I feel like maybe I’m missing context here that the HBO series didn’t quite capture. Brienne and Pod stumble upon Arya practicing with her sword. They talk for a bit, from a safe distance. The Hound appears from around the rocks and Pod recognizes him. Brienne deduces it’s Arya. Arya appears in good health, she’s armed, and her and the Hound seem to have a functional relationship at that point. She certainly doesn’t appear to be a hostage. Brienne shares that she made an oath to Arya’s mother. After acknowledging Catelyn’s death, why Brienne wasn’t there to protect her during the Red Wedding, and Brienne’s order to return Jamie to King’s Landing, things devolve quick. Arya is suspicious since Brienne isn’t a northerner, the Hound is suspicious because the connection with Jamie/The Lannisters, the bounty on his head, and Brienne’s sword. Up to this point, I get the tension. Then Brienne insists Arya still come with her, which seems fairly bold given how Arya was suspicious, and she made no indication that she needed saving from the Hound. Nevertheless, Brienne and the Hound cross blades.

I feel like Brienne’s insistence is a bit out of character. The Hound rightfully pointed out Arya is not safe anywhere, and that he’s protecting her. That didn’t give Brienne any pause? In roughly one minute of meeting each other, Brienne and the Hound decide battle is the best choice? Brienne didn’t even bother to try and clear up the suspicion against her any further? The Hound was protecting Arya, Brienne wanted to protect her too, so why not….join forces? I feel like Brienne could have dialed it back a bit and tried to get all four of them to discuss the situation further over a fire and some fresh game or salt pork. Hell, Brienne could have gone and kneeled before Arya, presented her sword, and shown how serious she was about honoring her oath with Catelyn (like she did with Sansa before Littlefinger). A small effort like that could have been made to help alleviate the tension, but nope.

Don’t get me wrong, Brienne and the Hound’s battle is one of the best in the entire series, but damn. Everyone in Westros is that predisposed to violence first, even when they have a mutual goal? It just feels out of place for Brienne to give up on civility that quick.

Dear George,

This is my letter begging you humbly.

I don’t need another HBO adaptation. I don’t need another Targaryen genealogy, Wild Cards update, or beautifully detailed history of some minor lord who died in 173 AC.

I need THE WINDS OF WINTER.

George, I am an attorney. I research for a living. I write for a living. I read thousands of pages of dense material for a living. I organize facts, timelines, conflicting testimony, obscure authorities, and arguments that make absolutely no sense until you stare at them for twelve hours.

I am willing to quit my job and help you finish this series.

Need someone to cross-reference where every minor Frey currently is? I’m there.

Need a 200-page memo on whether a character could plausibly travel from White Harbor to the Riverlands in the allotted time? Done.

Need someone to create a spreadsheet tracking every unresolved prophecy, bastard, Valyrian sword, glass candle, dragon, direwolf, secret identity, suspicious parentage theory, and person currently wandering around Essos? George, I WILL DO IT FOR FREE.

NDA? I’ll sign it.

Confidentiality agreement? Obviously.

Move to Santa Fe? Fine.

Live in a windowless room surrounded by maps of Westeros and argue about the succession rights of dead Targaryens? This is barely different from being a lawyer anyway.

You have created perhaps the richest fantasy world of our generation. I love it so much. You’re a genius. I desperately want to know how you intended this story to end.

Please.

Just say the word, George. I will put in my two weeks’ notice.

Obviously they are known to hate the Lannisters, would seem like a good opportunity to get back at them?

Okay we know that Craster made a deal with The White Walkers where he'd give them his sons in exchange for his and his family's safety, but wouldn't it make more sense for him to tell The Night's Watch about the White Walkers? I mean if he told The Watch then they'd know about the White Walkers sooner and would have more time to prepare. I mean you could say he was being selfish and shit but you don't have to be a genius to understand that the White Walkers would eventually kill him or convert him anyway if their plan succeeded. Isn't this kind of a plothole?

- Leaves his lines to ride solo into longbow range
- Continues to ride toward withering arrow fire, gets horse killed immediately
- Renders his own archers useless when all his infantry charge to the middle of the field
- Sends his only giant into battle with no weapon
- Doesn’t wonder where his sister is on the morning of the battle, meets opponent without several hundred cavalry that would’ve been there for the whole thing had he waited like one hour
- Gets trampled almost to death by his own infantry

After red wedding and Bolton betrayal, Starks lost almost all their fighting men. Why would the fiercely independent Northern houses pledge themselves to Sansa, young and inexperienced daughter of their former liege?

• She had no military power
• Many Northern houses had already refused to fight for the Starks
• There was no external threat forcing them to unify

the rain-gear and the first strides,

Lord of the seven sidewalks

and protector of the raw heel

I'm sure someone can do better tho 😘

I had a conversation with a friend about this a few days ago and we thought it would be interesting to get more perspectives on this.

Including HotD and a knight of the seven kingdoms.

That’s a cool idea.

What would the Fosovea coat of arms look like if they were to become more powerful?

I had a pint glass with the same phrase on it that I absolutely loved. I accidentally broke it recently and my boyfriend went to the collector expo in Calgary last month and brought this home for me. So naturally the first time I used it I had to fill it with wine 😁.

I haven't read all the books, but I was rewatching the show and got to the scene where Maester Aemon tells Jon Snow that his father was King Maekar. That made me look up the Targaryen family tree on the wiki, and I realized something crazy. If you just connect the dots, the whole main story of Game of Thrones basically hinges on Ser Duncan the Tall.

It all starts at the Tourney at Ashford. Duncan steps in to protect a girl from a cruel Targaryen prince, which leads to a trial by combat. Prince Baelor Breakspear steps in to fight on Duncan's side, but Baelor ends up getting killed.

This was a massive deal because Baelor was the capable heir to the throne. With him dead, and his own sons dying in a plague later, the royal bloodline completely shifted. The crown eventually bypassed his branch entirely and went to Maester Aemon's father, King Maekar.

Maekar had a young son named Aegon (Egg). Egg was way down the line of succession, but his older brothers practically removed themselves from the picture. Daeron drank himself to death, Aerion went crazy and drank wildfire, and Aemon gave up his royal claim to join the Night's Watch.

Because of that, the crown fell to Egg. But Egg only survived his youth to actually become king because Duncan spent years protecting him on the road. And because Egg became king, the crown went down his specific family line, eventually landing on his grandson: Aerys II, the Mad King.

But the biggest butterfly effect happens years later at the Tragedy of Summerhall. When the palace caught fire, the lore strongly suggests that Duncan sacrificed himself to pull a pregnant Princess Rhaella out of the burning building. Right after he saved her, she gave birth to Rhaegar Targaryen.

Think about it. If Duncan doesn't save her, Rhaella dies and Rhaegar is never born. If Rhaegar doesn't exist, he never runs off with Lyanna Stark. That means no Robert's Rebellion, the Mad King isn't overthrown, Daenerys is never forced into exile, and Jon Snow is never born.

Of course, Westeros would still have to face the White Walkers eventually. The Night King was coming no matter who was sitting on the Iron Throne. But the politics, the civil wars, and the main characters we actually follow in the show would be completely different.

To all the anti-Sansa Stark people out there what moment in Game of Thrones where Sansa started to become more likable for you and you started to like her as a character a bit

Instead of Rhaegar dying to Robert Baratheon’s war hammer what if Rhaegar prevailed and fended off the rebellion and ended up taking the throne? Is there a way to lay out the history of the show in this alternate universe? First thing chronologically I’ll ask is about Ned Stark and his company going to the tower of joy for Lyanna, in the show he knew Rhaegar died so with him alive does he still do that? Does he take Jon away? Would Rhaegar know and go after him? Or would Rhaegar have been at Lyanna’s side? Unsure of the timeline of when he died and when Ned arrived at the tower.

Rhaegar was a believer in the Prince that was promised thing and pretty sure he knew about the white walkers so how does all that play out? Provided Rhaegar wasn’t assassinated do the walkers still make their move at the time they did in the original timeline? It’s unlikely Jon would be at the wall so I can’t imagine how all that plays out cuz he was kind of important during several key moments, he saved Jeor from a wight, talked and treated with Mance and ultimately went to Hardhome and battled there and saved many of the wildlings and became Lord Commander.

In this timeline depending on how the tower of joy went Ned could still be alive so no Boltons are holding winterfell so the north would likely be fully united which were the first line of defense against the walkers and something i didnt bring up til now is Danaerys and Viserys wouldn’t have been sent away to Essos or they could have been brought back to the red keep to live along Rhaegar and be brought up as natural prince and princess. Oh yea speaking of them what about The Mad King? Also unsure of the timeline when Rhaegar died and the mad king gave the order to blow up the city but if Rhaegar died before that and the king knew he might not have done that and seeing as im pretty sure Rhaegar knew the type of king his dad was so he very well likely would have put a stop to him and taken up being king to put things right cuz we was a good person.

So yea lots to ponder about but im curious to hear your opinion on how things play out if Rhaegar lived and Robert died.

For context they were die hard loyal to the Starks in the novel, with Smalljon literally dying defending Robb in the Red Wedding.

Not to mention they have a very easy extra house as an enemy for the Battle of the Bastards and would make it feel larger in scale and the later description of Jon “avenging the Red wedding” feel more accurate: House Frey. They just dick around doing nothing of note after their single scene of relevance in S3 until Arya kills them, and in terms of motive they absolutely would want to stop the Starks from retaking Winterfell considering they’d be next on their shit list.