WearyTraveler

From the casting info we've had in the past, did we get casting calls for

Yes, my main objection is that they were raised as siblings. As for cousin marriage, I'm not American, so I'm not one of those cases where Americans make the mistake of thinking their beliefs are the norm for the entire world. I believe in science, and as others pointed out upthread, marrying cousins can and has, in fact, increased the risk of birth defects and can and has caused risks because it increases the chances of double cousins marrying. I believe the main reason we, as a society, wouldn't want to encourage cousin marriage is because as we move further down the line, if we make a standard practice to marry a cousin, we'd be increasing the risk of birth defects even more. So, while people who marry their cousin today are not degenerates or horrible or anything of the sort, it's simply healthier for the human gene pool to make it as diverse as possible.

I think it's more likely they are showing us Aerys to remind us the wildfire and the many hidden caches still buried underneath KL. In preparation for:

I get foggy too! But on that particular point I've got your answer. The show has not even marginally implied that there's magic in the construction of the Wall. I know because I commented in a no book talk thread that maybe the Wall was protecting itself (when the wildlings died climbing it with Jon) and got warning points for it. At the time, I thought the show must have mentioned something about it, but it turns out they hadn't. So, I stopped posting in non-book threads because I don't want to make the same mistake again. _______________ Jon and Sansa may end up together in both, the books and/or the show, but that would still ick me out to no end. And, yes, I know people used to do that (marry their cousin), but we know better now, don't we? There are valid reasons why it's no longer socially acceptable in most of the civilized world to do that. I don't understand how anyone can ignore the fact that they were raised in the belief that they were siblings, even if Sansa thought of Jon as a lesser sibling due to his "bastard" status. The fact that they are genetically cousins doesn't make their union any less icky for me. It's like when the show Dexter had Deborah fall in love with the title character, who was not even genetically related to her at all but an adopted brother. That felt all kinds of disgusting to me.

Where?

Spiders and kangaroos! Yay?

Then there's still no reason why the Boltons would doubt LF. He could say he's brought the army to help them get Sansa back.

Wasn't there a scene with Roose and Petyr talking about some messages that came from Cersei when he was at WF? Roose read the messages and read LF's reply before sending it on. I don't remember the exact dialog, but I thought Roose and LF had agreed that they'd work together.

The Boltons have no reason to think LF will betray them. LF told Roose his plans to get Cersei's approval to move the Vale army North, didn't he? So, if there was a small force holding Moat Cailin, the Boltons might have just opened the gates and let LF and the Knigts of the Vale through. Yes, I get the feeling that any highborn pervert would use a brothel to indulge his darker side, not his Lady. Obviously there are exceptions, but I think in LF's experience, that's what whores were for, and Sansa is no whore.

And The Stranger (from the 7). I think what Martin was going for here is the notion that many religions have common origins and that, through the years, they might drift further apart because of how the next generation interprets a key fact or because the story changed a bit as it was passed down from generation to generation. In the end, I suspect we will not be able to say only one of the in-world religions was right. ------------------------------------------------------------ On the episode and the comments made about Summer's death: The more I know human kind, the more I love my dog. And that's one of the reasons I get upset when one of the direwolves dies. Sometimes that upsets me more than people dying, yes, some people, that is, not all. Another reason is that even if on the show the direwolves are merely glorified bodyguards, I am a book reader, and I can't help but see them as I see them in the books. Every time one of the Starks is warging a wolf, the internal dialog changes. The wolves have their own thoughts and personalities, they miss their brothers and sisters, they express emotions.... and so on. They are full-fledged characters, and D&D just haven't been able (or willing) to put that on the show, but I know it. So, yeah, I'm devastated when one of them dies.

That was almost verbatim from ACoK, except that in the book, it's Varys telling Tyrion the story of how he was cut: he was sold to a red priest who cut him, threw his genitals in the fire, prayed some (IIRC), and then threw Varys out.

"What is dead may never die". I think of the Ironborn as the Medieval version of Flatliners (remember that movie with Kieffer Sutherland and Julia Roberts?). I don't think they die per se. It's like when people are drowning and taken to shore and then they cough and breathe again. I think the strong ones, survive. But the Ironborn think that the Drowned God brought them back to life. Props for making the reference, in the first place! He did offer the Vale army. He told her that they were passing through the Neck as they were speaking and that if she wanted they would be hers -------------------- Oh, and Summer is (was! Sniff!!) a male direwolf. Each child got a direwolf of the same gender as him/her

There have been spoilers about the TOJ:

Actual spoilers on what part of the text you quoted exactly?

Single malt on the rocks for me, please. And keep'em coming!

Oscirus, Also, I'll do a rewatch, but I didn't see any indication that they are setting up a rivalry between Jon and Sansa. If anything:

But that was in the context of discussing the strategy to get the Northern Lords behind their cause, not because she was saying he was less than her. She was recognizing that some Northern Lords might not rally behind Ned's bastard, but they would rally behind Ned's daughter. It's an acknowledgement of the society they live in, not a pronouncement of judgement on her part. Even Roose recognized that when he had the IT legitimize Ramsay as a Bolton.

I don't think Jon wants Winterfell. At one point during the discussion of troops in Castle Black Jon says I think Jon's head is still firmly in the "we have to prevent these fucking Ice creeps from getting to Westeros" camp.

What made you think that? I thought that Sansa telling Brienne

I wasn't looking very closely, but I don't think so.

BRUTAL!

Well, I just watched the episode and I'm thoroughly PISSED!

I'm no sure the faces have to be treated or got exclusively from the wall of faces (at least not on the show). Last season when Arya was desperately unmasking Jaqen, one of the faces he had was Arya's, and she's not dead yet, neither is her face in the wall of faces.