Well, we don’t know if Braavos has any colonies outside of the Braavosi Coastland. Same goes for all the Free Cities other than Volantis.

My guess is that GRRM just didn’t want to spend time detailing the Corfus of Essos.

I think Tyrion will work to ensure that enough Second Sons die in the fighting to keep the bill under control. 

I think it was pretty serious. The opportunity to take over an entire Kingdom of Westeros is way too good to pass up, and once Sansa is out of King’s Landing, the Lannisters can’t really do much publicly besides put a brave face on the situation. 

In terms of continuity, the Blackfyre Rebellions period got messed around with a bunch. Initially, Aegon V fought the War of Ninepenny Kings, now Jaehaerys II was King. Initially, Maekar I threw Bloodraven into the Black Cells – now Bloodraven was Maekar’s Hand despite the two of them having had near-civil war levels of dislike and mistrust in Mystery Knight, and Aegon V was the one who threw him in the cells prior to sending him to the Wall. 

WOIAF also threw in some big problems with continuity – in addition to textual errors like Baelor coming before Daeron on the list of kings on the very last page, you also have things like Theon “the Hungry Wolf” Stark being King in the North during the Andal invasion and fighting Harrag Hoare on p. 138, and then Harrag being described in the Iron Islands section as having lived hundreds of years later. You can find some threads here and here.

In terms of timeline stuff, right now I’m having real issues with Cregan Stark and his kids and their kids all fitting in between 157 and 212. Also, given the sheer distances involved, it’s really improbable that almost all the wars in Westeros’ history were a year or two long. You’d expect some longer conflicts at some point. 

Mostly, I’ve noticed cases where GRRM changes travel times to make story moments work. For example, Tyrion warping to the Inn at the Crossroads to meet Catelyn, which just does not work. 

My guess would be when he gets named to the Kingsguard. 

Yes, geographically, it’s a bit odd. 

But Lannisport seems to be a case of urban development around industry – namely that it’s the major harbor near a really really big mining, smelting, and smithing complex that includes gold, but also steel and likely copper and silver as well. Add to the industrial population the people who work in services around that industry (you’ll need assayers for the gold, you’ll need lots of guards and locksmiths for security, you’ll need merchants to handle transactions and clarks to write things down, you’ll need warehouse workers to store the stuff, you’ll need bakers and butchers and grocers to feed the population, you’ll need tavernkeepers and bartenders to get them drunk, you’ll need a city watch to keep order).

Then because it’s the major port near the city, and sea transport offers advantages in terms of transporting your heavier cargo, you have longshoring and shipbuilding and local merchants who decide to branch out from just handling local commerce, etc. 

Then you add on that, given that gold and gold products are a high-value commodity, and that a lot of places need it for their currency as well as for decorative purposes, merchants from Oldtown and points beyond are going to want to deal directly with the producer rather than deal with the markup from middlemen. And so the city keeps growing, despite being on the wrong side of the continent. 

Sworn Sword. 

RFTIT Tumblr Weekly Roundup!

Hey folks, it’s that time of the week again! First, the news: The Kickstarter has funded! So we are go for the e-books, the physical books, Battle of Blackwater Week, and all the bonus essays. Thanks so much for all your support! Sorry for the lateness of the Tumblr Roundup; in addition to finishing Jon VI (which will be up Monday), I’ve been working on Tyrion XI, Sansa IV, and Jon VII and it…

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serfriendzonetoth:

racefortheironthrone:

serfriendzonetoth:

racefortheironthrone:

Depends when he lands. If Renly is dead, Stannis is believed defeated and confined to the North, then yes there could well be a Targaryen restoration movement boiling out of the south that rolls up a disunited opposition 

That seems like the current plan with Aegon and the Golden Company.

It’s also why I’ve never thought Tyrion’s plan, which Aegon seems to be following, was all that bad.

Well, Tyrion’s plan means Aegon doesn’t marry Dany and get a dragon…

Does it, though? “Let her come to me, in Westeros.” Aegon is establishing House Targaryen’s first foothold in Westeros in almost two decades, which she can then secure with her Unsullied and the dragons. That was the way Tyrion presented it.

Granted, that’s all out the window if he marries Arianne, but I think his braintrust (Varys, Connington) is smart enough to realize that, as fearsome as they are, the Golden Company, even with their “friends in the Reach,” can’t secure the whole continent.

I think it does, for several reasons:

1. It means that someone else is claiming the Iron Throne. A dragonriding conqueror is unlikely to treat that kindly.
2. It means that Aegon doesn’t establish any relationship with Dany. Which means he’s got no way of influencing her reaction to his actions and she has no context for interpreting them.
3. Tyrion’s intent, as it appears to me, is that he wants to get to Dany ahead of Aegon or anyone from Varys/Illyrio’s camp. That means that he’d have the opportunity to intrepret his actions unfavorably to her. 

But I do think Aegon will marry Arrianne, because he’s an impetuous, risk-taking young man who’s going to go for the army that’s at hand rather than the one that’s trapped in Meereen. (Also, it doesn’t hurt to have his mother’s family recognizing his identity) 

And his brainstrust also realize that they don’t need to secure the whole continent, all they need to do is take King’s Landing. The Riverlands and Westerlands and North aren’t in a position to fight them, the Reach and the Ironborn are busy fighting, and if they can take out Tommen, Aegon’s legitimacy is doubly secured by the extinction of the Lannister-Baratheon line and right of conquest. And down the line, Aegon can probably bring the Reach into his camp with the friends in the Reach and offering support vs. the Ironborn.