Aebram

Jaqen is one of the most mysterious characters in the whole story. He has been discussed in a number of posts, most recently, I think, one of my own: My best guess is that he is acting as a spy, not an assassin; he came to Westeros to gather intelligence. He got himself imprisoned in King's Landing so that he would be sent to the Wall, where he could learn about the Others and the Long Night. He couldn't just walk up there and volunteer; that would have aroused suspicions about his true motive. After his journey North was interrupted and he ended up at Harrenhal, he went back to Braavos. He was reassigned to go to the Citadel, to steal their copy of The Death of Dragons, and to gather more information about dragons, and about magic in general.

Well, I don't feel like doing another full analysis right now. But a quick check of current prices shows that copper costs about 1/6 as much as an equivalent weight of silver. So if a copper coin weighs 1/4 as much as a silver, its monetary value would be 1/24th as much. That seems feasible.

I thought so too, at first. But I did the math, and it's actually a reasonable number. 20 to 1 is the exchange rate for silver to gold, which is different from the ratios of monetary values or weights of the actual coins. If you scroll back about 6 posts, you can read how I analyzed it.

Do you have any specific ideas about which of these similar names will reveal a hidden connection between families that has some effect on the story?? Are there any places in the story so far where this has already happened?

I've read all the books multiple times, and sorry, I really have no idea what you're referring to. Ben was younger than Ned. The only way Benjen could become lord of Winterfell would be if Ned died, or joined the Night's Watch himself. It seems unlikely that Benjen would resent Ned for not having done either of those things.

I enjoyed your post; it's very well thought out. But I think the situation with the Faceless Men is a bit more nuanced. There are lots of religions that believe that all other religions are false. But most of them don't encourage believers to actually take action against other faiths. The Faceless Men make no effort to convert others to their faith; and they haven't tried to burn the statues of the Seven in the sept of Braavos. And given their "very specific set of skills," they could do a lot of damage to other religions if they wanted to. So in that sense, they are tolerant. Oddly enough, it occurs to me that the Faceless Men and the religion of the many-faced god are actually two separate organizations. From what we know of their history, it seems that the religion and the guild of assassins both originated at about the same time, among the same people. But their assassinations are completely secular; they make their decisions about whom to kill without using any rituals or prophecies to ask their god"s opinion on the matter.

Very interesting topic! Religions can be ranked by many different criteria: good versus bad, true versus false, etc. Some of these are very subjective and hard to judge; but tolerance versus intolerance is pretty clear. The religion of the old gods, with its reverence for spirits of Nature, reminds me of shamanism, which is common among ancient indigenous cultures all over the world. It's probably the human race's first religion. My own belief system is something of a homegrown affair, but respect for Nature is a big part of it. In Westeros, followers of both the new and old gods seem to get along fairly well. The septons may preach against other faiths, but ordinary people seem to be tolerant of them. The followers of R'llhor seem to be the most intolerant. Melisandre says more than once that all the other gods are evil, just manifestations of the Great Other. But she's been wrong more than once in her prophecies, so perhaps she's not the most reliable source. The R'llhorists do seem to be the most skilled at magic. Moqorro, in particular, seems to have a very good track record while guiding Victarion to Slaver's Bay. So perhaps it would rank #1 if we were judging religions by effectiveness, the ability to actually summon supernatural help for their followers.

Archmaster Marwyn. He only appears on the page in one chapter (Feast 45), but he made one heck of a first impression. And during rereads, I noticed that he's mentioned three times by other characters who knew him or had read one of his books. All that makes me think that the George has something special planned for him. He probably knows more about the Higher Mysteries than anyone else in Westeros*; and he's a man of action, as well as a man of knowledge. Another reader (sorry, I don't recall who) pointed out some evidence that he may turn out to be a villain, not a hero. My gut still tells me that Marwyn is a Good Guy; but either way, I can't wait to find out what he does next. * except maybe Bloodraven.

Of course, how could I forget them? From what we've read, life there is like one long beach party.

Reading this thread has made me realize how many of the major characters were left in cliffhanger, life-or-death situations at the end of Dance, or in the Winds preview chapters. John Snow: stabbed Daenerys: confronting a Dothraki horde Theon: a prisoner, possibly about to be executed Tyrion and Jorah: in the middle of a war Brienne and Jaime: tangled up with Lady Stoneheart Aeron: chained to the prow of a warship Ser Barristan (perhaps not a "major" character, but I like the guy): about to go into battle Victarion: ditto Did I forget anyone?

I think you've made some speculative leaps here. We don't know who built the Wall. Some would say that its very existence proves that the First Men did, in fact, have some ability to use ice magic. Or perhaps they had help from the Children of the Forest. We know that the Children have a spell protecting their caves against wights. All the castles, stairways, and winch cages at the Wall are on the South side. All the gates are locked from the South side, as far as we know, with the exception of the Black Gate, which only opens for men of the Match. None of this makes much sense if the Wall was built to protect people (or other creatures) on the North side. The wildlings seem to think so. Before Osha was captured, she was planning to get as far South as she could. Also, Old Nan's story of the Long Night tells us that the Others came seeking to kill every living creature. The best example may be the one at the very beginning of the story, the prologue of Game. An Other kills Ser Waymar Royce. Then its companions (the other Others, as it were) join in the slaughter, laughing. A few minutes later, Waymar becomes a wight and kills Wil. If that's not control, it's at least some sort of magical symbiosis. Also, both types of creatures have blue eyes, even wights whose eyes were a different color before they died. And both types cause the environment around them to become intensely cold when they are active. My own theory about the Others is that Old Nan was basically correct. They thrive on cold and death, and hate warmth and life. They have sensed that a harsh winter is coming, possibly another Long Night. They have become more active recently, to the point where the wildlings are becoming desperate to get South of the Wall. How this will all unfold, I'm reluctant to predict; "prophecy will bite your prick off every time." But I do think that whatever happens will be consistent with these ideas of what the Others are and what they want. It's true that the George likes to break stereotypes, and to create characters in many shades of gray, rather than pure good or evil. But a common element in epic fantasies is some sort of final, climactic battle between Good and Evil; and for that, you need someone who is pure evil, or at least close enough that everyone will be glad to see them destroyed. I'm reminded of a science fiction book that tells of a war between humans and aliens that lasted for generations, until the two sides learned to communicate. Then they found out that it was all a big misunderstanding; both sides thought that the other had launched the first attack. It's possible that that's where ASOIAF is headed. But I don't think so. That would just be too much of a break with the classic format: a 20-year, 10,000-pages long shaggy-dog joke. Also, we haven't seen those giant ice spiders yet. That is going to be one heck of a final climactic battle!

There's a video on YouTube with a very nice, detailed description of what Winterfell should actually look like according to the books.

I'd love to read about most of the places that others have already mentioned. And I'll add Yi Ti, and Leng ... and everywhere else! Why stop with just five books, when there are so many other intriguing places to visit?

Let's remember that this is a fantasy, not science fiction. I believe the George has said that we shouldn't go looking for scientific explanations for things like the Irregular seasons. I haven't seen the actual quote, but I've seen it mentioned here several times by other readers. Perhaps someone can provide us with a link? That being said, I do believe that there are some common threads linking the myths and legends of various cultures in the Known World, that point to a single explanation for things like the Long Night. But I don't know if the true history will be revealed in the story. It may not be relevant to the events to come.

I will disagree with this. Marsh stabbed Jon, and two or three other men also stabbed him within moments. I don't think Jon was so unpopular that several of the black brothers would spontaneously join in on a murder attempt. I don't really believe that Marsh's blade was poisoned. I just threw that out as a possible explanation for Jon losing consciousness. I think Jon was badly wounded. Remember, he had moved into Donal Noye's former quarters in the armory. It's natural that there would be some armor, blades, and other works in progress lying about.