James Steller

Stannis sacrifices his daughter. That is my worst case scenario. I hate that element of the abomination, and I refuse to believe that he would do that in the story proper. Mel doing it? Sure. Selyse doing it? Absolutely. I can also see Stannis finding out and unleashing a terrible rage against those who did that, finally breaking away from the Lord of Light once and for all, maybe seeking death against the Others since his line is ended. But him being the man who would burn his own daughter? No.

I feel like even though Harrenhal was finished, I don’t think that House Hoare’s position in the Riverlands was tenable. The Ironborn were stretched thin while trying to maintain their conquest, just as the stormlords had been. The key to their rise to power was the support of the riverlords, and they hated the Ironborn. Trying to go after a second kingdom would have been too much. If harren tried that, then I don’t doubt that he would have not only suffered from uprisings and rebellions, but also raids or full out invasions from his neighbours.

Is Perwyn Frey a joke to you?

Marry into powerful houses, supplant them, siphon resources and wealth accordingly.

I don’t think that was the case either. I think Tywin did genuinely want to chase Robb down, since it’s a serious blow to to his rep if enemies are riding his territory with impunity. His about face to go south was improvised, helped along by Littlefinger bringing the Reach into his corner.

Okay, I’ll go over it again. Roose wasn’t supposed to go on a forced march through the night. That’s the kind of thing Robb and Cat thought Greatjon would do, and it was deemed too reckless. They picked Roose because he was a cautious man, and wouldn’t take unnecessary risks. And what does he do? He pushed his army on a march through the night, only to loudly blow horns to wake Tywin’s army up instead of ambushing them in silence. And then Roose forms his weary troops up on a hill to wait for the Lannister army to arrive (an army which has many times their heavy horse), only to abandon the high ground and charge an army which outnumbers them, has superior weaponry, and isn’t bone weary. Nothing you can say, nothing anyone can say, even GRRM himself, will convince me that Roose didn’t deliberately tank that battle. It’s either that or he’s the most laughably pathetic commander of the series.

Roose also fouled up the Battle of the Green Fork so that nearly half his army was annihilated. And how convenient that the casualties were all men that were rivals, including Halys Hornwood, the man whom he was openly disputing with at the time.

There are a few good Boltons. Barba and Domeric seem to have been fine people, for what little we know of them.

Why? Do you advocate that the family members of murder victims get a hold of the killers? Is that how you think the justice system should work? What happens if the evidence isn’t always clear cut? What happens if someone is found to be innocent later on?

Didn’t the Hoares try to outlaw thraldom and reaving, though? A lot of the Hoare kings seemed to push for cooperation and trade over war. I don't think we can write them all off as being the worst of the Ironborn

More Dunk and Egg, but only if it verifies my belief that Aegon did the unexpected by arresting Brynden rather than it being an arrangement planned in advance. I want so badly to have this sinister murderer be shocked that the king he put on the throne isn’t going to reward him for doing a heinous act.

How can you sell something that’s beyond price?

That does make me wonder if Ned used Ice when he went to war.

Did he give it to Ilyn? I thought Ilyn only used Ice before the breakdown, and it was never meant to be a permanent arrangement. I thought he always meant for Jaime and Joffrey to have the two swords.

As if (a) Tyrion could wield Ice, and (b) Tywin would ever allow the one Lannister with a VS sword to be the person he hates most in the world.

Presumably then Aemon becomes King, and if he's not a dickhead then he acknowledges that his dad was an idiot for fighting a duel with some random knight, and the gods clearly wanted him to die. Braxton goes scott free, though he'd probably have to hightail it out of Westeros and lay low for a while. Saera presumably laughs her head off when Braxton kills her dad.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks it's a really Freudian moment. Father forces daughter to watch him kill a man who had sex with her by impaling him in the face with his phallic weapon.

I think the point will be more that fAegon can pass himself off as a Westerosi far better than Daenerys, plus he's male. The people will rally to him because of Cersei and Euron, while Dany will be pissed that the Breaker of Chains isn't getting any appreciation compared to this random nephew of hers.

Thing is, Stannis Baratheon is such a polarizing figure in the fanbase, but I do think that he is a very underrated character. Love him or hate him, you can't deny that he is one of the most well developed characters in the story. People write him off as being a very rigid character, but Stannis does listen to advice. He is dismissed as nothing but a whiner, but his arc leads him to taking his own responsibility seriously. And for all that people in the fandom and within the canon claim that Stannis is a disliked man, I really don't think that's the case. He inspires incredible loyalty from thousands of people. Knights and common soldiers follow him all the way from Dragonstone to Storm's End, to and from the Blackwater, all the way to the Wall and across the North. Even some truly reprehensible people like Clayton Suggs, and people like Justin Massey who would have every reason to desert a losing cause, they're still loyal to Stannis, that loyalty leads a man like Clayton Suggs to show a genuine ounce of courage, willing to give his life to save his fellow men and his king from invading horsemen. Really, it seems like the people who like Stannis the least are found within the nobility, and that's arguably because Stannis isn't interested in kissing asses or playing courtly games of intrigue. He wants to hold people accountable, regardless of their rank, and that's what makes him so feared, as Varys points out. And even if you disagree with Varys over whether or not Stannis is a truly just man... the fact that we can have such a heated debate about this character? That more than anything shows how well-written he is. Stannis Baratheon is one of my favourite characters in literature, let alone this series. Hate him if you must, but don't call him poorly written.

I really hope that Tyrion is the valonqar after all. A fantastic twist, and also the very worst fate which Cersei could endure. The story's built up just how terrified she is of Tyrion, how much she hates him because of that fear, and she's yet to pay her debts to Tyrion for all that she put him through. Having him strangle her to death as her world comes crashing down around her, that would be a very fitting end for her to suffer.

I'm pretty sure that House Hightower counts as a great house.

EDIT: Changing my three names, Tywin (it'll be hilarious to see House Lannister eat itself right from the start of AGOT) Littlefinger (no schemes on his part) Daenerys (no dragons to interfere with King Stannis's eventual ascension)

It's safe to say that Ramsay isn't a very deep thinker, but even he must have known that openly abducting and killing the widow of a major Northern house would get him into serious trouble. And yes, I get that he's twelve different levels of psychopath, but even they have a sense of self-preservation, do they not? Ramsay certainly did when he switched clothes with Reek and pretended to be him. But even then, he was set to be executed if it wasn't for Theon saving his life by taking Winterfell. Ramsay strikes me as someone who improvises a lot and who also failed upwards because of convenience. Roose somehow trusted him enough to give him command of House Bolton's remaining forces, and he proceeds to use them to create a crisis which threatens to tear his house apart. There was no way he'd have survived if Theon hadn't come in the way he did. Which means I now have to ponder Roose's decision. He knows who Ramsay is, and what he is, but he still left him in charge. I guess there wasn't much of an option for him, but he clearly has men watching Ramsay and reporting to him on Ramsay's actions. He could have gotten Ramsay killed so many times before and nobody would have mourned him. Did Roose leave Ramsay in charge in the hope that he'd wreak havoc in the North when most of the fighting forces were away? Did he give Ramsay instructions?

To be fair, it's a lot easier for many people to give advice than take it for themselves.