WearyTraveler

Ah! but the singular is "balón" :-P See above :D

It's a Ned dream. I had forgotten about it, but I think you guys might see why I think it's significant after you re-read it. I think it's interesting that Jon wakes up before he reaches his destination, as he is descending into darkness. Perhaps this is early foreshadowing that . More on that when we reach the mentioned Ned chapter.

"First in battle" (LOL!) __________________________________ On a more serious tone, I'm going to ask you to remember Jon's dream about the crypts in Winterfell when we get to an upcoming Eddard chapter (not sure which one, as I warned you guys at the beginning, I'm already ahead in the reading, can't help myself, I guess)

Maybe Jaime discovers the ruse before they see him and he jumps overboard and escapes? They don't notice, so, the can't go chasing after him. And maybe the boat is not headed to KL, but to Mereen. Just throwing stuff at the wall now. :D As for Lancel, in the books he did a lot of penance for his crimes after he converted. It was a long time between Blackwater and the next time we see Lancel at Tywin's funeral, and he was still punishing himself in religious fervor when Jaime finds him in the Riverlands, much, much later. That, and the rules of this world were women are so low in the totem pole, make Cersei's punishment being harsher than Lancel's believable, in Westerosi society, at least.

Yes, you're right, some of it wouldn't work. I do think however that the part about Doran being in on it because he's planning to marry Trystane to Daenerys is plausible. Or maybe I really just want Dorne to have a plot because what we got was very sub par

Winter is coming, yo!

But some women do this procedure with laser or pulsating lights, effectively eradicating the hair forever.

According to AWOIAF, it's only 4 years. They have calculations with references and everything: Dickon's age Sam's age That poor woman had Sam, 3 girls and then Dickon, all in the space of 5 years, just pop, pop, pop, one after the other!

The phrase is "for all intents and purposes", which means "in every practical sense". But don't feel bad, apparently this is a common eggcorn (substitution of a word or phrase for a word or words that sound similar or identical in the speaker's dialect) which was first noticed 8 years ago when over a thousand people were using it (the search count today is 134,000!). The more common eggcorn for this phrase is "for all intensive purposes". I just learned that the term eggcorn exists! Something new, every day ;-) ! (yes, I'm that nerdy)

(Bold and underline are mine) The word is cojones. Cajones means drawers, as in the ones where you put your socks (not as in underwear). Cojones means balls, specifically male genitalia (balls to play sports, like soccer, are called balones and smaller balls to play tennis or ping pong are called pelotas -pelotas can also refer to male genitalia, but balones never do, and cojones is never used to refer to anything other than a guy's balls). I thought you'd like to know :D

I would add that Martin has publicly said that some fans have already guessed some of the outcomes. When asked if he would changed the story because of this, he said no. That he had put the clues there for a reason and that it wouldn't be fair to suddenly change everything just to surprise people for the sake of surprising them. He's slow to write, he's picky, he's stubborn, but I don't think he'd be willing to do what in his mind (and many others) would be damaging the integrity of the story just out of spite, or to have the final word. I think he values his work too highly for that (whether we attach the same value to it is a different matter). That said, maybe some parts of his original plan will change as he writes, but I doubt it'd be major story arcs. He's had the same ending planned for years, and despite all the world -building and the addition of side plots and superfluous characters, one can see that the bones of the story remain the same (or at least I can see that).

I'm thinking maybe the show is planning to reveal something similar for Doran in 6. Maybe the plan to kill Myrcella wasn't Ellaria's alone. Maybe Trystane is in on it and Doran authorized it. And maybe Doran is planning to marry Trystane to Dany now. I couldn't figure out why Ellaria was crying when she kissed Doran's ring. We didn't see him give her the treatment he gave Arienne in the books. Doran locked Arienne in a tower and cut her off from the Sand Snakes, all her friends (one of whom had betrayed her) and himself. He didn't torture her or denied her food, but gave her time to reflect alone, and by the time he spoke to her and explained everything Arienne was humbled and more receptive. When she finally found out about his long game, she was awed and gained a new respect for him. With the show merging Ellaria and Arienne's plot, I wondered why Ellaria was crying and showing such devotion to Doran when she kissed his ring, given that she had not been subjected to the same treatment Arienne got in the book. Then I wondered why Ellaria would do something like killing Myrcella against Doran's wishes, which would guarantee her death, a consequence he clearly outlined for her in front of all the Sand Snakes. So, I got to thinking, what if Doran was in on the plan? What if Doran commanded Ellaria to do exactly what she did? What if Varys, who has been missing in action for a long time had been in Dorne, finalizing plans with Doran to marry Trystane to Daenerys and this is how the show will explain his absence and sudden return in Mereen? In the books Aegon has just landed in Westeros and Arienne is on her way to meet him. Griffin would be a fool if he didn't encourage Aegon to keep the pact and marry into Dorne so they could get Doran's army. Meanwhile, Jaime is following Brienne to what can only be a meeting with LSH, who might just not kill him but keep him prisoner and start making demands of the throne. All this while the Ironborn attack The Reach. The throne is being threatened on three fronts, the South, The Reach and the Riverlands. The North is busy with problems of their own (lack of support and sabotage of the Boltons, Stannis planning on attacking Winterfell), plus it would take their armies a pretty long time to come to their aid. Kevan is dead, so the West and Casterly Rock are adrift, and who knows what would take for whoever leads them to get some semblance of organization. LF holds the East and the Vale, but I doubt he'd get his men into any battle. He'll tell the Lords of the Vale that they should do what Lysa did during the War of the 5 Kings and stay out of it. So, what if, on the show, Jaime is still bound to be a prisoner, not of LSH, but Doran's? After getting over the shock of Myrcella dying in his arms Jaime goes above deck intent on seizing Trystane only to find Bronn captive, a bunch of swords pointed at him and Trystane directing the captain to turn back to Dorne. Doran reveals his plan and keeps Jaime prisoner, then he sends the Sand Snakes and Ellaria to KL where no one would touch them because he has Jaime. This will merge LSH storyline with Doran's and make Jaime a prisoner. And we know the Ironborn are going to make an appearance, since they were casting a character that sounded pretty much like Euron Greyjoy. Meanwhile, Ramsey has lost his pets and the snows might resume pretty soon, effectively keeping the Boltons and their men north of Moat Cailin. So, the throne will be in a situation pretty similar to the books. Your thoughts?

I loved this chapter. I liked that it showed Jon's internal moral compass. He could have made things easier for himself by ignoring Sam's issues, but he doesn't. He takes it upon himself to do the right thing and stand up for the weaker guy. Even though he grew up marginalized and hated by Catelyn and he sitll has some resentment about that, he did learn some of the best things Ned had to teach. I suppose I'm overly naive or perhaps rigid in my thinking, but I adore good guys that do what's right when a more morally grey course would benefit them immensely. Guess that's why I'm a sucker for good guys, he, he!

He also said that even though someone in fandom had already guessed the ending, he wasn't going to change it because that would be cheating. He said that he put the clues there for a reason and that it's fair if someone guesses. I think that comment has more to do with the time he is taking to write the next book than with the story itself. He has lost interest in writing the rest because he already knows everything that's going to happen, so, now, every time he sits down to write, it's a chore, not an enjoyable experience and this is probably one of the reasons why he has taken so long.

Make room for me, please!

Well, we don't know if he is legitimate or not. The Targs were allowed to have multiple wives, plus, I've been wondering recently why there would be three King's Guard (out of seven, almost half) at the Tower of Joy. The King's Guard was established to protect the royal family, not the people they supposedly kidnapped. And this is specially true in times of war. In Ned's dream when he's recovering from his face-off with Jamie and his Lannister guards outside the brothel in KL, he recalls telling the three KG there that he had expected to see them at the Trident, when Rhaegar was killed, and at the palace, when Aerys was killed, to which they give him non-answers (had we been at the Trident, Robert would be dead; Jamie is not a true brother of the KG). But the point remains, they were in charge of protecting Aerys and Rhaegar, the King and Crown Prince, with their lives; the unspoken question is "why are you here guarding my sister and not protecting those you swore to protect?" This contingent of three included Dayne, The Sword of the Morning, a KG so revered and famous that he had songs made after him. It looked highly suspicious to me. My theory is that Rhaegar charged them with protecting his second wife, Lyanna, who, by marriage would be a princes of the royal family and their son, Jon. By that time Rhaegar might have figured out that Aegon wasn't the prince that was promised, but Jon was.

They remind me of Lena tweetting that picture of a heart made with stones and then tweetting that she wasn't sorry about it.

I don't know how they'll handle it on the show, but in the books it takes a while for the sparrows to rise to power. Basically what happens is a full blown revolution of sorts. Think of France before their revolution. All throughout Westeros, except the North, Dorne and the Citadel the sparrows are rising, they are everywhere. Thousands and thousands of them are on a pilgrimage to KL and the common people support them more than the Lords and Ladies. They control the masses now. Cersei can have an army going in and killing all the sparrows in the High Sept of Baelor (where the High Sparrow is in the books and I think on the show, too), but that will mean flat out rebellion from almost every corner of the kingdom. And that's not an outcome that would benefit the monarchy or the ruling classes. There are more common people than soldiers. They may hold the weapons, but they can't kill them all. Kevan (Cersei's uncle, Twyn's brother), who is Hand of the King in the books and in the show when the Walk of Shame happens understands this and he is trying to fix all the messes that Cersei caused when she was ruling. In the books her political messes are even worse than on the show. She has alienated all the houses, particularly the Tyrells, and her Master of Ships, who spent a fortune building a fleet abandoned her too (that's in the books, but I don't think it'll ever come up in the show). Kevan is basically trying to negotiate and fix the clusterfuck that is the 7 kingdoms by the time Cersei walks. In the books, after the walk, she has no power. Even if she is the Queen Mother. The only ally she has is Qyburn. Again, I don't know what they will do on the show with her character now.

Ka-ching!!!

Ugh! Podemos is scum, and I say this as a person that an American Republican would disdainfully call a liberal. They support and praise the Bolivarian Revolution in Venezuela, the country where I was born and that has been destroyed by Hugo Chavez, his cronies and successors. They are not left wing anything, they are populists of the worst kind taking advantage of a jaded, disillusioned and politically / economically challenged majority. I hope they never ever get to power.

You're not alone! Namaste! HBO wouldn't, though. Money is not an infinite resource.

Hi! Living in Spain here. Spaniards have been ranting against the monarchy for ages now. I agree the figure doesn't contribute much to the political / economic scene. The last King, Juan Carlos, who resigned so his son Felipe could take over, didn't do the Royal family any favors and his daughter has been involved in a high profile corruption scandal. Even so, I doubt they'll depose the monarchy. But I'm sure the jokes are hilarious! :D

Or, you know, as they say in logistics management, FIFO (First In, First Out). She swore a vow to Renly first, and Sansa didn't signal her for days and days on end. I suspect she's caught in Westerosi crazy morals that Jaime outlined so well at the pools: vows upon vows, which ones do you keep? how do you prioritize?

Playing Devil's advocate, she could just land the blow on the tree he was leaning on, right above his head.

Because he has Varys who comes from Essos and presumably knows a lot about the continent and Mereen? ___________________________________________ This was in the unsullied thread: LOL!