Welcome back to A Read of Ice and Fire! Please join me as I read and react, for the very first time, to George R.R. Martin’s epic fantasy series A Song of Ice and Fire.
Today’s entry is, um, Part 53 of A Storm of Swords? I guess? In which I do some memory-related cheating. Sort of.
Previous entries are located in the Index. The only spoilers in the post itself will be for the actual chapters covered and for the chapters previous to them. As for the comments, please note that the Powers That Be have provided you a lovely spoiler thread here on Tor.com. Any spoileriffic discussion should go there, where I won’t see it. Non-spoiler comments go below, in the comments to the post itself.
And now, the post!
Okay, so you’re probably like WOT’S ALL THIS, because in my imagination you are, apparently, a blustering copper in a British farce. Ahem.
So, remember how I did a wrap-up/summation/prediction thingy for all the characters actually appearing in A Feast For Crows before moving on to A Dance with Dragons? Well, it occurred to me that probably an even better use of my time would be to do summary/predict-y stuff for the characters who didn’t appear in AFFC, since the last time I saw them was in A Storm of Swords, which I finished, er, almost exactly a year ago, and whom therefore we can expect that I remember just about zilch of where the hell we left them last, because my memory sucks for anything that isn’t annoying 80’s commercial jingles, like, thanks, brain.
(Honeycomb’s big, yeah yeah yeah! It’s not small, no no—*BLAM*)
Riiiight. So, uh, that’s what I’m doing in this post. And now you know. (And knowing is half the—ARGH!)
Onward!
(Note that I will be ignoring characters who appear in both ASOS and AFFC, e.g., Jaime, Catelyn, Arya, etc., except where they intersect with the other major characters, for reasons which should be obvious. Which means I should just say it here: RED WEDDING FUUUUUUCCCCKKKKK AGGGHHHH)
Character: Tyrion Lannister
What Happens to Him in ASOS
Tyrion recovers from his maiming at the battle of King’s Landing to find that his father is an asshole who has taken the office of Hand from him, and virtually all his allies in court are gone. He arranges with Varys to have an ill-advised tryst with Shae, and fails to convince her of the seriousness of the situation. Tywin sends Littlefinger to seduce Lysa Arryn, and makes Tyrion Master of Coin in his absence, and also tells Tyrion that he will be marrying Sansa Stark. The wedding is awful, and Tyrion is upset by Sansa’s repulsion for him, but promises not to touch her, and keeps that promise despite his father’s censure of him for it.
He meets Prince Oberyn Martell when he arrives for Joffrey’s wedding, and does not enjoy the experience. Tywin doesn’t listen when Tyrion insists that Joffrey is a monster, and Tyrion is disgusted to learn that Tywin doesn’t plan to give Gregor Clegane’s head to Oberyn in recompense for the rape and murder of Elia and her children, and also claims that Robb and Catelyn’s murders are on Walder Frey’s head, not his. Tyrion continues to meet with Shae, and arranges for her to be one of Sansa’s maids.
Joffrey dies (YAAAAY) at his own wedding, and Cersei immediately blames Tyrion for it. Sansa disappears, and Tyrion tries to get Bronn to be his champion for trial by combat, but Bronn has been bought off by Cersei with a marriage to Lollys. The actual trial is a farce, but then Oberyn comes to Tyrion and offers to be his champion, as Cersei’s is Gregor Clegane. Shae testifies the next day that Tyrion had planned the murder, and Tyrion calls for trial by combat. Oberyn severely wounds Gregor in the duel, but Gregor kills him, and Tyrion is thrown in the dungeon.
Jaime busts him out, but confesses to his part in the Tysha affair, and in anger Tyrion lies to Jaime that he had indeed murdered Joffrey. Varys is to lead Tyrion to the ship that will take him away, but Tyrion detours to his father’s (privy) chamber and kills both him and Shae, whom he found in his father’s bed.
What I Think Will Happen
Well, what I’d like to happen is for Tyrion to go across the sea and join forces with Dany and/or Arya in order to exact revenge on, er, everyone, but that is just a kind of wild-eyed fantasy on my part, I think. Probably at least partially fueled by the probably-red-herring-irrelevant mention in Arya’s POV in AFFC about the dwarf mummer show or whatever it was in Braavos.
Really, I have no idea. The only thing I’m (relatively) sure of is that we ain’t seen the last of Tyrion, because he’s just too awesome a character for even Martin to kill off. Or, at the very least, not to kill off-screen.
Character: Davos
What Happens to Him in ASOS
Davos survives the battle at King’s Landing only to almost die of deserted-islandness, but is rescued at the last moment, and resolves to murder Melisandre to save Stannis from her evil influence. He goes to Dragonstone, and meets Edric Storm, a bastard of King Robert, before being thrown in the dungeon. Melisandre tries to woo him to the Dark Side her side for shadow-sucking purposes, but Davos rejects her. He learns that Alester Florent, Stannis’s former Hand, tried to arrange for peace terms with the Lannisters behind Stannis’s back, and got similarly en-dungeoned for his trouble.
Stannis sees Davos, and to his shock makes him a lord and his Hand. Stannis and Melisandre curse Joffrey, Balon Greyjoy, and Robb Stark with royally-fattened leeches. Melisandre campaigns for Stannis to let her sacrifice Edric so that she can give him a dragon, and Davos’s insistence on the moral bankruptcy of such an action angers Stannis, who sends him away. Davos quietly gathers allies to stop Stannis if necessary, and spirits Edric off the island before going to admit he did it to Stannis, and showing him a letter.
What I Think Will Happen
Fuck if I know, because Davos’s fate was left very ambiguous, and later secondhand accounts in AFFC seem to indicate Lord Manderly (I think?) had him executed, but as that came through Cersei’s POV I am highly skeptical of its accuracy. So since it makes me happier, I’m going to assume for now that that was all bullshit, and Davos is still out there doing his part for the Stannis Nation. Which, I am not all that thrilled about in the aggregate, admittedly, but I am definitely a lot thrilled about supposing Davos’s continued existence in the world, so I’ll take it.
Character: Jon Snow
What Happens to Him in ASOS
After having killed Qhorin Halfhand, Jon successfully infiltrates the wildlings and meets Mance Rayder, who is looking for a Magical Thingamajig. Rattleshirt really, really wants to kill Jon, but Ygritte protects Jon by blackmailing him into sleeping with her. Jon sends Ghost to Castle Black to try to warn the Watch of the imminent invasion, and has a lot of sex with Ygritte.
Their party scales the Wall, and sneaks south to an abandoned village by a lake with a tower on an island in it. The Magnar tries to force Jon to kill an old man to prove his loyalty, and when he refuses, Ygritte leaps in to do it herself. The others are attacked by a large grey direwolf, and Jon escapes in the confusion, though not without being wounded first. He arrives back to Castle Black to learn that Mormont is dead and the castle is defended by a few boys and old men, and that Ghost never arrived, and also that Winterfell, er, fell, and Bran and Rickon are presumed dead.
Jon helps organize the defenses of the castle, and Ygritte dies in the raid upon it. Donal Noye puts Jon in charge of repelling the wildlings from the Wall, which he does, and then finds that Noye has died, whereupon Aemon tells him he is the only one left fit to lead. The siege continues, and then Janos Slynt and Alliser Thorne arrive and accuse Jon of treachery. They send him to assassinate Mance Rayder, but Mance shows him the Horn of Winter, and claims the Wall will fall if he blows it, but he doesn’t want to do that because of the Others, and says they want safe passage beyond the Wall. The negotiation is rendered moot when Stannis’s forces arrive and massacre the wildlings.
Sam and Jon are reunited, and Sam does not tell Jon about Bran. Even though Jon has captured the Horn of Winter, Mance, and Mance’s infant son, Slynt and Thorne still want him dead. Jon meets with Stannis, and is shocked to learn that Stannis wants to make him Lord of Winterfell, and asks for time to consider. Ghost returns, to Jon’s joy. He almost decides to accept Stannis’s offer, but discovers that Sam has manipulated the voting so that the Watch chooses Jon as their new Lord Commander.
What I Think Will Happen
YAY JON
Well, AFFC indicated that Winter Is Finally, At Long Goddamn Last, Coming, and I’m assuming the Others are coming with it, soooo I’m guessing there’s probably a lot more siege-repelling in Jon’s future. Also, possibly, fallout with Stannis/Melisandre for taking their sort-of Royal Baby Dragon-Maker away. I think I said this somewhere before, but I wonder how long it’s going to take Melly to realize that Jon is technically of sort-of royal blood himself, and get all bloodthirsty with that knowledge. Because, if Mance Rayder’s child counts as “royal”, then Jon totally does. So, in conclusion, many fun times ahead, not.
Character: Daenerys Targaryen
What Happens to Her in ASOS
Jorah convinces Dany that instead of returning to Illyrio in Pentos, she should detour to Astapor and buy an army of Unsullied, and then tries to seduce her. In Astapor, Dany is horrified by the brutal training of the Unsullied, and resolves to buy them all despite Arstan’s objections. She does, but reneges on the deal and uses the Unsullied to massacre all the slavers instead. Then she goes to Yunkai, intimidates them into surrendering, and frees all their slaves, who call her “Mother.” She becomes frustrated with Jorah’s continued overtures to her and shuts him down harshly.
They besiege Meereen, and Dany discovers that Arstan is actually Ser Barristan Selmy, former Commander of the Kingsguard. Barristan tells her in turn that Jorah is a spy for Lord Varys, and Dany punishes them both by having them infiltrate Meereen through the sewers. She is shocked that many of the former slaves she freed are begging to be sold to Qarth, but reluctantly allows it (and takes a cut). She accepts Barristan’s apology, but banishes Jorah. She decides that she will stay in Meereen and rule it instead of abandoning it like she had Astapor and Yunkai.
What I Think Will Happen
Probably something awful. I mean, duh, but I’m guessing something awful enough to oust her from her inertia and have her get on with her plan to invade Westeros, which I am assuming is going to happen AT SOME POINT EVER.
“Something” probably having to do with Quentyn Martell and Victarion Assmunch McManAngst showing up to proposition and/or kidnap her. Wildass prediction: Daario, the mercenary dude who’s been courting her this whole book, has been Quentyn all along. WE’LL SEE.
Character: Bran Stark
What Happens to Him in ASOS
Bran sulks that Jojen will not let him warg with Summer as much as he wants, but Jojen warns him that he might lose himself, and insists that Bran needs a teacher who has both the sight and warging skills. They decide to go to the Wall and find Bran’s “three-eyed crow”. They reach an abandoned village by a lake with a tower on an island, and Bran discovers that he can warg Hodor and control him. He sends Summer to help Jon in the village, but Jojen said that they couldn’t follow Jon, so they go to Nightfort, an abandoned keep on the Wall, instead.
Bran says Nightfort is haunted, but Jojen is insistent that this is where his dreams told them to go. Then creatures come out of the well, and the party almost kills them before they realize it is Sam and Gilly. Sam explains that “Coldhands” brought them there, and shows Bran et al how to pass through the wall to the other side, to meet with Coldhands and go… somewhere.
What I Think Will Happen
Well, it had better be something awesome, because oh my GOD how annoyed I was (and am) that the Coldhands thing was left totally unexplained. I speculated in my commentary that he might be one of the children of the forest and maybe Bran was finally on his way to learn how to control his (deeply worrying) warging/mind control skills, so let’s hope for that.
I confess I am sort of totally agog at the notion that we might finally AT LONG LAST get to meet what I suspect will be ASOIAF’s closest possible version of wood elves. Even though I also suspect that they are very unlikely to be anything remotely like what I subconsciously expect them to be. And also will probably turn out to suck. But whatever, by now it’s a feature, not a bug.
And that’s what THAT all is, kidlets. So, having gotten all our waterlogged poultry in at least something resembling parade formation, I think next week we will be actually for reals absotively posilutely finally starting A Dance With Dragons! Whoo hoo! See you there!
Leigh, why does Jon count as royal blood, in your opinion?
I mean, he’s Ned’s son by someone, and Robb’s bastard brother, so I guess on a technicality, but I don’t know if Mel would count Robb as an actual king since he never actually had a kingdom.
It’s nice to have a refresher, but let’s go :)
See you on Tuesday, have a good weekend.
@Aeryl
I was wondering the same thing. I would be very interested to hear Leigh’s response.
@1 @@.-@
Robb did make Jon his heir in ASoS also.
@1: I figured that Melisandre would make that connection because Jon is an immediate relative of the King in the North. Edric never had a kingdom, either. I also have a running theory that would completely make Jon royalty, but I don’t know if we’ve covered all the details that point to that yet so I don’t want to put it on non-spoiler thread.
My other running theory is that Coldhands is Benjen Stark. No material for that one, though.
(Moderator note – whited out spoilers)
I am…a bit disappointed there’s still no ADWD read, but at least we finally got a (partial) recap of my favorite book in ASOIAF.
Bran: along with Jojen, Meera, Hodor, and Summer are now north of the Wall, but there might still be a long journey, considering that Winterfell isn’t THAT far from the wall and it took so long to get there, and the Children of the Forest are unlikely to be close to the wall since no one in the Nights Watch has seen them in thousands of years. So lots of travelling through Others-controlled lands seems to be in Bran’s future. Fun.
Jon: we saw Jon once in AFFC, in Sam’s first chapter (when Sam tells him about his research on the Others, and Jon sees him off with Gilly and Mance’s child). However, we didn’t get any chapters from Jon’a POV, so it’s fair to say that he was absent from the book. Now we get to see what joy follows once he’s in a position of power, with assumunch one and assmunch 2 (Slynt and Thorne) under his command, and Scary Stannis and Scarier Melisandre camping out in the Nightwatch’s castle. It may not be fun, but it probably won’t be boring.
Davos: Davos wasn’t killed by Stannis as you feared, since Stannis praised Davos for reminding him of his duty when he met with Jon, but apparently Davos was sent to Manderly and Cersei was told that he was beheaded. Guess we’ll have to see…But like you, I take that news with a large grain of salt.
Dany: Is in Meereen, greatest-named city in ASOIAF (just kidding). And wants to “rule” in a land that has been the center of slavery for thousands of years, hates Valyria and its descendents, and is half a world away from where she really wants to go. Plus, she has Quentyn and Victorian approaching her (who at least might help get her out of that hellhole).
Tyrion- was supposed to go on a ship arranged by Jaime and Varys (who has since disappeared). I was a little surprised you never speculated on where that ship might be bound (if Tyrion made it, which you initially doubted but seem to have since accepted he probably made). Tyrion has always been my favorite character, but he seems to have reached his nadir (even though it has seemed multiple times like he couldn’t sink any lower, but he’s managed it each time).
Um…guess I’ll have to wait till next week to get my ADWD fix.
Indeed. Mance is actually a king – he’s the King Beyond the Wall. Jon isn’t and neither was Ned and neither was, as far as we know, Jon’s mother (not that we know who she was of course).
Though I suppose Ned is of royal blood if you go back far enough – the Starks were Kings of Winter a few centuries ago before the Targaryen Conquest. But, sheesh, go back that far and Hot Pie is probably the only named character in the books who isn’t of royal blood.
The whole “king’s blood” thing is a bit dodgy anyway. Stannis, presumably, counts, because that’s how Mel was doing all the shadow magic stuff; but he’s arguably not really a king. Nor is he descended from one; his brother was the first king in that family. I don’t think having a brother as king counts as being of royal blood…
Edric never had a kingdom, either.
No, but his father had seven…
Okay, I admit, I was kinda hopping for ADWD today, but this was kind of delicious, and I’m excited to see your responses to that book and the moral quandaries therein. I actually think you might like/appreciate it, because you are a thinky sort.
(Gah, not trying to imply those who don’t aren’t thinky, but I do think it’s the kind of book that is hard to appreciate at first glance if you’re looking for the same type of action and shocking twists from the firs few).
@8 – well, technically, Stannis IS a king, as the true king is dead and he’s the legitamate heir.
But I honestly don’t know if the king’s blood magic somehow knows all that :) I suppose you could say, yes, he shares Robert’s blood…but did that blood just suddenly become magical when Robert killed Rhaegar on the Trident and took over? Can Robert be considered the ‘true king’. Maybe Dany’s blood would work :)
(Or is it because the Baratheons are related to the Targaryens? But what makes them kings aside from the fact taht they came in with DRAGONS and took over? So, yeah, you’re right, the whole ‘king’s blood’ thing is totally dodgy, unless it really is all just in the eye of the spellcaster.)
And away to the spoiler thread I go.
@8 Stannis was next in line after Robert because they are both descended from Targaryans- their grandmother was Egg’s daughter (Aegon V-the Unlikely). That was the whole justification for Robert assuming the throne , rather than someone like Ned or Jon Arryn, who have no Targ blood (or Tywin).
In any case, I imagine that king’s blood works in a similar way to all forms of power–Varys’ “shadow on the wall”. It probably has a great deal to do with belief and perception.
@5, I know that, but as Leigh’s questioned before, what exactly makes a king that makes this spell allegedly work.
We suspect that a similar spell is what Dany used to raise her dragons, Drogo being a king, even one ruling with the nominal consent of the governed.
But how would Robb qualify? Is it being anointed and consecrated king? Because I don’t think Drogo was.
Is it popular acclaim? Because then maybe Robb would qualify as almost the entire North supported him, but then why would Stannis?
A reminder of where we left them all is probably a good thing after a year. I certainly re-read ASOS when I knew ADWD was about to hit the bookstores. (There’s still a part of me that’s sad there was no Prologue this week, though. Guess that’s human nature.)
The Starks have plenty of royal ancestors, true, even if it was 300 years ago. That’s probably no more than 12-15 generations or so…
@7 Pfft. Meereenese is a good adjective, but Meereen by itself is not remotely the greatest-named city in ASOIAF. I vote for that faraway Essosi city mentioned briefly in the AGOT chapter where Dany nearly got poisoned – Kayakayanaya.
As I recall, Jon thinks that Mance’s son will qualify as royal blood, Mel doesn’t say so. Jon/we don’t know what her criteria are. And we don’t know if she’s being honest about needing king’s blood at all.
@1,4
I recall Leigh being royally pissed at one point because commenters kept nudging her toward R+L = J, often in not-so-subtle fashion. Whited out in case my memory has failed on this point.
@18
Are you perchance thinking of this?
http://www.tor.com/blogs/2013/08/a-read-of-ice-and-fire-a-storm-of-swords-part-41
@19
Quite possibly.
LOL, you said ‘royally pissed’ ;)
At first when I saw this was another recap, I thought it was just a sly way to put off aDwD until after Thanksgiving, but then I realized T-Giving is not one, but two weeks away, so hrmmmm… I still predict something evil is afoot and some reason will be found to postpone it until December. Grrrrr.
And yeah, maybe Leigh has been tipped off about R+L=J, but IMO Robb totally counts as a king because a bunch of vassals bent their knees and hailed him as the King in the North, and I think legally, at that moment, he became a king. If he had stayed in the north, he might have even negotiated a recognition of his kingship with King’s Landing (although that’s an admitted lonnnnnnnnnnnnnnng shot), and might still be a king as of this point in the read. But yeah, he was a king and all of the north was his kingdom as I read it.
I love the reference to the Big Red commercial in the transition to the full article. Nice.
Tyrion – your guess sounds about right.
Stannis is at the Wall and so Davos, as Hand, is going to have the obvious job of rounding up support needed to get Stannis become the King of all he surveys. Looks like Step one (go to White Harbor) did not go smoothly.
Jon – big and obvious management problem. Lots of seasoned rangers lost beyond the Wall. Has lots of defeated wildlings sitting there potentially ready to cause trouble or a humanitarian crisis. And has King Grumpy Stannis and Mel on his doorstep. Time to grow up quickly, LC.
Dany – Has to manage a new City, her heart and emotions, potential visits from Q, Vic and the Citadel…and her teenaged dragons. Oh fun! Quentyn as Daario, with the naked female handles on his swords – that would be interesting.
Bran – Having a big Wizard of Oz vibe, with CoFs as munchkins and CH as the Tin Man. Watch out for the flying monkees!
You have no idea how excited I am that you’re almost caught up with the rest of us!! Can’t wait for tons of spoiler talk afterwards :D
Whited out text below:
“I wonder how long it’s going to take Melly to realize that Jon is technically of sort-of royal blood himself, and get all bloodthirsty with that knowledge. Because, if Mance Rayder’s child counts as “royal”, then Jon totally does. So, in conclusion, many fun times ahead, not.” Excuse me while I continue my maniacal R+L=J cackling over here.
I’m looking forward to your reviews, comments, and speculation on material that, for the first time, I will have read. I started the series in August, finished aFFC just as you did, and have since finished aDWD. But, having read the story only a single time, events blur somewhat as to what happened in which book, so I’m grateful for the review.
@@@@@ almost everybody,
I think that the royal blood requirement isn’t all-or-nothing. Magic has been getting stronger for years. Even so, magic works better with more royal ingredients. If you can’t sacrifice a ruling king, consider an expendable scion of a defeated dynasty. Or a bastard. Or a non-inheriting princess from a side branch of the family. Or a petty king from foreign lands. Still better than a commoner.
As for how magic knows royalty, that’s magic :-)
With that I mean that modern legal constructs, who swore fealty and whatever, simply don’t count. The magic knows a king when it sees one, even in a beggar’s rags.
Aeryl @@@@@ 1:
Well, I thought the Starks are all of royal blood, depending on how you define it. They were Kings of the North for forever, and even though they were downgraded to lords once the Targaryens showed up and conquered everybody, it’s pretty clear from Robb’s spiel that they subconsciously considered that a mere technicality. So I figure, if Melisandre considers that Mance and his baby are “royal” even though Mance was king of a people who completely *rejected* authority, then the Starks more than qualify under such loose standards.
27: aha. Makes sense.
<i>
If you can’t sacrifice a ruling king, consider an expendable scion of a
defeated dynasty. Or a bastard. Or a non-inheriting princess from a
side branch of the family. Or a petty king from foreign lands. Still
better than a commoner.</i>
This suggests the shadowbinder version of the Cheese Shop sketch.
“Good evening. I am engaged in the preparation of a dark magick, and I would like to purchase some royal blood to make it go better.”
“Certainly madam. This is a blood supplier. What can we do for you?”
“Well, how about a reigning monarch?”
“Always very tricky to get, reigning monarchs.”
“Fair enough. Legitimate heir to a throne?”
“Fresh out of that, I’m afraid. We might have some in next week.”
“Tush. No matter. Exiled scion of a previous but deposed dynasty?”
“I’m afraid we’ve discontinued that. Transport costs you know.”
“Not my night, is it?”
“You mean, ‘dark and full of terrors’?”
“Well, it may be full of terrors but it’s pretty much uncontaminated by royal blood so far.”
“Sorry about that.”
“How about a Lord Paramount?”
“Ah, we do have that.”
“You do? Splendid? 50 ccs of Lord Paramount, then.”
“I’m afraid he’s a bit… anaemic.”
“That’s all right, I like them anaemic.”
“He’s really quite anaemic.”
“No matter! Bring me the blood of the Lord Paramount, with all speed!”
“He’s… probably a bit more anaemic than you like.”
“Look, I don’t care how swiving anaemic he is. Bring it out.”
“Right you are, sir. …Oh, damn.”
“What.”
“The direwolf got him.”
“Did he.”
“She, madam.”
“Right. Warden of the North?”
“Er… no.”
“Collateral descendent of the Gardener Kings of the Reach?”
“Not right now.”
“Unacknowledged royal bastard?”
“No.”
“King beyond the Wall? Storm King? Prince of Dorne? Lord of the Iron Islands?”
“Afraid not.”
“Volantene Triarch? Dothraki Khal? Braavosi Sealord? Meereenese Wise Master? Astapori Kind Master? Rhoynar Princess? Exiled Prince of the Summer Islands?”
“Not much call for that one.”
“What do you mean, not much call for that? He’s the single most disposable royal character in the entire series!”
“Not round these parts, madam.”
“And who, pray, is held to be the most disposable royal character round these parts?”
“The Prince of Pentos, madam.”
“And do you have any of his blood, she asks, expecting the answer ‘no’?”
“I’ll just have a scry. … No.”
“This is a blood supplier, isn’t it?”
“Finest in the shadowlands, madam.”
“And on what, pray, do you base that conclusion?”
“Well, it’s so clean.”
“It’s certainly uncontaminated by blood.”
“No, we do have some. Much and more in fact. We’ve got –”
“No, no, I am keen to guess. Head of a minor but long-standing noble house? Hand of the King? Landed knight? Kingsguard? Hedge knight? First Ranger of the Night’s Watch?”
“Not right now, no.”
“High Septon? Archmaester? Master of coin?”
“No.”
“Shire reeve? Mill owner? Wise woman? Smallfolk who owns more than the average number of pigs?”
“No.”
“Do you in fact have any blood at all?”
“Yes.”
“Really?”
“No.”
“Well, you’ve got five and a half quarts that I know of for certain.”
*exsanguinates him*
“What a senseless waste of human life.”
GRRM: “Tyrion. Tyrion. Where DID I put that confounded Tyrion?!”
@27, Fair enough.
I just always figured Mance qualified because he does have that “consent of the governed” like Drogo, whereas the kingdom Robb “reigned” over technically doesn’t exist anymore.
Just out curiousity, after you get done with with ADWD, can we have a crazy theory thread, because there’s one about Mance that will make you laugh.
@28, BRILLIANT
@28: Nice. : )
LOL, we already have a crazy theory thread… it’s called Spoiler Threads 1-6.
Oh, but you mean one that Leigh can participate in…well now, that’s different. Can we talk about Jojen Paste? (Don’t Google that, Leigh!) muahahahaha…
@28, hahaha :D
Melisandre’s curse with the leeches was just a trick. Proof is that Joffrey was not condemned by Stannis and her for being a monster, but for being a usurper; and if he is, his brother is too. But although killing Tommen would legitimately make Stannis king of Westeros without any ambiguity, they’re not doing that again (it’s not as if it was hard to find king’s blood, half of Westeros is Robert’s bastard. Also, they could havedirectly condemned him with the three others and save time). By the way, brother’s blood doesn’t count, because if so, Stannis blood would work, and everything would be easier (shadow babies don’t work the same way, Melisandre wanted to make them with Davos at some point I think).
Dany was completely honest when buying the Unsullied. Astapor sold them for a dragon, she gave them a dragon. Then they told her to try them by invading a nearby city (and then taking slaves there to sell them in Astapor), and she invaded the nearest city. Among the loot, there was one dragon. Buying the Unsullied was just an investment that immediately paid off really well, it was not theft.
Interesting prediction about Daario. I mean, you can only notice the flamboyant hair, beard and teeth, anybody would be unrecognizable with those.
No speculations about Varys?
@28: reading those threads entirely is quite lengthy, but comments like these are the reason I do it.
@33, Brother’s blood could very well work, my understanding of the issue is that, the subject has to die for it to work, which is why she can’t use Stannis the Mannis.
@33 Varys isn’t a POV.
@28 Nice! Would there be a trio in the background playing “The Bear and the Maiden Fair”, perhaps?
The interpretation of the leech curse is ambigous, but i too think that it was just a trick. The general rule for magic in Westeros is that it requires some sort of sacrifice (“only death can pay for life”). Only a tiny drop of blood is too cheap a price for killing someone (and you don’t even have to be close like with the shadowbaby spell). If Melly can use a drop of kings blood to off anyone, why hasn’t she done it to kill Tywin, Cercei, Tommen and all other enemies?
We do know that Melly can see the future in the flames, and we do know that she wanted to convince Stannis to use Edric’s blood for stone dragon waking. So the logical explanation is that she simply saw Robb’s, Joffrey’s and Balon’s death in the flames, and then staged the leech show to fabricate “proof” of Edric’s blood power.
@28:Fun! lol.
All I’ve got to say is “Words are wind.” And “Where do wh-“, oh, never mind. You’ll know.
@28 “And turn off that annoying bazouki – I mean, harp – music!”
@28 You’ve figured out the purpose for the exiled prince of the Summer Islands!
41: as the Token Black Guy at court, he must be growing increasingly unnerved at the way all the white people keep dying before him.
Would there be a trio in the background playing “The Bear and the Maiden Fair”, perhaps?
Nice.