With Oberyn being dead, and Doran being unable of leading armed forces given his poor health, who should be the one(s) to lead Dornish army into war if Dorne gets involved in future conflicts, such as them joining Aegon and Jon Connington's cause against the Lannisters and their allies during The Winds of Winter?

Which Dornish figures could take the mantle of general for Dornish forces?

I certainely don't see the Sand Snakes, despite what they claim and view themselves to be, especially given how poor of a strategist and tactician Obara is (her plan to avenge her father by attacking the Marcher Lords Castles and then Oldtown, out of petty hatred against her birthplace, is perhaps the second worst military plan in the series after Balon's plan of invasion of the North).

Aeroh Hotah is Doran's chief of guards, but him being a foreigner and not a noble disqualify him to be a military leader.

Anders Yronwood, as the head of House Yronwood, and thus Dorne's most powerful Lord after the Martells themselves, and him being close enough to Doran to know about his revenge plans and having been Quentyn's mentor, seems to be the best candidate to me.

If not him, who else could take the mantle?

Yeah no one expected Theon to betray Winterfell including Theon himself except Catelyn, but Balon’s reasoning for taking Winterfell doesn’t make sense using his own logic.

“Casterly Rock is too strong, and Lord Tywin too cunning by half. Aye, we might take Lannisport, but we should never keep it.”

Like you dumbass, Asha tells Theon when he’s stranded that every Northman in 100 leagues is now his enemy. He didn’t even have to “kill the Starks” for that to happen. The mere fact of his claiming of Winterfell makes him a dead man in the North. You’re telling me Balon knew they could never hold Lannisport but somehow didn’t know this would happen at Winterfell?

It would be something that involved the Rat, the Hawk, and the Pig? Like who were these men? What did they want? And what grudges did they hold against the Targaryens?

I get the hate, the whole book is literally people sitting around doing nothing and Tyrion on various forms of transport. But as someone who loves ancient and classical history, I absolutely adore it all. Its all so strange and goofy its great! I also love how out of place it makes our westeros characters seems too. Expecially ser grandfather. His pov chapter is wonderful because of it.

We all know that all of the four main Lannister characters have made over the course of the saga, such as Tywin's disastrous parenting of his children and especially his abuse of Tyrion and refusal to treat him as his heir, Cersei and Jaime's incest and Cersei allowing the Faith to rearm and her alienating the Iron Bank, or her trying to frame Margaery only to get imprisoned as well; Jaime at the Battle of the Whispering Wood; Tyrion having not done anything to neutralize Littlefinger while he was Hand; the Red Wedding, etc...

But what are some of their big mistakes and screw-ups that are rarely talked about, but which reflect very well their flaws and lack of foresight just as much as their better-known errors and failures?

Since he was killed by the men of the nights watch and asoiaf developed a reputation as a series where even the main characters can die considering Eddard Stark was basically considered the main character in AGOT, it would make sense for him to stay dead.

I think we could see a couple of possibilities in terms of Jons fate:

1) He somehow survives despite the whole passage of his death seeming all but certain.

2)He stays dead but the actions he has brought into motion outlast him as a legacy.

3) He dies but is brought back by the lord of light/Melisandre

4) This is my personal theory which I think could happen is that he wargs into Ghost, rises as a wight of the others and then wargs back into his body and manages to take back control but becomes some kind of sentient wight.

What are your thoughts? do you think the rest of the story could work if Jon stays dead?

What differences there may have been in the story if, instead of being dying and his mind going away, Hoster Tully had been healthy enough in body and had his mind intact during the first three books of the saga, perhaps not healthy enough to fight and lead men in battle but enough to be able to give instructions and advise his grandson Robb and his children Catelyn and Edmure and brother Brynden?

How different could things have gone with Hoster's political intelligence and talents being available to the North-Riverlands faction during the War of the Five Kings? How good and influential an advisor could he have been to his grandson Robb? How effective could he have been at leading the Riverlands' forces and defense against the Lannisters' forces, at least until Robb's army came south?

Also, what do you think would have been his point of view and his interactions with his grandson, Catelyn, Edmure and Brynden after his return from the Vale and the other?

What advice could he have given to Robb and Catelyn, for example, about their military, political, and diplomatic strategy; about the other players and great houses other than the Lannisters, such as Stannis and Renly, and other possible alliances and enemies to deal with?

We know from the text that:

- Cersei liked Rhaegar, and those with similar Valyrian features like Aurane

- She is a narcissist who will grasp at any opportunity to get ahead

- An unmarried young prince could be an opportunity to relive what she never got with Rhaegar

- fAegon has Valyrian features, and according to his adopted dad, could get basically any girl he wants

However…

- The chances of fAegon being into her are slim to none, and he definitely wouldn’t marry her (and Cersei is a rapist, but he’s well protected and not nearly as vulnerable as Lancel)

- She’s already facing trial for sleeping around and trying to seduce Aegon would just hammer that in (but it could happen after she’s freed?)

- He’s half her age (though Lancel proves this doesn’t really matter).

My question is, if the two interacted, would Cersei be into him, try to seduce him? Out of attraction, manipulation, or both? Or would she just be bitter that he’s taking her throne? What do you think would happen?

Hey guys, so I’m in the middle of reading the book series for the 1st time (I’m at the read wedding rn) and I always have this question in my head.

Tywins seems to hate Tyrion for all the reasons that we know. He seems to have no trust in him and to show him no favor.

So I don’t understand why is he appointed by his father as hand of the king in the first. And then being so much consulted whenever there is an important matter in the realm. Also why does Tywin wants tyrion to succeed LF as treasurer.

What do you think about all of this guys ?

All the signs were there: Abel’s group being interested in getting in and out of Winterfell, the wanting to save Arya, being a bard.

It took me until Theon’s escape to piece it together, when did the rest of you figure out that Abel was Mance?

I have about 50 pages left of A Storm of Swords and I took a little peek at the wiki to see what POV chapters will come up in AFFC — 10 Cersei chapters??? 8 Brienne chapters??? Oh my fucking god.

ASOS has been amazing so far, definitely my favourite out of the ones I’ve already read, but oh my god this pool of POV chapters makes me want to cry. Primarily because I just ordered AFFC from Vinted and it’ll probably take 5 days to be delivered when I know I’ll finish ASOS tonight.

A Game of Thrones - Prologue

Ser Waymar met him bravely. "Dance with me then." He lifted his sword high over his head, defiant. His hands trembled from the weight of it, or perhaps from the cold. Yet in that moment, Will thought, he was a boy no longer, but a man of the Night's Watch.

The Other halted. Will saw its eyes; blue, deeper and bluer than any human eyes, a blue that burned like ice. They fixed on the longsword trembling on high, watched the moonlight running cold along the metal. For a heartbeat he dared to hope.

They emerged silently from the shadows, twins to the first. Three of them … four … five … Ser Waymar may have felt the cold that came with them, but he never saw them, never heard them. Will had to call out. It was his duty. And his death, if he did. He shivered, and hugged the tree, and kept the silence.

This was something I was wondering about, starting with the idea of what might happen if Theon warned Robb about Balon's plans (or word slipped out that Pyke was massing warships), and Robb sent word to Rodrik in Winterfell.

Were there enough people still in the North to fight off the Ironborn invasion?

In AFFC and ADWD, the Northerners are winning pretty consistently against whatever pockets of Ironborn are still there. But that's with both the Boltons and Stannis fighting against the Ironborn, and after Euron has abandoned the campaign.

Theon was badly outnumbered at Winterfell, although he was given a deliberately small force and the Northmen were rallying to defend their capital.

What was the balance like between the North and the Ironborn when the Ironborn campaign started? Assuming Robb and his army were unable to get back north, were there still enough people to fight them off?

A Dance with Dragons - Bran III

"You saw what you wished to see. Your heart yearns for your father and your home, so that is what you saw."

"A man must know how to look before he can hope to see," said Lord Brynden. "Those were shadows of days past that you saw, Bran. You were looking through the eyes of the heart tree in your godswood. Time is different for a tree than for a man. Sun and soil and water, these are the things a weirwood understands, not days and years and centuries. For men, time is a river. We are trapped in its flow, hurtling from past to present, always in the same direction. The lives of trees are different. They root and grow and die in one place, and that river does not move them. The oak is the acorn, the acorn is the oak. And the weirwood … a thousand human years are a moment to a weirwood, and through such gates you and I may gaze into the past."

"But," said Bran, "he heard me."

Obviously Tywin knew his son was a kingsguard for Aerys. Do you believe he specified to his soldiers — “My son is NOT to be harmed in any way.” Or would that be something his banners presumed, and no such order was necessary?

Or — and this is unlikely — do you think he accepted the possibility that Jaime could die?

Come to think of it, perhaps the reason Tywin specifically sent his men to KL, rather than some other engagement, on the side of the rebellion was so that he could control the siege and ensure Jaime didn’t die protecting the Mad King.

Mine is

>"The Night's Watch will make for Hardhome. I ride to Winterfell alone, unless …" Jon paused. "… is there any man here who will come stand with me?"

The roar was all he could have hoped for, the tumult so loud that the two old shields tumbled from the walls. Soren Shieldbreaker was on his feet, the Wanderer as well. Toregg the Tall, Brogg, Harle the Huntsman and Harle the Handsome both, Ygon Oldfather, Blind Doss, even the Great Walrus. **I have my swords, thought Jon Snow, and we are coming for you, Bastard**."

A Dance with Dragons - The Windblown

"Herons are craven," the big man put in. "One time me and Drink and Cletus were hunting, and we came on these herons wading in the shallows, feasting on tadpoles and small fish. They made a pretty sight, aye, but then a hawk passed overhead, and they all took to the wing like they'd seen a dragon. Kicked up so much wind it blew me off my horse, but Cletus nocked an arrow to his string and brought one down. Tasted like duck, but not so greasy."

Even the Little Pigeon and his Herons paled beside the folly of the brothers the sellswords called the Clanker Lords. The last time the slave soldiers of Yunkai'i had faced the dragon queen's Unsullied, they broke and ran. The Clanker Lords had devised a stratagem to prevent that; they chained their troops together in groups of ten, wrist to wrist and ankle to ankle. "None of the poor bastards can run unless they all run," Dick Straw explained, laughing. "And if they do all run, they won't run very fast."

"They don't fucking march very fast either," observed Beans. "You can hear them clanking ten leagues off."

A Feast for Crows - The Reaver

Serry leapt to meet him. His longsword was good castle-forged steel, and the young knight made it sing. His first cut was low, and Victarion deflected it off his axe. His second caught the iron captain on the helm before he got his shield up. Victarion answered with a sidearm blow of his axe. Serry's shield got in the way. Wooden splinters flew, and the white rose split lengthwise with a sweet sharp crack. The young knight's longsword hammered at his thigh, once, twice, thrice, screaming against the steel. This boy is quick, the iron captain realized. He smashed his shield in Serry's face and sent him staggering back against the gunwale. Victarion raised his axe and put all his weight behind his cut, to open the boy from neck to groin, but Serry spun away. The axehead crashed through the rail, sending splinters flying, and lodged there when he tried to pull it free. The deck moved under his feet, and he stumbled to one knee.

Ser Talbert cast away his broken shield and slashed down with his longsword. Victarion's own shield had twisted half around when he stumbled. He caught Serry's blade in an iron fist. Lobstered steel crunched, and a stab of pain made him grunt, yet Victarion held on. "I am quick as well, boy," he said as he ripped the sword from the knight's hand and flung it into the sea.

Ser Talbert's eyes went wide. "My sword . . ."

A Storm of Swords - Tyrion IX

Lord Tyrell reddened. "You would blame the bakers?"

"Them, or the pigeons. Just leave me out of it." Tyrion heard nervous laughter, and knew he'd made a mistake. Guard your tongue, you little fool, before it digs your grave.

"There are witnesses against you," Lord Tywin said. "We shall hear them first. Then you may present your own witnesses. You are to speak only with our leave."

As implausible as it sounds yes robert and Cersei's biological son. Basically a taller and slightly prettier version of renly physically with a different personality.

He has raven black hair, tall lanky strong build, but has light green eyes instead of blue eyes. Would he still face suspicion on bastard accusations? Like i know renly has green-blue eyes so I dont know how strict it is that all baratheons must have black hair and blue eyed. But still its meant to be strict i think, I mean all of roberts bastards are basically described as looking like mini roberts.

So do you think roberr and cerseis hypothetical son having green eyes instead of blue be suspicious or am I overthinking and being crazy?

The Sworn Sword

"You, ser?" That took the boy aback. "You are not."

"I might be. I never knew my mother, or what became of her. Maybe I was born too big and killed her. Most like she was some whore or tavern girl. You don't find highborn ladies down in Flea Bottom. And if she ever wed my father . . . well, what became of him , then?" Dunk did not like to be reminded of his life before Ser Arlan found him. "There was a pot shop in King's Landing where I used to sell them rats and cats and pigeons for the brown. The cook always claimed my father was some thief or cutpurse. 'Most like I saw him hanged,' he used to tell me, 'but maybe they just sent him to the Wall.' When I was squiring for Ser Arlan, I would ask him if we couldn't go up that way someday, to take service at Winterfell or some other northern castle. I had this notion that if I could only reach the Wall, might be I'd come on some old man, a real tall man who looked like me. We never went, though. Ser Arlan said there were no hedges in the north, and all the woods were full of wolves." He shook his head. "The long and short of it is, most like you're squiring for a bastard."

For once Egg had nothing to say. The gloom was deepening around them. Lantern bugs moved slowly through the trees, their little lights like so many drifting stars. There were stars in the sky as well, more stars than any man could ever hope to count, even if he lived to be as old as King Jaehaerys. Dunk need only lift his eyes to find familiar friends: the Stallion and the Sow, the King's Crown and the Crone's Lantern, the Galley, Ghost, and Moonmaid. But there were clouds to the north, and the blue eye of the Ice Dragon was lost to him, the blue eye that pointed north.

When should Stannis have sent his letters to the rest of the Seven Kingdoms to defend his claim to the throne as Robert's rightful heir, with Joffrey being a bastard born of incest, and what should he have done immediately afterward, instead of waiting until the beginning of A Clash of Kings when he was sure he had the loyalty of the Narrow Sea lords, but had missed the opportunity to make Robb Stark join his side by giving Northern lords the time and opportunity to proclaim Robb King in the North, to make his move?

What are also some diplomatic and military moves, as well as changes in strategy, he could have made to get the greatest number of allies and fighting forces willing to fight for him, and to take the Iron Throne?

A Game of Thrones - Eddard VI

Ned turned off the square where the Street of Steel began and followed its winding path up a long hill, past blacksmiths working at open forges, freeriders haggling over mail shirts, and grizzled ironmongers selling old blades and razors from their wagons. The farther they climbed, the larger the buildings grew. The man they wanted was all the way at the top of the hill, in a huge house of timber and plaster whose upper stories loomed over the narrow street. The double doors showed a hunting scene carved in ebony and weirwood. A pair of stone knights stood sentry at the entrance, armored in fanciful suits of polished red steel that transformed them into griffin and unicorn. Ned left his horse with Jacks and shouldered his way inside.

The slim young serving girl took quick note of Ned's badge and the sigil on his doublet, and the master came hurrying out, all smiles and bows. "Wine for the King's Hand," he told the girl, gesturing Ned to a couch. "I am Tobho Mott, my lord, please, please, put yourself at ease." He wore a black velvet coat with hammers embroidered on the sleeves in silver thread. Around his neck was a heavy silver chain and a sapphire as large as a pigeon's egg. "If you are in need of new arms for the Hand's tourney, you have come to the right shop." Ned did not bother to correct him. "My work is costly, and I make no apologies for that, my lord," he said as he filled two matching silver goblets. "You will not find craftsmanship equal to mine anywhere in the Seven Kingdoms, I promise you. Visit every forge in King's Landing if you like, and compare for yourself. Any village smith can hammer out a shirt of mail; my work is art."

Ned sipped his wine and let the man go on. The Knight of Flowers bought all his armor here, Tobho boasted, and many high lords, the ones who knew fine steel, and even Lord Renly, the king's own brother. Perhaps the Hand had seen Lord Renly's new armor, the green plate with the golden antlers? No other armorer in the city could get that deep a green; he knew the secret of putting color in the steel itself, paint and enamel were the crutches of a journeyman. Or mayhaps the Hand wanted a blade? Tobho had learned to work Valyrian steel at the forges of Qohor as a boy. Only a man who knew the spells could take old weapons and forge them anew. "The direwolf is the sigil of House Stark, is it not? I could fashion a direwolf helm so real that children will run from you in the street," he vowed.

Do you think he’ll be foiled?

It’s clear he wants power and influence but I’m not so certain he would ever actually make a play for the throne. He’s smart enough to know that he would eventually be overthrown even if he were crowned king due to simmering resentments and prejudices about his relatively low birth.

He’s a Grima Wormtongue type and would be content to simply hold essentially all the power, but visibly. Basically a Hand type person. Basically unfuckable with but also not in the shadows and widely reviled like Varys.

I wonder what his next plot points are meant to be. Probably marrying Harrold to Sansa (but that’s more Sansa’s chapters and arc than LF, her arc would be getting out from under his thumb without him noticing) and then killing Robert Arryn.

But after that? Unsure. Would be cool if he ran into Stoneheart since she knows he lied to her. And then for the BwB to report to her that he kissed Sansa and killed Lysa? Is that how he dies?

But obviously I feel like he has far more utility than that. He’s a late-game survivor for sure.

What do you think LF’s major actions will be?