X-Buster

Some students fail.  Jon failed to learn his duty at the wall.  He broke the Order.  

Gray zone characters populate the pages. Why not the Others as well.  GRRM wanted us to think the Others are the villains but they might be justified in hating the humans.  We sympathize with the human side. but that can change if some pivotal piece of information should reveal a crime by the humans against this other species.  

They wear armor.  So they are not arctic animals.  They make tools.  Craster had a system where he gives them his sons and they let him live.  The Others taught the First Men to give their sons and got blessed with Skin Changing abilities.  The pact broke when the Right Of The First Night stopped and the bastards conceived from the tryst.  What man throws away the Others salvage out of need.  An all male species is not reproducing.  They need young male babies they can turn.  They treat humans like livestock because they have to.  Losing the Lord's Right decreased the number of bastards.  

It means no gridlock.  Two of the three will agree and have majority on decisions.  Decisions are still subject to negotiations so there is some democracy in there.

On 12/28/2024 at 2:24 PM, Takiedevushkikakzvezdy said:

As long as Roslin and Olyvar survive the whole ordeal, I’ll be content.

Numbers are on their side.  The Freys are also more intelligent compared to the Starks.  Most Freys should survive. 

4 minutes ago, Hippocras said:

I mean,

Aerys hired Tywin as Hand right after Tywin's mass murder or Reynes and Tarbeks. Think about that: hey! That guy is a super effective murderer, let's put him in charge of the 7K!

Familiarity.  They were friends.  Aerys gave Tywin his spurs.  They fought together in the Stepstones if I recall.  

Conventional wisdom says Jon will be treated like a criminal when he comes back.  The story is unconventional to say the least.  We can look at two miracles to guess what could happen.  I'm not saying I want it but only to say it can happen.  Three dragons got resurrected at the end of the Game of Thrones.  Skeptical Dothrakis lost their doubts and bowed to Dany because she lived and brought the dragons.  Cat came back from death and somehow the brotherhood follows her lead.  I think Jon will be brought back by the Others and the Wildlings will follow him.  

How did Walda respond after her father was killed by Cat's merry men?  

We have clues to show those taboos were violated often.  The cannibalism in Skagos. Bran ate wights. Incest can't be that rare.  Targaryens, Jaime, Cersei, and Craster were violating that.  Although exceptions were made for the Targaryens because of their uniqueness and where they originated.  Babies left out in the cold to die.  Cannibalism is out of fashion but people still do it outside of the meanstream.  Little Lord Rickon can make it normal.  

5 minutes ago, TheKnightOfTheNorth said:

Accused of treason is completely different from guilty of treason. If Aerys summoned them to court or ordered Jon Arryn to bring them to court for a fair trial, it would have been Jon Arryn's duty to do so and balking at that would have been a crime.

But Aerys outright demanded their heads, with no trial or fair judgement. And I believe his decision to do so won more supporters for Robert.

I have to give you this point. It needed proving. First son Brandon was guilty of threatening to murder Prince Rhaegar and the Targaryens.  An offense punishable by death.  But fairness means not to apply guilt by kinship.  Ned is not liable for the crimes of his brother.  

Stygai makes the top of the list of scariest places in the world.  Travelers are cautioned to avoid but they are ancient and can hold important secrets long forgotten by the greater world.  Qaithe tells Dany to go east and find answers.  Perseus needed answers to his questions and sought the stygian witches.  Might Dany need to do the same?  Stygai is in the east.  I say to George R. R. Martin to make the world of the story bigger and take his readers to Stygai.  

The colors of the sky mirror the shifts in the story.  The blood red sky at the tower of joy is one example.  The blue of the roses had turned black.  Westeros was never the same, Ned was never the same.  Asha is the subject and something in her life will shift.  Stannis will win his battle with Roose (dark clouds and storms receding) but clear sky will not make it better because the Others and Winter are coming.  Ned is the first-person during the fever dream.  Asha is the first-person in this view and she will also experience change.  

39 minutes ago, Angel Eyes said:

Which technically violates guest rights, does it not?

The lads were accused of treason.  That is very serious.  Guest rights was never meant to harbor criminals to help them escape prosecution.  

On 12/26/2024 at 6:01 PM, Angel Eyes said:

Why was Robert chosen to be Lyanna's spouse? Surely there were other options available that were a lot closer distance-wise and with equal political connections (and weren't a complete mismatch personality-wise). Jaime Lannister, son of the Hand of the King, Elbert Arryn, the nephew of Ned's foster-father and a companion to Lyanna's brother Brandon, or Edmure Tully, son of Brandon's goodfather to be.

Now that I think about it though, this really makes me think of how much Ned was a dunce about how people felt. He knew that Robert was an unsuitable match for Lyanna yet pressed the match into his father's hands, and never once does he think that Sansa's match to Joffrey was a mistake, even though Joffrey had more red flags than Robert and just as many as Mark Wahlberg's psychotic boyfriend in Fear.

   ~laughing while reading~  His fans will click thumbs down. 

Robert was a bad groom for the sister and will only make her unhappy.  I can only think the Starks were supporting Robert to put him on the throne.  Which is a serious crime.  

23 hours ago, TheKnightOfTheNorth said:

Robb's betrayal is one thing, shooting crossbows at a guest in a wedding you are hosting is quite another. Besides he was even unarmed when the quarrel hit him.

Would Manderly feel any differently if his had fallen in battle?  Is he any different from Lord Karstark in that regard?  Would the Starks attitude be different if Rickard had lost the trial of combat and both he and his son were killed?  I would not think so. 

Robb's betrayal was very bad in the eyes of the Freys.  His behavior showed a lack of respect for the lost life of Lord Walder's heir who fought for Robb. 

14 hours ago, The Wondering Wolf said:

Well, what exactly were they guilty of?

Their families were linking to build a military alliance and doing this through marriages.  The coalition of Stark-Baratheon-Tully-Arryn would have more power if the proposed marriages had taken place.  They were going to become a threat to the ruling dynasty.  The Targaryens could not allow this coalition to happen.  Somebody trusted by the Targaryens should have talked to these families and told them to disband and find other brides and grooms for their children.  It is unwise to challenge your king and that was what they were doing.  Somebody was whispering in the king's ear and told him what was happening and how to stop it.

And Marwyn tossed riddles at Samwell.  More like questions but the big boy didn't seem to notice. 

11 hours ago, TheKnightOfTheNorth said:

Hi there!

Robert Baratheon became lord of Storm's End in his own right after the death of his parents. Yet later Aerys demands Robert and Ned's heads as traitors from Jon Arryn who was their guardian. Which means Robert is still his ward.

The thing that causes confusion is this:

In the medieval England it was common for second sons and the heirs of the lesser lords to serve their guardian even after their coming of age or after receiving knighthood (the same is practiced in ASOIAF I suppose), yet I cannot think of any great lord requiring a guardian after they reach the proper age.

The thing which is a little queer here is why Robert is refered as Jon's ward when all the stormlanders do homage to him and he is no longer a child or a teenager but an adult.

People do homage to Robert Arryn though he is still a child. People obey Joffrey even if he's nuts as well as being a minor.  Jon Arryn was the Warden of the East and Robert was his guests and former ward.  Aerys gave Jon Arryn the authority and the command to take Robert and behead him.  Something Jon Arryn was required to do and should have done.  Aerys had good reasons to consider the boys guilty of treason.  They were old enough to know the laws. 

On 12/19/2024 at 2:05 AM, Aebram said:

In chapter 37, when the wedding pies are rolled out, Lord Manderly gets out of his seat and begins serving the pies to the guests, starting with Roose Bolton, his Frey wife, and two of Walder Frey's sons. Doesn't that seem odd? He is in his sixties and morbidly obese; yet he happily stands up, and interrupts his own feasting, to serve food to his enemies. Perhaps you didn't notice the oddity, but others in the room did, and they bring it to our attention:

Did Roose eat any of the servings?  Barbrey says he's a suspicious man and suspects the fat man of something akin to treachery.  The people who knew Wayman would understandably notice the strangeness but if they were hungry it may not keep them from eating free food.  Good judgment goes away when the belly is demanding satisfaction.  Roose is a disciplined man and the exception. 

Wayman is sinning against the gods by doing this very terrible thing.  His son chose to go to war.  Their lord Robb betrayed an ally.  Wayman should blame the Starks for his sons death. 

On 12/20/2024 at 8:03 PM, Lady Rhodes said:

If all the members were present at Harrenhal to welcome Jaime into the kingsguard, where were Rhaella and Viserys? 
 

There is a passing reference in the World book to Aerys sending Jaime back to King’s Landing to guard Rhaella and Viserys. Gerold Hightower offered to go in his stead, but Aerys insisted it be Jaime. So why were Rhaella and Viserys left unguarded in King’s Landing? If Aerys was paranoid enough to have his own personal tasters ensuring Viserys wasn’t poisoned, why would he leave them alone?

 

Aerys was expecting betrayal.  He was not about to take his Queen Rhaella and young Viserys into battle.  It was a political battle but nonetheless could get ugly.  He would leave them somewhere safe, in the Red Keep.  They were at the safest place they could be within its walls.  Aerys only left the secure protection of the walls because he felt threatened by the gathering.  The move does not in any way devalue the importance of the Queen and Viserys.  I say it's the opposite. 

To have sympathy for a character does not mean wanting them to get out from getting their punishments.  I have sympathy for even somebody like Arya but no way do I want her to get away with her terrible crimes.  Arya mutilates the dead and uses the body parts like disguises in order to commit even more terrible crimes.  She needs to pay for all of that.  Sansa is paying for all the big mistakes and continues to still make.  Sansa is very annoying because of her selfishness.  Arya is more than annoying and has earned the hate she gets from the fandom because of what she does.  Bran gets sympathy and it is not because he had the earliest POV.  Jaime did him very wrong and crippled him for being at the wrong place and at the wrong time.  I cannot wait to see what Bran does to Jaime after he learns who broke his body and for why. 

The two generation brother marrying sister thing was carried out to increase the chance of Dany possessing magic powers.  Magic had to be rare and that is because it is a recessive trait in humans.  The Hightower blood would have forever tainted the family if the offsprings from them had ruled to this day. 

On 11/5/2024 at 6:11 AM, Bloodmage said:

In AGOT, Dany builds a funeral pyre with drogo's body, Mirri tied to it, and her dragon eggs.

What an awesome chapter! I had to continue to Clash after this tour de force of a chapter from Dany.

 

she sets it on fire.... and walks into it. Why? Was she suicidal?

Dany's a smart kid. She wasn't suicidal. I think some memory from the past came out and told her what she needed to resurrect the dragons.

And then for some reason.... the dragons hatch and she is unharmed (except for her hair). How??

Dragons can control fire.  She's as dragon as you can get for a human. If dragons are indeed fire then she is at least partially fire.   

If only death pays for life, whose death paid for the dragons to hatch? Mirri? Killing the woman who made your husband a vegetable allowed 3 dragons to hatch? Really?

Mirri was a woman with knowledge of the healing arts and some hocus pocus but she was just a human in the end.  Magic came from Dany herself.  She had the power to bring back the dead.  I call it benevolent necromancy resurrection thingy. 

Drogo and Rhaego were already dead, so they can't be counted here IMO.

Don't look for an expiration date on the bottle of magic.  Dany sacrificed her husband that was enough.  Three kings died too.  Khal/King Drogo, King Viserys III, and her own heir, Prince Rhaego.  Yeah Rhaego was going to inherit grandad's throne.  King Aerys II would object to a Dothraki sitting on his chair but he's no longer around is he.  He would object to anybody who didn't have the gorgeous blonde hair.  Rhaego might and might not. 

 

Is Dany a fire wight? Did her sacrifice (walking into the fire and killing herself) hatch the dragons and somehow resurrect her??

She's not a fire wight.  She didn't die.  Jorah, her maids, Daario, and Barristan would know if they were in the presence of the walking dead. 

 

Edit: Oh yeah there was also the red comet visible in the skies while this was happening. Could that have amplified existing magic and had a hand in hatching the eggs?

The Red Comet is hers and the sign of her coming.  It was like the arrival of a god shown to the world.