I know you believe that Victarion will bite the dust quite soon, suggesting maybe even some kind of trick with dragonbinder and him getting roasted. However, I am not so sure about this, he has a brand new Chekhov’s lava arm that has to do something before Victarion dies. So, what do you really think is up with this arms? Do you think it there’s enough time before the Battle of Fire for this “pirate gun” to be meaningful?

I think the lava arm will be quite useful in the battle, but the rest of his body can still burn.

how practical would ripping harrenhall down and building a new and less stupidly resource draining seat actually be? would a lord of the rich harrenhall fiefdom actually be able to do it?

Discussed here.

So does Harrenhal keep being the poison pearl of the Riverlands, luring ambitious idiots until the end of time/feudalism in Planetos?

Until someone who cleanses it with fire.

So you believe Summer will die in the books too? I hope not

Me too, although you can see a link to the story of the Last Hero.

Given how its widely known as a poisoned gift, why do people keep accepting Harrenhal when its bequeathed to them by the Iron Throne? Is it possible to refuse ownership of Harrenhal?

They do it for the same reasons that people have over-reached themselves throughout IRL history: ambition and greed.

Harrenhal is one of the largest, richest, and most important fiefdoms in all of Westeros, putting one at a level of being able to marry into the Great Houses. Unless you believe in the folktales, and it seems like most highborn people and smallfolk not from the area don’t, turning it down would be unthinkable.

How do you think the Door holding chapter is going to differ from its show version? The show had the advantages of the medium and fast changing scenes between the two Hodors, what advantages does the written version has on its favor?

I can think of a number of ways that scene could be improved:

I’m doubtful about the whole revelation of the White Walkers as creations of the Children of the Forest; that really doesn’t fit with anything GRRM has written.
The mark of the Night’s King I don’t think will happen the same way, since the Night’s King isn’t as much a present-day thing for GRRM. I also imagine that GRRM will be a bit more deft with Bran’s learning from Bloodraven, which wasn’t handled well on the show.
I think Leaf, Bloodraven, and Summer will acquit themseles better than they did in the show.
I think the “blocking” will be done better, so that it’s much clearer that Hodor’s sacrifice is A. necessary, and B. accomplishes something. On the show, Meera and Bran are still requiring immediate rescue on the other side of that, which makes his actions less impactful.

Littlefinger is Lord of Harrenhall&Lord Paramount of the Riverlands, but he hasn’t done anything in regard to that. The Iron Throne is enforcing the fealty of his subjects&sorting out the chaos in his castle&on his lands. Why is Cersei okay with having to take care of his domain for him? He doesn’t even try to establish his power there, all he has is a title, he shirks his responsibilities, but also the benefits. So what is his plan here?

LF knows that Harrenhal is a poisoned chalice, so hasn’t used it as anything other than a stepping stone to get himself in range of marrying Lysa so he could get his hands on the Vale.

As for why Cersei’s ok with it, well, it allows her to have her cake and eat it too – the Lannisters get Littlefinger’s loyalty (at least on the surface), but can keep giving Harrenhal to their other followers (Gregor, etc.).

Assuming Brienne dies to save Jaime from the BwB, how would you frame her death so she doesn’t just end up dying in order to further Jaime’s arc, stuffed in the fridge so to speak?

guileandsubterfuge:

racefortheironthrone:

It’s not about Jaime’s arc, it’s about hers.

All Brienne has wanted for some time is to live up to the highest ideals of true knighthood, by selflessly giving her life to save her charge, just like Aemon Dragonknight, etc. Twice she has failed (Renly, Catelyn) for reasons entirely outside of her control, so following the third, she will go down swinging heroically in a judicial duel witnessed by the gods.

As with Syrio Forel, that’s her version of a beautiful death.

How does this vision of the end of Brienne work in tandem with Jaime’s weirwood dream though – with the two of them with magical swords fighting against an icy Rhaegar and company?

I mean – your idea is one way for Brienne’s story to end, but so often I see Jaime’s weirwood dream ignored in analyses of what’s going to happen next.

How is it inconsistent with it? LSH is the literal embodiment of the vengeful dead, Brienne’s got the magic sword, and I imagine Jaime will fight as best he can to save his own life…but unlike in his dream, Jaime is still missing his sword hand and hasn’t trained himself back to normal, likely requiring some saving.

Where is the story going with Areo & Balon Swann dynamic duo? We are going to get a close look to this from Mr. Camera-That-Rides, so what good can we get from this apart from a potential Badboy Monologue from Gerold “I’m Batman” Dayne?

racefortheironthrone:

opinions-about-tiaras:

racefortheironthrone:

I think some sort of revelation about Ashara Dayne, Ned Stark, Jon Snow, and Lyanna Stark during Gerold “Darkwing Duck” Dayne’s last stand at Starfall.

Pedantry: High Hermitage, not Starfall, yes?

Also, Gerold WISHES he was Darkwing Duck. Darkwing Duck is at least self-aware about being a drama queen. Gerold is “I’m the goddamn Batman” but is trying to play it absolutely straight. 🙂

I think Gerold will end up at Starfall. Remember, High Hermitage is the second-best Dayne holdfast, so I imagine Gerold would see seizing Starfall with some goons for a glorious last stand as part of a defiant assertion of his “rights” blah blah unfair blah blah I am the night blah blah.

As for Darkwing Duck, I was more thinking about how DD aims at being the Scary Batman type, but his monologues are never actually scary.

As per cstaple’s recommendation, perhaps this is the best fit for Ser Gerold:

Since he isn’t co-ordinating with Stannis, why is Crowfood Umber performing a suicide mission outside Winterfell, to presumably negligible effect?

A. It’s winter, he’s an old man from the North, therefore witness me shiny and chrome on the road to Valhalla, etc.

B. He’s coordinating with Whoresbane Umber inside the castle.

C. Not so negligible. He killed Aenys Frey, an experienced and competent commander whose known for being cunning and cautious, leaving command of the Frey army in the hands of Hosteen Frey, an aggressive idiot who’s highly likely to fall for Stannis’ trap.