Nevets

Ned: Not taking Renly up on his coup offer. Catelyn: Arresting Tyrion. Tyrion: Threatening Tommen. Daenerys: Not threatening her cupbearers (hostages). It gives the impression of weakness, and she needs to appear powerful and scary. Jon: Dismissing the concerns of Bowen Marsh and other subordinates. Also, announcing he's attacking Winterfell with a wildling army. What's that about? Sansa: Telling Cersei of their plans to leave. Ned was doomed, but she and Arya still had a chance to escape. Arya: Not giving Jaqen names that actually mattered. Theon: Staying in Winterfell. Taking Winterfell was a stroke of genius. Take the Starks (and the Reeds and Freys if you can hold on to them) and make a run for it. Daddy might even take you seriously after that. Winterfell itself is worthless; it's who lives there that's important. Balon: Trying to take the North in the first place. It's too big, too spread out, and too damn poor to be worth the effort. Cersei: Making enemies of Margaery and the Tyrells. Stiffing the Iron Bank and rearming the Faith are pretty bad, too. Brienne: Assuming that the fool and his companions mentioned by the dwarf were Dontos and Sansa. The descriptions didn't really match and she wasted a lot of time on Crackclaw Point. Robb: Marrying Jeyne Westerling.

Execution has been a standard, widely accepted punishment for nearly all of human history, including the time period the series is modeled after. And desertion in particular has been punishable by death, even into the 20th century. So I am not going to condemn Ned for doing something he has no reason to conceive of as being wrong. Though I do question the wisdom of bringing a 7-year-old along. Ned's problem is that he is too good for his own good. He has no sense of pragmatism, much less ruthlessness, and it did him in. He was too inflexible in his honor.

The Whents aren't descended from the Lothstons, so that theory has no legs either. The Whents got Harrenhal as a reward for their role in unseating the Lothstons, not because they were next in the line of inheritance. I would expect that if there was a familial relationship and it mattered, we would have heard by now.

I would like to point out the number of characters that have claimed, or even so much as hinted, that Rhaegar's taking of Lyanna was not a kidnapping - ZERO. Everyone in Westeros now, and probably then, believes it was a kidnapping. Even the Targaryens think so. At the very least this would suggest she didn't simply sneak off to a rendezvous by herself. It could certainly have been staged; at this point we simply have too little information to say for sure what was going on. If motivated by prophecy, a likely possibility, Lyanna likely knew of his interest, so Rhaegar's actions may not have come as a complete surprise. I don't see any reason for Rhaegar to anticipate anything worse than political conflict with the Starks; something he probably figured he could deal with. Marriages, patronage, etc. While he may have anticipated (essentially empty) threats from Brandon, showing up in person and making threats was probably not what he was expecting; nor his father's reaction.

Cersei didn't kill Jon Arryn; Lysa Arryn and Petyr Baelish did, though Cersei was a suspect for a long time. Cersei did not push Bran out of a window either. That was Jaime. Though it should be noted that he did so to hide the existence of the twincest, and without Bran's fall, nothing would have happened as it did. No catspaw, no arrest of Tyrion, no Tywin in the Riverlands. War might have broken out eventually, thanks to the plotting of Varys and Littlefinger, but that's less certain and farther in the future without the twincest.

Well then they must be psychic to know Robb is going to hang around at their castle. And there was no love potion. Every action Robb takes is perfectly explainable by his being 16 and Ned stark's son.

Martin has said in interviews that arranged marriages were standard procedure in medieval Europe, especially among the nobility. They were very rarely broken, and usually worked out fine, or no worse than any other. He wanted this story to reflect that fact. While the prominent marriages are mostly unhappy ones in this story, that's probably because they are more interesting to write and read about. I think, overall, most are pretty good. We just don't hear about them. I think Lyanna would have been regarded more as Rickard's chattel than Robert's as such. Historically, that has been the case with offspring. Similarly, Daenerys was Viserys's to dispose of as he wished. Within reason, of course.

We are not in the 21st century post-industrial West anymore. Try and remember that. No, Lyanna is not Robert's chattel. She is his betrothed, however, and as such has obligations and responsibilities, both to him and to her own family. To what extent she chose to discard those obligations and responsibilities is, obviously, a matter for speculation and debate. But it's important to remember that they do exist, at least in this setting.

There is no reason for the Crag to be conspiring with Tywin before the Crag fell. They had no reason to think Robb was going to stay there - his injury and decision to recuperate there were hardly foreseeable events - so there is nothing to communicate about. How they managed it after his arrival I don't know. Possibly the maester secretly sent ravens or they did some kind of workaround, maybe using a go-between.

Pretty much this. She's going to get married, whether she likes it or not. She would probably have some input as to with whom, and effective veto power, but she's definitely getting married, and probably to someone pretty high-ranking. Even now, her getting married for her family's (and probably Westeros's) benefit is a good possibility.

They could inherit if those above them are ineligible for some reason, unwilling, or are otherwise unavailable. If they have a position elsewhere, or are married to lord somewhere else, they might not be unavailable. It is not too hard to think of scenarios where Sansa or even Arya could be potentially eligible. I suspect that when the dust clears, there may well be a lot of positions that need filling and not enough people available to fill them.

I don't think Sybell Spicer had any plan other than for Jeyne to marry Robb and break up his alliance with the Freys, and ensuring he had no children to carry on his legacy. I doubt she expected it to put her son in any danger, outside of the usual risk of being Robb's close companion. And I'm pretty sure the Red Wedding was as much a surprise to her as it was to almost everyone else. She may be the mother from Hell, but that's due to her treatment of Jeyne, not Raynald.

Set Hyle Hunt did not get killed at the tournament, not is he from the Vale. That was Ser Hugh of the Vale. You had me confused for a bit there. Hyle is a household knight for Lord Tarly who is currently accompanying Brienne. Brienne killed the three Bloody Mummers at Crackclaw Point as a direct result of her search for Sansa. I suppose you can count those as Sansa adjacent if you want. To the OP, another example of a lethal wanton might be Asha Greyjoy. She is certainly lethal and a bit of a wanton, too.

On the issue of whether Tyrion knew about the incest, there is this exchange at the end of Tyrion's first chapter, still at Winterfell. "I hope the boy does wake. I would be most interested to hear what he might have to say". His brother's smile curdled like sour milk. "Tyrion, my sweet brother," he said darkly, "there are times you give me cause to wonder whose side you are on." Tyrion grinned up wolfishly at Jaime. "Why, Jaime, my sweet brother," he said, " you wound me. You know how much I love my family". I've always assumed that Tyrion knew and that Jaime knew he knew. And that Tyrion is being snarky and difficult in this scene. Of course we also know he doesn't care much for most of his family, Jaime possibly excepted.

She was almost 14 when she married Drogo. She learned she was pregnant on her 14th birthday. A bit over 2 1/2 years has passed in the story. She's now 16, was 15 when she met Daario, I think. Jon recently turned 17, I believe, and he's 8 or 9 months older.

I know, for example, that there are plenty of posters, even those sympathetic to her, that criticize Arya's actions, especially her murders in Braavos, Dareon's in particular. I certainly do so. I give her some leniency for her age, but she's still responsible for her own wrongdoing.

Which equally vile enemy are the Starks criticized for attacking? I think I lost track somewhere.

The deaths that Dany and Catelyn are responsible for were mainly on their orders, not done in person. And Catelyn's are mainly as Lady Stoneheart, who I think is not all there. As for Arya, objections are more based on her age than her sex. Not many boys her age kill either. Edric Dayne seemed quite shocked at the idea. Sandor Clegane killed at 12, but he's hardly an example of good mental health. In any event, violence is mainly done by men in the real world. So when women do it in person, it's regarded as a bit unusual. Same with this story. That said, I'm skeptical of the idea that women are held to a tougher standard than men by fans, at least here.

We have no real information on the reliability of moon tea, but I would guess it is nowhere near as reliable as modern methods. Probably a bit like a poor Plan B. For occasional use only. It also does not appear to be easy to obtain, and from what I gather, some of the ingredients can be hazardous if not prepared properly or given in the right dose. So the basic point remains, although Westeros, and its model, medieval Europe, are a lot more relaxed than some places, even today.

Virtually every premodern civilization has placed restrictions on the activities of women, and especially romantic activities. There is a reason for this. It is called pregnancy. In a world like this, and for most of real life history, there is no easy reliable birth control and no reliable means of determining paternity. So if you are worried about unintended or undesired pregnancy, you will adopt policies and customs to limit them. Confining sex to married couples is a big one. Limiting the mixing of unmarried men and women is another. And it often makes sense for women to raise their children, especially since that keeps them home and out of potential mischief, or threats to their safety. There are usually good, or not bad, reasons why societies do things, even things us modern types find distasteful or even offensive. I have noticed that most medieval style fantasy that I read, especially that by women, contains reliable contraceptives, usually a charm or potion. That way the author can have their cake and eat it too. Their female characters get a sex life without worrying about pregnancy. Kind of like the modern world. GRRM is being more realistic and doesn't play that game. If his female characters have sex, pregnancy is a very real possible result. Of course, this type of thing can get out of hand, and frequently does. You start getting oppression for the sake of oppression and to conserve status and power, and that's wrong. It is also worth noting that the modern Western attitude towards individual rights and autonomy is a comparatively recent one. So I guess the best way of analyzing whether attitudes and rules are justified is to realize the inherent physical differences between the sexes and go from there. I may try to make such determinations and otherwise elaborate once I've recovered from the evisceration I expect to receive.

The Liddles and other clansmen appear to be oblivious to the Starks' true nature. Of course that may be because they are isolated and don't get current news. The Manderlys, other than a bratty, naive granddaughter, know better. Once they heard the Freys' first hand account of Robb's treachery, they knew the Starks weren't to be trusted. They're after Rickon, but only because, due to his age, he is easy to control making him a good figurehead and puppet. Jon Snow's second in command saw through his indecisive and treacherous nature and bravely deposed him before his erratic decisions in favor of enemies such as the wildlings and Stannis resulted in the isolation and eventual obliteration of the Nights Watch. Sansa helped murder the King but is now under the control of a Lannister loyalist. Biddable, sheltered, and lacking in intelligence, she is willing to assist him with his efforts to improve his, and her, position in Westeros, even if it means betraying other family members, like an annoying cousin. Arya is being kept safe and secure by the good and powerful Lord Ramsay of Winterfell. He is taking steps to ensure her loyalty to the Boltons and their leiges the Lannisters like he did with the traitorous Theon Greyjoy. So, no worries. The Starks are dead or neutralized and no longer a threat to the stability of the North or Westeros as a whole. [Sometimes I scare even myself with my warped thinking]

Bear Island and the Mormonts are hardly typical even by Northern standards. If any other house has a female martial tradition I'm not aware of it. Meera can defend herself adequately, but would be hard pressed against more than one person, especially if armed. And I haven't seen anyone else other than Brienne using weapons, and she's unusual by any standard. Even Ned thinks she needs to spend time in a Southern court, obviously expecting it to change her for the better. I think he sees her tomboy nature, not unreasonably, as a phase. He certainly wasn't happy about finding the sword. I think he only allowed her to keep it as a quid pro quo for good behavior. I see Wylla Manderly as the sort of person Arya could become. She's a lady now, albeit an unconventional and outspoken one, and I bet she was a tomboy when younger. Actually, she and Elmar did get along well together, though I wonder how he would feel knowing she was his betrothed. I sometimes wonder if Roose suspected who she was and threw them together for that reason. Probably not, but it makes for interesting speculation.

I think GRRM is using Davos as his eyes again. He's been sent north of the Wall, and I don't think it's just to pick up Rickon and bring him back. He needs Davos up that way for something. My guess is he's still up there at the end of Winds. I doubt Davos would support, or even allow, if possible, Shireen's burning. But I also doubt he will have the chance. I think there are other POVs available to report on Stannis and as I said Davos will likely be elsewhere. My guess is it will result in a breach if it happens, but that also depends on who does it, why, and what the result is.

Reeds and Mormonts are hardly a good comparison. The Reeds are invisible, hidden in a swamp, and the Mormont women are looked at a bit askance. She's been described as always dirty, with messy hair and frequently mistaken for a stableboy. Half a boy and half a wolf pup, she is rebellious and defiant, collects scabs like crazy, says whatever comes into her head, and has no interest in becoming a lady, or even doing ladylike activities, like sewing and needlework. And yet she is expected to marry someone of high rank, probably southron; most likely the heir of a great house or major vassal. Not only do they have to find someone Arya can get along with, that family has to approve of her. With a girl like I just described that won't be easy.

In the ADWD epilogue, Kevan Lannister thinks to himself that if the Crown can't get a loan elsewhere, that he may need to prop the government up with Lannister gold. While he seems reluctant, there is no indication he thinks they can't afford it. So they're not broke, and probably not even strained.