They’re kinsmen, for one thing – due to the marriage of Beron Stark and Larra Royce, all Starks today have Royce blood. And the families have kept pretty close connections in recent years – as Kyle Royce was one of Brandon Stark’s companions, it’s likely that Kyle was fostered at Barrowton with Brandon. 

Kyle’s death at the hands of Aerys II would have made House Royce one of the leading rebels in the Vale, making Bronze Yohn one of Ned’s war buddies – hence why Bronze Yohn got such a warm reception at Winterfell when he brought his son up to join the Night’s Watch. 

Well, as I suggested in the piece, I think the Skagosi strategy might be a good place to start. 

See here.

goodqueenaly:

This would be an excellent question for @warsofasoiaf and @racefortheironthrone.

See here. 

Not at all. I’ve made speculations before, but there’s no detail at all. 

I don’t know if there’s a right answer to this per se, other than “not Tudor.”

Lancaster held the throne at the outset of the Wars of the Roses, so they could argue that, A. Henry had been anointed by God at his coronation, where he had taken the coronation oath and had been acclaimed and done homage, B. he was the rightful king by inheritance from Henry V and Henry IV before him, and C. Henry had a legitimate male heir. 

On the other hand, the Yorkists could claim that A. Henry’s inheritance was based on the usurpation of Richard II by Henry Bolingbroke and was thus in violation of the laws of succession, and that B. because Richard Plantagent was descended from Lionel of Antwerp the second son of Edward III (albeit on the female side through Anne Mortimer, although he was descended from Edmund of Langley, the fourth son of Edward III, on the male side), his claim super-seded that of Henry IV who was the son of John of Gaunt the third son of Edward IV, and C. that Parliament had passed the Act of Accord naming Richard Plantagent (and his sons) heir to the throne after Henry’s death. 

Whereas all the Tudors had was that the Beauforts were legitimized bastards of John of Gaunt, and that the Tudors had married Henry V’s widow. Oh, and that they claimed descent from Cadwaladr ap Cadwallon, King of Gwynedd, who Geoffrey of Monmouth had named as the last King of Britain, but at that point you’re basically using fanfic as evidence. 

poorquentyn:

warsofasoiaf:

Because it’s not Catelyn anymore, it’s Lady Stoneheart. She’s a revenant, and she’s fighting for vengeance not with a scalpel, but with an axe. Catelyn wouldn’t have hanged Brienne either, but it’s Stoneheart.

Thanks for the question, Anon.

SomethingLikeALawyer, Hand of the King

Indeed. And specifically, Stoneheart’s got a spy in Riverrun (Tom o’ Sevens), which means she may well know about Sybell’s deal with Tywin. If so, Stoneheart will probably assume that Jeyne was in on it. 

Or just blame her for Robb’s death because of her marriage to Robb regardless of how little sense that makes. 

As SLAL pointed out, “it’s not Catelyn anymore, it’s Lady Stoneheart.” And what Lady Stoneheart is is Nemesis, and Nemesis is the primordial, implacable spirit of resentment against perceived injustice. Nothing rational or fair about it.

Varys is a consequentialist and a utilitarian, but he’s not a Targaryen loyalist in the normal sense – he thinks that the Targaryen name and legend are useful, but only in so far as they are useful in producing and legitimizing his ideal enlightened despot.

As far as Varys was concerned, Rhaegar wasn’t suitable to play that role because he had been “taught that kingship is his right” rather than his duty, and had never gone through Varys’ carefully-designed curriculum for training the perfect prince. 

Moreover, Rhaegar had quite a few signs of being the wrong kind of Targaryen – he was melancholy and unpredictable, fixated on the tragedy of Summerhall, and was obsessed about prophecy and his role as the messiah. With a bit of stress and a bit of a push, one could easily see him following his grandfather’s path to wrack and ruin.