Arataniello

Any references to the Targaryen family tree need to be updated with Aemond, brother of Aegon II, and the three sons of Aegon V. Plus anything else that I have not yet come across in a DwD.

[mod] The discussion here seems to be drifting somewhat. Please keep comments in this thread restricted to the timing of The Winds of Winter, as there are already threads elsewhere (in the TV section) whcih are more appropriate for the discussion of the correlation between previously published volumes and TV series season. Thank you. [/mod]

Bastards can be legitimized. Stannis has already offered to do this for Jon. One of the Targaryen kings did it with all of his bastards. Ramsay Snow has turned into Ramsay Bolton.

We don't know yet. It's possible that there are SEVERAL ways to control dragons. - the Targs may have an innate ability to do so (maybe); - cetain objects (eg a horn we have seen prevously) also allegedy allow one to control dragons; - a warg's ability possibly. There have also been reference made to a couple (I think) of books that may provide insight into dragons and how to control them. One is a book that Maester Aemon mentions to Jon, and Tyrion thinks of another in one of his PoVs. It's been a while since I read the first three books, so I may be mistaken about either or both of these.

The summary of the Davos chapter doesn't actually say it was a mad king that dressed an ape up as his son. It could easily have been a way for that Targaryen to demean his nobles by suggesting their daughters were not worth marrying his real sons.

That's a fairly heroic assumption/statement. Can you provide a link to where this is stated please?

I have always assumed that Bran and his companions are heading to Hardhome, which appears on maps of the lands north of the Wall.

That may have been a typo. To the best of my knowledge, we have only had one Davos chapter revealed so far.

You may want to glance at this thread - warning SPOILERS of varying degrees at the end of the link. http://asoiaf.westeros.org/index.php?showtopic=5960 This tells you who the PoVs are in aDwD, as well as some indication of how many chapters we may get from some of them.

I can' t remember if this was mentioned before, but GRRM uses the term "merling" to describe aquatic creatures of some sort (the Spears of the Merling King in one of Davos' chapters, and a mention of them being seen near Eastwatch in one of Jon's chapters). In Jack Vance's "Trullion: Alastor 2262", the merlings are the denizens of The Fens around Welgen - subaquatic creatures that grab humans and eat them. Aratan

The city in the Silmarillion is Tirion, rather than Tyrion. The similarity in sound is probably coincidence only. Aratan

Hmm, I did a Google search and it appears he is. Better check my facts before I post next time. Aratan

Err, Brienne's father is Lord of Tarth, where his seat seems to Evenfall Hall. Not Evenstar. Aratan

They were a UK band, fronted by an incredibly tall guy called "Fish". They had quite a few hits - "Lavendar", "Kayleigh", um others probably as well. There is a post about the connection between them, the bard and the Silmarillion somewhere up-thread. Rather than the band being a reference to GRRM, it is more a cse of the bard AND GRRM being a reference to the JRRT book. Aratan All you could ever possibly want to know (and then some) about the band Marillion. http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&s...dmozefqkhgf2~T1 Aratan

I aslo wonder if "Ghaston Grey" is based on Gormemghast - both are dreary old places, although the former must be relatively small since it is in the middle of the Sea of Dorne, and the latter is vast. Aratan