James Fenimore Cooper XXII

Tywin Lannister gave his go ahead to proceed with the red wedding because it would not have happened without his approval. He would not give that green light if Jaime was still in Stark custody because if the plan had hiccuped in any way that golden son would die in pain. The north are known for their cruel savagery. Remember the story of the entrails told to Davos? That is the way of the north. Tywin would not risk Jaime like that. He would flex his pride to work a deal with the Starks in exchange for Jaime. Catelyn released Jaime and opened the way for Tywin to make a bold move. Coded messages were moving between Tywin, Walder, and Roose. Robb led his army south to kill. They were not there for a wildflower collecting field trip so they can press them for their collection. They were there to kill enemies. Rickard Karstark killed enemies. Catelyn broke out from prison their best bargaining chip. This bargaining chip costed the north the lives of thousands of loyal men to capture. Dear Catelyn threw away the sacrifices of thousands of loyal men for a small chance of recovering two girls. It's so very painfully obvious where Sansa got her awful math skills from. Catelyn's math was bad. The critics are on point when they say Catelyn's treason was more negative for the Starks. Because it was. Robb Stark's idea of fairness lacked consistency. He brings down the most harsh punishment to people who isn't a Stark but he's velvet soft when it comes to Starks breaking the rules. His mother messed up. He messed up and betrayed the Freys. Do we read Robb offering to cut off his offensive head for its crime of oathbreaking? The thought never crossed his mind. He quickly forgave himself and never would have felt any guilt until he realized he can't win without the Freys. When it's someone else he doesn't love who steps out of the line it's execution time. When he or his messed up he forgives them. Robb sucked at ruling.

Some would argue that the red wedding never would have taken place if Jaime had remained prisoner. I think the point here is the inability of the Stark boys to be impartial. It is a fatal flaw for someone who wants to lead.

The northern army sacked and pillaged the lands they marched upon. It's part of soldier's pay. Greatjon and the smallfolk who left their plows to march for Robb expected plunder. They don't want hired help to rob them of their share of ill-gotten goods. It's a way for a warlord to reward his soldiers without paying for it himself.

Fear of daddy.

Jon didn't try hard enough. He didn't even try hard enough to convince his own men. He is not the man to unite people. He couldn't stay out of Ramsay's business and it resulted in disaster at the Wall.

There always has to be a Stark in Winterfell. The family made a bargain with the Others and their part require them to stay in the drafty old castle. They got to rule the north in consideration. There is something or someone in that crypt that holds the interests of the Others. The Starks safeguard what it is.

Jon doesn't have the best communication skills in the world. He couldn't even convince the other crows.

Empress Daenerys Targaryen has a nice sound to it. Gylbert Farwynd Pretty Meris Symon the Stripeback The Lord Of The Crossing Harma Dogshead The Lash Archon of Tyrosh

Arrianne is a player who isn't very good at the game. I don't imagine her story will end well. But Cersei will get to her before Daenerys does. It isn't that Cersei is smarter than Arrianne but the older gal plays the game better. She sure beat Ned Stark.

Minor huh. That would take Jaime and Sansa out. Bronn. Yeah, I want Bronn to lose.

Age: 43 Gender: Male Favorite GOT character: Daenerys Least Favorite GOT character: Jaime or sometimes Sansa

All of the people currently alive will be dead or very, very old by the time spring comes again. A new empire instead of a democracy will rise from the remains of the long night. My theory is too long to go into here but in summary, I believe Daenerys is the "Maiden Made of Light" and she will have children with the "Lion of the Night." It is these children who will start the foundation of the new empire, the new empire of the dawn. Empire building will take many generations and at some distant future, the royal family might step down and allow for democracy to start.

Over 50% in Westeros. Like maybe less than 30% might somehow make it out. The combination of winter starvation, death from the cold, war between Roose vs. Stannis/Jon, greyscale, war between Euron and the reach will cause over 70% or more to die. Essos will fare a bit better because of its sheer size. The majority are slaves and the master class only make up about 20-30% And some of those slave masters will see the light and buy into the new way. I mean they won't do it because they have a moral change of heart but because they will have no choice. They will be forced to free their slaves. The ones who continue to resist will deservedly die and the ones who comply get to live. The Starks will remain in the north. I fully believe this too. The Targaryen side (Daenerys) will stay in Essos.

I would not be too certain at all of the role parentage will play in the future of the plot. DNA will but inheritance is not. Daenerys hatched three dragon eggs. Even if she was only Half-Targ won't mean anything. She will be seen as the real deal, the daughter of House Targaryen and a person to be taken very seriously. Rhaella's teenage crush is the likely among the usual suspects if you want to take it that far. I just don't think it matters. The Baratheons already took the throne and broke the line of succession. The Targaryen who takes it will have to do it through force and not some inheritance technicality. The Lannisters took it from the Baratheons. Ned's, Jon's, and Stannis's accusations of bastardry against the Lannisters did little good. And yet they did. That's why Luwin came up with his line of bastards growing up faster than other boys. He knew or at least suspected. He chose to keep peace and support the lie.

This fact was established on the first chapter of the first novel. The deserter got executed. Desertion does not make the oaths go away. Ned was not going to accept any excuse. Any last words by the man was just a courtesy. Ned was going to execute him and did. Mance Rayder should have been executed. Not sent on that mission. Jon's plan to attack the Boltons didn't require a lot of planning. Gather the wildlings to his cause and attack the Boltons. It's that simple. The delicate part of the planning involved the question of how to keep the Night Watch from stopping his mad plan to attack. The only way to accomplish this is to rouse the wildlings and get them fired up either before or at the same time the announcement was made. Jon needed to get the wildlings on his side because he was going to do something that violated the rules of the Night Watch. Jon was more concerned about the Crows than he was about anybody else. The planning time was spent on how to keep the Crows from interfering. This put the Crows in a tough spot. They had to come up with a plan to stop Jon's crazy plan and do it fast. That's why the assassination was carried out in haste. Jon and Tormund spent hours planning. The dedicated Crows only had minutes to plan a response.