Biggest Thing you missed in the books?

[Praetor Xyn]

4 minutes ago, Sigella said:

lol

Crackpot: Tormund member is Lightbringer

[Lord Lannister]

I missed R+L=J in my first read through. I actually thought Ashara was Jon's mom then.Though I have this bad habit of skim reading books I'm loving just to get to what happens next that much sooner the first time through. Frankly though I catch new things on every reread.

[Lady Blizzardborn]

8 hours ago, zandru said:

Well, I missed it up until right now, when I read your comment. Thanks!

These prophesies have more weasel words than a software usage agreement. At least the prophesies are CONCISE...

 Indeed they do!

[The Fresh PtwP]

I missed the Gravedigger completely

Sybell Spicer's involvement in Robb's downfall

Euron's warlocks being Pree and company

[40 Thousand Skeletons]

Bran teleports Ghost to give Jon a view of Mance's army. Totally didn't even notice.

And I "missed" R+L=J, but after reading through the books 5 times and spending way too much time reading theories, I think that R+L=D and B+A=J.

[Jango]

As embarrassing, and nearly impossible as it may seem, the Tower of Joy dream in A Game of Thrones. I remember one of my friends recounting the dream, because we were talking about the theory, and I was genuinely shocked to hear that that was a scene in the books. I just recently started rereading them, so I'll be sure to look out for it this time.

[Dorian Martell's son]

12 hours ago, Praetor Xyn said:

Crackpot: Tormund member is Lightbringer

I thought Dawn=Tormund's member=Lightbringer was as solid as R+L-J

[Praetor Xyn]

8 hours ago, Dorian Martell's son said:

I thought Dawn=Tormund's member=Lightbringer was as solid as R+L-J

It could be. I'll be extremely disappointed if R+L=J. It's so obvious and cliche it'd be the opposite of what GRRM normally does. Hell even Paris said something along the lines of "Do you really think George would do sometjing so obvious?" when asked about it, though I doubt she knows the answer either.

[OtherFromAnotherMother]

26 minutes ago, Praetor Xyn said:

It could be. I'll be extremely disappointed if R+L=J. It's so obvious and cliche it'd be the opposite of what GRRM normally does. Hell even Paris said something along the lines of "Do you really think George would do sometjing so obvious?" when asked about it, though I doubt she knows the answer either.

Is it really that obvious though? Or does it only seem obvious because of the internet, websites like this one, and the overall popularity of the series? 

A Game of Thrones came out in 1996. I don't think George could have known how popular the books would become or the impact that the internet would eventually have upon them. 

From reading through this thread, R+L=J would have been quite the shocker to many people if the internet was the same now as it was in 1996.

[Praetor Xyn]

14 minutes ago, OtherFromAnotherMother said:

Is it really that obvious though? Or does it only seem obvious because of the internet, websites like this one, and the overall popularity of the series? 

A Game of Thrones came out in 1996. I don't think George could have known how popular the books would become or the impact that the internet would eventually have upon them. 

From reading through this thread, R+L=J would have been quite the shocker to many people if the internet was the same now as it was in 1996.

It's the Hidden Prince trope. Not even subverted like he normally does.

[OtherFromAnotherMother]

9 minutes ago, Praetor Xyn said:

It's the Hidden Prince trope. Not even subverted like he normally does.

Right.

I was speaking to the "obviousness" of it. Not the trope.  That is a different discussion. 

[Praetor Xyn]

9 minutes ago, OtherFromAnotherMother said:

Right.

I was speaking to the "obviousness" of it. Not the trope.  That is a different discussion. 

Tropes and clichés are called that because they occur so often they become obvious. 

[OtherFromAnotherMother]

9 minutes ago, Praetor Xyn said:

Tropes and clichés are called that because they occur so often they become obvious. 

A trope is a recurring motif or literary device. In no way does that mean that the trope (a hidden prince in this case) is going to be obvious to the reader. The "obviousness" of the trope is up to the writer.

I'm going to be done here now. The only point I wanted to make was that without the internet, RLJ would not be so obvious. This is evident after reading the number of people who did not catch it.

[Dorian Martell's son]

1 hour ago, Praetor Xyn said:

It could be. I'll be extremely disappointed if R+L=J. It's so obvious and cliche it'd be the opposite of what GRRM normally does. Hell even Paris said something along the lines of "Do you really think George would do sometjing so obvious?" when asked about it, though I doubt she knows the answer either.

R+L=J isn't obvious at all. it is just that nerds have had two decades to figure it out. 

[JoeMama]

12 hours ago, 40 Thousand Skeletons said:

Bran teleports Ghost to give Jon a view of Mance's army. Totally didn't even notice.

And I "missed" R+L=J, but after reading through the books 5 times and spending way too much time reading theories, I think that R+L=D and B+A=J.

No to B+A=J.

Doesn't fit the timeline. Jon would be noticeably older than Robb if he was conceived during the tourney of Harrenhal. Doesn't fit the plotline There's no need for Ned to lie about Jon's parentage if he doesn't need to protect Jon from Robert Baratheon's hatred of Targaryens). 

So B+A=J can be disregarded entirely.

[40 Thousand Skeletons]

36 minutes ago, JoeMama said:

No to B+A=J.

Doesn't fit the timeline. Jon would be noticeably older than Robb if he was conceived during the tourney of Harrenhal. Doesn't fit the plotline There's no need for Ned to lie about Jon's parentage if he doesn't need to protect Jon from Robert Baratheon's hatred of Targaryens). 

So B+A=J can be disregarded entirely.

He would have been conceived after the tourney of Harrenhal, possibly when Brandon went to KL. And there is a different need to lie about Jon's parentage. Jon could be seen as the legitimate heir to WF as Brandon's son, and this would disrupt the Tully-Stark alliance because Cat's children would no longer be the heirs to WF. So B+A=J cannot be disregarded entirely...

[Lost Melnibonean]

On 3/1/2017 at 3:58 AM, 1000th Lord Commander said:

As we know and love, ASOIAF is a multi layered story, with many subtle nuances. So I would say it's entirely possible for a small (or big) detail or subtle joke to pass a person by, even on multiple rereads. What's yours?

For me it was the interaction of Elmar Frey and Arya, with him bemoaning the loss of his princess, not knowing that Arya is right there. I only picked that up on the eighth or ninth reread, and laughed loudly once I did.

For my wife, she missed the supposed appearnce of Sarella as Alleras.

My sister missed the whole R+L=J thing. She took the characters at thier word that Ashara Dayne was Jon's mother. It was only after I read the books and mentioned it in passing that she realised the possibility.

I read the first four books during the first season of the show. A child had recently come into the world and liked to sleep upon my chest while I sat on the big comfy chair in the family room. I had not read fantasy since I was a kid, but saw the first episode or three and said to myself, "Self, this has to be a book, a pretty good one. Let's Google it." After seeing all the raving reviews, and totally diging Sean Bean's portrayal of Eddard, I dove in. 

I'm pretty sure I caught Elmar and Arya. Alleras=Sarella totally slipped past me. Although, after several rereads I did figure out the false theory that Kojja Mo is Sarella's mum. 

Google spoiled RLJ for me, as well as the deaths of Eddard and Robb. 

On 3/1/2017 at 10:39 AM, dmc515 said:

It took reading this forum to get the Frey pies - had no idea on the first read.  Just thought Manderly was being a jovial fatman to ward off suspicion.

Me too. 

On 3/1/2017 at 10:40 AM, SeanF said:

I missed the identity of the Alchemist.  And, I didn't understand how Pate died, until I read about the death of the insurance broker in Braavos.

I did catch that, but only at the very end, when Sam met him. After that, I was thinking Daario, with his gold tooth was the Alchmeist. 

On 3/1/2017 at 10:40 AM, JoeMama said:

I've literally read the entire series, book for book, 8 times over.

And I still find new things on each reread. So god knows how much stuff I've missed along the way. It's countless.

I am on No. 8 too, and I keep finding new things too. 

On 3/1/2017 at 10:43 AM, SeanF said:

I also completely missed that LF and Lysa poisoned Jon Arryn, until the reveal.

I should think that most folks would have. It's pretty well concealed. 

On 3/1/2017 at 10:48 AM, JoeMama said:

One thing I did catch early on, without supporting research on forums like these, was the identity of the gravedigger on the quiet isle. I think it's all but canon we know who that is.

I did not catch the grave digger until I got into the forums after three reads. 

On 3/1/2017 at 5:51 PM, One-eyed Misbehavin said:

Faegon Blackfyre. But in my defense I obviously had never read dunk and egg books or TWOIAF 

 

Me too. After my first read, I figured Daenerys, Jon, and Aegon would ride the three dragons and restore the balance between ice and fire. But on my second read, I noticed something was wrong, and after or during my third read, I began visiting forums, and discovered the Blackfyre theory, so I read Dunk and Egg, and concluded that it was probably true. But everybody thought Illyrio was just a cheesemonger, Serra was Varys's sister and they were the offspring of some Blackfyre descendant. That dynamic between Illyrio and Varys didn't make any sense to me, so I suggested the reverse, but it seemed like everybody on this board was convinced that Varys was the Blackfyre and Illyrio just a cheesemonger. So, I turned to @Veltigar and @Mithras's (and others) ideas about a Brightfyre theory, where Illyrio is the Blackfyre and Varys and Serra are a Brightflames. But after the TWOIAF and TP&TQ came out, I am thinking that Varys is a seed (or a Blackfyre), Illyrio is a Blackfyre descending from Calla and Bittersteel, and Serra is what Illyrio tells us, and that she was specially bred in Lys to produce noble Valyrian features. 

 

[Lost Melnibonean]

17 hours ago, The Fresh PtwP said:

Sybell Spicer's involvement in Robb's downfall.

I saw it, but I still don't buy that she was coordinating it with Tywin. 

[rotting sea cow]

I missed tons of things small and big. Biggest was the whole Blackfyre angle. Only when I turned into the forums I was able to see it.

On the other hand, I caught other things immediately, like I became suspicious of Rattleshirt and Abel=Mance was a no-brainer.  

[Lost Melnibonean]

13 hours ago, 40 Thousand Skeletons said:

Bran teleports Ghost to give Jon a view of Mance's army. Totally didn't even notice.

That's one of the trippiest scenes in the story. 

12 hours ago, Jango said:

As embarrassing, and nearly impossible as it may seem, the Tower of Joy dream in A Game of Thrones. I remember one of my friends recounting the dream, because we were talking about the theory, and I was genuinely shocked to hear that that was a scene in the books. I just recently started rereading them, so I'll be sure to look out for it this time.

I practically skipped all of the dreams and visions stuff on my first read.