James Steller

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.

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.

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. 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).

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

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?

More proof that the prophecy is a terrible idea and will deeply undermine GRRM’s extensive world building efforts.

Did we ever get an indication of dates for those other castles? I seem to recall that at least one of them was still manned during the events of FAB, for example.

Even if Borros had defeated the Lads, he wouldn’t have beaten the Starks and Arryns. They both outnumbered the Baratheons at least 2 to 1.

No, that doesn’t make sense to me. If Aegon II joined the Night’s Watch, then that’s it for him. If a man of the Night’s Watch could be summoned from the Wall to who knows where to answer for his old crimes, then that undermines everything that the Watch stands for regarding its recruits. Such an action had never been done before. Robb naming Jon Snow as his heir was a highly controversial and unprecedented decision which he only made out of sheer desperation. And nobody would have recognised Jon’s authority even if Robb did try and take him back.

That makes me wonder if Aegon would have actually forgiven Aegon II. I don’t think he would have, personally. I would also assume that Corlys and the others would have disregarded Aegon III’s demand for vengeance since Corlys was primarily concerned about repairing the realm.

There’s a moment in FAB where the surviving greens are debating what to do after Lord Baratheon’s defeat and death. Several black armies are descending upon the capital to depose Aegon II and free Aegon the Younger. The greens debate their next move, including the question of whether Aegon the younger will allow Aegon II to go to the Wall. Aegon even considers it until his mother reminds him that he fed Rhaenyra to a dragon and made her son watch. It just struck me how strange it is that Corlys, Aegon II, and Alicent all assume that the decision will be made by Aegon himself. He couldn’t even give orders to his own Kingsguard while he was under age. And we see later on that he isn’t involved in what to do with Alicent, or even his own marriage. Why would anyone assume that he could decide the fate of Aegon II?

Yes. I change my answer to this. I hate the theory that Tyrion is a secret targ who’s destined to fly a dragon someday.

I hate any theory which vindicates Bloodraven and Rhaegar (and possibly Lyanna) for their actions.

Baela is the wild twin, and a potential heir to the throne. Kermit and Oscar Tully are young hotheads who have ambition for days. The council wanted to contain Baela, to quench the flame, so to speak. Marrying her to either of the Tully boys would have been like pouring gasoline on the flame.

In a chaotic brawl of seven armies, anything could happen. But I would be rooting for Stannis to win.

Viserys II, if we’re going by in-universe opinions.

I think GRRM will subvert our desire to see Vic or Asha or Aeron or even Theon get their revenge on Euron. Almost nobody in ASOIAF gets the revenge they seek (Robb, Arya, Sansa, ) and even if they do, the revenge doesn’t solve anything, and often puts them in a worse state (Tyrion, Oberyn). Someone on this forum once posited this theory that Sam the Slayer will kill Euron, and I can’t help but find that funny enough to endorse it.

No it wouldn’t. Laenor and Laena would take the Targaryen name.

So? Why is that so bad? Rhaenys would have been a decent queen.

To be fair, how likely was she to die? It’s not like she’s fighting battles or pulling stupid stunts like drunk horse racing on cobblestone streets. Also, even if Rhaenyra did inexplicably die, what exactly was Daemon going to do that was worse than Maegor? Aegon II is a vindictive perverted drunk who spends his time hanging out in the sordid alleys of Flea Bottom. Was he that much better than the prospective King Daemon?

Much as I love the notion of Aegon purging his Kingsguard and starting from scratch, I doubt that ended up happening. Surely we would have heard rumblings of it by now.

If Marston Waters hadn’t died during the Secret Siege, Aegon would have taken him up on his offer and ordered him to fall on his sword once he came of age.

Aside from the ones that other people said, I kind of want to say Rhaena. But that feels unfair given the trauma that she was clearly carrying around and not getting any help with.

The Starks, arguably. Jon isn’t a Stark, after all. Also, the Tully’s never got their Targ match because Aegon V’s incestuous kids.

That’s a very well put answer. I particularly like the point you made about how Gondor’s greatest defensive centres are now basically useless. Minas Tirith, Osgiliath, Cair Andros, they’re all meant to defend against enemies who have been replaced by the ocean. Plus if we’re going by Denethor’s reign, the Gondorians won’t be in a position to fortify the northern border before invasions begin. One benefit to this would be the fact that Denethor would no longer be affected by the Palantir. I assume it wouldn’t work anymore, given that they’re no longer in Middle Earth, but that also means Sauron isn’t corrupting Denethor anymore. That could either lead to Denethor making a mental and spiritual recovery (or a complete breakdown as he tries to fathom what happened). By contrast, Faramir suffers because he isn’t benefiting from the sort of favouritism which Tolkien bequeathed him in his world. We don’t really know the capabilities of Gondor’s military. They’d benefit from no longer having to fight Nazgul, but Daenerys’ dragons are still going to be devastating.