WearyTraveler

I think FD was just addressing all the theories he gets from fans. I agree that Syrio is most likely dead.

Glad to have the correct Martin quote, but I see that from a storytelling perspective, you do agree it seems as if Arya still has some more things to do.

Apparently Martin has promised his wife he would not kill Arya, as she is her favourite character, and that if her fate is to die, he will not kill her until the very end. Narratively speaking, if Arya's destiny is to die after her stay with the Faceless Men (in the books), that would mean Martin would just continue to write her there for two (possible three) more books. Why would he do that? I realize that the show's depiction of Arya's training with the Faceless Men has been less than stellar, but I find it hard to believe that Martin would have sent Arya there and have us follow all her training step by step only to kill her without payoff. Also, I don't think the show would have spent all that much time with her in Braavos if they didn't have a plan for her later.

Well, the link referenced by that article about the extensive Baratheon family tree is broken. Also, there's no character named Corwen Baratheon in AWOIAF, his alleged source for the article. So, I think there are two possibilities: 1) The information is true: someone connected the dots and this leads to Tyrion actually having a claim to the throne being a Lannister, so no A+J=T. Many fans have speculated that Tyrion is Martin's favourite character and that he'd end up ruling Westeros. Once the info was discovered, Martin asked AWOIAF to remove it (it's my understanding they are friends) and they did. 2) The information is false: someone uploaded false info into a wiki (not the first time that happens) and the journalist found it or was tipped to it. Upon discovering the fake info, the admin at AWOIAF deleted it. Since there are a lot of characters referenced, and apparently they only appeared on a family tree picture file. I'm going with the second option. It'd be easy to do. Meanwhile it'd be more difficult for admins at AWOIAF to delete chapter upon chapter about characters (like this Corwen Baratheon) and character mentions of those characters in other chapters (which would have been needed to create the incriminating picture file the journalist mentions in his article).

All right, here it goes. He says he's analysing the teaser for ep. 8 and including bits and pieces from other websites and news reports. Summary below. The Hound: BwoB, Lady Stoneheart: Meereen: The Riverlands: King's Landing: Arya: On Sunday he'll talk about Samwell Tarly and Valyrian steel swords.

How would Tywin's ancestors be next in line? I've looked at the Lannister family tree as far back as it goes in AWOIAF starting from Tytos (Tywin's father) and Jeyne Marbrand (Tywin's mother) and there isn't a single Baratheon or Targaryen in there. I'd love to see this research. It's the first time I read there's any familial connection between the Lannisters and the Baratheons or the Targs.

Agreed, that's why I underlined "in Westeros". I think it's only natural for fans to cheer Manderly's actions after what the Freys did to basically a lot of innocent people. Obviously, that's not ok in real life. But it's understandable that readers might like Manderly's actions in the context of this world where they definitely don't live by the rules we have in real life. The story up to the point where we realize Manderly is making Frey pies was misery on top of misery and no justice for the Starks, the justice system in Westeros is horrible, so it seems that unless someone takes the sort of actions that Manderly takes, there's no justice for the "good" characters. So, I get the support, in this world, and in this situation.

It is, but Bran, who is the one remembering the story of the Rat Cook as told by Old Nan, says the cook was turned into a rat not for cooking and serving people (the guy's son, at that), but for violating guest right. Therefore establishing that in Westeros, the bigger crime is to violate guest right, not cannibalism or killing a human being and serving him/her to another human being.

No, that meant he was losing strategically. When he said that his army was still very strong.

There are several possibilities. In theory, Robert Baratheon's eldest male cousin on his Targaryen side (which I believe came from his mother, but I'm not really sure). If there are any cousins once removed, or even twice removed, they may have a claim. If there are none, Robert's eldest recognized bastard (Edric Storm in the books, perhaps Gendry, if his parentage can be proved on the show). If there are none, it should revert back to the Targaryens, so Dany would have a claim. Maybe some families would start asking for her to take over even before cousins/bastards are considered, if they even remember she's still alive. Or whoever seizes the throne immediately after Tommen dies by right of conquest. If Margaery survives Tommen and she's pregnant, then her son/daughter would have the strongest claim, when he/she is born. In short, anyone can be King if Tommen dies without heirs. His death would throw the Kingdom into complete disarray, with everyone trying to be the next King. Add to that the White Walkers invading, and Westeros is looking pretty doomed.

The North is HUGE. Stannis says he will not accept a deal with Robb where the North is independent because he will "lose half my kingdom", implying that The North is almost as big as the South. Even though it is less densely populated, one can assume there are thousands and thousands of people up there. And that their armies can be as big as the South's or close enough. Now, the Freys + the Boltons do not have the same numbers as all the other Northern houses plus the riverlords that accompanied Robb to the Red Wedding. I got the sense that their victory there came mainly as a result of cunning and the element of surprise. Catelyn mentions several times how much booze there is at the wedding. The traitors got everyone well and drunk, separated the armies, enclosed the army celebrating outside with wagons so they couldn't escape, and then attacked. Many of these people didn't even have their weapons with them (Catelyn notices the sword belts hanging from pegs in the main room). Not all of Robb's men were at the wedding, some people escaped (Arya and the Hound found a wounded soldier who escaped), all the castles in the North were left with small forces to defend them, and there were some who were too young to fight for Robb when he called his banners, but are now old enough to fight. I don't think the Northern houses are so decimated that they can't spare a few men. In the books, Manderly has enough forces, and so do other Northern houses. The show hasn't contradicted this notion. In my opinion, the message the show is sending is that the Northern Lords do not want to support Jon because they think Robb screwed them and/or Jon let loose a menace to their lands, not because they don't have enough men to do so.

Well, a few chapters ahead, Tywin leaves the throne room through what they call in the books "the King's door" which is right behind the Iron Throne. So, I suppose Aerys was trying to escape and that was the door closest to him. But it is funny (and telling) that Aerys would run. One would think that after hundreds of years of ruling, the Targs had the whole training thing down pat and that Aerys would have been taught how to fight from a very young age by their Master of Arms. Yet he runs away from Jaimie. To be fair, we don't know if he had a sword with him (Joffrey did carry his in the throne room when he wanted, so , it's not unheard off).

I think we got earlier reports about the length, yes

Well, Arya and the Hound escaped the Red Wedding, so, it stands to reason that at least some of the Northern soldiers that were outside The Twins when the RW went down also escaped the massacre and lived to tell the tale to their new Lords / castellans back home. Also, I think Roose wouldn't have a problem with people knowing what he did. It sort of sends the same message Tywin sent his vassals when he wiped out the Reynes of Castamere: "mess with me and you are fucked!".

Regarding prophecies and visions, and those "chosen" to see them, I feel like there's no one that gets the full picture, and, as Melisandre says in a later chapter, those who get the power to see what the gods show them, sometimes lack the tools/knowledge to interpret the visions correctly. Take Jojen, for example, a kid who has pretty accurate dreams and even knows how to distinguish his green dreams (which will always come true, according to him) from other prophetic dreams. He saw Bran dead in a green dream, and said it couldn't be avoided, that Bran would die. It turns out that the miller's sons died but everyone thought they were Bran and Rickon. So, his dream was true, only he didn't have enough information to understand what it meant when he dreamt it. I think Patchface somehow gained the ability to glimpse things to which he was blind before, just as Bran learned to open his third eye. It's as if this ability is somehow related to activating (for lack of a better word) a part of your brain (or a set of genes) that is dormant. I think not everyone has the ability to do that. Patchface's drowning experience somehow activated that part of his brain, but at the same time left him lacking in other departments. I don't think any god chose him, it just happened.

Or Daenerys sets sail to Westeros. Or Margaery makes a move against the High Septon. Or Cersei lights up the caches of wildfire under King's Landing. Or all 4!

Someone asked why Margaery would withold sex from Tommen. I think because this is her way if controlling him, much as it was before. "If I could get my brother out if his cell, I'd be so happy and worry free that I'd probably be in the mood". Or something like that

I don't think they're making Jon and Sansa look like idiots so much as they are making the Northern Lords very different from their book counterparts. As Starks raised by Ned, they are appealing to people's honor (your house swore allegiance), the way Ned would. And you know that if the situation were reversed, both of them (or at the very least Jon) would try to follow Ned's teaching and act with honor. In the books we see plenty of evidence of the loyalty that most of the Northern houses still have for the Starks, so, that appeal is one that should work. Only, it's not working now because D&D think we need the added tension of having Jon and Sansa face the Bolton as the underdogs, to have someone later either change sides at a critical moment (the Freys/Boltons turning on Robb, the Tyrells supporting the Lannisters after Renly died), or someone showing up at the last minute to save them (Tywin showing up in KL, Stannis showing up at the Wall, Drogon rescuing Dany). They probably think watching competent people making competent plans and wining with this strategy is boring.

It's the Mormonts' ancestral sword, which is supposed to be passed down from generation to generation. Upon Mormont's death it would have been sent back to House Mormont had Jeor not given it to Jon. Maybe Jon didn't want to rub it in her face that her uncle preferred to give it to a bastard.

Well, LF can travel from WF to the Vale, and from there to Mole Town in like 3 days. Yara and Theon went from the Iron Islands to Volantis in what felt like a day, with time to spare to visit the whorehouse. So, the Hound can probably exert his revenge and reach King's Landing in a single episode. ================ The reason I think Sansa was writing to LF is that when Glover asked who was fighting in Jon's army he said they had the Mormonts and that they had sent ravens to the other houses. So, all the ravens have been sent. Then as Sansa and Jon are walking she says they need more men and proposes that they continue touring the North to get them; he says they have to fight with what they have, there's no time to visit anyone else. Immediately after that conversation Sansa is writing a letter and she's not looking all too happy about it. If she'd been writing to some other Northern family, why not tell Jon? "I'm writing to such and such again, it couldn't hurt to try one more time by raven could it?" And why is she looking so apprehensive while doing it? It makes more sense that after seeing her plan fail (she was the one that insisted that the North would support them), she has to backtrack and ask LF for help, after she refused him the first time.

I think the shot of Cersei with Qyburn behind her is after she says "I choose violence" and Mountainstein starts killing sparrows.

I was expecting the old lady to be the Waif, but I was not expecting the stabbing. Interested to see how Arya gets out of this one. Loved Lady Mormont, and loved Jon commanding his army. I suspect Sansa has written to LF to ask for the support of the Vale, which she had previously refused. The Hound is MAD!! I bet he goes on a rampage. Didn't like the BwoB attacking the smallfolk, big change from the books where they actually defend the little guy :-S

It probably has to do with how much I'm working my computer's RAM at the moment. I downloaded it and could see it with an image viewing program. Thanks!

Thanks! If it is indeed what you all suspect, I'm happy with that!