Harrenhall Through A Little Crannogman’s Eyes

[Curled Finger]

2 hours ago, divica said:

I don t think a person participating in the tourney wuld have the time to be the KotLT. And brandon was one of the first to fight rhaegar.

A 13 or 14 year-old boy can have a few interesting voices.

[LordBlakeney]

5 hours ago, Curled Finger said:

Rhaegar split the Kings Guard up--Darry with his Queen mother and Prince Viserys, Dayne, Whent and Hightower with Lyanna.   We know Lewyn Martell, Jonathor Darry and Richard Lonsmouth (squire) were with Rhaegar at the Trident.  Jamie was left with Aerys and what a mistake that was.  You know, Lady, this is the first time I realized there were 2 Darrys in the KG.   Interesting.

I thought Willem Darry wasn't in the Kingsguard, just a Targ supporter:

A Game of Thrones - Eddard X

"Ser Willem Darry is fled to Dragonstone, with your queen and Prince Viserys. I thought you might have sailed with him."

"Ser Willem is a good man and true," said Ser Oswell.

"But not of the Kingsguard," Ser Gerold pointed out. "The Kingsguard does not flee."

[divica]

4 minutes ago, Curled Finger said:

A 13 or 14 year-old boy can have a few interesting voices.

He can have voices, but can he be in 2 places at the same time?

[Curled Finger]

57 minutes ago, Faera said:

Sorry to jump in but... the whole thing with "separat[ing] the story from the teller" made me think of the teller again.

It is Meera, recounting a story her father told her.

This might be completely off the wall thought but, if Lyanna really was the KotLT, how fitting is it that a female is telling the story. Looking at the passage here:
 

So, we know whoever was in the armour - whether they were the one riding the horse or there was a body-double trick like in that episode of Merlin - they were "short of stature" and in "ill-fitting armour". We know Benjen was going to go scrounge together some armour for Howland, and either Lyanna or Howland himself would probably be quite small. Maybe they were both the KotLT at different points? They could conceivably be of about the same height since crannogmen are a finely built people.

But, to my point, the only bit of proper dialogue in Meera's whole tale that is in italics (to emphasise the booming, I'm sure) is this:

The italics seem to be there to indicate to us, the reader, that Meera might well be doing a "booming" voice herself. Y'know, that small, petite girl (or one might say a "child-woman", who is quite Lyanna-que in her own way) doing a booming voice. How wonderfully fitting!

You reminded me of Stephen King's "walk ins" there for a minute.   You are welcome to jump in anywhere you please.   

[The Hidden Dragon]

11 minutes ago, LordBlakeney said:

I thought Willem Darry wasn't in the Kingsguard, just a Targ supporter:

A Game of Thrones - Eddard X

"Ser Willem Darry is fled to Dragonstone, with your queen and Prince Viserys. I thought you might have sailed with him."

"Ser Willem is a good man and true," said Ser Oswell.

"But not of the Kingsguard," Ser Gerold pointed out. "The Kingsguard does not flee."

Correct.  Willem Darry was not in the KG.

Curled Finger - it looks like you failed to mention Selma in your KG split.

[Curled Finger]

19 minutes ago, divica said:

He can have voices, but can he be in 2 places at the same time?

I meant Benjen. 

[Curled Finger]

Just now, The Hidden Dragon said:

Correct.  Willem Darry was not in the KG.

Curled Finger - it looks like you failed to mention Selma in your KG split.

I did, you're right!   No wonder I was so surprised at seeing 2 Darrys there.   Thanks for the correction.   All I need is to give out more bad intel.  

[Curled Finger]

14 minutes ago, LordBlakeney said:

I thought Willem Darry wasn't in the Kingsguard, just a Targ supporter:

A Game of Thrones - Eddard X

"Ser Willem Darry is fled to Dragonstone, with your queen and Prince Viserys. I thought you might have sailed with him."

"Ser Willem is a good man and true," said Ser Oswell.

"But not of the Kingsguard," Ser Gerold pointed out. "The Kingsguard does not flee."

I was catching up on replies and missed you for a minute.   Yes, you are absolutely correct.   If you read just a bit farther down you can see how surprised I was to notice that for the 1st time.  What a knucklehead.  Oh just wait until @LynnS catches up.   She will correct me too!  Thanks for your very kind correction and joining in the discussion.   I promise to do better.  

[Faera]

28 minutes ago, Curled Finger said:

It is fitting.   I sure wish we had the whole story--not bits and pieces from other POVs.  I think we have some places to go with the little we do have, but it's so interesting the way so many here are able to separate the story from the little Crannogman in Meera.   

 

I think it is interesting because in a weird way Meera is a very fitting teller of the tale as both the daughter of the LCM who first recounted it to her but as a Lyanna-type character who matches both the small stature of the crannog-people but also the body of a woman in general.

For what it's worth, even Meera and Jojen aren't necessarily agreed on who the knight was:

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"There was one knight," said Meera, "in the year of the false spring. The Knight of the Laughing Tree, they called him. He might have been a crannogman, that one."
"Or not." Jojen's face was dappled with green shadows. - Bran II, ASOS

Jojen always seems to be such a spoilsport, isn't he? 

As we were saying earlier in the thread, I do feel that if anything character best represents Howland at that sort of age (though she is currently a few years younger) it is Meera. I'm currently having a look through the Bran chapters again to pick up on moments where she exhibits LCM vibes to see how much might be a "like father, like daughter" thing and how much is just her projecting herself into the role of the KotLT. With this merging of the LCM of the tale and the teller, it'll be interesting to pick it apart a bit.

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I do wonder if we will ever got more--it's probably too much to hope that Bran will see the events.  

I would like more POVs on it, not just a Bran vision though that would also be cool... I remember a while back on another thread a couple of us even speculated that Bran might have even helped the KotLT by being the "god" that answers the LCM's prayers.

If the KotLT was essentially the conspiracy of a three (at best, four if Ned played even the smallest role) teenagers, then it would be interesting to see what was thought of the KotLT from an outside perspective. The best hope for this would be Barristan Selmy, who has already thought back to it. Wyman Manderly (Merman) might be another; he would have been much younger then and I think he mentions he was once a tourney knight, so he might have competed.

Now that I think about it, Jorah Mormont might be a promising bet, too? We know the Mormonts (Bears) were there so he might have competed as well. He might have even been Lord at the time and met Howland Reed at the Stark bannerman benches (same with Wyman).

[Megorova]

7 hours ago, LynnS said:

Rhaegar is expecting to defeat Robert and has made plans for what transpires afterwards.  He doesn't think he will lose and I wonder why.

Maybe he thought, that because he is Prince that was promised, or one of dragon's heads, he won't die there. Gods will protect him, because he has a higher mission.

I don't remember, maybe you remember this - was there any indications in the books, that Rhaegar thought that first head is his daughter Rhaenys?

Second is obviously (and this part I do remember) is his son Aegon. And Rhaegar said in Dany's vision, that there should be one more. Was it actually said anywhere in the books, that first head is Rhaenys?

Rhaegar did said that Aegon is second. Though it doesn't mean that first head is Rhaenys. Could be that Rhaegar thought, that he himself was first head. And third is Jon.

Aemon said that Rhaegar used to think, that he was the Prince that was promised, but later he changed his mind. Which doesn't mean that he also thought, that he is not one of dragon heads. We see in Dany's vision, that Rhaegar thought, at that point in time, that his son Aegon was one of dragon heads, second, AND the Prince that was promised.

Thus there should be three "Targaryens", three heads of the dragon, but one of them, the middle one, will also be the Prince that was promised. One of them will be BOTH things - dragon's head and Prince. And Rhaegar thought that it was Aegon. Though he was wrong. He was wrong about both things - him being first head, and Aegon being the second and the Prince. Though he was correct about one thing - the third head is his son Jon Snow.

And first head is actually Dany.

In the same vision she saw Rhaegar in his ruby armor, and when she lifted his helm's visor, she saw there her own face. Which means that Dany herself is first head of the dragon. Not Rhaegar, she is first. And not Rhaegar's son is the second and the Prince. It's Dany's son. Rhaego. The Prince that was promised, and the stallion that will mount the world. And third head is still Jon.

In my post №558, on page 16, I posted quotes from AGOT, that indicate that dragonriders of Drogon, Rhaegel, and Viserion are going to be Dany, Rhaego, and Jon.

Also the timing of that vision is also a hint - Dany gave birth to her son Rhaego, and after that in her vision Rhaegar told her - there must be one more. That part of vision wasn't from the past, it was from present time. Rhaegar didn't said in the past, that there should be one more, i.e. he is first, his son Aegon is second and the Prince, and there should be third. Actually it meant that Dany is first, she gave birth to her son, who is second and the Prince, and Rhaegar in her vision was speaking to her in the PRESENT, saying to her that there should be one more AFTER Rhaego.

Jon is third head of the dragon, even though he was born before Dany and before Rhaego. But prior his death he was a Snow and Stark, and he will become Targaryen only when he will be revived. He will be reborn as Targaryen, his dragon life will begin only after that. So even though he was born first, the dragon's head he will become the last.

Viserion's egg hatched first:

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She heard a crack, the sound of shattering stone. The platform of wood and brush and grass began to shift and collapse in upon itself. Bits of burning wood slid down at her, and Dany was showered with ash and cinders. And something else came crashing down, bouncing and rolling, to land at her feet; a chunk of curved rock, pale and veined with gold, broken and smoking.

The roaring filled the world, yet dimly through the firefall Dany heard women shriek and children cry out in wonder.

Only death can pay for life.

And there came a second crack, loud and sharp as thunder, and the smoke stirred and whirled around her and the pyre shifted, the logs exploding as the fire touched their secret hearts. She heard the screams of frightened horses, and the voices of the Dothraki raised in shouts of fear and terror, and Ser Jorah calling her name and cursing. No, she wanted to shout to him, no, my good knight, do not fear for me. The fire is mine. I am Daenerys Stormborn, daughter of dragons, bride of dragons, mother of dragons, don’t you see? Don’t you SEE? With a belch of flame and smoke that reached thirty feet into the sky, the pyre collapsed and came down around her. Unafraid, Dany stepped forward into the firestorm, calling to her children.

The third crack was as loud and sharp as the breaking of the world.

When the fire died at last and the ground became cool enough to walk upon, Ser Jorah Mormont found her amidst the ashes, surrounded by blackened logs and bits of glowing ember and the burnt bones of man and woman and stallion. She was naked, covered with soot, her clothes turned to ash, her beautiful hair all crisped away…yet she was unhurt.

The cream-and-gold dragon was suckling at her left breast, the green-and-bronze at the right.

Her arms cradled them close. The black-and-scarlet beast was draped across her shoulders, its long sinuous neck coiled under her chin. When it saw Jorah, it raised its head and looked at him with eyes as red as coals.

In funeral pyre Dany has placed Drogon's egg on left side of Drogo, close to his heart, and Viserion's egg between Drogo's leggs. And the dragon from second egg ended up near her own heart. Which is another clue that Viserion's rider will be Dany's lover/husband.

First was initiated black egg, then green and bronze, and last was pale egg. But last egg hatched first.

Viserion's egg became alive third, but hatched first. So Jon was born first, but will become dragonrider third out of them.

In Bible, in part about Apocalypse, there were four riders: "I looked, and there before me was a pale horse! Its rider was named Death, and Hades was following close behind."

Gates of Hades/Underworld are guarded by three-headed dog - Cerberus, who prevents the dead from leaving. In ASOIAF books, Viserion sometimes reffered to as the pale dragon.

Undead Jon Snow riding on pale dragon, followed close behind by Ghost <- vision of Apocalypse (Long Night) in GRRM's style.

There were also indications that Drogon will be Dany's dragon.

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A great knife of pain ripped down her back, and she felt her skin tear open and smelled the stench of burning blood and saw the shadow of wings. And Daenerys Targaryen flew.

“…wake the dragon…”

The door loomed before her, the red door, so close, so close, the hall was a blur around her, the cold receding behind. And now the stone was gone and she flew across the Dothraki sea, high and higher, the green rippling beneath, and all that lived and breathed fled in terror from the shadow of her wings.

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The black-and-scarlet beast was draped across her shoulders

Black dragon became her wings.

[LynnS]

1 hour ago, Curled Finger said:

I was catching up on replies and missed you for a minute.   Yes, you are absolutely correct.   If you read just a bit farther down you can see how surprised I was to notice that for the 1st time.  What a knucklehead.  Oh just wait until @LynnS catches up.   She will correct me too!  Thanks for your very kind correction and joining in the discussion.   I promise to do better.  

LOL! Nah.

[LynnS]

1 hour ago, Megorova said:

Black dragon became her wings.

This is too far off topic for the OP.  I don't want to derail the thread.  You might want to start a thread specifically on the dragon eggs.  I'm sure lots of people would like to discuss it. 

[Yaya]

"and now for something completely different ...."

please carry on everyone!

(i'm in the beginning of a re-read (in "Clash" right now) and am trying like 4377 to catch up and comment along on this all with a fresh pile of thoughts:

 

[PrettyPig]

9 hours ago, Ser Leftwich said:

Speculation about what happened off-page is only minimally useful, in that it is purely speculation. Just because we don't hear that Ned and Robert interacted in a third-hand story doesn't mean they didn't. It is not even necessarily what Howland found to be important. It is what Jojen and Meera tells in their version of Howland's story.

However, inferences about Howland relationship with the Stark's can be made from taking note about who listens to Howland and who helps him and who doesn't.

Lyanna recognizes him or notes he is a Reed and helps him.

Ned offers him hospitality and a place to sleep.

Benjen gets him suitable garb to attend the high table and offers to help him find armor.

What about Brandon? He is the primary representative of the North here. Do his siblings bring Howland to him? Does he offer to help? Does he do anything to honor this son of a bannerman? Does he chastise the squires or their knights? No, he does nothing. This is insight into Brandon's character: he doesn't care. And his siblings know that he wouldn't care about Howland. This says a lot about Brandon.

I have been quietly stalking this thread since it was started because the whole Howland/IoF/ToHH thing is pretty much ground zero for all my tinfoil (and admittedly there’s a lot of tinfoil).  Anyway, just wanted to comment on this sweet observation about Brandon's actions and character, as it ties in with something else I had thought about not too long ago.

ETA:  sorry for the rambling, I swear this has to do with the ToHH.

In cracking some pots elsewhere, I realized that there’s a parallel happening with, believe it or not, Dany’s early AGOT chapters and the snippets we get about Lyanna Stark.   I won’t go into ugly detail (unless someone wants it, which I’m guessing no one will), but basically it all boils down to a version of the "one to bed and one to dread and one to love“ HotU prophecy –  for this conversation I want to focus on Dany’s marriage to Drogo in what I consider the "mostly dread" phase (and yes I said that in a Monty Python voice), because it involves... a rash, greedy, scheming older brother.   

I don’t want to rehash the entirety of Dany’s AGOT chapters because we all know those details already.   However, the takeaway is that against her own wishes and desires Dany is handed over to KHAL Drogo, a king in his own right, just because her big bro Viserys wants an army so he can take over the Seven Kingdoms.     Viserys works out this near-literal horse trade using his little sister as the bargaining chip.    Dany gets married off to the horselord, and is used nightly by her brutish and indifferent husband...until, of course, she effectively seduces him (using her handmaiden’s tricks and tips) and begins to feel real affection for him.   Soon enough, she becomes pregnant with Rhaego, the child destined to become the Stallion That Mounts the World.  Everyone should be happy - Viserys gets to reclaim his kingdom, and Drogo gets his Stallion That Was Promised, right?  Despite these glad tidings, Viserys is increasingly unhappy...because he feels that Drogo is taking his sweet time on their bargain and potentially cheating him out of his payment.     Stupid Viserys challenges Drogo in his own sacred hall, and Drogo later repays him for his insolence by giving him the golden crown – a classic case of "be careful what you wish for; you just might get it".

 

RE: that last paragraph, let’s talk about the similarity between drunk Viserys strolling into Vaes Dothrak where the  "king" (khal) sits his high seat, and doing the ultimate no-no which is brandishing his sword in the sacred city, and the "gallant fool" Brandon Stark thundering into King’s Landing where Mad King Aerys on the Iron Throne is just itching to burn somebody, and shouting for Rhaegar to "come out and die".      Six of one, half dozen of the other, amirite?
 

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Dany looked down the length of the long, roofless hall and there he was, striding toward her. From the lurch in his step, she could tell at once that Viserys had found his wine … and something that passed for courage.   ...

...  "Where is my sister?" Viserys shouted, his voice thick with wine. "I've come for her feast. How dare you presume to eat without me? No one eats before the king. Where is she?

Her brother drew his sword.

The bared steel shone a fearful red in the glare from the firepits. "Keep away from me!" Viserys hissed. Ser Jorah backed off a step, and her brother climbed unsteadily to his feet. He waved the sword over his head, the borrowed blade that Magister Illyrio had given him to make him seem more kingly. Dothraki were shrieking at him from all sides, screaming vile curses.

Dany gave a wordless cry of terror. She knew what a drawn sword meant here, even if her brother did not.

 

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"He was on his way to Riverrun when . . ." Strange, how telling it still made her throat grow tight, after all these years. ". . . when he heard about Lyanna, and went to King's Landing instead. It was a rash thing to do." She remembered how her own father had raged when the news had been brought to Riverrun. The gallant fool, was what he called Brandon.

Jaime poured the last half cup of wine. "He rode into the Red Keep with a few companions, shouting for Prince Rhaegar to come out and die. But Rhaegar wasn't there. Aerys sent his guards to arrest them all for plotting his son's murder. The others were lords' sons too, it seems to me."

 

 

This parallel leads me to believe that there may have been some kind of brokered or attempted deal between Brandon (the older brother) and Rhaegar (the prince/king/royal), with Lyanna in the middle.    Rickard Stark had made the betrothal between Lyanna and Robert, and I think Brandon may have been bargaining with Rhaegar behind everyone’s back about another arrangement – and someone reneged on the bargain.  The falling apart of this deal was on subtle display at the Tourney. 
 

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It had grown so silent in the hall that she could hear the bells in Khal Drogo's hair, chiming softly with each step he took. His bloodriders followed him, like three copper shadows. Daenerys had gone cold all over. "He says you shall have a splendid golden crown that men shall tremble to behold."

Viserys smiled and lowered his sword. That was the saddest thing, the thing that tore at her afterward … the way he smiled. "That was all I wanted," he said. "What was promised."

 

One thing I'm not sure of still is what direction the bargain went...was it Brandon opting for some kind of personal gain through a deal with Prince Rhaegar, or was Rhaegar trying to barter for Brandon Stark's only sister?   That last bolded and underlined makes me think it may have been the latter - the prince wanted what was promised.   Did Brandon Stark break his promise?

A final observation about this is that when Lyanna's brother Brandon and father Rickard die at Aerys' hands in the throne room of the Red Keep, Brandon dies first by strangulation from the Myrish device around his throat.   As Rickard died in the wildfire, "his gold melted off his spurs and dripped down into the fire".    When Dany watched her king husband give her brother his crown of melted gold in Drogo's hall,, her father Aerys has been long dead due to Jaime Lannister slashing his throat in the throne room of the Red Keep.

 Whatever that deal may have been, it involved the blue roses – a laurel, a CROWN like that given to Viserys by the KING.    According to Ned, the laurel also contained thorns, much like the one worn by Christ at the crucifixion...a mocking gesture that intended to cause both emotional and physical pain, much like crowning someone with a pot of boiling gold.   The recipient is different, but the message is the same – "Enjoy your crown...it's the only one you're getting, sucker."       Brandon, as we are told, did not in fact like Lyanna's crown, and I'm pretty sure Viserys didn't care too much for his either.  :/  

Anyway, there are many more nuggets peppered throughout Meera's tale that I believe are hints to what our little crannogman knows - the one that most interests me being her statement "Sometimes the knights are the monsters, Bran" -  and a WHOLE SLEW of echoes between Lyanna and Daenerys pregnant with the "bloody bastard foal" that Viserys threatens to cut out of her, but I have dumped enough crackpot for now, methinks.   Nutshell:   Brandon Stark may have been up to something not so nice and definitely not in line with the rest of the Stark crew.  This could encompass his mystery errand, his anger at the blue rose laurel, the rush to KL, and possibly even the distraction of his sister's betrothed by one of Rhaegar's main men.

[Alexis-something-Rose]

12 minutes ago, PrettyPig said:

Brandon Stark may have been up to something not so nice and definitely not in line with the rest of the Stark crew. 

No he's not. And I actually posed the question in the RLJ thread on whether there may have been some animosity from Brandon directed at Rhaegar before the tourney began. 

Brandon more than likely challenged Rhaegar to the joust. This is like the best way to strike a prince without losing a limb for it or your life being forfeit. Then we have his reaction to the crowning where it sounds like he would have gotten physically violent if he was not restrained. And lastly, we have him rushing to King's Landing after he was told god knows what and challenging Rhaegar to come out and die.

It just seems like things were slowly escalating to that point of no return.

I like the Viserys/Brandon parallels you brought up, but for my money, the more I look at some of the quotes, the more I wonder if R&L didn't know each other before the tourney and things were just going to go down between them anyway.

[divica]

14 minutes ago, Widow's Watch said:

No he's not. And I actually posed the question in the RLJ thread on whether there may have been some animosity from Brandon directed at Rhaegar before the tourney began. 

Brandon more than likely challenged Rhaegar to the joust. This is like the best way to strike a prince without losing a limb for it or your life being forfeit. Then we have his reaction to the crowning where it sounds like he would have gotten physically violent if he was not restrained. And lastly, we have him rushing to King's Landing after he was told god knows what and challenging Rhaegar to come out and die.

It just seems like things were slowly escalating to that point of no return.

I like the Viserys/Brandon parallels you brought up, but for my money, the more I look at some of the quotes, the more I wonder if R&L didn't know each other before the tourney and things were just going to go down between them anyway.

I read that discussion and agreed it was quite strange. Do we know any backstory about brandon? Like is it possible that him and rhaegar met before harrenhall? Otherwise I think it must be related to rickard Southern ambitions.

[LynnS]

55 minutes ago, PrettyPig said:

Anyway, there are many more nuggets peppered throughout Meera's tale that I believe are hints to what our little crannogman knows - the one that most interests me being her statement "Sometimes the knights are the monsters, Bran" -  and a WHOLE SLEW of echoes between Lyanna and Daenerys pregnant with the "bloody bastard foal" that Viserys threatens to cut out of her, but I have dumped enough crackpot for now, methinks.   Nutshell:   Brandon Stark may have been up to something not so nice and definitely not in line with the rest of the Stark crew.  This could encompass his mystery errand, his anger at the blue rose laurel, the rush to KL, and possibly even the distraction of his sister's betrothed by one of Rhaegar's main men.

That's a fascinating take on Brandon doing his own horse trading. For some reason, I thought there might have been some trading involving Ned and Ashara. 

I'm reminded of Lady Dustin saying essentially the same thing about her father serving her up to Brandon or any Stark that came along in hopes of an alliance.  This is the place where Brandon was fostered and he took what he wanted or was allowed to take.  

 

 

 

[PrettyPig]

39 minutes ago, Widow's Watch said:

I like the Viserys/Brandon parallels you brought up, but for my money, the more I look at some of the quotes, the more I wonder if R&L didn't know each other before the tourney and things were just going to go down between them anyway.

I definitely believe they knew each other, but I don't think it was romantic.   IMO Lyanna had eyes for someone else - part of the parallel between her story and Dany's involves three relationships for each girl.  We know Dany's three:  Drogo, Daario, Hizdhar.  For Lyanna we know about Robert, and can only speculate on Rhaegar, and if I'm right, there was a middle one for her too - her version of Daario, the hot fling with a playboy who is beneath her, but steals her heart anyway.   (This dovetails with the earlier conversation here about Mance, although he's not the one I peg for it.)

That's wild talk for another thread though.       My point here was that Ned, Lyanna, Benjen, and Howland were on one side of things, and Brandon another.    Remember, it was all meant for Brandon...I think he opted to go rogue and do his own thing based on his "status" and it got him killed.

19 minutes ago, LynnS said:

This is the place where Brandon was fostered and he took what he wanted or was allowed to take.  

Exactly.   Brandon certainly has the "I do what I want" history, I won't be surprised one bit if that extends to a back room deal with the Prince of Dragonstone.

 

Also, forgot to add upthread:   re: Future King Bob in his cups with Richard Lonmouth and being all "Wut? huh?" when Lyanna received the laurel tells me that whatever was going on, he knew nothing about it....but I totally agree that he was being purposely distracted. 

[Alexis-something-Rose]

9 hours ago, PrettyPig said:

My point here was that Ned, Lyanna, Benjen, and Howland were on one side of things, and Brandon another.    Remember, it was all meant for Brandon...I think he opted to go rogue and do his own thing based on his "status" and it got him killed.

I agree and what Ned thinks of Brandon about him knowing what to do is vastly different from the picture that's painted for us by other characters. It's interesting that the future Lord of Winterfell and Warden of the North may not have taken interesting in the plight of one of his bannermen. 

While I don't necessarily agree with everything you've said, I actually realized something with your post from last night, and that's that Rhaegar and Brandon probably might have interacted one on one during the tourney.

When a jouster loses, they have to ransom their mount and armor. Brandon entered the joust against Rhaegar, and he was beaten. Unless he sent his squire, this means he had to take his ass to Rhaegar's pavilion to ransom his horse and his armor, which provided opportunity to talk at least once. And I think this may be the crux of it and the whole reason Rhaegar entered the lists in the first place since we are told it's not something he did all that often.

If he's conspiring, lords going in and out of his pavilion wouldn't be all that suspicious. If he wins, these lords have to come to him to ransom their horses, armor and he can engage with them without being called a traitor. This is his opportunity to speak to his lords since Aerys is at the tourney. We know of four people who lost against him. Brandon, a northman, Bronze Yohn, a Valeman, who is still alive and well, and two Kingsguard. I imagine there are more.

[Lady Dacey]

This thread just keeps on giving me amazing insights. @PrettyPig I love your Viserys-Brandon parallels. It adds a whole other layer to the Raeghar and Lyanna story. Did Brandon "server" his sister to the prince while Ned was away in the Vale? Was Rickard on board with him? The lord of Winterfell and his heir could very well be working together while the younger sons were left ignorant. The Tully wedding was just about to happen when Reaghar kidnapped/eloped with Lyanna. Maybe Rickard and Brandon hoped for a marriage, and an elopement made it impossible? Just like Viserys wanted a crown and felt eluded when Drogo decided to go to Vaes Dothrak? 

So, back to the OP, how does that affect our little crannogman experiences in Harrenhal? Do we know if Lyanna was already bethroted to Robert by the time of the tourney? The LCM interacts a lot with the Wolf-maid and doesn't  take notice of her interacting with any other male safe for the moment she's gets the crown, which isn't even in Meera's story actually. If there were indeed many different plots and conspiracies happening, Howland is focusing on Ashara and the Crownlands-Stormlands-Dorne part of it (Connington, Lonmouth, Robert, possibly Oberyn) and not at the North-Vale-Riverlands. Which is weird, because he's a Crannogman and he's there with his lieges Northman... I'm lost.