A Thread for Small Questions VII

[Queen in the North]

In response to the decreasing importance of the Wardens, I always figured it was because most of the rest of the series has had Westeros in civil war, and no one really cared about the Wardens when there were five kings in the realm. Maybe they'll be important again in ADWD.

[Doom of Valyria]

how come the free cities depend on sell swords and slaves when they are so massive (each probably larger then KL) why don't raise a host of locals?

Well, maybe this has to do with what exactly the "Free" part of "the Free Cities" means - rather than a feudal system like in Westeros where bannermen have to gather forces when their liege lord commands them to, the Cities might be more like modern democratic countries. I'm sure they have armies as well, but maybe not such large ones because citizens only have to fight if they want to. So they need to supplement their forces with mercenary companies.

(I have no idea if the above is true, just speculation on my part)

[KyleLitke]

Here's a question. With all the talk about sacrificing a king to wake a stone dragon...is there any reason at all to assume that hasn't already happened when Dany hatched the dragon eggs (which I swear I remember being described as stone or appearing to be stone) when Drogo/Rhaego died? Drogo is a king of sorts (just not named as such) and Rhaego was prophecied to essentially be one too.

[Rinso]

Here's a question. With all the talk about sacrificing a king to wake a stone dragon...is there any reason at all to assume that hasn't already happened when Dany hatched the dragon eggs (which I swear I remember being described as stone or appearing to be stone) when Drogo/Rhaego died? Drogo is a king of sorts (just not named as such) and Rhaego was prophecied to essentially be one too.

That was always my understanding of what happened. It's just that the other characters who try to do that (Stannis, Melisandre) have no clue.

[mcbigski]

Also, did any Dornishmen actually fight in the Rebellion? I always thought they didn't.

I would be quite surprised if they didn't fight on the Loyalist side, considering Ellia Martell, Prince Lewyn Martell, and Arthur Dayne all certainly were on that side.

[Talleyrand]

Also, did any Dornishmen actually fight in the Rebellion? I always thought they didn't.

Yeah they did. IIRC Lewyn Martell was commanding the Dornish contingent at the Battle of the Trident

[chiffchaff]

Is it possible that Robert Arryn (Sweetrobin) is actually Lysa and Littlefinger's son? Perhaps Lysa's many miscarriages and stillbirths were her own doing so she wouldn't have Jon Arryn's children.

Honestly I don't really buy my own theory. I believe that Lysa's trouble with childbearing resulted from the forced abortion she had at 15. Even so, I find this an intriguing prospect, and I was wondering if anything in the books supports this theory.

[Yarl Snow]

Is it possible that Robert Arryn (Sweetrobin) is actually Lysa and Littlefinger's son? Perhaps Lysa's many miscarriages and stillbirths were her own doing so she wouldn't have Jon Arryn's children.

Honestly I don't really buy my own theory. I believe that Lysa's trouble with childbearing resulted from the forced abortion she had at 15. Even so, I find this an intriguing prospect, and I was wondering if anything in the books supports this theory.

Lysa seems to hold Jon Arryn's last words in high regard, "The seed is strong, he said!" I recall her telling someone. It would be odd for her to be proud of those words if she knew them to be false. Although I suppose it is possible that she was keeping up appearances. Also, as Littlefinger seems bent on killing Sweetrobin, or letting him die, or yet again, not being overly concerned about his death, it would be callous even for him if he knew Sweetrobin to be his son. Although again, not unprecedented, as we've seen Randyll Tarly and Tywin hold similarly murderous views of their unwanted and/or feeble sons. I would say it is Jon's son, though.

[chiffchaff]

Lysa seems to hold Jon Arryn's last words in high regard, "The seed is strong, he said!" I recall her telling someone. It would be odd for her to be proud of those words if she knew them to be false. Although I suppose it is possible that she was keeping up appearances. Also, as Littlefinger seems bent on killing Sweetrobin, or letting him die, or yet again, not being overly concerned about his death, it would be callous even for him if he knew Sweetrobin to be his son. Although again, not unprecedented, as we've seen Randyll Tarly and Tywin hold similarly murderous views of their unwanted and/or feeble sons. I would say it is Jon's son, though.

I'm prone to agree with you, but it wouldn't really surprise me if Littlefinger were that horrible, assuming he knew. He and Lysa could have easily gotten together while she was in King's Landing with Jon.

[schpat]

I think Littlefinger does have a good reason to keep Ned from suspecting Varys. Varys and Littlefinger are basically working in tandem to pit Ned against the Lannisters. If Ned starts focusing on Varys as his enemy, then he might be skeptical when Varys began to insinuate that the Lannisters had killed Jon Arryn and were ready to kill the king.

I proposed that LF and Varys were working together a while ago, nobody like the idea.

[Xenophon]

How do the Maesters fit into society? Do they serve one House their entire lives, or do they switch postings? Are they supposed to swear loyalty to the House/organization they serve, or are they supposed to be primarily loyal to the Citadel or the Kingdom?

The scene with Maester Luwin in the HBO premiere made me wonder.

[Mandurang]

How do the Maesters fit into society? Do they serve one House their entire lives, or do they switch postings? Are they supposed to swear loyalty to the House/organization they serve, or are they supposed to be primarily loyal to the Citadel or the Kingdom?

The scene with Maester Luwin in the HBO premiere made me wonder.

I will quote the wiki in answer to some of your questions:

"The maesters, like the brothers of the Night's Watch, are considered to be servants of Westeros and all its people and in theory have no political allegiance. After finishing his course of study, a maester is assigned to a castle, keep or other holding, and is loyal to the people of that place as a mentor, healer and advisor, regardless of changes in control of that holding." There is proof of that throughout the books, such the maesters of a castle that is taken that nurse the wounds of the victors, or even Luwin's servitude during the capture and occupation of Winterfell by Theon and his ironborn.

There appear to be exceptions, however. A lord that assumes the lordship of a different estate may take his maester with him when he moves, as Stannis did with Cressen. Maester Cressen, in his one and only POV, reminisces about Storm's End before Stannis was made the lord of Dragonstone and took the maester with him.

[Carter209]

Quick question...who at this point is in control of the Stormlands right now? I mean, are they completely loyal to Tommen due to his presumed Baratheon heritage, or could we see a power play by Davos(in Stannis' name), Doran, or someone else entirely?

[bottle cap]

one relating to the HBO series -

I don't remember nearly as much sex and boobs in the first chapters of aGoT...is it fair to say this has been added for effect? to make it seem more 'real'?

like that 'northern girl' i don't remember her at all with Tyrion

[moffy]

Now that Ramsey Snow has been legitimised, does this mean he's Roose's heir over any sons he may have with Fat Walda?

[Datepalm]

one relating to the HBO series -

I don't remember nearly as much sex and boobs in the first chapters of aGoT...is it fair to say this has been added for effect? to make it seem more 'real'?

like that 'northern girl' i don't remember her at all with Tyrion

Whether that seems more 'real' is a question of interpretation, I suppose. There is a notable lack of prostitutes in the first chapters of GOT, at Winterfell or anywhere else.

Now that Ramsey Snow has been legitimised, does this mean he's Roose's heir over any sons he may have with Fat Walda?

Strictly legally speaking, I think he should be, but its the kind of situation thats practically begging for some controversy and bit of civil war when Roose dies, or a generation or two later at best.

[mormont]

Now that Ramsey Snow has been legitimised, does this mean he's Roose's heir over any sons he may have with Fat Walda?

He's first in order of precedence, but we've seen life isn't always so simple. I suspect Ramsay may take steps to make sure it is, though. ;)

Questions about the TV series should be taken to the TV forum, please - no sense in confusing people!

[Talleyrand]

Do we know were Ser Alliser Thorne comes from?

[Gregor Barksdale]

one relating to the HBO series -

I don't remember nearly as much sex and boobs in the first chapters of aGoT...is it fair to say this has been added for effect? to make it seem more 'real'?

To make it more 'HBO' :)

[Pink Walder Frey]

Hey everybody, I'm new to this board and first of all I wanted to say hi to everybody here and thank the makers of this great site and this board.

So I have a few questions (and certainly later more), while I'm more or less new to ASOIAF, while I read it a few times in the last month.

I also browsed the forums for my questions and found a thread here and there, but did not find a concrete answer to all of my questions, so be polite about a newbie's questions ;).

1. Was it ever explained how Jon found out about ghost lost alone without his siblings? We know that ghost never makes a sound, but Jon said, that he heared something in this scene. I read some suspections about his warg connection to ghost, but I didn't find something real concrete.

2. Here have been some threads about Jon knowing about Lady's death and of Nymeria's absence and some speculation about a letter Jon got, but later, after Jon thoughts about that we learn (in a Bran POV in ACOK) that Bran does not know about this. How is this possible - the only answers I could expect were Arya sending a letter to Jon (off screen) or Jon's warg connection to ghost - but I think the latter is unlikly, because Bran is the stronger warg.

Edit: Following to this question: What happend to Lady's body? It should have been at Winterfell during Bran's POV in ACOK and so he should have known about Lady's death?

3. Why did Rickard Karstark leave the room, when Robb proclaimed his conditions for peace in Riverrun, while he had earlier agreed to peace, when Robb was proclaimed as King of the north? Even Jaimie should still held as a captive in this conditions, so I didn't see a change from the earlier proclamation.

4. Why did Mandon Moore try to kill Tyrion? - That's something I really suspect as very uncertain. Varys told Tyrion, that Trand and Blound were creatures of Cersei, and that he suspected all the others. Also Cersei and Tyrion had much trouble before this events and Cersei and Tyrion threatened each other (the scene with Alayala in ACOK). So Cersei had a good reason for trying to kill Tyrion, but we really don't know what are Moore's motivations. As Jaime said - you don't know what this guy thinks.

Another possibility I thought about was personal revenge. Tyrion threatened Moore with death (through Bronn and Timmet I think), when he wanted to enter the Small Council. We don't know about Moore, expect his eyes and his face are looking "dead" and what Jaimie told Tyrion about him. So maybe he is just on his own and wanted to punish Tyrion for this shame.

The third possibility I have in mind is Littlefinger. He was tricked by Tyrion before with his quest to the Vale, where Tyrion just wanted to point out who tells his secrets to Cersei. And after this Littlefinger tricked Tyrion into sending him to the Tyrells. We also know, that Petyr is someone who is really keen in taking revenge (Cat, Starks) without necessery having to watch the death of the object of his revenge. It's just a motive for Littlefinger - but the only thing we know about Mandon Moore apart from Jaimie's descriptions and his rare actions is, that the house Moore is from the Vale. And who has his hands into the Vale - Littlefinger - I think in the end of AFFC we know, that Littlefinger seemingly has more allies there, as it seemed in the beginning. House Moore seems to be a lesser house (or they would have been involved into the events after Lysa's death), but whatever - apart from Petyr there is seemingly noone else, who has his fingers into the Vale and wants Tyrions death.

Last but not least Varys never ordered a death, and seemingly never let one happen, despite he would have been in danger himself. So I do not think it would match Varys' other actions.

So in the end I have know idea what Moore's motivations were - but I think it was personal revenge or Littlefinger's order.

5. Who names new members of the kingsguard - I would expect the King (or his regent), or the Lordcommander of the kingsguard. On screen we only see Cersei naming new KG members. Jaimie isn't happy about them, but he was absent at the time of their naming.

So my question bases on the naming of guys like Meryn Trant and Boros Blount - I can not see how Barristan Selmy as the Lordcommander of the kingsguard ever could have accepted this guys. So did Robert maybe name them on Cersei's "advice" - just to not have to discuss with her?

6. Did enyone else recognize the parallels between Eddard and Stannis? With a closer look Stannis seems to be a harder, maybe crueler and also corrupted (by Melisandre) version of Ned. Both try always to do the right thing - Ned wants to follow his honor and Stannis wants to see "justice"; and both have to suffer about it. Certainly there is a great difference, that Ned knows mercy, but Stannis is only talking about it, but in nearly every POV that thougt about Stannis, we learn, that he lacks this mercy.

Stannis is in a way jealeus about his elder brother Robert, because the people loved him and forgave his mistakes, while Ned i AGOT told Catelyn, that it was Brandon who should have ruled Winterfell, and who would know what to do, when Robert asked him to be his right hand. So on both is the shadow of their elder brothers, certainly in a different way, but both suffer from it.

A point to balance Stannis' lack of mercy seems to me Davos, who knows about the feeling of the folks, and who give Stannis good advice and tries to drive him awasy from some bad mistakes.

I have more questions, but I think thats enough fore the moment.

Please forgive me bad english (I'm not a native speaker), typos and poor research.