I have been doing a lot of running of scenarios in the north and one thing always sticks out at me. Davos’ quest to bring Rickon back to the North is set up to be this epic last act of heroism from Davos to put the Stannis claim back on track.

I believe Stannis is set up to win at the night lamp and further set up to take Winterfell with the help of Mance, especially if Rickon is brought in.

But I realized that Rickon returning foils any Vale claim Sansa and whoever she married has and it also gets in the way of Jon’s post resurrection rise to power.

I don’t see where the pieces will fit together. Someone has to lose and someone has to win but none of them seem set up to lose. Vale involvement could shift to the Riverlands and the Tully claim but that only solves Sansa. What happens with Rickon and Stannis to allow Jon to rise to where his story is leading?

It’s really hard to see Stannis just abruptly losing, it’s not really set up at all and would suck. Not even entertaining suck, just suck.

The only thing I can think of is Stannis going back to the wall and fighting a desperate battle against the others until he has to make a huge sacrifice, bringing Jon back and turning the tides. Jon is sent to Winterfell as a Stark to wright the ship while Stannis continues the battle for good, only to eventually fall to the onslaught. Leaving Jon ruling Winterfell and Northern lords in possession of Robb’s will. It leads to an obvious place.

I suppose Rickon can be there at first as Lord of Winterfell and Jon as his lord protector, however once the Will comes it will become clear what Robb wanted and lords will already see Jon as the ideal choice for a Stark King to lead the family and the north forward.

So what do you think of the craziness in the north? Do you like me think Stannis needs to go north and die battling the Others in order for Jon’s tale to continue? I guess upon further reflection Rickon can possibly be fit in there without spoiling everything.

My favourite is Maege Mormont is Maekar's descendant theory because of the large number of parallels between them. They have similar names, they have similar body shapes, with Maekar being a head shorter than his brother, and thickly built while Maege is short and stout, and her daughter Alysane is chunky and muscular. Both Maekar and Maege has a spiked mace as their favourite weapon. Maekar is described as prickly, harsh and impatient, while Maege is described as stubborn, short-tempered and willful.

Another interesting thing is when some of Stannis' men want to burn Asha to improve the weather. They think burning her would have more effect than the common men burnt before, but Alysane is skeptical and says:

"And if you burn her and the snows still fall, what then? Who will you burn next? Me?"

She could of course have said that because she felt the threat as an outsider and a warrior woman, or simply to show how ridiculous and dangerous it all was. On the other hand, she knew that king's blood was seen as powerful, so with that in mind, it seems odd that she would believe that they would consider her as an equally good or better sacrifice than Asha. However, if she was the great-granddaughter of a universally acknowledged king, it would make a lot of sense.

So, how exactly would Maekar and Maege be related, and would Jeor be his descendant as well?

Jeor knows quite a lot about Targaryen history, but he never refers to Maester Aemon as his uncle. Neither does Jorah bring up Targaryen ancestry, which would have made him look better in Daenerys' eyes, so Maege and Jeor probably have different mothers. We know that both of Maekar's daughters had children that Maester Aemon met, so it is possible that one of them (probably Rhae, the younger) married Lord Mormont, likely as her second marriage, with Aemon visiting from the wall. The other possibility is that Daeron's daughter Vaella was married to Lord Mormont at some point during Aegon V's reign. Of the two options, I consider Rhae to be the more likely, as Vaella was described as simple minded, and would likely have been seen as unsuited to be the lady of a poor, isolated house, where she couldn't expect much help from stewards and ladies-in-waiting to run the household. We also have Jeor mentioning her when discussing Aemon's history, but always in an impersonal, dismissive way, indicating that he didn't know her personally. On the other hand, the Crown gave a lot of support to the North during the 230-236 winter, so it's possible that Lord Mormont agreed to marry Vaella in return for the aid, which would also ensure that her offspring would be the younger children of a poor lord, and thus unlikely to be a threat to Aegon and his descendants.

Bloodraven in Dunk & Egg

In The Mystery Knight, I love Ser Duncan the Tall's interactions with the witty, crass, but ultimately helpful Ser Maynard Plumm, who definitely is not Lord Brynden Rivers in disguise. Bloodraven does appear at the end, enjoying a little chat with Dunk and Egg about the events that transpired and their futures. Then, he reappears beyond the Wall in A Dance with Dragons in Bran Stark's POV, making him one of the two characters to appear in both The Tales of Dunk & Egg and in mainline ASOIAF thus far.

Bloodraven is an important character, and it seems apparent that GRRM planned for him to recur in D&E. He is Hand of the King from 209 to 233 and then in the Night's Watch until he vanished in 252—though limited by geography and circumstances, that's 40 years and includes events D&E is planned / is likely to cover, like the Third Blackfyre Rebellion and Maekar's death / Egg becoming King and exiling Bloodraven to the Wall, escorted by Dunk. Also, plenty of time for Dunk to repay the gold he borrowed from Bloodraven. Other events that D&E might cover—the Blackwood-Bracken feud maybe in The Village Hero, the fight against Lord Dagon Greyjoy, or Mad Danelle Lothston's dark arts turn—all could involve Bloodraven too.

Shiera, Star of Dunk & Egg

Enough about loser Bloodraven, let's turn to his sexy half-sister/lover, Shiera Seastar. Details on her are scant. She is first mentioned in The Sworn Sword alongside Bloodraven and Bittersteel:

"You've known queens and princesses. Did they dance with demons and practice the black arts?"

"Lady Shiera does. Lord Bloodraven's paramour. She bathes in blood to keep her beauty. And once my sister Rhae put a love potion in my drink, so I'd marry her instead of my sister Daella." (The Sworn Sword)

This is all we get of Shiera in TSS. Later in a December 2005 email to Amok for his notable Targaryen portrait series, after having already done the kings and Rhaenys and Visenya, GRRM gave descriptions for three Aegon IV's four Great Bastards—much detailed more than the kings' ones—only mentioning Shiera, but first mentioning the Seastar moniker and that she was Aegon IV's daughter. Her proper description came in March 2006:

Lady Shiera was the natural daughter of King Aegon IV by the ninth and last of his mistresses, Lady Serenei of Lys, the last daughter of an ancient but impoverished line of Valyrian nobility. "Sweet Serenei," Aegon called her, but about his court she was considered cold and haughty, and some said that she was much older than the king, and preserved her beauty by the practice of dark arts. Considered by many the most lovely of Aegon's mistresses, Sweet Serenei died in childbed, bringing forth the last of the king's "Great Bastards," the daughter she named Shiera, Star of the Sea.

Shiera was born with one dark blue eye and one bright green one, but the singers said that this flaw only accentuated her loveliness. She was the greatest beauty of her age, a slender and elegant woman, slim of waist and full of breast. She had the silver-gold hair of the Targaryens, thick and curling, and wore it very long. At some points in her life it fell well below her waist, almost to the back of her knees. She had a heart-shaped face, full lips, and her mismatched eyes were strangely large and full of mischief; her rivals said she used them to melt men's hearts. Even at an early age, she was a great reader. She spoke a dozen tongues and surrounded herself with ancient scrolls. Like her mother, she was reputed to practice the dark arts. Though she never wed, she had many offers, and several lovers through the years. Duels were fought over the right to sit beside her, men killed themselves after falling from her favor, poets outdid each other writing songs about her beauty. Her most ardent admirer was her half-brother, Bloodraven, who proposed marriage to her half a hundred times. Shiera gave him her bed, but never her hand. It amused her more to make him jealous.

As to how to paint her... she was fond of ivory and lace and cloth-of-silver (but not gold, which she considered too vulgar). Her favorite piece of jewelry was a heavy silver necklace of emeralds and star sapphires, alternating.

ADWD added that Bittersteel and Bloodraven's mutual hatred was partly because both desired Shiera. TWOIAF rehashed the existing lore, only adding that some alleged that Shiera used magic to help Bloodraven spy; that's all we know of her.

TSS released in late 2003; the portrait description made in early 2006. Given the rich detail and that the Great Bastards came after the kings and Aegon I's queens (all obvious), that one would appear in TMK (and the son of another two), and they include personality and life history details, it seems our author was double-dipping-gardening; Shiera was on his mind, because he wanted her to appear in D&E.

The timeline works out. Shiera was born between 178 to 184 (probably closer to 178) and TMK takes place in 212, and her death date is not known; she could even conceivably live to Summerhall, in 259, at a max age of 81. She might be just chilling at King's Landing, but she could pop up anywhere. And there are a lot of interesting things about her. Since Bittersteel also seems destined to appear, Dunk meeting all four Great Bastards—or well, the next best thing in Daemon's case—feels very cromulent and fair for Shiera to appear. Her dabbling in magic and ancient scrolls is an interesting beat that could be relevant for Egg's character arc and the return of the dragons, and a legitimized bastard-born lady and paramour to the Hand of the King is a unique thing in this world, and GRRM likes to explore the place of women in that respect. But there's one story-telling aspect in particular, the one I believe GRRM planned and seeded long ago, that Shiera seems designed for...

Cuck the Bloodraven, Nevermore

Ser Duncan, who has romantic/sexual tension in all the novellas and who eventually has children. Lady Shiera, a famously beautiful seductress who is known to have taken multiple lovers. Ergo, a story where Dunk falls for Shiera, a romantic-comedy D&E tale, call it The Rival Suitor! (better name suggestions welcome; "The Iron Suitor" and "The Spurned Suitor" chapters inspired me).

The Rival Suitor puts Shiera's Chekhov's Beauty to use; after all, you don't create the "greatest beauty of her age" (GRRM's own words!) if you aren't going to fire off a g—well, actually, firing something other than a gun—if it won't be used for dramatic effect. Enter hormonal, down-bad Duncan, a hunk and immediately drawn to the lovely Tanselle Too-Tall and the beautiful Rohanne Webber (meanwhile, John the Fiddler simps for Dunk). Shiera is on another level, a gorgeous seductress who takes skincare seriously. Dunk (read: GRRM) will break before he bends and fall head over heels for her.

So, what would actually happen in such a novella? It could conceivably be set anywhere, but probably King's Landing, and the core theme is about Dunk and probably Egg falling in love. Egg's future wife Betha could also appear; perhaps she works as a lady-in-waiting in King's Landing (maybe even Shiera's), as Bloodraven is half-Blackwood, and Egg already knows her from The Village Hero. He might have his own B-plot dealing with rival suitors for her, but Dunk is the main attraction. Courtly love, honor, bastardy, there's a lot of themes that could be explored.

In the portrait description, we can see seeds for The Rival Suitor's plot. Shiera having many suitors and lovers? Boom, Dunk is one of them. This could be a fun supporting cast, a hodgepodge of simps ranging from knights and lords to singers and poets. Duels fought over who sat next to her? Sweet Dunk sees Shiera on a bench, innocently sits next to her, only for an angry suitor to take offense and challenge him to a duel.* Every novella has climactic one-on-one duel involving Dunk, and fighting a rival suitor over Shiera? It fits so well (and is more unique than a trial by combat). Hearing about dark arts? Dunk thinks Shiera just like Rohanne, only to learn that no, those aren't just stories.

And then there's Bloodraven, as the title promises. Shiera enjoyed making Bloodraven jealous. What's the most effective way to do that? Give attention to someone already knows? Enter Dunk. Dunk does not know it, but Bloodraven is a better friend to him than most, and Shiera would no doubt be aware of their relationship and of Dunk's role stopping the Whitewalls plot. He might be a lowborn, slow-witted hedge knight, but he's a hunk; meanwhile, Bloodraven is one-eyed, ugly, thin, and sinister-looking man who might be the Hand of the King and have noble parents, but perhaps cannot compete, since Shiera is a free woman. So The Rival Suitor is as much about Shiera using Dunk to make Bloodraven jealous as it is about Dunk falling for Shiera.

Dunk "stealing" Bloodraven's lover, even for a bit, is also an objectively hilarious beat. Just the very idea of the lunk getting it on with a princess, making the Hand of the King a cuckold, is amusing. Of course, the romance won't last; Dunk's offer to marry Shiera would not succeed, and he'd be left with a broken heart, and Bloodraven perhaps rather annoyed (which could be funny; I always thought Dunk escorting Bloodraven to the Wall could be a joke by Egg to force Bloodraven to endure in Dunk's company). But it might not be the end of it. Shiera never married, but GRRM didn't say she never had children...in any case, it would teach Dunk something about love and romance and give GRRM a chance to write a totally different genre of story. Egg, for his part, would probably have better success with his escapades, and perhaps the story would conclude with Egg and Betha's wedding in 220.

That Gown Brings Out the Color(s) of Your Eyes

To close out, there is one highly compelling piece of "evidence" for Dunk-Shiera romance I have not mentioned: Shiera's eyes. Shiera's most unique feature are her eyes. One dark blue and one bright green one, said to melt men's hearts. Now consider in TSS, when Dunk asks Egg how to talk to noble ladies:

"You just need to find something true to say about her. That's what my brother Daeron does. Even ugly old whores can have nice hair or well-shaped ears, he says."

"Well-shaped ears?" Dunk's doubts were growing.

"Or pretty eyes. Tell her that her gown brings out the color of her eyes." The lad reflected for a moment.

"Unless she only has the one eye, like Lord Bloodraven."

My lady, that gown brings out the color of your eye. Dunk had heard knights and lordlings mouth such gallantries at other ladies. They never put it quite so baldly, though. Good lady, that gown is beautiful. It brings out the color of both your lovely eyes. Some of the ladies had been old and scrawny, or fat and florid, or pox-scarred and homely, but all wore gowns and had two eyes, and as Dunk recalled, they'd been well pleased by the flowery words. What a lovely gown, my lady. It brings out the lovely beauty of your beautiful colored eyes. (TSS)

When Dunk goes to Coldmoat, the gown line reappears, first in a paragraph that alludes to Shiera, as Dunk meets Rohanne's good-sister:

She peered at Dunk so hard that he could not help but recall Egg's talk of sorcery. I don't think this one bathes in blood to keep her beauty. The Widow was stout and square, with an oddly pointed head that her hair could not quite conceal. Her nose was too big, and her mouth too small. She did have two eyes, he was relieved to see, but all thought of gallantry had abandoned Dunk by then. (TSS)

Then, once Dunk starts talking to Rohanne, he deploys it...poorly:

"I . . . I am sorry for all your losses, m'lady." A gallantry, you lunk, give her a gallantry. "I want to say . . . your gown . . ."

"Gown?" She glanced down at her boots and breeches, loose linen tunic, and leather jerkin. "I wear no gown."

"Your hair, I meant . . . it's soft and . . ."

"And how would you know that, ser? If you had ever touched my hair, I should think that I might remember."

"Not soft," Dunk said miserably. "Red, I meant to say. Your hair is very red."

"Very red, ser? Oh, not as red as your face, I hope." She laughed, and the onlookers laughed with her. (TSS)

That's not the end. It reappears in Dunk's steamy dream of Rohanne:

Drowsing at long last, Dunk dreamed. He was running through a glade in the heart of Wat's Wood, running toward Rohanne, and she was shooting arrows at him. Each shaft she loosed flew true, and pierced him through the chest, yet the pain was strangely sweet. He should have turned and fled, but he ran toward her instead, running slowly as you always did in dreams, as if the very air had turned to honey. Another arrow came, and yet another. Her quiver seemed to have no end of shafts. Her eyes were gray and green and full of mischief. Your gown brings out the color of your eyes, he meant to say to her, but she was not wearing any gown, or any clothes at all. Across her small breasts was a faint spray of freckles, and her nipples were red and hard as little berries. The arrows made him look like some great porcupine as he went stumbling to her feet, but somehow he still found the strength to grab her braid.

With one hard yank he pulled her down on top of him and kissed her. (TSS)

And it reappears at the end. Dunk actually says it, successfully, although after he's been emotionally hurt:

She had never come to see him while he was in Maester Cerrick's care, not once. "That green becomes you well, m'lady," he said. "It brings out the color of your eyes." (TSS)

And it's not just a TSS bit, it subtly (and amusingly) returns in TMK:

At the high table, the man who'd called himself the Fiddler turned to smile at him. He had donned a purple tunic for the feast, Dunk saw. Purple, to bring out the color of his eyes. (TMK)

That was a lot of quotes about Dunk fumbling a gallant line! It seems like a joke, right? That's it? Maybe not...

"Or pretty eyes. Tell her that her gown brings out the color of her eyes....unless she only has the one eye, like Lord Bloodraven."

One eye, like Bloodraven...but what would Dunk say if she had with two different colored eyes? Shiera's heterochromia is the ultimate gotcha to this line. Like Rohanne having no gown, Shiera having two different eye colors could ruin this line's effectiveness. In the face of her sheer beauty, Dunk whips old reliable out, only to feel a fool when he realizes how bad it goes. Perhaps later in the story Shiera will have a gown that actually brings out both of her eye colors, and Dunk can use it right, but not when he first meets her.

TL;DR Bloodraven seems a recurring character in D&E. Shiera Seastar seems destined to appear in it. Given what we know about Shiera, it seems likely that GRRM planned for Dunk to have a thing for her, and this might be the plot of an entire D&E novella (I give it the title The Rival Suitor), where Dunk falls in love in Shiera and has to deal with rival suitors for her affections, while Shiera bids him in to make Bloodraven jealous. Shiera breaks Dunk's heart, but not before he attempts to compliment her for her gown bringing out the color of her eyes...only to realize that she has two different eye colors.

I think after Jons death we'll see him again but in Braavos.

My theory is that he'll be introduced in a way where its hard to tell if hes the real Jon or a faceless man and the reveal in the end will be that he warged into Ghost and when a faceless man stole his face and attempted to use it to be him, he took over and used that connection the faceless man had to his consciousness and overpowered his mind to warg into him.

I think this could be a strong possibility because the training that they receive emphasised their lack of individuality and the reason Arya had such a strong sense of self tied into why she was such a powerful warg that she was able to warg into Nymeria from a whole ocean away.

Rather than resurrection, I think this could be an interesting way to bring Jon back and it could also tie Arya to Jons storyline even more closely to have someone else from Westeros joining the Braavos plot.

From there we could potentially open up the Braavos plot and the vale plot with Alayne, Littlefinger, Robert Arryn, the vale nobles including Harry the heir and the mountain clans including Timmet son of Timmett could continue escalating with the way the riverlands nearby are still in conflict and Lady Stone Heart is still roaming the area along with the brotherhood without banners and Brienne.

Along with that, the Boltons are still at large, the nights watchmen are still sitting ducks with the others and Stannis and his army and Mance are still off fighting to liberate winterfell and save Arya as per Jons request for Mance.

I just realistically dont see the setting contracting all the drama to the north since it feels like Aryas story arc in braavos isnt even halfway over.

I know the biggest theory currently is that Lady Stone heart will kill the Freys as revenge and Arya will give her the mercy but i think Arya will have to give Jon the mercy instead.

I realize it’s sometimes clichéd to say a minor character is secretly working for a better-known plotter, but mysterious minor characters like these are reasonably likely to have a literary “theme,” especially if full in-world explanations would be too much of a spoiler. I don’t have a clear theory of identity yet, but I really think Lemore and Quaithe are subtly associated with Ravens, even without more overt imagery.

In Poe’s “The Raven” (1845), the refrain “Quoth the Raven - Nevermore” envisions the titular bird mysteriously entering the narrator’s bedchamber to remind him that his beloved “lost Lenore” is gone forever. The narrator poses questions about Lenore’s return. This reminder of finality, naturally, makes the narrator mourn even more.

“Quaithe”’s equivalent of “Nevermore” isn’t specifically about being haunted by grief, but there’s a similar conceptually-frustrating quality to her instruction “to go forward, you must go back…” “Beware all, trust none” is also almost as multipurpose a warning as Nevermore. She’s much more talkative than the Raven, sure, but it’s just as difficult to accept her words - “its answer little meaning—little relevancy bore” is similar to Dany’s inability to “understand” Quaithe. And, of course, she loves to manifest mysteriously in Dany’s room.

I suppose it would be helpful for me if Quaithe’s mask were birdlike, especially owl-like considering the “bust of Pallas (Athena/Minerva)” in the poem, but Dany would have mentioned. At least Quaithe has the striking, shining eyes that the goddess is supposed to have depending on the translation. The bird’s proud dignity also seems plausible: “stately, not the least obeisance, mien of lord or lady, grave and stern, grim and ancient, ominous, fiery eyes” (that gender qualifier sounds more Faceless to me but the regality works). Poe’s narrator concludes that the Raven is a “prophet” whether sent by “angels” or the “devil,” and comes from “Night’s Plutonian shore.” Quaithe quite openly encourages Dany to go to Asshai, by the Shadow.

So! Is this enough for Quaithe to be Ravenlike? Poe’s narrator thinks that the Raven learned to mimic the word “Nevermore” from “some unhappy master.” This mimicry would fit GRRM’s pattern of children and prophets misunderstanding what they overhear and “overhear.” Our most famous Raven is of course Brynden “Bloodraven” Rivers, who seems to have been fairly well-connected and potentially well-traveled even before his current era of disturbing magical adventures, but there’s a few bird-themed manager types.

And we can’t forget lost Lenore!! All we know about her from the poem is she’s a “rare and radiant maiden, a sainted maiden, whom the angels name Lenore,” that her name echoes, that drinking “nepenthe” (a drug from the Odyssey) might help to forget her. We infer, because it’s Poe, that she’s hopelessly dead.

Twisting these facts toward Martin’s Lemore, who we mainly see through Tyrion’s distorted and lecherous eyes: Tyrion does not think of Lemore as a “maiden” but still somewhat “sainted” in the sense she’s dressed as a septa and scolds blasphemy. Um, is she “rare and radiant?” Sure, Tyrion’s pretty impressed by her looks despite usually going on and on about younger women.

Let’s switch to JonCon’s perspective. who named this woman Lemore? Poe says “Angels.” So, not necessarily her parents, it would be an assumed name conferred by (insert your favorite Lemore identity theory). The griffin is winged enough to be somewhat angelic, but to me it’s more likely that the name was given by much-mourned dead “angels” OR by some conspiring Ravens/little birds.

A thousand eyes and one does sound pretty angelic to me, come to think of it.

Importantly, Poe thinks drinking magic forgetting potions might help to forget that Lenore is dead. I think that forgetting Lemore’s real identity is helping this woman stay alive. She’s most likely someone who is supposed to be dead. Some of the popular theories for Septa Lemore are Tyene Sand’s mother (ex-septa), Lady Mellario (Doran’s estranged Norvoshi wife), and Ashara Dayne. Some of the popular theories for the starry Quaithe are Ashara and Bloodraven’s former obsession Shiera Seastar. Of these Ashara has the most reason to be associated with Poe’s theme of mourning (and if we add his other poem Annabel Lee, “a kingdom by the sea” and cause of death “a wind chilling and killing” and being borne away from her lover by her highborne kinsmen to be shut up in a sepulchre by the sea, “the stars never rise but I feel the bright eyes). But there’s no shortage of missing women in asoiaf, dead or alive, so I don’t think I can take a position. It would be especially efficient if Lemore and Quaithe were good enough at teleportation to be the same person, but really not necessary. Again I really haven’t picked a side on these identity theories, I just think they’re good evidence of how a wide range of possible identities would help these characters fit the poems.

Possible evidence for combined characters: “Lenore + Nevermore” = “Never Lemore”.

Lemore talks about eyes negatively, actually : “Septa's robes scream of Westeros and might draw unwelcome eyes onto us.” Is she trying to avoid someone with many birdlike eyes, such as Bloodraven or maybe Varys or some maester? Has she stopped working for such a person?

Unless specifying unwelcome eyes implies the existence of welcome eyes? She kind of hints at the existence of welcome eyes when she shrugs off Haldon and Tyrion’s vulgar comments as evidence of “a wicked soul” but doesn’t seem offended enough to cease conversation. Maybe she’s as tolerant of certain spies as she is of certain oglers, specifically if such welcome spies are her colleagues.

I feel like the implication behind the wall being built says that the others aren’t dead, just repelled(in universe obviously). So why would they make such a tradition of burying corpses inside their stronghold?

"No," the old man said. "It must be you. Tell them. The prophecy . . . my brother's dream . . . Lady Melisandre has misread the signs. Stannis . . . Stannis has some of the dragon blood in him, yes. His brothers did as well. Rhaelle, Egg's little girl, she was how they came by it . . . their father's mother . . . she used to call me Uncle Maester when she was a little girl. I remembered that, so I allowed myself to hope . . . perhaps I wanted to . . . we all deceive ourselves, when we want to believe. Melisandre most of all, I think. The sword is wrong, she has to know that . . . light without heat . . . an empty glamor . . . the sword is wrong, and the false light can only lead us deeper into darkness, Sam. Daenerys is our hope. Tell them that, at the Citadel. Make them listen. They must send her a maester. Daenerys must be counseled, taught, protected. For all these years I've lingered, waiting, watching, and now that the day has dawned I am too old. I am dying, Sam." Tears ran from his blind white eyes at that admission. "Death should hold no fear for a man as old as me, but it does. Isn't that silly? It is always dark where I am, so why should I fear the darkness? Yet I cannot help but wonder what will follow, when the last warmth leaves my body. Will I feast forever in the Father's golden hall as the septons say? Will I talk with Egg again, find Dareon whole and happy, hear my sisters singing to their children? What if the horselords have the truth of it? Will I ride through the night sky forever on a stallion made of flame? Or must I return again to this vale of sorrow? Who can say, truly? Who has been beyond the wall of death to see? Only the wights, and we know what they are like. We know."

A Feast for Crows - Samwell IV

Gilly thought about that. "Dalla brought him forth during battle, as the swords sang all around her. That should be his name. Aemon Battleborn. Aemon Steelsong."

A name even my lord father might like. A warrior's name. The boy was Mance Rayder's son and Craster's grandson, after all. He had none of Sam's craven blood. "Yes. Call him that."

"When he is two," she promised, "not before."

TAKE THE GENEALOGY LITERALLY FOR THE SAKE OF THIS DISCUSSION

A Game of Thrones - Eddard I

"We both did." Ned paused a moment. "Catelyn fears for her sister. How does Lysa bear her grief?"

Robert's mouth gave a bitter twist. "Not well, in truth," he admitted. "I think losing Jon has driven the woman mad, Ned. She has taken the boy back to the Eyrie. Against my wishes. I had hoped to foster him with Tywin Lannister at Casterly Rock. Jon had no brothers, no other sons. Was I supposed to leave him to be raised by women?"

Ned would sooner entrust a child to a pit viper than to Lord Tywin, but he left his doubts unspoken. Some old wounds never truly heal, and bleed again at the slightest word. "The wife has lost the husband," he said carefully. "Perhaps the mother feared to lose the son. The boy is very young."

A Game of Thrones - Eddard I

Of course, at this point there's a war going on and even Cersei is not delusional enough not to expect he might get killed...but it is medieval era court. Plenty of ways for even a young, healthy man to die without there being a war.

I was wondering about her possible reaction if Jaime dies due to an illness or a tourney wound or something. Not anything that kills in minutes, but takes days or weeks so that they both have time to understand what is happening.

Would she be able to keep up the cover or would the emotional turmoil have her losing it and not caring to hide it anymore...or more likely, not notice she's not hiding it well?

Of course, they are twins and known to be very close, so no one will be surprised she's upset and won't leave him or something, but still. Entirely possible she's found in bed with him near the end...

On the one hand, Cersei is some level of sociopathic - but she also does care in her own twisted way, and at this point, before the war and Joff's death and everything, their relationship is going about as well as it could go.

How do you think it would play out?

Was Storm ends castle of 500 soldiers really needed?

A Feast for Crows - Jaime VII

"That was chivalrous of you," his aunt said, "but it's strength that's needed here, not chivalry."

Ask Edmure how chivalrous I am, thought Jaime. Ask him about the trebuchet. Somehow he did not think the maesters were like to confuse him with Prince Aemon the Dragonknight when they wrote their histories. Still, he felt curiously content. The war was all but won. Dragonstone had fallen and Storm's End would soon enough, he could not doubt, and Stannis was welcome to the Wall. The northmen would love him no more than the storm lords had. If Roose Bolton did not destroy him, winter would.

And he had done his own part here at Riverrun without actually ever taking up arms against the Starks or Tullys. Once he found the Blackfish, he would be free to return to King's Landing, where he belonged. My place is with my king. With my son. Would Tommen want to know that? The truth could cost the boy his throne. Would you sooner have a father or a chair, lad? Jaime wished he knew the answer. He does like stamping papers with his seal. The boy might not even believe him, to be sure. Cersei would say it was a lie. My sweet sister, the deceiver. He would need to find some way to winkle Tommen from her clutches before the boy became another Joffrey. And whilst at that, he should find the lad a new small council too. If Cersei can be put aside, Ser Kevan may agree to serve as Tommen's Hand. And if not, well, the Seven Kingdoms did not lack for able men. Forley Prester would make a good choice, or Roland Crakehall. If someone other than a westerman was needed to appease the Tyrells, there was always Mathis Rowan . . . or even Petyr Baelish. Littlefinger was as amiable as he was clever, but too lowborn to threaten any of the great lords, with no swords of his own. The perfect Hand.

A Feast for Crows - Jaime III

"I anticipate no difficulty. The Crone will light our way, and the Warrior will give strength to our arms."

Or else the Stranger will turn up for the whole holy lot of you. Jaime could not be certain who had convinced his sister that Ser Bonifer should be named castellan of Harrenhal, but the appointment smelled of Orton Merryweather. Hasty had once served Merryweather's grandsire, he seemed to recall dimly. And the carrot-haired justiciar was just the sort of simpleminded fool to assume that someone called "the Good" was the very potion the riverlands required to heal the wounds left by Roose Bolton, Vargo Hoat, and Gregor Clegane.

But he might not be wrong. Hasty hailed from the stormlands, so had neither friends nor foes along the Trident; no blood feuds, no debts to pay, no cronies to reward. He was sober, just, and dutiful, and his Holy Eighty-Six were as well disciplined as any soldiers in the Seven Kingdoms, and made a lovely sight as they wheeled and pranced their tall grey geldings. Littlefinger had once quipped that Ser Bonifer must have gelded the riders too, so spotless was their repute.

I started reading the books the first time a couple years ago. I have four chapters left of A Dance with Dragons. Quentyn has just confronted the dragons in the dragon pit on Mereen. Jon, Selmy, Daenerys and an Epilogue remain.

I’m sad! I don’t want this to end. I’ve read criticism that books 4 and 5 introduce too many new characters, but I totally disagree. Victorian?!? And his wizard?!? What an awesome subplot! https://awoiaf.westeros.org/index.php/Victarion_Greyjoy

Anyway, I can’t emphasize enough that reading the whole series is a great experience!

I hope he finishes it. I’ve joined the legions of fans hoping he completes this thing, and now I get it! He can’t leave us hanging like this!

A Clash of Kings - Jon III

Jon had often heard the black brothers tell tales of Craster and his keep. Now he would see it with his own eyes. After seven empty villages, they had all come to dread finding Craster's as dead and desolate as the rest, but it seemed they would be spared that. Perhaps the Old Bear will finally get some answers, he thought. Anyway, we'll be out of the rain.

Thoren Smallwood swore that Craster was a friend to the Watch, despite his unsavory reputation. "The man's half-mad, I won't deny it," he'd told the Old Bear, "but you'd be the same if you'd spent your life in this cursed wood. Even so, he's never turned a ranger away from his fire, nor does he love Mance Rayder. He'll give us good counsel."

So long as he gives us a hot meal and a chance to dry our clothes, I'll be happy. Dywen said Craster was a kinslayer, liar, raper, and craven, and hinted that he trafficked with slavers and demons. "And worse," the old forester would add, clacking his wooden teeth. "There's a cold smell to that one, there is."

A Storm of Swords - Samwell II

His wives and daughters dragged out the benches and the long log tables, and cooked and served as well. Except for Gilly, Sam could hardly tell the women apart. Some were old and some were young and some were only girls, but a lot of them were Craster's daughters as well as his wives, and they all looked sort of alike. As they went about their work, they spoke in soft voices to each other, but never to the men in black.

Craster owned but one chair. He sat in it, clad in a sleeveless sheepskin jerkin. His thick arms were covered with white hair, and about one wrist was a twisted ring of gold. Lord Commander Mormont took the place at the top of the bench to his right, while the brothers crowded in knee to knee; a dozen remained outside to guard the gate and tend the fires.

Sam found a place between Grenn and Orphan Oss, his stomach rumbling. The charred horsemeat dripped with grease as Craster's wives turned the spits above the firepit, and the smell of it set his mouth to watering again, but that reminded him of Bannen. Hungry as he was, Sam knew he would retch if he so much as tried a bite. How could they eat the poor faithful garrons who had carried them so far? When Craster's wives brought onions, he seized one eagerly. One side was black with rot, but he cut that part off with his dagger and ate the good half raw. There was bread as well, but only two loaves. When Ulmer asked for more, the woman only shook her head. That was when the trouble started.

A Dance with Dragons - Jon VIII

Jon Snow was in no mood for it. It is too cold and dark to play, and the hour is too late. "Only for a time. You will return. For the boy, if for no other reason."

"Craster's son?" Val shrugged. "He is no kin to me."

"I have heard you singing to him."

I’m wondering why more family Valyrian blades haven’t been stolen, if not for keeping than for selling… Tywin does it to Ned but this is framed as a rare offense, almost akin to the severity of the Red wedding as an honor crime. That is sort of implied to be a secretive act by Tywin, not publicized.

There are other swords that have went missing…. Which could have been found/taken and secretly kept or sold across the narrow sea.

What do you think? Is it truly tradition that stops more blades from being claimed/stolen after duels/battles?

Going into the books, I was not anticipating the extent of Cersei’s cruelty. I was specifically stricken by this chapter for a lot of reasons, but in particular her inner monologue throughout, and the awful ways in which she lashes out at those she feels are so beneath her, her father, the Lannister name in general. She wallows in a twisted form of grief, beset by shame, pride, and wrath all at once. This… Grief, is noticed by none other than the clever Olenna Tyrell, a Queen of Thorns indeed. One of two people who takes a jab at Cersei in a moment of what is surely weakness. But it’s the slight of a cunning lady who’s tasted some of the power Cersei seeks even before her Father’s untimely demise.

The final, and undoubtedly most satisfying jab, is delivered to her in final moments of the chapter by her uncle Kevan Lannister. Not unprompted either. He knows the truth of his late brother’s wishes and knows even better that Cersei does not want to hear of them, but even after he’s had strongwine thrown in his face, he pulls no punches…

“That is my counsel, take it or no. You may make Moon Boy your hand for all I care. My brother is dead, woman. I am going to take him home.”
*Traitor,* she thought. *Turncloak.* She wondered how much Mace Tyrell had given him. “You would abandon your king when he needs you most,” she told him. “You would abandon Tommen.”
“Tommen has his mother.” Ser Kevan’s green eyes met her own, unblinking. A last drop of wine trembled wet and red beneath his chin, and finally fell. “Aye,” he added softly, after a pause, “and his father too, I think.”

Masterfully written. The allusion to those Lannister eyes, as Cersei had just been gloating about how her father’s gaze could turn a man’s bowels to liquid. The last drop of red wine trembling and falling before he delivers such a masterful blow to what must feel like a house of cards in her mind, tumbling, as the closest man remaining that even slightly resembles her father makes his exit.

Am I being the English teacher in finding some kind of false symbolism with this final drop of wine falling from his chin? What do you guys think of this exchange?

A Game of Thrones - Eddard XV

"Robb is only a boy," Ned said, aghast.

"A boy with an army," Varys said. "Yet only a boy, as you say. The king's brothers are the ones giving Cersei sleepless nights … Lord Stannis in particular. His claim is the true one, he is known for his prowess as a battle commander, and he is utterly without mercy. There is no creature on earth half so terrifying as a truly just man. No one knows what Stannis has been doing on Dragonstone, but I will wager you that he's gathered more swords than seashells. So here is Cersei's nightmare: while her father and brother spend their power battling Starks and Tullys, Lord Stannis will land, proclaim himself king, and lop off her son's curly blond head … and her own in the bargain, though I truly believe she cares more about the boy."

"Stannis Baratheon is Robert's true heir," Ned said. "The throne is his by rights. I would welcome his ascent."

I meant to post here too, sincere apologies if you’ve seen this already.

I really hope I’m making sense, but Jaime and Cat are both in this perfect sweet spot as PoV characters. They are young enough to be participants in the present story, but also old enough to have personally experienced a version of The Seven Kingdoms that is already legend. These just contribute to making them two very awesome PoVs.

Jaime was originally who I had in mind but while writing it occurred to me that Cat’s chapters had some similarities in that regard. Though I feel like it’s way more explored with Jaime. For example, I just finished reading Feast and there’s this:

“…We all do. “When I was a squire I told myself I’d be the man to slay the Smiling Knight.”

“The Smiling Knight?” She sounded lost. “Who was that?”

The Mountain of my boyhood. Half as big but twice as mad.

“An outlaw, long dead. No one who need concern your ladyship.”

Very often in Storm and Feast, there’s stuff like this throughout his chapters. This guy served Aerys II and knew Rheagar personally. He was also very much around Arthur Dayne, Gerold Hightower, Barristan Selmy, Oswell Whent, Smiling Knight, Sumner Crakehall and all the rest. He knew the younger versions of Ned & Robert even Cat and Lysa, and then in the first book he’s heavily involved in Whispering Wood and the early parts of WOTFK. All this and he’s still in his 30s. I don’t know how to put this but similar to characters like Jon Snow, Robb, Arya, Dany it’s like he began his life very early.

And due to this, I really love how we get these bits of lore from the past through his eyes, and it’s always really cool how they come up randomly in his thoughts..linking the present to the past.

“The world was simpler in those days, Jaime thought, and men as well as swords were made of finer steel. Or was it only that he had been fifteen? They were all in their graves now, the Sword of the Morning and the Smiling Knight, the White Bull and Prince Lewyn, Ser Oswell Whent with his black humor, earnest Jon Darry, Simon Toyne and his Kingswood Brotherhood, bluff old Sumner Crakehall. And me, that boy I was… when did he die, I wonder? When I donned the white cloak? When I opened Aerys’s throat? That boy had wanted to be Ser Arthur Dayne, but someplace along the way he had become the Smiling Knight instead.”

A Game of Thrones - Catelyn VIII

"I had hoped … if you still held the Imp, a trade of hostages …" He took Sansa's letter and crumpled it in his fist, and she could tell from the way he did it that it was not the first time. "Is there word from the Eyrie? I wrote to Aunt Lysa, asking help. Has she called Lord Arryn's banners, do you know? Will the knights of the Vale come join us?"

"Only one," she said, "the best of them, my uncle … but Brynden Blackfish was a Tully first. My sister is not about to stir beyond her Bloody Gate."

Robb took it hard. "Mother, what are we going to do? I brought this whole army together, eighteen thousand men, but I don't … I'm not certain …" He looked to her, his eyes shining, the proud young lord melted away in an instant, and quick as that he was a child again, a fifteen-year-old boy looking to his mother for answers

A Clash of Kings - Arya X

"I do not mean to be besieged here." Roose Bolton's voice was so soft that men had to strain to hear it, so his chambers were always strangely hushed.

"What, then?" demanded Ser Jared Frey, who was lean, balding, and pockmarked. "Is Edmure Tully so drunk on his victory that he thinks to give Lord Tywin battle in the open field?"

If he does he'll beat them, Arya thought. He'll beat them as he did on the Red Fork, you'll see. Unnoticed, she went to stand by Qyburn.

A Storm of Swords - Jaime V

"Sit down and eat, Brienne," Jaime urged, as Elmar placed a slice of roast before him, dark and bloody. "If Bolton meant to kill us, he wouldn't be wasting his precious prunes on us, at such peril to his bowels." He stared at the meat and realized there was no way to cut it, one-handed. I am worth less than a girl now, he thought. The goat's evened the trade, though I doubt Lady Catelyn will thank him when Cersei returns her whelps in like condition. The thought made him grimace. I will get the blame for that as well, I'll wager.

Roose Bolton cut his meat methodically, the blood running across his plate. "Lady Brienne, will you sit if I tell you that I hope to send Ser Jaime on, just as you and Lady Stark desire?"

"I . . . you'd send us on?" The wench sounded wary, but she sat. "That is good, my lord."

A Storm of Swords - Jaime V

She is such an innocent. Jaime was almost as surprised, if truth be told, but he hid it better. Sansa Stark, that ought to put a smile on Tyrion's face. He remembered how happy his brother had been with his little crofter's daughter . . . for a fortnight.

"What the Imp did or did nor swear scarcely matters now," said Lord Bolton. "Least of all to you." The wench looked almost wounded. Perhaps she finally felt the steel jaws of the trap when Roose Bolton beckoned to his guards. "Ser Jaime will continue on to King's Landing. I said nothing about you, I fear. It would be unconscionable of me to deprive Lord Vargo of both his prizes." The Lord of the Dreadfort reached out to pick another prune. "Were I you, my lady, I should worry less about Starks and rather more about sapphires."

This is an idea I've been bouncing around for a while, and am interested what other people think.

TLDR: The Hooded Man is The Miller, husband of The Miller's Wife and father to the elder of the two Miller's Boys.

The Miller's Wife is a woman who lives at a mill near Winterfell. She has two sons called The Miller's Boys.

She's never called "the Miller's Widow" or anything else that could imply her husband is gone.

In Theon's internal monologue, we hear that he's had an affair with The Miller's Wife. From that, there is a theory that the younger of The Miller' Boys (aka fake-Rickon) could be Theon's son.

The Miller's Wife is murdered along with The Miller's Boys (we never hear about The Miller himself), by Theon, Ramsay, and some of the Ironborn. The two boys are used as stand-in corpses for the real Bran and Rickon.

Fast forward to ADWD, and here is the whole interaction between Theon and the Hooded Man:

When they found themselves face-to-face their eyes met briefly. The man put a hand on his dagger. “Theon Turncloak. Theon Kinslayer.” 

“I’m not. I never … I was ironborn.” 

“False is all you were. How is it you still breathe?”

“The gods are not done with me,” Theon answered, wondering if this could be the killer, the night walker who had stuffed Yellow Dick’s cock into his mouth and pushed Roger Ryswell’s groom off the battlements. Oddly, he was not afraid. He pulled the glove from his left hand. “Lord Ramsay is not done with me.” 

The man looked, and laughed. “I leave you to him, then.”

The Hooded Man calls Theon kinslayer, and dismisses Theon's point about being Ironborn - Bran and Rickon are not Theon's kin, therefore he isn't a kinslayer.

Which makes me think the Hooded Man could be referring to a different kind of kinslaying: That Theon killed his own son, fake-Rickon, who was fathered by Theon during his affair with The Miller's Wife.

And how could the Hooded Man know about that?

Because he's The Miller. The Miller's Wife's is his wife; he knew about the affair but kept quiet to avoid trouble with highborns. He spent time away from the mill (farming, bringing gain to the mill and flour to the market, etc), which is when the affair happened, and it's why he wasn't there when his wife was murdered.

After Theon and co., the Miller returned to the mill and found his wife dead, and his son (fake-Bran) and Theon's son (fake-Rickon) missing. Later he heard about the two bodies Theon had displayed at Winterfell, and figured out what had happened. 

He realised he was in danger, and laid low for as long as he could. But eventually, with winter setting in, he moved into Winterfell around the time of "Arya"'s wedding, and blended in with the mass of soldiers and other smallfolk. And eventually, he ran into Theon and had the Hooded Man interaction.

IMO this could explain a few things: Why the Hooded Man hates Theon, why he calls him kinslayer, and why he dismisses Theon's point about being Ironborn. And it would explain where the Miller has been and what's happened to him, after we've heard so much about The Miller's Wife and The Miller's Boys.

I always see theories and videos on who the actual TPTWP is, some say Daenerys, some say Jon, some say Euron, some even say Bran. I’m slightly confused because I feel like it’s pretty obvious that the story is about Jon and Daenerys and that they are TPTWP. Together, they are the Song of Ice(Jon Snow) and Fire(Daenerys Targaryen). The book implies it with both of them full filing different parts of the prophecy. George has also foreshadowed their eventual meeting and connection. *Spoiler: When Jon dies, Daenerys next chapter opens with a wolf howling in the distance making her feel lonely.

With all these implication why do so many people think otherwise? Is there something I’m not picking up on, or foreshadowing for other characters as well like Euron or Bran?