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Insights from the ASOIAF App


The Bard of Banefort

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Although I downloaded the official ASOIAF app a long time ago, I hadn't really started looking through it until recently. I thought I'd share a few details that have caught my eye so far, and see if anyone here picked up on some other interesting details.

Arianne

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Arianne longs to be a dutiful daughter--if only her father will show that he values her.

Confirmation that, unlike the Sand Snakes, Arianne's resentment of her father stems from feeling rejected by him, not because she thinks he's weak.

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Accompanying them are various coconspirators. . . Some of these are her past lovers, Ser Gerold [Dayne] among them.

I remember Arianne admiring Darkstar's looks and blushing when he looked at her, but I hadn't picked up them having once been lovers.

Littlefinger

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By the time of Lord Arryn's death, Littlefinger is considered by many to be relatively harmless. . . However, he has secretly entered into an affair with Lysa.

This is arguably the strongest evidence for LF being Sweetrobin's biological father. I don't recall it ever being confirmed in the books that Petyr and Lysa resumed their affair while he was on the Small Council (and if it was, I missed it).

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He offers to bring the Vale back into the fold by wooing Lady Lysa. This is the culmination of a long-held plan that few, excect perhaps Varys, recognize.

Acknowledgement that Varys is onto him. Unlike in the show, we don't get a lot of insight into their scheme-off.

Sandor

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He finds his way to Sansa Stark's chambers, where he forces her to sing him a song while trying to work up the courage to take her with him out of the city. Her fear of him--as well as her song--makes him leave without her.

This one comes as a relief to me. I always took the Hound's revelation to Arya that he wanted to "take" Sansa to mean that he meant to physically take her with him, not that he meant to rape her. The latter hadn't even occurred to me until I started reading the forums, so I'm glad that it appears to have been a misreading. (I also took his line about how he should have "fucked her bloody and ripped her heart out" to have just been a really crass way of saying "literally anything is better than being married to Tyrion fucking Lannister").

Sansa

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He departs the chamber, leaving behind his torn and bloodied white Kingsguard cloak, which Sansa hides away in a chest.

This one a find puzzling. I know some people think Sansa had the cloak dyed and wore it when she fled the city, but I don't think she could have done that without raising suspicions among the servants. It seems like something insignificant to mention in a fairly brief bio. (Although, I guess I could see a somewhat funny scene in TWOW where Cersei is informed that someone found a bloody Kingsguard cloak hidden in a chest, and she convinces herself that it's part of some conspiracy by Tyrion hehe).

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[Littlefinger] seems intent on teaching her how to manipulate men

Further confirmation that LF is grooming Sansa as a sexual pawn in his grand chess match.

Mace

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One of Mace's first acts is to reveal that he has a carved throne made in the shape of a hand--no doubt from when Renly had appointed him his Hand. . . 

I just found this funny. I hadn't considered that Mace's chair was something he saved from the WOT5K in the off-chance that he became Hand again.

Jon Arryn

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Aerys demanded the heads of both Eddard and Robert. But instead of giving up the boys he loved, Lord Arryn chose to raise the banners of rebellion.

It's interesting that Jon Arryn's bio stresses his love for Ned and Robert as his reason for rebelling, not Aerys' tyranny.

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Lord Jon agreed to the match [to wed Lysa], though his pride likely suffered at taking a soiled woman as his bride.

You would think that an old man who already outlived two wives and now was given the hand of a young, attractive, highborn lady would be a bit less precious about it :rolleyes:

Lysa

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Lord Tully forces her to drink moon tea to purge herself of the pregnancy. Lysa nearly dies from this.

Poor Lysa. I knew her forced abortion was brutal, but I hadn't realized it almost cost Lysa her life.

Euron

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Euron carries on an affair with Victarion's third wife, and admits as much when she conceives a child.

This would indicate that Euron was telling the truth about his relationship wife Victarion's wife being consensual. Still a rotten thing to do to his brother, of course.

Ashara

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Selmy does not know if it was for the child she had lost or the man of House Stark who had dishonored her at Harrenhal.

I took this line as further confirmation that Brandon was Ashara's lover, not Ned. Ned was already mentioned multiple times by name in Ashara's bio; there's no reason to use such ambiguous language either here or in ADWD if it was him.

From Arthur Dayne's page:

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Lord Eddard carried Dawn and the word of Ser Arthur's death to Starfall. There Ser Arthur's sister, Lady Ashara, is said to have thrown herself into the Summer Sea out of grief. Her body was never recovered.

Yeah, she's still alive. It also isn't specified who Ashara is grieving for.

Cersei

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Maggy tastes Cersei's blood and says that she will be a queen but that the king will have more children than she, and that, in the end, she will outlive all her children until the valonqar--the Valyrian word for brother--strangles her.

Possible confirmation that Cersei's killer is male? Then again, the bio also says that "Melara drowns in a well," so maybe it's only as reliable as Cersei is.

Jeyne Westerling

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When King Robb is wounded while capturing the Crag, her mother and uncle, Ser Rolph conspire to leave her alone with Robb as much as possible, hoping that nature will take its course.

I put this conspiracy on par with Cersei planning to kill Robert by getting him drunk while out hunting in the off-chance that he happens to encounter a murderous boar--it's very far-fetched. But it does confirm that Jeyne's mother and uncle were plotting to help take down the Starks even before Robb married Jeyne. Also, from Robb's bio:

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Robb and Jeyne are unaware of the fact that her mother, Lady Sybell, has been plotting with Lord Tywin to engineer just such an event.

I'll add more as I come across them. Has anyone else read something that caught their attention?

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23 minutes ago, Lord Lannister said:

Some of those quotes have me raising my eyebrow. Is this app an official source or is it like the wiki and fan generated?

It’s official, although the profiles weren’t written by George himself. Instead he provided feedback:

https://grrm.livejournal.com/301556.html?

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11 hours ago, The Bard of Banefort said:

I remember Arianne admiring Darkstar's looks and blushing when he looked at her, but I hadn't picked up them having once been lovers.

That's something the book just mentions as a thing. 

11 hours ago, The Bard of Banefort said:

It's interesting that Jon Arryn's bio stresses his love for Ned and Robert as his reason for rebelling, not Aerys' tyranny.

It's more interesting how nor the app, nor the characters mention Elbert Arryn's death as a reason on why Jon Arryn decided to rebel. The fact that he only married once again after Elbert's death pretty much indicates that it was a consequence of his death, but we are supposed to believe he only rebelled because Aerys threatened Ned and Robert and not because he executed his heir and nephew? I would expect the app to mention this much. 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Here's one about Lyn Corbray:

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Though notoriously uninterested in the charms of women--preferring boys, according to some--he is among Lady Lysa Arryn's suitors and offers himself up as her champion against Tyrion Lannister though he is refused.

Judging by the language used here--women and boys, not women and men--I think this is probably confirmation that Lyn is indeed a pedophile :ack:

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17 minutes ago, The Bard of Banefort said:

Judging by the language used here--women and boys, not women and men--I think this is probably confirmation that Lyn is indeed a pedophile :ack:

Ugh that is too gross for me to digest:ack: though it could mean young men ( so it'll be like 13-14 something which is usual in this world) and also if you notice , it seems that in this book ( as in real life when the majority still dispuised homosexual people) in gay relationship one is the mighty man and the other is the meek one representing a woman which is an insult and takes away manhood, thus a boy!

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By 'boy' I took that Corbray likes young boys. I doubt he's a pedophile; instead, he likes young men. You have to consider he's on his early thirties, an age that is considered somewhat old by westerosi standards. So a 'boy' for him could be a 15-17 yrs old lad. Still gross, sure. Then there's Jorah Mormont, a 40 something years old man fixed on a teen Daenerys. Compared to Lyn, Jorah is on another level of gross. Besides, he married 'for love' a Lynesse who was half his age (aprox. 17' Lynesse and 35ish Jorah)

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19 minutes ago, Jon Fossoway said:

By 'boy' I took that Corbray likes young boys. I doubt he's a pedophile; instead, he likes young men. You have to consider he's on his early thirties, an age that is considered somewhat old by westerosi standards. So a 'boy' for him could be a 15-17 yrs old lad. Still gross, sure. 

Pretty sure if young men was meant they would've said young men. That's a distinction you typically go out of your way to draw when discussing who someone's attracted to. 

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12 minutes ago, Lord Lannister said:

Pretty sure if young men was meant they would've said young men. That's a distinction you typically go out of your way to draw when discussing who someone's attracted to. 

That was my interpretation too.

1 hour ago, EggBlue said:

Ugh that is too gross for me to digest:ack: though it could mean young men ( so it'll be like 13-14 something which is usual in this world) and also if you notice , it seems that in this book ( as in real life when the majority still dispuised homosexual people) in gay relationship one is the mighty man and the other is the meek one representing a woman which is an insult and takes away manhood, thus a boy!

Yeah, I don’t follow a lot of Dan Savage’s stuff, but I did listen to an interesting interview of his from a while back where he explained that the reason why it used to be so common for young gay men to date much older men was because, prior to the internet, a lot of them simply didn’t know much about gay culture or sex and wanted someone with more experience to show them the ropes.

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38 minutes ago, Jon Fossoway said:

By 'boy' I took that Corbray likes young boys. I doubt he's a pedophile; instead, he likes young men. You have to consider he's on his early thirties, an age that is considered somewhat old by westerosi standards. So a 'boy' for him could be a 15-17 yrs old lad. Still gross, sure. Then there's Jorah Mormont, a 40 something years old man fixed on a teen Daenerys. Compared to Lyn, Jorah is on another level of gross. Besides, he married 'for love' a Lynesse who was half his age (aprox. 17' Lynesse and 35ish Jorah)

I think I’m the only person alive who likes Jorah Mormont lol. I’ve always been surprised by how universally hated he is. 

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3 minutes ago, The Bard of Banefort said:

I think I’m the only person alive who likes Jorah Mormont lol. I’ve always been surprised by how universally hated he is. 

No, I honestly feel for him. He's a hard luck case underdog and I have a huge soft spot for such. Something of a romantic who became jaded and that touchy pride was all he had left in the end. 

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1 minute ago, Lord Lannister said:

No, I honestly feel for him. He's a hard luck case underdog and I have a huge soft spot for such. Something of a romantic who became jaded and that touchy pride was all he had left in the end. 

I also thought he was a pretty good advisor to Dany. He helped her a lot, and I don’t think it’s a coincidence that she started to struggle more once he was gone.

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Just now, The Bard of Banefort said:

I also thought he was a pretty good advisor to Dany. He helped her a lot, and I don’t think it’s a coincidence that she started to struggle more once he was gone.

Agree. I just wish he had swallowed his pride and begged her forgiveness when he was outed as a spy. I think that would've been enough. He just seems a tragic character. The knight marrying for love straight out of a fairy tale story, only to find out that the story doesn't almost end happily ever after no matter how hard he tried. He got so desperate you could almost see how he talked himself into selling those poachers into slavery. After all, the punishment was to kill them. This way he'd be letting them live and get some needed money. Right? Then it just went downhill from there as he lost everything. You can get why he spied on Viserys and Dany, and why he grew dedicated to her in the end. 

I definitely can get why people don't like him, that one scene where he tried kissing Dany was seriously creepy and his jealousy concerning her was too much. Yet at the same time he was devoted to her, and had her interests at heart. I agree that she did begin to struggle once she dismissed him. 

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9 hours ago, Lord Lannister said:

Pretty sure if young men was meant they would've said young men. That's a distinction you typically go out of your way to draw when discussing who someone's attracted to. 

Perhaps my translation of ASOIAF gives me another interpretation. In spanish, the exact translation of boys covers mostly teens and pos-teens, nearing their 20. We talk separately about 'boys' and 'male children'. I know english speakers join those two words into a single one, but we don't, and our translation makes that distinction.

I wonder why did George introduced that specific detail on him, though. He also linked him to Baelish, so I guess Corbray will play some role in Winds.

 

9 hours ago, The Bard of Banefort said:

I think I’m the only person alive who likes Jorah Mormont lol. I’ve always been surprised by how universally hated he is. 

I guess you are inferring I don't like the dude? Because I do like him. But I still find his fixation on young girls to be a bit weird.

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9 hours ago, The Bard of Banefort said:

I also thought he was a pretty good advisor to Dany. He helped her a lot, and I don’t think it’s a coincidence that she started to struggle more once he was gone.

His advice is certainly shrewd and pragmatic, but also horribly callous (eg selling children into brothels, driving away non-combatant freedmen, sailing away and leaving freedmen to sink or swim).

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10 hours ago, Lord Lannister said:

Pretty sure if young men was meant they would've said young men. That's a distinction you typically go out of your way to draw when discussing who someone's attracted to. 

Either it means pre-pubescent boys, which would be gross, or else ephebes.  Given that LF supplies him with boys, of whatever age, I suspect there is pretty dubious consent.

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2 hours ago, Jon Fossoway said:

Perhaps my translation of ASOIAF gives me another interpretation. In spanish, the exact translation of boys covers mostly teens and pos-teens, nearing their 20. We talk separately about 'boys' and 'male children'. I know english speakers join those two words into a single one, but we don't, and our translation makes that distinction.

That's something that's always made me curious. If a certain literary work reads the same in one language versus another. Translations can be tricky things and I sometimes wish I had more than one language to explore this. Alas my two semesters of Spanish didn't stick expect to show me how woefully inconsistent English is. Getting things from another perspective is often enlightening. I've found this out with my love of history, looking at major events through historical texts from different involved parties. 

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59 minutes ago, Lord Lannister said:

That's something that's always made me curious. If a certain literary work reads the same in one language versus another. Translations can be tricky things and I sometimes wish I had more than one language to explore this. Alas my two semesters of Spanish didn't stick expect to show me how woefully inconsistent English is. Getting things from another perspective is often enlightening. I've found this out with my love of history, looking at major events through historical texts from different involved parties. 

They can be tricky sometimes. In the hungarian translation of the books, when Arya and Ned Dayne talk about Wylla and Jon, Ned tells Arya that they're milkbrothers as Wylla was a wet-nurse to Jon as well, and not his actual mother, as it is in the english version. For quite a long time I was unable to understand how people got the message wrong, whereas the problem was with my translation. 

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The Lem Lemoncloak entry is an interesting one.

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A tall soldier known by the yellow greatcloak he wears, Lem is one of the men in Lord Beric's band, appointed by Lord Eddard Stark to bring Gregor Clegane to justice.

He is a survivor of the ambush at the Mummer's Ford. 

There's that whole speculation that Lem is Richard Lonmouth. If that's the case, then him being in King's Landing seems to indicate that there were no problems between him and Robert. Speaking of Robert, his entry states that he is the one who sent the marriage proposal for Lyanna via Ned.

The Aegon entry says that there have been rumors that he survived the Sack of King's Landing and was spirited away for years.

The entry about Pyat Pree states that he and his buddies wanted to kill Dany to seize control of her dragons and that their ship was captured by Euron. In the Qarth entry, it is confirmed that when Euron captured their ship, he also seized dragonbinder.

Melisandre is determined to gain Jon's trust because she knows that he is somehow essential to the struggle ahead.

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