Takiedevushkikakzvezdy

The way I see it, The Village Hero could reasonably take place after The She-Wolves of Winterfell, when Dunk and Egg make their way back from the North through the Riverlands. Given that the D&E stories are fairly standalone-ish, it wouldn't affect the chronology of events very much. But I'm sure GRRM has his reasons for shifting things around.

To me, "be that as it may" suggests that Godric isn't sure one way or the other, not that he firmly rejects the rumor.

I think separating the art from the artist was much easier before the social media age, when people didn't know everything about everybody.

In what way?

For what it's worth, emperor Palpatine in Star Wars was originally named Cos Dashit.

Although "modern" abbreviations are used in the books sometimes, "coz", for example. But then again, English is not my first language, so maybe I'm missing some nuances.

So he danced with her anonymously?

Even so, it's quite obvious from the very first time we meet Walder Frey in AGoT that he isn't a good person in any way.

I wouldn’t say that it was against all odds, given that the North was undefended when the lords went south with their armies. Balon says as much before launching his raids. That being said, I’m not sure how Balon’s plan would have worked out in the long run if Robb managed to outright defeat the Lannisters. I guess Balon put all his eggs into the "Robb loses" basket.

Although it's possible that dealing with the Ironborn would have taken enough juice out of Robb's army that he wouldn't have the strength to take on Tywin again.

IIRC, he said back in 2013 or thereabouts, that "The She-Wolves of Winterfell" is just a working title.

I have to say that you have an excellent memory.

He did say that he intends to write more D&E stories once he finishes Winds. Sure, it might be a case of him being overly optimistic again, but it's better than nothing.

GRRM indicates his mood with an emoji at the end of every blog post.

For what it's worth, the Hightowers play a big role during the Dance, so we already got more info about them than about the majority of non-Great houses.

Obviously we don't know how the writing is going, but at least GRRM seems to be in a good mood right now.

ASOIAF isn't just about plot but also about characters. R+L=J might not matter much for the overall story, but it makes complete sense given Ned's character. His entire arc in AGoT is about him being capable of lying to protect his family.

I'm sure that everyone in Robert's camp thought that it would work out fine as long as Jon Arryn was there to guide him.

I disagree here. It's just a stylistic quirk that GRRM often uses. For example: "With sword and shield and spear and bow, he guards the little children."

The very wraiths are definitely a non-literal part of the fever dream.

Well, we do know some things. Ned says that Arthur Dayne would have kiled him if not for Howland Reed, and that only two of them lived to ride away when everything was said and done. So there was definitely a fight there, especially given that Ned picked apart the tower of joy to make graves for the dead afterwards. And while the words said between the two parties might not be identical in the dream and reality, I think the essence of the confrontation is still very much the same.

I'm not sure that there is anything about the tower of joy confrontation that could have been done differently. I think it's safe to assume that Rhaegar ordered the Kingsguard to not let anyone in, and that includes Ned.

But he didn't have anything against Robert becoming king either, he fought with him all the way through the rebellion. Which isn't surprising given that Robert was his best friend, and the circumstances under which the rebellion started in the first place.

It would be weird for Ned to refer to him as king given the role Ned played in Robert's rebellion.

I don't think anyone is disputing that, though.