Ask A BookWalker: Questions From The Unspoiled

[AshleyN]

25 minutes ago, Maximum Taco said:

A Sorrowful Man does come after her, but it's in the guise of a merchant, and he tries to kill her with a live manticore.

An assassin also tries to kill her with poisoned wine, but it's not really specified whether this is an assassin from a guild, or just some guy looking to cash in.

I don't remember any other assassination attempts on Dany.

Didn't they replace the merchant with a little girl on the show? But kept the manticore. I guess I just assumed they were from the same organization, but come to think of it, I can't remember if the Sorrowful Men were ever mentioned on the show, so she could have been from anywhere.

That being said, I feel like if I Faceless Man had been sent for her, it would have been made more clear.

[Hecate7]

8 hours ago, AshleyN said:

I thought it was a Sorrowful Man that came for Dany?

I thought that the little girl with the manticore was a Faceless Man, because she changed into a man with blue lips. She could have been a Warlock, but I didn't know that the Warlocks were such masters of disguise that they could transform themselves into little girls. If so, the FM better watch out--the Warlocks have them completely beat. On the show we haven't even heard of the Sorrowful Men, and the Warlocks weren't really gone into in any detail, and so I thought it was a FM.

I remember the wine seller--he wasn't disguised at all.

[Hecate7]

There are no Sorrowful Men on the show. that is why I was confused.

[MissLucas]

Someone in the book talk thread mentioned something about a white raven sent by the Citadel indicating that winter is finally coming - is that a set rule? And where is the Citadel located that it can decide upon the arrival of winter. And what exactly does it mean - except snow and bad weather?

Spoiler

Just asking because the white bird in the preview confused me. I thought it was a dove. And winter finally coming sounded more like a joke than something that would ever happen.

[Maximum Taco]

7 hours ago, MissLucas said:

Someone in the book talk thread mentioned something about a white raven sent by the Citadel indicating that winter is finally coming - is that a set rule? And where is the Citadel located that it can decide upon the arrival of winter. And what exactly does it mean - except snow and bad weather?

  Hide contents

Just asking because the white bird in the preview confused me. I thought it was a dove. And winter finally coming sounded more like a joke than something that would ever happen.

Spoiler

 

The Citadel is located in Oldtown, the oldest and largest city in Westeros, it is located in the Southwest Reach, at the end of the Roseroad and the mouth of the Honeywine river, where it opens onto Whispering Sound and the Sunset Sea. A very warm climate reletively speaking, probably only Dorne is warmer. The Citadel is where all maesters are trained and home to the most learned of them, the Archmaesters.

Whenever the seasons change (not just when fall turns to winter, but also when winter turns to spring, spring turns to summer, and summer turns to fall) the Citadel sends white ravens to all the great castles of Westeros. They don't go into a lot of detail into how the maesters decide the season has changed, but if I were to guess they probably just measure the length of the days. The longest day (the Summer Solstice) would signal the start of summer, the shortest day (the Winter Solstice) would signal the start of winter, when the day lasts as long as the night it would be either the Vernal or Autumnal Equinox, signalling the beginning of Spring/Fall.

In Westeros these seasons can last for years, so when Summer changes to Fall, it is a sign for lords to start preparing for winter, storing food and making sure their subjects have shelter etc. When Fall changes to Winter it is a sign for people to start using those preparations, especially in the North, many peasants will travel to their lords castles in order to shelter.

 

Edited June 21, 2016 by Maximum Taco

[Bill1978]

Spoiler

Thanks for that explanation. I just assumed a white raven meant Winter was here. And that each season had a raven of particular colour.

[Haleth]

12 hours ago, MissLucas said:

Someone in the book talk thread mentioned something about a white raven sent by the Citadel indicating that winter is finally coming - is that a set rule? And where is the Citadel located that it can decide upon the arrival of winter. And what exactly does it mean - except snow and bad weather?

  Hide contents

Just asking because the white bird in the preview confused me. I thought it was a dove. And winter finally coming sounded more like a joke than something that would ever happen.

And in the book "winter is coming" is no joke.  They've already experienced terrible blizzards and freezing temperatures.  Of course the CGI budget for the show doesn't have room for this.

[MissLucas]

Thanks all for the explanation on weird weather in Westeros!

[rubyred]

Can someone explain how much of a threat the White Walkers are to the South? In another thread it was mentioned that wights can't go beyond the Wall -- presumably because they are popsicle zombies? Can the Night King venture as far south as KL, or is it the North that will be the primary target when the WWs come to call?

[Mya Stone]

11 minutes ago, rubyred said:

Can someone explain how much of a threat the White Walkers are to the South? In another thread it was mentioned that wights can't go beyond the Wall -- presumably because they are popsicle zombies? Can the Night King venture as far south as KL, or is it the North that will be the primary target when the WWs come to call?

Hey Ruby! 

 

Spoiler

In the books, the Wall has magic in it that prevents the WW from crossing through. People have speculated that Bran being marked may actually cause the Wall to tumble, allowing the WW through...but really, no one knows where they will target. The North definitely has the most to lose, and fear.

[rubyred]

29 minutes ago, Mya Stone said:

Hey Ruby! 

 

  Reveal hidden contents

In the books, the Wall has magic in it that prevents the WW from crossing through. People have speculated that Bran being marked may actually cause the Wall to tumble, allowing the WW through...but really, no one knows where they will target. The North definitely has the most to lose, and fear.

Heya! ;-)

Spoiler

Ooooh, it's magic keeping them up there. I had assumed it was weather, thus all the portents about "Winter is coming" -- that basically the timing for the advance of the WWs had to coincide with winter. And then I assumed that that meant that winter would eventually descend to the southernmost part of Westeros. It didn't occur to me that this confrontation hadn't happened yet in the books -- has it?

[Mya Stone]

1 hour ago, rubyred said:

Heya! ;-)

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Ooooh, it's magic keeping them up there. I had assumed it was weather, thus all the portents about "Winter is coming" -- that basically the timing for the advance of the WWs had to coincide with winter. And then I assumed that that meant that winter would eventually descend to the southernmost part of Westeros. It didn't occur to me that this confrontation hadn't happened yet in the books -- has it?

Spoiler

It hasn't.

 

Also...Bran the Builder (nee Stark) supposedly built both the Wall and Winterfell, so Winterfell may actually have some of the same WW prevention magic in its walls! 

[Bill1978]

Spoiler

If Rickon dies in the books the way he dies on the screen, how old is he actually? I know he is younger in the book, but not sure how much younger. Cause damn, that really adds to Ramsay's evilness if Rickon is like under 5.

Edited June 23, 2016 by Bill1978

[Maximum Taco]

4 hours ago, Bill1978 said:

  Hide contents

If Rickon dies in the books the way he dies on the screen, how old is he actually? I know he is younger in the book, but not sure how much younger. Cause damn, that really adds to Ramsay's evilness if Rickon is like under 5.

Spoiler

Rickon is 3 at the beginning of the series, at the time of the most recently published book (A Dance with Dragons) he's 5. If he dies in the books chances are he'll be 5 or 6 at the time of his death.

Edited June 23, 2016 by Maximum Taco

[morgan]

Can someone explain to me who is Jon's mother and why is she significant?  I swear I need an org chart of some kind for this show!

[Minneapple]

2 hours ago, morgan said:

Can someone explain to me who is Jon's mother and why is she significant?  I swear I need an org chart of some kind for this show!

Jon's mother is Lyanna Stark -- she's significant because she's Ned Stark's sister.  

[slf]

On 6/21/2016 at 2:42 PM, rubyred said:

Can someone explain how much of a threat the White Walkers are to the South? In another thread it was mentioned that wights can't go beyond the Wall -- presumably because they are popsicle zombies? Can the Night King venture as far south as KL, or is it the North that will be the primary target when the WWs come to call?

Spoiler

Well, there's a horn that once blown can bring the wall down. Once that happens the Walkers can pretty much go wherever they want. Now, given the timeline as of the last book and how many books there are left, even if the horn is blown early in the next book it's still unlikely the WW will make it further south than maybe the Riverlands. But they could go "as far south as south goes". 

 

4 hours ago, morgan said:

Can someone explain to me who is Jon's mother and why is she significant?  I swear I need an org chart of some kind for this show!

Spoiler

Lyanna Stark was Ned's little sister. She was engaged to Robert Baratheon; he was in lust with her, she didn't care for him at all. When she was 14 she was either seduced or abducted by Rhaegar Targaryen, who was obsessed with the Song of Ice and Fire prophecy; he believed he would father three children who would ride dragons in battle against the WW and since he only had two children with his wife, Elia, who could no longer have children, he needed a woman to give him a third child. Her family believed she was flat-out abducted and her father and brother went to KL to demand her return. Rhaegar's father, the Mad King, executed them brutally and then demanded Jon Arryn hand over Robert and Ned as well. He refused and so began Robert's Rebellion. Robert ultimately defeated Rhaegar in battle while Ned went after Lyanna, whom he founded dying in a bed soaked in her blood. He promised her he would protect Jon from his identity and would raise the boy as his own son and Lyanna died. 

[morgan]

Thank you!!!

[CofCinci]

Is there any more wildfire/explosive deposits?

[Maximum Taco]

On 6/27/2016 at 7:47 AM, CofCinci said:

Is there any more wildfire/explosive deposits?

In the show Jaime tells Brienne that the Mad King stashed wildfire almost everywhere in the city, not only beneath the Sept of Baelor, but also under the slums of Flea Bottom, under seemingly random taverns, stables, and houses and even beneath the Red Keep itself.

Spoiler

In the books it's further expanded that the Mad King stashed wildfire not only under the city proper but also under every one of the city gates, to prevent anyone from fleeing the inferno he was planning.

He wasn't kidding when he said "Burn them all!"

Edited June 29, 2016 by Maximum Taco