The Bard of Banefort

Let's see. Tywin ordered the gang-rape of his teenage daughter-in-law because she had the audacity to marry above her station, broke one of the realm's most holy laws by organizing an ambush at the Red Wedding (along with the deaths of hundreds of northern soldiers), had an infant and a toddler brutally murdered so that his daughter could marry a king, ordered the rape and murder of the woman who was chosen to marry Rhaegar instead of his daughter, paraded a woman around Lannisport naked because she dared to have a non-adulterous affair with a wealthy lord (notice a pattern here?), allowed his son to be charged with a murder he was innocent of, and unleashed the Mountain on the smallfolk to prove a point. Yeah, the guy's a real hero.

My own headcanon/theory is that one of the dragons will live and fly off east after Dany's death, leaving the possibility of a reemergence of magic somewhere down the line.

For the past few years, I've suspected that Dany will die in some kind of sacrifice to destroy the Others. If she turns villainous beforehand, it will be used as a way to make her sacrifice that much more poignant. I'm not sure about Jon. On the show he didn't change much, but GRRM made it pretty clear in the books that being undead is not a pleasant experience. Perhaps he'll go down in a blaze of glory as well.

Exactly. Personally, I think it's more likely that Jaime will happen across Tysha during his sojourn across Westeros than Tyrion will over in Essos.

While I can understand what Dany's fans are getting at when they insist that she's more than her appearance, so much of her character is tied into her beauty that it's impossible to ignore. GRRM isn't subtle with how attractive the Targaryens are supposed to be: the world book is littered with descriptions of their fabulous hair, striking eyes, and lithe figures. Everyone from Cersei to JonCon is obsessed with how pretty Rhaegar was. The Targaryens' beauty is apparently so mind-blowing that families on Dragonstone thought it was an honor for one of them to shag their daughter/wife/sister on the off-chance that they would conceive a silver-haired bastard of their own. Daenerys is referred to as the "most beautiful woman in the world" frequently, to the point where people on the other side of the world pine for her. Much like how Daemon Blackfyre's appearance helped earn him support in place of his less attractive half-brother, Daeron, Daenerys' appearance improves her image as well. This is something that's well-documented in the real world as well: George Washington being 6'2" and broad-shouldered greatly attributed to his image as a leader and father-figure during the Revolution. JFK was famously aided by his young, attractive features in edging out Richard Nixon for the 1960 presidency. Younger, more attractive actresses frequently beat out their older competitors for roles despite having less experience. So while Daenerys would still have her dragons and her name even without her looks, she would certainly have a rougher time accomplishing what she has so far. Remember, Brienne is also wealthy and highborn, as well as strong, honorable, and kind, yet we've seen time and again how much more difficult things are for her due to her being unattractive. This isn't a coincidence.

I don't know what Ashara's real purpose in the story will ultimately be, but I'm positive that Lyanna and Rhaegar are Jon's real parents. The problem is, R+L=J has been a theory for so long now that fans have gotten bored with it.

1. She's still somewhere in Westeros. I don't think a woman who was brutally assaulted by her husband's family's guards would be pining for him fifteen years later, ala the Sailor's Wife. 2. Lyanna 3. The Green Grace 4. Lyanna 5. He's a Blackfyre, but I don't think this will ever be officially confirmed. 6. Big Walder 7. Probably Ramsay, but it would be more interesting if it were Mance. 8. An old crow 9. An hallucination 10. Multiple people - Dany, Jon, Jaime, Bran, etc.

Hmm, well, this plot does leave room for new feats of magic and crazier plot lines, but I have a feeling it'll basically be the same as GOT, just a few thousands years earlier. According to wiki (heh) there was no Faith of the Seven or knights during this period, so it'll be interesting to see how they compensate for that. Unless they just eschew those details, of course.

"I am Tyrion son of Tywin, of clan Lannister!"

Still a damn good amount of reading material :-)

Almost a thousand pages of Westerosi goodness? It may not be TWOW, but I am still thrilled!

The ASOIAF community on tumblr, like tumblr itself, is cancer. The fact that bloggers on there are actually considered "experts" on an uncompleted fictional series that they have no hand in creating, and that people actually donate money for them to write blog posts, is mind-boggling. Dorne isn't all that progressive. If they were so relaxed about bastards, then there would be no need to designate the demographic by the last name "Sand." There's no evidence that bastards can inherit property, either. If anything, the Iron Islands appear to be the place with the greatest potential for upward mobility. Speaking of the Iron Islands, they are essentially a self-fulfilling prophecy. The Iron Throne had about 4,062 chances to integrate them into the realm, and threw away all of them. Killing Cersei would detract from Jaime's character development, not add to it. The argument about "the limits of redemption" is downright silly. All redemption arcs involve the limits of redemption. Darth Vader, Jean Valjean, and Severus Snape all had redemption arcs, but that doesn't mean that at the end of the day, they weren't still a mass murder, escaped convict, and neo-Nazi. If George were to devote hundreds of pages to Jaime's redemption, only to then toss it out the window, it would result in the audience feeling ripped-off, not enlightened. There's an awful lot of gatekeeping in this fandom. Despite the plethora of crackpot theories, people who try to analyze characters or situations in different ways are often met with an uproar. One of the things I like about this site is that people are more relaxed about that sort of thing.

The fact that George hasn't announced that the series is being extended to eight books yet is something I find genuinely surprising.

The idea of Dany's beauty and power making readers feel insecure is an interesting one, but one thing that undermines it a bit is that the majority of women in ASOIAF are described as exceptionally attractive: Sansa, Cat, Cersei, Margaery, Val, Arianne, Tyene, Nymeria, Asha, Ashara, and Melisandre, among others. Even women such as Ygritte, Shae, young Lysa, Elia, and Ellaria are described in ways that make their physical appearance, however peculiar, seem enticing. The only times women are ever described as ugly is when it's fundamental to their character, such as with Brienne. Every female character has fans and haters. But Dany does seem to be unique in how much people appear to dislike her. Perhaps it's because she's the most powerful female character that we have, but I think there also might be a Cool Girl factor at work here, as well. I've noticed that a lot of times female characters who are built up to be beloved by the audience but aren't tend to fall under the Cool Girl umbrella. It's something that usually only appears when the writer is male, and Dany fits the archetype pretty well: she's exceptionally hot without trying to be. She looks great both in a gown and in boiled leather. She eats raw horse meet without ever gaining weight. Every man desires her, and women fall to her feet. She's down for any sex act, any time, any place. She demolishes entire cities without breaking a sweat.She has the ancient royal pedigree down, but also grew up on the run, so she's not spoiled. She sits on a throne above half of Essos, but will get down in the dirt when she chooses to. Cool Girls have a bit of an uncanny valley feeling to them--something about them just doesn't feel right. And that's because Cool Girls aren't real. They exist only in the imagination, and regardless of how fictional something is, people want to find characters relatable to one degree or another. I'm not a huge fan of Arya, but she doesn't fit the Cool Girl mold: she's a tomboy who can't sew or curtsy or fake her way through a ceremony. She doesn't look hot with her hair shorn. She talks back to the men and they laugh at her. George is a terrific writer, and a lot of men who fall into this trope are still talented themselves. But I think one reason why many people want to see Dany go mad is because it would break the Cool Girl mold and make her character more interesting than it is now. Sansa and Cersei and Melisandre are all hot, but the fact that they frequently screw up, make mistakes that have lasting impacts, and have POV characters who hate them is part of what makes them interesting. If the same thing starts happening for Dany, I think her popularity will improve.

I agree about Bran being the most traditionally Stark-like. Maester Luwin even tells him that he is "truly his father's son" as he lay dying in ACOK.