Wow, I never noticed that... v.10

[Lost Melnibonean]

The dialogue in Mercy, Winds

between Mercy and Bobono

takes on additional meaning having read the 1993 letter.

[Lost Melnibonean]

Wow, I never noticed that the northmen following Stannis to avenge the Ned and save Arya have no idea that he had his red witch curse Robb Stark.

[Ramsay's Penguins]

Wow, I never noticed that the northmen following Stannis to avenge the Ned and save Arya have no idea that he had his red witch curse Robb Stark.

Hehe. I'd love it if they found it. That'd tip the Great Northern conspiracy for sure.

[~~~~~~~~~~~~~]

I think I asked about this a while back in Small Questions but I don't think anybody responded, or maybe it was here, but I'll bring it up again. How come Tyrion and others outside of Meereen call the dysentery ravaging Slaver's Bay the pale mare? It makes sense for Daenerys to call it that because of Quaithe's prophecy and the first case's arrival in Meereen, but how would Tyrion know about that?

Because the disease arrived in Meereen on the pale mare and so it was called that. Word of mouth I would think.

[Shuvuuia]

Dunk and Egg had given the villagers from Ser Eustace's land surnames based on the crops they grew: Bean, Melon and Barleycorn.

90 years later, there is a Tom Barleycorn at the Wall.

Oh, nice! I haven't notice how proud they were to have "real" names.

And also that Rohanne was at least 5 years older than Dunk.

[Bob Sacamano]

The picture of Daemon II getting arrested in TWOIAF, has him with black hair. In The Mystery Knight Daemon washes the dye out of his hair before he rides against Glendon Ball. I guess this is a mistake??

[RumHam]

The picture of Daemon II getting arrested in TWOIAF, has him with black hair. In The Mystery Knight Daemon washes the dye out of his hair before he rides against Glendon Ball. I guess this is a mistake??

Ran has said the pictures aren't canon, some of them had a lot of input from Martin but generally speaking the artists were allowed artistic license.

[Shuvuuia]

Maester Aemon was half-Dayne! I've never thought about him in that way (and even if Jon was Ashara's they would be relatives)

[Rhaenys_Targaryen]

When Dunk goes to gather swords for Ser Eustace, the village people aren't afraid that a Blackfyre has crossed the sea and has come to attack them:

"Is it war?" asked one this woman, with two children hiding behind her skirts and a babe sucking at her breast. "Is the black dragon come again?"

The people from this village fought with Eustace in the First Blackfyre Rebellion. They fought for Daemon.

Lem was fifty if he was a day, and Pate had weepy eyes; they were the only two who had ever soldiered before. Both had gone with Ser Eustace and his sons to fight in the Blackfyre Rebellion.

Lem had brought back a knife and a pair of fine boots from the Blackfyre Rebellion, to hear him tell;

The fact that Dunk spend so much time with these people who had either fought in the Blackfyre Rebellion themselves, or descended, motst likely directly, of people who had, and no one managed to reveal which side they had fought for, is quite astonishing...

[lady jellybean]

For me, the episode at the Trident was a seismic change for Arya. She hit Prince Joffrey, threw his royal sword in the river, deliberately drove Nymeria away...and unintentionally incriminated Mycah and even Lady, by proxy. To her mind, this was all because she was doing something she was forbidden to do: practice sword-fighting with a boy.

This was a formative moment that sewed the seeds of Arya's path to 'dark sister'. Beyond 'betraying' and losing her wolf, the guilt and pain were enormous, as she finally told her father. And there was no justice to be had in Robert's court - only Cersei's fury.

So my thought was for a narrative circle. A sword went in the Trident; the wolf was driven away; guilt and injustice start Arya on a path. To complete the circle: a sword is recovered from Trident; perhaps the wolf returns; Arya starts a different path - less focused on vengence and more on fighting the true enemy/enemies of humanity.

(Admittedly, that is all too poetic for GRRM. Who knows where Dark Sister is and who knows how Nymeria the Feral might respond to Arya after all this time? This was just speculation on shiny swords washing up QI and what that could mean. Sorry it was so obtuse.)

[lady jellybean]

Im interested how to see how arya betrayed mycah and nymeria?

[~~~~~~~~~~~~~]

i don't mean horseman of disease. A pale horse is just often used as a shorthand for disease to reference horseman of Pestilence which in the bible is not named. i think that they refer to "conquering" when comes to the rider of the pale horse even war is traditional riding a red horse?

I think everyone is referring the the Four Horseman of the Apocalpyse:

Answer: The four horsemen of the Apocalypse are described in Revelation chapter 6, verses 1-8. The four horsemen are symbolic descriptions of different events which will take place in the end times. The first horseman of the Apocalypse is mentioned in Revelation 6:2: “I looked, and there before me was a white horse! Its rider held a bow, and he was given a crown, and he rode out as a conqueror bent on conquest.” This first horseman likely refers to the Antichrist, who will be given authority and will conquer all who oppose him. The antichrist is the false imitator of the true Christ, who will also return on a white horse (Revelation 19:11-16).

The second horseman of the Apocalypse appears in Revelation 6:4, “Then another horse came out, a fiery red one. Its rider was given power to take peace from the earth and to make men slay each other. To him was given a large sword.” The second horseman refers to terrible warfare that will break out in the end times. The third horseman is described in Revelation 6:5-6, “...and there before me was a black horse! Its rider was holding a pair of scales in his hand. Then I heard what sounded like a voice among the four living creatures, saying, ‘A quart of wheat for a day's wages, and three quarts of barley for a day's wages, and do not damage the oil and the wine!’” The third horseman of the Apocalypse refers to a great famine that will take place, likely as a result of the wars from the second horseman.

The fourth horseman is mentioned in Revelation 6:8, “I looked, and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind him. They were given power over a fourth of the earth to kill by sword, famine and plague, and by the wild beasts of the earth.” The fourth horseman of the Apocalypse is symbolic of death and devastation. It seems to be a combination of the previous horsemen. The fourth horseman of the Apocalypse will bring further warfare and terrible famines along with awful plagues and diseases. What is most amazing, or perhaps terrifying, is that the four horsemen of the Apocalypse are just “precursors” of even worse judgments that come later in the tribulation (Revelation chapters 8–9 and 16).

Read more: http://www.gotquestions.org/four-horsemen-apocalypse.html#ixzz3Rk1Aq7Kl

[ShadowLiberal]

This really jumped out at me as confirming that Tyrion is a Targaryen bastard when I re-read it last time, from near the start of book 1.

“You are your mother's trueborn son of Lannister."

"Am I?" the dwarf replied, sardonic. "Do tell my lord father. My mother died birthing me, and he's never been sure."

"I don't even know who my mother was," Jon said.

"Some woman, no doubt. Most of them are." He favored Jon with a rueful grin. "Remember this, boy. All dwarfs may be bastards, yet not all bastards need be dwarfs."

And with that he turned and sauntered back into the feast, whistling a tune.

When he opened the door, the light from within threw his shadow clear across the yard, and for just a moment Tyrion Lannister stood tall as a king.”

It could be a reference to Tyrion having King's blood within him, though part of me also wonders if it's a hint that somehow Tyrion somehow gets crowned king later on. As unlikely as it seems, GRRM has implied Tyrion is his favorite character, so the temptation to make his favorite character become King might be there.

Tyrion having a large shadow is also referenced by Moqorro later on in ADWD.

"Dragons," Moqorro said in the Common Tongue of Westeros... "Dragons old and young, true and false, bright and dark. And you. A small man with a big shadow, snarling in the midst of all."

[Mythrel]

Thought it was a cool detail about Janos Slynt.

*wink wink*

Jon is Azor Ahai confirmed. R+L=Half life 3

Nailed it. This is one of my favorite examples for Jon being Azor Ahai.

[FittleLinger]

Wow, the real life Bolton family sigil is... a stag killed by an arrow and three golden lions on a red field...

[Taenqyrhae]

Im interested how to see how arya betrayed mycah and nymeria?

I wouldn't say betrayed, but running away after the incident contributed to Mycah getting cut down by Sandor. If she had stayed to give her version of events, the blame probably would not have been put on Mycah.

[Jamiestone]

I know this is really pointless but I got the idea when rereading aGoT that Littlefingers nickname could possibly be a reference to the phrase "wrapped around my little finger" because he's basically manipulating everyone in Kings landing.

Also this is really stupid but when I first read the Arya chapter in AFFC where Arya ha the dream about running over rooftops in Braavos I assumed Nymeria had made it to Braavos as well and was watching Arya from above and I got SO excited.

[cocoalover1956]

When Marillion is singing in the sky cells:

If the Eyrie had been made like other castles, only rats and gaolers would have heard the dead man singing. Dungeon walls were thick enough to swallow songs and screams alike. But the sky cells had a wall of empty air, so every chord the dead man played flew free to echo off the stony shoulders of the Giant's Lance. And the songs he chose... He sang of the Dance of the Dragons, of fair Jonquil and her fool, of Jenny of Oldstones and the Prince of Dragonflies. He sang of betrayals, and murders most foul, of hanged men and bloody vengeance. He sang of grief and sadness.

After "Alysanne" the singer stopped again, long enough for Sansa to snatch an hour's rest. But as the first light of dawn was prying at her shutters, she heard the soft strains of "On a Misty Morn" drifting up from below, and woke at once. That was more properly a woman's song, a lament sung by a mother on the dawn after some terrible battle, as she searches amongst the dead for the body of her only son. The mother sings her grief for her dead son, Sansa thought, but Marillion grieves for his fingers, for his eyes. The words rose like arrows and pierced her in the darkness.

That's strikingly similar to what's happening in the Riverlands: the Red Wedding, the hunting of Freys, Lady Stoneheart. The details are a little different, but the overall theme is the same. Also, he sings about a dynastic conflict, and we know the Freys are well on their way to one.

[Jon Weirgaryen]

I know this is really pointless but I got the idea when rereading aGoT that Littlefingers nickname could possibly be a reference to the phrase "wrapped around my little finger" because he's basically manipulating everyone in Kings landing.

Also this is really stupid but when I first read the Arya chapter in AFFC where Arya ha the dream about running over rooftops in Braavos I assumed Nymeria had made it to Braavos as well and was watching Arya from above and I got SO excited.

"wrapped around my/your/his/her little finger" is the figure of speech as I know it and have picked it up, but I am not a native English speaker. Still, it works too well.

And to the second - Nymeria going mostly feral leader of the pack in the Riverlands is so much stronger for the plot. (Arya might need to learn how to relentlessly lead and command a pack). But you never know. Once the Narrow Sea freezes over, it will be a walk in the park.

[Reginald blackfield]

I don't know if anyone ever mentioned this but there is a character mentioned in the ADWD appendix called Arstan Selmy, might be a easter egg.