Winds Of Winter - Tumblr Posts

the R+L=J reveal doesn’t matter to me anymore I’m Team the Jon Snow Psychological Stew that will be Ned Stark’s lookalike at Winterfell with the Catelyn Tully lookalike and feral red-haired Rickon in his father’s house where he never felt he belonged has his Stark impostor complex validated

"If you kill a man, and never mean t', he's just as dead," Ygritte said stubbornly. Jon had never met anyone so stubborn, except maybe for his little sister Arya. Is she still my sister? he wondered. Was she ever? He had never truly been a Stark, only Lord Eddard's motherless bastard, with no more place at Winterfell than Theon Greyjoy. And even that he'd lost. When a man of the Night's Watch said his words, he put aside his old family and joined a new one, but Jon Snow had lost those brothers too.

Every morning they had trained together, since they were big enough to walk; Snow and Stark, spinning and slashing about the wards of Winterfell, shouting and laughing, sometimes crying when there was no one else to see. They were not little boys when they fought, but knights and mighty heroes. "I'm Prince Aemon the Dragonknight," Jon would call out, and Robb would shout back, "Well, I'm Florian the Fool." Or Robb would say, "I'm the Young Dragon," and Jon would reply, "I'm Ser Ryam Redwyne."

That morning he called it first. "I'm Lord of Winterfell!" he cried, as he had a hundred times before. Only this time, this time, Robb had answered, "You can't be Lord of Winterfell, you're bastard-born. My lady mother says you can't ever be the Lord of Winterfell."

I thought I had forgotten that. Jon could taste blood in his mouth, from the blow he'd taken.

In the end Halder and Horse had to pull him away from Iron Emmett, one man on either arm. The ranger sat on the ground dazed, his shield half in splinters, the visor of his helm knocked askew, and his sword six yards away. "Jon, enough," Halder was shouting, "he's down, you disarmed him. Enough!"

Not being Ned’s son will hurt, not being Robb or Arya’s brother? That’s going to destroy his sense of identity more than anything else.

My hottest hot take is that George R R Martin has no obligation to finish the Song of Ice and Fire series.

Bro let his whole adult life be consumed by SEVEN thousand-page semi-historical-fiction books with a cast of near thirty well-developed, well set-up, well-characterized characters, and a complex and realistic geopolitical enviroment just because he thought a specific historical event should be better known. He deserves to enjoy the money he made in peace, and a lot of people (hell, a lot of WRITERS) whose only knowledge of writing is barely thought-out fanfiction populated by characters whose whole personality is to be horny for the character the author thirsts over, will jump at his throat and scream about how selfish he is just because he is taking time to develop HIS OWN GODDAMN NOVEL????????????

I know its frustrating. Believe me, I have no life, my only reason to wake up in the morning is that George MIGHT finish the series. But it's HIS intellectual property. HIS book. HIS characters. It came from HIS mind. If he wants to chill and just maladaptive daydream about it for the next decade than that is his right and he doesn't deserve the hate he gets just because ya'll can't accept the fact your favorite fictional war criminal who already has seven novels worth of content isn't getting an end? Well, welcome the plights of fiction fandoms. Sometimes, it's good enough just to not fix what isn't broken.

I'm sure plenty of writers here in tumblr can sympathise with the hope to not be harassed over when the next chapter for your story is coming. Sometimes we don't know. People have lives. Struggles. Health issues. Other interests. THEY ARE NOT YOUR FAITHFUL AI SERVANT. THEY DON’T PULL STORIES OUT OF THEIR ARSES. THEY HAVE TO THINK IT, THEN MAKE IT, THE EDIT IT, THEN SEE IF THEY LIKE IT. ITS A WHOLE PROCESS.

We are so used to immediate consuption that we cannot concieve of people taking time to perfect a craft that's meant to be enjoyable to them. And if we're honest, Martin has weathered a lot of fucking bullshit in silence. From fans, to editors, to bosses, to showmakers, he has had his fair share. Much more than its ok to take in silence. Please realize that just because something is out for the public to consume it doesn’t mean that it belongs to you.

arya finding out "arya stark" is married to ramsay + she is the lady of winterfell which the boltons have claimed + jon snow is dead all while skinchanging into a cat:

Since GRRM is taking so long to finish Winds of Winter and the rest of ASOIF, here’s some visual concepts of that one moment we’ve all been waiting for … Jon Snow holding Lightbringer. Created with Midjourney.

unfortunately for jon snow, the role of "dead girl haunting the narrative" is already occupied by his mother, father, brother, sister, uncle, grandmother and step mother x2 so he's going to have to be forcibly resurrected :/

oh nooo, don't give me hope 😭 i really need this to be true...

GUYS

Me rn

So Turkish artist Ertaç Altinöz who has done official artwork for “The Rise of the Dragon”, recently posted this piece of fanart on his Twitter.

FUCKING COME ON!!!!

BUT WAIT, IT GETS BETTER:

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN, ERTAÇ?!?!?!?!?!?!

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN???????

Harrenhal during the Long Night

A few days ago I did this survey where I asked you "Where will the great battle against the White Walkers take place?". 56% of voters chose "In the North, the Wall, Winterfell", but I disagree. Here I explain why I am part of the 41% who voted "In the Riverlands, Harrenal, the Gods eye, the Trident".

Why in the Riverlands?

Let's start with: I think Winterfell will be destroyed, and definitively rebuilt only at the end of the books. So the place where the victory against the White Walkers will take place will be the Riverlands.

The Gods eye is one of the most important places for the Old Gods and the Children of the forest, we know Howland has been there I think Bran will have to go, it's a place that will become relevant to the White Walkers storyline. And it's not the only place in the Riverlands closely connected with the faith of the Old Gods - indeed, we have seen more of them here than in the North. There are: High heart with its circle of weirwood and its woods witch, the Hollow Hill where one-eyed Beric sits surrounded by weirwood roots, Raventree Hall, and Harrenhal whose building seems cursed by the gods and has a godswood big like a forest.

The conflict against the White Walkers will have to be a major event, relevant in the history of the Seven Kingdoms, so there is no way it will only involve the first northernmost castles. What repercussions would such an event have on the plot? No one would believe that the North has been attacked by creatures that everyone thinks don't exist: it would be as if it hadn't happened. The undead army must reach to at least the center of Westeros. An interesting foreshadowing is found in Daenerys III ASOS:

That night she dreamt that she was Rhaegar, riding to the Trident. But she was mounted on a dragon, not a horse. When she saw the Usurper's rebel host across the river they were armored all in ice, but she bathed them in dragonfire and they melted away like dew and turned the Trident into a torrent. Some small part of her knew that she was dreaming, but another part exulted. This is how it was meant to be.

Why will Harrenhal be important?

If the above turns out to be true, this means that a significant part of the people who inhabit the North and the Riverlands will find themselves fleeing to take refuge behind the first available walls. And as it happens, in the Riverlands there is a castle of immense proportions, mostly abandoned.

If you haven't read the chapters in which Harrenhal appears in a while, I recommend you review its architecture on the wiki (read the sections 'Walls and Towers' and 'Misc'). And then you come here and tell me that an immense place, with walls that cannot be passed through, a big pit, a great hall with more than thirty hearth, hot baths, kitchens as big as the great hall of Winterfell, and many acres of wood within the walls doesn't seem like the perfect description of a place where hundreds of people can take refuge to survive the apocalypse.

Harrenhal has impassable walls unless you have a dragon. The reason it fell so many times is that it was abandoned. Until now, fighting for the castle has been a waste of money for all the lords who have passed it. No one had enough people to guard all the gates, run all the fires, etc… not even using prisoners of war as slaves would have been enough.

But if refugees from half of the Seven Kingdoms were to occupy it, we would see those huge empty halls fill with life for the first time in centuries. Finally this cyclopean construction would make sense: it would become one of the main citadels of humanity.

Thanks for reading. If you want to find out why the other day while brushing my teeth I was struck by the brilliant intuition that Arya Stark might be the Lady of Harrenhal during the Long Night keep following me.

All TWOW sample chapters

Where to find sample chapters of The Winds of Winter, the upcoming book 6 of A Song of Ice and Fire, as of May 2016:

Theon

Arianne I

Barristan I

Summary of Barristan II (read at a con in 2013)

Victarion

Summary of Tyrion I (read at Olympus Eastercon in 2012)

Tyrion II

Mercy (Arya I)

Alayne (Sansa I)

Arianne II

The Forsaken (Aeron I)

Complete Winds of Winter Resource

what do we know about the sealord of braavos? great question glad you asked! the sealord is first mentioned in arya’s second chapter - in the entire series. 

“Nine years Syrio Forel was first sword to the Sealord of Braavos, he knows these things.” (Arya, AGOT) 

so the sealord’s existence has been a part of the worldbuilding since the very beginning - longer than a lot of other aspects. arya’s braavosi “dancing” master served as first sword to the sealord. thats a tangible connection for her to this ruler considering how important syrio becomes to arya. 

the position of first sword is elaborated on in TWOIAF a bit:

Though many a deadly swordsman can be found amongst the bravos and water dancers, by tradition the greatest of them all is the First Sword, who commands the personal guard of the Sealord and protects his person at all public events. Once chosen, Sealords serve for life. Inevitably, there are always those who wish to cut that life short to effect some change in policy. Through the centuries, the First Swords have fought many famous duels, taken part in a dozen wars, and saved the lives of scores of Sealords, for good and ill. (TWOIAF) 

syrio was most likely released from his service when the sealord died. syrio also tells arya about the sealord’s palace, specifically, his menagerie which is full of exotic animals. syrio does this to teach her a valuable lesson about the truth in a way a child can understand. 

Syrio clicked his teeth together. “The cat was an ordinary cat, no more. The others expected a fabulous beast, so that is what they saw. How large it was, they said. It was no larger than any other cat, only fat from indolence, for the Sealord fed it from his own table. What curious small ears, they said. Its ears had been chewed away in kitten fights. And it was plainly a tomcat, yet the Sealord said ‘her,’ and that is what the others saw. Are you hearing?” Arya thought about it. “You saw what was there.” (Arya, AGOT)

syrio became the first sword not because he was the best fighter but because he was smart and saw the truth. he passes that onto arya before he dies protecting her. its been indispensable advice for her so far and could possibly play a role in whatever happens with the sealord in twow. 

after that we don’t hear a lot about the sealord for awhile. not until arya arrives in braavos. 

When she looked behind her, the harbor and lagoon were lost to sight. Ahead, a row of mighty statues stood along both sides of the channel, solemn stone men in long bronze robes, spattered with the droppings of the seabirds. Some held books, some daggers, some hammers. One clutched a golden star in his upraised hand. Another was upending a stone flagon to send an endless stream of water splashing down into the canal. “Are they gods?” asked Arya. “Sealords,” said Yorko. (Arya, AFFC) 

the ‘canal of heroes’ is lined on each side with statues of deceased sealords each bearing an emblem that represents them. the sealord is the ruler of braavos - which is generally regarded as the most powerful of the free cities. its an elected position, but we don’t know much about the process. 

Neither prince nor king commands in Braavos, where the rule belongs to the Sealord, chosen by the city’s magisters and keyholders from amongst the citizenry by a process as convoluted as it is arcane. (TWOIAF) 

mysterious is how it appears to the readers from the outside with only a couple subtle references in the main text. arya sees it differently from within:

When he is dead, there will be a choosing, and the knives will come out. That was the way of it in Braavos. In Westeros, a dead king was followed by his eldest son, but the Braavosi had no kings. (Arya, ADWD)

she marks the sealord choosing as something that is, inherently, dangerous.  

thru affc the sealord is mentioned almost exclusively in arya’s pov. theres one ref in a samwell chapter after gilly gets lost and cries at the foot of a sealord’s statue but other than that? its all arya

in adwd this changes. there are refs to the sealord in tyrion and dany’s chapters. penny received a “grand gift” from the sealord and the sealord witnessed the pact that was (allegedly) signed by doran martell and willem darry, in braavos, to marry arianne and viserys. the sudden mentions of the sealord in multiple storylines is a pretty good indication that this is about to become very important. it seems like grrm is gearing up for something big.

One time, when Brea took to her bed with her moon blood, Cat had pushed her barrow to the Purple Harbor to sell crabs and prawns to oarsmen off the Sealord’s pleasure barge, covered stem to stern with laughing faces. (Arya, AFFC)

the current sealord is ferrego antaryon (affc appendix). qarro volentin is the first sword - a position syrio forel once held. word on the street: the sealord is not doing so great. 

“And what three new things do you know that you did not know when last you left us?” “The Sealord is still sick.” “This is no new thing. The Sealord was sick yesterday, and he will still be sick upon the morrow.” “Or dead.” “When he is dead, that will be a new thing.” (Arya, ADWD)

while blind arya gathers and learns how to analyze intel 

“Tormo Fregar will be the new sealord.” “Is that what they are saying at the Inn of the Green Eel?” “Yes.” The kindly man took a bite of his egg. The girl heard him chewing. He never spoke with his mouth full. He swallowed, and said, “Some men say there is wisdom in wine. Such men are fools. At other inns other names are being bruited about, never doubt.” He took another bite of egg, chewed, swallowed. “What three new things do you know, that you did not know before?” “I know that some men are saying that Tormo Fregar will surely be the new sealord,” she answered. “Some drunken men.” “Better.”

some (drunken) men are saying tormo fregar will be the new sealord but their words are, notably, painted as unreliable by the kindly man. 

“I know why the Sealord seized the Goodheart. She was carrying slaves. Hundreds of slaves, women and children, roped together in her hold.” Braavos had been founded by escaped slaves, and the slave trade was forbidden here. (Arya, ADWD)

arya also finds out that the sealord seized a ship carrying slaves - wildling women and children from hardhome.

theres also the issue of the targaryen/martell marriage contract and the possibility that dany and viserys were sheltered for a time with sealord in braavos. this will be confirmed or denied when arya gets to the sealord’s palace in twow. tbd by if it has a red door or not.

The Sealord had never visited the Gate, but Izembaro named a box for him anyway, the largest and most opulent in the house. “That must be the Westerosi envoy. Have you ever seen such clothes on an old man? And look, he’s brought the Black Pearl!” (Arya, TWOW)

in arya’s twow chapter, the sealord is still alive, but trouble is brewing. arya assassinated raff the sweetling effectively framing the westerosi envoy (harys swyft) by association for the murder of an innocent braavosi citizen. this was, likely, on the orders of the faceless men who are working to secure the iron bank’s interests. currently, that means undermining the iron throne because they won’t make payments on their loan and “the iron bank will have its due”. 

This would make trouble for the Sealord and the envoy with the chicken on his chest, she did not doubt. She would think about that later, though. (Arya, TWOW) 

arya notes that what she has done will not only effect the envoy but the sealord too. which is a telling observation. i think we can safely assume harys is being hosted by the sealord. if the envoy is framed for a violent crime it will effect an already weakened sealord……but the faceless men did it anyway. they play an active role in the election (arya is also carrying a key in twow) but to what extent is unclear. 

another relevant piece of historical information is how elissa farman sold the 3 dragon eggs she stole to the sealord of braavos during the reign of jaehaerys i

“How shall that be proved? Has this thief been seized, tried, found guilty? Braavos is a city of laws. Who is the rightful owner of these eggs? Can they show me proof of ownership?”

“His Grace can show you proof of dragons.”

That made the Sealord smile. “The veiled threat. Your king is most adroit at that. Stronger than his father, more subtle than his uncle. Yes, I know what Jaehaerys could do to us, if he chose. Braavosi have a long memory, and we remember the dragonlords of old. There are certain things that we might do to your king as well, however. Shall I enumerate? Or do you prefer the threat veiled?” 

“However it please your lordship.”

“As you will. Your king could burn my city down to ash, I do not doubt. Tens of thousands would die in dragonflame. Men, women, and children. I do not have the power to wreak that sort of destruction upon Westeros. Such sellswords as I might hire would flee before your knights. My fleets could sweep yours from the sea for a time, but my ships are made of wood, and wood burns. However, there is in this city a certain…guild, let us say…whose members are very skilled at their chosen profession. They could not destroy King’s Landing, nor fill its streets with corpses. But they could kill…a few. A well-chosen few.” (F&B) 

when threatened by the iron throne’s representative the sealord implied braavos would use the faceless men against the crown. the sealord never admitted to possessing the eggs but paid off the iron thrones debts to the iron bank to settle the matter. its likely these dragon eggs are the same ones that would go on to become dany’s. how they get to illyrio is a uncertain. im thinking penny, her brother and father each received one from the sealord (their grand gift) which they later sold and got ripped off most definitely. 

i think the sealord is going to be a major factor in twow. grrm has been laying a lot of groundwork for it. as we known from one who’s actually read chapters of twow braavos is going to become “crucial” in the next book. it’s extremely overlooked but the sealord and by extension braavos’ other organizations (the faceless men and the iron bank) have ties in numerous storylines throughout asoiaf……and arya stark is in the middle of it all. 

Harrenhal will be the new seat of what’s left of the Seven Kingdoms at the ending.

I know a few people have already said bits and pieces of this but I wanted to get everything in one post for my own sanity lmao. There’s three kind of main branches to this theory: geographical reasons, historical reasons, and reasons specific to King Bran theories.

Geography surrounding Harrenhal

It’s the center of everything! Let me show you on the map because i’m a visual learner:

Ignore the North and Dorne and probably the Iron Islands too, bc the first two are not gonna be part of The Seven Kingdoms anymore and the Iron Islands is…gonna be a fucking mess lmao. Lemme zoom in:

It’s a very centralized point in the Riverlands but it’s also fairly centralized to the Crownlands (which will probably get absorbed into the others), the Stormlands, the Eyrie, the Reach, and the Westerlands. It makes sense, from a geographical standpoint, that if the lords need to choose a new ruling seat - and they will no matter what, because King’s Landing is gonna go boom - that a more centralized location for easier access to the capital would be their decision.

The Riverlands is also an excellent choice in general because geographically, they are always getting screwed due to being right in the middle of everyone. They get fucked during the Dance, the Blackfyre Rebellions, Robert’s Rebellion, AND the War of the Five Kings. The only area that really gets screwed over more during the various wars is probably the Dornish Marches, because of the conflicts between the stony Dornishmen and the Storm and Reacher Lords but you can’t really set up there because it’s too far from the Eyrie and Riverlands.

And the thing about the Riverlands is that part of why it gets fucked up is that it’s right in the middle of everything and has no natural defenses. The Eyrie has the mountains, the North has their snow, the Dornish has their desert. The Reach manages to stay out of a lot of fighting because that’s where the food is (although the Iron Islands are about to screw them, but that’s because the war has spiraled out of control) and while both the Stormlands and the Westerlands have seen big battles, they have some protection in their coasts, which gives them ships that the Riverlands just can’t quite access. Having the King set up in the Riverlands gives the smallfolk of the Riverlands some much needed protection and potentially, a break from all the fighting.

So the Riverlands is a good place to set up shop, but Harrenhal specifically? Well, that’s because it’s huge:

Every child of the Trident knew the tales told of Harrenhal, the vast fortress that King Harren the Black had raised beside the waters of Gods Eye three hundred years past, when the Seven Kingdoms had been seven kingdoms, and the riverlands were ruled by the ironmen from the islands. In his pride, Harren had desired the highest hall and tallest towers in all Westeros. Forty years it had taken, rising like a great shadow on the shore of the lake while Harren's armies plundered his neighbors for stone, lumber, gold, and workers. Thousands of captives died in his quarries, chained to his sledges, or laboring on his five colossal towers. Men froze by winter and sweltered in summer. Weirwoods that had stood three thousand years were cut down for beams and rafters. Harren had beggared the riverlands and the Iron Islands alike to ornament his dream. And when at last Harrenhal stood complete, on the very day King Harren took up residence, Aegon the Conqueror had come ashore at King's Landing.

If it’s going to be the capital, it has to be somewhere that can hold a whole lot of people and Harrenhal is ginormous and perfect for holding lots of people. It’s even happened before; part of why Lord Whent stages his big tourney where Lyanna is crowned queen of love and beauty is because likely because Ser Oswell Whent, his brother on the Kingsguard, asked him to stage an excuse to get all the Lords together so Rhaegar could discuss with them what to do about his father and Harrenhal is the biggest castle they can do that in outside of King’s Landing. From The Kingbreaker chapter:

Old Lord Whent had announced the tourney shortly after a visit from his brother, Ser Oswell Whent of the Kingsguard. With Varys whispering in his ear, King Aerys became convinced that his son was conspiring to depose him, that Whent's tourney was but a ploy to give Rhaegar a pretext for meeting with as many great lords as could be brought together.

It’s also built up to be sturdier than King’s Landing. Whereas King’s Landing was kind of haphazardly thrown together as it built up over the years, Harren the Black had always meant for a lot of people to be housed there. We see how many people can live in it during Arya’s chapters as she runs around inside of it and Harrentown and this is with a ruler who has no interest in keeping a lot of people in it. With a King or Queen living there, it opens itself up to growing in a much more easily defensible way than King’s Landing.

Historical Reasons Harrenhal is Significant

As you can see on the map, it’s built right on the edge of a very important place: The Isle of Faces and the lake that surrounds it, called the Gods Eye.

It’s a key place for the history of Westeros because it’s where the First Men and the Children of the Forest made peace:

Inexorably, the war ground on across generations, until at last the children understood that they could not win. The First Men, perhaps tired of war, also wished to see an end to the fighting. The wisest of both races prevailed, and the chief heroes and rulers of both sides met upon the isle in the Gods Eye to form the Pact…

It’s also notable for being the only place the Andals never managed to conquer:

It is possible that a few [Children of the Forest] survived on the Isle of Faces, as some have written, under the protection of the green men, whom the Andals never succeeded in destroying.

It’s a place associated with peace and negotiations between people, a place to stand strong against war and untouched by its horrors. A monument to what could be, if you will. And Harrenhal sits on its shore; it would add a very rich layer to setting up King’s Landing in a place associated with peace. And this isn’t the only time a succession crisis of sorts is settled there. The Great Council of 101 AC was held there.

To resolve the matter of his heir once and for all, Jaehaerys called the first Great Council in the year 101 AC, to put the matter before the lords of the realm. And from all corners of the realm the lords came. No castle could hold so many save for Harrenhal, so it was there that they gathered. The lords, great and small, came with their trains of bannermen, knights, squires, grooms, and servants. And behind them came yet more—the camp followers and washerwomen, the hawkers and smiths and carters. Thousands of tents sprang up over the moons, until the castle town of Harrenton was accounted the fourth largest city of the Realm.

Once again, we have Harrenhal associated with peace and negotiation in its history. However, that’s not all it’s associated with; there are several very significant battles that take place near the Gods Eye - again, it is in the middle of everything. It’s a place with lots of history and lots of ties to everyone in Westeros. There’s the Battle Beneath the Gods Eye between Maegor and Aegon the Uncrowned, The Battle of the Lake Shore and The Battle Over the Gods Eye during the Dance, as well as the story of Addam Velaryon landing Seasmoke on the Isle of Faces to take counsel from the green men after being accused of treason. It is, all in all, a very significant place in Westeros.

But that’s not the only reason Harrenhal is talked about. Basically every single time Harrenhal is brought up, someone will mention that it’s haunted. This belief comes because of Aegon the Conquerer and Harren the Black. While Orys Baratheon and Rhaenys march for the Stormlands & Daemon Velaryon and Visenya left for the Vale, Aegon himself first turns towards Harren the Black and the Riverlands. All three face opposition but Aegon conquers the Riverlands first because Harren is so ill loved:

So now the riverlands rose against him, led by Lord Edmyn Tully of Riverrun. Summoned to the defense of Harrenhal, Tully declared for House Targaryen instead, raised the dragon banner over his castle, and rode forth with his knights and archers to join his strength to Aegon’s. His defiance gave heart to the other riverlords. One by one, the lords of the Trident renounced Harren and declared for Aegon the Dragon. Blackwoods, Mallisters, Vances, Brackens, Pipers, Freys, Strongs … summoning their levies, they descended on Harrenhal.

And he makes very quick work of Harrenhal, making it the first Kingdom to become part of the Seven Kingdoms:

The riverlords outside the castle walls said later that the towers of Harrenhal glowed red against the night, like five great candles … and like candles, they began to twist and melt, as runnels of molten stone ran down their sides.

Ever since the burning of Harrenhal, no House has been able to hold it without going extinct soon after. For House Targaryen’s rule in Westeros to start with Harren the Black’s hubris and the fall of Harrenhal, and end with Harrenhal becoming the new seat of the King of the Four (??) Kingdoms is a really neat connection.

Reasons Why It Works With King Bran

But wait! you say. Didn’t you just say that Harrenhal is cursed??

Why yes I did. HOWEVER. There is one family that the Curse of Harrenhal supposedly never touched: The Whents.

You see, from Harren the Black up until the Whents, every other House in charge of it has gone extinct.

House Hoare? That’s Harren’s house and we all know what happened there - they don’t call him Balerion the Black Dread for no reason.

House Qoherys? Dead less than three decades later.

House Harroway? Wiped out a decade later.

House Towers? died out within two decades, ending with sickly Maegor Towers and then old and tired Rhaena Targaryen, until the two odd friends died and the holdings were free again.

House Strong? Well…between the fire that kills Harwin and Lyonel, Larys’ shenanigans getting him merced by Cregan, and Aemond just straight committing a minor genocide in the Riverlands, they all died out (except maybe Alys Rivers’ baby but we don’t have any info there).

House Lothston? Interestingly, they hold the castle for several decades, but they too went completely extinct under King Maekar.

So we come to House Whent. They’ve held it for about 6 ish decades and though they’ve also had some bad luck, they’ve had their people grow old - Walter Whent who threw the tourney is called “Old Lord Whent” by Barristan, and Shella Whent is old when she dies. But the most interesting thing is Minisa Whent.

We don’t know a lot about the Whent line, only that Shella refused to bend the knee to Joffrey, fled Harrenhal when it was attacked, and later died. You could say the curse still got them but in every other case, the whole line dies, not just the main line! Even Janos Slynt has no descendants and Littlefinger will have none to inherit either. But the Whents do: they have House Tully. Minisa Whent married Hoster Tully and had Catelyn and Edmure. The Whents are known for their sharp cheekbones and both Catelyn and Sansa, funny enough, are described as having sharp cheekbones. This very close relation could mean that the Starklings have a claim to Harrenhal through their mother.

This fits with King Bran because we know the lords are perfectly fine fudging things and going through the female line if it fits their needs. They did the same thing with Robert and his grandmother Rhaelle Targaryen, who married Ormund Targaryen, Steffon’s mother. Renly says here:

Oh, there was talk of the blood ties between Baratheon and Targaryen, of weddings a hundred years past, of second sons and elder daughters. No one but the maesters care about any of it.

The maesters love a loophole inheritance.

And remember that the odds of surviving the books for the Baratheons and Targaryens is very, very low. It’s pretty much just bastards all the way down (on both sides lmao, because I do not think either Young Griff or Dany are gonna survive). And whenever the inheritance isn’t clear, a Great Council is called. Catelyn even suggested it while parlying with the Baratheons:

Let the three of you call for a Great Council, such as the realm has not seen for a hundred years. We will send to Winterfell, so Bran may tell his tale and all men may know the Lannisters for the true usurpers. Let the assembled lords of the Seven Kingdoms choose who shall rule them.

Mentioning Bran, of course. A lot of people think it’s far fetched and while I do think him being so young is gonna be a hard sell now that the time jump is gone, I don’t think it’s that far fetched that the lords of the Stormlands, The Reach, the Eyrie, and The Westerlands would be convinced to choose Hoster Tully’s grandson and Ned Stark’s baby boy to rule over them.

And finally, Robb wasn’t called “Robb Stark, King in the North” he was also explicitly called “King of the Trident.” All the talk about who is Robb’s heir but look at how they all think of themselves - “as brave as Robb” “as strong as Robb” or they’ll have sons and name them Robb. Whereas Who Rules The North is all tied up in Robb’s legacy, the Iron Throne isn’t! If King Bran rules from the Riverlands, however, it gives Bran that tie to Robb; he gets to protect and rule from the lands Robb swore to protect, the lands he ultimately fought and died in. For Bran, he still gets to be Robb’s heir, at least in spirit, and I think that would be, to Bran, something very bittersweet.

Do you have any thoughts on what Dany and Tyrion's dynamic will be like when they eventually meet?

Oh, this one is tough. Mostly because, well... Both characters are left at key moments that could dramatically change them. ADWD Tyrion is a mess, but Dany gives him some hope; and Dany ends the book with a dramatic pivot that is very difficult to speculate because it's a *negative* pivot in which her characterisation throughout the book is rejected and we don't have a chance to quite peek into where she's going, just where she's *not*.

Ultimately... I think that my ideal relationship is one of Tyrion's worst traits accentuating here; he’s being delivered as one of the Usurper's Dogs to Dany, and I think Dany will grant him mercy. And I think ultimately Tyrion will find himself clinging onto her for dear life; I wouldn't at all be surprised if we see Dany directly compared to Sansa for Tyrion, and not in a particularly pleasant way for the reader.

Fundamentally, I think Tyrion is at such a broken state that he'll encourage her worst impulses; he'll embrace, to some extent, the monster everyone thinks he is, the Imp, the dwarf vizier to the dragon queen, and he'll try to cling onto her for a chance to get back at Cersei and Jaime.

That's pretty much what I've got; I think we'll see a Tyrion that is hanging on for dear life on Dany, and a Dany who will show him mercy, and will probably be suspicious at first but will be advised - and to an extent, manipulated - by Tyrion. One key element that will definitely play into their bond will be Tyrion's affinity for her dragons.

Guys I don't know how to say this but I don't think he is ever finishing winds of winter

I wonder if Alayne I is one of the later chapters in WoW. Jon might have been resurrected, Stannis defeated by Ramsay. Bronze Yohn sends a raven to CB telling Jon where Sansa is & tells him of LF's plot to marry Harry, or something along those lines. Jon attends the tourney as a mystery knight.

Sixty-four dishes were served, in honor of the sixty-four competitors who had come so far to contest for silver wings before their lord.

Alayne I WoW

I know so far means distance, but it could have a double meaning.

You will not want green boys underfoot when the knights come round to beg you for your favor."

"Who would ask to wear a bastard's favor?"

Don't you love that Sansa's favor is a bastard's?

He grinned. "I will hold you to that promise, my lady. Until that day, may I wear your favor in the tourney?"

"You may not. It is promised to...another." She was not sure who as yet, but she knew she would find someone.

And that bastard's favor has been promised to a mystery knight.

the only good thing about never getting sixth and seventh book is that anything we want to believe it’s true about this series basically *is* true. You don’t like the idea of Ashara Dayne as a freaking sixteen yo bc it’s gross? There’s no evidence ever bc none of published books specify anything about her. You don’t want to see how Martin AGAIN didn’t get why a teenage girl and a man in his 20s are not a good match? You won’t because we didn’t get the book reveal of R+L. You don’t want to see Sandor Clegane, westerosi predator no.45864587, alive? Good for you, as it was never confirmed in the books we’ve got. Anything and everything is true and, looking at what GRRM had done through the years with this universum, maybe it’s for good. Maybe it’s better for us to have the last two books entirely in our heads because at this point I don’t believe WoW or DoS could be a good novel as a whole, not just specific chapters.