Bowen 747

Maesters are not expected to depend on one another in battle. The same for the Silent Sisters. A fitting ending for Sansa is this non-talkative sisterhood. The Night's Watch depend on one another in life or death situations. They are a family. Mance Rayder really did a very bad thing when he left and then joined the wildlings. I see little to no good in that man. He should have been executed. Bowen and the men who killed Jon will be executed as kinslayers (rebels who killed their sworn brother). But they knew that going in. They were sacrificing themselves to put a stop to Jon's foolishness.

7-10 days. The re-read will be considerably longer.

Dawn was made of a material which should be called "unobtanium." It was made from a meteor, according to legend. The material is out of this world. I do not believe this is the same as Dragonsteel. Dawn is a one of a kind weapon. Dragonsteel is Valyrian Steel. It is a material combining strength and light weight. Great for making blades, protective suits, and airplanes. VS has properties which make it resistant to going brittle from extreme cold. We have yet to be told the properties of Dawn.

Jon's

The chance to permanently get rid of the Greyjoys came after their defeat. Robert should have sent the boys to the wall and fostered Asha with the Tarlys. Samwell needs a role model.

This revolution will bring on pain and sorrow for many. But we have to remember that slavery cause more pain, sorrow, suffering, and death. Life did not become peachy after the end of slavery in America. The destruction of the south brought suffering to many. But I have not heard anybody say it was not worth it. Perfection is not possible but improvement is. That is what we can expect, an improvement in the lives of most people. An opportunity for the people to pursue their own happiness and make choices in life. Always strive to make things better but do not let the fact that everything won't be perfect keep you from making a change. The wind of change will sweep across the land. Dany will only be directly involved for the revolution in Meereen. But the slaves themselves will carry out the purge of their masters elsewhere. I'm talking about Volantis and other cities. How the revolution happens and how brutal will depend on the slaves and the masters for each city. The more the masters resist the higher the level of violence will increase. The ball is really in the master's court. None of this violence will be necessary if they freed their captives (slaves). It is their choice. Genocide? It doesn't have to be. The masters can release their slaves and there will be no further need for violence. I am not claiming some disgruntled slave in a farm somewhere won't go back and kill his old master for revenge. Those kinds of things happen and nobody can prevent that. Bad things will happen but the revolution will be beneficial overall. It is also the right thing to happen.

I don't know. Cat can wait it until Loras calmed down. Talk to him soothingly and sympathetically. Work the conversation to the shadow. The Tyrells may hold her for hostage. She will be treated gently because of her status and value as hostage.

Agreed. They can step down but they will never be able to leave the Watch. They just get a different assignment. But no to leaving the Watch.

Cat would try at an explanation. Is Loras in a fit state of mind to listen to Cat describe a shadow assassin that looked like his brother?

Westeros would suffer for it. King Jon's reign will be some of the darkest years in Westeros. Times will be bleak indeed.

How do you think the great lords became "great" lords? By conquest. The Starks themselves had to battle the other families in the north to become the Kings in the North. Achieved through violence. Probably hundreds of years of violence against men, women, and children. Most of Aegon's victories were at least against soldiers.

Bowen Marsh Greyworm

Robb escalated the conflict to a higher notch. It started out with Catelyn wanting to punish the man who injured her son and Robb feeling the need to rescue his treasonous father. Tywin raided the Riverlands. Robb was called to King's Landing but chose to march in force instead. Then had the gall to declare the north an independent kingdom. The Starks were reprehensible too. Guest rights is no more important than oaths. The red wedding ended the conflict between the Lannisters and the Starks. It did so with the minimum number of casualties and avoided hurting the non-combatants, save a few. Like it or not, the red wedding did more good than harm. Being harmful to the Starks does not mean it is bad for the overall good. It was a dirty trick. But dirty tricks are used on the battlefield too. The people who died at the red wedding are soldiers. Soldiers dying is preferable to civilians dying. I know, the soldiers are only recruited part-time soldiers but still, these men would sack cities and loot if given the chance. They are not exactly squeaky clean themselves. Tywin, Walder, and Roose preserved the unity of Westeros. If we can all agree that preserving the land as a whole is a good thing then we have to say the Starks were in the wrong. Tywin played dirty to get rid of a dangerous enemy who wants to break up the kingdom. And he did it with minimal loses to his supporters. Walder handled it in such a way as to keep the risk to his people as low as possible, which is what a responsible leader and lord should do. They are better leaders than Robb who endangered the safety of his followers just to dip his droopy weenie in the woman he loves. Tywin and Walder were looking out for their people. Robb put his heart above his people.

The Starks engaged in human sacrifice. That is how their tree got so big. The people of the north are generally not sacrificing. It is the Starks who ruled and therefore made the periodic offerings. The Children were also feeding blood, animal and human, to the trees.