Nevets

I love Sam. But I can't find it in me to hate his dad. Not that I like the guy; I don't. But as villains go, he's definitely small beer. I completely understand why he's done what he's done. Let's face it; Sam would have made a poor Lord of Horn Hill. He's too weak, in body and spirit, or at least was. The big irony is that the Nights Watch is probably the best thing that's happened to him. His experiences with them have made him a man. If Lord Tarly dies storming the battlements somewhere, I'll be satisfied. Though seeing Sam as a real man, secure in his own skin, would be nice too, even (or especially) if he doesn't really believe it. I guess I would like him to realize that the son he despised is actually worthy of his respect.

Incoherent theory based on wild ramblings sounds about right. Any theory based on secret survivors of the Tower of Joy is starting a few laps behind. We're given the information in Ned's own thoughts and memories. I don't think he's being sneaky with himself. And if it doesn't involve a secret TOJ survivor, that pretty much leaves the Daynes or Howland, and I don't see either of them turfing her out. And if Rhaella's daughter dies or is never born, I can think of no reason not to say so. Hold a nice funeral and move on. Which means she would be replacing a known dead girl. When I said theories start out convoluted and byzantine, this is the sort of thing I was talking about. So far, GRRM's conspiracies and secrets have been straightforward and easy to understand. This is neither. Staying with a rich, eccentric Dornishman is looking better by the hour. By the way. Given the POV structure, how are we supposed to find any of this out?

Why switch her at any time? Why not place her with the Daynes or Howland Reed, who likely know about her (being Jon's twin is the only real possibility).

Brienne of Tarth Sansa Stark Samwell Tarly Wylla Manderly Meera Reed Podrick Payne

Why switch her out then? Not for a marriage 10 years down the road. Viserys is only planning to marry her to himself. If she's not his sister it defeats the point.

I think it is just a way to change the face. So everything else is the same. I suspect that even their height and weight probably doesn't change. That would make things too easy, and that's not the Martin way. So any child would be the Faceless Man's.

I don't think anybody from Meereen is very well developed. I could probably tell you more about, say, Missandei, than I could about Hizdar, Shavepate, Green Grace, and Reznak - combined. And they are the most prominent people from Meereen. They are basically cardboard cutouts with names and titles. The Great Masters are even less developed. Whether that is a good thing or not is a good question. I happen to think Slavers Bay is something of a detour and have a hard time really caring about it. It seems like an entirely separate story from the main story in Westeros. Of course, your mileage may vary.

A couple of quotes on Daenerys's birth. This from AFFC prologue, in Oldtown. And this from Stannis in ACOK prologue. So I'm pretty sure that a baby was born at Dragonstone during a storm and left with Viserys. I see no reason to believe the mother was anybody other than Rhaella. If there's no live birth, simply say so and move on. At that point, she's superfluous, essentially dead weight. And if she subsequently dies, same thing. Have a funeral and move on. No point in replacing her. She would be more of a burden than an asset.

We see several hedge knights in AFFC. They all seem to have horses, swords, a shield with a design on it, and presumably a bit of armor. But I don't think any of them had any kind of proof that he was a knight. So presumably, if you look the part, you can play the part. On the other hand, Gendry was made a knight by Beric and he has no equipment and I suspect would be lucky to fight his way out of a wet paper sack. So I'm not exactly sure what the standards are, if there are any.

A.I. is good with facts, not so much with creativity. Give an A.I. a long list of facts, a huge pile of data, and some rules, and it will give you a pretty good analysis. Ask it to examine human emotions, ethical standards, motivations, and that type of subjective stuff, you get incoherent mush. As I'm sure you noticed. Ask it to compare Cersei to a historical figure, say Margaret of Anjou, a favorite comparison, you might get something useful (if you're lucky). Ask it if Arya is a morally good person, you will probably get a biased and/or incoherent mess. Even readers can't agree on that one. Creativity is not their strong point; actual hard facts are.

I would get rid of the main leadership for the Red Wedding: Lord Walder, Black Walder, Lame Lothar, etc. As for the rest, build a couple of nice, big bridges across the Green Fork that are free to cross. Cut off their income. The remaining Freys can either find honest work or live in penury, once they've used up their savings. Which considering how many of them there are, won't go very far.

If Bran is going to communicate through the weirwoods he is going to have to improve his skills noticeably. Right now, he can barely manage a brief whisper; that's not going to cut it. If Bran does manage to save someone it's mostly likely going to be Theon. He's accused of murdering Bran, so if it turns out he's alive, it makes executing Theon more difficult. I don't see any reason for Bran to get involved with Jaime. Catelyn impliedly forgave Jaime for Bran's fall when she released him. She's after him now because she thinks he was involved in the Red Wedding and that he sent Brienne to find Sansa for Cersei's benefit. Neither is true, of course, but it will be up to Jaime and Brienne to convince her of that, if they can. Bran won't come into it. The only reason I'm convinced he's not dead is because his body hasn't shown up yet. Which suggests they are saving him for something. He won't help with Red Wedding 2.0, though they may not realize that. My guess is that he has offered to arrange the release and freeing of the Frey prisoners taken at the Red Wedding. I think it might work; it could also get him killed. I have a suspicion he dies early in the next book. We're overdue for an unexpected, impactful death.

Actually, we don't know that the insurance broker is actually cheating people. All the FM said was that he sold binders, and that it is one thing to sell a binder, and another to make good on it. They imply he's cheating people, but don't directly say it. I don't trust these guys and think they are manipulating Arya. I accept the literal truth of what they say, but I don't go any further. For all we know, he has angry competitors, impatient heirs, or a wife wishing to remarry. We really don't know.

Good. I was afraid maybe you had bought into a wild theory about the preview chapter.

Maybe we should ask the OP the proper punishment for his namesake. That guy's got more murders to his credit than Arya could ever hope to commit. @Craving Peaches Murders, plural, for the Faceless Men? I'm only aware of one (insurance guy).