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FIRE AND BLOOD EXCERPT


Moondancer

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http://georgerrmartin.com/notablog/2018/09/27/a-fire-blood-excerpt-just-for-you/

 

"And there were still certain houses that had never accepted the Seven, no more than the northmen had, the Blackwoods in the riverlands chief amongst them, and mayhaps as many as a dozen more."

Name them, GRRM, name them!

 

A wickedly good lil thing,  so excited for this book!

 

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This is the bit about Queen Alysanne visiting the Wall that really interested me:

Spoiler

… the queen herself noted that Silverwing “does not like this Wall.” Though it was summer and the Wall was weeping, the chill of the ice could still be felt whenever the wind blew, and every gust would make the dragon hiss and snap. “Thrice I flew Silverwing high above Castle Black, and thrice I tried to take her north beyond the Wall,” Alysanne wrote to Jaehaerys, “but every time she veered back south again and refused to go. Never before has she refused to take me where I wished to go. I laughed about it when I came down again, so the black brothers would not realize anything was amiss, but it troubled me then and it troubles me still.”

 

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That piece is really nice. And it does explain why no Targaryen dragonrider ever explored the lands beyond the Wall, doesn't it?

One wonders, though 

Spoiler

is Alysanne right? Does Silverwing not like the Wall, or does Silverwing sense the Others?

I'm inclined to believe it is the latter. 

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3 minutes ago, Lord Varys said:

That piece is really nice. And it does explain why no Targaryen dragonrider ever explored the lands beyond the Wall, doesn't it?

One wonders, though 

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is Alysanne right? Does Silverwing not like the Wall, or does Silverwing sense the Others?

I'm inclined to believe it is the latter. 

We end up with a whole other question with regard to ASoIaF, doesn't it?

Spoiler

If Silverwing is sensing the Others and won't go beyond the Wall because of them, then what happens with Dany's dragons if they sense the Others?

Also, the Stark? He's pretty hilarious.

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I still say Lord Alaric is niggardly, but what the hell do I know ;-)?

No, this Stark lord really seems to be one of the finer guys.

I think the Silverwing thing lays down to rest this ridiculous assumption that the dragons will be 'miracle weapons' against the Others. They will be effective and all, but if the Others are living ice and the dragons living fire, then the latter won't like it all that much in the cold, especially not snowstorms, blizzards, and the like. Not to mention that their fires should be worthless and ineffective then, too.

My guess would be that the Wall keeps the Others and their magic firmly in the northern part of Westeros, explaining why Silverwing behaves the way she does in close proximity to the Wall. The Wall itself shouldn't be that much of an issue for her, considering that winters should bring snow and ice to Dragonstone and King's Landing, too.

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2 hours ago, Moondancer said:

 

http://georgerrmartin.com/notablog/2018/09/27/a-fire-blood-excerpt-just-for-you/

 

"And there were still certain houses that had never accepted the Seven, no more than the northmen had, the Blackwoods in the riverlands chief amongst them, and mayhaps as many as a dozen more."

Name them, GRRM, name them!

 

A wickedly good lil thing,  so excited fot this book!

 

I do hope this is not the last asoiaf book we get 

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45 minutes ago, Lord Varys said:

That piece is really nice. And it does explain why no Targaryen dragonrider ever explored the lands beyond the Wall, doesn't it?

One wonders, though 

  Hide contents

is Alysanne right? Does Silverwing not like the Wall, or does Silverwing sense the Others?

I'm inclined to believe it is the latter. 

I am not so sure. The wall is arguably the most powerful magical thing on the planet. It has kept the all life destroying Ice demons at bay for nearly 8000 years. If the ice magic others can't cross the wall, it would also seem that the fire magic dragons cannot cross either. 

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4 minutes ago, Dorian Martell's son said:

I am not so sure. The wall is arguably the most powerful magical thing on the planet. It has kept the all life destroying Ice demons at bay for nearly 8000 years. If the ice magic others can't cross the wall, it would also seem that the fire magic dragons cannot cross either. 

The fact that Silverwing apparently chose to not fly over the Wall could be a hint she sense what's going on beyond. Or not. Really difficult to say. However, if the magical barrier had thrown her back, I'd expect Silverwing to try and fail to cross rather than simply refuse to go where Alysanne wanted to take her. 

Also, the whole thing would be more sinister if Silverwing sensed the Others rather than just reacting to the Wall.

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We might not be able to take the MUSH info about House Stark for granted, but it could be informative and helpful. It states that Lord Cregan was born in 108 AC and that his father Lord Rickon was born in 88 AC.

It wouldn't be a stretch, then, for Rickon's father Lord Benjen to have been born around 68 AC, and in his early to mid thirties at the time of the Great Council in 101 AC, when Ellard was Lord of Winterfell.

Which would put Lord Benjen's birth around ten years after this new story about Lord Alaric in 58 AC, who at the time had two strong sons and a daughter by his three years deceased Mormont wife.

It wouldn't be a stretch for Lord Alaric to have been born as early as 38 AC, around the time of the death of Lord Ronnel Arryn, the husband of Lord Torrhen's daughter.

We also know that the Lord Stark who was persuaded to give the New Gift to the Night's Watch had a brother, and that a Lord Ellard Stark was Lord of Winterfell at the time of the Great Council of 101 AC.

Obviously we only have so much information, and some gaps, and can only speculate, but what are everyone's thoughts?

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1 minute ago, The Wondering Wolf said:

In 58 AC Lord Alaric had sons who were old enough to be betrothed, so I would put him rather around 20 AC. Maybe a grandchild of Torrhen.

I was trying to be conservative and at least give him a date early enough for him to have three children. But without knowing how old those children were, I don't think a birth before the 30s, perhaps even as early as the mid to early 20s, is unlikely.

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FaB should give us clues whether the MUSH date for Cregan is correct. The man supposedly features so greatly during the Dance afterwards that we should learn how old he is at a given point.

I'm inclined to believe Lord Alaric may have been a grandson of King Torrhen, but it could be a great-grandson. It is difficult to say. If we see Brandon Snow as the youth making the arrows in Bran's vision - which is complete speculation at this point - then this could mean that Torrhen wasn't that old during the Conquest which, in turn, could allow Alaric to be his grandson.

Torrhen's sons only grumbled when their sister was married to Lord Ronnel - which likely also only happened in the second decade or so, considering Ronnel's apparent youth during the Conquest.

But this is really difficult to say.

Alaric's sons should have been either men grown by the time of the visit, or close enough to make no matter. Else Lord Alaric couldn't have possibly tried to reject Alysanne's proposals by citing the opinion of his sons. The opinion of children doesn't matter.

Overall a striking feature is that it seems the oral tale of Alysanne getting bored while King Jaehaerys was talking stuff with his Warden of the North was bogus. The king was stuck at KL when Alysanne flew to the Wall.

And in 58 AC Jaehaerys shouldn't have had already three dragonriders among his children. If there were indeed five dragons at Winterfell - as the tale we know claimed - then this could, perhaps, be Rhaena/Dreamfyre, Aerea/dragon, and one of the elder children - Aegon/Daenerys/Aemon - on a dragon.

As to the dozens or so houses in the south still following the old gods I doubt the Royces are among them as some people have previously suggested. If such a prominent family were still following the old gods not only we but Alysanne, too, would know that.

I expect there to be some such still in the West, the Stormlands (which have some rural and/or backwater areas), and the Reach and possibly Dorne. The Vale isn't a place where I'd look for them, nor the Riverlands for more. Where the Andals came in more peacefully chances are greater that the old religion survived.

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2 minutes ago, The Grey Wolf said:

I bet House Rogers follows the Old Gods.

Could be. But then we have Ser Corwin Rogers. Are those followers of the old gods supposed to also not become knights or are they, well, taking the best both sides have to offer?

Such battleship knighthoods Jorah got should be exceedingly rare.

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