[TWoW Spoilers] Alayne I

[Colonel Green]

Him inadvertently saying he wanted Sansa to his mistress is another character beat that seemed more like something a five-years-older Robert would say. I guess we're likely just going to have to get used to the younger characters acting older than they should be.

And again, we see people being made stupid for the sake of LF looking smart. Royce would sell his entire grain stores for cash just before winter? Really? How much of a bunch of simpletons do the lords of the Vale have to be so that LF's plots can succeed?

Seeing as that was a comment made by Littlefinger to reassure his allies into doing what he wants, I'm going to assume until shown otherwise that's not something he'd actually do. I was more annoyed by Belmore and Grafton apparently not understanding that if you wait until there's a shortage in winter the prices will be higher.

[ache]

I felt that way too. I liked the chapter anyway. I wonder if Harry will get mad about Sansa giving her favor to someone else.

Ok, glad I'm not alone in feeling that, lol.

I too thought that I had been deceived into reading fan-fiction at first. This chapter seemed to jump very quickly between different conversations and times of day. There were a lot less transitional paragraphs that link the seemingly-disparate conversations and events Sansa/Alayne takes part in.

Yes, it was very full on, very different style. And it just doesn't feel like it's the characters I know I guess. Not even a little bit.

[juanml82]

High School drama, Westerosi edition. No wonder TWOW is taking so long to write, this chapter goes at a snail pace. All the previous released chapters pushed the plot forward, if slightly. This chapter can be summarized in "Sansa has grown assertive, Harry is a jerk"

And now we can stop with nonsense that Sansa is seeing SR dead...

Actually, it reinforces it. Sansa knows that sweetsleep is poisonous and she knows Colemon is still giving it to SR. At best, she's a witness of her cousin assasination. She might be willingly putting the blinders on, but she knows where the sweetsleep is leading her cousin.

Sansa respects Ser Shadric, but he won't be participating in the joust, so no.

I have a feeling that ser Shadrich will be the one to recieve Sansa's favour.

Is anyone surprised that Harry the Heir turned out to be a dick? Anyone?

As I said in another thread, this chapter was a letdown. Sansa's new behaviour was fun, but I can't believe I waited 10 years for this.

:agree:

It just dawned on me that the Waynwoods are the Starks "cousins in the Vale" I think the horseface bit could be a nice nod to the reader connecting the two-- Arya "Horseface" has the typical Stark look, and perhaps the Waynwoods have a hint of it too ;)

Those are the kind of things I always end up missing in a first read.

Too bad the Frey wards of Lady Waynwood weren't introduced, it would have been interesting to see Sansa's reaction to a Frey, even two who weren't involved in the RW.

Also, the chapter starts with Sansa explaining Robert why he can't marry a bastard. HtH will argue the exact same things, so if the marriage goes forward, he will demand to have Alayne legitimized, which could lead to several things:

If the Iron Throne doesn't legitimize her, LF might choose to declare for another king who will

Sansa will become LF's heir, so if she wants to go through the black widow route, she can kill him and inherit Harrenhall, the LP of the Riverlands and LF's wealth.

And at least LF isn't groping her in this chapter

[Fitzochris01]

Ok, glad I'm not alone in feeling that, lol.

Yes, it was very full on, very different style. And it just doesn't feel like it's the characters I know I guess. Not even a little bit.

It might not be the finished article. There are very definite mistakes in it, so maybe it's a pre edit?

[Gibzit]

Has anyone noticed that Ser Shadrich's "Bag of Dragons" comment is exactly what happend to Dunk?

[The Wolves]

The chapter was okay I notice that GRRM's writing style seems different, but I realized that I don't care about the Vale right now all I care about is Sansa getting back to Winterfell with her siblings but everytime I read about the Starks they feel as if they are drifting farther and farther apart from each other and Winterfell. I want them home together.

[Lord_Tyrell]

I really loved Sansa in that chapter ! She was quick-witted, clever, understanding of the situation and quite funny !

I wonder if that Winged Knights idea will ever truly see the day.

I think they will, but they won't be protecting SweetRobin. LF I think is planning on offing SweetRobin soon, and he's going to have the Winged Knights be Sansa and Harry's personal Kingsguard. I think the entire point of this Tourney is to get the Vale at large to fall for Sansa, and for him to get the Vale Lords and knights to fight for her even more than for Harry.

And I've now got a new theory on how our SweetRobin is going to get it: Before Sansa marries Harry the Heir, LF will have Sansa drug him and try to reassure him that everything will be ok, despite him loving her, and that she can't marry him. At the wedding, SweetRobin is actually more high strung than ever, and can barely be kept under control by his Winged Knights. Alayne Stone will then come out with red hair and a Direwolf cloak revealing herself as Sansa Stark. SweetRobin, realizing who she is, will then either have a full fledged heart attack or a stroke at the ceremony or shortly after it, and die in front of most of the Vale. Turns out LF gave Sansa a substance that would make him much more likely to have a stroke or a heart attack, and no one would really think anything of it since it happened in front of all of them.

[Fitzochris01]

Everytime I read about the Starks they feel as if they are drifting farther and farther apart from each other and Winterfell. I want them home together.

That would kind of defeat the purpose of there being a story in between.

[Juan_Snow]

Harry the Heir might appear to be a dick initially, but maybe that's what GRRM wants us to think. Take note of this line:

For a moment he looked shocked. But as the song was ending, he burst into a laugh. “No one told me you were clever.”

That suggests to me that there's more to Harry than meets the eye. Maybe he was rude to Sansa because he thought she was a gold-digging bimbo, but he actually seems impressed that she's intelligent. That shows a bit of depth to his character.

I like the idea of there being more to Harry. Maybe Bronze Yohn did recognize her and told Harry that Sansa was naive or something. I would love the idea of Yohn Royce getting one over on Littlefinger.

[Lyanna_Lou]

Is the "controversial" chapter the one that was released today? Because there is a pretty impressive lemon cake reference in it...

[Lord Varys]

Sansa is great. It is good to see her leading men around even if Littlefinger is pulling the strings. And the Winged Knights are a great idea. The Vale clearly is going to end up doing 'something' in TWoW - or at least deciding to do 'something' in that book.

Myranda seems to be more clever than Sansa, though. The race idea could have been a ploy to make her look stupid in front of Harry.

Harry himself behaves like a great lord's heir would treat his bastard-born betrothed. However him recognizing that she's clever shows another side of him.

I also really grow to like Lord Robert and will be terribly wroth to pretty much everyone involved in his murder should he die.

Any thought whether Ser Shadrich could be grown-up 'bittle bird' who did not loose his tongue? Or rather: One of the 'little mice' Varys and Illyrio used in Pentos before he came to Westeros? He clearly is checking Alayne out and may be crucial in whatever is going to happen later on. My guess was always that he is not in the game for the money but Varys' throat at Littlefinger's throat...

More later.

[Mrs.Grumpy]

A few random thoughts:

-I laughed at the giant lemon cake

-"Brotherhood of Winged Knights" I like the idea. Good job, Sansa Alayne!

-Agree that this chapter was curiously lighter than most of the chapters in the whole book. So I guess this means a shitstorm is coming.

-I loved every bit of Sansa's sassy lines and her friendship with Randa. I hope Randa is just japing and they would remain as close buddies. We desperately need a good female friendship. >.<

-Harry is a jerk. But I think he is not as bad as he seems to be. I hope so.

-Finally! We finally have the ARRYN LOOK! Guys!!

-I kinda agree with @Rhaenys_Targaryen. I think it was meant to be an ironic scene. But not sure.

[juanml82]

I too thought that I had been deceived into reading fan-fiction at first. This chapter seemed to jump very quickly between different conversations and times of day. There were a lot less transitional paragraphs that link the seemingly-disparate conversations and events Sansa/Alayne takes part in.

The chapter is rough around the edges, it does read like it needs further editing.

Which doesn't fare well for TWOW completion date

IMO, the main thing this chapter showed is how much of a GAME PLAYER Sansa is becoming.

Good stuff, enjoyed the way she quickly managed to wrap Harry round her finger.

Next Alayne chapter:

"There was just one knight left, a quiet giant of a man, who wore no sigil.

'Who is that?' Asked Alayne

The knight turned sideways to Alayne and removed his helmet. All she could see were the burns down his face..."

:)

Yeah, she told LF to organize a tournament. Mastermind indeed.

But, at least, she did something.

Whether it`s this one or another one, the controversy certainly is about Sansa seducing Harry. But surely that was expected? Didn`t Littlefinger tell her to make Harry like her as far back as AFFC?

I guess the issue is that she's trying to make the marriage go forward instead of sabotaging it. We don't know which are her reasons, though.

[Nymeria's pup]

This was nice little gift! I loved that she has turned into "Sassy Sansa." I wouldn't read much into the release of the chapter other than something from here happens on the show. I don't think it reflects where he is in the process.

Also, this chapter made me hungry for lemon cake!

[Colonel Green]

For people thinking this chapter is slow, since this is meant to be her first chapter in TWOW (and was probably, way way back, originally her first post-five-year-gap chapter), it's meant to reintroduce all the characters and the setting, as well as Sansa's changed personality. This would also, presumably, have been the first the readers would hear about Harry the Heir and the betrothal plan if the five-year-gap had occurred.

Any thought whether Ser Shadrich could be grown-up 'bittle bird' who did not loose his tongue? Or rather: One of the 'little mice' Varys and Illyrio used in Pentos before he came to Westeros? He clearly is checking Alayne out and may be crucial in whatever is going to happen later on. My guess was always that he is not in the game for the money but Varys' throat at Littlefinger's throat...

That wouldn't make much sense to me. If he was Varys' agent sent specifically to spy on Littlefinger, he would have been wasting his time working as a bodyguard for traveling merchants in the Riverlands.

[Mos]

So now when we have the start of the Vale storyline for TWoW, how do you people thing this is going to play out?

Obviously Shadrich and Lyn will create some sort of problem. If I remember correctly, Shadrich is working for Varys (right?) so I could see his primary objective be bringing Sansa into Varys' grasp. If he succeed, however, remains to be seen. I don't think it would take much for Baelish to make Shadrich turn his back to his previous paymaster.

Lyn, however, is a huge question mark as of now. Is he on Littlefinger's side? Does he stand against him? I wonder where this might lead.

I believe TWoW will be Littlefinger's downfall, but I'm not really sure what characters will play a part in his demise. Sansa, obviously, but I could also see Lord Nestor, Lyn, Shadrich, or Waynwood and the other Lord Declarants be the ones putting a nail in his coffin.

[The Wolves]

That would kind of defeat the purpose of there being a story in between.

It would t if the story is written right I'm just saying only two books are left and the Starks don't seem any closer to each other or Winterfell.

Yet the Lannisters are hated nearly everywhere and Jaime can see all his family again while journeying across a war torn country where him and his family are hated in every region he crosses yet he makes it back to see them and probably will again before the 7th book.

[Mrs.Grumpy]

Oh and I think she will choose Lyn as her champion.

Good to learn what was the deal with tapestries.

[Annara Snow]

I've read it, and the first two things that spring to mind:

1) I love Sassy Sansa! :) :bowdown:

Sassy, clever, witty and bold. Maybe someone is surprised by this, but I thought that's how she was developing, you could see it in AFFC as well.

I particularly loved the line "Have you seen all those maids?", since it's the same thing I want to ask whenever some magazine or other proclaims someone "the most beautiful woman in the world", "sexiest man in the world" etc.

2) Is this really the chapter that Elio thought people would find controversial? :rofl:

[Fitzochris01]

It would t if the story is written right I'm just saying only two books are left and the Starks don't seem any closer to each other or Winterfell.

Yet the Lannisters are hated nearly everywhere and Jaime can see all his family again while journeying across a war torn country where him and his family are hated in every region he crosses yet he makes it back to see them and probably will again before the 7th book.

Jaime has a ruling army behind him,not one of the Starks enjoys that luxury. Plus, as far as I can remember, not one Stark currently knows where the other is should one feel inclined to visit the other.