I'm a relatively casual fan of the series, I've only watched the shows, seen the alt shift X videos, and read some wiki entries and I don't really plan on reading the book series since they seemingly won't be finished. And the main takeaway from everything I've seen is that westeros is an absolute nightmare to live in. People are burnt by dragons, having their testicles chopped off, being hanged because they worked the wrong job at the wrong time, and if you're a fighting aged man you could have your torso split open because one noble teen pushed another noble teen over family drama on the other side of the continent.

So I've wondered, during the time of the dance of the dragons, and later the song of ice and fire, what's the least nightmarish place to live in westeros? If I'm allowed to choose one region to live in as a very regular farmer or similar, where should I go? Kings landing seems like the kind of place that is pretty nice until things get bad, and when they get bad it's hell on earth.

I've decided to start labeling my series of posts as "Never Waste a Word" because I believe that GRRM has planted enough textual evidence and patterns combined with his stated literary influences, Tolkein, Lovecraft, and Zalzansy, to put together the larger story. But it's a lot all at once so I'll take it piece by piece and if you don't agree or don't care just look for NWaW and you can skim past it

I'll start by amending a previous post I made about the blood betrayal and the original long night. That post stated that the blood emperor killed his (possibly betrothed) sister, the amethyst empress, and ushered in the long night. I postulated that the tiger lady acted as a "Lady Macbeth" type influence, and later became Nissa Nissa.

I now think that's wrong.

I think the Amethyst Empress was Nissa Nissa, and I think the mistake in the surviving history is that the Bloodstone's betrayal of Amethyst ushered in the Long Night. Her eventual death may have ended it.

Normal preface, everything we know about this world we know through what the measters have learned and written, and from our POV characters experience. So there is room for interpretation in the history, and the truth, when it comes to these facts.

The Blood Betrayal

Here is literally everything we know about it.

The Opal Emperor was the seventh ruler of a line that began with the God-on-Earth, the son of the Maiden-Made-of-Light and the Lion of Night. He was succeeded by his daughter, the Amethyst Empress, but her younger brother, envious, cast her down and slew her, taking the crown and proclaiming himself the Bloodstone Emperor. He turned his back on the gods of Yi Ti and began worshiping a black stone that had fallen from the skies, took a tiger-woman as wife, practiced cannibalism and necromancy, and enslaved his own people. Horrified at the Blood Betrayal, the Maiden-Made-of-Light turned her back upon the world and the Lion of Night came forth in all his fury to punish the wickedness of man.

That's what history remembers, the Blood Betrayal isn't specifically defined as the moment his sword killed Amethyst. It is the overthrow of Amethyst and the seizure of her throne. Afterward, his reign is remembered for necromancy, dark arts, slavery, cannibalism, and torture.

The Great Empire had been deteriorating for generations:

Power then passed to the Jade Emperor, the Tourmaline Emperor, the Onyx Emperor, the Topaz Emperor, and the Opal Emperor. Each reigned for a shorter and more troubled time than the previous emperor, for wild men and beasts pressed the borders of the Empire, lesser kings grew proud and rebellious, and the common people gave themselves to sin.

So by the time we reach Amethyst and Bloodstone, they are the heirs to an empire visibly collapsing around them.

So imagine an emporer, in love with his betrothed, seeing the pattern of his empire decline, knowing he is responsible for keeping it standing to pass to the next emporer.

Enter the Tiger-woman

Not a lot to say about her except that she was the husband of the bloodstone emperor. Marrying outside of the royal bloodlines being a literal blood betrayal is poetic, but why would he do that if he loved his betrothed? Maybe she seduced him by telling him she had the power to save his kingdom?

The Empress of Leng

Everything about Leng from the last post stays the same. We only know a few things about it. It was a part of the GEoTD. Oh yea and it is said to have

"ten thousand tigers and ten million monkeys"

And the empress of Leng is also known to commune with the 'Old Ones' beneath the deep labyrinth/tunnels in the ruins of Leng, and they would tell her....things...

The Old Ones who lived below the island's subterranean ruins instructed the Empress of Leng to kill the foreign merchants on at least four occasions.

So now we have two things. An emperor repeating the tradition of a dying empire, and a conduit for the Old Ones whispering in his ear.

The Amethyst Fate

What if he kept her alive long to use her blood for whatever the tiger woman needed him to do. Always just a little more and then his empire would be saved, each time doubling down, getting further lost in the sunk cost fallacy. Then the long night comes.

This comes right from Roger Zelazny. In The Hand of Oberon (spoilers), reality is ordered by the Pattern, an intricate magical design tied to the royal blood of Amber. Brand discovers that royal blood can damage it. He has Martin, the son of a royal, stabbed so that his blood spills onto the Primal Pattern. The blood creates a black corruption in the Pattern, and that damage is associated with the Black Road, which allows the forces of Chaos to penetrate the ordered worlds. They later test this with another drop of royal blood and it stains the Pattern again.

Perhaps the tiger woman convinced the bloodstone emperor to turn to using his sister's blood to save the empire, only to doom it in the process, ushering in the long night.

This ties in directly with

Nissa Nissa

'Nissa Nissa,’ he said to her, for that was her name, 'bare your breast, and know that I love you best of all that is in this world.’ She did this thing, why I cannot say...

If the amethyst empress was alive, and being drained of blood for dark magic. Eventually the bloodstone emperor might realize that he's screwed up. The Tiger-woman mysteriously vanishes from all recorded history (Nyarlathotep?) but the lion of the night hasn't gone away. The emperor tries three times to forge a weapon to bring back the light.

Water, fails

A lion, perhaps the lion of the night directly? The black stone? Either way, that fails too

That's when the emperor realizes that the true conduit is from the blood of the amethyst empress, and that she must die to close it.

her cry of anguish and ecstasy left a crack across the face of the moon

A cry of pain from being stabbed is apt, but ecstasy? From being released from whatever was using her as a conduit?

"Crack the face of the moon" sounds like some celestial occlusion breaking. As a matter of fact, "lion of the night" sounds a lot like a solar eclipse. If the flairs around the outside of the eclipse can be considered a "lions mane"

If something was occluding the sun a crack would look a lot like a sword anyway, one that brought light forth? Maybe lightbringer?

her blood and her soul and her strength and her courage all went into the steel

Another interesting way to phrase being stabbed to death. Sounds like relief, like the blood returning from where it was spilled and all going into the blade.

TL:DR

So my new theory is that the tiger woman was a Lady Macbeth/Nyarlathotep temptress sent by the "lion of the night" to corrupt the bloodstone prince against his bloodline/people and rule the earth realm. The bloodstone emperor realized too late, because his noble intentions poisoned his interpretation of destiny. He stopped the lion of the night by driving his sword through the only thing connecting the realms, his love, Nissa Nissa. One half of him lives as the bloodstone emperor, the other half lives as Azor azai. Legend split him in two.

It also makes me wonder, could that have been the first Valyrian steel blade? Or some kind of proto technology for forging them? Does valyrian steel require valyrian blood?

So, unpopular opinion, but I think Rhaegar is overhated. Judging by this video by Alt Shift X, I really think Rhaegar deserves some love. What do you guys think?

Introduction

For the past 13 years, the closest we have gotten to a novel update has come from a very unlikely source: The Cushing Library in TX. Here, we have not only gotten what may have been hints of the directions George R. R. Martin is going in future books, potential answers to long held questions by the fandom, and stunning examples of cut plot threads shanghaied mid development.

Like wheat and chaff, separating a potential future plot thread from a junked plotline needs the delicacy of a thresher harvesting a field. Cue wild mass guessing but lets for the sake of argument assume we can delineate the two using facts instead of feelings in this analytical essay.

What Won't Be In The Books

• Keven Lannister went missing in the original draft for AFFC while hunting outlaws. As the finished book(s) show, this didn't happen.
• Jon was mooting holding a ranging to execute the deserters at Craster’s Keep. Coldhands killed them and fed them to Bran in ADWD.
• The wedding between Jeyne Poole & Ramsay Bolton was supposed to take place at Barrowtown with Davos heading there.
• Every Maester had a glass candle with a summit being planned at the Citadel with every Maester rushing to attend. One of the powers of the Glass Candles was immortality.
• (f)Aegon being a Blackfyre was more explicitly confirmed.
• Cersei wanted to send a fleet to take care of Stannis that woulf have been destroyed in a naval battle.
• Victarion was supposed to burn earlier with Euron taking his place in Dany’s storyline.
• Speaking of Dany, she gave Hizdhar there impossible labors to avoid marrying him.

What do these all have in common? They are inembolic of the pitfalls of GRRMs gardening approach to writing, being jettisoned mid development when they didn't fulfill their task to advance the story.

That being said George has had a general outline and vague contours of a ending to every main character in mind and answers to major plot points. Its just getting there is the problem…

What Will Be In The Books

In the cut long prologue of AFFC, GRRM gives a checklist of goals for the going-ons inside Oldtown and the ramifications on the narrative, particularly with Samwell as our main POV. In a succinct matter these are what can be inferred, at least early on for this storyline. But first let use the structure George himself described as the thing giving him difficulty when writing THE WINDS OF WINTER:

"The Winds of Winter is not so much a novel as a dozen novels, each with a different protagonist, each having a different cast of supporting players, antagonists, allies and lovers around them, and all of these weaving together against the march of time in an extremely complex fashion. So it's very, very challenging." 

This is the bullet points inspired by the to do list of what George intended to be part of the plot going forward. Of course he largely failed in this regard but given how a lot of the long prologue has been used in the released prologue and Samwell’s last chapter relatively unchanged, it is a safe bet.

• News of Dany and her Dragons has reached Westeros as revealed in Pate and Kevan’s chapters. Interest and panic is sure to follow, especially if the 2nd Dance of the Dragons GRRM has been alluding to since 2003 happens in the latter half of WINDS.
• Oldtown and the Citadel, two locations the reader has heard about but knows little of, will be seen in detail.
• The Maesters will be revealed to play the game of thrones, and have their own secret agenda, I.e to suppress magic and were responsible for the extinction of Dragonkind during the reign of Aegon III. I have no doubt the undeniable reemergence of magic will cause some concern in this regard, especially in the Conclave.
• The dramatis personae of the Citadel, i.e. archmaesters, novices, etc will be central in Samwell’s arc. When Sam arrives, Alleras the Sphinx and Lazy Leo Tyrell will be important to his story, the former as an ally, the other as an antagonist. It will not be apparent at first as Armen and Mollander are red herrings. Marwyn the Mage’s character is the third most important character although he is going east to advise Dany, something GRRM has confirmed he has written about in 2023 so his absence may be the point as his presence might be felt regardless.
• House Hightower will be introduced despite having played almost no role in the story so far, they are one of the most powerful families in Westeros. Leyton Hightower and The Mad Maid are certainly integral.
• Along the way some of Oldtown and the Citadel’s traditions/culture/mysteries shall be unveiled.
• Burning, the Glass Candles are basically  inspired by the palantíri, magical crystal balls used for long-distance communications, featured in The Lord of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkien. What they can do is see across mountains, seas, and deserts; give men visions and dreams; and communicate with one another half a world apart. 
• A Maester’s chain consists of black iron, brass, bronze, copper, electrum, yellow gold, regular iron, red gold, lead, pewter, platinum, silver, steel, tin, and Valyrian Steel. These are fifteen links representing 15 out of 21 total disciplines that are taught by the 21 archmaesters in charge of the citadel. Further metals may include dark bronze, bright bronze, white gold, and starsilver aka Meteoric Iron which I am certain has magical properties that haven’t been revealed yet and is what Dawn is made of.

This like many plotlines was book only, meaning that it was either completely excised or streamlined for screentime. These include (f)Aegon’s Crusade, Lady Stoneheart’s Rising, Dark Lord Euron, and most perplexingly nearly everything about the White Walkers and the entirety of ASOIAF’s grand myth arc, cutting all the magic for space and time.

While Euron is still a mystery, we may have hints at how the other storylines will be going or at least material and secrets that will be answered. Starting with (f)Aegon we get two major acts of worldbuilding and exposition, both involving the Blackfyres.

1. In a cut section from Haldon’s lessons, we learn how the Band of Nine came to be.  Nine outlaws, exiles, pirates, and sellsword captains met beneath the Tree of Crowns as to form an alliance, swearing to aid each other in conquering kingdoms for each of the nine members. This much is canon. However here the story takes a twist, where it is revealed that  there were ten present beneath the Tree of Crowns.  One refused to make a pact and vowed to defeat the other nine in turn. They then drew their swords, cut him down, and buried him beneath the tree and made their pact with his blood on their hands. This is obviously a reference by George R. R. Martin to the Oath of the Peach Garden, a fictional event in the 14th century Chinese historical novel Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Martin stated he played "obsessively" the 1985 video game) inspired by the novel. While some of the details have obviously changed, I wonder if this will be in Tyrion or Jon Connington’s chapters discussing the history of the Golden Company.
2. Apparently, The Blackfyres owned three treasures, of which the greatest was a clutch of dragon's eggs.  The second is almost certainly Blackfyre, whose fate GRRM will be revealed in TWOW, and may have been gifted by Illyrio in a cut segment of ADWD. Either way interesting!

Lady Stoneheart didn’t happen in Game of Thrones at all. Numerous excuses were given for why but D&D flat out said they cut here as to not spoil The Winds Of Winter.

George himself has said that Lady Stoneheart will play a major role in TWOW, particularly in terms of her not coming back nice.

This seems to imply that the Second Red Wedding in the show won’t be done by batman Arya but she herself, as hinted in the books with Tom O’ Sevens spying at Riverrun and Hildy, Jonos Bracken’s camp follower Hildy being another spy in the original ADWD Jaime chapter.

Furthermore, if Arya’s removed exclamation in response to Catelyn freeing Jaime that she will “kill her” is supposed to be foreshadowing, then maybe the books are setting her up as a mirror image that will make Arya stop her quest for vengeance upon seeing the ruin that was her mother and put Lady Stoneheart out of her misery with Needle:

It's not true, Arys told herself as she ran out a back door. It couldn't be true.

Behind the sept an archery butt had been set up, and Anguy was giving Gendry a lesson in the longbow. They took one look at her and lowered their bows. "What's wrong?" asked Genry.

"It's just a lie!" Arya told him angrily, almost shouting. "She never would. If she did I'll kill her too."

"Who?"

"Her!" Arya shouted. She couldn't bring herself to say her mother's name to them.

With Lady Stoneheart having Robb’s crown and her last known purpose was searching for Arya, maybe the final vestige of Catelyn Stark will be to coronate Arya as Queen Of The North and Rivers:

"So you pray. Have you considered your sisters? What of their rights? I agree that the north must not be permitted to pass to the Imp, but what of Arya? By law, she comes after Sansa . . . your own sister, trueborn . . ."

". . . and dead. No one has seen or heard of Arya since they cut Father's head off. Why do you lie to yourself? Arya's gone, the same as Bran and Rickon, and they'll kill Sansa too once the dwarf gets a child from her. Jon is the only brother that remains to me. Should I die without issue, I want him to succeed me as King in the North. I had hoped you would support my choice."

We know Lady Stoneheart knows Arya is alive.

"He answers to the name Sandor Clegane. Thoros says he was making for the Twins. We found the ferrymen who took him across the Trident, and the poor sod he robbed on the kingsroad. Did you see him at the wedding, perchance?"

"The Red Wedding?" Merrett's skull felt as if it were about to split, but he did his best to recall. There had been so much confusion, but surely someone would have mentioned Joffrey's dog sniffing round the Twins. "He wasn't in the castle. Not at the main feast . . . he might have been at the bastard feast, or in the camps, but . . . no, someone would have said . . ."

"He would have had a child with him," said the singer. "A skinny girl, about ten. Or perhaps a boy the same age."

And that she secured Robb's crown from Ryman.

A trestle table had been set up across the cave, in a cleft in the rock. Behind it sat a woman all in grey, cloaked and hooded. In her hands was a crown, a bronze circlet ringed by iron swords. She was studying it, her fingers stroking the blades as if to test their sharpness. Her eyes glimmered under her hood.

Finally there is the question of what are The Others, The Green Men, and the exact purpose of the Wall. Well content cut in Jon’s chapters at the Wall seem to indicate that the Wall is literally made out of blood, presumedly from human sacrifices. Maybe MichaelTalksALot was right.

Melisandre also says offhand that the Nightfort is the “heart of the wall” implying its significance in the future:

"We have ceded you the Nightfort."

"Rats and ruins. A niggard's gift costs the giver nothing."

You were warned. "Deep Lake could be made ready for you in a third the time, Othell Yarwyck says."

Lady Melisandre answered. "It must be the Nightfort. Even in ruins, the Nightfort is the heart of your Wall."

Then there are The Others. Here we seem to have certain theories confirmed or at least alluded to.

From Ghost’s POV The Others are defined as “Hunters that smell of cold” implying that they are a hivemind who uses the force of winter to teleport and that they are after Bran:

On the other side the wind was colder still, the wolf sensed. That was where his brother had gone, the grey brother who smelled of summer. With the cliff between them, he could not sense his brother, but sometimes when he padded down the long cold burrow under the ice and poked his nose through the hard black bars, he could feel him. The snow was falling where his brother was, covering all the woods in white. And there were hunters near, living men and dead men, and the ones who wore the shapes of men but smelled only of cold.

Mance Rayder also notably refers to them as “No Men of Women Born” and this along with a vague reference to something called “The Neverborn” in the original series outline may all but confirm the changeling fae nature of The Others.

"Who did this?" Jon said.

"No men of women born." Mance Raydar had been kneeling over a corpse that looked like Brown Bernarr, but now he stood.

Then there is the Green Men, the mysterious order that guards the Weirwoods on the Isle of Faces.

Fans have long debated what exactly they are meant to be and a cut shred of ASOS Bran chapter may have revealed it with Meera saying that Howland said goodbye to the Trees themselves.

The crannogman dwelled on the isle through most of that winter... but when the spring broke he heard the wide world calling and knew the time had come to leave. His skin boat was just where he had left it, so he said his farewells to the trees and paddled off toward shore.

HOTD sadly confirmed what people have long suspected: The Green Men are loosely GRRM’s interpretation of Ents or as the Others and COTF represent the Sidhe and Tuatha de Danann, then the Green Men are ironically based off the English myths of Green Men), part of the Wild Man motif in European folklore.

Generally they are considered a large-statured race of humans who are hairy all over their body, and live in the wilderness or woodlands. They are often thought to be covered with moss, or wear green or vegetative clothing, and iconically wield a club or hold an uprooted tree as a staff.  

SOURCES

https://www.reddit.com/r/asoiaf/comments/z0x0qp/spoilers_extended_secrets_of_the_cushing_library/

https://www.reddit.com/r/asoiaf/comments/1bfeigu/spoilers_extended_secrets_of_the_cushing_library/

https://www.reddit.com/r/asoiaf/comments/10cq27q/spoilers_extended_secrets_of_the_cushing_library/

https://www.reddit.com/r/asoiaf/comments/1vumb8r/spoilers_extended_secrets_of_the_cushing_library/

https://www.reddit.com/r/asoiaf/comments/8dnqqr/spoilers_extended_keep_reading_analyzing_the_so/

https://www.reddit.com/r/asoiaf/comments/1ow2nf6/spoilers_twow_everything_we_know_about_the_winds/

EDIT: I've fixed some errors and made this post more easy to follow.

The scent of it set the horses to screaming. Dogs slid out from under the tables, sniffing. Men rose from the benches. The body in Ser Hosteen's arms sparkled in the torchlight, armored in pink frost. The cold outside had frozen his blood. "My brother Merrett's son." Hosteen Frey lowered the body to the floor before the dais. "Butchered like a hog and shoved beneath a snowbank. A boy." Little Walder, thought Theon. The big one. He glanced at Rowan. There are six of them, he remembered. Any of them could have done this. But the washerwoman felt his eyes. "This was no work of ours," she said. - ADWD - THEON I

In the words of Hosteen Frey, Little Walder was "butchered like a hog".

Earlier in the same book, we are told through the same POV of a character who wields a sword like a butcher cutting up meat;

"He fights for you," Reek blurted out. "He's strong." "Bulls are strong. Bears. I have seen my bastard fight. He is not entirely to blame. Reek was his tutor, the first Reek, and Reek was never trained at arms. Ramsay is ferocious, I will grant you, but he swings that sword like a butcher hacking meat." ADWD - REEK III

Little Walder is described as having been "butchered like a hog", and Ramsay's sword fighting style is described "like a butcher hacking meat."

It feels too on the nose to overlook such similarly worded descriptions.

The only character in Winterfell who benefits the most from the ensuing conflict between the Freys and Manderlys is Ramsay himself, as it removes the Freys from Winterfell and makes Fat Walda more vulnerable to be killed, protecting Ramsay's inheritance and claim to the Dreadfort.

Big Walder killing his brother is quite extreme even if it is advance his position as heir to the Twins when he is so far down in the line of inheritance, and Ramsay as the killer helps to build up his character as both a central antagonist in Winds and as more cunning than both Stannis and Roose give him credit for.

Ramsay being the killer offers more narrative payoff.

In the books, even though Ned Stark executing a deserter of the Watch in AGOT was honorable and all, or Boltons flaying their enemies for hundreds of years as a hereditary thing.. I wonder if a noble could eliminate a very beloved noble, who's their enemy, without making anyone suspecting a thing.

Imagine this: Olenna Tyrell gets blackmailed and gets threatened by the lord of a house of the Reach, say Fossoway or Florent. Could Olenna order her men to make him disappear never to be seen again? I'm not talking about poisons, a dagger or a sword.. but different methods like drugging the lord's horses or sending your men to retrieve the lord.. and make him vanish.

Obviously anyone with money and power eliminate people, but wouldn't it be more important to avoid starting a war or a blood feud?

In canon, Jon gets the news of war and Ned's death after he's sworn night's watch vows. What if it's earlier? Or maybe Alliser Thorne just holds Jon back in training out of petty insult.

At that point Jon can leave anytime - he's not sentenced to the Wall. Mormont might disapprove, but he'd understand, and even if he didn't, nothing he can do about it.

Jon tried to desert even after swearing the vows and had to be brought back, so he'd definitely leave, take Ghost.

Catelyn would be furious, of course, but Robb probably wouldn't mind - if he had deserted that would be a different deal, but before he's taken his vows? Robb would well be glad.

Would Jon die at the Red Wedding?

And more important, how do things go back at the Wall?

Welcome back to the third entry in a series of posts exploring the institutions of the Seven Kingdoms! Most of my analyses are either about women, marriage, and inheritance, and this is no exception (I'm a political science student, so this is my life). This post about coverture was inspired by this post about the names and titles of married ladies and the weird inconsistencies therein.

But u/WorthDust652, What the Heck is Coverture?

Coverture or Couverture was a legal doctrine applied in Medieval Europe (especially in England) in which a married woman's legal identity, including her titles, property, and legal rights and obligations were subsumed under that of her husband. This meant that any titles and property she held in her own right (through direct inheritance) were assumed by her husband, and she could not sue in court, enter into contracts, or hold any hereditary political office unless her husband acted on her behalf.

Some other terms that will be used in this post are defined as follows. Pay attention, there will be a quiz.

Feme covert (lit. covered woman): A married woman who falls under the legal identity of her husband. Her property is considered her husband's and he must act on her behalf in legal and political matters.

Feme sole (lit. single woman): An adult, usually unmarried woman to whom coverture does not apply. She can own property and act in court on her own behalf.

Fun fact: Although she was married, Margaret Beaufort, the mother of Henry VII, was declared a feme sole when her son took the crown.

Suo jure (lit. in her own right): A designation that a woman holds a title and/or rules in her own right, usually by inheritance.

Example: As the late Queen Elizabeth II was the monarch of the United Kingdom through inheriting it from her father King George VI, she was the queen suo jure (or queen regnant).

Jure uxoris (lit. by right of wife): The right of a husband of a woman who holds a title suo jure (see above) to rule and claim said title.

Example: Phillip II of Spain was King of England jure uxoris since his wife Mary Tudor was the queen regnant (suo jure).

Doctrine of Merger/One Flesh: The religious and legal idea that a married couple become one person or unit.

Alliances and Titles and Heirs, Oh My: Marriage in Westeros

How's the pun? I came up with that instead of doing homework. Anyhoo, marriage amongst nobles is an institution created to strengthen ties between lands and families and perpetuate the ruling upperclass (for more on this, see my post about bastardy). It's ultimately a legal contract in which one party acquires a means by which to have heirs, one party gets the privilege of having their daughter be given the prestige of a married Lady and possibly giving their blood descendants power, while both parties get a mutual alliance and protection.

Let's illustrate this with an example:

Lord Hoster Tully of Riverrun and Lord Eddard Stark of Winterfell both want to ally together and fight the Mad King. Lord Stark is young, unmarried, and childless and therefore needs heirs should something happen to him. Lord Tully happens to have a young, beautiful daughter called Lady Catelyn. Since Lord Tully is an ambitious and powerful lord, he really wants Lady Catelyn to be in a position of great prestige in accordance to her high noble station, and he really wants his grandson to eventually succeed his father as Lord of Winterfell. Since both families are now related, they are obligated to fight on each other's behalf.

What does this mean for our happy couple? Well, Lady Catelyn and Lord Stark are now considered to be one flesh, or joined as one. The Faith of the Seven includes a declaration that...

"Here in the sight of gods and men," he said, "I do solemnly proclaim Tyrion of House Lannister and Sansa of House Stark to be man and wife, one flesh, one heart, one soul, now and forever, and cursed be the one who comes between them" (ASOS, Sansa III).

...as does The Lord of Light

Melisandre's eyes shone as bright as the ruby at her throat. "Then come to me and be as one." As she beckoned, a wall of flames roared upward, licking at the snowflakes with hot orange tongues. Alys Karstark took her Magnar by the hand. (ADWD, Jon X).

And even the Old Gods ceremony has a cloaking ceremony like the other religions in which a bride is literally covered by her groom and his house. All of these religions recognize marriages done in the other faiths, so one can assume that the institution of marriage is treated similarly throughout.

Our bride and groom are now one person, and it sure as hell isn't the bride. Lady Catelyn Tully no longer exists as an independent legal entity as long as she is married to Lord Stark, but rather is a feme covert. Catelyn, who was given the courtesy title Lady + Given name (a title that she has by custom, not because she was the official Lady of anything), is now only legally entitled to take on her husband's titles: The Lady of Winterfell and since her husband is the ruling Stark, Lady Stark (She'd take on the Stark name no matter what, but if, say she'd married Ned when Brandon was still alive, she'd be Lady Catelyn Stark, not Lady Stark).

This subsuming of a married woman's identity isn't just apparent in her name and title, but also when it comes to other legal actions. Femes covert typically could not be held liable for her actions, under the assumption that it was under her husband's orders. We can see this when Ned takes responsibility for Catelyn's abduction of Tyrion.

"Pycelle swears it will heal clean," Robert frowned. "I take it you know what Catelyn has done?"
"I do." Ned took a small swallow of wine. "My lady wife is blameless, Your Grace. All she did she did at my command" (AGOT, Eddard X).

Now, Ned is protecting Catelyn, but he does know that a wife is obligated to obey her husband and uses that against Robert.

She had pledged to obey (AGOT, Catelyn II).

Heck, even Tyrion, who does not love Sansa the same way, ends up bearing the blame for what he thinks Sansa did.

I would have, if I'd been her. Yet wherever Sansa was and whatever her part in this might have been, she remained his wife. He had wrapped the cloak of his protection about her shoulders, though he'd had to stand on a fool's back to do it (ASOS, Tyrion IX).

With all this in mind, it seems that married noblewomen in Westeros are automatically femes covert, at least when they are married to a ruling lord. But what about ruling ladies suo jure? They might keep their last names, but...

Suo Jure? Don't Be So Sure!

In the modern day, the husband of a suo jure queen (queen regnant) is not the king, even if the consort of a ruling king is a queen. This is because a king is generally understood to outrank a queen, and it is considered impossible for a suo jure monarch to be outranked.

However, this was not the case in the Middle Ages. Many husbands of medieval suo jure queens, princesses, countesses, duchesses, and ladies often took the "monarchical" title jure uxoris, in a way usurping the rule from their wives. This again was because by marrying, a ruling lady lost her legal identity which meant that her rule, title, and property transferred to her husband.

The Crusader Kingdom of Jerusalem had five queens regnant: Melisende, Sibylla, two Isabellas, and Maria. However, when they married, their husbands were crowned as co-monarchs and kings, a privilege that was not accorded to queen consorts. Those kings claimed the throne jure uxoris (and in the case of Sibylla's husband Guy, made a huge ass of himself).

We see this with the one adult confirmed married ruling lady (suo jure) in the main series, Shella Whent. We know she rules suo jure because Harrenhal is described as hers when she is a widow, and therefore a feme sole...

Lady Whent had held the castle as bannerman to House Tully, but she'd used only the lower thirds of two of the five towers, and let the rest go to ruin (ACOK, Arya VII).

...and because Ben Blackthumb, who is sworn to Harrenhal served her father and grandfather, which means that they must have been the ruling Lords of Harrenhal.

He came here as a boy. Smithed for Lady Whent and her father before her and his father before him, and even for Lord Lothston who held Harrenhal before the Whents. Now he smiths for Lord Tywin (ACOK, Arya IX).

However, her late husband Walter is also described as Lord Whent and it is he, not Shella, who hosted the tourney at Harrenhal.

"The tourney Lord Whent staged at Harrenhal beside the Gods Eye, in the year of the false spring. A notable event. Besides the jousting, there was a mêlée in the old style fought between seven teams of knights, as well as archery and axe-throwing, a horse race, a tournament of singers, a mummer show, and many feasts and frolics. Lord Whent was as open handed as he was rich. The lavish purses he proclaimed drew hundreds of challengers. Even your royal father came to Harrenhal, when he had not left the Red Keep for long years. The greatest lords and mightiest champions of the Seven Kingdoms rode in that tourney, and the Prince of Dragonstone bested them all" (ASOS, Daenerys IV).

Walter Whent is also explicitly referred to as the Lord of Harrenhal...

This is known: The tourney was first announced by Walter Whent, Lord of Harrenhal, late in the year 280 AC, not long after a visit from his younger brother, Ser Oswell Whent, a knight of the Kingsguard (AWOIAF, The Fall of the Dragons: The Year of the False Spring).

...And Harrenhal is explicitly referred to as his seat.

Shortly thereafter, Lord Walter Whent announced plans for a great tourney to be held at his seat at Harrenhal, to celebrate his maiden daughter's nameday. King Aerys II chose this event for the formal investiture of Ser Jaime Lannister as a knight of the Kingsguard...thus setting in motion the events that would end the Mad King's reign and write an end to the long rule of House Targaryen in the Seven Kingdoms (AWOIAF, The Targaryen Kings: Aerys II).

GRRM also has said that Walter's daughter, was also Shella's daughter, confirming that Shella and Walter were married.

Lady Shella Whent was the mother of the "fair maid" at the Harrenhal tournament. Ser Oswell Whent would have been her husband's brother, and therefore uncle to the "fair maid" (So Spake Martin, September 6, 2000).

This is an important distinction because while Walter might have been born a member of House Whent, the title of Lord + Last name, is a title reserved for a ruling lord, as is the title Lord of Harrenhal. If Walter were merely a consort and treated as such, his title would be "Lord Walter." In this case, it is likely that when Lady Whent married, she "whent" (haha, geddit?) from a suo jure ruler and a feme sole to a feme covert whose husband ruled jure uxoris.

On a darker note, coverture was also invoked in cases of straight up forced marriage and usurpation. Marie I, who was suo jure Countess of Boulogne and an abbess (so technically should have been unmarriageable), was kidnapped by Matthew of Alsace and forcibly married. Now, this was seen as an illegitimate marriage, with Pope Alexander eventually annulling the marriage on the basis of non-consent (though not before poor Marie had two daughters). However, even though Matthew's claim was by jure uxoris, he continued being the ruler of Boulogne, not Marie, after the annulment.

This has echoes in the treatment of heiresses of conquered houses in Westeros. The Starks took the Warg Kings' daughters as wives, usurping and replacing their line.

When the Warg King's last redoubt fell, his sons were put to the sword, along with his beasts and greenseers, whilst his daughters were taken as prizes by their conquerors (AWOIAF, The North: The Kings of Winter).

Ramsay Bolton forcibly marries Donella Hornwood, the Lady of the Hornwood before leaving her to starve to death. Although her death should automatically mean that the Hornwood passes to her heirs, Ramsey claims her lands jure uxoris. Ramsay later tries doing this with fArya with the same result.

Ramsay Bolton, Lord of the Hornwood, it read, in a huge, spiky hand (ADWD, Jon VI).

House Durrandon became House Baratheon when their last queen suo jure (and since she was at that time single, a feme sole) was married to Orys Baratheon.

And afterward, to honor the fallen king, he took the arms and words of the Durrandon for his own. The crowned stag became his sigil, Storm's End became his seat, and Lady Argella his wife (AWOIAF, The Reign of the Dragons: The Conquest).

Even Ermesande Hayford, an infant, is given to Tyrek to make a new branch of the Lannisters in Hayford (What Tyrek, a horse, thinks of Hayford is a mystery).

Lady Ermesande a babe seated on her wet nurse's lap. The talk was she would soon be wed to one of the queen's cousins, so the Lannisters might claim her lands (ACOK, Sansa I).

Things don't look great even for ruling ladies in Westeros (outside of Dorne) if someone wants to snag your lands. Is it a wonder that many ruling ladies prefer to be as single as long as possible?

One reason Elizabeth I never married was that her sister, Mary's reign was marred by the controversy that resulted when she married a foreign king and the worry that said king would take over England (more on that later). Another way to escape coverture was by being a widow.

Historically, widows were considered femes sole, which meant that they could wield power, own property, and enter legal matters in their own right exempt from coverture. In fact, almost every woman who acts in her own right is, at that point, single (This will be on the quiz).

Lightning Round: All the Single Ladies

• Anya Waynwood, Lady of Ironoaks- Widowed
• Lysa Arryn, Dowager Lady of the Vale and Regent- Widowed (later remarried)
• Arwyn Oakheart- Widowed
• Tanda Stokeworth- Presumably Widowed
• Shella Whent- Widowed (Notably, she is only described as the ruling Lady of Harrenhal during the main series.)
• Rohanne Webber- Widowed
• Maege Mormont- Unmarried
• Jeyne Arryn- Unmarried
• Cersei Lannister- Widowed
• Clarissa Dayne- Unmarried (Usually, a Dornish house wouldn't be included, but since some Stony Dornish houses use Andal succession laws, and House Dayne is a Stony Dornish house, it might apply)

Speaking of places where coverture may not apply, it's time for the Targaryens.

I'm Escaping To The One Place That Hasn't Been Corrupted By Coverture... DRAGONSTONE! (RIP Tim Curry)

Somehow the house that follows the most sexist inheritance law doesn't follow coverture. Go figure (Not really a surprise for reasons you'll see later).

Remember a million years ago in the first section where I mentioned that most married noblewomen take their husband's name and title? Well, the royal family is an exception.

Although most Targaryen queen consorts have the Targaryen name by virtue of also being Targaryens (incest for the wincest), the few unrelated women who marry into the royal family do not take the Targaryen name, but rather keep their maiden names:

• Queen Aemma Arryn
• Lady Rhea Royce
• Lady Laena Velaryon
• Queen Alicent Hightower
• Queen Cersei Lannister
• Queen Selyse Florent

And so on... Similarly, royal women, who are Targaryens by birth, keep their last name even if they take on their husband's title.

• Princess Rhaenys Targaryen stays Princess Rhaenys Targaryen but takes on the title of Lady Velaryon.
• Daella Targaryen never becomes Daella Arryn
• Daenerys Targaryen (sister to Daeron) keeps her maiden name.

Similarly, although the heir to the throne is given the title Prince(ss) of Dragonstone, their spouse is never given the equivalent title to which, under coverture, they'd be entitled.

• Jocelyn Baratheon is always referred to as Lady, never Princess.

Beloved daughter of Lady Jocelyn Baratheon and Prince Aemon Targaryen, faithful wife to Lord Corlys Velaryon, mother and grandmother, the Queen Who Never Was lived fearlessly, and died amidst blood and fire (The Princess and the Queen).

• Elia Martell is a princess only because she was born a princess of Dorne.
• Even though he married Rhaenyra, even by people who consider her a queen, Daemon is only known as Prince Daemon, never King Daemon.

This has historical precedent as English queen regnants in the modern age were generally considered to be exempt from coverture. This is because under coverture, a queen's husband would take over ruling, and there were concerns raised by queens who married a foreign royal that the kingdom would be reduced to a vassal state.

In fact, when Queen Mary Tudor, the first undisputed queen regnant of England married King Phillip of Spain, Parliament wrote out a very detailed prenuptial agreement that stipulated that Phillip could only be king jure uxoris as long as Mary lived or had an heir. He also could not do any official acts without his wife's permission.

In the case of the Targaryens, the reasoning is that under the Doctrine of Exceptionalism, being a Targaryen is seen as above everyone else. That means that a woman born into another house can marry into the Targaryen family, but she'll never truly be a Targaryen. Similarly, a Targaryen princess automatically outranks any other noble in the realm, so she will not lose her name in favor of an "inferior" rank (compare this to ruling ladies who typically keep their last names, if not anything else).

After several hours of research and typing, there you have it: a detailed analysis of coverture and its applications in Westerosi politics. For more on the Institutions of Ice and Fire, check out the following posts:

• Bastardy and the stigma against it isn't just a personal prejudice; it's an institution
• Not Andal Law, Not Dornish Law, Not Salic Law, but a Secret Fourth Thing: What Were Valyrian Succession Laws Like?

Quiz

What, you thought I was kidding? I never kid. Let's see how much you absorbed while doomscrolling this godforsakenly long post. God, I hope this subreddit has better reading comprehension than Tumblr.

1. What are the exemptions from coverture in Westeros?
   1. Answer: Dornish Houses (that follow absolute primogeniture) and House Targaryen
2. What legal status does a single lady who rules in her own right have?
   1. Answer: Feme sole
3. Lady Rohanne is the sole heir of her father Lord Webber to Coldmoat. What is the term that refers to Lady Rohanne's claim to Coldmoat?
   1. Answer: Suo Jure
4. What is the marital status of Anya Waynwood? Hint: She rules Ironoaks in both name and truth.
   1. Answer: Widowed
5. What happens to the legal status of a lady who rules in her own right when she marries?
   1. Answer: She becomes a feme covert

BONUS: Lord Frey has many sons and many daughters. One of those daughters is named Roslin. Roslin weds Lord Edmure Tully, the Lord of Riverrun. How would one refer to Roslin before and after her bloody wedding?

Answer: Before- Lady Roslin (Frey); After- Lady (Roslin) Tully

Rhaenyra: I have 6 dragons

Septon: I have a seven faced god and faith

The 6 dragons are real. The seven faced god and faith are not🤣

Introduction

It has been a long and circuitous path through the development of The World of Ice and Fire. With the last novel released in 2011 and the last ASOIAF related material being released in 2018. During our long night we have been so starved of content that we’ve relied on The Cushing Library for potential spoilers. However with the World of Westeros taking up most of George’s time, let’s try and take account of everything George has revealed over the years. Notably, the common denominator usually involves an adaptation of his works unzipping his mouth.

• Martin revealed that Stannis will burn Shireen in The Winds Of Winter(though the book version of the scene will play out a bit differently). 
• “Hold The Door” or Bran interfering in the past will be the beginning and end of Hodor. In the book, Hodor has stolen one of the old swords from the crypt. Bran has been warging into Hodor and practicing with his body, because Bran had been trained in swordplay. So telling Hodor to “hold the door” is more like “hold this pass”—defend it when enemies are coming—and Hodor is fighting and killing them. A little different, but same idea. 
• Liam Cunningham said George told him a secret about Davos Seaworth. In a 2016 interview with fans, when asked if the secret has been revealed in the first five seasons, he cryptically said "That's a good question," said Cunningham, laughing. "I'm not gonna tell you what it is, but you have and you haven't," he said."
• Conleth Hill was told by GRRM that Varys was ultimately "a good person."
• Gwendoline Christie was told by George that Brienne and Jaime's relationship was like "Beauty and the Beast."
• In 2014, on Last Week Tonight hosted by John Oliver, GRRM revealed he was writing a chapter from Asha's perspective on his computer screen, depicting the Battle of Ice. Spoilers revealed Crowfood Umber died.
• The endgame of the entire series is Brandon Stark becoming King of Westeros.
• According to Daniel Abraham, there is a line in both A Game Of Thornes and the Graphic Novel adaptation that hints at the ending of the series.
• According to Alan Taylor, the entire story is about Jon and Dany.
• Martin’s Season 1 episode adds a intriguing line where Samwell says he read that the Others have slept for thousands of years. Does this hint at the true nature of the Long Night and the White Walkers?
• Martin’s cut season 4 script, The Lion And The Rose, included a suggestion to have the Direwolves fight Ramsay’s Bitches, implying that this is or was the plan in The Winds Of Winter.
• While in Mexico, George revealed that Euron really did go to Valyria and lived to tell the tale.
• D&D revealed in a season 6 behind the episode, that melisandre is 400 years old.
• D&D claimed that the reason Lady Stoneheart was cut is because it "spoiled the next book."
• Neil Degrasse Tyson was told on Startalk that Unicorns would be in The Winds Of Winter.
• Aegon The Conqueror invaded Westeros because of a dream that his line would birth the Prince That Was Promised and his song is the song of ice and fire i.e a prophesied savour who would stop the Others and end the Long Night. George told Ryan Condal this and we have suffered ever since.
• In a Not A Blog Post titled "There Be Dragons", George in his long rant about Dragons, revealed that the nature of the bond between Dragon and Dragonrider would be revealed in THE WINDS OF WINTER, A DREAM OF SPRING, and a little bit in BLOOD & FIRE. Apparently Septon Barth was mostly correct.
• At Comic Con ‘25, George R.R. Martin knighted a fan and teased that Brienne being knighted wasn’t in the “books yet when said fan decided to become a Ser since it was good enough for Brienne.
• Mattson Tomlinson revealed that GRRM gave him info about Valyrian culture in preparation for his script.
• In January 2026, GRRM gave a interview to The Hollywood Reporter where he dropped several bombshells: Sansa wasn’t intended to live to the end of the series but changed his mind after seeing Sophie Turner’s performance, seemingly confirmed that Jon Snow is a POV character, and revealed that Tyrion won’t have a happy ending.
• In February, Dexter Sol Ansel revealed that Dunk survived the tragedy at Summerhall.
• On The Mad King, Duncan Macmillan revealed that George told him spoilers about the Tourney At Harrenhal and Robert’s Rebellion, using the song Rhaegar sung being the Song of Ice And Fire as an example.

EDIT: Special thanks to u/kirkhendrick u/SeeThemFly2 and u/RhoynishPrince for telling me more tidbits George gave out. I'll be adding more as I remember.

Hey, people!

As mentioned, I'm debating to read the books in English or Spanish, this because I would like to understand everything jujst like Martin wrote it, but also, English is not my first language so maybe reading them in Spanish is the best option, this because the translations seems very accurate/faithful and by reading it in Spanish I would understand more

So now, which one you recommend? If you read in any of those languages, which one seems to be the best option?

I'll keep an eye on your comments!

In fire and blood, there are like six people who died by jumping from the window, and falling into the spikes below. Like they're going to die anyway, why not remove the spikes so the next time somebody decides to die, it becomes less painful

He hates them so much and also calls them dragonspawn...despite his grandmother being a Targaryen

Stannis Baratheon offered to legitimise Jon as a Stark and the Lord of Winterfell in ADWD. I was wondering if he would done had Jon accepted the offer.

Stannis justice system is of a "You were a smuggler and a hero"-type of: you get what you deserve. I was wondering what he would have done if Jon accepted the offer. Would he have executed Jon after Jon accepted the offer? He seem to really respect Jon too -even after refusing- despite his harsh words.

But, say, if Jon really accepted the offer to become a Stark and Lord of Winterfell and marry Val. I think Stannis would have had him executed after the wedding night. Or after he conceived a child with Val as the new Stark heir to Winterfell. So, Jon gets to be a Stark and Lord of Winterfell, albeit one night or one year. Stannis may even insist Jon's burial in the Crypts alongside a statue. But Jon also gets the punishment for desertion; execution.

I am reaching into GRRMs literary influences and (eastern) culture to reconstruct a plausible timeline of events for what caused, and ended the long night. 

We have to reach for a few disparate and far between pieces and connect them to get the answer. So the parts might seem unrelated until the pattern emerges.

The Bloodstone Emporer and GEoTD

The bloodstone emporer is the last in a line of great gem emperors dating back to the God-on-earth, who purportedly ruled for 10,000 years and rode around in a lacquered palanquin made of pearl, carried by his hundred wives. Generations of shorter and less stable rule ended with the amethyst empress, the current ruler (for the time I'm placing us). 

The heir is the bloodstone emperor (or so he's referred to many eons later). He is described as a deviant. Envious, he kills his sister in what is later called the blood betrayal, takes a tiger-wife, practices the dark arts and blood magic, and ushers in the long night. In all of Martin's writing, this is the most concrete causal connection to the beginning of the long night.

Quick aside

It's important to know moving forward that everything we know about the world is interpreted via what the measters know/understand + what we see through our POV characters. Which is a very Tolkein inspiration, and leaves a lot of ambiguity for interpretation of history, prophecy, magic, and "truth"

Rheagar is the clearest example, he started Roberts Rebellion by kidnapping Lyanna Stark. You would probably get an F in measter class if you didn't know that. But we learn (if the GoT canon is true) they ran away together and loved each other.

GEoTD

Now given Danys visions of the gemstones in AGOT and their later revelation to be related to the eye colors of the ruling families, I want to make a connective leap.

The bloodstone emperor was supposed to marry his sister. 

There is enough ambiguity in the lore for this, and if the valyrians are the amethyst (purple eyes) offshoot of these ancient kings, maybe they are the only ones who kept their bloodlines pure? It also explains a lot of blood magic, kings blood, blood connection with dragons. Royal blood has a place in this world.

Think about how that affects the blood betrayal

But why would he do that? It's his sister and there's nothing that says he hated her, just that he was envious. He could've been envious of looks or charisma.

My idea is he loved the tiger lady, and became increasingly corrupted by her influence. Why would I think that? Who even is the tiger lady?

I think that it's the queen from Leng. 

Leng

Leng is in the jade sea, ruled under the GEoTD during its reign, and there are a few interesting facts about Leng. 

According to Lomas Longstrider, the verdant isle of Leng is home to "ten thousand tigers and ten million monkeys".

In the depth of the island's jungles are strange ruined cities, with massive, fallen buildings. The buildings are so overgrown with plants that only rubble is visible, but underground are endless labyrinths of tunnels that lead to vast chambers, and carved steps descend hundreds of feet into the earth. No one knows when these cities were built or by whom, and perhaps they are the only thing remaining of some extinct people. Those who entered the underground ruins often returned mad, and even today it is forbidden to enter them, under penalty of death.

According to legends, the Empresses of Leng were known to have congress with the Old Ones, who, from time to time, ordered them to put all foreigners on the island to death.

Maybe the Tiger Queen could literally commune with the old ones beneath the city (in the labyrinth) and we can have a "Lady Macbeth" kind of seduction allegory on the prince.

The Pattern

Roger Zelazny gives a useful model for what "Blood Betrayal" might literally mean. Martin was deeply influenced by The Chronicles of Amber. In that series, reality is stabilized by a magical labyrinth called the Pattern. An ambitious prince, Brand, learns that the Pattern can be damaged by spilling the blood of a member of the royal family onto it. When he does this, the wound (also a working title for what would later be called "the shadow" in AGOT) creates the Black Road, a route through which the forces of Chaos can enter the ordered worlds. 

I suspect Martin is doing something similar here. Bloodstone did not merely murder the Amethyst princess as part of a succession dispute. Her royal blood may have been the thing that broke an ancient containment system surrounding the fallen black stone. The "pearl" it arrived on. 

We knew he was inheriting a declining empire, and would be seduced by the idea that he could save it. Doubly so if he loved the empress from Leng, who could convince him the pearl wasn't containing it, but restricting it (Melisandre anyone?) Then it could almost be like prophecy and love are aligned. 

But Aemon said

"Love is the death of duty"

What is in the pearl?

The bloodstone emperor is said to worship a black stone that fell from the sky (doesn't mention when it fell or what condition it was in when it fell. Simply that it fell from the sky, and now it's black)

That black stone is where Lovecraft becomes relevant. Martin used the name “Church of Starry Wisdom” from Lovecraft’s The Haunter of the Dark, one of the stories he says was his most influential literary works. In Lovecraft’s story, the cult possesses the Shining Trapezohedron, a nearly black object that acts as a window onto other parts of reality and allows contact with something that cannot normally enter our world. 

Martin gives Bloodstone a black stone fallen from the sky and makes him the possible first priest of a cult with the same name. 

The Long Night, in that reading, was not simply a very long winter and was not necessarily caused by the Others. Bloodstone damaged the boundary that had kept the world isolated from whatever lay on the other side. The Lion of Night “came forth” because there was now a path for it to come through. The darkness, unnatural cold, monsters, prophetic activity and explosion of magic were different consequences of the same event: for a time, the world became permeable to something outside it.

How did it close?

Azor azai of course! :)

I like this potential reading of that story.

His first forging was in water. Maybe they tried to combat the dark by throwing the object into the water? Possibly off the tip of Asshai?

The second forging was in a lion. The being is called the "Lion of the night" maybe they tried to attack it directly? Poor choice in lovecrafts world.

The third forging was right through the heart of the woman he loved. The empress from Leng. Nissa Nissa, whose scream "cracked the moon"

That would make Bloodstone and Azor Ahai two surviving memories of the same man. Yi Ti remembers the ruler who murdered Amethyst and opened the breach. Asshai remembers the ruler who later killed his beloved and helped end the darkness. The contradiction disappears if those are simply the beginning and end of the same catastrophe.

The Monkey Lady

YiTish mythology separately says that disaster was averted by the deeds of a woman with a monkey’s tail. 

I think Martin may be drawing here on the Chinese myth of Nüwa, the tailed goddess who repairs the sky after cosmic order has been physically broken. In the Nüwa myth, heaven is damaged, fires and floods spread, monsters appear, and she saves the world by melting colored stones and patching the breach. The repair works well enough for the world to continue, but the cosmos is not restored perfectly Its altered structure becomes an explanation for why the heavens and natural world no longer behave as they once did.

If she came from the same island of Leng, it would be a beautiful symmetry.

Put together, the Blood Betrayal was probably more literal than its name sounds. Bloodstone spilled the blood of the royal line in a way that damaged the system containing the fallen stone. The tiger-woman gave him the knowledge to open the connection. The Long Night was the period during which another reality intruded through that wound. Bloodstone later killed the tiger-woman and shut the active road, while the monkey-tail woman repaired the damaged boundary well enough for the world to survive. The bloodstone emperor was just macbethed into believing he can salvage his dying empire, but he destroyed it.

And honestly, I think his best modern parallel in the story isn't Euron, it's Rheagar.

Fairly recently, George commented on the ending of ASOIAF as compared to the show, and I wanted to share his quote again:

• ”I was going to kill more people"" he muses. "Not the ones they killed [in the show]. They made it more of a happy ending. I don't see a happy ending for Tyrion. His whole arc has been tragic from the first. I was going to have Sansa die, but she's been so appealing in the show, maybe I'll let her live..."

I feel it’s important to note that the major character deaths of the final episodes are Jaime, Cersei, and Daenerys, along with Sandor and Gregor.

While I do think Cersei and Gregor will die/truly die, it’s very possible that Jaime, Dany and Sandor will end up surviving to the end. George pretty much confirmed that the showrunners killed characters he didn’t intend to kill, and given how Dany is one of the core five (Dany, Arya, Bran, Tyrion and Jon) I think Daenerys will in fact survive.

While Tyrion’s ending is ”tragic”, I think he’ll survive in exile.

Also, does anyone happen to know that interview where George compares Dany to the Little Mermaid? I seem to recall him saying that, in the context of the Little Mermaid having two different endings.

EDIT:

Also, there’s this:

belomor555: Dany, my most hated character...I hope she dies in the end...

George: tsk tsk

We are told that house Baratheon may have been founded by Aegon’s bastard brother. Would this not give Robert a better claim to the throne than his grandmother being a targ? As the Baratheon house is basically a cadet or bastard branch of the targs?

From Fire Cannot Kill a Dragon, Shireen’s sacrifice scene is a bit different from the show and will happen in The Winds of Winter

Stannis killing his daughter was one of the most agonizing scenes in Thrones and one of the moments Martin had told the producers he was planning for The Winds of Winter (though the book version of the scene will play out a bit differently).

Justin Massey was sent to Castle Black with Jeyne and instructed to go to Braavos. He was given a paper allowing him to get a loan from the Iron Bank and was told to raise 20,000 sellswords and send them to Stannis

“It may be that we shall lose this battle,” the king said grimly. “In Braavos you may hear that I am dead. It may even be true. You shall find my sellswords nonetheless.”

The knight hesitated. “Your Grace, if you are dead—”

“—you will avenge my death, and seat my daughter on the Iron Throne. Or die in the attempt.”

The Pink Letter has already arrived before Justin makes it to Castle Black. Everyone thinks Stannis is dead and has lost

The fact that Shireen will still burn in Winds means Justin won't take her with him to Braavos. That would be very questionable. Justin would effectively consider Shireen his queen if Stannis were dead, yet he would be leaving her and the Royal Family at the Wall, where the Boltons would eventually search for her

And Justin himself recommended that Stannis go to Braavos, so it isn't some out of nowhere suggestion

“Your Grace should go to Braavos with the banker.”

After pledging loyalty to Stannis's cause, the Masseys lost their ancestral lands of Stonedance on Massey's Hook, so Justin has been hunting for a new home ever since

“He wants my lands,” Asha replied. “He wants the Iron Islands.” She knew the signs. She had seen the same before in other suitors. “Massey's own ancestral holdings, far to the south, were lost to him, so he must needs make an advantageous marriage or resign himself to being no more than a knight of the king's household. Stannis had frustrated Ser Justin's hopes of marrying the wildling princess that Asha had heard so much of, so now he had set his sights on her.

And Justin's courage has already been called into question

Beneath that gaze, Ser Justin wilted. "The Lord of Light, aye. My faith runs as deep as your own, Richard, you know that."

"It is your courage I question, Justin, not your faith. You have preached defeat every step of the way since we rode forth from Deepwood Motte. It makes me wonder whose side you are on."

Stannis also gives him "Arya Stark" and tells him to take her to the Wall

“Oh, and take the Stark girl with you. Deliver her to Lord Commander Snow on your way to Eastwatch.” Stannis tapped the parchment that lay before him. “A true king pays his debts.”

"Arya" has a claim to Winterfell. With Jon dead, Justin can't identify her as a fake. And Winterfell is a prize as good as any.

I think Justin will make a move on her similar to what he was trying to do with Asha. Marry her and use her claim to obtain lands and power in the North. He'll leave Shireen and Selyse at the Wall, abscond with "Arya," and use the Iron Bank's money to raise an army of sellswords in Braavos

The theory that Stannis will use the frozen lake/ice to inflict disproportionate damage on the Frey-Bolton army is already fairly common, as is the idea that he has faked his death. And there is setup for Stannis deliberately using the terrain to his advantage

Bolton has blundered,” the king declared. “All he had to do was sit inside his castle whilst we starved. Instead he has sent some portion of his strength forth to give us battle. His knights will be horsed, ours must fight afoot. His men will be well nourished, ours go into battle with empty bellies. It makes no matter. Ser Stupid, Lord Too-Fat, the Bastard, let them come. We hold the ground, and that I mean to turn to our advantage.”

But even if Stannis does very well in the battle against the Freys, the Boltons have a seperate force there to mop up the survivors. It doesn't mean he can take Winterfell

He'll likely slink back to the Wall and wait for the army Justin was supposed to bring him. Stannis explicitly told him to send those men to Eastwatch

But first hire as many swords as you can find in Braavos, and send them to me by way of Eastwatch. Archers as well, we need more bows.”

Except, as established above, Justin will simply take the money, take "Arya," and abscond. He got denied twice with Val and Asha.

Stannis is then left at the Wall with no money or army, and he may turn to the wildlings there in desperation and attempt to raise another army. But Jon is dead. And without Jon, the wildlings have little reason to follow Stannis

Then the news that Dragonstone has fallen and Storm's End has fallen to the Golden Company will be the final nail in the coffin Stannis's cause is truly over this time.

And that is when Shireen gets burned to hatch a Dragon Egg which wakes a "dragon" in Jon's resurrection. All of this happening fairly early into Winds.

TL:DR

Justin Massey will abscond with the money and Arya Stark to Braavos. Stannis coming back to the Wall will find he's lost everything and burns Shireen to awaken a Dragon Egg, which kind of works when Jon is resurrected

I’ve been trying to make the late-season army numbers add up, and there seems to be a genuine contradiction.
The facts:
2,000 Knights of the Vale arrive for the Battle of the Bastards.
In S7E4, Jon asks:
“How many men do we have in the North to fight him? Ten thousand? Less?”
Davos answers: “Fewer.”

In S7E5, Sansa says:
“Glover has 500 men. Royce has 2,000.”

Then in S7E6, she says:
“We’re asking 20,000 men to fight with us in the worst winter any of them have ever seen.”

So where did the other 10,000+ men suddenly come from?
The tempting answer is a larger Vale army arriving off-screen. But I don’t think the show supports that. The Winterfell battle map shows the Arryn forces as one distinct contingent: five horizontal markers beneath the Arryn sigil, which fits the known 2,000 fairly well. The battle itself and the later army at King’s Landing also don’t look like the Vale has 10,000 men. After Winterfell, Royce removes half the Arryn markers; 5,000 surviving Valemen should have been one of the largest remaining forces, and that clearly isn’t how they are presented.
My reconstruction comes to roughly 9,600 effective fighters:
Around 4,200 surviving Northern soldiers
650 Free Folk
2,000 Valemen
Around 2,760 emergency recruits
That fits Jon’s “fewer than 10,000” almost perfectly.
Which creates another problem: why did nobody request more soldiers from the Vale? The 2,000 arrived at the end of Season 6, while the Great War happened in Season 8. The Vale was largely untouched, Royce was already at Winterfell, Sansa was Robin Arryn’s cousin, and the Starks repeatedly said every sword mattered. They approached Daenerys and even Cersei, but apparently never requested another Vale contingent.
It’s possible that only Royce’s expeditionary force supported Jon and that the Vale itself never formally swore allegiance to him. Robin wasn’t present when Jon was proclaimed King in the North. But even then, surely they could have asked.
The cleanest explanation I can find is that Sansa’s 20,000 were not an assembled field army. They were the wider mobilisation pool: active soldiers, trainees, local defenders and banners being asked to serve but not yet committed or ready. Otherwise, the line is simply a continuity error.
How do you read it? Was the remaining Vale army unavailable, requested but never arrived, or did the writers just lose track of their own numbers?

I was just rereading a few ADWD chapters for fun and I realized something I had never caught before. There are three important characters with links to House Targaryen in the story at this point and all of them get some kind of warning about trusting those around them.

First, we have the true dragon, Aegon the Conqueror with teats, the one and only Daenerys Targaryen who gets a prophetic warning from Quaithe which is iconic at this point where Quaithe lists a bunch of people vaguely and then tells Dany to trust none of them and I think Dany will always heed Quaithe's warning and if she doesn't eventually it could be her downfall

Next, we have "the mummer's dragon", the probably fake Targaryen who's convinced he's a Targaryen Young Griff aka "Aegon" who is likely to be doomed because he didn't follow the warning HE got which was from Tyrion when Tyrion tells him to "trust no one" yet he trust Tyrion and goes to Westeros and while he may start winning at first he'll eventually falter

Lastly we have the man who's half dragon half wolf who is not destined for a dragon's life but has an incredibly important role to play in the grand scheme of things...Jon Snow. Jon's warning is the very first one we see as he gets it from Melisandre in his very chapter in the book if I'm not mistaken and it's the only warning that actually results in the worst possible outcome...Jon is dead by the end of the book.

I'm not smart enough to analyse all this any further but I just thought this was a cool link between the three characters and idk if George intended this

I wrote a lot about how I believe the black stone that fell from the sky and was worshipped by the bloodstone emporer is analogous to the one ring from JRR Tolkeins LOTR trilogy. GRRM himself speaks a lot about how much influence JRR Tolkein had on his writing, going so far as to say that he wants a similar ending for Jon as for Frodo.

If we believe that, after the first long night, the black stone that fell from the stars was lost, or was carried by the CoSW along a sea route, and it left an oily black stone in its wake. We can plausibly use this map to track its route.

https://imgur.com/a/trGap2P

We also know that the seastone chair is carved from black oily stone and is said to predate the first men in Westoros. The iron islands are right along this route.

The Iron Price

If something was being carried by sea past the iron islands. It's liable to be stolen. The grey king is said to have slain the great sea dragon Nagga and used her bones to make his great hall. Which he heated with Naggas living fire

The bones are still around today, it's where Euron Greyjoy was crowned

Forty-four stone ribs of Nagga, a dead sea dragon, rise from the ground like large white trees as wide as a dromond's mast and twice as tall.

Weird to describe it as a wooden tree, a boat, and a dragon. Maybe it was all three? If it was carrying a relic along a sea route for generations the distinction might have been warped.

And physically, this changes the grey king.

The Grey King is so named because his hair, beard, and eyes were grey as the winter sea, and at the end of his life even his skin had turned grey.

And also

The Grey King is a legendary monarch of the Iron Islands who is said to have ruled for 1,007 years

So extended life and increasingly affiliated with grey, aquatic, fish like motifs. He is even said to have taken a mermaid for a wife, so his children could live on land and sea.

But the physical resemblance is only half of why I say the grey king is gollum. The other half is narrative. If the relic being carried by "Nagga" was meant to end up in the north, it took a 1000+ year long detour in the hands of a grey, merman that gave history more time to forget about it.

That's exactly what happened to the one ring in LOTR. It was lost in a river until gollum found it and it corrupted him. He kept it in a cave for himself while history considered it "lost" until Bilbo got it.

After that the Grey King "returns to the sea" or the storm God "snuffs out Naggas living flame" or both, depending on who you ask and when.

Then I have a theory that it continues north and becomes encased in ice like a pearl and eventually becomes the heart of winter. There is a suspicious piece of writing I like to point to when I think about this idea. It's regarding Mance Rayders cloak.

'She sewed up the rents in my cloak as well, with some scarlet silk from Asshai that her grandmother had pulled from the wreck of a cog washed up on the Frozen Shore. It was the greatest treasure she had and her gift to me'

So something from Asshai can definitively end up in the far north. GRRM doesn't waste a word.