Darth Sidious

Bran is angry but composed for the moment. He will lose it after he learns his fall was Jaime’s choice. That will be the moment he flips to the darkness. Strong emotions is the enemy. Love or hate doesn’t matter. It leads to a tragic character pivot that leads to more sorrow and destruction.

Ned Stark was our intro to the Starks. He was presented to us as a man with morality and compassion. But we need to look at his childhood to see why he was different from Brandon and Lyanna. He was fostered at the Vale and away from Brandon. He was not meant to rule the north. The ritual of the blood sacrifice is understandably kept a secret from the Crown. Only the reigning lord of Winterfell and his heir would know to carry it out. The Starks could have continued the ritual until the death of Rickard Stark. Ned washed the blood of those he killed in the pond. That blood, even if Ned was unaware, fed the tree. The tree was not exactly starving but the amount of human fertilizer had become a trickle. So the Gods brought about the births of a generation of Starks with abilities to reconnect to nature. These Stark kids will be murdering and pouring blood back to the trees.

Thirteen years. It took that long to stop him. It makes sense if the Starks were protecting him. He was one of their own. All the trouble caused by Brandon and Lyanna and they were still buried with honors in the crypts. The commander’s frozen remains is also down there. He loved his bride and would protect her body from desecration. Either she is hidden somewhere in the Wall or she still lives. If the latter, she will be looking for his reincarnation, Jon Snow.

Prince Aegon was known to still live. Rhaegar died before Aegon. So unless you try desperately to rework the story and make up your own plot, it is not likely for Jon to have the same name. Further, I do not agree with the R + L = J theory. But even if that were the case, Lyanna is not a Targaryen. At best, she was Rhaegar’s mistress. Any child of their is not legitimate. The last thing Lyanna would do is give him a name that would draw attention.

If I recall, Jon has gray eyes. The color of Stan’s eyes are highlighted in the vision. Stone is gray, so that is a clue pointing to Jon.

Euron is Harren on steroids. Daenerys is Aegon the Conqueror on steroids. George will turn up the drama dial higher. Daenerys will attack Harrenhal with not one but three dragons. Harrenhal will be flattened with Euron inside.

Roose had to obey Robb. At least it had to look that way. The Starks would have done to his Dreadfort what the Tullys did to the Goodbrooks.

Aerea was an adventurous girl. Balerion did not fly non-stop. She could have gotten off and found a way back home if she had wanted to. She was not completely unwilling. She also had little control though. Why is the story significant? Because it happened to Dany with Drogon. First time rider was taken where the dragon wanted to go. It happens with wolves too. Rickon could not control his direwolf. Stranger is not an easy horse to ride. I would think an F1 is not an easy car to drive. Viserion and Rhaegal will do the same to their riders, take them for a ride.

What every bastard wants. Legitimacy. Respect. To belong. He will try to make a name for himself and become a raised noble. Illegitimacy is a major plot in this series.

This is Roose’s view, yes. He bends the law. He broke the ban on the right of the first knight, when it disagreed with his northern tradition. He appears from the outside to follow the laws, but secretly broke that one. He had Ramsey legitimized to make him acceptable to the eyes of the north.

Roose is only following tradition. Ramsay is the only son and thus born to have authority. Roose follows traditions he agrees with. He can defend his role in the Stark downfall this way. The Starks rebelled and he had a duty to stop them.

Euron is the Harren of this age. The House of Hoare was unstoppable and ruled a substantial part of Westeros. None of the other houses could match him. Euron will do the same. Conquer the same lands. The dragons will come and give him and his a good roasting. The Tullys and the other families will end, like the Mudds. The Targaryen will raise her supporters to lordships to take their places. As for the castle, it will be burned.

Bran’s prophetic dream of the stone giant with black blood hints at Robb’s head.

Most folks are not interested in conquering the north. It would not bring much in the way of tax revenues. It’s a dismal land. Though it would be good to break the north apart into several smaller kingdoms to keep the Starks weak. What is even better is to keep the Starks down. Don’t let them get back on their feet to cause any more trouble. You do that by marrying one of the girls to a boy from a minor house. The lords are so weak now that resistance will be minimal.

Osha can be forgiven for not trusting a Stark vassal. They will help Bran but could just hang her for trespassing. Skagos is remotre enough to be safe from Theon.