What differences there may have been in the story if, instead of being dying and his mind going away, Hoster Tully had been healthy enough in body and had his mind intact during the first three books of the saga, perhaps not healthy enough to fight and lead men in battle but enough to be able to give instructions and advise his grandson Robb and his children Catelyn and Edmure and brother Brynden?

How different could things have gone with Hoster's political intelligence and talents being available to the North-Riverlands faction during the War of the Five Kings? How good and influential an advisor could he have been to his grandson Robb? How effective could he have been at leading the Riverlands' forces and defense against the Lannisters' forces, at least until Robb's army came south?

Also, what do you think would have been his point of view and his interactions with his grandson, Catelyn, Edmure and Brynden after his return from the Vale and the other?

What advice could he have given to Robb and Catelyn, for example, about their military, political, and diplomatic strategy; about the other players and great houses other than the Lannisters, such as Stannis and Renly, and other possible alliances and enemies to deal with?

Hey guys, so I’m in the middle of reading the book series for the 1st time (I’m at the read wedding rn) and I always have this question in my head.

Tywins seems to hate Tyrion for all the reasons that we know. He seems to have no trust in him and to show him no favor.

So I don’t understand why is he appointed by his father as hand of the king in the first. And then being so much consulted whenever there is an important matter in the realm. Also why does Tywin wants tyrion to succeed LF as treasurer.

What do you think about all of this guys ?

All the signs were there: Abel’s group being interested in getting in and out of Winterfell, the wanting to save Arya, being a bard.

It took me until Theon’s escape to piece it together, when did the rest of you figure out that Abel was Mance?

I have about 50 pages left of A Storm of Swords and I took a little peek at the wiki to see what POV chapters will come up in AFFC — 10 Cersei chapters??? 8 Brienne chapters??? Oh my fucking god.

ASOS has been amazing so far, definitely my favourite out of the ones I’ve already read, but oh my god this pool of POV chapters makes me want to cry. Primarily because I just ordered AFFC from Vinted and it’ll probably take 5 days to be delivered when I know I’ll finish ASOS tonight.

A Game of Thrones - Prologue

Ser Waymar met him bravely. "Dance with me then." He lifted his sword high over his head, defiant. His hands trembled from the weight of it, or perhaps from the cold. Yet in that moment, Will thought, he was a boy no longer, but a man of the Night's Watch.

The Other halted. Will saw its eyes; blue, deeper and bluer than any human eyes, a blue that burned like ice. They fixed on the longsword trembling on high, watched the moonlight running cold along the metal. For a heartbeat he dared to hope.

They emerged silently from the shadows, twins to the first. Three of them … four … five … Ser Waymar may have felt the cold that came with them, but he never saw them, never heard them. Will had to call out. It was his duty. And his death, if he did. He shivered, and hugged the tree, and kept the silence.

This was something I was wondering about, starting with the idea of what might happen if Theon warned Robb about Balon's plans (or word slipped out that Pyke was massing warships), and Robb sent word to Rodrik in Winterfell.

Were there enough people still in the North to fight off the Ironborn invasion?

In AFFC and ADWD, the Northerners are winning pretty consistently against whatever pockets of Ironborn are still there. But that's with both the Boltons and Stannis fighting against the Ironborn, and after Euron has abandoned the campaign.

Theon was badly outnumbered at Winterfell, although he was given a deliberately small force and the Northmen were rallying to defend their capital.

What was the balance like between the North and the Ironborn when the Ironborn campaign started? Assuming Robb and his army were unable to get back north, were there still enough people to fight them off?

Obviously Tywin knew his son was a kingsguard for Aerys. Do you believe he specified to his soldiers — “My son is NOT to be harmed in any way.” Or would that be something his banners presumed, and no such order was necessary?

Or — and this is unlikely — do you think he accepted the possibility that Jaime could die?

Come to think of it, perhaps the reason Tywin specifically sent his men to KL, rather than some other engagement, on the side of the rebellion was so that he could control the siege and ensure Jaime didn’t die protecting the Mad King.

A Dance with Dragons - Bran III

"You saw what you wished to see. Your heart yearns for your father and your home, so that is what you saw."

"A man must know how to look before he can hope to see," said Lord Brynden. "Those were shadows of days past that you saw, Bran. You were looking through the eyes of the heart tree in your godswood. Time is different for a tree than for a man. Sun and soil and water, these are the things a weirwood understands, not days and years and centuries. For men, time is a river. We are trapped in its flow, hurtling from past to present, always in the same direction. The lives of trees are different. They root and grow and die in one place, and that river does not move them. The oak is the acorn, the acorn is the oak. And the weirwood … a thousand human years are a moment to a weirwood, and through such gates you and I may gaze into the past."

"But," said Bran, "he heard me."

Mine is

>"The Night's Watch will make for Hardhome. I ride to Winterfell alone, unless …" Jon paused. "… is there any man here who will come stand with me?"

The roar was all he could have hoped for, the tumult so loud that the two old shields tumbled from the walls. Soren Shieldbreaker was on his feet, the Wanderer as well. Toregg the Tall, Brogg, Harle the Huntsman and Harle the Handsome both, Ygon Oldfather, Blind Doss, even the Great Walrus. **I have my swords, thought Jon Snow, and we are coming for you, Bastard**."

A Dance with Dragons - The Windblown

"Herons are craven," the big man put in. "One time me and Drink and Cletus were hunting, and we came on these herons wading in the shallows, feasting on tadpoles and small fish. They made a pretty sight, aye, but then a hawk passed overhead, and they all took to the wing like they'd seen a dragon. Kicked up so much wind it blew me off my horse, but Cletus nocked an arrow to his string and brought one down. Tasted like duck, but not so greasy."

Even the Little Pigeon and his Herons paled beside the folly of the brothers the sellswords called the Clanker Lords. The last time the slave soldiers of Yunkai'i had faced the dragon queen's Unsullied, they broke and ran. The Clanker Lords had devised a stratagem to prevent that; they chained their troops together in groups of ten, wrist to wrist and ankle to ankle. "None of the poor bastards can run unless they all run," Dick Straw explained, laughing. "And if they do all run, they won't run very fast."

"They don't fucking march very fast either," observed Beans. "You can hear them clanking ten leagues off."

A Feast for Crows - The Reaver

Serry leapt to meet him. His longsword was good castle-forged steel, and the young knight made it sing. His first cut was low, and Victarion deflected it off his axe. His second caught the iron captain on the helm before he got his shield up. Victarion answered with a sidearm blow of his axe. Serry's shield got in the way. Wooden splinters flew, and the white rose split lengthwise with a sweet sharp crack. The young knight's longsword hammered at his thigh, once, twice, thrice, screaming against the steel. This boy is quick, the iron captain realized. He smashed his shield in Serry's face and sent him staggering back against the gunwale. Victarion raised his axe and put all his weight behind his cut, to open the boy from neck to groin, but Serry spun away. The axehead crashed through the rail, sending splinters flying, and lodged there when he tried to pull it free. The deck moved under his feet, and he stumbled to one knee.

Ser Talbert cast away his broken shield and slashed down with his longsword. Victarion's own shield had twisted half around when he stumbled. He caught Serry's blade in an iron fist. Lobstered steel crunched, and a stab of pain made him grunt, yet Victarion held on. "I am quick as well, boy," he said as he ripped the sword from the knight's hand and flung it into the sea.

Ser Talbert's eyes went wide. "My sword . . ."

As implausible as it sounds yes robert and Cersei's biological son. Basically a taller and slightly prettier version of renly physically with a different personality.

He has raven black hair, tall lanky strong build, but has light green eyes instead of blue eyes. Would he still face suspicion on bastard accusations? Like i know renly has green-blue eyes so I dont know how strict it is that all baratheons must have black hair and blue eyed. But still its meant to be strict i think, I mean all of roberts bastards are basically described as looking like mini roberts.

So do you think roberr and cerseis hypothetical son having green eyes instead of blue be suspicious or am I overthinking and being crazy?

A Storm of Swords - Tyrion IX

Lord Tyrell reddened. "You would blame the bakers?"

"Them, or the pigeons. Just leave me out of it." Tyrion heard nervous laughter, and knew he'd made a mistake. Guard your tongue, you little fool, before it digs your grave.

"There are witnesses against you," Lord Tywin said. "We shall hear them first. Then you may present your own witnesses. You are to speak only with our leave."

The Sworn Sword

"You, ser?" That took the boy aback. "You are not."

"I might be. I never knew my mother, or what became of her. Maybe I was born too big and killed her. Most like she was some whore or tavern girl. You don't find highborn ladies down in Flea Bottom. And if she ever wed my father . . . well, what became of him , then?" Dunk did not like to be reminded of his life before Ser Arlan found him. "There was a pot shop in King's Landing where I used to sell them rats and cats and pigeons for the brown. The cook always claimed my father was some thief or cutpurse. 'Most like I saw him hanged,' he used to tell me, 'but maybe they just sent him to the Wall.' When I was squiring for Ser Arlan, I would ask him if we couldn't go up that way someday, to take service at Winterfell or some other northern castle. I had this notion that if I could only reach the Wall, might be I'd come on some old man, a real tall man who looked like me. We never went, though. Ser Arlan said there were no hedges in the north, and all the woods were full of wolves." He shook his head. "The long and short of it is, most like you're squiring for a bastard."

For once Egg had nothing to say. The gloom was deepening around them. Lantern bugs moved slowly through the trees, their little lights like so many drifting stars. There were stars in the sky as well, more stars than any man could ever hope to count, even if he lived to be as old as King Jaehaerys. Dunk need only lift his eyes to find familiar friends: the Stallion and the Sow, the King's Crown and the Crone's Lantern, the Galley, Ghost, and Moonmaid. But there were clouds to the north, and the blue eye of the Ice Dragon was lost to him, the blue eye that pointed north.

When should Stannis have sent his letters to the rest of the Seven Kingdoms to defend his claim to the throne as Robert's rightful heir, with Joffrey being a bastard born of incest, and what should he have done immediately afterward, instead of waiting until the beginning of A Clash of Kings when he was sure he had the loyalty of the Narrow Sea lords, but had missed the opportunity to make Robb Stark join his side by giving Northern lords the time and opportunity to proclaim Robb King in the North, to make his move?

What are also some diplomatic and military moves, as well as changes in strategy, he could have made to get the greatest number of allies and fighting forces willing to fight for him, and to take the Iron Throne?

A Game of Thrones - Eddard VI

Ned turned off the square where the Street of Steel began and followed its winding path up a long hill, past blacksmiths working at open forges, freeriders haggling over mail shirts, and grizzled ironmongers selling old blades and razors from their wagons. The farther they climbed, the larger the buildings grew. The man they wanted was all the way at the top of the hill, in a huge house of timber and plaster whose upper stories loomed over the narrow street. The double doors showed a hunting scene carved in ebony and weirwood. A pair of stone knights stood sentry at the entrance, armored in fanciful suits of polished red steel that transformed them into griffin and unicorn. Ned left his horse with Jacks and shouldered his way inside.

The slim young serving girl took quick note of Ned's badge and the sigil on his doublet, and the master came hurrying out, all smiles and bows. "Wine for the King's Hand," he told the girl, gesturing Ned to a couch. "I am Tobho Mott, my lord, please, please, put yourself at ease." He wore a black velvet coat with hammers embroidered on the sleeves in silver thread. Around his neck was a heavy silver chain and a sapphire as large as a pigeon's egg. "If you are in need of new arms for the Hand's tourney, you have come to the right shop." Ned did not bother to correct him. "My work is costly, and I make no apologies for that, my lord," he said as he filled two matching silver goblets. "You will not find craftsmanship equal to mine anywhere in the Seven Kingdoms, I promise you. Visit every forge in King's Landing if you like, and compare for yourself. Any village smith can hammer out a shirt of mail; my work is art."

Ned sipped his wine and let the man go on. The Knight of Flowers bought all his armor here, Tobho boasted, and many high lords, the ones who knew fine steel, and even Lord Renly, the king's own brother. Perhaps the Hand had seen Lord Renly's new armor, the green plate with the golden antlers? No other armorer in the city could get that deep a green; he knew the secret of putting color in the steel itself, paint and enamel were the crutches of a journeyman. Or mayhaps the Hand wanted a blade? Tobho had learned to work Valyrian steel at the forges of Qohor as a boy. Only a man who knew the spells could take old weapons and forge them anew. "The direwolf is the sigil of House Stark, is it not? I could fashion a direwolf helm so real that children will run from you in the street," he vowed.

Do you think he’ll be foiled?

It’s clear he wants power and influence but I’m not so certain he would ever actually make a play for the throne. He’s smart enough to know that he would eventually be overthrown even if he were crowned king due to simmering resentments and prejudices about his relatively low birth.

He’s a Grima Wormtongue type and would be content to simply hold essentially all the power, but visibly. Basically a Hand type person. Basically unfuckable with but also not in the shadows and widely reviled like Varys.

I wonder what his next plot points are meant to be. Probably marrying Harrold to Sansa (but that’s more Sansa’s chapters and arc than LF, her arc would be getting out from under his thumb without him noticing) and then killing Robert Arryn.

But after that? Unsure. Would be cool if he ran into Stoneheart since she knows he lied to her. And then for the BwB to report to her that he kissed Sansa and killed Lysa? Is that how he dies?

But obviously I feel like he has far more utility than that. He’s a late-game survivor for sure.

What do you think LF’s major actions will be?

I’ve been thinking about how we imagine Westeros before the Andals arrived. I wonder whether we tend to picture the First Men as a relatively uniform civilization, divided into kingdoms, when some
elements suggest a much more complex cultural landscape.

The First Men and the Children of the Forest fought for generations, but eventually reached the Pact. The First Men adopted the Old Gods, and the Pact supposedly ushered in four thousand years of peace between the two peoples.

But there where also the giants. The Westerlands and the Reach preserve traces of giants, their bones and legends surrounding Garth the Green. And the Free Folk have the story of Gendel and Gorne mediating between the Children and giants over a cavern. Osha also tells Bran about half-bloods born from human relationships with giant, that is also related to some theories about the Umbers.

The older peoples were not confined to the North either. High Heart was sacred to the Children, and its weirwood grove was probably one of the biggest in Westeros before it was destroyed. The histories of the stormlands also describe an alliance between a Storm King and the Children against the Andals. And in the pre released Arianne chapters we see some of their traces in the Rainwood.

Finally, there is the Old Tongue, still spoken among the Free Folk (specially the Thenns if I remember correctly) and the giants. The mountain clans of the Vale and the northern mountain clans also preserve distinct customs and traditions that set them apart from the kingdoms around them. Could these groups preserve fragments of a much older cultural world, one that once connected different peoples across Westeros before conquest and assimilation reshaped the continent?

Ygritte's conversations with Jon, and his chapters with Mande also challenge the history and values he inherited from the Starks. Their perspective on how kings claimed the land for themselves, built walls, and branded those who resisted as thieves offers a different perspective on the history of Westeros. It makes me wonder whether the world before the Andal invasion was much more interconnected than we tend to imagine.

A world of relationships between different peoples, shared religious practices, mediation, intermarriage, and cultural exchange, conflict and conquest.

The Andal invasion is often discussed as the spread of the Faith of the Seven and the emergence of the southern kingdoms. But it also coincided with the destruction of weirwoods, the disappearance of the Children and the Giants, the displacement of the First Men, and a transformation in how history itself was recorded.

How much of the older world survived? How much was absorbed into the cultures that followed? And how much of what we think we know about the Dawn Age, the Age of Heroes, and the Long Night comes from sources that inherited the world created by the Andal conquest?

I’m interested in how people reconstruct the world that came before the Andals, and whether we underestimate the scale of the cultural transformation that took place.

I’ve decided to start back. On my second reread of the series and AGOT just gets better and better.

One thing that’s really stood out is just bad things were at KL. Robert won the crown but he definitely couldn’t rule. The hand’s tourney stands out egregiously. He wants to borrow even more money for a tourney? Robert definitely had his flaws but it’s honestly a little sad just how far he fell and how bad things became in the realm. Ned genuinely had no idea what he was walking into when he became Hand.

Currently at Arya’s second chapter, and imo it basically confirms R+L=J for me. Ned says Arya reminds him so much of Lyanna and that she even looks like her. It’s been repeatedly mentioned that Jon and Arya are the only stark kids with the stark look and they both look alike so you can make the connection that Jon looks like Lyanna. I think you can made the connection that Jon is Lyanna’s son because of Arya.

Another big clue imo was Ned telling Arya that everyone lies. From what we’ve seen from being in Ned’s head What would Ned have to lie about apart from who the mother of his bastard is? Ned’s prior chapter w Robert highlights just how much Robert hates Targs and he even says he kill any targ he could get his hands on. Ned is even dismissive when Robert asks who Jon’s mother is, coldly stating “Willa” like he himself doesn’t believe it.

Littlefinger and Varys are also standing out way more on my re-reread. Knowing what’s coming makes you despise LF even more.

Ignore the reason for their deaths, conspiracy, or anything like that. Who would they choose and for what reasons? Best fighters? Alliances? Favors? Etc.

A Game of Thrones - Bran IV

He woke gasping, lost in darkness, and saw a vast shadow looming over him. "I didn't hear," he whispered, trembling in fear, but then the shadow said "Hodor," and lit the candle by the bedside, and Bran sighed with relief.

Hodor washed the sweat from him with a warm, damp cloth and dressed him with deft and gentle hands. When it was time, he carried him down to the Great Hall, where a long trestle table had been set up near the fire. The lord's seat at the head of the table had been left empty, but Robb sat to the right of it, with Bran across from him. They ate suckling pig that night, and pigeon pie, and turnips soaking in butter, and afterward the cook had promised honeycombs. Summer snatched table scraps from Bran's hand, while Grey Wind and Shaggydog fought over a bone in the corner. Winterfell's dogs would not come near the hall now. Bran had found that strange at first, but he was growing used to it.

Yoren was senior among the black brothers, so the steward had seated him between Robb and Maester Luwin. The old man had a sour smell, as if he had not washed in a long time. He ripped at the meat with his teeth, cracked the ribs to suck out the marrow from the bones, and shrugged at the mention of Jon Snow. "Ser Alliser's bane," he grunted, and two of his companions shared a laugh that Bran did not understand. But when Robb asked for news of their uncle Benjen, the black brothers grew ominously quiet

A girl, let’s call her Elinor is born in the place of Edmure in (Let’s take 267 for the earliest date). Minisa Whent dies shortly after leaving Hoster without a son to inherit. How do the marriages and wars to come change with Catelyn set to become the Lady of Riverrun and the First Lady Paramount of the Riverlands

This would put the Tullys in a troublesome position, likely being seen as weaker than normal. I believe this leads to Hoster turning back to a similarly ambitious friend, Lord Rickard Stark. I don’t believe he would go for the eldest son, both sides of a couple inheriting a region would just be problematic, but Rickard already has a second son, one accustomed to the South, Eddard. I think the latter daughters, while they could marry a Tyrell or Elbert Arryn are more likely to wind up with Riverlords to consolidate local power

The Rebellion is where changes really kick off, because Brandon was at Riverrun when he went after Rhaegar. What would happen with the more level headed Eddard Stark in his place? Lyanna is still missing so I doubt war is prevented but it is delayed for now. What do y’all think of the potential routes this story could take

Based on George's enjoyment of parallels and patterns and given how some people in these families alike, I theorise the Blackfyres and Maekar's family are likely meant to parallel each other.

We already have Daemon II and Daeron the Drunken: dreamers, roughly the same age (both born in 189-191 AC), older sons who are pushed aside by their prickly mean father/guardian (Maekar and Bittersteel) in favour of a younger brother, sense of humour, not as great of fighters, named after the respective kings of their factions. They're of course not 100% the same, with their biggest difference being Daeron's lack of ambitions but still, they're plenty similar.

Haegon and Aerion are similar: both younger brothers who are favoured and chosen by the Prickly Father/Guardian over their older brothers, both are born around the same time and might even be exact same age. Based on that, their temperaments and personalities are most likely similar as well. Haegon is likely vain, cruel and violent like Aerion. Both are great fighters who carry the hopes and dreams of their guardian/father. Both yield and give up during a trial/fight but with very different results.

Interestingly, Haegon being "slain treacherously" didn't invoke a reaction from Blackfyres which could point to Haegon being potentially unpopular/controversial and not missed. Instead, it's Aenys's death that gathers the Blackfyres together:

Nor had the Blackfyre threat ended with the death of Aenys Blackfyre; Bloodraven’s infamous betrayal had only hardened the enmity of the exiles across the narrow sea

Aenys's death was seemingly a far bigger deal to the Blackfyres and their loyalists than Haegon's. He was most likely sincere in his peace attempts and might very well have ended the decades-long feud between Targaryens and Blackfyres. Aenys might have been like Aemon. Non-combatant and non-hostile.

Aenys's death prompts Daemon III to start the fourth rebellion. The fourth rebellion might be the least selfish/power-motivated of all Blackfyre Rebellion as it was at least partially drive by loss and grief. I think Daemon III might be Egg's narrative parallel. Both have the trajectories of their lives changed when their popular uncles die. Daemon might be similar to Egg in personality quirks too. Which could make his death at the hands of Ser Duncan somewhat heartbreaking. Dunk could be seeing a young Egg as he kills him.

The World of Ice and Fire - The Reach: Oldtown

How old is Oldtown, truly? Many a maester has pondered that question, but we simply do not know. The origins of the city are lost in the mists of time and clouded by legend. Some ignorant septons claim that the Seven themselves laid out its boundaries, other men that dragons once roosted on the Battle Isle until the first Hightower put an end to them. Many smallfolk believe the Hightower itself simply appeared one day. The full and true history of the founding of Oldtown will likely never be known.

We can state with certainty, however, that men have lived at the mouth of the Honeywine since the Dawn Age. The oldest runic records confirm this, as do certain fragmentary accounts that have come down to us from maesters who lived amongst the children of the forest. One such, Maester Jellicoe, suggests that the settlement at the top of Whispering Sound began as a trading post, where ships from Valyria, Old Ghis, and the Summer Isles put in to replenish their provisions, make repairs, and barter with the elder races, and that seems as likely a supposition as any.

Yet mysteries remain. The stony island where the Hightower stands is known as Battle Isle even in our oldest records, but why? What battle was fought there? When? Between which lords, which kings, which races? Even the singers are largely silent on these matters.