Author: stevenattewell

a question about the hypotetical kingdom of the narrow sea ruled over by Daemon targaryen. if one wanted such a kingdom to last, wouldnt it be better to conquer tyrosh, little tyrosh and possibly lys and use one of them as the capital?

The problem there is that if you conquer those cities, you inevitably get drawn into broader balance of power wars. It’s not like Myr and Pentos and Braavos and Volantis are going to ignore the threat, and they’ll dogpile on you to prevent you from overwhelming them, the same way they did to Volantis. 

a question about the westerlands army numbers. i know the common sensus seems to be around 50-55000 men in regards to how many the westerlands can raise. this is based on how many fought in the war of the five kings. but wasnt a large portion of tywins army composed of mercenaries in addition to his levies?

Not really. The only mercenaries we see serving Tywin are the Bloody Mummers, who only number a hundred altogether, and that Tyroshi band who abandoned Jaime’s army at the Camps and promptly vanished. 

I have some theories about why, but there’s no evidence on this. 

In ADwD one of the Northern Clanlords mention that Winterfell used to ask for hostagewards from the hill clans, & those whose fathers went against the Kings of Winter would be sent back minus head. Given that the hill clans seem to be steadfastly loyal, what kind of events would necessitate something as drastic as execution of the wards?

Probably internal warfare and the breaking of peaces:

“These clans—located largely in the mountainous regions beyond the wolfswood, in the high valleys and meadows, and along the Bay of Ice and certain rivers of the North—owe their allegiance to the Starks, but their disputes have oft created difficulties for the Lords of Winterfell and the Kings of Winter before them, forcing them to send men into the mountains to quell the bloodshed (commemorated in such songs as “Black Pines” and “Wolves in the Hills”), or to summon the chiefs to Winterfell to argue their cases.” (WOIAF)

I would guess what happened is that the Starks took hostages when they sent men into the mountains to prevent a further outbreak of violence, and then someone was dumb enough to break the peace, and to prevent another war and another intervention from Winterfell, a Stark cut off some heads to show that they would enforce the peace personally if they had to.

So it’s not about disloyalty to the Starks, it’s more about the folkways of feuding and vendetta. 

Note on the Poland surviving the bubonic plague in largely one piece–Medieval Poland was kind of a sanctuary for Jews from the rest of Europe, as they were treated more or less equals to everyone else. And apparently these Jews placed a higher premium on bathing regularly, which seems to have become a common practice in Poland, and may have limited the spread of the plague somewhat. Not entirely sure of the accuracy of this, but it wouldn’t surprise me. *shrug*

I read that too, but it felt off to me. For one thing, Milan did even better than Poland, and they weren’t a haven as far as I know. What Milan did was to ruthlessly wall up not just the infected but the houses on either side too, to stop the spread of the infection. 

Branching off of an earlier question about Craster, the Wildlings, and human sacrifice, is it possible that children who were the result of incest or intra-clan relations served as sacrifices to the Others? After all, as I understand it, for a taboo to remain in place there has to be some violation of it going on in the periphery of that society.

That’s a distinct possibility – left exposed to the elements, folktales about how the Fair Folk sometimes spirit away these children, but no one knows for sure. 

It’s very hard to convince people that the mission beyond the Wall+the grand parley next week from the show won’t happen in the book. Do you think it’s likely these may happen in the books?

opinions-about-tiaras:

racefortheironthrone:

A mission beyond the Wall? Yes. Jon and co are bound for the Heart of Winter, so I see that happening.

This mission? No. The books already established that wights who go south of the Wall stop being reanimated and rot away. The show dropped that little plotline, but it’s there in the books. 

Wait, hold on. Do we know this? Like, for sure?

The only instance I can think of is when Ser Alliser tried to take that hand down to King’s Landing and it rotted away. And that’s hardly dispositive; the hand was severed from the rest of the wight. It might be that if they’d contained an <em>entire</em> wight the re-animation magic would continue to work just fine. Or it might be that the Wall doesn’t mean anything, but that the wights, being dead flesh, will  putrefy and rot and wither away anywhere that it is naturally above freezing.

Or is there another instance of us being told wights don’t work south of the wall I missed?

See here. 

Wait, I’m confused, I thought in the books the very first wight Jon saw WAS past the wall at the time it resurrected and tried to kill Mormont? Jon also tried to see if he could get another wight while locking corpses in the cells during Dance. Wouldn’t that disprove that it’s the Wall stopping them from reanimating once they go south of it and that some other factor contributed to the hand Ser Alliser brought to King’s Landing rotting away?

It was past the Wall, so there’s clearly some overlap. But the animated hand sent with Alliser stopped moving and rotted, so whether it’s a field effect or a recency effect or what have you, at some point, the magic fades.

And we know it’s the Wall doing this because:

“Why didn’t he come with you?” Meera gestured toward Gilly and her babe. “They came with you, why not him? Why didn’t you bring him through this Black Gate too?”
“He … he can’t.”
“Why not?”
“The Wall. The Wall is more than just ice and stone, he said. There are spells woven into it … old ones, and strong. He cannot pass beyond the Wall.”

“You are wrong. I have dreamed of your Wall, Jon Snow. Great was the lore that raised it, and great the spells locked beneath its ice. We walk beneath one of the hinges of the world.” Melisandre gazed up at it, her breath a warm moist cloud in the air. “This is my place as it is yours, and soon enough you may have grave need of me. Do not refuse my friendship, Jon. I have seen you in the storm, hard-pressed, with enemies on every side. You have so many enemies. Shall I tell you their names?”