Angel Eyes

Perhaps Tywin gave Tysha to the horses. Being Mr. Hand and all.

If there's anything Oberyn understood, it was image politics. In his party to King's Landing he brings lords, ladies, and heirs from all across Dorne, who had interests in the political games of Westeros and whose reputations dwarfed Tyrion's own party. Contrast Quentyn's green band of not-so-merry men who were pretty much all from Yronwood: Cletus, Archibald, Gerris Drinkwater, the dead maester, and pretty much showed that the only one supporting Doran was House Yronwood.

I've always wondered what sort of cock and bull story Jon Arryn cooked up, including the return of bones, because we all know returning bones always reduces hostilities. As far as Viserys and Arianne was concerned, I've also wondered why Doran gave up on him so early, unless this was a retcon by GRRM.

A.) If starting after Robert's Rebellion, start building up forces after losses taken during the war. Keep a watch on Viserys and Daenerys Targaryen, the former is supposed to be my goodson after all, wouldn't want him to a liability. If fostering him is not an option, arrange for my daughter Arianne to meet him overseas at the most and start up correspondence at the least. A lot of what I would do is detailed in this blog post. https://warsandpoliticsoficeandfire.wordpress.com/2016/03/11/the-windblown-grass-doran-martell/

2. Second wife; his first one was a Glover who died.

I remember watching The Last Samurai (the one with Tom Cruise not Lance Henriksen) and started thinking about how a force like the Dothraki, a culture based on the art of war for centuries but with few resources, could fare against a better-equipped foe. In the first battle, the Japanese soldiers, under Algren's command, are ill-trained and prone to panic, even with Algren and Gant. During this battle there don't seem to be any officers aside from Colonel Bagley (who's at the rear), General Hasegawa, Algren, Gant, and an unnamed junior officer who shows up later. Bagley sees the Samurai as savages, but Algren counters that their focus for the last thousand years has been war. The Samurai, led by Katsumoto, take advantage of a fog bank and attack the troops in a forest, which limits their ability to shoot straight. And the soldiers are afraid of the Samurai, who'd once held power of life and death over them. Cue near-immediate rout with most of the (very few) Samurai casualties personally inflicted by Algren and Gant (who is killed), while Hasegawa commits seppuku. In the final battle, Bagley, now directly subordinate to the Emperor's advisor Omura on the battlefield, with better-trained troops, more time to prepare, and more firepower, is wise to how the Samurai operate and starts off with a howitzer barrage. The Samurai, now advised by Algren, retreat and Bagley is hesitant, but Omura, who is a)overconfident, b) has no experience, and c) dismissive of the Samurai, overrules him and orders the bulk of the army to attack... which plays right into the Samurai's hands as the troops, now in range of arrow fire, get trapped by flammable mines. Cue a brutal melee. However this time there's enough soldiers that the Samurai are ground down to only a few dozen. Katsumoto, who knew defeat was inevitable, orders a suicidal charge that breaks through the infantry lines; Algren kills Bagley, but the charge is silenced by Gatling guns. Katsumoto commits seppuku with Algren's help. However, Katsumoto never actually meant to win, but to teach his pupil the Emperor that the values that Katsumoto held dear had a place in Japanese society. In contrast, Omura's inexperience in battle (he is a businessman) and general dismissive behavior towards the Samurai made the battle closer than it should have been, and played right into Katsumoto's hands. While the tactics themselves are somewhat suspect, it's in line with the storytelling and characters. On the other hand, would the Dothraki be smart enough to use such means to their advantage?

Tell that to Little Walder who started hanging round with Ramsay.

Does it? Rodrik Cassel is a Ser but he isn't explicitly stated to follow the Seven.

The Watch has been failing and falling for years. And how will the Dothraki become part of Daenerys' army? It was pretty clear what was going to happen to her with Drogo's death. Unless Daenerys goes the show's route where she burns all the Khals...

Would Winterfell want her? Several of the lords know Robb wrote her off.

If he was renowned, how come that isn't mentioned?

So in the Strange Marriages thread, I was intrigued by one particular marriage between Branda Stark, elder daughter of Rodrik Stark, and Harrold Rogers of the Stormlands. Simply put, Harrold Rogers is/was a mere knight, several degrees below a lordship of any kind (and on the other side of the country to boot). How come the Starks were content with marrying Branda to a knight? If Branda were unmarried, why wasn't she flung at Rickard, whom her sister Lyarra married?

Take it up with GRRM; he's the one who wanted to subvert expectations about characters coming back from the dead.

He's never described as doing any fighting and since Westeros is a society that prides martial ability in its leaders, especially one like the Ironborn, I would think it would have been mentioned.

So it's mentioned that Balon Greyjoy was a fierce and fearless raider in his youth, but he doesn't do much during his rebellions, just sits back on Pyke and lets his brothers and children do the fighting. He's also mentioned to have a stoop in his shoulder. Now there doesn't seem to be much opportunity for reaving and warfare during Balon's youth; judging by the calculations on the wiki he would have been no more than a child during the War of the Ninepenny Kings and not even in his teens if he participated in Quellon's raids on Faircastle (Tytos Lannister, who was Lord of Casterly Rock at the time, died in 267 where Balon would have been 12 at the most). That leaves Robert's Rebellion where Lord Quellon was killed at the Mander and Balon led the retreat back to Pyke to claim the Seastone Chair. So is it possible that Balon suffered a shoulder injury during the Battle at the Mander which prevents him from fighting (and somehow he isn't usurped)?

Dany's prospects aren't looking too good; she's stuck in the Dothraki Sea puking one way and excreting green slime the other, with a band of Dothraki bearing down on her, suffering visions that tell her "Dragons plant no trees", advice that she's likely to follow.

I thought it says in-text that Ilyn Payne was appointed the King's Justice just after Robert's Rebellion as a "wedding present" from Tywin.

Balon's mentioned as having a stoop in his shoulder; could he have suffered that at the Battle of the Mander in Robert's Rebellion since he doesn't do any fighting during either time the Greyjoys rebel under his rule?

Like how Dany forgot about the Iron Fleet?

Going off of that, I'm surprised that the North wouldn't have some form of defense or alert system in place since the Ironborn like to raid them (i.e. the reason why Dunk and Egg were headed northwards in The Mystery Knight because the Ironborn were threatening three coastlines).

And in other cases, the silver mines the Greatjon seized (which are technically still underwater) barely put a dent.

Simply thinking about Branda Stark, there's the fact that Harrold Rogers is a mere knight, somewhat lower on the Westerosi food chain, meaning little is gained. Also, Rickard married her younger sister Lyarra; typically an older daughter is preferred for a match if both are single (e.g. Laban deceiving Jacob by swapping Leah and Rachel or Lady Catherine de Bourgh's surprise that Kitty and Lydia Bennet are out in society before their eldest sister Jane is married). Could this mean that Branda was already married by the time Rickard was of age?

I left out the southron ambitions on purpose. But even if Rickard has southron ambitions on his mind, did he need to make a match for Lyanna with someone who was decidedly unsuitable not to mention on the other side of the country? He could have tried making one for Lyanna with Jaime (pre-Kingsguard) and Jaime would have an advantage because he was closer.

Rickard was simply stupid, not plotting. That alliance via Robert and Lyanna's marriage would probably have fallen apart like a house of cards.

4. It makes sense when you're trying to frighten or trap. e.g. The Magnificent Seven (2016) when several wagons are set on fire by Red Harvest, frightening horses and forcing some of the bad guys to turn round or just stop. 5. With that Return of the King reference, that was intentional on the writers' part to show how much the pressure has gotten to Denethor. 6. I wonder how Renly managed to accommodate that many at one time.