A Thread for Small Questions IV

[Ser Greguh]

1. I was wondering how people in Westeros measure their age. If one season can take decades, a full year could take the guts of a century. At that rate, you could die wizened at the ripe old age of 2.

If would seem at bit unlikely that they would come up with the random number of 365 days after which to mark a birthday, seeing as 365 means nothing to them, it doesn't correspond to an orbit or a rotation of anything.

Years in Westeros are not measured by the passing of the seasons (rather, it works the other way around). There are hints that there are magical causes behind the abnormal Westerosi seasons, and that some time, way back when, a year might have actually been 365 days, but then something magical happened and fouled it all up, so the length of a year has stayed at 365 days due to tradition but doesn't really accurately describe anything particularly meaningful.

...All of which is basically just an excuse for what's more likely the real reason, which is that redefining the length of a year was not an aspect of worldbuilding in which GRRM was interested, and that when he stated that someone was fifteen years old, he wanted that to be grounded in familiarity.

2.If a year can take decades, that means their planet is pretty far away from the star it orbits. Why, then, do some areas of Westeros have such agreeable weather?

See above. There are likely magical factors in Westeros that are the cause behind its abnormal seasons, as opposed to the standard cosmological explanations we're familiar with on earth (namely, the planet's tilt). Thus, there's no real reason to believe that the passing of the seasons in Westeros is determined by its rotation around the sun (if, indeed, Westeros's world follows those rules; this is a fantasy, after all, and I don't think GRRM has defined his worldbuilding to that level of cosmology).

3.Assuming that the huge difference in the climates between the North and the South are due to the fact that one end of the continent (Can I call Westeros a continent?) is nearer the pole and the other the equator. Below, 'the South' is a whole other hemisphere we know nothing about. Are there other populated countries/continents or is Westeros alone?

Dany's adventures take place on an entirely different continent, across the Narrow Sea to the East, called "Essos" (I don't believe it's actually named in the books), which includes several of the Free Cities, the Dothraki lands, the cities on Slaver's Bay, as well as the port of Qarth on its eastern shore by the Jade Sea. South of that is Sothoryos (we see a small portion of it on the map of Slaver's Bay in Book 3), though apparently not too many live there; that same continent is across the other side of the Straits of Qarth. To the east of Qarth are some form of landmass or landmasses that contain the cities of Yi Ti and Asshai (which may also be reachable by sailing to the West of Westeros; this is unclear). You also have the Summer Isles, south of Westeros, which is where the exiled prince Jalabhar Xho is from, as well as some ship captains, including Quhuru Mo, who interacts with both Daenerys and Samwell.

A speculative and unofficial map of the known world can be found here.

[TheCrannogmen]

GRRM has confirmed that (1) years are based on the position of the stars, as they are in RL; and (2) the irregular seasons have a fantasy explanation, so it's not a matter of some irregular orbit or something.

Damn it, all my hours of mulling over orbits and it comes down to magic!

What say you to the idea that Westeros is only the Northern hemisphere of a planet? That still stands thought, right?

[zeyik]

Question: A lot of people seem to follow the assumption that R+L=J but what if its only half true. The only two people at the tower of joy was Ed and Reed(who hasn't been seen 4 a while and lives in a hidden swamp). Has it been mention on this board that Howland Reed could have been given this child to raise in secrecy because I mean imagine if the child looks like Rhegar? dead give away. We have three more books to go and it isn't too late for a new character.

[Anya, Vengeance Demon]

Question: A lot of people seem to follow the assumption that R+L=J but what if its only half true. The only two people at the tower of joy was Ed and Reed(who hasn't been seen 4 a while and lives in a hidden swamp). Has it been mention on this board that Howland Reed could have been given this child to raise in secrecy because I mean imagine if the child looks like Rhegar? dead give away. We have three more books to go and it isn't too late for a new character.

Man, if only there were a thread on this forum dedicated to discussing R+L=J, located in some prominent place where it was hard to miss. I think Ran should start something like that up.

[Ser Greguh]

Question: A lot of people seem to follow the assumption that R+L=J but what if its only half true. The only two people at the tower of joy was Ed and Reed(who hasn't been seen 4 a while and lives in a hidden swamp). Has it been mention on this board that Howland Reed could have been given this child to raise in secrecy because I mean imagine if the child looks like Rhegar? dead give away. We have three more books to go and it isn't too late for a new character.

If you can think it up, it's probably been brought up at one point or another in one of our R+L=J discussion threads. The speculation that Rhaegar and Lyanna had a child but that that child was not Jon is certainly not new. However, some of the reasoning for R+L=J believers (I consider myself one) involves reaching a potential explanation for Jon Snow's existence that doesn't involve Ned Stark cheating on his new wife, which seems wildly and ludicrously out of character for him.

If Rhaegar and Lyanna had a child, and that child looked like a Targaryen, it's reasonable to suppose they might have considered giving the child to Howland for him to raise in secrecy, and that that child could be a potential character to introduce at a later date (though you'd think he'd have given at least one hint or two), but the simpler explanation is that the child looked like a Stark, and that Ned took him to Winterfell to raise as his bastard.

Another common objection to this sort of speculation is that it doesn't provide any explanation for Daenerys's vision in the House of the Undying about a blue flower growing from a chunk of ice.

[zeyik]

Man, if only there were a thread on this forum dedicated to discussing R+L=J, located in some prominent place where it was hard to miss. I think Ran should start something like that up.

sorry, didn't want to long through an annoyingly long thread...

[SFDanny]

sorry, didn't want to long through an annoyingly long thread...

Welcome to the boards. I think the point was not that you have to go through all the R+L=J threads, but rather that your post would better fit that thread. No problem though. Your theory is possible, of course, it's just there is nothing to support it as of yet. I would have thought Meera and Jojen would have said something about a mysterious older "brother" or ward in their conversations with Bran, but they could be pledged to silence. And who knows we may have more than three books to find out.

[Lady Winter Rose]

If Rhaegar and Lyanna had a child, and that child looked like a Targaryen, it's reasonable to suppose they might have considered giving the child to Howland for him to raise in secrecy, and that that child could be a potential character to introduce at a later date (though you'd think he'd have given at least one hint or two), but the simpler explanation is that the child looked like a Stark, and that Ned took him to Winterfell to raise as his bastard.

This is time when we need to remember death of Ashara Dayne. She 'killed herself' and never found. She has Targ features, so she would be perfect alternative mother to 'R+L', even if all she has to do is claim Jon...

I already post my theory, but if she is dead because:

1)brother's death

2)lost true love

and/or maybe because 3) ''her true love ask to ruin her honor by claiming Jon as her bastard son with him, but he still would not return to her?

[Ser Greguh]

This is time when we need to remember death of Ashara Dayne. She 'killed herself' and never found. She has Targ features, so she would be perfect alternative mother to 'R+L', even if all she has to do is claim Jon...

I already post my theory, but if she is dead because:

1)brother's death

2)lost true love

and/or maybe because 3) ''her true love ask to ruin her honor by claiming Jon as her bastard son with him, but he still would not return to her?

Ashara's death is rarely forgotten when constructing abstract R+L=? theories, I'm afraid. For my money, Ned returning to Starfall and saying, "Hey Ashara, I killed your brother, here's his sword. Oh, by the way, turns out my Sister and the Crown Prince had this kid. If you could claim him as your own and disappear, maybe to the Free Cities, or wherever, that'd be awesome..." is a pretty tough sell.

[Mad Monkey]

I agree. For one, that's probably the shittiest way to break up with a girl I've ever heard of. Eddard is not perfect, but I think that he would probably pick a better way to end the relationship than slashing her brother to pieces and then telling her to leave the country'continent.

[jurble]

Whoa what, who stole my theory about Ashara being sent to the Free Cities?

[jmastar]

couple questions... Now that Gregor is "dead" and Sandor is presumably banished who would take over the Clegeign lands? Also, Why did Tywin forgo rank and give command of a chunk of his army during the battle against Bolton to Gregor? I know that he wanted that flank to break, but it still seems odd that he didnt have a battle hardened lord to appoint with orders to break on command.

[ibelin]

I'm sure this has been asked plenty of times, but... what happened at the tragedy of Summerhall? I know that Dunk, Egg, and Prince Duncan died, but how?

(And yes, I did search for old posts on this, hoping that maybe people know more now than in the posts I found that were a couple years old).

[Guest Other-in-Law]

I'm sure this has been asked plenty of times, but... what happened at the tragedy of Summerhall? I know that Dunk, Egg, and Prince Duncan died, but how?

(And yes, I did search for old posts on this, hoping that maybe people know more now than in the posts I found that were a couple years old).

We really don't know the exact details. Alester Florent made it clear that it was an attempt to bring dragons back somehow (the Targaryens still owned various dragon eggs back then), and Maester Aemon indicated that there was smoke. And it failed. Beyond that, we don't know. One theory is that Ser Duncan may have acted to prevent the catastrophe from being much worse, based on his musing in tHK that maybe the realm would need his hand or foot more than it need Prince Baelor.

[Lord Varys]

Stupid double post. Please delete.