Sly Wren

I certainly hope so. My fear with Dany is that she fluctuates back and forth between civilized and dragon-burning. If she thought a sacrifice could help her save all of Westeros, which she thinks belongs to her. . . I could see this. And getting somewhat back to Black Crow's thread--the echoes/repeats of sacrifice in the North and for the Targs--they repeat and repeat and repeat. Jon chose duty in Game--sacrificed own needs to be with Robb and instead went back to the Wall. Dany chose to sacrifice others to get what she wanted--to conquer. I hope she won't see Baby as expendable. But. . . she's an odd duck for me.

Agree fully on the first. Full disclosure: I have a really hard time making the direct inversions work. Really seems like we don't have enough evidence. Rough echoes where we've been told Arya and Sansa are like Lyanna in specific ways? Absolutely. But the idea of set, precise inversions. . . I really struggle with this. But. . . in Westeros, couples seem to marry at the bride's house--why go to Winterfell? The Daynes are Dornish--why would they care about even an excessive number of paramours? The Martells clearly don't. Do we have any evidence that the Daynes have a strongly different take on this than the rest of the Dornish? And "raped by multiple men" is vastly different than having paramours--especially in Dorne. In Dorne? They're fine, given what we see of the Martells. But--if she's home, it's really hard to hide this. We see Jeyne pass as Arya because the household of Winterfell is gone and Arya was still pretty young when she left home. Sansa can pass as Alayne because she's never been to the Eyrie--even then, Myranda seems to think something's up. Yes, Harwin doesn't recognize Arya at first, but that's because he thinks she's dead, it's been a while since he saw her, she's a kid and kids change, etc. And he does recognize her eventually. Given all that, if the full grown, famously drop dead gorgeous Ashara is hiding in her own house, assuming her father didn't conduct a violent purge of the Starfall staff--this really seems hard to pull off. I think that Wylla Manderly is a much better clue--her green hair. Her loyalty to the Starks. Her name coming out of literal nowhere for no narrative need. And given that we have both Arya and Sansa hiding under aliases and Lyanna clearly tied to both of them repeatedly in the novels: Lyanna hid under an alias. Probably under "Wylla". Likely dying her hair as we see with both Sansa and Wylla Manderly. But I do think there's a decent chance Ashara is Quaithe. But he fought on Robert's side and was his bestest bud. Really don't think Ned would need any protection. . . ETA: That said, I do agree that Ashara may have had to "give up" a baby--if she's Dany's mother (a theory I'm still very partial to) via Rhaegar, that baby would have to be hidden. Just like Mance's baby (if for different reasons). Under another identity. So, I think that echo could hold. . . in lots of ways.

I am also intrigued. Am also wondering how this might affect/increase Dany's reaction to Young Griff. . . if she reads Rhaegar's take on things, via Aemon's journals. . .

Agreed. I'm liking this very much. Am also worried about Mance's baby. But this is getting me very speculative about Summerhall again--was the idea just to sacrifice one child for the dragon eggs--which is plenty horrifying. If so, it could mean Dany under Marwyn's "guidance" could try to up the ante and sacrifice two people with kingsblood at once. . .

Might depend on what "worthy" means to the Daynes--12-14 is super young. But we don't fully know their criteria. Are you thinking Darkstar will be Sword of the Morning? Really seems like he knows the family isn't giving him that role. . .

I'm more partial to the theory that Sansa as Alayne and Arya as all of her aliases is giving us in for about Lyanna, not Ashara. But your scenario has to be on the table. Or--the Daynes just didn't name a Sword of the Morning that generation. GRRM makes it sound like it's not that unusual for the Daynes to leave the position open for a while. That it's less about someone being "un" worthy and more about someone being super-duper worthy. 1. This is still my biggest hope for Jon's parentage. I don't think it's happening, but I'm not giving up yet! 2. In the World Book and GRRM's SSM, only someone "of House Dayne" can be Sword of the Morning. So far in the novels, people are only described as "of a House" if their father is from that house. IE: Even at Riverrun, I don't think Robb was even called "of House Tully." It's a phrase that always seems tied to paternity. And to fathers--not grandfathers, grandmothers, etc. If that holds, and if Jon is the next Sword of the Morning, his daddy's a Dayne.

This is an interesting question. Not every great house is represented in the KG over time (far as I can tell)--so that may be a factor. And we know not every generation has a Sword of the Morning--so that could be a factor, too. Too few Sword of the Mornings were close to the crown. But if the story of Just Maid is tied to the history of the Sword of the Morning, really could mean that Dawn isn't to be used lightly, let alone regularly in fights. Brine understands this and only uses Oathkeeper rarely. So--was Arthur making a mistake by agreeing to be in the KG? Is his service to the Dragon part of what helped open the door to the Others' return? It would explain why no other Sword of the Morning has served the Dragon--Arthur messed up, probably to help his best friend. And it would explain the significance of the fight between Ned and Arthur--not just a Night's King vs. Day's King. But a Night's King trying to do the right thing against a Day's King who screwed up and used Dawn in service to Aerys the Wannabe Dragon. We may even have an echo of it in Ned's execution: the Stark leave Winterfell to serve the crown and ends up executed with Ice, a sword which is a stand in for an older, lost sword named Ice. Milkglass Dawn looks a lot like ice. . . . Definitely looks like an Others' sword. Both Ned and Arthur served the wrong power--the Game of Thrones--instead of just taking care of the people and the land--the lesson we see Jon learn at the Wall. And so Ned and Arthur both end up executed with their own swords.

Not a pleasant thought. But it's gotta be an option. Could be--Dany is certainly more likely to be more sympathetic to a dead Aemon than whenever she runs into Young Griff/Aegon. I also wonder how the "Prince that was Promised" revelation will hit Dany--did Gilly hear Aemon say he thought it could be a girl? Might drive Dany further into her sense of entitlement. Wait--so you are thinking the fire is simply to burn a dead relative? Hmmm . . . if that prophecy is even correct (a big if) that seems rather . . . mundane. . .

If this was the original plan, can't see any reason why GRRM would change his mind. His original plan was to age up the Stark kids to make their stories more adult. When the multi-year gap no longer seemed workable, he then just basically made them into moderate Wonderkids. So, kept to his plan despite their ages. He's had Ned Dayne in the Appendices since Game--he's had a reason for that kid from the get go. So, if he was planning of Ned Dayne as Sword of the Morning, he'd stick with it. But I really, really doubt Ned Dayne's the one. I think he's much more likely there to make the necessary connection between Starfall and Winterfell for the reader. Maybe he'll be the one who transports Dawn to the next Sword of the Morning. Can't see Ned at the wielder. He's Lord of Starfall, a squire, and a narrative help. But Jon's the one who's been longing all his life to win a greatsword that will give him a family name. And he's the one who has that almost epiphanic moment with the Sword of the Morning when he's spent the previous chapter consistently asking "who am I?" Theories are just theories--until/unless the next book comes. And then we'll have more theories. Might depend on what the Daynes see as "worthy."

Ooooh! Very interesting. Are you thinking he might be willing to use Mance's kid? Something like that?

Makes you wonder what the Night's King was really like!

Yup! I like the Matriarchal implications. And I'm pretty sure Allyria is at Starfall--so, she could be the one? Maybe we're seeing narrative hints of that with her betrothal to Beric, the Lightning Lord? His sigil seems like a tie to the Daynes. Could be a stretch. Loving this scenario! Yeah--I think she's still on the ship. What makes you think she's on the way to Dany? I'm missing something.

Darkstar could be an excellent catalyst--give him something important to do narratively--stealing that sword. Making a big mess. Moving stuff about. But I agree that he's unlikely to be the Sword of the Morning, being "Of the douchebag-filled night." And I think he may also be a narrative marker: the Night's King/Sword of the Evening covets Dawn. May be showing us what "the Battle for Dawn" really was. . . Could be. Or just want Westeros back--kinda depends on what the Others want. If they hate living things as Old Nan says, they'd want free rein. Might also be the Night's King who wants the sword back--if Black Crow is right and he's coming back, dude would want his sword.

According to this SSM, it's only a Dayne. “George said the Sword of the Morning is always a member of House Dayne, someone who is deemed worthy of wielding Dawn as decided within the House, that whoever it is would have to earn the right to wield it.” http://www.westeros.org/Citadel/SSM/Entry/US_Signing_Tour_Albuquerque_NM I like the idea of the sword choosing worthiness--really seems like there has to be some magic to it. There's also the story of Just Maid, where it's bestowed by a woman--but then only used by Galladon against worthy opponents. Seems like that might be part of the criteria for Dawn? And maybe we're seeing another version of that with Brienne and how careful she is with Oathkeeper. If that "care" is part of it, I', wondering if Arthur went too far in using Dawn . . . And its power for light: I'm still thinking Dawn burns red at the right moment with the right wielder. All the stories of how a magic sword is magic in the novels--the main one is Lightbringer--and the story is awful. It's probably wishful thinking, but I'm hoping the story of Just Maid is closer to the "real" story about the sword that brings light.

Yup! It can't be the fact that Ned returned the sword that makes them like him so much. Something else is up. I've got theories--but one way or another, there's a bunch of the story missing about why Ned regrets Arthur's death so much (according to Bran)--and why the Daynes admire Ned so much that the current Lord of Starfall thinks it's cool that he's milk brothers with the Bastard of Winterfell.