters, imagine what he might do next.
    The only way it would work is if Stannis and Jon Arryn had brought forth their own evidence that Cersei’s children aren’t Robert’s. That at least would allow Robert the “moral high ground” in Westerosi society. 
    It never fails to astound me how much trouble would have been avoided if the Baratheon brothers actually got along and worked together as a family. 

  15. 3 minutes ago, Craving Peaches said:

    Not sure whether to be flattered you care so much about me, or to continue to be offended on King Renly's behalf. :unsure:

    Come now, I'll be the first to admit that a good sense of humour is one of Renly's best traits. I'm sure he'd be fine with a jibe at his expense.  ;)

    6 minutes ago, Craving Peaches said:

     

    LF can't really talk though. According to the Wiki (citations not included):

    He's also happy investing in 'the drip'. Probably with the monies he embezzled.

    Absolutely, he's one of the biggest scumbags of the series. Far worse than Renly as a person. But that doesn't necessarily make him wrong about Renly's spending habits either (not that I'm trying to create a serious argument about it, mind you).

  16. 13 minutes ago, Craving Peaches said:

    Evidence for this please? If you are referring to LF's remark about his good fashion sense, there is no indication that comes from crown revenue, or that it was done in his capacity as Master of Laws. Renly is LP of the Stormlands, I think he is able to afford these things himself, and you could bet Stan Stan would be moaning if he was spending the crown's money on clothes.

    Hehe, I figured you'd catch that. I admit, I couldn't resist putting that in there for you. :lol: 

    I freely admit I was basing that entirely on Littlefinger's jibe. Whether the money was coming from the Royal Treasury or whether it was coming from Renly's own coffers, I don't know. I was just tweaking your nose in good humour, Peachy. 

     

    Though to be fair, not even Stannis has enough time to complain about everything in life that annoys him.

  17. I’ll be blunt; it doesn’t make sense to me.

    Don’t get me wrong, I can easily imagine why Renly would want to have Margaery as Robert’s queen instead of Cersei, but what exactly was his plan? Did he think Robert could simply put Cersei aside and remarry? The last king who tried something like that was Maegor, and we know what happened to him. Cersei is the daughter of Tywin Lannister, one of the most powerful men in the realm. Did Renly really think that the Lannisters would just accept that sort of treatment? Even with the Stark/Tully/Arryn/Tyrell support, it is a deeply unwise move to spit in Tywin’s face like that. As a minimum, he would recall the debt owed him by the Crown (which Renly didn’t help with his frivolous spending as Master of Laws, but anyway). 

    Also, does Renly assume that Robert will disinherit his children with Cersei? I don’t remember if it was ever established how much Renly knew about Cersei and Jaime, but regardless, this idea of his makes me tilt my head. Mace Tyrell is too ambitious to just have his daughter be a second wife and stepmother to the king’s children. They’ll want Margeary’s children to inherit the throne. I get that Renly hates books so he won’t recall how the Dance began, but why would the Tyrells ever join him in this farce?   

    Don’t get me wrong, I’m not defending Tywin or Cersei or her incest kids. But Renly’s plot feels like he really didn’t think there’d be any consequences to his scheme. And I’m trying to be generous and not just write him off as an idiot. So am I missing something? 

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