Aetta

You've been reading the OT III revelations again, haven't you?

You are the wind beneath my wings.

I'd tell Drogon to drop her from stratospheric heights. Then I'd see if I could work it in reverse and bring Bloodraven out to this world. I would be the coolest chick on Earth if I rolled with Brynden in the passenger side of my Jeep.

I pictured spits over fires, with giant chickens, lol.

Now that is something I had not considered. This little bit of critical thinking reveals that if there were indeed Southron Ambitions in the works, the heir to The North was not in on it. Tisk tisk, Rickard, you let the wild wolf get ahead of you!

It's something to chew on, anyway. It seems that Aerys's madness was well taken-advantage-of by many houses, why not theirs?

Well, tough noogies. We're all here to bounce ideas off each other and debating is not a bad thing unless people start ad hominem attacks. And, FWIW, nothing that I wrote was factually wrong, even if it doesn't make you feel good or you don't like my interpretation of the text. I already stated Rickard did not deserve the death penalty; It does not matter what Brandon heard. Robert "heard" (or made up in his own mind) that Rhaegar was a raging rapist-Does that make it so? There was a system in place to hold trial and there was a small council to consult. Or perhaps Lord Rickard could have roused an army and made it a formal declaration of war if he distrusted a fair resolution. A lone moron striding into the capital and publicly demanding the Prince come out and die is a death sentence in any feudal society. It was after the Tourney at Lannisport, at Duskendale, when the small council feared Lord Darklyn might kill Aerys, that Tywin said "He may or he may not, but if he does, we have a better king right here," pointing to Rhaegar. So no, Tywin did not want to get rid of the Targaryens. Rhaella and Elia's wants are inconsequential as neither of them were heir to the throne. The heir defended his father's sovereignty to his death. I think we are really debating feelings vs logistics... I could for sure make apology for much of Aerys's behavior, going all the way back to the wood's witch who basically said Aerys would amount to nothing more than being the sperm donor of The Prince That Was Promised and thus he had to marry his sister, whom he did not care for. That's for another thread, but it should be noted that our author has stated that he does not write these characters as strictly good guys or bad guys. But, back to what I actually wrote: I didn't make apologies for the mad, raping, pyromaniac in my previous post. I specifically said it wasn't about his likeability. There was an original and specific statement you made that I challenged, that everyone was against Aerys's reign. They weren't. If they had been, Robert's Rebellion would have only required killing, at most, 5 platinum blondes + Rhaenys.

Gawd Aerys was the King of Shade.

This is intriguing, with myriad implications. We could chalk it up to our author not really going that deeply into it, especially in his first work (AGoT). Besides, what the KG planned to do in terms of their allegiance and succession was really none of Ned's concern, and maybe Hightower was just being brassy and sassy. But.... How many, many conspiracies against the crown have we in this story? I agree that Hightower is the stand out here, the character just feels different. I can't help but think about the events of Maegor's political marriage to Ceryse, the sway the Starry Sept holds, or the many suggestions here that the Citadel is consistently conspiring against the dragon. Is it no coincidence that our author chose a Hightower to be in the KG and to be in Ned's dream? But how does it benefit House Hightower to keep Aerys on the throne? Maybe we need look no further than Varys & Illyrio. Not to say that House Hightower are stashing an Aegon, I just mean that it is plausible that there is some reason to prolong shitty conditions for political benefit. Would be interesting to know more about how House Hightower plays into the whole thing, as they have been known to be shady players. As for Ned, not our most politically savvy character. He doesn't even seem to know what his father was up to (whatever Barbrey Dustin was referring to), let alone what the White Bull was up to. He could still have found him honorable, I think.

I knew it. Bloodraven eats Bran and it has a Benjamin Button effect. He goes all medieval on Dany, hooks up with Mel, shoots weirwood arrows into the heart of winter, and our last Targatheon, Shireen, sits the throne.

Simply not so. It is true to say that NO ONE is happy to be ruled by another, especially a tyrant. That's clearly a human condition. But there were noble houses that were more than content with their own conditions whilst Aerys sat the throne. See Houses Tyrell, Tarly, Connington, Darry, Martell, likely Velaryon....amongst others This is feudal politics. Not a democratic popularity contest. "Against him" suggests all were willing to side against him if given the chance. They were given the chance when Robert rebelled....and they didn't. Realize that to side against him would by extension be to side against Rhaella, Rhaegar, Viserys and Daenerys. Tywin knew that, which is why he stayed holed up at CR. He admired and did not want to take out Rhaegar (who would have and did defend his father's sovereignty unless or until he could affect abdication peacefully). That's why he didn't move until Rhaegar was gone and no viable chance was left for the Targs. Rickard did not deserve to die, though he did deserve some punitive measure. Brandon 100% deserved what he got and thensome. Don't really care what he thought (with no proof) the CROWN PRINCE did, you don't get to threaten his life without severe repercussion. Sadly, there was no First Amendment in Westeros. Commend you for your attempt to ban people from your post, but this isn't FB. You can't banish us. You can choose not to post.

Provided Lyanna had a baby which lived, provided that baby was male, provided it was Rhaegar's, blah blah blah all of the other disclaimers..... Why do we think Lyanna named him, and a Targ name at that? He was presumeably just born, kid was no where near a name day, and his mother was busy croaking. The show had to give him a dumb name so the dots would be connected for people who don't read those rectangular things called books. His real name is Jon Snow.

So he'd have a narrative and we'd come to like him.

If people think he's behind everything, they're sorely mistaken. For example: Dany. BR would never unleash that irritating mass of chlamydia on the world. In fact he seems to be avoiding even thinking about her. Though, I don't think Sauron negated any of the other magics or the human heart in that story. While not the same creatures (clearly BR is a human in all manner, not an angel gone rogue), it's fine to have a Sauron (or Odin) type character who always looms present without taking away from the rest of the story. If it's written well. And it is.

Correct and ditto.