I definitely see why Patchface is likely the prophet of the Drowned God; he seems likely to have been a prophet even before he encountered the Drowned God when the ship went down, and went a little nuts after looking the God (demon?) in the face. I’m a little mystified by Thoros though. What did he do to draw R’hllor’s attention, and what led R’hllor to bestow his gifts on Thoros, who by all accounts was kind of a drunken lunatic before joining the Brotherhood Without Banners?

“he seems likely to have been a prophet even before he encountered the Drowned God” – how do you figure this?

As to why R’hllor worked his will by the Mummer’s Ford, I think it was a miracle. And as GRRM the recovering Catholic well knows, a miracle is cloaked in mystery and ineffable, inexplicable grace. Thoros notes that it has nothing to do with Thoros himself:

“I have no magic, child. Only prayers. That first time, his lordship had a hole right through him and blood in his mouth, I knew there was no hope. So when his poor torn chest stopped moving, I gave him the good god’s own kiss to send him on his way. I filled my mouth with fire and breathed the flames inside him, down his throat to lungs and heart and soul. The last kiss it is called, and many a time I saw the old priests bestow it on the Lord’s servants as they died. I had given it a time or two myself, as all priests must. But never before had I felt a dead man shudder as the fire filled him, nor seen his eyes come open. It was not me who raised him, my lady. It was the Lord. R’hllor is not done with him yet. Life is warmth, and warmth is fire, and fire is God’s and God’s alone.”

Now, there are some arguments that people have made that the spells and prayers that Thoros had been taught are secular magic hiding behind a religious wrapper, and that now that magic is coming back into the world, the spells are working again. (After all, the old priests never brought anyone back from the dead either.) After all, Melisandre often cloaks secular magic as reliigous in nature.

However, I disagree. While it is possible that Thoros and Melisandre were trained in secular magic that they learned in the Red Temples as novices, Beric Dondarrion wasn’t. And yet Beric turned his blood into flame (the true version of Thoros’ old trick) without uttering a syllable or a spell, and brought Lady Stoneheart to life with a kiss that did not require filling one’s mouth with fire first.

So I think it had nothing to do with Thoros, and solely to do with the ineffable plans of the Red God.

Chapter-by-Chapter Analysis: Arya III, ASOS

“I could have stayed with Hot Pie. We could have taken the little boat and sailed it up to Riverrun. She had been better off as Squab. No one would take Squab captive, or Nan, or Weasel, or Arry the orphan boy. I was a wolf, she thought, but now I’m just some stupid little lady again.” Synopsis: Arya has two conversations with Harwin, one more honest than the other. SPOILER WARNING: This chapter…

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Hello! Got a question I’ve never seen tackled before. Here goes: Do you think Lord Tywin tried to recall Gregor Clegane’s attack on Beric Dondarrion? I think It’s in “Ned XII” we learn that Tywin indeed was pissed that Ned sent riders after him. This in turn would mean that he knew Ned was not in the party and the plan to capture him is failed right? So could he have sent a rider after Gregor to stop it but simply was too late? Thanks in advance and keep posting great stuff as always!

No, because Tywin was present for the Battle of the Mummer’s Ford:

“Father must have known that, because he sent out some men to oppose them, under the king’s own banner. He gave the command to some southron lordling, Lord Erik or Derik or something like that, but Ser Raymun Darry rode with him, and the letter said there were other knights as well, and a force of Father’s own guardsmen. Only it was a trap. Lord Derik had no sooner crossed the Red Fork than the Lannisters fell upon him, the king’s banner be damned, and Gregor Clegane took them in the rear as they tried to pull back across the Mummer’s Ford. This Lord Derik and a few others may have escaped, no one is certain, but Ser Raymun was killed, and most of our men from Winterfell. Lord Tywin has closed off the kingsroad, it’s said, and now he’s marching north toward Harrenhal, burning as he goes.”

So it is absolutely not the case that Tywin tried to recall Gregor; rather, Tywin was the anvil to Gregor’s hammer, and the two of them were working in concert to hit Beric Dondarrion’s forces from two directions at once. Yes, Tywin was pissed that Ned wasn’t there in person so that he could force the fait accompli, but that wasn’t enough to get him to call the whole thing off. By this point, he’s already committed to war against the Tullys as revenge for Tyrion’s capture and isn’t blinking at the idea of attacking the King’s banner in the process.

R’hlloric resurrection doesn’t require a third party sacrifice, but Thoros states that he loses a little of his own ‘life force’ every time he performs the ritual. Do you think the blow will be greater for Melisandre since she is so old and possibly frailer than she seems?

That’s not really what Thoros says:

“Thoros, how many times have you brought me back now?”

The red priest bowed his head. “It is R’hllor who brings you back, my lord. The Lord of Light. I am only his instrument.”

“How many times?” Lord Beric insisted.

“Six,” Thoros said reluctantly. “And each time is harder. You have grown reckless, my lord. Is death so very sweet?“

Thoros is saying that it is harder to bring Beric back from the dead, not that he himself is losing life force in the attempt.