[TWoW Spoilers] Theon I

[Pliskin]

Another interesting thing is that Stannis thinks Davos is dead. But here's the question if Davos comes to Stannis with Rickon won't "Arya" be useless now. Or maybe they will just dismiss him as an imposter, what do you people think?

They could not dismiss him as an impostor if he's got Shaggydog.

"Arya" would be long gone by the time Manderly comes I think.

[R'hllor-Is-The-Truth]

Well, he's on every weirwood of Westeros. So, technically, yes. He's on both sides of the Wall.

I totally forgot about the weirwood thing in a ADWD. But can Bran control the trees like make them talk and move? Or maybe he can skin change into someone and help Theon. But who knows he might kill Theon instead. I'm still so incredibly angry over Maester Luwin, Old Nan, Rodrick, and the poor millers boys. I HATE THEON, but i do feel sort of bad for him.

[MyDogIsNamedDanerys]

O. M. G.

STANNIS!!!!!!!!

I love this man. Marry me.

[Jory]

O. M. G.

STANNIS!!!!!!!!

I love this man. Marry me.

We agree so much right now

[The King in the South]

I just want to say...

HE"S NOT DEAD YET. STANNIS FOR THE IRON THRONE 2012!!

[Candor]

O. M. G.

STANNIS!!!!!!!!

I love this man. Marry me.

No, no, he should marry me. ;)

[Queen Cersei I]

Both Theon and Stannis were a revelation in this chapter. I can't believe I'm going to type this, but Stannis actually managed to impress me here. He had a bit of a swagger and a confidence that for the first time was not completely overwhelmed by his sanctimonious posturing.

Yeah, one of the overarching themes of this series seems to be how power affects people (for the better or the worse.)

Stannis seems one of the few people who is changed (believably) for the better by gaining power. (In stark contrast to the brother he's always envied, interestingly.) He gets to exercise his sense of justice rather than just yammering on about it; his sharp, rude manners can actually be fairly helpful when cutting through the B.S.; he no longer needs to compensate by pontificating endlessly about justice, or act deeply bitter about the wrongs done to him, because he is actually in action, doing something. He also seems very talented at summing up the characters of others; delegating the right people to certain tasks.

And for once we got a whole chapter where he doesn't mention the whole, "But everybody lurves Robert soooo much better than me!!!!!" spiel. (Well, he does mention his brother once.)

I actually did kinda miss the teeth grinding, though. Cause I'm a weirdo, I guess :dunno:

Question: did it seem mildly out of character to anyone else when Stannis referred to a soldier telling Karstark's plans to "some whore he was lying with", or something? Just seemed like something Stannis would not really even think about, much less say. :dunno:

[Jacen]

Great chapter. Hope Theon stays alive. I'm thinking maybe Stannis is gonna take this one outta the manual. Battle of Lake Peipus.

[Paurush]

I might be going out of context here but this has been going on in my head for some time !

Shireen keeps dreaming about dragons eating her !

Well that happens when Mellisandre in her paranoid burns Shireen for royal blood to rise the stone dragons without the knowledge of Stannis!

On his return Stannis kills Mellisandre by poking lightbringer through her heart !

As Mell is all fire lightbringer gets the required heat while Azorahai looses his loved one (Shireen).

Well Azor ahai tried many times to forge the power he required( Stannis has the same determination and failure record and in the end gets it at the cost of his only chld.)

[Bastard of Boston]

I had already come around on Stan the Man before this chapter, but having read it, I don't know how anyone could continue to be cold towards him. Such a great chapter, and in my memory, it's the first chapter where Stan truly pops and shows his rather kingly qualities. He's far from charismatic to his followers, but I'll be damned if he doesn't know how to run a tight ship. While this chapter is Theon's POV, I feel as if Stannis was the true star. Could TWoW be his coming out party? I really hope he smashes Bolton's forces and that the letter to the Wall truly was some part of his ingenious plan.

Regardless of Stan being the star of this chapter, it was also a great look at Theon. I'm not so sure Asha has some type of plan...I agree that she might just simply be attempting to give Theon as merciful a death as she can manage. Moreover, I think she's testing Stannis and his character. Best case scenario is that pressuring Stannis to do the beheading himself will cause him to undergo some type of soul searching. Not that Stannis would ever waver in his conviction, just that it's worth the shot. And, deep down, maybe Asha might sense that if Theon truly believed in any Gods, they'd be the Old Gods.

Absolutely loved the pacing of this chapter. If this series is to finish on time, we're going to need a lot more like it.

[kephv]

THEON!!! Excellent. But I thought the only chapters he had written so far, though, were one Arianne, one Damphair, and one of each for Arya and Sansa? I guess this means he had more written for Winds than he's let on about... not that I'm complaining : )

[slayer420]

he has two ariannies. the one he read is supost to be the 2 one. Also he was said to have moved two battles to the next book. One of fire and one of Ice. so one of them would have to be in merrena or how ever you spell it. So that would have to be a tyron or Bannaster chapter. I am hopeing he has alot more writen that he is letting on and going to suprise us with an early release. One can hope lol

[Stannis the Great]

Finally the epithet on my username is beginning to become justified. :D

[Mark Antony]

Great Present, thanks George.

[SpaceChampion]

Interestingly... if Justin gets there and finds Jon dead, he might take "Arya" on to Braavos with him, I would think. Where the real Arya is, although she might be gone by then since she was going out on apprenticeship.

What if Arya kills Jeyne, takes her face to look like her, so that people would think she is the Arya they have met? ie. real Arya facedances fake Arya to reacquire her identify as real Arya and be raised to Lady of Winterfell. :-) 'cause no one is going to believe the real Arya is real Arya, as long as Jon is dead, Theon is beheaded, and Jeyne insists she is Arya.

[SpaceChampion]

I think Stannis referring to the fact that there might be word that he has lost the battle, and even claims that he has died, was rather interesting.

Just being the pragmatist he can be about these things.... or has he a plan so clever you can brush your teeth with it?

I believe he'll sends a raven to winterfell with something like a new map, fooling Bolton into thinking it is Karstark sending it, luring the Freys and Boltons into a trap with the whatever is in the letter. Roose is killed, Ramsay remains in Winterfell. Manderly joins Stannis, but is sent back to Winterfell to tell Ramsay that Stannis is dead, but the his Reek and his wife have escaped, going north to the wall with Massey. Ramsay then send his letter to Jon.

[Stallion That Mounts Texas]

I never thought I'd say this....I hope Stannis sits the iron throne after all is said and done. This one chapter has completely changed my opinion of the man.

However, even if Stannis survives the battle to come, and links up with Manderley, he still must take Winterfell or starve to death. Roose Bolton is no fool. The best part his of strength will remain behind the walls of Winterfell. He more than enough men so that he could likely withstand a siege long enough for the enemy to freeze to death. Maybe this is where Bran will come in? Maybe there is a way through the crypts?

Justin Massey won't find the Golden Company because they are already in Westeros. Likewise he won't find any of the free companies because they are all engaged in the Meereen affair. I wonder if Ser Justin would consider an alliance with Dany on Stannis behalf. If the sees the quest for the iron throne lost, he may settle for restoring Shireen as the Lady of Storm's End.

[The Kender]

I really hope Stannis ends up getting the Iron Throne too

[assjfjgjsgjljljglgjfjsduar]

I'm mostly relieved to see that Arnolf Karstark was caught before doing any damage (it sounds like the Braavosi warned Stannis like people suspected). This is Stannis' chance to show that military mettle he's supposed to have. The emphasis on Ramsay rather than Roose is also interesting, and puts the letter into more of a clear context (I think even more than I did that it's a lie and that Stannis is going to pull off something awesome).

It looks like Theon's slowly coming back to himself, which is a relief. I'm also always happy to learn about another dead Frey. For having "green boys," Mors seems to know what he's doing. I'm actually kind of banking on the Manderly host turning on the Bolton/Frey host in an open field in full view, and that being the way Stannis "learns" about Manderly's actual intent. He still sees him as the guy who killed Davos and who buddied up with Bolton and the Freys and we obviously know that isn't the case. It'll have to come out sooner rather than later.

And I'm glad to see more logistics of raven-mail being explained.

Overall, a great chapter and one with a little bit of meat to it. I just hope Theon didn't go through all of that just to have his head hacked by a heart tree (say that five times fast).

I think Stannis referring to the fact that there might be word that he has lost the battle, and even claims that he has died, was rather interesting.

Just being the pragmatist he can be about these things.... or has he a plan so clever you can brush your teeth with it?

Yes, yes, a thousand times yes. I've never thought of myself as a Stannis fan, but I loved him in that chapter.

[assjfjgjsgjljljglgjfjsduar]

Stannis may impress me yet.

I'll take the idea of the letter being a fake sent by Stannis - the accuracy of the details will actually make sense if Theon is providing coaching on Ramsey's style.

I have no idea why Stannis would do that (I can see why he'd fake his death for Ramsay but not directly for Jon), but color me intrigued.

ETA: I also like the idea of Manderly treating with Stannis, bringing the sword to Ramsay as "proof," and that being the impetus for the Pink Letter, if indeed Ramsay wrote it (not 100% convinced or even 80% convinced).

As to Stannis's strategy: I assume it will somehow include the two lakes. Maybe he will build indeed snow forts, but on the lake. If he can lure the riders on the lake, the battle will be all but won. At least if the ice was prepared to crush beneath the horses... I'm quite confident that Ramsay is going be surprised when he finally arrives at the King's Tower.

I can totally see it happening this way. The "yet" might be a reference to the lakes not being frozen over enough yet, maybe? Stannis says that the Bolton/Frey men will have calvary. Smart plan would be to lure them onto the lake and have the weight of the horses plunge them under.