Canon Claude

To be fair, Robb was still growing when that observation was made. Later on in the story, Catelyn describes Robb as being 'tall', so we can assume that he's had a growth spurt since the start of AGOT. For all we know, he could have wielded Ice efficiently, especially from horseback.

I can see why Daemon Blackfyre got hold of his sword. It was Aegon who gifted it to him, and Daeron didn't want to rock the boat by demanding it back, especially given that Aegon legitimized him. But Brynden, as far as we know, was never gifted Dark Sister by Aegon. So what reason did Daeron have gifting that sword to Brynden rather than Baelor or even Maekar? It's not like Baelor wouldn't have found Dark Sister useful in time of war, especially against the rebel leader wielding Blackfyre. Did GRRM just really want Bloodraven and Bittersteel to have their bastardbowl?

Honestly, Stannis would have been much more content in the North. He doesn't believe in the Seven anyway, he hates frivolity, he's blunt and honest, prefers to personally deal out justice. If he'd been born a Stark of Winterfell, he'd have probably preferred his lot in life.

Then why did the Dornish return Blackfyre to House Targaryen after they killed Daeron I? They could have just kept it for themselves, by that logic.

And a far better heir. But I think James has a point, Robert is the bigger disappointment because of what he could have been.

You'd think that would have had higher consequences than it did. Valyrian Steel blades are basically priceless, and they are often ancient heirlooms which are closely associated with their respective houses. Tywin had a lot of nerve to not only steal Ice for himself, but also melt it down to make two swords. That sets a very dangerous precedent for any house moving forward. Imagine if the Daynes of Starfall had been in Eddard's position. Would Tywin have stolen Dawn and done the same? The backlash would have been incredible, especially from any house with their own Valyrian Steel blades to protect. No amount of gold that Tywin had offered was enough for any house to part with their blades. The theft of one of these blades should have been high scandal, no?

I’m seriously considering not coming back to this board until the new book comes out.

Since this is relevant to the topic, I think the laziest naming that GRRM ever did was take the two most well known and mysterious Masters of Whispers and give them names which are just one letter away from each other.

“At some point in their history, House Darry’s sigil was changed from a plow man tilling his field, to a large gatehouse.”

Good lord, we need another book.

Does Oberyn have a grudge against the Tyrells, though? It really seems like that “feud” is one sided and mostly kept going by Mace. Oberyn is contemptuous of Mace, yes, but so are many other people.

Why would he go anyway? He has sons and grandsons to do his fighting for him. And it isn’t like Stevron is hoping to show his gallantry, he’s not portrayed as a man obsessed with bravery and war prowess.

Given that Stevron Frey was probably murdered in the canon by his own grandson, I’d say Stevron would have been murdered anyway, whether he was Lord of the Twins or not. Black Walder is probably thanking Lady Stoneheart for doing his job for him.

Okay, I refuse to believe that Perwyn or Olyvar would kill Edmure if their sister bears a son. Her half brothers, yes, but not those two. They couldn’t even be trusted to take part in the Red Wedding.

Your ancestors probably didn’t deserve to continue either, then. Cannibalism has occurred frequently in human history, far more frequently than we want to think about.

Why? Seems like he belongs in House Bolton.

GRRM’s world is full of misfits, but the tragedy is that some of them clearly could have been happier if they’d been born into a different family which already exists. Any examples come to mind?

You’re confusing the abomination for the books. Robb didn’t marry Jeyne for love. He married her because he was being nursed by her, he was grieving the deaths of his brothers, and she “comforted” him. His sense of honour meant that he had to marry her since he’d taken her virginity.

To be honest, I do think that Ned wasn’t meant to be a true Stark. He wasn’t raised in the North, he was raised in the Vale by Jon Arryn. Ned rarely thinks of his own father, it’s Jon who occupies that space in his memory. Keep in mind, the first thing that people associate with Ned is his sense of honour. The Starks never embodied honour, traditionally. They were definitely blunt and honest, sure, and they did keep to strict codes which set them apart from other houses, but they were also savages at heart. They were wolves, and wolves don’t devote everything to honour. Ned got that obsession with honour from the Vale, from the man whose house motto literally says “as high as honour”. And really, the story shows just how badly things go for House Stark because they’ve lost their way. Ned isn’t a true Stark, or else he wouldn’t need to be persuaded so hard to keep the direwolf pups. Any true Stark would have seen what that sign was. And his son’s downfall is largely due to him being Ned’s son. Robb shows great promise at first, but then distances himself from his wolf, and also does the “honourable” thing where Jeyne Westerling is concerned. You could even make an argument that Ned and his children represent the south’s influence on the North, and their corruption of House Stark from their past and heritage.

And the two most important ones also have near identical names.

More houses that openly worship the old gods south of the Neck. I get that the Andals agreed to keep the godswoods in order to appease their subjects, but I don’t see why they’d keep them by the time most people worship the Andal faith instead. There needs to be a slightly higher amount of old god worshippers for it to make sense. Besides Blackwood, I’d also make Houses Royce, Tarly, Hunter, and Crakehall into old god worshippers (the ones most associated with either the forests or the First Men).

Visenya seemed convinced that the dragons wouldn’t have been able to penetrate or destroy Casterly Rock.

That’s a very good point. But to be fair, holidays wouldn’t work so well in ASOIAF because nobody can guess which season it’ll be any given year. Hard to plan celebrations around the fact that you might be stuck indoors just to avoid freezing to death.

You should change your name to either Loras Tyrell or Brienne of Tarth, heh.

Gotta love the conspiracy theories which fans make…