Mourning Star

Why would they blink an eye? We don't even know what side Lonmouth fought on in Robert's Rebellion, or if he fought at all. There is no mention of him being in the Red Keep when Eddard calls on Beric and his companions, I'm basing the idea that he came with Beric from King's Landing on the wikki app reference. It's even possible he was a member of Beric's party, as both House Dondarion and Lonmouth are from the Stormlands. As I suggested above, one possible explanation was to prevent retribution on his family and their lands. It's not clear to me that he needed a pardon, but what other option would he have? If he was hiding in the Riverlands since Robert's Rebellion, and only came to King's Landing after the Mountians attack, I'd have to ask why didn't he fight? I don't know why you say he doesn't care. He seems to strongly dislike the Lannisters still. We don't know what he knows, or what role he played in Robert's Rebellion, so it's very hard to talk about why he did or did not do things based on those events. I can only speculate. While I see the case for Lonmouth being a victim of conflicted loyalty, I don't understand why you think he would hate Robert. It seems pretty clear to me he did not. House Lonmouth is not in the Riverlands, but I can understand why his family may have been in King's Landing during the Sack. I still think Lem is Richard Lonmouth. Why would a Darry have a yellow cloak? Now if you want to sell the idea that it was a white cloak which has been stained yellow, I'm all ears! But, I'm not sure I see it. Most of the Brotherhood we meet didn't come with Beric from Kingslanding, those that did may have know who he was though. Or perhaps he took on the identity when joining the party and only a select few like Beric knew. Hard to say, and I'm not sure it really matters at this point. Why not?

Given that the Mountain being sent to ravage the Riverlands by Tywin was explicitly in retaliation for Cat's kidnaping of Tyrion, it would seem to provide a possible justification for Richard Lonmouth hiding his identity when riding against them, to possibly prevent retaliation against the Lonmouth family, lands, and smallfolk.

So I have no real idea what to make of using an app as a source... but thank you for the clarification! Assuming it's true, it does make some possible sense as both House Lonmouth and House Dondarion are from the Stormlands. The interesting implication here would be that Lem may only have assumed that identity after Beric's party set out from King's Landing.

There are very few characters still living who were at the Tourney of Harrenhall. Howland Reed (obviously) and Benjen (possibly-probably) could shed some light on the events from the perspective of the Stark camp. However, Richard Lonmouth, the knight of skulls and kisses, vassal to Stormsend who drank down Robert in a wine cup war, and swore to unmask the Knight of the Laughing Tree, squire to Rhaegar Targaryen, presents the possibility of a very different perspective. We do not know his whereabouts during Robert's Rebelion, but it doesn't seem unreasonable that his wife and daughter may have been in Kingslanding and died during the sack, explaining his hate for Lannisters. It's not clear to me how Lem ended up with the brotherhood. The wiki claims he was part of Beric's party sent from Kingslanding, but sites the worldbook, where I can't find any reference to this. There is also this quote, which begs payoff: Lem, is that you? Still wearing that same ratty cloak, are you? I know why you never wash it, I do. You're afraid all the piss will wash out and we'll see you're really a knight o' the Kingsguard! Lemons also hold a special significance for those with a conspiratorial view of the books, and particularly Dany's plot. Lemons. And where would we get lemons? Does this look like Dorne to you, you freckled fool? Why don't you hop out back to the lemon trees and pick us a bushel, and some nice olives and pomegranates too." She shook a finger at him. "Now, I suppose I could cook it with Lem's cloak, if you like, but not till it's hung for a few days. There is this comment as well: "We're outlaws. Lowborn scum, most of us, excepting his lordship. Don't think it'll be like Tom's fool songs neither. You won't be stealing no kisses from a princess, nor riding in no tourneys in stolen armor. You join us, you'll end with your neck in a noose, or your head mounted up above some castle gate." Presumably this is a reference to the Kingswood Brotherhood, which included Ulmer, who stole a kiss from Elia, and Simon Toyne, who rode as a mystery knight in a tourney where he was defeated by Rhaegar. Ulmer, stooped and grey-bearded and loose of skin and limb, stepped to the mark and pulled an arrow from the quiver at his waist. In his youth he had been an outlaw, a member of the infamous Kingswood Brotherhood. He claimed he'd once put an arrow through the hand of the White Bull of the Kingsguard to steal a kiss from the lips of a Dornish princess. He had stolen her jewels too, and a chest of golden dragons, but it was the kiss he liked to boast of in his cups. Humble Barristen was the winner of the tourney at Storm's End, and would eventually kill Simon Toyne: "When he was young, His Grace rode brilliantly in a tourney at Storm's End, defeating Lord Steffon Baratheon, Lord Jason Mallister, the Red Viper of Dorne, and a mystery knight who proved to be the infamous Simon Toyne, chief of the kingswood outlaws. He broke twelve lances against Ser Arthur Dayne that day.""Was he the champion, then?" "No, Your Grace. That honor went to another knight of the Kingsguard, who unhorsed Prince Rhaegar in the final tilt." Dany did not want to hear about Rhaegar being unhorsed. "But what tourneys did my brother win?" "Your Grace." The old man hesitated. "He won the greatest tourney of them all." "Which was that?" Dany demanded. "The tourney Lord Whent staged at Harrenhal beside the Gods Eye, in the year of the false spring. A notable event. Besides the jousting, there was a mêlée in the old style fought between seven teams of knights, as well as archery and axe-throwing, a horse race, a tournament of singers, a mummer show, and many feasts and frolics. Lord Whent was as open handed as he was rich. The lavish purses he proclaimed drew hundreds of challengers. Even your royal father came to Harrenhal, when he had not left the Red Keep for long years. The greatest lords and mightiest champions of the Seven Kingdoms rode in that tourney, and the Prince of Dragonstone bested them all."

I think Salla has been in league with Illyrio and Varys the whole time... "A certain Lysene pirate once told me that a good smuggler stays out of sight," Davos replied carefully. "Black sails, muffled oars, and a crew that knows how to hold their tongues." The Lyseni laughed. "A crew with no tongues is even better. Big strong mutes who cannot read or write." But then he grew more somber. "But I am glad to know that someone watches your back, old friend. Will the king give the boy to the red priestess, do you think? One little dragon could end this great big war."

This is interesting and I think worthy of a whole topic of it's own. I'm still undecided on the meaning of all her trinities from the House of the Undying, although her Silver, I do think is very interesting. It's a Stark colored horse. She says riding it's the first time she felt like a princess, as opposed to what Viserys has been telling her. All her life Viserys had told her she was a princess, but not until she rode her silver had Daenerys Targaryen ever felt like one. And I would argue she is described like Lyanna and Brandon as being a natural rider, like a centaur. The horse seemed to know her moods, as if they shared a single mind. Brandon was fostered at Barrowton with old Lord Dustin, the father of the one I'd later wed, but he spent most of his time riding the Rills. He loved to ride. His little sister took after him in that. A pair of centaurs, those two. (Lord Willam Dustin, not to be, or maybe to be, confused with Willem Darry) In the house of the Undying, her silver is featured twice, once going to a darkling stream beneath a sea of stars, and once pulling the wine merchant, who it turns out was the only Usurper's knife ever sent after her, embodying the lie that she was always told about her childhood, running from place to place away from the Usurper's knives. As for the darkling stream (the first time, of four, the word darkling is used in the series, the second is in Jon's chapter and the third Theon/Reek's. The last being a proper noun, Darkling Daughter, in Tyrion's chapter), I might even suggest that this is a vailed reference to Shakespeare's King Lear: For you know, nuncle, The hedge-sparrow fed the cuckoo so long, That it’s had it head bit off by it young. So out went the candle and we were left darkling. Are you our daughter? King Lear Act 1 Scene 4 The part about burning Volantis seems a stretch to me. Not impossible, I just don't see it coming from the text. It's clear we disagree, and that's not only ok, but healthy for a discussion. My apologies for any rudeness. I can't help but see far more connections here between Dany and a false past, and between Dany the Starks than you seem to. It's not just in one place, but these connections appear all over her chapters, especially early and anywhere she is getting visions like the House of the Undying and her Wake the Dragon dream.

To be fair, Bran sees dragons stirring in Asshai by the Shadow, or maybe in the Shadow, which presumably is the Shadowlands, where the eggs Dany hatched are said to have come from. "Dragon's eggs, from the Shadow Lands beyond Asshai," said Magister Illyrio. "The eons have turned them to stone, yet still they burn bright with beauty." The House of the Undying meanwhile shows Dany the House with the Red door not once, but twice, the first time with Ser Willem (not called Darry, nor does he call Dany by name). She sees a Stark King and a Targaryen King. She sees Rhaegar do his best Jedi, "there is another", impression. She sees the Stark colored horse she is naturally talented at riding dragging the only Usurper's knife. And of course Rhaegar speaking what is presumably Lyanna's name. It's also worth noting how Dany's Wake the Dragon dream also features the House with the Red Door, which she is running towards.

That is a really weird definition of a plot point. A plot point is just something that impacts what happens next in a story. Lot of plot points before that. For instance, when the shadows come to dance, and Dany is brought into the tent: "The maegi," someone else said. Was that Aggo? "Take her to the maegi." No, Dany wanted to say, no, not that, you mustn't, but when she opened her mouth, a long wail of pain escaped, and the sweat broke over her skin. What was wrong with them, couldn't they see? Inside the tent the shapes were dancing, circling the brazier and the bloody bath, dark against the sandsilk, and some did not look human. She glimpsed the shadow of a great wolf, and another like a man wreathed in flames. This is an interesting prediction, not sure I see it happening like this, but it's interesting. Maybe worth it's own thread though as I'm not sure what it has to do with Lemongate. I don't see it happening like this, but it's not impossible. Again though, not sure what this has to do with Lemongate. Sure, just not only the arbitrary ones you decided/made up. Yes, discussing a book series works better when you are talking about the text as opposed to head cannon. I'm all for interesting theories, but not sure where you are getting these ideas or what they have to do with the OP.

Right. To ignore so much of the text and dismiss an obvious repeated plot point is wild… but here you go… No it does not. It starts with the text in her very first chapter, and includes intentional discrepancies, acknowledged by the author as meaningful, right up through Winds of Winter sample chapters. You need to refer to the text if you want this comment to be meaningful. I think there’s a pretty clear distinction between her own memories and the stories she was told, she repeats this fact for us many times in her first chapter alone. Dany is Dany, she’s just not Daenerys Targaryen daughter of Aerys and Rhaella. Dany is even a northern name. Ya, it kind of does though. It means the past she has been told is a lie. lol… “remember who you are” Come on… She pretty explicitly doesn’t want to be a queen at all. You confuse a feeling of duty placed on her for her own feelings and in doing so miss the forest for the trees. I have no idea what you are talking about. Doesn’t feel like you are talking about the text of ASoIaF. I’m just pointing out what’s been right there since the beginning. I’m not the first to point it out and I won’t be the last.

Lemongate… Lyanna and Rhaegar The Tower of Joy. Westeros She was never with Darry, and as her memory shows us she arrived in Braavos on a ship with a great green sail. No. Dany dreamed of running free in the streets not conquering the Iron Throne, that’s Viserys’s dream. Sure. But who you are doesn’t have to be predetermined by who your family is… I feel like that’s a pretty major theme. She objectively isn’t the last though. This is a misconception she is under. Hard disagree. Not sure what it even means to sacrifice a tradition… like the tradition that a woman can’t sit the iron throne? Her story is about finding a home and a family she never knew. Her goal is happiness, she feels obliged to chase a throne because of who she believes she is, and because of Viserys. What? I don’t see a meaningful metaphor where or how it applies to Dany. Serwyn killed Urrax by plunging his spear into its eye. She can have Targaryen Blood without being the Mad King’s daughter. Chasing Viserys’s dream isn’t more meaningful to her story. It’s so obviously a moral a trap!!! Slaves, Dany thought. Khal Drogo would drive them downriver to one of the towns on Slaver's Bay. She wanted to cry, but she told herself that she must be strong. This is war, this is what it looks like, this is the price of the Iron Throne. I sometimes wonder if we are reading the same story. Good queens don’t conquer with fire and blood. They don’t lead slave armies, and they don’t bring pillaging horses down on the kingdom they claim to want to be a good queen of. This doesn’t pass the smell test. Wild to me that one can think the moral of this story is that the ends justify the means.

I fundamentally disagree here. I think her story works better for me if she isn't who she thought she was. If her cold-eyed Eddard Stark with his frozen heart was her family and saved her life. If all her choices were her own. If I look back I am lost, is the equivalent, to me, of refusing to admit one is afraid. And one can only be brave if one is afraid. Her story is, in my opinion, all the more meaningful for being about the choices she makes. And her heart's desire being a home, and a family, and love. Somewhere beyond the sunset, across the narrow sea, lay a land of green hills and flowered plains and great rushing rivers, where towers of dark stone rose amidst magnificent blue-grey mountains, and armored knights rode to battle beneath the banners of their lords. A Game of Thrones - Daenerys I Banners carry arms, as in the sigil of a house. The door loomed before her, the red door, so close, so close, the hall was a blur around her, the cold receding behind. And now the stone was gone and she flew across the Dothraki sea, high and higher, the green rippling beneath, and all that lived and breathed fled in terror from the shadow of her wings. She could smell home, she could see it, there, just beyond that door, green fields and great stone houses and arms to keep her warm, there. She threw open the door. A Game of Thrones - Daenerys IX I think this is a beautiful bit of word play that we will see played out in her story. You were born in the long summer, sweet one, you've never known anything else, but now the winter is truly coming. Remember the sigil of our House, Arya." "The direwolf," she said, thinking of Nymeria. She hugged her knees against her chest, suddenly afraid. "Let me tell you something about wolves, child. When the snows fall and the white winds blow, the lone wolf dies, but the pack survives. Summer is the time for squabbles. In winter, we must protect one another, keep each other warm, share our strengths. So if you must hate, Arya, hate those who would truly do us harm. Septa Mordane is a good woman, and Sansa … Sansa is your sister. You may be as different as the sun and the moon, but the same blood flows through both your hearts. You need her, as she needs you … and I need both of you, gods help me." A Game of Thrones - Arya II Remember who you are. I think it's been right there since the first book, and Stark blood flows through her heart, though she is as different as the sun and the moon from Jon.

The Fat Man's Plan has by necessity changed. Illyrio smirked. "Contracts can be broken." "There is more coin in cheese than I knew," said Tyrion. "How did you accomplish that?" The magister waggled his fat fingers. "Some contracts are writ in ink, and some in blood. I say no more." We can talk about this in two ways, how it changed in the story due to plot events, and how the author took a gardeners approach to writing the story. He moved with surprising delicacy for such a massive man. Beneath loose garments of flame-colored silk, rolls of fat jiggled as he walked. Gemstones glittered on every finger, and his man had oiled his forked yellow beard until it shone like real gold. In my opinion, Illyrio is the seed from which the Blackfyre rebellion plotline grew. In short, I suspect he is the descendent of Bittersteel and Calla Blackfyre. Beneath the gold, the bitter steal. Whatever Illyrio's original plan was, if he intended Viserys to ever make it to Westeros, let alone sit the Iron Throne, were thrown out when the Beggar King was crowned with molten gold. But, I want to take a step back and talk about Illyrio's business and one connection I do not see mentioned above, or speculated wildly about enough. Varys and Illyrio began working together as part of a scheme in Pentos. Varys spied on lesser thieves and took their takings. I offered my help to their victims, promising to recover their valuables for a fee. Soon every man who had suffered a loss knew to come to me, whilst city's footpads and cutpurses sought out Varys … half to slit his throat, the other half to sell him what they'd stolen. We both grew rich, and richer still when Varys trained his mice. "In King's Landing he kept little birds." "Mice, we called them then. The older thieves were fools who thought no further than turning a night's plunder into wine. Varys preferred orphan boys and young girls. He chose the smallest, the ones who were quick and quiet, and taught them to climb walls and slip down chimneys. He taught them to read as well. We left the gold and gems for common thieves. Instead our mice stole letters, ledgers, charts … later, they would read them and leave them where they lay. Secrets are worth more than silver or sapphires, Varys claimed. Just so. I grew so respectable that a cousin of the Prince of Pentos let me wed his maiden daughter, whilst whispers of a certain eunuch's talents crossed the narrow sea and reached the ears of a certain king. A very anxious king, who did not wholly trust his son, nor his wife, nor his Hand, a friend of his youth who had grown arrogant and overproud. I do believe that you know the rest of this tale, is that not so?" Illyrio grew wildly rich as the Cheesemonger for the secrets discovered by Varys's mice, and is seemingly now one of (if not the) most powerful people in Pentos. When he is introduced in Dany's first chapter we are told. Magister Illyrio was a dealer in spices, gemstones, dragonbone, and other, less savory things. He had friends in all of the Nine Free Cities, it was said, and even beyond, in Vaes Dothrak and the fabled lands beside the Jade Sea. It was also said that he'd never had a friend he wouldn't cheerfully sell for the right price. There is no slavery in the free city of Pentos. Nonetheless, there are slaves. Illyrio hasn't abandoned his criminal roots, it would seem. It would also seem that Illyrio's money is now largely in trade. Arya gives us a glimpse into part of the shipping business of Essos, which Illyrio is doubtlessly involved in. Cat did not understand. "They pay him gold and silver, but he only gives them writing. Are they stupid?" "A few, mayhaps. Most are simply cautious. Some think to cozen him. He is not a man easily cozened, however." "But what is he selling them?" "He is writing each a binder. If their ships are lost in a storm or taken by pirates, he promises to pay them for the value of the vessel and all its contents." "Is it some kind of wager?" "Of a sort. A wager every captain hopes to lose." "Yes, but if they win …" "… they lose their ships, oftimes their very lives. The seas are dangerous, and never more so than in autumn. No doubt many a captain sinking in a storm has taken some small solace in his binder back in Braavos, knowing that his widow and children will not want." A sad smile touched his lips. "It is one thing to write such a binder, though, and another to make good on it." The example above illustrates one sort of fraud that can involve what amounts to insurance here. I would suggest that Illyrio is abusing this system in another way. Salladhor Saan was not aboard his Valyrian. They found him at another quay a quarter mile distant, down in the hold of a big-bellied Pentoshi cog named Bountiful Harvest, counting cargo with two eunuchs. One held a lantern, the other a wax tablet and stylus. "Thirty-seven, thirty-eight, thirty-nine," the old rogue was saying when Davos and the captain came down the hatch. Today he wore a wine-colored tunic and high boots of bleached white leather inlaid with silver scrollwork. Pulling the stopper from a jar, he sniffed, sneezed, and said, "A coarse grind, and of the second quality, my nose declares. The bill of lading is saying forty-three jars. Where have the others gotten to, I am wondering? These Pentoshi, do they think I am not counting?" When he saw Davos he stopped suddenly. "Is it pepper stinging my eyes, or tears? Is this the knight of the onions who stands before me? No, how can it be, my dear friend Davos died on the burning river, all agree. Why has he come to haunt me?" Salla is counting the cargo of the Bountiful Harvest, Illyrio's ship. He complains that there is less aboard than the bill of landing says, and his comment suggests that he thinks these Pentoshi are trying to cheat him. "Illyrio Mopatis. A whale with whiskers, I am telling you truly. These chairs were built to his measure, though he is seldom bestirring himself from Pentos to sit in them. A fat man always sits comfortably, I am thinking, for he takes his pillow with him wherever he goes." "How is it you come by a Pentoshi ship?" asked Davos. "Have you gone pirate again, my lord?" He set his empty cup aside. "Vile calumny. Who has suffered more from pirates than Salladhor Saan? I ask only what is due me. Much gold is owed, oh yes, but I am not without reason, so in place of coin I have taken a handsome parchment, very crisp. It bears the name and seal of Lord Alester Florent, the Hand of the King. I am made Lord of Blackwater Bay, and no vessel may be crossing my lordly waters without my lordly leave, no. And when these outlaws are trying to steal past me in the night to avoid my lawful duties and customs, why, they are no better than smugglers, so I am well within my rights to seize them." The old pirate laughed. "I cut off no man's fingers, though. What good are bits of fingers? The ships I am taking, the cargoes, a few ransoms, nothing unreasonable." He gave Davos a sharp look. "You are unwell, my friend. That cough . . . and so thin, I am seeing your bones through your skin. And yet I am not seeing your little bag of fingerbones . . ." However, Salla goes on to explain that he has captured the ship, and while he may have some very crisp parchment as a defense, it amounts to piracy. Why then, would he suspect the Pentoshi of trying to cheat him? I would suggest that this is a similar scheme to what Illyrio used to do with Varys, and that Illyrio is in league with Salladhor Saan. Illyrio collects the insurance for the ships "captured" by Salla. In addition, Tyrion remarks on the quality of Illyrio's wine (I'll sidestep the issue of the wine merchant assassin for now). I am a mouse in a mammoth's lair, he mused, though at least the mammoth keeps a good cellar. And yet, on the Bountiful Harvest, a ship fitted to transport Illyrio himself, Salla insults the wine. "You must be forgiving me for the wine, my friend. These Pentoshi would drink their own water if it were purple." Almost like Illyrio knew it would be taken. I think it's also worth pointing out that Samarro Saan, The Last Valyrian, was one of the Band of Nine, alongside the last Blackfyre pretender. "This is no longer a game for two players, if ever it was. Stannis Baratheon and Lysa Arryn have fled beyond my reach, and the whispers say they are gathering swords around them. Despite what Salla says on the Bountiful Harvest above, Illyrio has bestirred himself from Pentos to travel, as Arya sees him beneath the Red Keep. Although it is unclear to me exactly when Salla takes up Stannis's cause. Is it possible that it is Varys's comment about it no longer being a game for two players which precipitates Salladhor Saan ostensibly joining Stannis's cause? Is Young Griff's crossing of the Narrow Sea the real reason for his abandoning Stannis after serving without pay for so long (and managing to keep his fleet out of Tyrion's trap on the Blackwater, which was presumably well known to Varys)?

Unclear to me if we can trust the world book here. Especially given that Viserys’s last words are, “I will be crowned.”

Nowhere in the series is there evidence of Aerys proclaiming Viserys his heir or Viserys being crowned before the gold that kills him.

For a number of reasons, I'm inclined to believe that the three eyed crow was Old Nan the whole time. I'm not trying to derail the thread, so rather than post a wall of text I'll just try and show one fun little connection. I think Bloodraven is the Brooding Weirwood from Bran's dreams, which was there in his first falling dream, and while it sometimes appears with the crow, it doesn't always, and is explicitly distinct. On this night he dreamed of the weirwood. It was looking at him with its deep red eyes, calling to him with its twisted wooden mouth, and from its pale branches the three-eyed crow came flapping, pecking at his face and crying his name in a voice as sharp as swords. What else is as sharp as a sword? With an extra eye? A Needle! "I know a story about a boy who hated stories," Old Nan said with her stupid little smile, her needles moving all the while, click click click, until Bran was ready to scream at her. And of course this begs the question, with her indeterminant eye and hair color, who is Old Nan?

I'm not sure I'm sold on this conclusions, but can still think of three good reasons that all breathe fire!

I don't think Bloodraven is the three eyed crow. Bloodraven has a speech about being unable to speak through the trees at all, imo. Something we know Bran is capable of. "He heard a whisper on the wind, a rustling amongst the leaves. You cannot speak to him, try as you might. I know. I have my own ghosts, Bran. A brother that I loved, a brother that I hated, a woman I desired. Through the trees, I see them still, but no word of mine has ever reached them. The past remains the past. We can learn from it, but we cannot change it." This fits with what he tells Bran too. "Are you the three-eyed crow?" Bran heard himself say. A three-eyed crow should have three eyes. He has only one, and that one red. Bran could feel the eye staring at him, shining like a pool of blood in the torchlight. Where his other eye should have been, a thin white root grew from an empty socket, down his cheek, and into his neck. "A … crow?" The pale lord's voice was dry. His lips moved slowly, as if they had forgotten how to form words. "Once, aye. Black of garb and black of blood." The clothes he wore were rotten and faded, spotted with moss and eaten through with worms, but once they had been black. "I have been many things, Bran. Now I am as you see me, and now you will understand why I could not come to you … except in dreams. I have watched you for a long time, watched you with a thousand eyes and one. I saw your birth, and that of your lord father before you. I saw your first step, heard your first word, was part of your first dream. I was watching when you fell. And now you are come to me at last, Brandon Stark, though the hour is late." Bloodraven never claims to have been able to speak to Bran. He watched, saw, heard, and was a part of the dream, but couldn't come to Bran, nor I think, coherently speak to him (like we see the three eyed crow do). But, back to Arya and Ned. The Old Gods are said to be the spirits of the dead gone down into the trees. "A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies," said Jojen. "The man who never reads lives only one. The singers of the forest had no books. No ink, no parchment, no written language. Instead they had the trees, and the weirwoods above all. When they died, they went into the wood, into leaf and limb and root, and the trees remembered. All their songs and spells, their histories and prayers, everything they knew about this world. Maesters will tell you that the weirwoods are sacred to the old gods. The singers believe they are the old gods. When singers die they become part of that godhood." And Ned spoke to Bran too. The mention of dreams reminded him. "I dreamed about the crow again last night. The one with three eyes. He flew into my bedchamber and told me to come with him, so I did. We went down to the crypts. Father was there, and we talked. He was sad." "And why was that?" Luwin peered through his tube. "It was something to do about Jon, I think." The dream had been deeply disturbing, more so than any of the other crow dreams. "Hodor won't go down into the crypts." So I would suggest that Arya did hear Ned's voice, speaking through the trees.

I think it's irony, Tyrion's parentage is in my opinion a much more open question. In general, I think that when someone says "sweet", one should be suspicious of a sweet lie or falsehood/deception, much like when they say "bitter" it is associated with a bitter truth. "It was not a game for girls. I was my father's precious princess . . . and Tywin's too, until I disappointed him. My brother never learned to like the taste of disappointment." She pushed herself to her feet. "I've said what I came to say, I shan't take any more of your time. Do what Tywin would have done." "Did you love him?" Jaime heard himself ask. His aunt looked at him strangely. "I was seven when Walder Frey persuaded my lord father to give my hand to Emm. His second son, not even his heir. Father was himself a thirdborn son, and younger children crave the approval of their elders. Frey sensed that weakness in him, and Father agreed for no better reason than to please him. My betrothal was announced at a feast with half the west in attendance. Ellyn Tarbeck laughed and the Red Lion went angry from the hall. The rest sat on their tongues. Only Tywin dared speak against the match. A boy of ten. Father turned as white as mare's milk, and Walder Frey was quivering." She smiled. "How could I not love him, after that? That is not to say that I approved of all he did, or much enjoyed the company of the man that he became . . . but every little girl needs a big brother to protect her. Tywin was big even when he was little." She gave a sigh. "Who will protect us now?" Jaime kissed her cheek. "He left a son." "Aye, he did. That is what I fear the most, in truth." That was a queer remark. "Why should you fear?" "Jaime," she said, tugging on his ear, "sweetling, I have known you since you were a babe at Joanna's breast. You smile like Gerion and fight like Tyg, and there's some of Kevan in you, else you would not wear that cloak . . . but Tyrion is Tywin's son, not you. I said so once to your father's face, and he would not speak to me for half a year. Men are such thundering great fools. Even the sort who come along once in a thousand years."

I'm inclined to think Cersei and Jaime are Tywin's children. As to your points, the book is pretty specific about dragonstone, and while it's entirely possible that the construction of dragonstone wasn't worked out until after Game of Thrones, Dany is still talking about gargoyles being ripped from the walls in Storm along side the imaginary Usurper's hired knives. She had been born on Dragonstone nine moons after their flight, while a raging summer storm threatened to rip the island fastness apart. They said that storm was terrible. The Targaryen fleet was smashed while it lay at anchor, and huge stone blocks were ripped from the parapets and sent hurtling into the wild waters of the narrow sea. A Game of Thrones - Daenerys I He wondered if his gargoyles had ever seen its like. They had been here so much longer than he had, and would still be here long after he was gone. If stone tongues could speak . . . A Clash of Kings - Prologue The child had been plagued by nightmares as far back as Maester Cressen could recall. "We have talked of this before," he said gently. "The dragons cannot come to life. They are carved of stone, child. In olden days, our island was the westernmost outpost of the great Freehold of Valyria. It was the Valyrians who raised this citadel, and they had ways of shaping stone since lost to us. A castle must have towers wherever two walls meet at an angle, for defense. The Valyrians fashioned these towers in the shape of dragons to make their fortress seem more fearsome, just as they crowned their walls with a thousand gargoyles instead of simple crenellations." A Clash of Kings - Prologue In place of merlons, a thousand grotesques and gargoyles looked down on him, each different from all the others; wyverns, griffins, demons, manticores, minotaurs, basilisks, hellhounds, cockatrices, and a thousand queerer creatures sprouted from the castle's battlements as if they'd grown there. And the dragons were everywhere. The Great Hall was a dragon lying on its belly. Men entered through its open mouth. The kitchens were a dragon curled up in a ball, with the smoke and steam of the ovens vented through its nostrils. The towers were dragons hunched above the walls or poised for flight; the Windwyrm seemed to scream defiance, while Sea Dragon Tower gazed serenely out across the waves. Smaller dragons framed the gates. Dragon claws emerged from walls to grasp at torches, great stone wings enfolded the smith and armory, and tails formed arches, bridges, and exterior stairs. Davos had often heard it said that the wizards of Valyria did not cut and chisel as common masons did, but worked stone with fire and magic as a potter might work clay. But now he wondered. What if they were real dragons, somehow turned to stone? A Storm of Swords - Davos V No squall could frighten Dany, though. Daenerys Stormborn, she was called, for she had come howling into the world on distant Dragonstone as the greatest storm in the memory of Westeros howled outside, a storm so fierce that it ripped gargoyles from the castle walls and smashed her father's fleet to kindling. The narrow sea was often stormy, and Dany had crossed it half a hundred times as a girl, running from one Free City to the next half a step ahead of the Usurper's hired knives. A Storm of Swords - Daenerys I Even the fact that "Dany" thinks of herself as "Dany" is a red flag, and that she is called Daenerys Stormborn. Dragons are never once said to howl in the series, afaik, that's what wolves do. The name Danny is a Northern name, as in Danny Flint. Lyanna's grandmother was a Flint.

There are storms all the time in the narrow sea, the question is if there was a storm that could rip blocks and gargoyles from the walls of a castle built from nearly indestructible fused stone where a maester is quoted as saying the gargoyles were there long before him and would be long after him. THE STORMS THAT blow up the narrow sea are infamous throughout the Seven Kingdoms, and in the Nine Free Cities as well. Though they may arise in any season, seafarers say that the worst of them come each autumn, forming in the warm waters of the Summer Sea south of the Stepstones, then roaring north across those bleak and stony islands. More than half continue north by northwest, according to the archives at the Citadel, sweeping over Cape Wrath and the rainwood, gathering strength (and moisture) as they cross the waters of Shipbreaker Bay before slamming into Storm's End on Durran's Point. The issue isn't that there was a storm at all, it's one that destroys an island fortress that has lasted for hundreds of years and shows no signs of having been destroyed, especially when the art of fusing stone needed to repair it has been lost. Viserys came upon her as sudden as a summer storm, his horse rearing beneath him as he reined up too hard. "You dare!" he screamed at her. "You give commands to me? To me?" He vaulted off the horse, stumbling as he landed. His face was flushed as he struggled back to his feet. He grabbed her, shook her. "Have you forgotten who you are? Look at you. Look at you!" I don't know what you are trying to say here. Summer storms aren't mentioned often in the series, but I do think it's notable when they are. "He did strike His Grace, that's so. It was a fit of wroth, no more. A summer storm. The mob near killed us all." "In the days of the Targaryens, a man who struck one of the blood royal would lose the hand he struck him with," observed the Red Viper of Dorne. "Did the dwarf regrow his little hand, or did you White Swords forget your duty?" It's not just the lemon trees. "Viserys was Mad Aerys's son, just so. Daenerys … Daenerys is quite different."

Not sure if it is relevant, but the headwaters of the Green Fork are the marshes of the Neck, which was mayhaps (nearly) broken by the hammer of the waters. If The Bite had never been taken out of Westeros, is it possible the green fork of the trident would have been fed by the White Knife, which in turn begins at Long Lake? And from there, well... It has long been held that they did this for protection from predators such as direwolves or shadowcats, which their simple stone weapons—and even their vaunted greenseers—were not proof against. But other sources dispute this, stating that their greatest foes were the giants, as hinted at in tales told in the North, and as possibly proved by Maester Kennet in the study of a barrow near the Long Lake—a giant's burial with obsidian arrowheads found amidst the extant ribs. It brings to mind a transcription of a wildling song in Maester Herryk's History of the Kings-Beyond-the-Wall, regarding the brothers Gendel and Gorne. They were called upon to mediate a dispute between a clan of children and a family of giants over the possession of a cavern. Gendel and Gorne, it is said, ultimately resolved the matter through trickery, making both sides disavow any desire for the cavern, after the brothers discovered it was a part of a greater chain of caverns that eventually passed beneath the Wall. But considering that the wildlings have no letters, their traditions must be looked at with a jaundiced eye. The beasts of the woods and the giants were eventually joined by other, greater dangers, however.

This meaning comes from Homer, and Achilles's Myrmidons, who are classically said to have their name derived from "ant". "An ant who hears the words of a king may not comprehend what he is saying," Melisandre said, "and all men are ants before the fiery face of god. If sometimes I have mistaken a warning for a prophecy or a prophecy for a warning, the fault lies in the reader, not the book. But this I know for a certainty—envoys and pardons will not serve you now, no more than leeches. You must show the realm a sign. A sign that proves your power!" Odd that the only copy of this Valyrian work was found in Winterfell. "Remember who you are, Daenerys," the stars whispered in a woman's voice. "The dragons know. Do you?" The next morning she woke stiff and sore and aching, with ants crawling on her arms and legs and face. When she realized what they were, she kicked aside the stalks of dry brown grass that had served as her bed and blanket and struggled to her feet. She had bites all over her, little red bumps, itchy and inflamed. Where did all the ants come from? Dany brushed them from her arms and legs and belly. She ran a hand across her stubbly scalp where her hair had burned away, and felt more ants on her head, and one crawling down the back of her neck. She knocked them off and crushed them under her bare feet. There were so many … It turned out that their anthill was on the other side of her wall. She wondered how the ants had managed to climb over it and find her. To them these tumbledown stones must loom as huge as the Wall of Westeros. The biggest wall in all the world, her brother Viserys used to say, as proud as if he'd built it himself.

And here I thought it was because all the members of house Tully, the black fish of the family excepted, are a bunch of muppets.

That Stork of a man! Thanks for the intro, the irony of trying to stop a prophesy only to cause it has roots as far back as storytelling goes, no doubt. There is clearly something important for us to learn about the ghost of high heart’s prophesy and the tragedy of Summerhall. I don’t hate the theory and am open to reading more if you feel like sharing.

The definitions of common tropes are not a sound basis for moral judgement. I can't speak for anyone else but I dislike Cersei because she is selfish, cruel, and incompetent.