chrisdaw

There is some though, early or through memories, and they do a lot of heavy lifting. Stark family memories, Jon forming his friendship with Sam, Dany coming to love the Dothraki life, Jaime and Tyrion broing, they're the scenes that endear the characters.

The problem with F&B from an adaption stand point is that it has little joy. The fun and sentiment they did add will serve the story well but they could use far more.

Sansa, her taking control of the Westerlands will be part of her casting down Cersei.

Euron's description of the Drowned God. Parts of the description followed by descriptions of Aeron in the same chapter. and The line doesn't have a like in the chapter but it doesn't need one, it's for his name the Damphair. Aeron recalls the Drowned God speaking to him in the chapter, but we don't really get the resolution of the conversation. And it sort of just trails off into Aeron's thoughts, as if he can't acknowledge the Drowned God's will. I had thought it must be Theon, I think now it's supposed to be a nod towards Aeron himself. The answer may be hidden in the structure of the passage. Who should sit the Seastone Chair? Not Victarion, not Asha, Aeron Damphair should. And the Seastone chair in this context won't be about the human who leads the men of the Iron Isles, it's about who takes the mantle of the Drowned God.

No not at all, the leg work has been done and the plot points are set up to be knocked over.

The conquest of Westeros? Sure, and that'll happen in Westeros. Each city state in Essos doesn't need more than a single chapter or much of a co-ordinated strategy. It's "ok this city is taken, we'll meet at the next to discuss how we are going to take that one." It's designed that way, for Dany to steam roll and seem like (and think herself) an irresistible force. We'll get more than a chapter each, but probably not much more. It won't be a single chapter but things will move like ASOS Dany IV and there will be nothing wrong with it. We were in the turn to fire and blood stage, and that's done, now it's the conquest of Essos.

You're all grossly overestimating the amount of time left in Essos. The arc is done, she was tired and wanted to rest and plant some trees and watch them grow, but she's learnt now that's not who she is, she can't wear the floppy ears, the dragon does not plant trees, it's fire and blood all the way. Her players and forces are all assembling themselves in Meereen without her having to be there, all that's left to do is gather up the Dothraki and pick off the city states on the way West.

It doesn't follow that once they meet they will always be together. I think Dany leads the Dothraki through the Dothraki Sea (living off the land) and a second force composed of everyone else loyal to Dany goes along the coast (taking every city as they go), and that Tyrion was always meant to be the (land) POV (before GRRM turned Barristan POV) amongst that allied force, if not the commander in Dany's name.

I think the OP undersells what we know about Aeron I. I think Dany will be in Westeros for the majority of the book, that the Meereen alliance forming in her name rolls west along the coast and she with the Dothraki through the Dothraki Sea. Jon's coming back but that might not happen until the end of the book. I think probably halfway through the book is more likely, though if the book gets split into volumes his return could be how the first ends. I think the book ends in the north with either Jon being elevated to KITN as an opposing force to Ramsay, or further on after Jon defeats Ramsay and consolidates the north. In the south when Dany defeats Aegon in the dance and begins her reign, or the end of her reign in which she flees KL for her life as the city revolts against her.

It's interesting and does suggest LF will outlive their stay at the Vale, but it's hard to take much literally given it's a report and not his own words. It could have been something like LF rules in name but without an army he would run into trouble pressing his claim in the Riverlands. My main take away from that report is come the second dance when the realm splits and neighbour and family bitterly fight neighbour and family (as a constant point is made about happening in the first), Riverrun and the Twins are going to fight on opposite sides.

I don't agree because it's all going to be from the same source and the rest sure wasn't coming from Cersei. Someone understands and is using how Joff idolises his father. I think of the conversations as having gone something like; "your betrothed and mother will ask you to spare him, with their soft womanly hearts. And maybe you should if gentle is the type of king you wish to be. Myself, I always liked the way your father ruled, a true strong leader, never did treason go unpunished whilst he was king." "Your grandfather has returned. A great man to be sure, but I do wonder . . . no never mind I shouldn't say it. Ok if you insist . . . it was said during Aerys's reign that Ser Tywin Lannister thought himself the real king, and went about ruling the realm without informing the king of many a decision he ought to have known. Your own father would have none of that and sent him away during his reign. Remember it was your father who truly won this throne of yours, he killed Prince Rhaegar while your grandfather hid under Casterly Rock. A strong king was your father, he acted boldly, he didn't just talk like your grandfather."

Sansa and LF's solution to the inconvenience of Robert being a person/child with feelings, thoughts, voice and behaviour runs back to how Tywin immediately dealt with the same issue with Joff. Having Sansa/LF parallel Tywin in this shows two things, competency and dubious morality. In that same scene Tywin immediately hits the nail on the head as to what should be the underlying issue with Joffrey, Who is in his ear telling him this? Who is influencing him? Cersei says Robert B and Tyrion backs it up and it seems the likely answer, Robert's dead so that's that. Of course it wasn't Robert and we'll find out soon enough who it was, but that's beside my immediate point, which is who is in the kid's ear matters, as GRRM has the ever competent Tywin immediately identify. And here Sansa is doing a bit of a Cersei in not being alert to the danger of someone getting in under her and framing Robert's opinions/thoughts. In addition to being inexperienced Sansa is perhaps too preoccupied with her own task, tummy flutters and all, to pay enough attention. LF should know, but probably he's left Robert's care almost entirely to Sansa and the maester. The way it plays out could start the chain of realisation in Sansa that leads to her understanding what LF did. Now what Littlefinger did is one part established and one part theory, Established is that he is the savage giant of Sansa's WF scene. He deliberately brought WF into the WOT5Ks by having Lysa poison Jon Arryn and send Catelyn the secret message blaming the Lannisters. Theory is he had Joffrey's ear and manipulated him into executing Ned. We'll find out that the "soft hearts of women" and "treason shall never go unpunished" were LF's words, put directly into Joffrey's head. Now if something comes of the ideas in Robert's head about Harry, like Robert orchestrates Harry's end (perhaps an accident at the tournament), when Sansa does a retrospective of what happened she may see a pattern in what happened with Joffrey, leading her to piece together what LF did. And LF's undoing may come because he isn't paying attention to the raising of the child whose care he is entirely responsible for and should be his primary focus. And maybe due to a treacherous act passed off as an accident at a tournament.

Yeah sorry I wasn't aware you were making posts with the assumption everyone understood your extra-textual out of nowhere theorised motivations for LF. My bad.

No it looks nothing like that, how the hell does that benefit LF? What is best for LF is everyone is happy families until Sansa takes in Harry and they're married and then Robert can die tragically, quietly and blamelessly. The ignoring of Robert and his ideas about Harry is what's going to come to fuck over someone, maybe Sansa herself but more likely LF, it is a parallel to everyone ignoring what LF was feeding Joffrey in KL which lead to Joff executing Ned and ruining everyone's plans. It's a question of if the person feeding Robert (I'll take Lyn for now) really has a thought out long term plan or if they just have an axe to grind with LF and are throwing spanners into the works wherever they may to fuck with him.

Sansa's favour being promised to another is an allusion to Tyrion/Sandor.

Part of the wiki entry for Deianira. Lots of obvious references. Nessus might be where Nissa Nissa comes from.

And I think you are ignoring important thematic inclusions in the text because they don't fit your wishes. Sansa forcing sweet sleep on Robert is a part of the story for a reason, and that reason is not to show she is negligent.

Things don't need that much elaborating, Sansa's use of drugs to sedate SR against the protestations of his maester concerned for the boy's health is not a benevolent act.

You're just handwaving swathes of text as if it's meaningless. It's not.

The game of thrones can not be played honourably because the means are dishonourable, it requires such things as drugging and slowly poisoning your sickly cousin so that they'll be compliant, and banking on their death. You have to try very hard to not see the point being made in the text.

Rainbows and unicorns again. Yes there is the minor theme in her arc that love and kindness can inspire greater people and people to be greater than fear and material wealth. And that's all you're correct about. Sansa is not about to play the game of thrones honourably, the game of thrones can not be played honourably, that should be apparent by now, that point has been well and often made. It is not for no reason she's neck deep in trading the little fool's health for political gain, reeling in Harry or starving the populace for profit. Tears are not a woman's only weapon, dead men tell no tales, such have been her lessons, and she's a parrot, watch, learn, recite.

Plenty of Lannisters have laid their hands on Sansa, literally and figuratively. They've moulded her, she's thinking and speaking in Cersei terms, one to one. She's obviously not the Lady of Winterfell in any capacity, and she is behaving contrary to the teachings of Winterfell. Catelyn and Ned would disgust at her involvement in LF's scheming and the treatment of SR, but Cersei would understand. The arc is pawn to player. Naive sweetling learns life's realities the hard way and grows into the best most perceptive and ruthless of power players. The Vale with its mini political web is the training course, from there she will graduate to the main game in KL.

Sansa's arc is not going to take her to the north or Winterfell, she'll be in KL after the Vale to move her pawns in the game of thrones. Her central conflict is if she is Sansa Stark or Sansa Lannister, honour and fairness or power and avarice. Really the culmination will look more like a question of if there's any Stark left inside of her, or has she gone completely to Lannister. Does she care at all for the collateral damage she'll cause in claiming and holding power, for the feelings and safety of her loyal pawns.

And the best one.

So he wound back her resentment for the smallfolk at this time, too soon, not enough Cersei and Petyr exposure yet.