[ADWD Spoilers]A Host of Small Matters

[Jane Doe]

Pycelle is a doddering old fool responsible for the Sack of King's Landing and has been feeding the Lannisters and Cersei intelligence for years, which Varys knows damn well. He had to die to deprive Cersei of resources. If we assume Cersei's trial by battle falls out the way she's hoping, then with Kevan dead and an undead superknight at her side, I'm assuming Cersei will resume her post of Queen Regent and do as fabulous a job of it as she did in AFFC, likely leading to a full-scale conflict with the Tyrells, which is what Varys is hoping for. Removing Kevan makes it possible and removing Pycelle rids Cersei of a useful asset.

I was confused about why Varys would kill Pycelle as well. Is he really useful? IIRC, Cersei complained several times that Pycelle had become old and useless after Tyrion put him in the black cell.

Personally it wasn't irritating for me.

He was mentioned a fair few times in Crows after all.

It's very irritating for me. I had no idea who that was. I was one chapter before the Sam chapter in Crows where Bloodraven was mentioned.

[Dragonfish]

I could see where one would get that feeling, and when I read that passage for the first time, I did a little double-take as well. However, I don't feel it is that much of a stretch-- we've been introduced to the Faceless Men for a long time, who can obviously look like anyone they want to, and that seemed obviously to be of illusion-type magic, so it doesn't seem that far-fetched or out of place to me.

Sure, we know that magic exists that allows a person to change their appearance, but until now we've never been given any indication that such magic can be used by anyone other than a FM. The "glamor" stuff just comes out of nowhere.

On a side note, Melisandre mentions that you need some sort of physical item from the person being impersonated in order to make glamor magic, and one of the examples she gives is "a bag of finger bones." Is this meant to hint that Melisandre has Davos' "luck", and might one day use it to impersonate Davos?

[Claireducky]

Sure, we know that magic exists that allows a person to change their appearance, but until now we've never been given any indication that such magic can be used by anyone other than a FM. The "glamor" stuff just comes out of nowhere.

On a side note, Melisandre mentions that you need some sort of physical item from the person being impersonated in order to make glamor magic, and one of the examples she gives is "a bag of finger bones." Is this meant to hint that Melisandre has Davos' "luck", and might one day use it to impersonate Davos?

The school of magic already existed with the FM, all that was new was learning that others not of the house of black and white could do it. Calling it something different like "glamour magic" doesn't make it new. It didn't bother me personally as a "new" introduction to the magic disciplines in Westeros.

I thought the mention of Davos' fingerbones was interesting, too-- she wasn't at the Battle of Blackwater though, and he'd lost them by time he washed up on the spears of the Merling King.

Another thing she mentions was a dead man's boots, and this was funny to me cause Arya kept Daeron's boots after killing him. Maybe Arya will take on the face of Dareon sometime!

[Talleyrand]

I was confused about why Varys would kill Pycelle as well. Is he really useful? IIRC, Cersei complained several times that Pycelle had become old and useless after Tyrion put him in the black cell.

Pycelle was a Lannister man though, he could always be relied on to vote for whatever Kevan told him to. With Pycelle dead it leaves space open for another to take his place and possibly ruin any plans for Lannister's getting their way in the council

[Claireducky]

Pycelle was a Lannister man though, he could always be relied on to vote for whatever Kevan told him to. With Pycelle dead it leaves space open for another to take his place and possibly ruin any plans for Lannister's getting their way in the council

My theory is Pycelle has been anti-Targ his whole life, not necessarily pro-Lannister, although he has been in Cersei's pocket for awhile.

How did Egg die? After a host of bad decisions very unlike the Egg we know - marrying for love, letting his kids do the same, instead of making alliances through marriage. And finally, the poor decision at Summerhall to try to hatch a dragon. Who would have been involved in the counsel of Egg at this time? Pycelle.

Jaehaerys died after only 3 years on the throne, and was remembered as sickly. Poisoned by Pycelle?

And finally Aerys-- who started out good, then made more and more poor decisions, especially the one to go to Duskendale himself, which is when he really started to go crazy. And who counseled him to open the gates to Tywin? Pycelle.

Varys probably killed Pycelle for anti-Targ sentiment, not because he's been particularly useful to Cersei. Cersei herself considered him a doddering old fool, and after Tywin died, she pretty much ignored everything he had to say.

[KyleLitke]

Pycelle was a Lannister man though, he could always be relied on to vote for whatever Kevan told him to. With Pycelle dead it leaves space open for another to take his place and possibly ruin any plans for Lannister's getting their way in the council

The interesting thing is, there really aren't Lannisters left on the Council. Harys Swift is it, and he's weak and only the Master of Coin anyway. Other than him it's just Mace Tyrell, Randyll Tarly, and Paxter Redwyne. That's one reason I'm not so sure about Cersei retaking her position as Queen Reagent...who's gonna give it to her, especially after getting humiliated like that? I don't think she has the support at this point to just take the position (political support, not referring to her big monster friend). But leaving the council in control of the Tyrells could cause problems, with Cersei at least trying to get her position back, plus Nymeria headed to Kings Landing.

[Jane Doe]

But leaving the council in control of the Tyrells could cause problems, with Cersei at least trying to get her position back,

That would be enough, I think.

[bowlwoman]

I thought the mention of Davos' fingerbones was interesting, too-- she wasn't at the Battle of Blackwater though, and he'd lost them by time he washed up on the spears of the Merling King.

I find the fact that Mel specifically mentions "bag of fingerbones" when discussing items one could use to create a glamour is very interesting as well. I guess she could have been using that example as one that most people in the realm would know (a lot of people know about the Onion Knight and his luck), but why bring up that specific example when just saying something like "an old bone" would work? Seems suspicious that she chooses to use those specific words, when there's only one person we've seen that carried a bag of fingerbones.

And yes, she wasn't at the Battle of Blackwater, but part of me wonders if someone from Stannis's fleet found Davos's bones and brought them to Stannis/Mel after the battle was over. Or who knows...maybe the "thing" that brushed Davos's leg during his swim under the chain was a shadow baby come specifically to get Davos's bag. If so, why would Mel need Davos's bones? Obviously to create a glamour, but when, where, and why?

[jurble]

Question:

Doing a reread, the Common tongue bed-slave in Tyrion's first chapter says "I was bought to please the king."

What's going on here? Does she mean Viserys? Aegon? Or Illyrio maybe?

[Claireducky]

Question:

Doing a reread, the Common tongue bed-slave in Tyrion's first chapter says "I was bought to please the king."

What's going on here? Does she mean Viserys? Aegon? Or Illyrio maybe?

Viserys.

[Spring Bass]

EDIT: never mind.

[The Snow King]

I think Varys killed Pycelle, because he wants the blame to fall on Tyrells. Pycelle supported Lannisters, and also told he is afraid because he told about Margaery asking for moon tea.

As for the trials, i think it works for High Septon if Margaery is found guilty. I also think he want's power, so he wouldn't want any strong family at the throne, chaos works for him. Cersei is shamed, and now with Kevans death, Lannisters are broken. Tyrells are strong, and I doubt they like faith ambitions.

[delete this account pls]

Coldhands identity still hasn't been revealed - either GRRM is waiting for a big moment to reveal Benjen or he is some random ranger who's real identity is irrelevant.

There's a few other candidates I've seen tossed around, such as Will, from the GoT prologue (but I think the changes worked in the show pretty much rule this out), or Stonesnake, one of Qhorin Halfhand's men who goes missing in ACOK (and despite the fact that he's a minor character who hasn't appeared since Clash, he's still been listed in every appendix since then)

Another possibility the Night's King. According to the children of the forest Bran and co talk too, Coldhands has been as he is now for "a long time". Given that the children live for centuries, who knows what they mean by that. To add a bit of credence to this - the Night's King's seat was the Nightfort, and Coldhands knew about the gate beneath it.

[Leuf]

I find the fact that Mel specifically mentions "bag of fingerbones" when discussing items one could use to create a glamour is very interesting as well. I guess she could have been using that example as one that most people in the realm would know (a lot of people know about the Onion Knight and his luck), but why bring up that specific example when just saying something like "an old bone" would work? Seems suspicious that she chooses to use those specific words, when there's only one person we've seen that carried a bag of fingerbones.

And yes, she wasn't at the Battle of Blackwater, but part of me wonders if someone from Stannis's fleet found Davos's bones and brought them to Stannis/Mel after the battle was over. Or who knows...maybe the "thing" that brushed Davos's leg during his swim under the chain was a shadow baby come specifically to get Davos's bag. If so, why would Mel need Davos's bones? Obviously to create a glamour, but when, where, and why?

It stood out to me as well. Maybe earlier she saw Davos being dead in her fires, misinterpreted that as usual, and wanted to be able to make a fake Davos to use in the future. More likely GRRM is just messing with us.

The boots as well immediately made me think of Arya. Foreshadowing her coming back as Dareon?

[Werthead]

The Rhoyne has four wild daughters: the Noyne, Qhoyne, Lhorulu and Selhoru. However, the map shows an additional tributary, the Volaena. I wonder why that one was left off the count?

It doesn't look like it feeds into the Rhoyne proper.

Coming back to this original point, I took a closer look at the map and saw that the Volaena feeds into the same branch of the Rhoyne that Volantis itself sits on, which is identified throughout the book as being the 'main' branch of the Rhoyne. So it does look like that the Volaena should be counted as one of the Wild Daughters, but oddly isn't. Curious.

I'm still bemused as to how Volantis has avoided attack by the Dothraki. Either there are unmapped tributaries further east the Dothraki won't cross, or the fact that the city is walled and people can evacuate from the eastern side to the west at will over the Long Bridge means that it's futile for them to even try.

[Arataniello]

Another nice little point. When Bloodraven was alive, during the Dunk and Egg stories, his role as Hand of the King and Spymaster General has everyone thinking "How many eyes does Bloodraven have? A thousand eyes, and one".

Now, as the last greenseer hotwired into the weirwood network, he does indeed have "A thousand eyes, and one" all over Westeros.

[Spring Bass]

Does anyone remember if Sallador Saan is described as being really fat? I'm re-reading the book, and the first Quentyn chapter has a flashback to when they fought off some corsairs in the Disputed Lands. One of the dead pirates is described as being really fat, with rings on his fingers.

[dayna]

Does anyone remember if Sallador Saan is described as being really fat?

He's described as "sleek" in ACoK.

[L*eau]

I don't know if it is only GRRM's kind of writing, but I discovered the word "monster" a lot while reading ADWD.

The first time I saw the word in the first of Bran's POVs (at the very end) it seemed a little odd to me.

They are talking about Coldhand:

.... Coldhand did not move.

" A monster", Bran said.

The ranger looked at Bran as if the rest of them did not exist. "Your monster, Brandon Stark."

"Yours," the raven echoed, from his shoulder. Outside the door, the ravens in the trees took up the cry, until the night wood echoed to the murderer's song of "yours, yours, yours."

The next time I found the word in a Daenery POV. Of course she is thinking of her dragons (page 160, UK version):

Mother of dragons, Daenerys thougt. Mother of monsters. What have I unleashed upon the world? A queen I am, but my throne is made of burned bones, and it rests on quicksand. Whithout dragons, how could she hope to hold Meereen, much less win back Westeros? I am the blood of the dragon, she thought. If they are monsters, so am I.

Wun Wun is often called a monster, but also Gilly's babe, Val named him "the little monster".

I also thought that Jon was talking about Ghost as his monster, but I can't find the quote in the books.

Maybe it doesn't mean anything (probably it doesn't mean anything..) but in Bran's chapter the word was a strange choice in my eyes.

If GRRM choose it on purpose, perhaps he only wanted to show once more who are the important "player" in the books: Ice (Coldhand, the Others) and Fire (the dragons), the Giant and the Baby are the people inbetween.

Any ideas? Or am I only seeing more than there is.

[Aegon II]

Some questions/thoughts:

Robb - he declared Jon Snow as his successor of King of the North and become Jon Stark, the northmen as witnesses, but no mention of it in this book.

Cersei - she can demand trial by battle with Robert Strong as her champion but against who?

Horn of winter - the horn mance raydder gave was burned but in tyrion chapters, there's mention of a 6-foot horn with rune writing

Wildfire - deadly firepower used in the battle at blackwater but im surprised there's no mention of it here.

I think there be a fight between brienne and jamie, and jamie wins.