The Bard of Banefort

Do we know if Dany was based at all on Cleopatra?

I'm guessing they mean "socialite" in the sense that Margaery could probably be considered a socialite, especially on the show. Someone high-born and wealthy who has access to luxuries missing in places like the North or the Iron Islands. I'm guessing her character is going to be a Gardener or a Lannister who is known for her extravagance. It's going to be very peculiar seeing a Westeros pre-Faith of the Seven, though. And I'm personally bored with the Others.

He's straddling the line between doing right by Dorne and giving in to his family's wishes. He wants to avenge Oberyn and Elia, but knows that the ensuing drama will devastate Dorne. By avoiding conflict, he has allowed to Dorne to remain safe and prosperous throughout the War of the Five Kings, but in his heart he wants revenge, and he is also facing intense pressure from his daughter and nieces. This has prevented him from fully following through with either path--he's made marriage alliances and sent his children to seek out Targaryens, but he hasn't yet provided the right resources to truly give them the support they need to take the Iron Throne, thus rendering these alliances futile. Dorne has been at peace for nearly twenty years thanks solely to Doran's caution and selflessness as a leader. As he urges further away from the safety of his people to indulging the pride of his family, we will see that peace crumble.

Is Fire and Blood going to have its own forum on here, or is it going to be combined with The World of Ice and Fire?

Jimmy Carter is indeed a very good man, but he was also extremely detail-oriented and moralistic. He was unable to make a dent in the stagflation phenomenon that had been sweeping the country since Nixon was in office, and he was unable to negotiate a release for the victims of the Iranian Hostage Crisis. As much as the country loathed Nixon, he had a knack for foreign relations, and probably would have proved more effective than Carter in this instance. Carter was also the politician who first introduced the use of extreme public displays of religious piety in presidential candidates. A lot of people don't realize that this was not the norm in the US prior to then; our Founders were speculative deists who, in Jefferson's case at least, actually edited their Bibles by cutting out the sections that didn't agree with, and their successors didn't have any reason to incorporate God into their campaigns, seeing as most Americans were church-going Protestants themselves--there was simply nothing to prove. Gerald Ford, himself a devout Dutch Calvinist, privately found Carter's public declarations of belief to be rather creepy and manipulative, and couldn't wrap his head around why Carter was so set on incorporating religion into his campaign. (The two eventually became close friends, but that was not until years after they faced off in the 1976 election). Carter was very benevolent and honest in his beliefs, but the argument could certainly be made that he's responsible for obligations politicians have faced since then to prove their piety in order to win elections. Love Reagan or hate him (and there are plenty of facts that could back up either side), he certainly accomplished a lot, and that led to the vast overshadowing of Carter's legacy. Even the decision to grant amnesty to draft dodgers who fled to Canada, which Carter is usually credited with, was actually implemented by Ford, and faced a good deal of resistance at the time. So in retrospect, Carter's presidency does seem very empty and ineffective. On the other hand, he has had a prolific post-office career, and has been an active volunteer and philanthropist for his entire adult life. This has earned Carter admiration from both ends of the political spectrum, even if few people have much to say about his time in office.

I think we can safely deduce that whichever character this is is one whose role can't be easily taken on by another character. I don't think it's someone like Tywin, Balon, Robb, Ned, or Oberyn, because their deaths specifically kicked off major plot threads that are still important at this point in the series. Someone like Kevan is a bit of a wildcard: his position as the last stable Lannister in King's Landing can't be replaced, but we're also told point-blank that that's the reason why he was killed. Aemon would certainly fit the bill, but like others have pointed out, whatever knowledge that he had could probably be conveyed through Sam and the other maesters at the citadel. Pycelle could be a good bet, since he was basically the oldest person left in the Red Keep, and had extensive first-hand knowledge of the past few decades in King's Landing. I can't really think of anyone else who would share that knowledge. Craster is a possibility, but he could probably be replaced by one of the wildlings. Arys is a possibility, although I think Daemon Sand could probably take on whatever role GRRM has planned for him. Quentyn is another good guess, although I was under the impression that him being dead would be more important for the Dornish plot going forward than him being alive was. As of now, Pycelle's my best guess, but it could really be anyone at this point.

Personally, I doubt it. In some respects, Doran is one of the most emotionally mature rulers we meet, and probably the one I'd want to live under if I were Westerosi. He clearly cares more about the well-being of his people than politics, which has allowed Dorne to go unharmed throughout the War of the Five Kings. With Doran, I see him as a man who is heavily conflicted. He does want vengeance--he wouldn't have betrothed his daughter to Viserys and sent Quentyn to Meereen if he didn't. But while his heart may yearn for fire and blood, his head knows that to achieve these goals, he'll have to gamble with Dorne's peace and prosperity. So rather than committing to one or the another, he's in this state of limbo, reaching out to the Targaryens without really doing enough to actually ensure their success. And if I had to take a guess, this indecision is going to be what costs him the most in the long run.

I haven't read the books in a while now, but the impression I got was that Jon was a few months older, which further added to the tension between him and Cat. Aside from looking more like a Stark than Robb, Jon being older than Robb could be used in his favor should he or his children ever try to challenge the legitimate Stark children for Winterfell. As far as I can recall, however, it's never confirmed or denied one way or another.

I don't know if the show will match the books in this sense, but I doubt Jon will rule Westeros in the books. GRRM has been very consistent about how the resurrected are basically inhuman, and are better off being laid to rest for good.

That might be because one of the showrunners is a woman. Most of the sex scenes on HBO are catered for a male audience, so I imagine that that will change should they start hiring more women. D&D love Tyrion, so I could see them making Sansa something of a "prize" for him (ugh) for being such a cool dude. That will definitely divide viewers, with casual fans probably being happy and critical fans viewing it as the final nail in the coffin. There were a bunch of rumors a few months ago that Tyrion was going to betray Dany, but those seem to have died down. For all the anti-Jonsa content there on the internet, people must really love the (familial) relationship between the two, since our first preview of season eight was the two of them hugging again.

Has he accurately leaked plot points in the past before? As for Dany, despite how inconsistent D&D can be, the line from Daario about her being "a conqueror, not a ruler" leads me to believe that we won't see her sit the throne at the end of the series.

Tywin, Tyrion, and Cersei all share an ambition and thirst for power that Jaime simply does not possess. He prefers knights and commoners to high lords and ladies, and gets more fulfillment out of helping the smallfolk than sitting on the high council. Right now, Jaime is trying to prove Genna wrong and act like Tywin's true heir, but I doubt he'll be able to keep that up for long, especially after he runs into Stoneheart. My personal headcanon is that Jaime is the Lannister sibling who takes the most after his mother, Joanna. We know very little about Joanna at this point, but there was always something poignant about her appearing to Jaime in a vision rather than to Cersei or Tyrion. On the surface, those two would have made more thematic sense: Cersei lost her female figure when her mother died, and Tyrion has had to live with being blamed for her death. I don't think there was ever really a point where Jaime and Joanna were tied together thematically, yet she appears to him all the same. It makes me wonder if he gets some of his less traditionally Lannister-esque traits from her.

Well, Lena is also a pretty big draw for the audience, as well. She's the most compelling villain they have these days, and Cersei has a fanbase. Cersei isn't my favorite character in the books, but she's my favorite part of the show. There's a reason she keeps getting nominated for all those awards.

One of the my problems with Jaime's characterization, despite how well-written he is overall, is that he cares so little for his children, which I don't think gels with his character. This is a guy that would clearly prefer a family of his own rather than a throne or title, so to have him have so little regard for his own kids--even if he wasn't allowed to get close to them--doesn't really sit with me. Jaime did indeed put his family at risk by having an ongoing affair with Cersei, but this is a product of his belief that he should be able to love his sister openly. It's flawed thinking, but is a key part of his character. I think we're going to be seeing more open regret from Jaime from TWOW. Most of his guilt is revealed indirectly: he begins talking about how he regrets hurting Bran in ASOS before Cersei cuts him off, he sees the shrouds of Rhaegar's children in the sunset, he reveals the truth about Tysha at probably the least convenient time possible (and thinks about her indirectly a number of times), and when he recounts how he nearly killed Arya, he trails off in silence, letting the audience surmise his own horror and shame rather than stating it plain. It's a very subtle kind of storytelling, but I suspect it'll become more concrete once he's forced to face his past via Stoneheart.

Cersei has undoubtedly survived this long because of how much D&D love her. She's the character they're the best at writing, and I'm guessing that they're hoping Lena will finally win an Emmy. The awards circuit seems to have moved on from GOT at this point (although they did just nominate Nikolaj for the first time, so it's still making some impression), but with this being the final season, she may still have a chance.