Mystery Knight(s) In the Vale Tourney

[Nevets]

On 8/22/2021 at 11:24 AM, Mister Smikes said:

Where else in particular should he be, other than "as far away from Stoneheart as possible"

I can see no particular reason for Ned Dayne to be in the Vale.  The VBale is not the sort of place you visit by accident or on a whim.  It is difficult to get to, which means that you would have to be really interested in going there, and Ned has absolutely no reason to be interested in a visit.  He is most likely either in the Riverlands carrying on Beric's work, or on his way home or already there - in Dorne.  Which is in the opposite direction from the Vale.

On 8/22/2021 at 11:24 AM, Mister Smikes said:

Thanks for that.  Does Tyrek have any Tourney skills to speak of?  Or do you expect him to show up as a squire.

I don't really expect him to show up at all.  But if he did, it would be as a mystery knight.  The point would be to gain notice and attention to his reappearance and whatever he had to say.  He likely has enough skill to avoid completely embarrassing himself,, and short of being knocked unconscious, that should do the trick.  By the way, given his prominence at court, Sansa is likely to be able to recognize him.

 

The only way people like Brienne, Sandor, Blackfish, etc.,, would show up would be if they believed Sansa was in the area.  I think at this point that the timing is too tight for them to figure that out, and get there in time for the tournament.  I also expect that Sansa is going to remain in the Vale for some time to come (at least toward the end of WOW).  Littlefinger is being set up as her mentor and antagonist, and that is going to take some time and book space.

I think that Shadrick is being set up to be a red herring.  It is either to make us think that Sansa is in more danger than she really is, or to distract us from the real danger, which is Littlefinger.  Or perhaps both.

[Mister Smikes]

20 minutes ago, Nevets said:

I can see no particular reason for Ned Dayne to be in the Vale. 

When you are squire for a knight errant, you go where your knight errant goes.  This was true of Egg.    You could not know Egg's reason for traveling to this, that, or the other place, until you read Dunk & Egg story that tells you those reasons.  We are not privy to that story in this case.

But you seem to imagine you have a better idea of what particular place Ned Dayne has reason to be.  What have you picked up on that I have missed?

GRRM did promise to bring the threads of the story together.  So you would tend to expect loose ends to converge in places that some action is expected.  And it is hard to imagine a better excuse for converging plot threads than a tournament.

20 minutes ago, Nevets said:

The Vale is not the sort of place you visit by accident or on a whim. 

That was also true of Egg, following Dunk, to the places he went.  That does not mean you could have predicted those destinations from a position of ignorance.

20 minutes ago, Nevets said:

... Ned has absolutely no reason to be interested in a visit. 

A very strong opinion.  Again, you must have a very particular idea of where exactly he has a reason to be.  Where is he, then?

20 minutes ago, Nevets said:

He is most likely either in the Riverlands carrying on Beric's work, or on his way home or already there - in Dorne.  

Those sound like guesses.  It is almost as if you don't really know where Ned is, or why, and he could be anywhere.

I don't necessarily deny that Ned might not be trying to "carry on Beric's work" in some remote sense.  But surely there has been some adjustment of his goals.  Beric has gone, and Stoneheart has taken over the BwB.  Who is left?   He has not too many options left that would differ markedly from being a squire for a wandering knight who takes seriously his vow to defend the weak.

20 minutes ago, Nevets said:

The only way people like Brienne, Sandor, Blackfish, etc.,, would show up would be if they believed Sansa was in the area. 

Well, it is a tournament.  So I would guess it is going to draw lots of knights who do not necessarily believe Sansa is in the area.

But Littlefinger dropped a pretty good hint, when he began collecting every lemon in the region and beyond, just so he could build a giant lemon cake in honor of his "natural daughter."  Brienne, for instance, does not know much about Sansa, but one of the things she knows is that Sansa loved lemon cakes.

 

[SocratesSnow]

The "Mystery Knight" is Targon Halfwild.

[StarksInTheNorth]

On 8/18/2021 at 12:18 PM, Mister Smikes said:

Pod Payne seems left out of this scenario.  Dead?  Held by Stoneheart?

Speaking of Pod, I can imagine a scenario where a mystery knight is accompanied by a shy 12-year old squire, and the readers and/or Sansa are led to imagine this is Pod Payne, but it is actually Ned Dayne.  Sansa, btw, has met Pod briefly, but Pod kept his head down and never looked straight at her.

Pod and Sansa have interacted more than briefly. She was married for at least a month, probably a bit more, and he was around doing squire things every day. 

[Mister Smikes]

On 9/7/2021 at 9:00 PM, StarksInTheNorth said:

Pod and Sansa have interacted more than briefly. She was married for at least a month, probably a bit more, and he was around doing squire things every day. 

Yes, but they did not really speak to each other much.  And you have to know someone at least a little bit in order to mistake another person for that person.  How likely such mistake might be depends on circumstances.  What is Sansa were high in the stands, and Edric were on the ground wearing a broad rimmed hat?

Sansa can be a bit weird with faces and details and memory.  Her imagination may sometimes matter more than what she actually sees.