poorquentyn:

Yeah, I think @racefortheironthrone is right that it’s hard to interpret the Crow’s Eye tying the priests to the prows of the Ironborn ships in any other way, especially given the ramp-up of “thousands” of blood sacrifices committed by his men in the area, Euron’s history of turning on those who serve him and handing out “poisoned” rewards, and the visions (from Moqorro and Melisandre as well as Damphair) of Euron’s “black and bloody tide.” 

For the record, though, I don’t think he’s doing it just to destroy the Redwynes. I think he’s doing it to attain something resembling godhood: 

“The bleeding star bespoke the end,” he said to Aeron. “These are the last days, when the world shall be broken and remade. A new god shall be born from the graves and charnel pits.”

“One most of all. A tall and twisted thing with one black eye and ten long arms, sailing on a sea of blood.”

As for who follows him to Oldtown after that, I have two guesses, judging from the tone and imagery we’ve seen so far. One is that Euron (whose ultimate role I think is as the story’s Night’s King/Bloodstone Emperor figure, responsible for unleashing the Long Night) reanimates the dead sailors wight-style, which may be what the true prophet of the Drowned God saw at the end of ADWD: 

Patchface jumped up. “I will lead it!” His bells rang merrily. “We will march into the sea and out again. Under the waves we will ride seahorses, and mermaids will blow seashells to announce our coming, oh, oh, oh.”

The other is that Euron wakes something up below the waves with this mass magic-enhanced blood sacrifice on the open water. The Deep Ones history in the area is well-established, both Varys and the Tolands have mentioned krakens stirring (the latter specifically saying it’s in response to blood), it’d be a hideously perfect close to Damphair’s story to face undeniable proof that the humanoid god around whom he rebuilt his life was a projection and the real thing is a monster summoned by Big Brother, and there’s a ton of worldbuilding (Patchface, the squishers, the kraken horn on Claw Isle, the imagery in “The Forsaken,” the relevant material in WOIAF) that could be paving the way. 

In other words, think a mix of this:

And this:

Riverrun has only been the “capital” of the Riverlands for the last three hundred years – previously, there have been “capitals” at Oldstones, the Misty Isle, Raventree Hall, Stone Hedge, somewhere near those spots where the Justmans ruled, and indeed at Maidenpool – so the political center of gravity has shifted quite a bit. 

But as to why Maidenpool is part of the Riverlands: 

• As a matter of geography, it’s on the banks of the Trident, so it would have more trade and communication with Riverlander settlements on the Trident than it would with future Crownlander settlements on the land route (especially since that road to King’s Landing is only 300 years old). 
• As a matter of politics, Maidenpool was conquered by the Justman and Teague Kings of the Riverlands and so spent a good deal of time inside the Riverlands’ polity (although it spent a good deal of time as a petty kingdom that tried and failed to conquer Crackclaw Point, and a little bit of time as a Durrandon holding during the pre-Andal invasions) and indeed served as the Teague capitol of the Riverlands. 

More of Cersei’s Lannister favoratism, I suppose. 

rotting-sea-cow:

poorquentyn:

rotting-sea-cow:

poorquentyn:

Do we know this for sure? At the time Stannis burned “Mance,” the king’s plan was to march on the Dreadfort, not Winterfell. Moreover, when Mel dispatched Mance, her plan was for him to meet Arya by Long Lake, since Mel thought she was the girl on the horse fleeing her marriage (of course, that turned out to be Alys Karstark). It came off to me like Mance came up with the “infiltrate Winterfell” plan all on his own.

This is one of the few things I’m proud to have caught in my first read (and I missed tons) because most people seem to be unaware that Stannis knew about the switch.

My suspicion awakened when I saw Rattleshirt in Stannis war council. WTF was he doing there? Unlike Sigorn, Rattleshirt is a nobody whom his own fellow raiders balk at him. Stannis would have never invited someone like him, ruby or not.

There is also Val, who tried to escape a few times and even kill her guards, at the same time begging Stannis to spare Mance’s life and promising to marry a kneeler if he does so. Next scene, Val stands besides Stannis during the burning and behaves meekly afterwards.

And if Val knows… maybe Tormund does too, adding extra trust to his deal with Jon and explaining what I see as feigned surprise during the reading of the Pink Letter’s Mance tidings.

That still leaves me curious as to what Stannis’ plan for Mance actually was, especially given the timing. What did Stannis get out of this, exactly? How is it worth the risk? The Boltons aren’t occupying Winterfell at this point, so there’s nothing to infiltrate, and anyway, Stannis doesn’t send him on a mission, but instead leaves him with Jon at the Wall while planning to march on the Dreadfort. Mel wonders to herself regarding Mance “was I wrong to spare this one?” with no mention of Stannis’ involvement, and it would hardly be the first time she manipulated events beyond his knowledge. 

My guess it had nothing to to with Winterfell at that point but this interaction with Jon might have convinced Stannis

Even if she (Val) accepts her husband, that does not mean the wildlings will
follow him, or you. The only man who can bind them to your cause is Mance Rayder.

“I know that,” Stannis said, unhappily. "I have spent hours speaking with the man. He knows much and more of our true enemy, and there is cunning in him, I’ll grant you. Even if he were to renounce his kingship, though, the
man remains an oathbreaker. Suffer one deserter to live, and you
encourage others to desert. No. Laws should be made of iron, not of
pudding. Mance Rayder’s life is forfeit by every law of the Seven
Kingdoms.“

“The law ends at the Wall, Your Grace. You could make good use of Mance.”

So, any original plan was likely seeking the allegiance of the Free Folk to his cause. 

Edit: And Mel mentions Stannis but she is unclear who took the decision

racefortheironthrone:

Yes. Mance was supposed to be his advance man in Winterfell destabilizing the Boltons ahead of the Battle of Ice. 

“Our false king has a prickly manner,” Melisandre told Jon Snow, “but he
will not betray you. We hold his son, remember. And he owes you his
very life.”

“Me?” Snow sounded startled.   

“Who else, my lord? Only his life’s blood could pay for his crimes,
your laws said, and Stannis Baratheon is not a man to go against the law
… but as you said so sagely, the laws of men end at the Wall.

I love when my intuitions are validated by people who remember ADWD better than I do! 

I don’t think regicide is quite the issue – after all, Kingsguard have defended queens accused of adultery and therefore treason – as much as who Tyrion is. Yes, he is related to the royal family, but he is not of the immediate royal family and is on the queen’s side of the family to boot. 

Hence, Tyrion isn’t covered by the oath of the Kingsguard to serve as bodyguards for the royal family so can’t call upon them to serve as champions in a trial by combat. 

Well, possession is 9/10ths of the law, so I would imagine as they’d be in the process of collecting them, they’d have a good deal of say in how much to pass on. 

As for troops, it was pretty clear from the hop that LF wouldn’t be the main force in subduing the Riverlands – hence why the Freys were given Riverrun, Darry, and (de facto if not de jure) Seagard. Mostly, LF was given the title to keep the Freys in check by denying them the Lord Paramouncy. 

Maybe maybe his plan is to bank shot off that to try to get a rising in the Riverlands in Sansa Stark’s name, but no LF has stayed away because A. he doesn’t have the manpower to subdue it, B. he’s a known Lannister loyalist so gaining their loyalty would be extremely difficult, and C. even he can’t be in two places at once and the Vale is more important.