A Thread for Small Questions for ADWD III

[dark sister]

Does GRRM mention anywhere how tall Dany is? She is always described as (seemingly) short, with small hands and feet (almost like Snookie, except inhumanly beautiful and the opposite in every single way! :devil:)

I'm just wondering, because in his description of Queen Naerys, he says that Dany looks somewhat like her, except Naerys was even thinner and shorter.

[dark sister]

Is Arya the God of Many Faces?

Sounds like a stupid question i know... but do the others at the House of Black and White actually change their faces in the same way she can? Both Jaquen and the Kindly man use glamours... Mel uses Glamours (i know she's not related) ... Varys uses mummers tricks such as smell and appearance... but only Arya seems to have worn a completely different face that i can recall... are we meant to assume that Arya is not special and that the faceless men use this trick as standard... or is Arya unique? The Faceless Men talk about how all men must die and noone lives forever... but Arya could ... she still has her second life in her wolf and after that she can live in the trees and the lakes and the earth... is that why they rushed her through the training process... because they are in desperate need of a real faceless man?

No, she is not the God of Many Faces. That is a term that basically means Death, or the God of Death, because in the end, no matter what god you pray to, all people share one thing in common: they all die. It is ironic that the acolytes of the House of B&W can wear faces of other people who have died, but that is another thing entirely.

GRRM said that Arya was basically "rushed" through training because of the time limit that the books had...so if he were writing a series of Robert Jordan's scope, he could have the years he needed to slowly bring Arya through training in the more normal way.

It also helps that she's a naturally gifted student.

I also don't think they are in desperate need of Faceless Men...in fact, they constantly test the acolyte to see if they are actually hardy enough for the sacrifice it takes to become a Faceless (wo)man.

[Hardstone]

I was just thinking about Ned's party that rode to the Tower of Joy.

Why those 6?

- I assume Eddard took Ethan Glover on as his squire after they rescued him from King's Landing.

- William Dustin was a confirmed Lord, whilst Howland might have been. Why didn't they have sworn swords of their own?

- Martyn Cassel, Mark Ryswell and Theo Wull; we have little information regarding them. Were they the most capable bodyguards for the commander of the rebel's army?

Did Ned receive the information of where Lyanna was after Storm's End and just rushed off with the closest swords to him? Or did he pick those 6 for a reason?

Who lead the army in Ned's absence? Hoster was injured at The Battle of the Bells and I assume Jon Arryn took up handship straight away.

[FanTasy]

Good question. I had a hunch that these guys Ned took were related to the guys Brandon and later Rickard took with them to Kings Landing.

But I was wrong. Only Ethan Glover, Brandons squire, was one of the men who rode with Brandon and Rickard. And Glover was the only one to survive the 'trials' of Aerys, for reasons we are not told.

Interestingly the men that went with Brandon to confront Rhaegar after the alleged kidnapping were a mixed bunch: two Northern men (Stark, Glover), a Riverland man: Jeffrey Mallister and two men of the Vale: Kyle Royce, Elbert Arryn. No Robert Baratheon, Lyanna's fiancé and none of the houses of the Storm Lands. Very odd.

ETA The party that Ned took to Dorne were all his bannermen, all northerners. This may or may not have something to do with that it was an expedition to retrieve Lyanna and/or a punishing expedition for what was done to House Stark.

[Nymeria the direwolf]

I have a question. Why Tyrion thinks of himself as a Kingslayer? Was he involved, in some way in Joffrey's death? Because we know Littlefinger was, and these two characters don't trust each other, I would find it hard to belive they made plans together.

What do you think?

[kissdbyfire]

I have a question. Why Tyrion thinks of himself as a Kingslayer? Was he involved, in some way in Joffrey's death? Because we know Littlefinger was, and these two characters don't trust each other, I would find it hard to belive they made plans together.

What do you think?

I think it's because people believe he killed Joffrey (and he 'confessed' to Jaime). I believe when he thinks of himself as a kingslayer it's because he knows that everyone thinks he is.

[dark sister]

I have a question. Why Tyrion thinks of himself as a Kingslayer? Was he involved, in some way in Joffrey's death? Because we know Littlefinger was, and these two characters don't trust each other, I would find it hard to belive they made plans together.

What do you think?

Actually, Tyrion is being bitterly ironic when he calls himself "kingslayer". When you think about it, from the very beginning of GoT, people have been blaming him and putting him on trial for things he hasn't done. Cat arrested him for Bran's attempted murder, so he was put on trial at the Eyrie. Then after a brief stint as Hand of the King, where he improved affairs of state and curbed Cersei's mad plotting, the smallfolk of KL blamed HIM for everything going wrong, even tho it was the Tyrells who closed the Roseroad and made food prices go up, and Stannis was the one who wanted to capture the city -- which Tyrion saved.

Instead of being grateful, people continued to despise him, and even tho it was Tywin's idea to charge a penny for people going to brothels, he got the blame as master of coin. Finally, when King Asshole died, everyone thought he was guilty, even his own family. What he said near the end of Storm was very potent: "I am on trial for being a dwarf. I have been on trial for being a dwarf all my life." That is the truth of the matter, and after lying to Jaime about killing Joffrey, he decided to make his reputation even more sinister by not only calling himself a kinslayer, but also a kingslayer. It's not that it was true, he was just sick of people not believing him and decided to let others think what they wanted. It was also the start of his going down a somewhat dark path...

[Inigo Montoya the Second]

I'm not sure if this is a spoiler or not, but better safe than sorry :)

When Arya is Blind Beth and in Pynto's bar, Martin says:

And for a time it seemed that she could see them too, through the slitted yellow eyes of the tomcat

purring in her lap. One was old and one was young and one had lost an ear, but all three had the

white-blond hair and smooth fair skin of Lys, where the blood of the old Freehold still ran strong.

I thought you could only warg an animal that has been warged before. did she warg the cat?

[kissdbyfire]

I'm not sure if this is a spoiler or not, but better safe than sorry :)

When Arya is Blind Beth and in Pynto's bar, Martin says:

And for a time it seemed that she could see them too, through the slitted yellow eyes of the tomcat

purring in her lap. One was old and one was young and one had lost an ear, but all three had the

white-blond hair and smooth fair skin of Lys, where the blood of the old Freehold still ran strong.

I thought you could only warg an animal that has been warged before. did she warg the cat?

This is just my opinion but I think you can skinchange (warging is specific for wolves) into an animal that has never been skinchanged into before, and I think she did skinchange into the cat.

[Inigo Montoya the Second]

This is just my opinion but I think you can skinchange (warging is specific for wolves) into an animal that has never been skinchanged into before, and I think she did skinchange into the cat.

oh, okay. thanks!

[Rune Targaryen]

This is just my opinion but I think you can skinchange (warging is specific for wolves) into an animal that has never been skinchanged into before, and I think she did skinchange into the cat.

Warging is specific for wolfs? I never read that, where that came from?

@Allanys IIRC It is easier to warg into a animal that already have been warged but you can warg into a "virgin" animal (if not how any animal would have being warged in the first place?)

[Jon Flowers]

She also uses a cat to catch the Kindly Man at his little game with the switch. Apparently she has been building her ability recently because these appear to be the first instances of voluntary, waking skin changing for her.

[FanTasy]

Warging is specific for wolfs? I never read that, where that came from?

Yes, warging is skinchanging into a wolf. When you take over the mind of another animal or a human it is skinchanging. This is where it is explained. Note the link to an interview in SSM (So Spake Martin) where GRRM explains it. http://www.westeros....ection/14.1.2./

[Rune Targaryen]

Yes, warging is skinchanging into a wolf. When you take over the mind of another animal or a human it is skinchanging. This is where it is explained. Note the link to an interview in SSM (So Spake Martin) where GRRM explains it. http://www.westeros....ection/14.1.2./

Thanks.

[kissdbyfire]

Warging is specific for wolfs? I never read that, where that came from?

You can read it in this interview and in this SSM. In the interview GRRM explains more thoroughly the difference between the two.

Ah, FanTasy just beat me to it! :D

[mummer]

"Warg" is an Old English and Norse word that just means "wolf." JRR Tolkien revived the word to refer to the monstrous wolves in The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings; Martin is using it differently to mean a person who has a spiritual bond with a wolf.

Similarly, Tolkien used "skinchanger" to mean a person who can literally transform into an animal (Beorn in The Hobbit), whereas Martin has redefined it to be about the mind rather than the body.

[Jem]

I'm not sure if this is a spoiler or not, but better safe than sorry :)

When Arya is Blind Beth and in Pynto's bar, Martin says:

And for a time it seemed that she could see them too, through the slitted yellow eyes of the tomcat

purring in her lap. One was old and one was young and one had lost an ear, but all three had the

white-blond hair and smooth fair skin of Lys, where the blood of the old Freehold still ran strong.

I thought you could only warg an animal that has been warged before. did she warg the cat?

I suppose that if an animal has been warged (or skinchanged or whatever you would call it) before, then someone at some stage would have to have been the first to do it. I believe that it is easier to warg an animal if someone has warged it before.

Cats in particular are supposed to be very difficult to warg (sorry, I just find warg and easier word to use), so Arya obviously shows a lot of apptitude as she seemed to 'see' through the cat's eyes with great ease.

It seems that there are several different levels of warging or skinchanging. When Bran is (consciously and deliberately) inside Summer's mind, his Bran-body is essentially an empty shell. At other times we see Bran, Jon and Arya 'be' their wolves while they (the humans) are asleep. And there is a third connection, one which Arya seems to have with the cat, whereby the human can remain conscious and yet 'share' imput from the animals senses, like Arya uses the cat's eyes and at other times Bran and Jon use their wolves hearing and smell. This seems to be done at different times both deliberately and accidentally. I think Arya accidentally does this with the cat the first time in the inn and then she deliberately does it the second time with the Kindly Man.

[Mummer's Arse]

I've got a small question. Not sure if it's relevant but given GRRM's proclivity for nonchalantly dropping subtle hints here and there, it could very well be. When Arya is a blind girl, she encounters a dead young, handsome man with thick curly hair. This is not so strange in itself but the man has no apparent wound (ie suicide), he's westerosi and he has a significant amount of gold on him. I feel he might be someone we've encountered before.

Who is he?

[ipsuel]

I've got a small question. Not sure if it's relevant but given GRRM's proclivity for nonchalantly dropping subtle hints here and there, it could very well be. When Arya is a blind girl, she encounters a dead young, handsome man with thick curly hair. This is not so strange in itself but the man has no apparent wound (ie suicide), he's westerosi and he has a significant amount of gold on him. I feel he might be someone we've encountered before.

Who is he?

I actually wondered about this--wondered if we should know him, but since nothing came of it (yet), I guess I forgot. It does stick out when you're reading it, though!

[Dervisss]

I've got a small question. Not sure if it's relevant but given GRRM's proclivity for nonchalantly dropping subtle hints here and there, it could very well be. When Arya is a blind girl, she encounters a dead young, handsome man with thick curly hair. This is not so strange in itself but the man has no apparent wound (ie suicide), he's westerosi and he has a significant amount of gold on him. I feel he might be someone we've encountered before.

Who is he?

Maybe Justin Massey