EggBlue

A future interaction I'm hoping to see soon is Sansa/Arya. These sisters have come a long way. also, a weird interaction I would've liked to see was Daenerys/young Robert. yeah! oddly enough, lately, I've realized young Robert is entirely Daenerys's type! violent and strong, huge and manly, living by the day without any care for the future... totally a maiden's fantasy! on the other hand , Daenerys is totally Robert's type.. being a young pretty girl and all! such a shame usurper issue and the Narrow sea comes between them....

guys! you NEED to see this! lol.... especially the ending: "actually all you really need is a Stark with two working hands"

I doubt they change the castle completely. Most likely, they will only add a few details. otherwise, if retconning castles is an option, I'm all for a new Winterfell anyways, it'll be nice to see lady Joanna and lady Sam from earlier in the series, especially since lady Sam is in a terrible situation, being married to the enemies of her house. And later, she singlehandedly stopped the war( the Hightower boy wanted to continue, didn't he?)

ok...so, according to this theory, why would Daenerys need some Valyrian steel sword so badly?

The Dornish killing Daeron I under peace banner. I mean, he was the first one to break the peace.

Rogare sword? are you being serious? how?

don't try to find logic in Iron Islands

Tywin and Walder Frey are on the same level occupying #1. Joffrey, Aerys, and Ramsay , and other members of the crazy bunch, come next. and afterward I'd say Ironborn(especially Balon) , Lysa Arryn, and LittleFinger (his cruelty comes from his pettiness).

that's putting it mildly

I'm obviously no expert but I would say Tywin feels insecure about his small pee-pee... it's such a shame Tyrion didn't get to describe it to us when he killed his dad... maybe that's why he is constantly trying to satisfy his ego and is easily threatened by the slightest insults! in all seriousness, the man has some issues with his father that has led to his insecurities, just like Tyrion. his problems with his father may differ from Tyrion's problems with him, but both have clearly ended with the same results. Tyrion is selfish, petty, and insecure and tries to compensate for that by being cruel and violent. Tywin does the same. Tytos may not have been as big of a joke as Tywin believes him to be, but he seems to be the primary source of Tywin's insecurities to the day he died. naah. First, I do not buy into "Tywin married for love" for one second. I happen to think love comes with respect which is clearly lacking in the case of Joanna and Tywin. the fact that the only two people who believe in this "love" are Pycelle and Cersei doesn't help the argument. though that does not mean, Tywin didn't love Joanna as much as Cersei loved Jaimie. I suspect Cersei's relationship with Jaimie may indicate what Tywin's relationship with Joanna may have been like. Cersei wants Jaimie to fulfill her narcissistic desires. as it happens, Tywin is just as narcissistic as Cersei. also, the way Cersei sees Targaryens and might be subconsciously imitating them is fascinating. Cersei thinks if she had children with Rhaegar they would have been half gods! meanwhile, she sees herself so high and above that other than Rhaegar only her twin, Jaimie, is good enough for her. Tywin spent all his life in Kingslanding growing up with Aerys and despises his father for not seeing himself as better than his peers. Tywin ends up genuinely believing himself so close to Targaryens that Cersei's rejection comes as such a big surprise for him; despite the fact that his relationship with Aerys was rocky at that point and Targaryens have such massive egos that they hardly ever marry outside of their inner circle. so, maybe marrying Joanna, who was both his cousin and Aerys's ex, was to feed his ego. one would imagine Tywin must have had a very complicated relationship with his wife . on one hand, she was chosen by the Targaryen prince, so she must be something special (good for Tywin's ego), and on the other hand, she was the leftovers of another man by Tywin's misogynistic mind (bad for Tywin's ego). resulting in him so easily discarding her plans and disrespecting her after her death.

oh, I actually don't think that is a delusion. Aegon will be a good king or at least will try to be. but to think Varys spends 20+ years cutting children's tongues , exploiting them and telling himself it's for the greater good because some dudes he has appointed to raise Aegon will bring up the perfect king is definitely delusional. especially that mice/birds project predates Aegon's birth!

what a delusional

I don't think even Varys could see himself at the right if he systematically cuts out children's tongues. I mean, he was maimed himself. He should know how terrible it is. Then again, a while ago, I was confused about Varys's little birds and asked about the tongue situation in the "small questions" thread. Corvo and Megorova somewhat convinced me that the birds aren't mutes. You can read their arguments here: https://asoiaf.westeros.org/index.php?/topic/153070-small-questions-v-10106/&do=findComment&comment=8762929

Rhaenys never had the chance to kill Hightowers in the books.

War was inevitable when Jaeherys decided not to take a straightforward approach toward succession when Aemon died. Had he named Rhaenys his heir instead of Baelon, there wouldn't be any crisis should some future king lack sons.

I doubt Varys is "for the realm", Varys is "for Varys". I think to figure out Varys's motives in Harrenhal, we should take a look at his little speech about where power resides. seems to me Varys, in this scenario, is the guy with the sword, only his sword is his information and influence. Harrenhall was the scene of his power-play. we know Aerys was crazy enough to burn his own son if he had enough evidence of his betrayal. we also know that although King's presence didn't allow for a great council, it certainly convinced lords of his madness and more in favor of Rhaegar. one could say the king's presence in the tourney could both be good or bad for Rhaegar, depending on how Varys would play his cards. Varys sent Aerys to Harrenhall, seemingly messing up Rhaegar's plan but withholding enough info not to bring him down completely. maybe, he was sending out a warning to Rhaegar who at that point had absolutely no reason to keep some foreign weirdo at his court whenever he was to become king. maybe Varys was trying to show Rhaegar how he could be either his ally or enemy, while he probably wasn't even on Rhaegar's radar before.

the same way he dealt with Janos the Martyr. that is if they survive the aftermath chaos of Jon's fall.

that's better. but still, that's a little confusing and it won't help with Daenerys situation. Idk . guess will see if he is a Blackfyre in the next book. I somehow doubt this one takes till Dream of Spring.

and when a Targaryen king is being really an asshole his heirs or his lords step in. cases in point: Rhaegar attempting to depose Aerys. Laughing Storm rising against Aegon V (rightfully or otherwise). Aegon II's council killing him, Daemon Blackfyre rising against Daeron (rightfully or otherwise) , Jaeherys and lords rising against Maegor. not much difference there you see. that's pretty much implied. the world book states Aegon's affairs and novel ideas in governance by the examples of giving his Queens exceptional power, appointing a person as Hand , Small Council, the Kingsgaurd and the King's Peace. it's pretty much implied that like position of the Hand , the Small Council was something new.

still better than nothing which was the case with Pre-Targ kingdoms. like I said there were more options after the Conquest . not ideal, but better. that one's actually true. my bad. well, is he? do you really think a Gardner King going asshole wasn't as bad as a Targaryen king going asshole? at least with the Targaryen several great houses could face the asshole instead of one Florent or Hightower against the Gardner. and even that is only when the asshole's small council and Hand couldn't send him off to his privy business and take the matters into their own hands, which was hardly the case for the Gardner or Stark or Durrendan or the rest. despite its flaws , the Targaryen rule was better than that of the 7 kingdoms(save for Dorne) . much like North is better off with Starks or Dorne was better off with Nymerya and Mors.

I find Jon Snow is Arthur Dayne's son and will be the next Sword of the Morning intriguing and I like it a lot. but in all honesty, I don't have much hope! my other favorite theories, regardless of evidence: 1. Dragons and the Others will survive the conflict and human exploitation and will live in the wild by the end! 2. Seasons will become normal after the Long Night 3. Jon Snow will become a Night King figure who is a tragic hero who will be remembered as a villain. 4. Aegon is Aegon and Lemore is Ashara . (I like the Ashara=Jyanna Reed theory but when I think Ned and Howland killed Arthur I cannot imagine how Ashara might want to have anything to do with either of them...) 5. Lem is Richard and Jaimie will reveal it 6. Tommen is the Valanquer and he'll mercy kill his mother . dark . I know . but it's GRRM.

The problems with this scenario are Ned Dayne's age, the Dornish culture being more open to an inheriting lady who's just given birth to a bastard if she is indeed the last person in Starfall, and the situation between Ashara and Ned being too rocky at that point for her to be grateful. I'm afraid I have to disagree with Rhaella=Septa Lemore theory. and it has nothing to do with looks which is hardly the thing one can get from a book's pages. I believe in figuring out Lemore's identity , we must pay close attention to Jon Con's chapters. Jon is everything you expect from an arrogant, proud nobleman and a Targaryen loyalist. men like Jon care about the class system A LOT. he cares about hierarchy whether in the Red Keep or on a small boat on the other side of the world. this guy respects Lemore like almost an equal. but it ends there. he doesn't see a reason to listen to Lemore's council after hearing it , despite his fondness and respect for the woman. this is not the treatment Jon Con would give his queen. whether he likes it or not Rhaella Targaryen would be above him , not an equal. he would have to convince her of his plans and wouldn't dismiss her worries in an order. no. Lemore is a Westerosi Lady.

Yes. it was absolutely worse to be a peasant or even a minor noble in the Pre-Targ era. In basic terms, if you were a peasant affected by war under Targ rule, you had more options for escape. Say, you were a Riverlander during the Dance, which was the worst war under the Targaryens, you had the chance to run to North (which is not affected by war but awaits winter) or Vale(which is ideal if you can run past the clans) or you could run to certain parts of the Reach, anywhere in Dorne, Stormlands or some parts of Crownlands. Now, imagine you were a Riverlander in Hoar wars and want to run. You must check if Starks and Boltons are not fighting in the North, check the situation in Dornish marches, check if there's some succession war in the Reach, or make sure you can run past the mountain clans... unfortunately due to lack of WiFi, you have to rely on your luck, close your eyes and RUN. Another development after the Conquest is the fact that you only have to worry about one person going asshole and irresponsible instead of 7, and even then, Dragon Trio made a Small Council to somewhat moderate the King's decisions, something that I doubt was the case with any of the Pre-Targ kingdoms. Sure, the council could be corrupted, but that's progress from nothing at all. Then there's the excellent deal that kingdoms like the North, Reach, Westerlands, and Riverlands got out of the united kingdom right from the start: aid with the Winter situation, stability, less trouble from Ironborn, and protection from the rest of the realms.

noo. Jon Snow is obviously Snow White. Jon Snow has every factor : white skin - Black Hair - Evil Step Mom - Love at First Sight (Yigrete) - Animal Friends (the guy can literally have a trail of animals behind him... much like Varameer) meanwhile the so called Daenerys Stormborn Targaryen is a queen , is magical, and is friends with Dragons( Melifacent?!) ... she is so obviously THE WITCH.

here I thought we root for Snow White against the witch!