Small Questions on ADWD II

[Queen Sansa]

i lent out my copy of the book to a friend of mine, and i wont be getting it for a while, so i wanted to ask if anyone could paste a sentence for me out of it.

it should be in the first Arya chapter, when she's Nymeria, it talks about her brothers the direwolves, about one being dead, the other she cant sense, etc.

appreciated!

idk if this is what your after, but i found this on another thread and it sounds similar to what your talking about, although its from a jon chapter but i'll post it anyway:

The white wolf padded along the man trail beneath the icy cliff. The taste of blood was on his tongue, and his ears rang to the song of the hundred cousins. Once they had been six, five whimpering blind in the snow beside their dead mother, sucking cool milk from her hard nipples whilst he crawled off alone. Four remained ... and one the white wolf could no longer sense.

...On the other side the wind was colder still, the wolf sensed. That was where his brother was, the grey brother who smelled of summer.

[Whatever]

The Stark in Winterfell who slew the Night's King was Bran's brother? Or the NK's brother?

The stark who slew the NK was supposed to be his brother

[Galen M]

The stark who slew the NK was supposed to be his brother

do you have a source for that? I can't recall it ever being confirmed that the NK was a Stark.

[Whatever]

do you have a source for that? I can't recall it ever being confirmed that the NK was a Stark.

lol, i don't. I was referring to the tale, in which we're told the NK was a stark and the stark who killed him was his brother. But Old Nan's tales are often true.. now i really want to see the ice dragon ;D

[Dragonfish]

lol, i don't. I was referring to the tale, in which we're told the NK was a stark and the stark who killed him was his brother. But Old Nan's tales are often true.. now i really want to see the ice dragon ;D

I believe Nan says the NK could have been a Stark, not that he actually was.

[Watcher on the Walls]

Did I miss the explanation of how Mel talked Rattleshirt into pretending he was Mance?

[Smalljon]

Did I miss the explanation of how Mel talked Rattleshirt into pretending he was Mance?

Somehow she changed Mance into Rattleshirt and vice versa. Rattleshit was not asked about it and after that there was no way he could prove his true identity

[Galen M]

I believe Nan says the NK could have been a Stark, not that he actually was.

that's what i read, too, and why i was confused

[fassreiter]

Did I miss the explanation of how Mel talked Rattleshirt into pretending he was Mance?

That's what I asked in some threads before, but to no real success. As Rattleshirt starts walking to his execution he seems very aware of the situation as well as ok with it. Then suddenly he is not. So there are, in my opinion, three possibilities:

- He was under some spell and didn't truly know what he was doing. Then he snapped out of it somehow.

- He agreed freely to die for Mance, maybe because he was promised an honorable death. Which would explain why he suddenly cracked and said it was not right when they saw they were going to burn him anyway. Don't know if the Rattleshirt we knew would be brave enough to agree in the first place, though.

- He was warged by someone (not Mel) to make him shut up, but that someone lost control over him. That's my crackpot theory, but so far no one is buying into it.

I hope we will come to know in a few years.

[AlphA]

Did I miss the explanation of how Mel talked Rattleshirt into pretending he was Mance?

This bothered me too, at first. Why would Rattleshirt voluntarily take Mance's place to burn? But after rereading the chapter, it's pretty clear he was tricked into it. He is smiling when he is brought forth and has probably been lied to about what would happen if he took Mance's image. Only when he sees what is truely going to happen does he panic. Mance (Rattleshirt) denies he is the king and begins to say what happened when they pull the rope tight around his neck, cutting off his words. Later, when he begins to burn, he loosens the noose and again denies he is king, denies his people, denies his name, curses the red woman, shouts about treachery and sorcery. All of which was true. When I read it the first time it seemed perfectly plausable that Mance would be screaming this and the "switch" never occured to me. It's a very cleverly worded chapter the way it is written. George hid the switch from us in plain sight.

[Tormund the Hornblower]

Hey, I saw in the ADWD thread about the next house to be destroyed/dispersed that theres supposedly a Arianne sample chapter from TWOW. Is that true because it isn't in my edition of the book, so im assuming its on the internet or something. So if there it's true could anyone hook me up........thanks.

[mormont]

Hey, I saw in the ADWD thread about the next house to be destroyed/dispersed that theres supposedly a Arianne sample chapter from TWOW. Is that true because it isn't in my edition of the book, so im assuming its on the internet or something. So if there it's true could anyone hook me up........thanks.

There is such a chapter, but it's not available on the web. It was read at WorldCon. You can read a summary in the 'Winds of Winter' forum above.

[PatethePigBoy]

Could it be possible that Quentyn is still alive? No one really liked him, but it was mostly because his story didn't have a point, especially if he's dead... like maybe Drink or the Big Man will be important but I highly doubt that

[PatethePigBoy]

Also, unrelatedly, is Mirri Maz Durr a Red Priest? Her "healing" of Khal Drogo seems very similar to Moqorro's healing of Victarion

[ferthepoet]

why do Selyse and her knights still pretend that marrying Val is a great prize after having declared Mance and Usurper and acknowledged the Kings Blood guy as the true Wildling King....

[Ranjit Bahadur]

For the same reason Ramsay Bolton married an "Arya Stark". Declaring something is one thing, but legitimizing your claim through blood is another. Of course, the wildlings don't THINK Val is a princess but Stannis/Selyse can't seem to grasp the concept and so they still see Val as a Princess.

The other reasons are historical/political. It is always in the ruling classes best interest to uphold itself. The concepts of mideival royalty were very closely intertwined with divinity - i.e. you can dispose/arrest/dethrone of whatever, but King's blood is still King's blood, and far above that of a commoner.

[Tammy]

Also, unrelatedly, is Mirri Maz Durr a Red Priest? Her "healing" of Khal Drogo seems very similar to Moqorro's healing of Victarion

Mirri Maz Durr is a Maegi, like Maggy the Frog - Cersei's prophetess.

As far as I know the Maegi originate from Asshai, and they don't deal in flames. Mirri's practice was blood magic. And it seemed pretty clear that there was no sacrifice involved in Victarion's healing as much as there was fire; that's why he said it was going to hurt. Whereas a horse was sacrificed for Drogo and the blood was used in her ritual.

There was chanting in both instances, but the practices were different.

[Tammy]

Could it be possible that Quentyn is still alive? No one really liked him, but it was mostly because his story didn't have a point, especially if he's dead... like maybe Drink or the Big Man will be important but I highly doubt that

Seriously doubtful. The order was given to deflesh his bones and arrangements were made to return his bones to his home. I think his story was important for getting the dragons out of Meereen and for giving us a look at how Dany deals with people from her home, but most importantly I think his story will give Dorne a bigger place in the upcoming story. So far they've been ready to back Dany because of their marriage contract with Viserys. Now, they might harbor some anger against Dany and throw their lot behind Aegon.

[Watcher on the Walls]

For the same reason Ramsay Bolton married an "Arya Stark". Declaring something is one thing, but legitimizing your claim through blood is another. Of course, the wildlings don't THINK Val is a princess but Stannis/Selyse can't seem to grasp the concept and so they still see Val as a Princess.

I don't see why Stannis/Selyse EVER thought Val was a princess. She was just the sister of the wife of the King-Beyond-the-Wall. Jaime and Tyrion aren't princes though their sister is married to the king.

[ferthepoet]

yah but the thing is they do not recognize Mance as King Beyond the Wall anymore they declared him an usurper and declared the Kings Blood guy the real king, so it makes no sense to offer Val as a prize since why would you want to marry the "princess" of a king your own king deems false.