[TWOW Spoilers] Alayne I, v. 2

[Colonel Green]

And Brella is most probably an agent of Varys too.

Not really relevant. The thing Brella told Brienne is something Varys would have already known, since it happened in open court.

[Harry the Hair]

That would depend entirely on her having married Timmett's dad in some sort of ceremony that anywhere else in Westeros would recognize (and also that would have Sansa installing a man whose mother was kidnapped and raped by her family's enemies like Sansa herself was meant to be, had Tyrion not declined to follow through on it).

I was thinking of something along the lines of Timett allying himself with the Vale if he should find out who his mother is (if she is indeed the missing Waynwood daughter). Kinslaying is a terrible sin in every culture of Westeros, if he should discover that Sweetrobin and Harry the Heir are his relatives then he might side with them and reach a peace treaty between the mountain men and the Vale.

[Mithras]

Not really relevant. The thing Brella told Brienne is something Varys would have already known, since it happened in open court.

You do not understand. I asked how does Shadrich know something Varys knows but Brienne only guesses after talking to Brella?

[Anya, Vengeance Demon]

If he's an agent of Varys and was sent to the Vale, he could go there directly by ship. And, again, there's his attempt to recruit Brienne, a figure who would almost certainly be a detriment if he was knowingly going to investigate Littlefinger.

Varys doesn't necessarily know right away where Sansa would have gone. Once he gets word about Alyane Stone, presumably he could put two and two together and send word to Shadrich to make his way to the Vale.

And I don't know what you mean by him trying to 'recruit' Brienne. I don't think pumping her for information is the same thing as planning on having her tag along for the rest of their journey together.

[Mithras]

In King’s Landing, Brienne had hunted down a certain Brella, who had been one of Sansa’s maids. The woman told her that there was little warmth between Sansa and the dwarf. Perhaps she had been fleeing him as well as Joffrey’s murder.

In King’s Landing, Brienne had found one of Sansa’s former maids doing washing in a brothel. “I served with Lord Renly before m’lady Sansa, and both turned traitor,” the woman Brella complained bitterly. “No lord will touch me now, so I have to wash for whores.” But when Brienne asked about Sansa, she said, “I’ll tell you what I told Lord Tywin. That girl was always praying. She’d go to sept and light her candles like a proper lady, but near every night she went off to the godswood. She’s gone back north, she has. That’s where her gods are.”

The woman Brella had told her how Joffrey had stripped Ser Dontos of his spurs, how Lady Sansa begged Joffrey for his life. He helped her flee, Brienne had decided, when she heard the tale. Find Ser Dontos, and I will find Sansa.

“To find her.” The boy got to his feet. “His lady. You’re looking for her. Brella told me. She’s his wife. Not Brella, Lady Sansa. So I thought, if you found her . . .”

This is how Brienne came to believe that Dontos and Sansa ran away together.

“I have found no trace of Lady Sansa in King’s Landing, sad to say. Nor of Ser Dontos Hollard, who by rights should have turned up somewhere drunk by now. They were seen together on the serpentine steps the night she vanished. After that, nothing. There was much confusion that night. My little birds are silent.”

“You know who Varys is, I trust? The eunuch has offered a plump bag of gold for this girl you’ve never heard of.”

Ser Shadrich did not wait for her answer, which was good, since she had none. “A certain fool vanished from King’s Landing the night King Joffrey died, a stout fellow with a nose full of broken veins, one Ser Dontos the Red, formerly of Duskendale.”

This is what Shadrich knows about Dontos.

[Anya, Vengeance Demon]

I don't know. I think most people who worked in the court for long enough would have known about the connection between Ser Dontos and Sansa, and put two and two together regarding their mutual disappearance. Brienne has to ask because she only just got there, and doesn't know the history.

To me the strongest argument for Ser Shadrich working for Varys is that if he's a lone wolf, there's not much he can do. He'd be utterly foolish to try to make off with Sansa, and who could he trust enough to confide his suspicions in? Is Bronze Yohn going to listen to one of Littlefinger's hedge knights, and reward him for it? But if Ser Shadrich is a connection to Varys, then there's much more that he could do.

For example, as people have said before on this thread, there's the dangling plot thread of LF's involvement in Ned's execution. Surely that must come up in Sansa's relationship with LF, but where would she find it out? Only an agent of Varys would be in a position to tell her. And if Ser Shadrich can win over Sansa, then that changes things in the Vale substantially.

[Colonel Green]

You do not understand. I asked how does Shadrich know something Varys knows but Brienne only guesses after talking to Brella?

That Dontos and Sansa's disappearances are connected is not some big secret. That's why there are lots of people in Duskendale looking for Dontos, which Brienne learns when she goes there.

[KittensRuleBeetsDrool]

To me the strongest argument for Ser Shadrich working for Varys is that if he's a lone wolf, there's not much he can do. He'd be utterly foolish to try to make off with Sansa, and who could he trust enough to confide his suspicions in? Is Bronze Yohn going to listen to one of Littlefinger's hedge knights, and reward him for it? But if Ser Shadrich is a connection to Varys, then there's much more that he could do.

For example, as people have said before on this thread, there's the dangling plot thread of LF's involvement in Ned's execution. Surely that must come up in Sansa's relationship with LF, but where would she find it out? Only an agent of Varys would be in a position to tell her. And if Ser Shadrich can win over Sansa, then that changes things in the Vale substantially.

I think that's a good point - even the "Mad Mouse" would be crazy to just try to kidnap LF's bastard daughter from a well-guarded castle all by himself, and then try to get her through the mountain passages of the Vale with winter at hand. That would be a suicide mission. And as far as we know, he doesn't have help from Cersei. But Varys is more likely to provide a backup plan and some sort of aid.

There are other points in favor of Shadrich working for someone other than Cersei: none of Cersei's handpicked minions are really loyal to her, so why should Shadrich be an exception? and a journey back to KL for Sansa would just be a retread, but if she went to meet Varys (for instance) that would be a new plot and Sansa could provide a needed POV.

[Colonel Green]

There are other points in favor of Shadrich working for someone other than Cersei: none of Cersei's handpicked minions are really loyal to her, so why should Shadrich be an exception?

Shadrich isn't a handpicked minion, he's just a guy hunting for the bounty put out on her.

and a journey back to KL for Sansa would just be a retread, but if she went to meet Varys (for instance) that would be a new plot and Sansa could provide a needed POV.

That's premised on the idea that Shadrich is going to succeed, which I think is dubious. I see no real value in Sansa's plot in shipping her off to yet another hostage situation, except one where she has no possible leverage or connection with the person holding her hostage.

[Anya, Vengeance Demon]

And Sansa has no leverage to use against LF. The closest person to her (Randa) thinks that she and LF are Bonnie & Clyde. She missed her chance to tell the truth to the Lords Declarant. None of them can trust her at this point if she turns upon LF.

The leverage she has at the moment is that the Nestor Royces stand to lose a lot if Littlefinger gets into trouble, and Sansa could easily get LF in trouble if she so chooses. That's not a lot, but it should be enough to get help from Myranda Royce (who in any case seems to genuinely like her). Once she gets married to Harry, she should have more influence as the wife of the heir to the Eyrie. If I'm correct that Ser Shadrich is working with Varys, then she'll have a direct line of communication with King Aegon and an alternate source of intelligence.

And, of course, she has the stranger, so she can murder Littlefinger whenever she wants to.

[Lord Varys]

I'm also not sure that we'll get a chapter on the tourney. That is not necessary. Alayne 2 could have us meet all the Winged Knights and have Alayne/Littlefinger make plans how to react to Cersei's arrest and the Golden Company in the Stormlands.

[Good Guy Garlan]

A potential hint that the Mad Mouse is working for Varys:

"In King’s Landing he kept little birds.”

“Mice, we called them then. The older thieves were fools who thought no further than turning a night’s plunder into wine. Varys preferred orphan boys and young girls. He chose the smallest, the ones who were quick and quiet, and taught them to climb walls and slip down chimneys. He taught them to read as well. We left the gold and gems for common thieves. Instead our mice stole letters, ledgers, charts … later, they would read them and leave them where they lay."

“The fault was mine. I did not see you standing there.”

“We mice are quiet creatures.” Ser Shadrich was so short that he might have been taken for a squire, but his face belonged to a much older man.

And there's the thing with the papers in LF's office. Reading them and leaving them as they were is the mice's MO

[Elaena Targaryen]

The stuff with Harry is interesting and although Sansa is playing along with Littlefinger's schemes, her inner monologue consistently places the emphasis on Harry needing to like her, she offers us nothing on her thoughts about her needing to like him. She is not doing this for her, she is not acting as a free agent, LF is still ultimately pulling the strings and for the time being she is playing along.

Whilst Sansa does appear overly self congratulatory at times, there are still times when her fragility shows. Her self-esteem with men and relationships has taken a massive knock, she only asks for Harry to just like her, just a little bit. Whilst is could be indicative of a maturing and realistic Sansa, it is actually quite a sad statement about Sansa's diminished expectations in light of the horrors she experienced in KL.

Sansa spends the first half of the chapter trying to seek LF out, suggesting that already over-reliant on him and seeks him out in times of uncertainly. Unfortunately Harry arrives before she has an opportunity to find LF and when she has to finally greet Harry, she does not have LF's guidance and tutelage so she has to do it alone. When confronted with the high-stake situation of meeting Harry on her own, she uses her default 'courtesy is a ladies armour' setting which worked for her in KL, but note it doesn't work here and she is rebuffed rather cruelly by Harry.

What eventually does work with Harry is when she follows LF's guidance to the letter. Sansa was not able to lure him on her own and moving forward this suggests that Sansa is becoming overly dependent on LF and his advice. She repeats LF's words in her head during the dance, like she is citing a 'how to ' guide on flirting in a rather robotic way and again the emphasis is always on Harry needing to like her, her feelings are null and void:

At the end, Sansa is wondering who she will give her favour to and I read this as a much bigger statement about her agency. She has a choice, (and it is not Harry), who will she chose? To me, this was the most powerful and interesting thing posited in this chapter rather with her flirt-o-bot shenanigans.

Well said, I agree and I do suspect Sansa does not have a problem playing along in this game because she does not believe that she can marry.

No man can wed me so long as my dwarf husband still lives somewhere in this world. Queen Cersei had collected the head of a dozen dwarfs, Petyr claimed, but none were Tyrion’s.

So she might not care if she likes Harry or not, which it seems she doesn't, so long as it keeps Petyr happy. This part is also interesting when SR says he wants to marry Alayne she seems to be parroting LF, so it gives us a glimpse of what he may be telling her about his plans.

You are such a little fool. “Your lords bannermen will care. Some call my father upjumped and ambitious. If you were to take me to wife, they would say that he made you do it, that it was no will of yours. The Lords Declarant might take arms against him once again, and he and I should both be put to death.”

The bolded I don't completely agree. While Sansa still has a choice LF is the one who told her not to give her favor to Harry, it's still a part of the flirtbot instructions.

"Keep a good long spoon on hand to beat the squires off, sweetling. You will not want green boys underfoot when the knights come round to beg you for your favor.”

“Who would ask to wear a bastard’s favor?”

“Harry, if he has the wits the gods gave a goose… but do not give it to him. Choose some other gallant, and favor him instead. You do not want to seem too eager.”

“No,” Alayne said.

But your right that Sansa still has some agency in her choice since LF left that open to "some other gallant". I agree with the below in that it will be interesting to see who she chooses...

It will be interesting to see the reasoning behind her choice of candidates.

She could do this out of strategic purposes; say bestow it on Lyn in the hope that he'll beat Harry, bestow it on Roland Waynwood just to sow some discord between Harry and the Waynwoods, she could give it to Ser Shadrich (if he is indeed competing in the melee) in the hopes of finding out some more info about him, she could give it to Uther Shett to spare Myranda from his advances.

She could bestow it on someone out of affection; like Ser Wallace because he is just adorable and the poor boy deserves a break, she could give it to the handsome Sisterman, she could give it to Ser Byron, she could give it to Lothor as a thank you for calling Harry an ass.

Personally I would love it if she bestowed it on Sweetrobin; he's the real Winged Knight. It would balance things out; Harry got a dance, Sweetrobin gets a ribbon or something. :P

It's crazy how much this small thing will tell us volumes about where Sansa's head is at. Since we can't depend on her to clue us in with very much contemplation, it's her choices through agency that tells us more and sadly LF makes sure he keeps that to a minimum.

[Mad Madam Mim]

It will be interesting to see the reasoning behind her choice of candidates.

She could do this out of strategic purposes; say bestow it on Lyn in the hope that he'll beat Harry, bestow it on Roland Waynwood just to sow some discord between Harry and the Waynwoods, she could give it to Ser Shadrich (if he is indeed competing in the melee) in the hopes of finding out some more info about him, she could give it to Uther Shett to spare Myranda from his advances.

She could bestow it on someone out of affection; like Ser Wallace because he is just adorable and the poor boy deserves a break, she could give it to the handsome Sisterman, she could give it to Ser Byron, she could give it to Lothor as a thank you for calling Harry an ass.

Personally I would love it if she bestowed it on Sweetrobin; he's the real Winged Knight. It would balance things out; Harry got a dance, Sweetrobin gets a ribbon or something. :P

"Just as Petyr had promised, the young knights flocked around her, vying for her favor"

She seems to be giving the matter some serious consideration. She dances with most of the candidates you listed; Ben Coldwater, Andrew Tollett, Ser Byron, Ser Morgarth, Shadrich, Ser Albar Royce, Myranda’s 'stout dull brother', Lord Nestor’s heir, the Sunderlands, Uther Shett, Ser Targon, Ser Roland Waynwood, Ser Wallace and finally Harry the arse.

But her final line...

“You may not. It is promised to… another.” She was not sure who as yet, but she knew she would find someone.

...suggests that out of all of those candidates that were vying for her attention, she still hasn't found what she is looking for. As Le Cygne said, this is finally about her and she seems to be telling us her choice is none of those, including Harry. I wonder if there is a surprise around the corner and it will be someone else entirely.

As for the bolded, this is powerful statement of intent. She will find someone and in considering the bigger picture, it gives me hope that she will eventually find what she is looking for by the end.

If she did happen to bestow her favor to one of the candidates she dances with, I hope it is Ser Wallace. Firstly, this would tie-in with kind, compassionate Sansa of old who roots for the underdog. I could also imagine this giving Ser Wallace a huge confidence boost and as a result he could go on to perform very well in the tourney. This would also be sending Harry a message that she would rather give her favor to a horsefaced, stuttering third son rather than an arse like him.

The bolded I don't completely agree. While Sansa still has a choice LF is the one who told her not to give her favor to Harry, it's still a part of the flirtbot instructions.

But your right that Sansa still has some agency in her choice since LF left that open to "some other gallant". I agree with the below in that it will be interesting to see who she chooses...

That is very true, it is LF's advice, but she doesn't seem to be handing her favor to just anyone for the purpose of playing hard to get with Harry. She seems to be giving serious consideration to the matter and, the fact that she is unsure who she was going to give it to, tells us where her head is at the moment-she doesn't know what she wants when given the choice, but i liked her assertion that she will eventually. Yes, it will be very interesting to see who she chooses.

[Lord Varys]

GGG,

yeah, those are the hints. And it is much more interesting to have a foul apple in Littlefinger's court for a change than go with the ambitious freelancer.

And a surviving bird/mouse would certainly play with his past as such with his heraldry and all. The whole name - Ser Shadrich of the Shady Glen - sounds like an invention hinting at the 'shady business' he has done in his past - hiding in the shadows etc.

It also fits with Illyrio's contempt for the Westerosi obsession with animals and heraldry and works as a ironic commentary. I like that.

[Harry the Hair]

It's crazy how much this small thing will tell us volumes about where Sansa's head is at. Since we can't depend on her to clue us in with very much contemplation, it's her choices through agency that tells us more and sadly LF makes sure he keeps that to a minimum.

LF is trying to make her extra dependent on him by limiting her choices.

I actually thought it was odd that LF didn't suggest a candidate for her favor. I think he is interested in her thought process here as much as we are. It could be that he is looking for a Cat-Sansa parallel here; meaning if she offers her favor to someone similar to a teenage LF (say Wallace Waynwood) in stead of someone like Brandon Stark (Roland Waynwood). If that's what will happen the creep-o meter will be well over 9 000.

[HexMachina]

I'm also not sure that we'll get a chapter on the tourney. That is not necessary. Alayne 2 could have us meet all the Winged Knights and have Alayne/Littlefinger make plans how to react to Cersei's arrest and the Golden Company in the Stormlands.

I don't think so, personally. There seems to be too much building up this tourney in this chapter. Something important will probably happen, that we need to see first hand.

Not to mention, all the possibilities for ToHH parallels.

[Harry the Hair]

I don't think so, personally. There seems to be too much building up this tourney in this chapter. Something important will probably happen, that we need to see first hand.

Not to mention, all the possibilities for ToHH parallels.

There is a strong possibility that someone will die during the tournament.

A few moments later and the big man sprawled dazed in the dust with his helm askew. When his squire undid the fastenings to bare his head, there was blood trickling down his scalp. If the swords had not been blunted, there would be brains as well. That last head blow had been so hard Alayne had winced in sympathy when it fell. Myranda Royce considered the victor thoughtfully. “Do you think if I asked nicely Ser Lyn would kill my suitors for me?”

"I am praying they fight a duel for my hand, and kill each other.” - Myranda

"And may your horse stumble, Harry the Heir, so you fall on your stupid head in your first tilt." - Alayne

Knowing LF, the tourney is most likely rigged and this wouldn't be the first time someone died in a jousting accident.

[Jon Weirgaryen]

If the Mad Mouse attempts to smuggle Sansa out of the Vale there are the mountain clans who her lord husband had united once before.

...

I wonder if she was Timmett's mother. If that is true, then Timmett is the real heir to the Vale after Robin Arryn. That was all part of the huge genealogy infodump that LF told Sansa - it may be that, if she comes into contact with the Burned Men somehow, Sansa is in a position to tell Timmett that. Whether Timmett cares is another matter altogether.

In my mind's eye I pictured a sleighride escape as in "Dance of the Vampires" (Polanski 1967) or 007 down the mountainous slopes from the Eyrie and still feel sorry we did not already get that. Did not pay attention if there is still enough ground to go to from the gates of the moon.

Anyways, further imagination allows the mountain clan wildlings to join the chase with their battle cries and maybe the occasional cargo cult slogan of "halfman!" in-between, to which Sansa might echo "halfman's wife, halfman's wife!" to the wildlings' further bewilderment.

[James Arryn]

”“We mice are quiet creatures.”

Very OT, but I just realized this is a habit of GRRM's that irritates me. People in ASOIAF talk about themselves in terms of their nicknames all the time. In real life you rarely see that, and when you do it usually makes you want to slap somebody.