EggBlue

maybe , Ned extracted a promise from the Daynes too . what good does it make to tell those secrets to children ? yes Dawn is very important . but think about it this way : if Tyrion had sent out Ice back to Starks as well as Ned's body , Starks would still not name the next lord Stark Tyrion . doesn't matter that Tyrion has sent them back their sword quite honorably . these kinds of families see the honorable thing as the right thing to do . something that does make them respect the person but not so much that they feel they owe them . because after all doing the right thing is simply a duty .

still in that situation Ned would owe the Daynes more than they owe him . I mean , he is concealing a Targling's existence with their help. ... no , no , no ,... doesn't matter if you respect a young man for how honorable he is ; you just don't name your first born after him to remember that honorable man killed your brother and caused your sister's suicide because of his honor ! it must be that Daynes owe Ned , big time . for example , Lyanna may have been in Starfall . Or , my pet theory ,that I hardly have proof for , goes like this : a) Ashara takes Aegon away from Kingslanding with Varys's help . b) the Kingsgaurd try to distract Ned and co. who are actually tracing Lyanna because she too is in Starfall . c) Art in the last moment decides for some reason that he can trust Ned and tells him Lyanna's whereabouts . d) poor Ned arrives in Starfall only to see his sister dies and leaves a baby . e) Ned seeks out Ashara because he loves her and wants to say farewell . he somehow realizes what's going on with Aegon (maybe Art had told him that too) . f) Ned convinces Ashara that the best way is for her to take Aegon to Essos instead of Sunspear where it'll ensure more war and bloodshed . g) Ned gives some promises. to keep the bastard prince safe as his own , to keep Ashara's secret and let her and Aegon go , and to never mention the Daynes' close involvement with Lyanna situation and Aegon's escape which could end in their ruin and to keep Arthur Dayne's legacy intact as the honorable knight instead of the jailor! .... oh , and this theory totally works without the Ashara/Aegon part , so omit it if you like . but I somehow doubt that lord Dayne would like Ned so much if he was the reason for the death of both his siblings.

you're probably right .... but hopefully, they push him to finish Winds first and then move on to FnB2 . winds could be a huge publicity... . they already have enough material for 3-4 seasons after all and even if they wish to continue , Regency could be 2 more seasons .

I'm hoping that HoTD's Golden Globe would be such a positive development that George enjoys Winds more and finishes it faster... is it false hope?

yes , he is a fuckboy and no his protectiveness on its own doesn't say anything about Ned/Ashara situation . but the combination of what we've heard of him suggests that he's the guy who cares for his siblings deeply to the point of being a total moron . his ridings with Lyanna ( not all that lady like) and his general attitude around Barbrey and other lovers suggests that he may encourage a bit of rebellious behavior in his siblings , likely he'd be the guy to encourage Ned to go for it when he's got a crush and even help him by asking for a dance for his brother . as for Ned's crush , I think Howland's tale and Allyria's account are acceptable enough .

I might have had this conversation with you before (or maybe it was someone else ) ... all that is fair and well but Allyria's young age does not prove anything . this world is full of huge age differences between siblings ... Baratheon brother , Targaryen siblings , Jaeherys I's children , Martels, Aegon IV's kids are all but a few examples of this and Daynes could just be another one . besides, it is not given that Allyria and Beric had not married yet because she hadn't had her period yet . we don't know if Dornish marriage age range is the same as the rest of Westeros . Sylva , Ashara and Elia were still single after the age of 20 . and Arianne , the one who complained about it , complained that her father wasn't trying to arrange useful alliances for her rather than the fact that she should be married because she is old . it could easily be the norm in Dorne that women marry in an older age . and that's not just that . Cat and Brandon were also betrothed ever since she was 12 . yet they only arranged the wedding when she was 18. Lyanna too was betrothed to Robert for years and we know that they did not arrange the wedding right after she got her period . finally, last but not least , if the author wanted to hint that Ashara's daughter survived and lived on as Ashara's sister , he would have had to leave better clues that do not involve remembering ages and dates . especially that he is not particularly good at dates , timelines or ages . yeah , I kinda think killing her brother totally kills it for her . that's why I'm completely against the Ashara+Howlad theory. lol. Daynes' respect for Ned is curious . I don't buy it that they named their heir after him and told him enough stories about Ned that he'd be interested in speaking with him , just because he dropped down a sword after killing their brother and breaking the heart of their sister who later killed herself ! that's just ... unbelievable ! my take is that Ned did not know that she was pregnant and by the time she know and wanted to tell Ned , they were already at war and she decided to wait it out a bit . only to later realize he had married his brother's betrothed . however , there will still be the question of why Daynes have such regard for Ned . I could only imagine he might have had something on them that they could end up like Conningtons losing everything but he let them off the hook and never spoke of it again . I've got some pet theories yeah that would have been funny indeed so what ? Brandon is the brother who has a routine of riding with his rebellious sister , he's the guy who is ready to duel the crown prince if he thinks the man is hurting his sister . he's the guy who instead of making japes of his younger brother's shyness , steps up to ask for a dance for him himself . this guy doesn't come off as the guy who sleeps with his shy brother's crush just because he wants a good night .

Ned and Ashara liked each other , slept together , maybe fell in love and corresponded . she realized she is pregnant , war happened , he got married , her baby died , anything they once felt for each other likely was overshadowed by the fact that he killed her brother . ... that's all we can almost with certainty get from the text . everything else will go in the category of theories and speculations ... which I'm kinda tired to discuss right now also , why do people think Brandon had slept with his brother's crush ? honestly, if we can get anything from 2 out of 4 times we hear of Brandon's actions , it's that he was a good brother .

Tywin , Roose , Euron

poor George , he seems a bit frustrated ! I kinda feel sorry for him .. I did take a few days off for the holidays, I confess. Shame on me, I guess. But now I am back in the salt mine, working… working on so many bloody things, my head may soon explode. Yes, WINDS OF WINTER, yes, yes. ..... Oh, and did I forget WINDS OF WINTER? No, of course I didn’t. But if I ever did, I know you folks will remind me....... well, this past week the G-Men lost a heartbreaker to the Vikings, and the Jets failed to turn up for their game against the Jags. (Please, Mike White, get well soon). Life is meaningless and full of pain. Clearly, the Football Gods hate me. Maybe they are pissed off about WINDS being so late too…...... WHITE LOTUS 2 on HBO made me want to go visit Sicily… but I won’t, not until WINDS is done and delivered, I promised...... (it was also somewhat funny , the way he kept writing ok ok I'm working on Winds!)

a fan of flip-phone, ha? https://www.tomsguide.com/features/what-to-expect-from-foldable-phones-in-2023-galaxy-z-fold-5-pixel-fold-and-more

I hope George finishes winds this year . just to be rid of back and forth threads arguing Starks are the monsters or Targaryens , if nothing else .

in terms of cinematography , production , music and acting , I rate House of the Dragons higher than GoT season 1 . A LOT HIGHER . although I believe this might not be all that fair due to the huge difference between HOTD s01 budget and GOT s01 budget . in terms of narrative and character writing , I think GoT season 01 did a much much better job . again this might not be a fair comparison since HOTD had to cover a big timespan with numerous characters coming and going, which wasn't the case for GOT that had a clear narrative with scenes already written in the books only in need of complements in the show. however , I can't help but feel this was basically a hole that the showrunners threw themselves into . F&B is just outlines with too many blanks to fill which could be an amazing opportunity for a writer to delve into the story and figure out everything that leads to plot points . in comparison , I think HOTD is closer to GOT season 6 but a lot better when it comes to characters .

you know... ever since I've found this forum , I've admired Heresy people's persistence . that made me think , if (some of) these guys have first read these books before I was even born and still are talking and theorizing about it... well , that means something! I gotta say , to think even Heresy has run out of subjects , especially considering how flexible you guys are with thinking miles and miles outside the box, is upsetting . p.s . and George's Casterly Rock post ? I guess someone else has run out of online material too!

I must say his last act of comforting Falia was one of the more heroic and humane things in the series. yet , he is as thick of a wall and can easily become a fanatic .

my real wish for these series is that Greyjoys will be wiped out . it'll probably be a more pleasant world ... maybe Harlaws can take over?

Fire&Blood is not a very good Christmas present . what is the appeal for a non-asoiaf fan ? ..

Daenerys Targaryen is NOT a better leader than Jon Snow. I'd say they're pretty much the same.

you should tell that to George Martin . it certainly feels like his editing judgement is at times clouded when it comes to Daenerys , Tyrion and (in clash and aSoS ) Arya. the first three Tyrion chapters could easily turn into one . same goes for a lot of Dany chapters. Brienne's story in feast suffers from conclusion too, in my opinion . sure , she goes back to Cat and her vow and in Dance she goes to Jaimie ; but both characters needed that final confrontation . honestly , Jon's death and Bran's final vision is enough Cliffhanger for both books .

I agree. I suspect some of the reason for their numerous chapters was their popularity. Dany-cult would have killed George if there were only 3-4 Dany chapters . meanwhile Tyrion spent 3 chapters getting drunk until he joined Griffs.

I think the biggest mistake George and his publishers have done is not including the final battles in the Dance . which I believe might very well hurt Winds too . I mean , that book's gonna start with a conclusion , then it'll start from a beginning point, again! I liked Dance and Feast (as a package) better than the first three books . the first three were fun but most chapters in Dance and Feast were very well written short stories. however , it is still quite frustrating that the books as a whole feel unfinished .

does he though? doesn't even matter if you're a "gardener" or an "architect" , most often when you have an idea for years , at some point it doesn't seem as good as it was when it first occurred to you . maybe that's one of George's problems with these series . I mean, he himself keeps saying that his characters are going in unexpected ways that even affects some of the things he had told D&D . and that's the point , if he has too many unexpected turns in the journey , the conclusion has to change .

I'm willing to bet at the worst case scenario you'll read it half way through at first and will go back finishing it after a year or so!

Joffrey . I understand why most people find this conclusion dissatisfying . the whole catspaw story line is the most plot driving factor in all the books . it's fair to assume when George was writing aGoT back in the day , he might not have thought of all the details and conceivability of the plan ,making it come off as sloppy. he may have only thought of the outcome which is basically the events of aSoIaF . whether it was an afterthought , a retcon or the original plan , I personally think Joffrey as the plotter is the smartest answer to the Catspaw Mystery . he's a sadist and the prince, and annoyance seems reason enough for this character to order murder. besides, he may be the likeliest character to toss a Valyrian steel dagger to a random guy and doesn't recognize it . that said, as much as I believe this mystery to be as good as solved in the books , I think if George decides to revisit it , Cersei could be a potential candidate . her denial in front of Jaimie aside , in the case of Blue Bard , Margery and Melara, there are occasions of self-injected delusion and denial in Feast to show she might deny her involvement .

to be honest, I'm not sure. I don't think I have given up on him completely. personally I think the last parts of the story would be easier for an author like George to write. still, I don't feel as excited about his updates as before.

so he's written 1100-1200 pages in over 11yrs and there's just about 400-500 pages to go? should we clap?