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I don't like Lysa and Viserys but I think they are very tragic characters. I really feel sorry for them.

I think Bolt-On is a fun theory but pretty impossible to happen

So he wanted to wed his daughter to Viserys but like why did he even wait so long? Viserys is now dead so he decided to send his own son on an incredibly dangerous journey that would likely cost him his life just to maybe marry Daenerys. Too bad this failed too. I guess his next option is fAegon. Something tells me this is not going to end well.

It also doesn't help that other Targaryen loyalist Houses like the Tyrells seem to hate Dorne and House Martell. Like even if one of these marriages succeeded how many people would really get behind this alliance?

My opinion is that Doran waited too long and was too cautious (maybe rightly if we look at it politically) and his revenge plans will utterly fail.

One of the biggest threats to the Lannister legacy is Tywin himself. Even though he brought House Lannister to the top of Westeros, he also made it one of the most hated houses.

The killing of Elia made the Lannisters and Martells enemies, and it’s unlikely they will reconcile anytime soon. The Sack of King’s Landing turned the Lannisters into a hated family in the city. Sending people like Gregor Clegane to raid the Riverlands likely made the people there despise the Lannisters and pushed them to join the North in seceding. The Lannisters should probably distance themselves as much as possible from the Freys, because if the truth gets out about the Red Wedding, their reputation will be even worse.

Tywin should have done a better job of raising his children. He seems to view them as objects rather than as actual people. All he does is alienate Tyrion, who is most likely his true heir, given that Jaime was never going to leave the Kingsguard. Within House Lannister, Cersei herself is probably the greatest threat to Lannister power, as A Feast for Crows (AFFC) shows.

https://preview.redd.it/nokvp4z8mp0e1.jpg?width=620&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=37843717dcecc82d0769bd0a8cc4dbf32e11d94d

Before you read this and pelt me with rocks, I am only doing it for posterity, since we're not getting A Dream of Spring in this lifetime and all we've got is the horrible HBO ending to torment us.

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1. Bound to Destiny - Simple but Meaningful:

In my fanfiction I don't deviate from the most basic interpretation of the prophecy

I just have her be Nissa Nissa and Jon Azor Ahai... nothing too complex, he HAS to kill her or else everyone dies. And she sacrifices herself willingly—it gives Daenerys’s death purpose and honor while adding a deeper emotional and mythic weight to Jon’s role as Azor Ahai. By having her willingly sacrifice herself, Daenerys doesn’t become a villain or a victim of Jon’s retribution for a crime already committed, but rather a hero in her own right, fully understanding the role she plays in saving the world. It turns her death into a profound act of love, rather than a bleak senseless death.

The Nissa Nissa and Azor Ahai parallel also works because it taps into the mythology woven throughout the series, no subversion of expectations, no plot twist—YET!

It connects Jon and Daenerys to the heart of the story’s prophecy, making them both instruments in the larger iconic meaning behind A Song of Ice and Fire.
Her willingness to die for the world speaks to her selflessness and heroism, the traits that drew people to her in the first place. It also gives her character a worthy send-off.
Jon’s part, is also tragic, it becomes a deeply sacrificial act as well, after all no one is truly the same after ending the life of their one true love.

I believe this also stays truer to the bittersweet ending Martin often speaks of, allowing both characters to fulfill their destinies in a way that’s as tragic as it is meaningful.

In short, it giving them a mythic, deeply emotional conclusion that feels right for both their characters and the story’s themes—one that captures the heart of what A Song of Ice and Fire is all about: love, sacrifice, and the eternal struggle between light and darkness, maintaining the grittiness of the series by having her lose everything... and at the end she loses her life too. It’s a beautiful way to resolve their arcs and honors the essence of their characters far better than a quick, dispassionate death could.

I can picture it—her kingdom is gone, she lost her dragons, the castle is surrounded by the dead, and in the end she has to beg Jon to end her life. He can't accept it, not until the screams get closer and closer, seeing the terrified faces of the girls he once thought as sisters... and still does, right there by his side.
Her begging, their cries, the dead just outside their door—he finally does it. Pierces her chest with Longclaw and... well that's when the miracle happens, it's magic so feel free to imagine whatever you'd like.
Personally I would just have Longclaw become Lightbringer, it's very light releases the dead from their curse, no need to even strike them down. The only one he needs to fight is the Night King himself.
We get to have a proper fight with Lightbringer... instead of a stab with a dagger from ninja Arya.

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2. Escaping Destiny - A Chance at Redemption:

Now, that would be the end—however, this is where the TWIST comes into play... if you can even call it that.

In the room I would have Catelyn, a reunion between her and her daughters isn't out of the question and at the end of all things she'd want to protect them.
During their short time together she learns that Jon is not the bastard of her husband so she feels guilty for how she treated him in life. Seeing his will to end the life of the person he loves most, thus saving her daughters, and her own life being a twisted nightmare she decides to leave this world by giving the Last Kiss to Daenerys, not for the girl's sake... but for Jon.

This twist honors Catelyn’s complex character arc, acknowledging her guilt over how she treated Jon and giving her a final, redemptive purpose. She essentially becomes a symbol of maternal sacrifice and forgiveness. She goes from mother, to vengeful spirit, to redemption, by giving Daenerys and by extension Jon, a second chance at life and love, so... she brings a dragon out of stone.
Flash to—a red door, the smell of lemons, Jon not feeling alone anymore, no more fire and blood just a girl - “I was tired, Jorah. I was weary of war. I wanted to rest, to laugh, to plant trees and see them grow. I am only a young girl.” Jon is also feeling tired after all this.

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3. Rebirth - Her child never left:

Now I also choose to add an extra bit.

Remember when her baby reached out to the egg, well... he warged into the egg when he was being killed by Mirri Maz Duur blood magic. Drogon was literally Daenerys's child, that is why she had a stronger connection with him.
In the end Drogon dies, but the soul returns to the only place he knows and can return to—her womb.

...her child did indeed mount the world... as Drogon. This wouldn't be spelled out of course, because it would rob the viewer of speculating... “that’s just a theory, a game theory”.

TLDR: HBO needs better writers.

I’m curious what’s the one thing that you wish you could’ve seen happen through the five year gap?

For me it’s gotta be Rickon. I know he’ll probably come back but I think it’s really unlikely we’ll see him become a POV given that he’ll be 6 tops when he returns. It would’ve been cool to see the kind of person that living on Skagos with Osha would turn him into, and have him reach the age where he can start interacting with the main story in a more meaningful way.

why is Tessarion the blue queen and not Dreamfyre? Dreamfyre is the second oldest Dragon in westeros with only Vhagar being older and she is likely mother to Vermithor, silverwing, syrax and sunfyre. Tessarion is far younger, only being around ten when she died.

Why is tessarion the blue queen and not dreamfyre?

Assuming the Boltons are overthrown and the north is restored who do you think will Inherit as monarch? Seeing that there are multiple claims possible.

This is my prediction of the storyline of the north.

First we have to understand the timeline, there will be some chapters at the beginning of the sixth book set before the last chapter of Jon in adwd.

In these chapters we will see the battle of the crofter village, in which Stannis has discovered the betrayal of the Karstarks, and prepares to face the Freys and the Manderlys, Stannis will not kill Theon, Theon will be saved by the outcome of the battle, that is by the information that will arrive together with the Mandelys.

As theorized by many, Stannis intends to use the frozen lakes to crush the Frey cavalry, and I agree, it will go exactly like this, I add that once Horsteen Frey is dead, Aenys is already dead, the last Frey in the north remains Big Walder, who I really believe was involved in the murder of little Walder, he at this point would have the power to order the rest of the Frey army to surrender. Once the Manderlys have arrived, they are supposed to approach cautiously, sending Stannis clear news about the reality of things regarding Davos in good health and busy recovering a Stark, Rickon, who therefore has never been killed by Theon, this saves Theon from the obligation to be executed, being a turncoat is a forgivable thing, having killed two Stark princes is not, Theon therefore becomes in all respects a member of the variegated Stannis team, bringing his knowledge and skills to the cause (in addition to the possibility of its future use in an anti-Euron key).

It is in this context that Stannis' plan takes shape, Stannis knows he cannot take Winterfell even with the gates open, because the Boltons still have about 3000 men inside, most of them surely loyal, it would be a massacre even for the attacking army, so Stannis pretends defeat, and has not one but two weapons at his disposal, Bolton would not trust the Manderlys, but would probably trust a son of Karstark, but I believe that the winning card is Big Walder, he is the winning card that the Boltons would believe.

If Stannis is defeated the Boltons have no reason to stay in Winterfell, while they have a good reason to chase Arya and Theon, who they would believe to be both at the Wall, because they cannot allow Jon Snow to reveal Arya's falsehood, nor above all that Theon to reveal Bran and Rickon's survival.

The Boltons, or one of them, leave for Castle Black, taking with them only men loyal to the Boltons, so no other northern houses, who at this point would be allowed to return to their homes or left at Winterfell.

It is right after this departure that the pink letter is conceived, it is conceived by the Stannis team, the letter is a cliffhanger in ADWD, but it is not a mystery like "who killed Jon Arryn", we will see it come to life. The sealing wax is a pink smudge because they melted and reused the one from the letter received from Asha at Deepwood Motte.

The letter is conceived because neither Jon nor the Boltons must know that Stannis is alive, so that Jon breaks the oath, his army is formed.

Stannis takes Winterfell without shedding a drop of blood (at least not from his army).

Back to The Wall, the letter arrives, only that in Winds we will see everything from a chapter of Melisandre, a mirror chapter, Melisandre makes us relive the moments that lead to Jon's stabbing and we discover how she will save him, there will be no death, and therefore no resurrection.

Jon will probably have a dream chapter, let's say, a bit in Ghost, a bit dreaming of interesting things.

In short Jon will be ready to leave, the conspirators have been massacred by the Wildings.

A small digression on what happens at The Wall, after the arrival of the letter not only the nightwatch officers lose their heads but also Axell Florent and his men, Wun Wun is defending Val, the little monster, Shirren and Selyse, in Jon's chapter in adwd.

Jon's army heads south and faces the Bolton army at a point that I still haven't figured out but that Jon may have in mind (in fact he wanted Ramsay's position from Melisandre before being stabbed).

The battle begins, the Boltons have more discipline, the battle seems to be going badly.

But we forgot about a tactic of Robert Baratheon, the night rides, Stannis gathered all possible horses and set off in pursuit of the Boltons in the fraction of time we didn't see him.

The Boltons are done for, caught between Jon and Stannis.

I don't know who will kill Ramsay and Roose.

We don't even have time to celebrate that Davos arrives with Rickon, and this is a good thing, but he also has very bad news, his journey took him to Hardhome and he saw the Others.

So I haven't watched the show in a while ,but I did a reread of books earlier this year and after that I sat down to watch first couple of seasons with a friend who's never seen the show. And it sort of bothered me that some book characters have been replaced with some show only characters for one reason or another. For example Vargo GOAT is now Locke , Satin is Olly ,Alayaya/Chataya is Ros...etc.So I was wondering did changes like this work for you? Which ones did you like? Personally no one will ever be able to replace Vargo GOAT for me, but Ros for example was kind of a cool change and worked within the story.

Probably a rant & unpopular opinion not sure, but I don't want these arya or jon spin off set in after the show mainly cuz of the mischaracterized versions of them.

These spins off would perpetuate them even further in consciousness of people and pull more books & show versions apart than they already are. It's so different to engage with fandom in a fun , curious way when so many (majority since show is obviously more popular & accepted).

Just give me books then maybe a faithful adaptation which takes itself & all the elements from books seriously.

Welcome to the Weekly Q & A! Feel free to ask any questions you may have about the world of ASOIAF. No need to be bashful. Book and show questions are welcome; please say in your question if you would prefer to focus on the BOOKS, the SHOW, or BOTH. And if you think you've got an answer to someone's question, feel free to lend them a hand!

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People feel so comfortable calling Dany a bad leader because of the Mereen arc. But like what do you want her to do? The slave-owning cities all want her gone and she has no allies in the area.

I also don't get the accusations that she's cruel. She's literally trying to appease the former slavers of Mereen and in fact many of the problems stem from being too kind to them.

It's entirely possible that she will become more ruthless and will be forced to compromise her morals, like she has already done in some ways but like...What do you want her to do? I don't think there's anyone who would have succeeded in her place. At least not without compromising their ideals. She's stuck in an impossible situation.

Hypothetically, if the Hound and Arthur Dayne ever face off in single combat, whose walking away from that fight?

Let's say the Lannisters storm Kingslanding just like in canon and Aerys lights Kingslanding in wildfire. What does the aftermath look like when Eddard Stark arrives with Robert's army to find a glowing city and half a million souls have perished.

#Chapter 11 - Cold as Ice

Previous: Chapter 10 - The Magic Swords

Beginning: Chapter 0-4 - Introduction

##The Turn

Was that too on the nose? Well, please forgive my clumsiness, for I am not as subtle as George R. R. Martin. As you might have noticed, my last sentence in Chapter 10 was a lie. Indeed, one of Gerold's opponents did own a Valyrian steel sword. Ned Stark was one of Gerold's opponents, and Ned Stark owned Ice.

In the Tower of Joy fight, Gerold Hightower broke his steel sword against Ned Stark's Valyrian steel sword Ice, and that's how Gerold was the first of the three Kingsguard to die. Pyg is symbolic of Gerold, and Pyg's broken sword in the Whispers fight is symbolizing that Gerold's sword broke in the Tower of Joy fight.

So, that answers the question that started this whole journey through symbolism. "Did Ned Stark wield Ice in the battle at the Tower of Joy?" Yes, to great effect.

Of course, we will have to test this hypothetical version of the Tower of Joy fight against the story to find out if the predictions it implies are accurate. That's how we'll be able to measure if this version of the Tower of Joy fight is correct or fan-fiction. We'll do that in this essay chapter.

If you're like me, you have a lot of questions now. Like "Did Ned break Gerold's sword on purpose?"

Of course not. Gerold's sword breaking against Ice was a completely unpremeditated accident. The honorable Lord Eddard Stark would never intentionally do such a thing to people who are holding his sister and her baby prisoner.

Forgive my sarcasm, it's a useful way to make a point sometimes. Of course Ned broke Gerold's sword on purpose. Breaking Gerold's sword was the reason Ned used Ice in the first place.

In Chapter 8 we learned that, because Brienne is symbolic of Ned in the Whispers chapter, Brienne's surprisingly villainous recontextualization in the Whispers chapter was hinting at a surprisingly villainous recontextualization of Ned Stark to come. Well, this is it. That's not to say either Brienne or Ned are now villains on the whole, but they're a darker shade of gray than we knew.

Ice is House Stark's ancestral sword, so it's safe to assume Ned knew it was unbreakable. Ned was counting on the breakability of Gerold's steel sword to deliver him a quick and decisive victory over Gerold. With Ned's three opponents being among the most formidable fighters in the kingdom, and his six companions comprised of five B-list fighters and a little crannogman, Ned knew that the clock in the fight favors his opponent's side. The longer the fight goes on, the worse his chances of victory become. Ned knew that he needed a strategy that would subvert the opponent's skill advantage and result in a kill quickly before his own men began falling like autumn leaves.

##The 10,000 Foot View

At this point in the Tower of Joy symbol investigation, the Whispers≈TOJ symbol has matured to a stage where it can be advantageous for me to step back from the finer details and take a fresh look at the symbol from a 10,000 foot view (meaning from a very general perspective). A cheap and easy trick to achieve this view is to simply write out a short description of what happened in one scene, and then substitute the names of things in that scene with the names of their symbolic counterparts from the other scene. As always, it's important to focus my attention on the kind of information that defines the symbol — in this case, fightness. Let's do that now.

Here's a generalized description of the Whispers fight in terms of who killed who and when.

• In the Whispers fight, first Brienne killed Pyg, then Shagwell killed Nimble Dick Crabb, then with the outside help of Podrick Payne, Brienne killed Timeon then Shagwell.

To learn more about who killed who and when in the Tower of Joy fight, I rewrite that sentence, but this time I substitute the names with their symbolic TOJ counterparts.

• In the Tower of Joy fight, first Ned Stark killed Gerold Hightower, then Oswell Whent killed Martyn Cassell, Theo Wull, Ethan Glover, Mark Ryswell, and Lord Dustin, then with the outside help of Howland Reed, Ned Stark killed Arthur Dayne then Oswell Whent.

With this description of the TOJ fight, I have some big clues about what possibilities I should consider that I haven't paid attention to yet. For instance, Oswell Whent killing five of Ned's men is shocking. But since I know that the Whispers≈TOJ symbol as a whole is mathematically certain, I should assume the who-killed-who-and-when information that I don't know is constant with the same kind of information that I do know from the parent Whispers≈TOJ symbol.

Based on that description, it may be useful to imagine that the fight progressed in three stages: beginning, middle, and end.

In the beginning stage of the fight, it seems like Ned's plan from the start was to fight Gerold alone to get Gerold to break his steel sword against Ice. Because Gerold's swordfighting skill is almost certainly greater than Ned's swordfighting skill, this unscrupulous strategy may have been necessary for Ned to win. By fighting Gerold one-on-one, Ned ensures that all of Gerold's strikes will land on Ice, increasing the likelihood of breaking Gerold's sword and sooner. With the five men apparently engaged with Oswell Whent and Arthur Dayne, Ned may have given them the assignment of keeping Oswell and Arthur occupied to give Ned time to break Gerold's sword and kill Gerold. With Gerold slain, the beginning stage ends and the middle stage begins.

[[ What I'm doing now is I'm taking the most definitive elements of the symbol and bringing the last remaining unknowns of that kind into alignment with them. Most of all, the Whispers≈TOJ symbol is defined by who killed who and in what order, so some of the last remaining unknowns are "Who killed Martyn Cassell, Theo Wull, Ethan Glover, Mark Ryswell, and Lord Dustin, and when?" Since Nimble Dick Crabb is symbolic of all of those men, I should assume they died at the hands of the symbolic counterpart of the person who killed Nimble Dick Crabb: Oswell. (Shagwell killed Nimble Dick Crabb, and Shagwell is symbolic of Oswell.) Likewise, I should assume those five men died at a time between when the symbolic counterparts of Pyg and Timeon died, because that's when Nimble Dick Crabb died. The symbolic counterparts of Pyg and Timeon are Gerold and Arthur, so that means the five men died after Gerold and before Arthur.

With this completed concept of who killed who and when, I can use it as a guide for figuring out the less definitive elements of the symbol. Before I do that, I'll take a moment to explain the finer details of why I can be confident that Ned wielded Ice at the Tower of Joy.

##Explanatory Power

If you have a collection of questions that you know were provoked by the text rather than by your overcurious imagination, and then you notice that one of the answers to one of those questions implies a viable and meaningful answer to all the other questions, too, then you're well justified to assume the one answer is correct. The reason is because explanatory power is a rare feature of answers. With any random question, most possibilities for its right answer do not inadvertently answer several other questions at the same time. When one does, you found an answer that has a lot of explanatory power. Here, one answer answered six questions, five of them inadvertently.

1. Did Ned Stark wield Ice at the Tower of Joy?

Yes.

2. What do Pyg and Gerold's weapons have in common?

They're broken swords, because Ned Stark wielded Ice at the Tower of Joy.

3. What was Ned's strategy at the Tower of Joy?

To break Gerold's sword, because Ned wielded Ice at the Tower of Joy.

4. How was Gerold the first Kingsguard to die at the Tower of Joy?

He broke his sword, because Ned wielded Ice at the Tower of Joy.

5. Why did Gerold's sword break?

Because Ned wielded Ice at the Tower of Joy.

6. Why were Ned's men distributed the way they were?

To improve the chances of breaking Gerold's sword, because Ned wielded Ice at the Tower of Joy.

In short, there are only two possible answers to the question "Did Ned wield Ice at the Tower of Joy?" If the answer is "yes," then all of these other questions are answered, too, and by the same answer. But if the answer is "no," then none of these other questions are answered. The answer "yes" has an amount of explanatory power over the situation that is so great that it is exceedingly unlikely to be incorrect, so I should suppose it is correct. ]]

In the middle stage of the fight, now that Gerold is dead, Ned's plan might reasonably have been to rejoin the five men to finish off Oswell and Arthur. But Oswell and Arthur were deadlier against the five men than Ned might have hoped, because Oswell killed all five of them by the time Ned joined them, a feat that was probably only possible with the help of Arthur Dayne.

So in the middle stage of the fight, one glaring question I could ask is "Why did Oswell get all five of the five kills?" Or to put it another way, "Why didn't Arthur Dayne get any of the five kills?"

"The finest knight I ever saw was Ser Arthur Dayne, who fought with a blade called Dawn, forged from the heart of a fallen star. They called him the Sword of the Morning, and he would have killed me but for Howland Reed." Father had gotten sad then, and he would say no more. Bran wished he had asked him what he meant. (ACOK Bran III)

Since Bran's memory shows me that Ned Stark considers Arthur Dayne the finest knight he ever saw, maybe Arthur was trying to win without killing anybody. Fatigue and injury can defeat a man as well as death can. It's a more difficult way to win, no doubt, but as we learned in Chapter 8, playing on hard mode is a regular way of life for the most valiant and honorable knights who ever lived.

In the end stage of the fight, Howland Reed is away but not gone, for some unknown reason. That leaves Ned to fight Arthur and Oswell alone. No matter which way Ned turns, his back is exposed to one of them. Ned chooses to attack Oswell first (a reasonable choice if Arthur is trying to win without killing). Then Howland Reed's mysterious intervention happens and temporarily disables Oswell. Ned seizes the moment to kill Arthur. Then Ned kills Oswell. End of fight.

##Symbol Test - Pyg's Broken Sword ≈ Gerold Hightower's Broken Sword

If this concept of the TOJ fight is true, one prediction it could imply is that Arthur and Oswell, for some reason, were worse targets than Gerold for this sword-breaking strategy. Or, another way of saying the same thing is that Gerold was a better target for a sword-breaking strategy than Arthur and Oswell. So, what features of a man would make him a better or worse target for a sword-breaking strategy?

How about strength? The stronger a man is, the more likely he is to break his sword, all else being equal. Likewise, the weaker a man is, the less likely he is to break his sword.

There are three men who Ned could have chosen as his first target, because there are three Kingsguard, but Arthur Dayne's sword is unbreakable and Ned would know that. So really there are only two men who Ned could have believably chosen as his first target for a sword-breaking strategy.

That leaves Gerold and Oswell. If we research who is stronger between Gerold Hightower and Oswell Whent, and it turns out to be Gerold, that would match with our hypothetical version of the Tower of Joy fight and further prove its ability to accurately predict things in the story. But if Oswell is stronger than Gerold it would give us cause to think the sword-breaking part of our hypothetical Tower of Joy fight is wrong.

With the possibilities for what GRRM could have realistically written as the character who Ned chooses to target with a sword-breaking strategy specified to two: Gerold and Oswell, we're ready to do the symbol test. Now, to find who is stronger we must open our books and read these two scenes:

1. In A Storm of Swords 21 Jaime III (p.240), Jaime is swordfighting Brienne, and he is reminiscing about the strengths of other fighters.

2. In A Game of Thrones 39 Eddard X (p.354), Ned is remembering characteristics of Gerold Hightower.

If you want to do the test and think about it for yourself, do it now, then come back and continue reading.

She is stronger than I am.

The realization chilled him. Robert had been stronger than him, to be sure. The White Bull Gerold Hightower as well, in his heyday, and Ser Arthur Dayne. Amongst the living, Greatjon Umber was stronger, Strongboar of Crakehall most likely, both Cleganes for a certainty. The Mountain’s strength was like nothing human. It did not matter. With speed and skill, Jaime could beat them all. But this was a woman. A huge cow of a woman, to be sure, but even so … by rights, she should be the one wearing down. (ASOS 21 Jaime III p.240)

In Jaime's fight with Brienne, Jaime remembers Gerold and Arthur for their strength, but not Oswell. Since all three of them were his Kingsguard brothers, Oswell shouldn't be far from Jaime's mind. Jaime's omission of Oswell seems noteworthy enough to suggest that Oswell, while undoubtedly strong, was less strong than Arthur or Gerold. So, between Oswell and Gerold, Gerold was the stronger man, at least according to Jaime and in the context of swordfighting.

A second opinion about Gerold that relates to his strength is available from Ned Stark himself, right at the beginning of his Tower of Joy fever dream.

Between them stood fierce old Ser Gerold Hightower, the White Bull, Lord Commander of the Kingsguard. (AGOT 39 Eddard X p.354)

Fierceness connotates aggression and strength, two traits that would reasonably stand out in Ned's memory if Ned had once staked his life on those traits causing Gerold to break his sword against Ice.

The test was a success for our Whispers≈Tower of Joy symbol. The symbol implied a prediction about the comparative strengths of Gerold and Oswell and the prediction came true.

As you can see, not even the most minor details in the story are arbitrary. Gerold's famous ferocity certainly does some conventional storytelling work to give the character of Gerold Hightower flavor and distinguish him from other characters, but his ferocity is also a puzzle piece in this grand symbolism puzzle about what happened in the fight at the Tower of Joy. If you change this small detail of the story so that Gerold is not fierce and Jaime instead thinks Oswell is strong, the puzzle would not be as good, as big, or as cool as it is, and ASOIAF would be just a little bit less awesome. Yes, the small things matter!

For another example of storytelling economics at work, look no further than Gerold's age.

Between them stood fierce old Ser Gerold Hightower, the White Bull, Lord Commander of the Kingsguard. (AGOT 39 Eddard X p.354)

GRRM could have made Gerold any age he wanted. So why did he make him old? Simple. Because Oswell is young, and Ice is big. The point being that Gerold's age is whatever GRRM needed it to be to best suit the secret of the Tower of Joy fight. Not only is Gerold's sword breakable, but being old means he's slower than Oswell, which Ned knows will make it easier to stay alive while he's waiting for Gerold to break his sword against Ice. So, Gerold's age is a second reason Ned chose to target Gerold instead of Oswell. Put simply, Gerold breaking his sword against Ice is the reason Gerold is strong and old both. GRRM needed Ned's decision to target Gerold first with a sword-breaking strategy to make good sense.

##Two Ways to Kill a Dragon

With my knowledge of how Ice was used at the Tower of Joy, I'm now able to understand more of this exchange between Brienne and Nimble Dick.

"What’s the point o’ having some magic sword if you don’t bloody well use it?”

“Honor,” she said. “The point is honor.”

That only made him laugh the louder. “Ser Clarence Crabb would have wiped his hairy arse with your Perfect Knight, m’lady. If they’d ever have met, there’d be one more bloody head sitting on the shelf at the Whispers, you ask me. ‘I should have used the magic sword,’ it’d be saying to all the other heads. ‘I should have used the bloody sword.’”

Brienne could not help but smile. “Perhaps,” she allowed, “but Ser Galladon was no fool. Against a foe eight feet tall mounted on an aurochs, he might well have unsheathed the Just Maid. He used her once to slay a dragon, they say.”

Nimble Dick was unimpressed. “Crackbones fought a dragon too, but he didn’t need no magic sword. He just tied its neck in a knot, so every time it breathed fire it roasted its own arse.”

Like Ser Galladon of Morne, Ned Stark also used his magic sword once to slay a dragon. The dragon is House Targaryen. The slaying happened at the Tower of Joy when Ned defeated House Targaryen in war once and for all. And like Crackbones, the way Ned Stark defeated the dragon is that he used its own strength against it.

In Crackbones' situation, the strength of the dragon is its fiery breath. Crackbones tied its neck in a knot so every time it breathed fire it roasted its own arse.

In Ned's situation, the strength of the dragon at the Tower of Joy is Gerold Hightower's famous strength, because Gerold is fighting on behalf of House Targaryen. Ned used Ice so that Gerold had no choice but to risk breaking his steel sword against it when Ned swordblocks and parries his blows.

Whether or not Ned has ever heard of Ser Galladon or Ser Clarence, it would seem that Ned took a page out of both hero stories. By using his magic sword and using the opponent's strength against him, Ned combined the two dragonslayers' strategies to defeat a dragon of his own.

Now that I know what happened, I can return to the Whispers fight and gain a greater understanding of that scene, too.

[Pyg] jerked his broken blade up to protect his face, but as he went high she went low. Oathkeeper bit through leather, wool, skin, and muscle, into the sellsword’s thigh.

This is the description of when Brienne killed Pyg. Pyg raised his broken blade to try to stop Brienne's blow from hitting his face, but as he went high she went low. Here, going high literally means going up, and going low literally means going down. It describes which directions they're moving their swords. But going high is a phrase that can also mean taking the morally good choice, and going low is a phrase that can also mean taking the morally bad choice. So, too, is the nature of the choices made by their symbolic counterparts when they fought. Ned used a morally bad strategy.

##One Last Weapon

After you digest all of this, you should find yourself wondering... 'But what about Shagwell's morning star?' What were we talking about again? Ah yes, the three weapon symbols! There is one more weapon we haven't talked about yet, and that's Shagwell's three-ball morning star. Oh boy, we're getting close to the big stuff I don't want to share yet. I'm going to have to tip-toe in the next chapter. The symbolism of Shagwell's morning star is up next!

Next: Chapter 12 - Shagwell's Morning Star

Beginning: Chapter 0-4 - Introduction

applesanddragons

Some possibilities:

• The Others are victorious. Westeros is a frozen waste. Humans are extinct. But now comes a mighty she dire wolf out of the south, leading a wolf army of thousands...and she suddenly comes muzzle to muzzle with a strange, all white, dire wolf near a big, collapsed, ridge of ice a hundred miles long...
• Arya and Brienne forego their unhappy continent and pair up as an adventurous swordswoman duo, to travel the world, city by city, stealing jewels from the rich, and righting wrongs for the poor.
• Cersei flees to Essos and ends up stranded in Ilyrio's palace by a blizzard for 1,000 days and nights. Against all expectations the two who should be mortal enemies end up bonding over their shared appreciation for fine food and clothing. The movie displays and recounts, in great detail, a delectable meal they shared, and/or the specifics of a new gown Cersei has ordered. By day 1,000 they've run out of food, so Illyrio orders that Varys (who has been hiding in the cellars, pretending to be the wine steward) be barbecued.
• Victarion gets his wish to sail the Dothraki Sea, and captures the Mother of Mountains and Vaes Dothrak. But he throws out his back trying to carry away a mighty gold statue of some forgotten god. However, a free range horse, Tyrek, comes to his rescue and drags the statue all the way to the coast, where Victarion rewards Tyrek by taking him aboard ship, and dropping him off at Casterly Rock.
• Sam becomes a maester at the Citadel and becomes wise in lore. He is assigned to conduct link examinations for apprentice maester George, and sadly must fail George each time because he's completed only 70% of the written assignments.
• Daenerys decides to sail east from Meereen to reach the west. She sails halfway 'round the world and discovers a whole new continent on the Sunset Sea, where she decides to stop and found a new empire. Westeros can wait...

And YOUR preferred movie plot would be...??

I remember making a post a while ago asking who would avenge Ned and Robb Stark. I've come to the conclusion that by the end of the story, anyone who had a hand in their deaths and the downfall of House Stark as a whole will all be dead. Let's look at their fates, shall we?

1.) Joffrey: Poisoned at his own wedding

2.) Tywin: Shot with a crossbow.

3.) Janos Slynt: Beheaded by Jon.

4.) Theon: Received a fate far worse than death

5.) Roose Bolton: A dead man walking and he knows it.

6 Lysa: Thrown out of a window.

7.) Cersei: Stripped of her power, paraded around the streets like a whore, and might be executed in the next book.

8.) Littlefinger: Implied that Sansa will cause his demise.

9.) Walder: In the next book, he might die at the Red Wedding 2.0.

10.) The Freys, in general: They have been picked off clean by LS and will end up killing each other out through civil war.

11.) The Night's Watchmen who betrayed Jon: When Jon is revived in the WOW, he will surely execute them for turning on him.

During the Dance of the Dragons, even when houses like the Darklyns, Velaryons, and Celtigars sided with Rhaenyra, Criston Cole was still able to rally men from houses such as Rosby and Stokeworth. What happened to the soldiers of the Crownlands houses during the War of the Five Kings? Only the houses of the Narrow Sea supported Stannis, so there should have been some Crownlands troops left, especially among houses with historical loyalty to the crown.

So the way I thought it happened was there was the tourney at Harrenhal, Rhagaer crowns Lyanna as Queen of Love and Beauty, and they leave Harrenhal together. Lyanna is either kidnapped or goes willingly with Rhaegar depending on who you believe.

But in World of Ice and Fire the story sounds like the “abduction” took place months later

It says the tourney was during the False Spring and that spring only last two months. And that snow was falling and Aerys has the pyromancers try to drive winter off, but that Rhaegar was not in Kings Landing nor Dragonstone, but instead at Harrenhal where he “falls upon” Lyanna

So by that account, it’s been months since the tourney, but Rhaegar is back at Harrenhal, and, for some reason Lyanna is there too, and not at Winterfell with here family and not with Her betrothed Robert Baratheon either.

Is there any reason given why Lyanna was at Harenhal months after the tourney?

I'm reading Ned's POV chapter when Robert is dying and feeling confused about what Littlefinger says about Ned's honor at the end of the chapter re: him getting control of the gold cloaks...

“Ah, but when the queen proclaims one king and the Hand another, whose peace do they protect?” Lord Petyr flicked at the dagger with his finger, setting it spinning in place. Round and round it went, wobbling as it turned. When at last it slowed to a stop, the blade pointed at Littlefinger. “Why, there’s your answer,” he said, smiling. “They follow the man who pays them.” He leaned back and looked Ned full in the face, his grey-green eyes bright with mockery. “You wear your honor like a suit of armor, Stark. You think it keeps you safe, but all it does is weigh you down and make it hard for you to move. Look at you now. You know why you summoned me here. You know what you want to ask me to do. You know it has to be done . . . but it’s not honorable**, so the words stick in your throat.**”

Ned’s neck was rigid with tension. For a moment he was so angry that he did not trust himself to speak.

Probably I'm overthinking this, but... if logically Ned believes that Stannis is the heir -- and Littlefinger doesn't dispute that, he just thinks it's the dumb move -- then:

(1) why does Littlefinger claim its not honorable for the named protector of the realm to have command of the city watch?

(2) why would Ned even let Littlefinger's words get to him and make him angry if he believes he is doing the right thing?

Imagine in 2000, George decides to have Bran reach Bloodraven and start his training at the end of ASOS in order to set up what he will be doing for the 5 year gap, this would obviously lengthen the book but not by much. Do you think this would have helped his current writing pace?

He would have more writing room to explain Bran's training in Dance and perhaps reveal some additional secrets, if he really is going with the King Bran ending this would help immensely in developing that.

If a bride was taken from different house then she change her surname, right? Like Catelyn Stark or Lisa Arryn (both nee Tally) but why Cersei Lannister or Aemma Arryn kept their surnames? Or it doesn’t depends on their will? I've heard it may has smth to do with the house greatness then how to define which house is moe great (for example, in Catelyn and Lisa's situations)

For me it seems like if you have a powerful house then you will still be called by your previous surname, but how to find out who is more noble or less... I am lost...

Just something I came up with. A theory

So I may be a little late to the party on this one, but u/Hot_Professional_728 made a post a few weeks back about how to change the First Dornish War. As I've been actually working on an analysis of the conflict with just such an aim, I thought I'd share my analyses here; I'm in the process of typing up Part 5 with two more parts planned, so if anyone's interested in reading more I'll be happy to share the rest! I also made an analysis of the Velaryon Blockade based on both F&B and HOTD, if anyone's interested in reading more.

The First Dornish War was the largest conflict fought by the Seven Kingdoms following unification, while its outcome cast a long shadow over the history of Westeros and the Targaryen Dynasty. There's Rhaenys' death and the affect it has on her family, the recurrent desire of future monarchs to conquer Dorne and succeed where Aegon failed, to say nothing of the way in which the events of the war have influenced and continue to influence the plot of the main ASOIAF books. While F&B only devotes 10 pages to the war as compared to the 200 taken up by the Dance, the importance of the First Dornish War far exceeds it's limited coverage, and we can probably expect to learn more about it in TWOW, ADOS, and the Aegon's Conquest series planned by HBO. This more than justifies analyzing the First Dornish War and the extent to which it is consistent with George's own worldbuilding and what we know about Medieval and Early Modern war.

This first part of the series will assess the Dornish worldbuilding, what information we have about its people, geography, environment and society as a whole. The purpose of doing this is to establish a baseline of what we can know or reasonably infer about Dorne from what the books tell us, which can then be compared to how Dorne is portrayed in F&B during the First Dornish War. I also recommend checking out the Dornish installments of the Politics of the Seven Kingdoms series written by the late Steven Attewell of Race for the Iron Throne; if you want a second opinion or more detail, his series is absolutely worth your while!

Atlas of Ice and Fire estimates that Dorne's size is approximately 328 472 square miles, using a similar process to TWOIAF editor Elio Garcia; this makes Dorne slightly smaller than Pakistan (340 509 square miles) and slightly larger than the former French Indochina (Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, c.290 000 square miles). Atlas estimates a population of c.3 million in Dorne at the time of the ASOIAF series with his calculations again using methods similar to Elio, but the population may easily be lesser or greater than these extrapolations. Unfortunately the demographics of Planetos are a mess at best, and Dorne's population and that of the Seven Kingdoms should in theory be much smaller at the time of the First Dornish War.

ADWD's map of the south and TWOIAF's map of Dorne identify 16 and 17 populated locations in Dorne respectively, excluding Ghaston Grey, the Tower of Joy, Vulture's Roost and the Water Gardens. 7 of these settlements are located in the Red Mountains, aka the Dornish Marches: Starfall, High Hermitage, Blackmont, Skyreach, Kingsgrave, Wyl and Yronwood. Dorne is divided into eastern and western halves south of the mountains, with the eastern half beginning in the hills around the source of the Vaith and Scourge rivers and extending to the Broken Arm, and Dorne's western half comprising mostly desert save for the sulfurous Brimstone River. The aforementioned maps show only two settlements in western Dorne, Sandstone and Hellholt, while the remaining 7-8 settlements are located in Eastern Dorne: Vaith, Salt Shore, Lemonwood, Sunspear, Ghost Hill, Godsgrace, The Tor and Planky Town. All of the settlements in eastern Dorne are located directly beside the Vaith, Scourge and Greenblood Rivers or to the north of them, save for Salt Shore on Dorne's southern coast.

These dispositions reflect what we know about the settlement patterns of Dorne's past from TWOIAF: the majority of the First Men settled in the Greenblood valley or the Red Mountains, with the Daynes, Fowlers and Yronwoods settling in the latter area and the Wades, Shells and many more settling by the former. Only the unnamed Lords of the Wells ventured into the western deserts, and these were a minority. Only with the arrival of the Andals do we know of named houses settling in the west, House Uller and Qorgyle, while the Martells, Allyrions, Jordaynes, Santagars and Vaiths settled in the east along the northern coast and in the river valleys. When the Rhoynar arrived in Dorne and finally settled they mainly stayed in the east near the coast and the river valleys, further cementing the Red Mountains and eastern Dorne as the most populous areas of the country.

The distribution of Dorne's population is also consistent with the information we have about it's geography and climate. George's inspirations for Dorne in this regard were Spain and Palestine, and Morocco also fits the bill, being regions where summers are hot and dry and winters are cool and wet. These areas also have the bulk of their population situated along the coast and in the major river valleys, which is again consistent with George's worldbuilding. More than three-quarters of the land south of the Red Mountains is arid wasteland according to TWOIAF, with the bulk of this land being flat save for the hills at the source of the Greenblood and it's tributaries, and a small mountain range between The Tor and Ghost Hill on Dorne's northern coast. Dorne's southern coast is some 400 leagues/c.1200 miles long according to Rodrick Harlaw, and is largely barren outside of Salt Shore with few sources of fresh water for passing ships to utilize.

It should also come as no surprise that Dorne's population distribution coincides with those areas with an abundance of fresh water, for consumption and agricultural purposes. Eastern Dorne is mostly scrubland with hard, rocky soil that relies heavily upon the Greenblood for irrigation; alongside the Brimstone and Torrentine, the Greenblood is the only river which does not dry up during any season. Potential sources of fresh water in the Red Mountains include the Torrentine and Wyl Rivers as well as an unnamed river that ends near Yronwood, alongside groundwater from wells and rain/meltwater collected from streams, springs and cisterns. Due to the Brimstone being sulfurous, fresh water in western Dorne comes primarily from wells, watering holes and oases.

The result of Dorne's varied geography, climate and population distribution is a history of political division and the emergence of Dornish subcultures following Nymeria's wars. The Rhoynar arrived in Dorne less than 700 years before Aegon's Conquest, following the destruction of the Rhoynar Principalities by the Valyrian Freehold, prior to which the First Men and Andals had warred with each other and their Reacher and Stormlord neighbours for millenia. Nymeria and her people spent more than four years in the area of the Summer Sea before arriving in Dorne and allying with Mors Martell, and it took more than a decade to unify the Dornish lands. Four Dornish subcultures emerged in the centuries after the Rhoynar settled, known to us from the ASOIAF books and TWOIAF as the Stoney, Sandy and Salty Dornish, and the Orphans of the Greenblood.

The Orphans have a small population that lives on poleboats in the Greenblood valley and near Planky Town, and retain the language and gods of the Rhoynar, while the Salty Dornish live along the coast and retain some Rhoynar customs but have adopted the common tongue and the Faith of the Seven. The Sandy Dornish live in the deserts and the river valleys, and are closer to the Rhoynar than the Stony Dornish who live in the Red Mountains, some of whom may still practice male-preference primogeniture as opposed to absolute primogeniture. Internal divisions ensured conflict took place within Dorne even after unification, with Nymeria facing two rebellions during her 27 year reign according to TWOIAF. The Yronwoods rebelled several times in the centuries before Aegon's Conquest and supported 3 of the 5 Blackfyre rebellions; following the death of Nymeria's grandson Mors II, his successors the Red Princes (2 of 3 were female) faced further rebellions and sought to suppress the Rhoynar language, driving the Orphans to speak their mother tongue in secret only.

Other aspects of Dorne's worldbuilding will be discussed in greater detail in subsequent installments, but for now I believe this is a solid baseline for us to use. Similar to my analysis of the Velaryon Blockade, I'm going to offer my potential fix-its or improvements now as opposed to saving them all for a conclusion like I did with the Dance series. I think this process is better based on the feedback I received for the Dance, as it highlights those aspects that still work and what areas can be made better as opposed to just listing off flaws ad nauseum. Although not perfect, I think that Dorne's worldbuilding is a step up from how the rest of the Seven Kingdoms are portrayed, being on par with the North and Iron Islands in terms of the information we're given about their societies and their cultural diversity. With the exception of the Vale and Riverlands to some extent, Westeros between the Neck and the Dornish Marches tends to blend together; for example, we have little indication of any differences in Westerlands culture between the coast and the Western Hills, or the mining communities and peasant farmers, despite having three major POVs from the Westerlands (Jaime, Cersei, Tyrion).

Dorne's cultural diversity is significant as there should be a greater variety of cultures and languages in Westeros just based on the great distances and different terrain, even among the First Men and Andals. That being said, there is one quibble I have concerning the four Dornish subcultures, specifically the 'Stony' and 'Sandy Dornish.' Rhoynar culture had a strong affinity with water due to their original home in the Rhoyne valley and use of water magic; TWOIAF also states that those who settled in Dorne preferred to live by the sea which had been their home during their wanderings, hence the 'Salty Dornish' culture. It doesn't really follow that the 'Sandy Dornish' should be more like the Rhoynar than the 'Stony' based on this information; if anything the reverse should be the case based on geography and settlement patterns.

Access to the sea is greater in the Red Mountains than the western desert thanks to the mouth of the Torrentine and the western coast of the Sea of Dorne, whereas Dorne's southern coast is mostly uninhabitable. The greater abundance of fertile land and fresh water in the mountains would better accommodate Rhoynar refugees than the more scarce resources of the western deserts; despite TWOIAF's references to water witches making "dry streams flow and deserts bloom," the majority of Dorne's population remains concentrated in the east and the Red Mountains, suggesting these were just legends or that water magic did not significantly improve the habitability of western Dorne.

The way the 'Sandy Dornish' and their culture are described is also contradictory; despite references to their living in the river valleys as well as the deserts, TWOIAF makes it clear that outside the valleys, "men live in different fashion" and describes the 'Sandy' way of life as centered around wells and oasis which support life in the desert. We also know that five of the six kings that Nymeria exiled to the wall were from the Red Mountains: Yorick Yronwood, Vorian Dayne, Garrison Fowler, Benedict Blackmont and Albin Manwoody, with Lucifer Dryland of Hellgate being the outlier. Largescale Rhoynar settlement in the marches should have been a priority for Nymeria in light of the opposition she faced from the lords of the Red Mountains, both to repopulate an area that had seen heavy fighting and ensure that the border of Dorne was settled with people that were personally loyal to her and had arranged marriages with the local houses.

The 'Stony Dornish' should be closer to the Rhoynar than the 'Sandy' on this basis alone, and this could have had interesting implications for the story and worldbuilding. Given the significant presence of the Andals in the western deserts, it would have been interesting to see how this remoteness affected the local development and practice of the Faith of the Seven. Ellaria Sand is a bastard of House Uller who are one of the Andal houses that settled in the desert, though we only get glimpses of her in ASOS, AFFC and ADWD; by having the 'Sandy Dornish' be more distinct, we could have seen how her houses' Andal roots affected her character if at all. Perhaps she would be closer to Tyene Sand due to her training to be a Septa, and Tyene could even instruct Oberyn and Ellaria's four daughters in the Faith? In fact this raises a broader criticism of the Dornish worldbuilding, being how the practice of the Faith in Dorne differs from the rest of the Seven Kingdoms. TWOIAF mentions that the more liberal sexual morays of the Rhoynar clashed with the teachings of the Faith, but is the Dornish Faith deemed schismatic? Were there any conflicts with the Faith hierarchy? This is a subject that would be worth exploring since the in-universe author of TWOIAF, Maester Yandel, insists that the Andals learned ironworking from the Rhoynar and that there were relations between the two peoples prior to the Andal migrations. Did Rhoynar beliefs affect the development of the Faith in Essos and vice-versa, and did this have any affect on the adopting of the Faith by the Rhoynar that settled in Dorne?

We're going to cover more issues with the worldbuilding of Dorne once we start discussing the First Dornish War itself, but for now these are the extent of my issues as concerns the foundational worldbuilding. I believe George did a solid job of constructing it despite some flaws, and greater issues mainly arise when trying to square this portrayal of Dorne with what we're shown in the Dornish Wars.

For the Old Gods, we have the weirwoods, and for R’hllor, we have fire magic. Do you think we will see any displays of power from the other two religions? If so, what form do you think they might take?