Completely Unspoiled Speculation Thread

[90PercentGravity]

Sorry to interrupt the Who Killed Joffrey Baratheon spec, but I just had a totally outlandish and very likely ridiculous thought. I was watching the episode where the witch is supposed to be healing Drogo, but ends up turning him into a vegetable and taking Dany's baby. Right after the scene where Jorah carries Dany into the tent, it cuts to the scene where Shea, Bronn, and Tyrion are goofing off at the war camp, and Shea is holding her arm over a flame seemingly without pain. I started to wonder if Shea might have Targaryan blood, which I know is not a unique idea, but then I was thinking about how she has dark hair and dark eyes. That lead me to think about the other character who is sometimes spec'd to have Targaryan blood, Jon Snow. Then it occurred to me that Shea and Jon Snow are probably around the same age?

Now, I don't really buy into the idea that Jon Snow is Rhaegar and Lyanna's, but, if he were, what if it wasn't just one baby, but twins. Ned took the boy child, because boys are valuable and can do work, and shipped the girl child off to Essos. This all may have come up before, I'm sure. It might be a little too Days of our Lives.

[Pallas]

I also thought the tree told Bran to "look for me under the tree, North."

 

Right you are, ChocButtterfly.  "Look for me, under the tree."  Like a clue to a Hidden Immunity Idol.  

Bolton said that he planned to exchange Theon against the moat held by the Iron Islanders.

 

That was Bolton's original plan, he said, which Ramsey scuttled by maiming Theon.  Now Bolton's sending Ramsey to secure the Moat himself, with Theon along in case he proves "useful." 

what if it wasn't just one baby, but twins. Ned took the boy child, because boys are valuable and can do work, and shipped the girl child off to Essos

 

Interesting idea, 90%, but I don't see Ned as a baby-shipper of any ilk.  Kids R Ned.  He would probably have been, if anything, even more protective of a girl-child.

So does that mean that Gendry is toast even if Melisandre doesn't sacrifice him?  Or does it mean that Melisandre would be forfeit it to that power for not providing the ritual sacrifice required in a magic rite (let it be, let it be)...or does the Lord of Light exact a different punishment?  Would it be Stannis who has to pay because he spoke the words?  I'm down with that.

 

Heh.  Well, if the Lord of Light looks to Yahweh as a model, then yes, the compact is between the Deity and the Worshipper, not the Sacrifice.  Stannis owes him one. 

[90PercentGravity]

Bolton said that he planned to exchange Theon against the moat held by the Iron Islanders.

I was watching one of the season 3 episodes, maybe the first one, and noticed some symmetry in this conversation and the one where Tyrion is explaining the Cersei that they have no leverage to get Jaime back because (paraphrasing) "we had three Starks to trade, you cut the head off one and another is in the wind."

Edited April 17, 2014 by 90PercentGravity

[abelard]

Sorry for non-attribution of ideas:

*Balon Greyjoy's imminent leech death: Maybe this is why (story-wise) Yara had to leave the Iron Islands?  Just to *not* be where her daddy is when he gets flayed to death?  I am hoping that Yara somehow survives the Reign of Eww...Boltons and just...I don't even know...sails all the way 'round to Essos or whatever.  Pentos or wherever Illiryo the Wedding Planner was from.  I definitely don't want Yara anywhere close to the Iron Islands when the Boltons go there, which I think they will after they're done with the Moat, whatever that is.

*Shae being part-Targ and a possible Dragon: LOVE THIS SPEC.  Omg that would be just AWESOME.  She took a ship from Volantis for Westeros when she was 13.  (She began to tell Cersei about that the night of Blackwater.)  What if 13 was the age where one's Dragon-ness becomes apparent?  Like in some X-Men, their mutant powers manifest at puberty.  Maybe when she realized she was part-Targ, she sailed for Westeros with some half-baked idea of going to her ancestors' "homeland" like Dany is always dreaming of?  Only to find...it's not quite a pleasant homey place.  Shae: The Disillusioned Dragon.  (Btw, this could be the reason why Tyrion wasn't quite able to guess her background correctly in the drinking game -- she maybe was both lowborn and highborn, if she were the bastard child of a Targ descendant or something?)

 

[izabella]

Ok, so if Ramsey is heading to the Iron Islands, and Yara is heading to Dreadfort, doesn't that mean they're likely to run into each other at some point?   I'm confused by the Moat.  Is that part of the Iron Islands?

Edited April 18, 2014 by izabella

[ChocButterfly]

I think Moat is in the North, and that's why Bolton wants to take it back. Also, I assumed Yara was the one holding Moat, so yeah, she and Ramsey will run into each other. Let's hope she'll kill him and resue poor Theon, but if you think this story has a happy ending, you haven't been paying attention...

[90PercentGravity]

Maybe if Balon held onto Theon's favorite toy some blood magic can reattach it, but I doubt it would be as good as new.

[WhiteStumbler]

The Red God brought Dondarrion back from the dead. All things are possible if you believe in the One True God. Have faith, Theon.

Edited April 18, 2014 by WhiteStumbler

[North Star]

Tommen is underage, so I guess that means the council decides?

Not good for Tyrion, since the council consists of Cersei (his accuser), Pycelle (who Tyrion threw in the cells), Varys (who likes him), Tywin (who hates him, but hopefully doesn't want him dead). Tyrion himself is the 5th member of the council, but I assume he won't get a vote. So assuming Tywin votes for Tyrion's innocence then it's whoever becomes Master of Coin that decides Tyrion's fate?

Or does the Hand of the King just make the decision in this situation?

We saw Ned as Hand passing sentence on the Mountain by himself, which would fit with the standard medieval justice model.  I would imagine both the Hand and the Regent would have the authority to sit in judgement; given that Tywin is Hand, it probably doesn't matter who the Regent is (if it Cersei I imagine she'd want that job herself, but again, I doubt Tywin would cede that to her).

[gingerella]

*Shae being part-Targ and a possible Dragon: LOVE THIS SPEC.  Omg that would be just AWESOME.  She took a ship from Volantis for Westeros when she was 13.  (She began to tell Cersei about that the night of Blackwater.)  What if 13 was the age where one's Dragon-ness becomes apparent?  Like in some X-Men, their mutant powers manifest at puberty.  Maybe when she realized she was part-Targ, she sailed for Westeros with some half-baked idea of going to her ancestors' "homeland" like Dany is always dreaming of?  Only to find...it's not quite a pleasant homey place.  Shae: The Disillusioned Dragon.  (Btw, this could be the reason why Tyrion wasn't quite able to guess her background correctly in the drinking game -- she maybe was both lowborn and highborn, if she were the bastard child of a Targ descendant or something?)

But how could she be part-Targ AND a Dragon? I thought they, Targ's, would probably have to be of pure blood and have that freaky deaky platinum blond hair. Shae is nothing like what we have thus far seen of Dany and her demento bro. I dunno...I want to know Shae's backstory, but I dont feel the Dragon vibe. Doesnt mean she isnt, but I'm not feeling thatabout her.

[Ace]

I don't see Shae as any sort of dragon, but, I think there is more to her than meets the eye. She has never behaved like any of the known whores we've seen in the show. I can't imagine a real whore refusing a bag full of real diamonds (that was clincher), no matter how much she liked her client and her disgust at the gold chain that Tyrion gave her.  I suspect she was/is a spy. 

The story Tyrion told about the girl he saved and married which was in fact a setup by Jamie for Tyrion to lose his virginity seemed quiet prophetic. I believe Shae was sent to Tyrion by Tywin Lannister to report on his activities.

[ChocButterfly]

I've always thought there was some mysterious past about Shae, but they kind of dropped that story, so I don't know. In the former forums we also had speculations that she could be Twyin' s spy, but we saw him giving orders to get her to the Tower after the wedding.

Did they change the kid that plays Tommen? It seems they did, but why didn't recast someone younger?? He's suposed to be what, 8,9?? That new kid is already as tall as Cersei!! And in a less than a year he'll have the same problem as Bran, start growing a mustache at all. If they were going to change actors, they should've picked a really small kid to make it believable.

I had spitballed that Margeary would end up killing Joffrey herself, but on her WEDDING NIGHT, not before! Now she won't be able to claim to have a child of his, that's why I don't think the Tyrells did it. Again, it was just a couple of hours to wait. We have a saying in Spanish: " el que espera lo mucho, espera lo poco"; meaning after you wait for something too long, you don't mind waiting a bit more.

[abelard]

I believe Shae was sent to Tyrion by Tywin Lannister to report on his activities.

 

Hm.  If this is true, then Tywin's order to send Shae to the Tower of the Hand has different meaning.  Tywin could have sent Shae in there (to spy on Tyrion), then made a ruckus about killing the next whore he catches Tyrion with partly to make sure Tyrion bonds with Shae, and then when Cersei gleefully reported her findings to Tywin, he could have been thinking he would have to re-set the game lest his "cover" be blown (his "cover" being that he despises any of Tyrion's theoretical whores).  Interesting spec!!!!

[stillshimpy]

I think that spec is pretty unlikely.  Tywin has been threatening the living snot out of Tyrion about consorting with prostitutes all along, here's the thing: Tyrion's been kind of listening to him and steering clear of Shae for a while now.  So that's not a good plan for spying.  

Also, Tyrion met Shae around the time that Tywin tried to put Tyrion in Death's way with the ...what would we call them?  Monty Python Players from the Vale?  ...those guys, the ones with the amusing hats.  The ones that shouted "Half man! Half Man!"   Tryion would have died there (and Tywin seemed to have that in mind for him "Hurray, a death on the battlefield, I'm off the hook for his continued existence." ) had it not been for Robb Stark's fakeout.  

It's an interesting theory, it just doesn't seem a particularly plausible one.  Or one that makes a ton of sense, actually.  The only thing Tryion has really been hiding from his father is...Shae....and that he hasn't been having sex with Sansa, but he hasn't actually even been hiding that from Tywin, so talk about an open "No.  I won't.  Deal." secret.  

What would Shae be reporting?  "Tyrion still likes sex.  Now he's too afraid that you'll gut me and make a tennis racket out of my innards to want to have sex, but he's still not having sex with Sansa, so epic fail on that plan...but then he already told you he's not having sex with Sansa, so...thanks for the paycheck.  Also, Varys has somehow missed that I'm your spy, which considering I yell my head off wherever I go, seems even more unlikely."  

Edited April 18, 2014 by stillshimpy

[RadiantAerynSun]

I kind of take Shae at face value. No mysterious past there. I DO however think she did get safely out of King's Landing and may be next seen with Illyrio over in Pentos! I hope so anyway! Maybe she will meet up with Dany.

Speaking of Dany. Did anyone else notice that when we swung over to "the other side of the world" in the credits this time, rather than going off to the east across the Narrow Sea, we swung a left off to the West (didn't see if there was another body of water??) to get to Dany's current locale. Could she have literally wrapped around thew orld? Maybe they will now be approaching Westeros from the western side instead of the eastern shore across the Narrow sea? Is there even a body of water between her and Westeros or do the two continents touch in an isthmus or something??

[gingerella]

Speaking of Miss Dany, she of the Traveling Dragon Pants...So, like, is she just marching hither and yon, and any city she comes across she just smites with her Dragons and Unsullied army? I mean, shit, that doesnt seem very strategery-like to me. At some point, she is going have her non-flammable ass handed to her. Seems like The Great DraGone Death March if you ask me (yeah, I know nobody asked me but still, its weird).

[ChocButterfly]

I thought the same thing, RadiantAeryn, Dany seems to be traveling farther and farther to the East, the exact opposite of where she's suposed to go. So maybe she'll go full circle and end up in Westeros either way.

And as for what is she doing, Gingerella, well I thought she had a plan, like grow her army even more before she got home and wait for her dragons to get a bit bigger. However, I'm starting to think she's not planning much and just really started liking the whole freeing slaves thing.

[Pallas]

I think it's a bit of all the elements you mentioned, ChocButterfly and gingerella: build an army and let the dragons mature, while meanwhile, Dany's vision of herself as the Emancipator of Essos is gaining a life of its own.  "Mission creep," with dragons.

[gingerella]

I was reading a post on the Unsullied Stark thread, which I hope Pallas whill copy over to here because it begs long term speculation...

...and it made me think of who will outlast most people, I like to call it the "Cockroach Theory" because its about who will outlive, outlast, outplay...WAIT! That sounds so familiar to me...

Anyway, I think most, of not all of the Stark kids left will be left standing when all is said and done. Why? After I read Pallas' awesome Ode ToHouse Stark in another thread, I thought about her, Starkian theory and, well, it just makes sense. I want Ned and Cat and Robb and all those who faithfully served them to not have died in vain. I want the remaining Stark siblings (Arya, Sansa, Bran, Rickon and Jon Snow - thats actually quite a lot of remaining Starks when you count them all up) to end up reuniting somewhere down the line and turn out to have the most House left of anyone. I want the children of Ned-the-Good Stark to far exceed their father's goodness legacy by actually saving their entire world from WWs, giant spiders, and, well, Winter...because, yanno, it IS coming (yeah, right Winter, whatev).

Anyway, that's what I'm thinking right now...maybe I will change my mind tomorrow.

Edited April 19, 2014 by gingerella

[DemosthenesKey]

White Stumbler, I think I may be with you on the Lord of Light thing... 

If Daddy Greyjoy dies, I'm converting. 

Anyway, my spec for tomorrow is that that vision we saw from Bran will have been the only interesting thing that happens to him all season. Maybe it was just me, but it felt a lot like the showrunners throwing us a bone, as if to say, "We promise things'll get better down the line!"

That might be a bit meta, though.

[ChocButterfly]

Heh, I had said that if the LoL killed Joffrey, I'd convert as well. So,: "For the night is dark and full of terrors!"

I don't know how to quote on this tablet, Constantinople, but regarding Margeary killing Joffrey on their wedding night, I didn't mean that she'd plan to do it, but that it would probably happened by accident. I thought that knowing Joffrey, he'd get freaky and dangerous, and that Marge would have had to defend herself with his crossbow. But I guess it doesn't matter know. I still think something so well planned like this could've waited a bit more. Joffrey could've gotten poisoned any other time, at breakfast, lunch. It would have actually been easier to do than at the wedding.

[Pallas]

I still think something so well planned like this could've waited a bit more. Joffrey could've gotten poisoned any other time, at breakfast, lunch. It would have actually been easier to do than at the wedding.

You're so right, Choc Butterfly: another reason I yield to shimpy's deduction that the pie is the more likely culprit than the wine.  If no one else who drank wine served from carafes set at that table so much as suffered a hangover, then the only suspect is someone who could poison the wine within Joffrey's goblet, while facing hundreds of witnesses. The pie, though, was accessible to all manner of people out there in the kitchen, and was not under the same kind of scrutiny there. 

[ChocButterfly]

I also think it was the pie, Pallas. Joffrey started acting weird after eating it, not right away, cuz these things take some time to work. Although I mut say that poison worked super fast! But why do we keep saying "pie", wasn't that cake? Pie is another thing, no?

I'm not worried about Locke finding Bran. He's already on the other side of the Wall. He could run into WW or Wildings, but not Boltons.

I'm a bit confused of why Twyin needs the Tyrell's gold so much to pay for the Crown's debts, as Olynna was saying. Supposedly the Lannisters are the richest of them all. Grain, I understand, but not gold. Speaking of those 2, don't you think they'd make a lovely couple?

 

 

Heh. I really like those Martells, they seem so liberal! They even invite their bastard lovers to Royal weddings and all. I'd like to meet Oberyn's wife, though. Let's see iff she's so cool with her husband bringing his mistress to he King's wedding.

[Pallas]

I'm a bit confused of why Twyin needs the Tyrell's gold so much to pay for the Crown's debts, as Olynna was saying. Supposedly the Lannisters are the richest of them all. Grain, I understand, but not gold. Speaking of those 2, don't you think they'd make a lovely couple?

Richest of them all, but now that they're running the kingdom, they've inherited Robert's empty coffers and his debt to the Bank of Braavos.  A Bank may hold A Lion's paw to the fire.  And they've been fighting a war on several fronts, and are still engaged against Stannis, even if the Boltons bring the Greyjoys to heel.  

Olenna and Tywin would be formidable indeed.  But Tywin seems to have sworn off marriage, or he'd have seen fit to try to produce a male heir not sworn into the King's Guard and not Tyrion.  Instead he's just the Seven Kingdom's Dolly Levi.  

I'd like to meet Oberyn's wife, though. Let's see if she's so cool with her husband bringing his mistress to he King's wedding.

It's possible Oberyn isn't married: perhaps his older brother has done a better job of producing heirs than Tywin.  If Lord Gout was about the same age as his sister, Rhaegar's wife,  those heirs -- Oberyn's nephews -- might be older than Oberyn himself.  Or who knows! Perhaps in Dionysian Dorne, women, bastards and other curiosities can rule.   

[WhiteStumbler]

ANOTHER episode where NO ONE mentions Benjen.

Benjen Stark!

WUT ABOUT BENJEN?!?!

.

[DemosthenesKey]

Well okay then.

 

My speculation is that Tommen's mind will be unable to comprehend a lecture on the birds and the bees from Tywin, and he will proceed to become the Maddest King There Ever Was.

[stillshimpy]

ANOTHER episode where NO ONE mentions Benjen.

Benjen Stark!

WUT ABOUT BENJEN?!?!

Right? What the hell, Show?  I realize he was sort of a minor character in terms of story importance, but by the Giant's Eyeball, the entire Night's Watch decamped to try and find him.  

Now, that went just as spectacularly wrong as almost all things Starkian do on this show, but it's positively weird how the show just pretends things never happened.  Apparently Allister Thorne never took the Dead Man's Paw to King's Landing and after two seasons of "Where the hell is he?" they just sneaked him in like he'd been there all along.  Hanging out with Aemon, cheating him at chess or whatever Thorne did for two solid seasons.  

I swear, it's going to be like the end of Ferris Bueller.  After the final credits roll, destruction, dust, probably more incest somehow, because A Show has a genuine problem, there will be a disembodied voice calling "Hello?  Anyone here? I'm back!" and seven different characters will chorus, "Benjen, is that you?"  "Yes, I have returned from the store! I got those eggs, some cheese and bread and that random ass thing that always makes the clerk stare at me like 'what the hell are you cooking up at home, dude?' the box of Brillo Pads....Did I miss anything?"  *slam to black for good*

[DirewolfPup]

ChocButterfly, I believe they call it a pie in the show. Maergery says "Oh, look! the pie!" To stop the whole Kneel scene. And Joffs himself calls it a pie. "This pie is dry!"

Poor Benjen uncle benny. How long has he been missing? Two years? At this point, I hope he's dead. He'd be a crazy, loner, half-ape by now.

[AlphaLine]

Okay , the whole Dragonstone plotline is a mess.

First I thought they are going to the Wall, then they stand around burning stuff and now sending letters to the Iron bank? Like wtf.

Oh, and apparently Stannis has no army and no gold. Well, you spent a season and a half sitting around on that island and burning infidels who don't convert to your religion, and now you find that no one supports you. What a surprise.

[izabella]

I'm mad at Stannis, too, AlphaLine.  I thought we'd see him making his way to the Wall after having abandoned the whole Iron Throne thing.  But he certainly doesn't sound like he's abandoned the quest for the throne. 

Maybe I'm getting disenchanted with this show since it seems like very little is happening.  There are so many people and disparate story lines to cover each episode, so we're moving along at a snail's pace, and not getting anywhere.  And then we have so many minutes spent with Sam and Gilly, sigh. 

Even Joffrey's death is almost a non-event.  Cersei is the only one who cares, and it really changed nothing, except to get Sansa in Littlefinger's clutches.

[90PercentGravity]

Who is still MIA? Gendry, Blackfish, Osha, Rickon... anyone else? (Besides Benjen, Benjen being MIA goes without saying).

I feel confident that Gendry and Blackfish will become very important in the near future. I'm not sure about Osha and Rickon, however. It is not clear to me if they are even still part of the story.

[MrMicrophone]

Alpha,

no one was supporting Stannis at any point. Hence why he was desperate enough to try listening to Mel in the first place.

[abelard]

 

 

Who is still MIA? Gendry, Blackfish, Osha, Rickon... anyone else? (Besides Benjen, Benjen being MIA goes without saying).

I feel confident that Gendry and Blackfish will become very important in the near future. I'm not sure about Osha and Rickon, however. It is not clear to me if they are even still part of the story.

I was so sure it was Benjen Stark when the one blast for rangers returning sounded last night.  Oh well.

I think that Osha and Rickon are gone until just before this whole story ends.  I think Rickon will come back after it's all over with the WW and dragons, a big strapping young man who looks a lot like his father and brothers and returns to Winterfell as the new Lord and sets everything right again there.  I don't think we will see him before then.  But I would like to think the Umbers are treating him and Osha well offscreen.

I do think Gendry and Blackfish will be important.  Bolton remarked on Blackfish having gotten away from the Red Wedding, Frey did not seem concerned.  I trust Bolton's evil judgement more than Frey's.

Also, I count Shae as missing now. 

Edited April 21, 2014 by abelard

[izabella]

So what is Brienne going to be doing now that Sansa has left KL?  Not that she even spoke to Sansa while she was there, but she was going on to Jamie about her promise to Catlynn. 

Now, neither Arya nor Sansa are in KL, and no one knows where they are.  Will Brienne try to find them?  It seems like she has no role on the show at this point anymore, unless she decides to stay with Jamie for some reason.

Who is still MIA? Gendry, Blackfish, Osha, Rickon... anyone else? (Besides Benjen, Benjen being MIA goes without saying).

We haven't seen Yara yet, though we know she is on her way to find Theon.

[arry the orphan]

 

And as for what is she doing, Gingerella, well I thought she had a plan, like grow her army even more before she got home and wait for her dragons to get a bit bigger. However, I'm starting to think she's not planning much and just really started liking the whole freeing slaves thing.

Dany always put anti-slavery above anything else. Her first order as Khalessi was that the horde should stop, because the slaves were tired. After Drogo agreed to invade Westeros, Dany screwed up by because she didn't like that they pay for ships by taking slaves. And now she is freeing slave cities. I am not sure she is even thinking about conquering the Seven Kingdoms anymore. I wonder if Talissa's city (Volantis?) might be next on her list?

[RadiantAerynSun]

I hope Brienne goes looking for Sansa, and drags lousy Jaime along with her, if only to get him away from the toxic relationship with Cersei. UGH! At this point, I am sure Cersei would thank her for taking him away.

[WhiteStumbler]

Radiant: "I hope Brienne goes looking for Sansa, and drags lousy Jaime along with her"

Road Trip 2: Quest for Sansa. I like it!

[DirewolfPup]

Huge Spitball Alert!!

Okay. How is Tyrion going to get out of this? If he could talk his way into trial by combat, he should call out Brienne of Tarth. She's all honor and servitude, so she'd comply no question. Then the challenger to vouch for Cersei would be.... Jamie. Tyrion is the only one who knows he can't fight. Jamie would loose, Tyrion would be free, and Jamie would have shift on his face :)

[RadiantAerynSun]

I kind of think they will go through the trial, and Oberyn's vote will be important, but even moreso, somebody is going to have to convince Tywin/Tyrell that Tyrion isn't guilty too (or at least that it's best if he not be voted guilty). Wonder if it has to be unanimous or just best out of 3?

[DirewolfPup]

I kind of think they will go through the trial, and Oberyn's vote will be important, but even moreso, somebody is going to have to convince Tywin/Tyrell that Tyrion isn't guilty too (or at least that it's best if he not be voted guilty). Wonder if it has to be unanimous or just best out of 3?

If it's best out of 3, Tyrion has a real shot. All he has to do is be charismatic and smart enough to convince Oberyn, then swaying Tyrell wouldn't be too hard. Wouldn't that be the best? 2 of 3 vote innocent. Tywin is the one guilty vote. ugh. I could see that happening.

[stillshimpy]

I was so sure it was Benjen Stark when the one blast for rangers returning sounded last night.  Oh well.

Oh good, it wasn't just me.  I definitely had a moment of "Benjen? Benjen? Tired-Timothy-Dalton is that you?!?"  Instead it turned out to be refugees from Camp Craster's Continual Suck. 

[WhiteStumbler]

Another plot moving backward: Jon Snuh. Yeah, let's go BACK to Crasters; the first time there wasn't enough suck.

[abelard]

Agree with all comments above re: Tyrion's trial (most likely scenario: best 2 out of 3 wins, Tywin's is the sole vote against Tyrion) and the monstrous suck of Camp Craster (at this point I'll give one hundred gold dragons to whomever can get Gilly, her baby, and all mentions of Craster off this show permanently and forever).

Launching another (retro) spitball: Dorne was the only one of the 7K to successfully resist Aegon and his dragons.  How?  Why?  

Someone in the ep 3 thread (White Stumbler, maybe?) specc'd that it's because Dorne is made up of islands, maybe it's harder for dragons to subdue islands.

I think maybe Dorne is just "built" differently than the other 6K.  Dorne seems waaaayyyy more flexible in its mores, way less class-stratified.  It also seems rich.  Rich and abundant and full of good wine and good times, and a more egalitarian society than the other kingdoms, and lots of sex (and bastards - 10,000 Sands by Niobe's estimate [sorry, don't know her name on this show - that was her name on HBO's Rome]).  Maybe something innate to Dornish society and culture just made it possible for them to fight off dragons.  Like...instead of a standing army fighting against the dragons by themselves, every single in person in Dorne got organized for the anti-dragon fight?  And with sufficient organization, the civilians were able to help, I don't know, construct fireproof battlements or something?

I'd like to hear other retro-spitballs on this.  Just seems hard to fight off dragons, is all.

[Pallas]

That makes three times.  Three times, the Crows at Crasters.  When indeed we might instead have welcomed home our Timjen Stark. Bit of a "good news/bad news story" situation for Jon, as he updates his uncle, but nonetheless.  

[Pallas]

Dorne and dragons: Tywin said that Dorne "withstood" Aegon and his dragons, which is not necessarily the same as fighting them off.  It seems too that Dorne retained its own monarchy and is a separate princely state within the Seven Kingdoms.  Perhaps they withstood Aegon by diplomatic means.  They may have made a separate peace with him, independent of the other six Lands, so that the dragons never darkened Dornish skies (and lands). 

[abelard]

Dorne and dragons: Tywin said that Dorne "withstood" Aegon and his dragons, which is not necessarily the same as fighting them off.  It seems too that Dorne retained its own monarchy and is a separate princely state within the Seven Kingdoms.  Perhaps they withstood Aegon by diplomatic means.  They may have made a separate peace with him, independent of the other six Lands, so that the dragons never darkened Dornish skies (and lands). 

I definitely noticed that Dorne still has "princes" and "princesses" whereas the other 7K had to let go their "royal" titles and become "Lord Stark," "Lord Arryn," etc. (rather than King Stark or King Arryn and so on).  I think that whatever happened with Dorne and Aegon, Dorne got to hold onto their royal titles (or at least all titles but King/Queen) because they were special - they were never subdued by the dragons.  Whether by peacemaking or warmaking, Dorne got to literally rank higher than the other 6K in the post-Aegon world. 

[stillshimpy]

I definitely noticed that Dorne still has "princes" and "princesses" whereas the other 7K had to let go their "royal" titles and become "Lord Stark," "Lord Arryn," etc. (rather than King Stark or King Arryn and so on).  I think that whatever happened with Dorne and Aegon, Dorne got to hold onto their royal titles (or at least all titles but King/Queen) because they were special - they were never subdued by the dragons.  Whether by peacemaking or warmaking, Dorne got to literally rank higher than the other 6K in the post-Aegon world.

Is that what that's about?  Good, it was driving me crazy trying to figure out why they had a Crown Prince and ruling family.  Okay, makes sense.  I swear, sometimes I wish they'd have Tyrion have to hang out with Tommen (who is much bigger than he was the last time we saw him) during a lesson and drill him on some history.  

ETA: I haven't totally lost my mind, right?  Or rather this isn't evidence of that.  They totally SORAS'd Tommen, didn't they? 

Edited April 21, 2014 by stillshimpy

[Pallas]

It was canny of the writers not to have Margaery and Olenna spend one moment discussing (in our presence) who might have done the deed.  Or the disappearance of the Stark girl.  If  Olenna was involved in the poisoning, I suppose we can assume that the most certain vote against Tyrion will be that of Mace. Not that I think Mace knew of the plan -- I'm sure he did not -- but Olenna would surely explain it all to him, that is, how Tyrion was the culprit who tried to ruin Mace's brilliant alliance...

Olenna's had it pretty much her own way in the beguiling figure she has cut, and I'm afraid it's about time we saw a little of her own ruthlessness.  If Joffrey was poisoned by wine, the list of alternative suspects is extremely small.  I suppose it's also possible that Olenna, connoisseur of necklaces, did notice something about Sansa's: either recognized it as being what Dontos said it was (making Littlefinger a liar: I know!), or paste, or poison.

Oh, and there's another time we have every reason to suspect that Littlefinger set up Tyrion: the most famous knife in Unspoiled Speculation.

[WhiteStumbler]

"The most famous knife in Unspoiled Speculation"

Knifey! How I've missed you!!

[stillshimpy]

***hop hop hop*** pssssst, yeah, you buddy, c'mere**** hop hop hop*** do a blade a favor, would ya?***hop hop hop*** where ya going? I can pay! check out my hilt! C'mon, ya just need to stab that kid, he's sleeping, it'll go fine, then you get to keep meeeeeeeee! ***hop hop hop*** 

Game of Thrones: The secret chronicles of Knifey.  The world's most identifiable cutlery.  

Edited April 22, 2014 by stillshimpy