Aejohn the Conqueroo

Dark Sister isn't really a fit. If Longclaw is a Targ sword it would have to be Blackfyre which would mean that Bloodraven wound up with it and brought it north with him. I like your take on Jorah's honour but like you say a human life should be seen as of greater value than a sword to a true knight (somewhere Sansa's weeping). I just think that if it were his Jorah would have spoken of leaving it behind when he ran into exile. He lays himself pretty bare when he speaks to Danny abut his past and it seems like the kind of slightly redeeming act that a person might overvalue when trying to paint himself and his slave trading youth in a sympathetic light.

Do we have any confirmation anywhere that Jeor told Jon a true story about the sword's history? Like does any other Mormont mention Longclaw? Do any of the Mormont women mention the slight? I don't remember Jorah ever mentioning it and I'm not convinced the whole tale isn't just cooked up for Jon's benefit.

Yeah, but it makes sense so I'll call it another good catch by OB. I think it's interesting but don't care either way. Vargo Hoat has seriously enriched my life. Back when I read Storm for the first time I would sometimes loudly exclaim "Kingthlayer!" and then happily snigger to myself for a good 2 or 3 minutes when I thought I was alone. Ok I still do sometimes, and I throw in the odd 'thapphireth' too.

Mya's got a pretty loaded name so I doubt we're done with her. If there is ever need for a Baratheon heir (other than Melisandre's need) my suspicion is that she'll be the one to fill the bill. Could be linking up with Jon though that would probably be one of those political marriages unless the story somehow brings them together (seems unlikely but there are a few thousand pages to go so a lot could happen). I don't know that the eventual ruler of Westeros will give a rat's about other noble house's idea of bastardy and legitimacy. it really depends on why a Baratheon heir is needed and who needs the person.

I'd follow the 'many faced god', not because I've got some hankering to go spill a bunch of blood, but I think there's something cynically atheistic about Syrio and Jacqen's description of the god. He is not a god of death, the so called 'many faced god' is death itself and that's who every devout worshipper of every named deity on planetos is really speaking too when they pray. Worshipping the many faced god is seeing through the whole worship thing, skipping the middlemen and speaking right to the source. "I don't want to die, I don't want the people important to me to die, but I know that all who live eventually do" and so what do we say to death? "Not today"

Why did Cersei want him dead if she had nothing to do with the death of Jon Arryn? Hugh's silencing protected his lady Lysa and Littlefinger. I don't think that Littlefinger had any levers to pull on the Mountain (it is interesting though that the lance breaks off in Hugh in the one chapter and then in the following chapter we have the description of the Giant's Lance in the Vale) but if he did it would have probably been intimating to the Mountain that the Lannisters would be grateful. I think it's as likely that he would have bribed the listmakers to put the Mountain and Hugh together and then trusted Ser Gregor's nature to take its course.

Yikes I hope that's not a firm limit. 36 biweekly appreciation posts might not be enough to scratch the surface.

'Mance is Rhaegar' is still a favorite of mine even though I don't think it will bear out.

SMH

I'd start smuggling onions

There were a couple of similarities that I only caught recently. Off the top of my head there was the fire and a large CRACK and it was the crack that reminded me of Dany's dragons. 3 dragons/ 3 prisoners. I'll try to take another look this evening, I think there were a few more parallels that are escaping me right now.

Hey, since you're pairing Dany and Arya, have you ever considered Arya's rescuing of Jacqen, Biter and Rorge in light of Dany's dragon birthing ceremony?

Maybe. I assume they were two different greenseer kings but there's so very little to go on.

Well he did say outright to Tyrion that he thought she would die among the Dothraki. V couldn't have been the plan though or else Illyrio would have worked harder to keep him back in Pentos while the Khalssar headed to VD. He says little enough to Tyrion about V other than he could have ruined years of planning if he raped Dany before her wedding night as he intended. So it seems that getting himself killed before turning west didn't hurt any of Illyrio's plans. Could the ceremony have been the thing for Illyrio? After the wedding he demonstrates his indifference to both D and V by leaving them among people he believes will kill them. We learn later that he already has a plan (f)A but like you say he could have killed them without involving Drogo. Could he have had need or reason to divest himself of the dragon eggs themselves? Could D and V have been deliberate blood sacrifices toward this or some other end and the wedding was cover for necessary ritual? Was he lying to Tyrion later and we're seeing some retcon ripples? Sometimes I think this is the easiest answer to Illyrio's mysteries, but I hope the author can pull together something a little better than that.

Well, maybe not Victarion

Everyone would nod and say 'yes that's great' but they'd all be looking at each other out of the corner of their eyes while they said it.

I thought that the understanding would have been that the Dothraki would essentially work as mercenaries on Viserys' behalf but this doesn't really bear out when you consider the Dothraki aversion to the water and no evidence existing of Drogo having told his people this was something they were preparing to do. Honestly if it weren't for the inclusion of the dragon eggs I would assume that Iilyrio very cynically put Drogo and Viserys together to get rid of V in favour of his chosen pretender Faegon. That Dany would spend her life marries to some barbarian in the east or die alongside her brother or her husband would just be a neatly cut loose end. Would Illyrio see the eggs as disposable? I assume no, but he may see them differently

Haida Gwaii

Well you and Stannis anyway. Jon's dead, or he isn't. There's probably more written in these forums on Jon's fate than Martin's published in his entire life. Give em a browse, but ultimately there's nothing for us but to wait it out and see. I suspect he's dead but that's just a step in his journey... we wait

So she can show off how badassed Arya's become in an epic spar between the 2 greatest swordsfolk in all of Westeros obviously.

Who's in the brown this episode?

In the first 3 books she was still checked by her family. Feast and Dance are Cercei on her own without Tyrion to manipulate her or her father to intimidate her or Jamie to whatever he did for her (which didn't seem to be working anymore anyway). Her small council are yes men and graspers and her primary fixation is on her brother, not the kingdoms. I think the pace of collapse in that light is right on target. She's drinking more and she wouldn't recognize good advise if there was anyone around her to give it. Not a sustainable situation.

I like to tell myself that a year in Westeros is a little longer than our own years. I think if you dig enough this can be disproven or at least challenged, but I chose not to dig.

I'm really looking forward to this spinoff. What we know going in is vague enough that they can do just about whatever they want with it without stepping on us readers' toes.

Now I'm kind of hoping that's the HBO cartoon we've heard might be coming.