Aurane

We know from AWOIAF that Moat Cailin was once the seat of the Marsh Kings. There was also a brief aside about the Lockes of Oldcastle once being kings. One (or both) of these kingdoms may have already claimed where whiteharbor was. At least with Winterfell, the Kings of Winter had no nearby competition and could work on expanding their kingdom to the shores of the North where amost all other kings set up their capitals.

I beleive that they can, but I'd imagine that Shaggydog would be a better match Nymeria. I'm fairly sure that they won't be able to repopulate the North, though. With only one direwolf sister left, the offspring will be heavily inbred. The second generation will be the product of siblings and the third generation would be, at best, the product of uncle and niece. By the fourth generation, the pups could file a claim to the Iron Throne. Joking aside, I'm fairly sure that we won't be getting an Adam and Eve situation with the direwolves, as they'd eventually become sterile. Making hybrids with wolves may be a possibility.

It depends if you're talking about before the Red Wedding. Perhaps Robb could have offered Darry, Harrenhall, and the hand of one of his sisters once the war was done. The main issue is that the tides were turning against him, so I think that the only way that he could really secure their support would be to win sound victories. I think that the Red Wedding is justifiable, but not justified, if that makes any sense.

Eh. I'd disagree that B+L and N+A don't add any depth to Ned's character. It would be interesting if Ned was in part so honor obsessed since he's trying to make up for his past mistake of bedding Ashara. It'd also contribute to Ned being a foil to Stannis. I think that B+L would also fulfill a similar role in Ned's psyche as R+L. It still comes down to Ned sacrificing his personal image and a bit of his relationship with Cat in order to protect his nephew. It would also be interesting seeing Ned uncover a similar conspiracy in King's Landing. I can't comment on N+L's legitimacy since I haven't heard it before, but it seems it would be an amplified form of Ned becoming so honorbound in response to his past dishonorable actions. With all that being said, I think that the chances are 70% R+L, 15% B+L, 5% N+A, 10% other. I don't really like the Ashara theory, but I can respect B+L because it flips everything that we think on our heads. That being said, Rhaegar and Lyanna does seem like the most likely theory.

"Old powers waken. Shadows stir. An age of wonder and terror will soon be upon us, an age of gods and heroes." - Leo Tyrell It may not really contribute to how badass the character himself seems, but it's still an awesome line for the series as a whole.

Breakspear, The Silver Queen, Son of the Sea Wind, Crow's Eye and Bloodraven are really good. The King Who Lost the North is also a great cutting nickname. Out of all of these, I'd say that Bloodraven is the best.

Well, I wasn't expecting that result in Belgium. I wonder what triggered that reaction. Anyways, it seems that the left is getting lefter and the right righter. I hope that there can be some sort of reform without talking drastic measures but that seems to be becoming increasingly difficult. This seems to be especially apparent in the 3 seas initiative region.

Ouch, I've never thought of Hill's viewpoint on the series before. It would really suck to get the role for one of the most important villains in the books only to get shafted halfway through with your character's most important moment being giving Tyrion a lift.

What do ice and fire represent in the context of the story? All that we really know is that ice and fire are seemingly dualistic things. There are a lot of contrasting concepts that could represent ice and fire Pragmatism Vs Passion, Dragons Vs Others, Winter Vs Summer, Death Vs Life and R'hlorr Vs Great Other. Rhaegar seemed to have believed that the song of ice and fire was about finding some sort of merger between the two elements. What place does the COTF's song of earth have in this? Assuredly, earth has something to do with nature. The song of earth seems to be outside of the song of ice and fire. It seems to be an outside force in ice Vs fire. Perhaps it's a neutral force that stops one force from becoming dominant. After all, no matter if it's winter or summer, nature still remains and balances out the two. This makes sense, but it doesn't really explain why the COTF oppose mankind. It would be assumed that mankind do not sing the song of earth otherwise the Children of the Forest would be fine with them. This could mean that mankind sways to much to either ice or fire. I have a different idea than this. I think that earth represents harmony, nature, balance, and the unchanging mankind. Mankind represents something totally different from this. Humans struggle for power, they exploit the natural world and they represent progress over stagnancy. These things don't seem to with align with ice or fire, but rather a totally different song. When thinking of an element that opposes earth, we think of air, but I don't see how that represents humanity well. For a lack of a better term I think that they sing the song of metal (iron and steel sounds cooler but I regress). Humans oftentimes use metals to achieve dominance and progress. They use metal weapons to achieve their goals. On top of that, mankind believes that metals such as gold and silver represent power, and most spend their lives trying to acquire it. The First Men also used axes to chop down the weirwoods. Remember that the COTF use dragonglass as weapons as opposed to metals. The pursuit of scientific progress is also represented by the maesters and their metal chains. I've said previously that I think that earth is neutral in the conflict of ice and fire, but oppose metal. So that brings into question if metal is also neutral in this conflict. Well, kind of. Humans generally oppose harmony, going to one extreme or the other. Individuals definitely pick sides, however humanity as a whole is split on ice and fire (passion vs pragmatism, etc.) This means that there is a lot of infighting, unlike COTF. There's so much infighting that people can't see the big picture that the seasons are out of balance and winter is coming. This basically balances humanity in the ice vs fire conflict but that doesn't make them neutral. COTF are more like peacekeepers while humans are belligerents. It may be worth noting that the title, ASOIAF is said to be based on a Robert Frost poem in which someone is split on whether the world should end in ice or fire. Either is extreme but there isn't a choice for an in-between in which neither element becomes dominant. The narrator may represent humanity as a whole being split between extremes. Rhaegar seemed to believe that his third child would be the song of ice and fire. Perhaps this means that he/she will be the one to bring harmony to the seasons or represent a fusion of the two elements. What do you guys think?

I'm not sure if he exists. At least not in the conventional definition of a divine entity. I imagine that gods may be the embodiment of concepts and/or forces of nature. That's not a very interesting answer though, so I'm going to play devil's advocate. If the Great Other is a traditional god that appears in the books, than I imagine that he's whatever Bran saw in the Heart of Winter. If Bran is seeing the Great Other, than I'm unsure if he's actually physically there there. We know that greenseers can see symbolic representation of people. Or, maybe the Heart of Winter is one of the most potent hinges of the world that Mel mentioned, and Bran saw whatever the hinge connects to. GRRM mentioned that the R'hlorr was based off of a dualistic religion called Catharism in which the evil god created the physical world. Perhaps that means that the Great Other is closer to the physical world than the other gods. Pretty sure it's not going to happen, but it's interesting to think about.

Marbrand>Crakehall>Farman>Brax>Lefford I'd say Marbrand. They're located near some key gold and silver mines while also being off the coast and away from reavers. They have Addam who's one of the more influential commanders. They have marital ties to the main branch of house Lannister. Farman wasn't featured much in the War of 5 Kings, but they seem to have significant naval influence.

Westeros would probably be better off if Bran was just a puppet. The pairing of his powers and him being 'beyond humanity' is a pretty uneasy mix. Westeros could easily spiral into a surveillance state, with Bran valuing the protection of life far more than personal freedoms.

It's hard to compare him to Bran, since I have no idea what Bran is or what his goals and values are. He basically got elected because Tyrion thought that magic was pretty neato. Edmure does have certain attributes that would make him a solid choice. What Westeros needs now moreso than ever is stabilization. I think that his family ties to the Starks and Arryns would be a pretty good start. He also admitted smallfolk into Riverrun which is pretty good. Edmure isn't gifted, though. My main issue is his lack of willingness to follow orders, which may be amplified with becoming king. I think that his heart is in the right place, but he would just need a strong Small Council to help him.

Isn't Robyn the amongst the most experienced Great Lords now? He's definitely the Longest serving lord of a great house. If he's matured, he'd probably be the best choice. House Arryn would probably be the best choice to rule. They usually don't go to war, lack the fear of being invaded, and have relatively fewer grudges against other houses. This would make them a good choice for a fair neutral rule. It would also be thematically interesting with Jon being dead at a funeral at the beginning of the show and Robyn a split second away from being crowned at a coronation. I'm not sure if I'm saying this ironically, but screw it, it doesn't matter. Send property gains taxes and arbitrage pricing theory though the Moon Door!!

I forgot to add that I disagree that Slavers Bay is better off. That has more to do with the show ending the SB story line prematurely. Just because Dany destroyed some ships and killed a couple of emissaries doesn't mean that SB isn't in serious turmoil. Still, this doesn't mean that she's crazy or immoral.