Mark of the West

Bobby Baratheon would be uber pissed that Targaryens were still running around and would have a recently pardoned Barristan put Jaime down. Either that or he is forced to join the Night's Watch. What a fight though if Jaime decides against taking the Black

Littlefinger, Illyrio, and Varys. The rest are actors on a stage set by these three, most without knowing or caring.

Whether he had Stark blood or not, I don't see a daughter of Winterfell choosing a free folk name.

A recurring theme in Tolkien's universe is the idea that the smallest of creatures frequently have the most important role to play. Something similar might have been cool here. Say with Aria having a crucial part in his death. She's small physically but casts a long shadow as Martin likes to say. She could have stuck him with the pointy end somehow.

This is interesting. It would fit his duplicity. Though, how would he, from the Vale, know about the battle in real time?

It isn't Stannis. Whatever his flaws are or will turn out to be in the future, disinformation and dishonesty aren't among them. I guess one make the argument that a person who's down with birthing shadow babies to commit fratricide is only a stone's throw away from penning a poison letter designed to yank John's chain. That smacks more of expediency, or even a bit of cowardice, since Renly may likely have handed him a crushing defeat. But the letter. It doesn't seem like his style, either in content or delivery.

Could be right about Edd. Whatever he decided to do, he would say something to make me lol.

What's the standing order for wildlings and the Night's Watch since old headless Jafer Flowers used Ser Jaremy Rykker as a pin cushion? Burn the bodies. If Jon does warg Ghost, there seems to be little time for his furry rangings before the Men in Black decide to burn Lord Snow. Mel would have to revive him sooner than later. Ghost will stay there, whether Jon wargs or not.

Selmy is held as a paragon of knightly virtues, both physical and otherwise. His reputation of honor and duty remain legendary. I wonder, however, would not honor have dictated that he take the Black after Robert's rebellion? He was elevated to the Targaryen King's guard and served honorably. With the end of that reign he had a choice. Either accept the Usurper's offer to serve a new King he recently opposed or not. His choice was neither wrong nor right but it demonstrated the "flexibility" he was willing to accommodate in his sense of honor. I'm not sure his narrative has much more to offer the story. He will pass the torch to his new generation of "knights" under his charge in Essos and pave the way for his Queen's eventual return, but I don't see him surviving much beyond the coming battle.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ZsY3lcDDtTdBWp1Gx6mfkdtZT6-Gk0kdTGeSC_Dj7WM/htmlview

He was sacrificed at the altar of Gregor's malice, not much else. That he may have known where and who was doing what to whom as it relates to the former Hand of the King was a fortunate happenstance for the schemers involved. Relying on the random availability of an open gorget to conduct a targeted hit seems sloppy.

Then the Gods of the Grove. The Old Gods. It has a Druidic nature I find appealing, a connection to an earlier more magical period when the world was young and uncorrupted by the rise and fall of squabbling empires.

Jaime seems content to be fairly agnostic. Works for me too.