#her nymeria slay

[dulcewrites]

Holy cow I forgot Elia's people remained neutral for the sake of the princess😭😭 all in vainnnnn

Then we have the dornish reader with her people, we have killed a dragon before, then we are going to do it againnn>>>

Aemond fighting for his wife and children>> and being a simp to his wife.

Being a proud husband and father>>>

The reader saving her mother and sister in law>>>

Can you imagine the reader saving Maelor and the knight that was supposed to bring him to safety😭😭.

I can imagine Helaena crying in pure relief, never stopping muttering thank you thank you then the dornish reader simply hugs her and tells her" we are family"(HELAENA DESERVED BETTER AND HER CHILDREN☹)

The dornish reader being the antithesis of Rhaneyra, what people and the fandom expect her to be and being a political headache to D & R.

The can do nothing, Dorne will unleash hell

Reader in her mustard dress fighting people and killing traitors to the left and the right🤣😍

Aemond comes back victorious from the battle with his uncle because I said so, and then his wife aĺmost kills him because she doesn't recognize him and needs to protect their children.

She apologizes and Aemond just kisses her, simping for her more than before( and I tell you if they did it, they did it,nothing around them exist just them, just them to each other's arms)

I'm bit emotional here😍😭 they thought they were never going to see each againnnnn

Uller and toland soldiers seeing they have excuse to fight Targaryens

But I’m just very into a dornish reader feeling like she needs to stand pat about the involvement in the dance, but then realizing if she’s “family” enough to have her husband and children at risk, she’s “family” enough to get involved politically. Her marriage with Aemond truly being the epitome of fire and blood >>>

Her actually being loved and revered her by people >>

[fromtheseventhhell]

"Does that trouble you, ser?" asked the Lady Nym. She wore a gown of yellow silk so sheer and fine that the candles shone right through it to reveal the spun gold and jewels beneath. So immodest was her garb that the white knight seemed uncomfortable looking at her, but Hotah approved. Nymeria was least dangerous when nearly naked. Elsewise she was sure to have a dozen blades concealed about her person. (The Watcher, ADWD)

---

The clothes she wore were rags, faded and fraying, but warm clean rags for all that. Under them she hid three knives—one in a boot, one up a sleeve, one sheathed at the small of her back. Braavosi were a kindly folk, by and large, more like to help the poor blind beggar girl than try to do her harm, but there were always a few bad ones who might see her as someone they could safely rob or rape. The blades were for them, though so far the blind girl had not been forced to use them. (The Blind Girl, ADWD)

Arya & Nymeria | Knives

[jackoshadows]

There's this nice little parallel between Arya and Jon doing the right thing under incredibly dangerous and complicated scenarios and then being saved by the direwolves.

When Jon Snow is asked to kill the old man at the Queenscrown, he knows that his life would be forfeit if he refuses. And yet, he can't bring himself to do it.

“Why do you hesitate?” Styr said. “Kill him, and be done.” He is an old man, Jon told himself. Fifty, maybe even sixty. He lived a longer life than most. The Thenns will kill him anyway, nothing I can say or do will save him. Longclaw seemed heavier than lead in his hand, too heavy to lift. The man kept staring at him, with eyes as big and black as wells. I will fall into those eyes and drown. The Magnar was looking at him too, and he could almost taste the mistrust. The man is dead. What matter if it is my hand that slays him? One cut would do it, quick and clean. Longclaw was forged of Valyrian steel. Like Ice. Jon remembered another killing; the deserter on his knees, his head rolling, the brightness of blood on snow . . . his father’s sword, his father’s words, his father’s face . . . “Do it, Jon Snow,” Ygritte urged. “You must. T’ prove you are no crow, but one o’ the free folk.” He turned his back on the man. “No.” - Jon, AGoT

And then we have little 9 year old, skinny little Arya confronting Joffrey's sadistic torture of Mycah. Joffrey is taller and bigger than even Jon and Robb and he's armed with a sword. Arya is armed with a stick. Joffrey has been trained in the sword and Arya has not. The odds are against her. And yet she steps up to defend Mycah because it's the right thing to do.

“And you’re only a butcher’s boy, and no knight.” Joffrey lifted Lion’s Tooth and laid its point on Mycah’s cheek below the eye, as the butcher’s boy stood trembling. “That was my lady’s sister you were hitting, do you know that?” A bright bud of blood blossomed where his sword pressed into Mycah’s flesh, and a slow red line trickled down the boy’s cheek. “Stop it!” Arya screamed. She grabbed up her fallen stick. “I won’t hurt him … much,” Prince Joffrey told Arya, never taking his eyes off the butcher’s boy. Arya went for him. - Sansa, AGoT

And when both Arya and Jon are under attack because of doing the right thing, the direwolves - gifts from the Old Gods - step in to help save them.

The Magnar said something in the Old Tongue. He might have been telling the Thenns to kill Jon where he stood, but he would never know the truth of that. Lightning crashed down from the sky, a searing blue-white bolt that touched the top of the tower in the lake. They could smell the fury of it, and when the thunder came it seemed to shake the night. And death leapt down amongst them. The lightning flash left Jon night-blind, but he glimpsed the hurtling shadow half a heartbeat before he heard the shriek. - Jon, ASoS

Joffrey slashed at Arya with his sword, screaming obscenities, terrible words, filthy words. Arya darted back, frightened now, but Joffrey followed, hounding her toward the woods, backing her up against a tree. Then a grey blur flashed past her, and suddenly Nymeria was there, leaping, jaws closing around Joffrey’s sword arm. The steel fell from his fingers as the wolf knocked him off his feet, and they rolled in the grass, the wolf snarling and ripping at him, the prince shrieking in pain. - Sansa, AGot

What also stands out is 9 year old Arya's presence of mind. She steps in to call Nymeria off else the damage done to Joffrey would be far worse. Just look at what Summer does to the Thenns.

The lightning flash left Jon night-blind, but he glimpsed the hurtling shadow half a heartbeat before he heard the shriek. The first Thenn died as the old man had, blood gushing from his torn throat. Then the light was gone and the shape was spinning away, snarling, and another man went down in the dark. There were curses, shouts, howls of pain. Jon saw Big Boil stumble backward and knock down three men behind him. Ghost, he thought for one mad instant. Ghost leapt the Wall. Then the lightning turned the night to day, and he saw the wolf standing on Del’s chest, blood running black from his jaws. Grey. He’s grey. - Jon, ASoS

“Get it off,” he screamed. “Get it off!” Arya’s voice cracked like a whip. “Nymeria!” The direwolf let go of Joffrey and moved to Arya’s side. The prince lay in the grass, whimpering, cradling his mangled arm. His shirt was soaked in blood. Arya said, “She didn’t hurt you … much.” - Sansa, AGoT

As Arya points out rather accurately, Nymeria did not hurt Joffrey...much, considering what a direwolf is capable of. Nymeria steps in to save Arya and that's it. Arya could have done more damage to Joffrey if she wanted to - but she recognizes and understands the situation and calls Nymeria off.

Anyways I thought this was a cool, thematic parallel of not only Arya and Jon having the instinct to do the right thing, no matter the circumstances, but also of the direwolves - in this case Nymeria and Summer - helping them overcome the danger of those circumstances.

[laurellerual]

Arya Lady of Harrenhal during the Long Night

At the bottom of my inbox there's an anonymous message from months ago that says “could you do Arya with Nymeria during the long night? Fighting together?”. I haven't replied yet and the reason is that when I think about this scene, the image of GOT 8x03 pops up in my mind. Will Arya fight through the Long Night, sword in hand? I'm not that sure.

Then the other day I came up with this idea that I proposed to you in a survey: “Winterfell falls, the northeners have to escape South, Harrenhal is the main citadel, Arya as lady of Harrenhal during the Long Night”. And I must say I'm surprised with the result. It won "I see where you are coming from, and I like it" with 33% of the votes.

But many, rightly so, have chosen "I'll wait for you to elaborate", so here we are.

A role

So Jon and Dany are the ones with the army and the dragons, Tyrion is the smart one with the experience and Bran is the one with the magical powers (sorry I'm simplifying, just to summarize). It's not hard to imagine that they'll find their place in the White Walkers storyline.

And Arya? Use the valyrian steel sword she doesn't have to slay the undead? Will Jon allow her to be on the front lines? Is Arya really stupid enough to think she can do it?

She will be at most 12/13 years old and the only sword lessons she has received are those of Syrio, she is not a great swordswoman, especially if she has to face adults on a battlefield. The things that the FMs are teaching her don't seem suitable for this kind of situations. I guess she could contribute by warging Nymeria and leading her pack, but if that is the case it wouldn't be necessary for her to be physically there.

Whatever this role is it must be relevant 'cause Martin counted her among the five key characters, one of the first to be created and then decided to waste a lot of ink by telling us about her.

Harrenhal

I start with the assumtion that the Battle for the Dawn will take place in the Riverlands, that it will not be possible to stop the White Walkers at Winterfell and consequently there will be an exodus of people from the North to the South. If you don't agree or you want an explanation about it, you can read my last post: Harrenhal during the Long Night.

And which of the main characters has a strong relationship with Harrenhal?

Thematic connections

The girl has a long and complex relationship with her mother's native land and a strong thematic connection with water that you surely have read about in other metas. Most of the major events in Arya's life take place here.

Not only the Red wedding, meeting Jaqen, the Weasel soup, the separation from Nymeria, but also Mycah's death in which she realizes for the first time that her father is not as powerful as she thinks, that the injustice of the world is deeper than she thought and that especially for the nobles the suffering of the smallfolk is totally irrelevant.

Harrenhal is the castle of which she becomes the ghost. And she really is the ghost of Harrenhal, standing in front of that Heart tree, probably like her late aunt years before, as she hears a voice from the trees reminding her of her real name.

Useful knowledge

Arya knows these lands directly, crosses them, lives them, knows their inhabitants, their opinions and sides in the war. It isn't a theoretical knowledge but a practical one. As Jon Snow recalls "The map is not the land, my father often said".

But it's even more intimate than that because Arya dreams of those lands every night, she sees them through Nymeria's eyes. The wolf is currently the only undisputed ruler in that lawless place. Do you remember the image of Harrenhal tormented by the tremendous howl of the wind and wolves outside the walls?

Arya also knows Harrenhal on all its levels. She physically scrubbed the floors of every floor of every tower and she scoured all the walls in search of an unguarded gate.

She has experienced the classes and roles that exist within the castle and its management. She had to deal with armigers, cooks and blacksmiths. She has worked her way up the chain of command from the humblest of servants to cupbearer and lord's messenger.

Skills and leadership

In the books we see her many times in positions where she is the person who has to make decisions, lead a group, organize little plans.

One of the main themes of her journey is justice, mercy, power and its abuse.

Then there are more or less direct parallels such as the one between Arya and Aegon the unlikely or the list of things that would make Aegon/young Griff a good ruler according to Varys.

Let's see some quotes in the books that tell us about these aspects of the character:

The one thing Arya could do better than her sister was ride a horse. Well, that and manage a household.

His father used to say that a lord needed to eat with his men, if he hoped to keep them. “Know t

he men who follow you,” she heard him tell Robb once, “and let them know you. Don't ask your men to die for a stranger."

Arya had loved nothing better than to sit at her father's table and listen to them talk. She had loved listening to the men on the benches too; to freeriders tough as leather, courtly knights and bold young squires, grizzled old men-at-arms.

Whenever her father had condemned a man to death, he did the deed himself with Ice, his great sword. “If you would take a man 's life, you owe it to him go look him in the face and hear his last words di lui,” she 'd heard him tell Robb and Jon once.

Can I be lord of a holdfast?

And here I stop because there are many others. If you are interested in this, there are meta only on this topic around tumblr.

An interesting that that connects Ned's teachings and those of the FMs is the concept that power and service are closely related.

Now let's see what FM training consists of: the ability to blend in with people, listen, gather information, learn many languages. We can add her natural ability to make friends and allies of all kinds.

This seems like the perfect package to manage a castle full of frightened people from all over the world (there will be people arriving with Dany as well), from every social class, every side of the war, who have nothing in common but the hope to survive.

Disconnected thoughts and possible parallels

This would be a very poetic situation that completes the parallel with historical Nymeria by placing Arya at the head of a group of refugees fleeing their destroyed home. In addition to giving her the possibility and the power to carry out the reflection on justice in a place that has seen so much injustice.

It's also funny how Lady Whent is introduced with great expectation right into Arya's chapters, where she thinks she can ask for her help. Yet she will never meet the Lady of Harrenhal.

And isn't it funny how she decided to name her direwolf after "some old witch queen in the songs"?

From the Alys Rivers wiki page: In 132 AC during the regency of Aegon III, a number of broken men and predatory outlaws began to gather at Harrenhal under the rule of a sorcerous witch queen. Mmmh interesting… this sound familiar, the Brotherhood without banners?

There is also Sharra, another witch queen of the Riverlands from the Age of Heroes.

Conclusions

In this place where Shagwell the Fool sang about Weasel soup maybe in the future there will be songs about Arya and the ten thousand wolves.

Thanks for reading. Mine doesn't want to be a theory that speaks of the character's endgame, but of its role during the Long Night. Let me know if I've given you something to think about, if I've convinced you, if you have other ideas on what this role might be. Or if you want to write a fanfiction with this plot.

Edit: I just discovered an old thread with a similar topic. I haven't read it yet, but I'll leave it here for the record.

[argelladurrandaun]

Nymeria ♡ Ghost 4ever!

He was watching the action, so absorbed that he seemed unaware of her approach until his white wolf moved to meet them. Nymeria stalked closer on wary feet. Ghost, already larger than his litter mates, smelled her, gave her ear a careful nip, and settled back down.

x

Ghost moving silently beside him. Nymeria started to follow too, then stopped and came back when she saw that Arya was not coming.Reluctantly she turned in the other direction.

x

Nymeria was helping. Arya would only have to point, and the wolf would bound across the room, snatch up some wisp of silk in her jaws, and fetch it back. But when she smelled Ghost, she sat down on her haunches and yelped at them.

Nymeria and ghost are soo cute together. Nipping at each other is their love language. The way they seek out each other. (The direwolves are mirrors to their human counterparts.)

Also,

They say the pack is led by a monstrous she-wolf, a stalking shadow grim and grey and huge. They will tell you that she has been known to bring aurochs down all by herself, that no trap nor snare can hold her, that she fears neither steel nor fire, slays any wolf that tries to mount her, and devours no other flesh but man."

Nymeria and ghost are direwolves. And the rest in her pack are normal wolves. But Nymeria only wants ghost. She refuses any other wolf.

Anyway can't wait for Nymeria and ghost to meet each other again and have cute little direwolf pups of their own. Love these two so much.

[thelustybraavosimaid]

Needleheart Winter 2022 - Wargs, Wolves, and Connections

The kennelmaster once told her that an animal takes after its master. (Sansa I, AGoT)

--

He had known what Snow was the moment he saw that great white direwolf stalking silent at his side. One skinchanger can always sense another. Mance should have let me take the direwolf. There would be a second life worthy of a king. (Prologue, ADwD)

--

Arya had named her after the warrior queen of the Rhoyne, who had led her people across the narrow sea. That had been a great scandal too. (Arya I, AGoT)

--

"Some will tell you that they are demons. They say the pack is led by a monstrous she-wolf, a stalking shadow grim and grey and huge. They will tell you that she has been known to bring aurochs down all by herself, that no trap nor snare can hold her, that she fears neither steel nor fire, slays any wolf that tries to mount her, and devours no other flesh but man." (Brienne V, AFfC)

--

He was watching the action, so absorbed that he seemed unaware of her approach until his white wolf moved to meet them. Nymeria stalked closer on wary feet. Ghost, already larger than his litter mates, smelled her, gave her ear a careful nip, and settled back down.

...

He messed up her hair again and walked away from her, Ghost moving silently beside him. Nymeria started to follow too, then stopped and came back when she saw that Arya was not coming. (Arya I, AGoT)

--

Arya was in her room, packing a polished ironwood chest that was bigger than she was. Nymeria was helping. Arya would only have to point, and the wolf would bound across the room, snatch up some wisp of silk in her jaws, and fetch it back. But when she smelled Ghost, she sat down on her haunches and yelped at them. (Jon II, AGoT)

He sat on his haunches and lifted his head to the darkening sky, and his cry echoed through the forest, a long lonely mournful sound. As it died away, he pricked up his ears, listening for an answer, but the only sound was the sigh of blowing snow. (Jon VII, ACoK)

--

And then, far far off, beyond the godswood and the haunted towers and the immense stone walls of Harrenhal, from somewhere out in the world, came the long lonely howl of a wolf. (Arya X, ACoK)

In another place, his little sister lifted her head to sing to the moon, and a hundred small grey cousins broke off their hunt to sing with her. The hills were warmer where they were, and full of food. Many a night his sister's pack gorged on the flesh of sheep and cows and horses, the prey of men, and sometimes even on the flesh of man himself. (Jon I, ADwD)

[daenystheedreamer]

What do you think about Arya? In general or endgame or whatever you feel like going into king

LOVE ARYA feral little genderfreak going through identity issues and parental grief HES LITERALLY ME.... i say im theonkin but i KNOW im aryakin.

i♡arya though im not a huge fan of most interpretations of her, ESPECIALLY the show interpretation.

ARYA'S MURDEROUS TENDENCIES ARE BAD. SHE IS A LITTLE GIRL WITH A FAMILY AND SHR IS 9 AND SHE SHOULD NOT HAVE TO MURDER PEOPLE TO SURVIVE. it is fucked! it is fucked its not awesome and slay and girlboss. ok it is a little and i hope she kills more evil people BUT LIKE NARRATIVELY IT IS BAD!

i also like reading her through the Gender Lens!! shes assigned female at birth and assigned traits and assigned a life path and she does not fucking want it! she doesnt have the words yet cos theyre Literally not invented but her struggle with identity is more linked to her name (stark) than to 'returning' to her gender idk if that makes sense. it does to me♡

i dont think she's sailing west. i think itd be very odd for her to do so since shes finally found her family and finally found her home again. i dont think its terribly out of character for her, but i always kinda liked the idea of her becoming an outlaw robin hood type? like a bwb ending. i havent like thought of it analytically i just think its fun and she's have fun doing that.

i dont think she'll settle down with gendry and rule as the lady of storms end with gendry legitimised and they have 10 kids all named eddard and catelyn and robb and nymeria. i think the asos gendrya stuff is sweet but i think its grrm gardening more than grrm laying down arya's endgame. i think gendrya's cute tho!!! shes just like 10 rn so ew, but i wouldnt be mad at a gendrya endgame :)

i believe she will encounter lady stoneheart. idk how but i think she will!! i want her to hug her mother i want LSH to feel love and peace in her unbeating heart.

ALSO AND THIS IS FANSERVICEY BUT I WANT HER TO SEE NYMERIA AGAIN.... i think its a good Seeing Yourself moment. like she can never return to who she was before. scream!

also i use she her pronouns for arya cos its like. fucking canon. but i see her as agender or some such flavour of genderfuckery.... for like a week in middle school she's wolfgender and goes by paw/paws/pawself and howl/woofs/barkself and no one can tell if shes serious or being a dick to people with neopronouns. but she was somewhat serious she was trying it out but her teachers were dicks and wouldnt do it so she figured it wasnt worth the fuss. i also think she's a furry OK insane tangent done

[istumpysk]

Operation Stumpy Re-Read

AFFC: The Drowned Man (Aeron II) [Chapter 19]

He had run before the Crow's Eye as if he were still the weak thing he had been, but when the waves broke over his head they reminded once more that that man was dead. I was reborn from the sea, a harder man and stronger. No mortal man could frighten him, no more than the darkness could, nor the bones of his soul, the grey and grisly bones of his soul. The sound of a door opening, the scream of a rusted iron hinge.

I have to say, you still seem a bit frightened.

+.+.+

On the crown of the hill four-and-forty monstrous stone ribs rose from the earth like the trunks of great pale trees. The sight made Aeron's heart beat faster. Nagga had been the first sea dragon, the mightiest ever to rise from the waves. She fed on krakens and leviathans and drowned whole islands in her wrath, yet the Grey King had slain her and the Drowned God had changed her bones to stone so that men might never cease to wonder at the courage of the first of kings. Nagga's ribs became the beams and pillars of his longhall, just as her jaws became his throne. For a thousand years and seven he reigned here, Aeron recalled. Here he took his mermaid wife and planned his wars against the Storm God. From here he ruled both stone and salt, wearing robes of woven seaweed and a tall pale crown made from Nagga's teeth.

This is fun! A female sea dragon feeding on krakens, and drowning whole islands! The Grey King slayed her! Bones turned to stone! The jaw became a throne! The tall pale teeth used as a crown! Weee.

(It's probably the bones of a random whale, but whatever.)

+.+.+

Aeron paused where the doors once stood, pulled the cork from his waterskin, took a swallow of salt water, and turned to face the sea.

um.

+.+.+

All night he prayed, for when the god was in him Aeron Greyjoy had no need of sleep, no more than the waves did, nor the fishes of the sea.

I'm calling a big fat unreliable narrator on that one, Dam-phair.

+.+.+

The Drowned God wakes, thought Aeron. He could hear his voice welling from the depths of the sea. I shall be with you here this day, my strong and faithful servant, the voice said. No godless man will sit my Seastone Chair.

Maybe give that a second listen.

+.+.+

Aeron's voice thundered like the waves. "But who? Who shall sit in Balon's place? Who shall rule these holy isles? Is he here among us now?" The priest spread his hands wide. "Who shall be king over us?"

A seagull screamed back at him. 

BRAN?!

+.+.+

"I am Gylbert Farwynd, Lord of the Lonely Light," the lord told the kingsmoot.

[...]

The Farwynds there were even queerer than the rest. Some said they were skinchangers, unholy creatures who could take on the forms of sea lions, walruses, even spotted whales, the wolves of the wild sea.

There's ironborn wargs?? Bwahahahaha!

I'd warg into a lobster and march that thing right into my pot.

+.+.+

Lord Gylbert began to speak. He told of a wondrous land beyond the Sunset Sea, a land without winter or want, where death had no dominion. "Make me your king, and I shall lead you there," he cried. "We will build ten thousand ships as Nymeria once did and take sail with all our people to the land beyond the sunset. There every man shall be a king and every wife a queen."

I'm going to pee my pants.

+.+.+

His eyes, Aeron saw, were now grey, now blue, as changeable as the seas. Mad eyes, he thought, fool's eyes. The vision he spoke of was doubtless a snare set by the Storm God to lure the ironborn to destruction. 

Grey, then blue? Val, is that you?

His eyes probably aren't changing colour at all, Aeron is just being Aeron.

Now I'm wondering if Jon is seeing deep blue sunlit eyes that aren't actually there.

+.+.+

The gull screamed loudly above them, and landed atop one of Nagga's ribs as the Lord of the Lonely Light made his way back down the hill.

Wait, I was joking before, is this seagull actually Bran or Bloodraven?

Why did you bring up wargs, George?? HMM???

+.+.+

Aeron Damphair stepped forward once more. "I ask again. Who shall be king over us?"

"Me!" a deep voice boomed, and once more the crowd parted.

The speaker was borne up the hill in a carved driftwood chair carried on the shoulders of his grandsons. A great ruin of a man, twenty stones heavy and ninety years old, he was cloaked in a white bearskin.

[...]

"I can't count how many hands I've smashed to pulp with that hammer," Erik said, "but might be some thief could tell you. I can't say how many heads I've crushed against my anvil neither, but there's some widows could. I could tell you all the deeds I've done in battle, but I'm eight-and-eighty and won't live long enough to finish. If old is wise, no one is wiser than me. If big is strong, no one's stronger. You want a king with heirs? I've more'n I can count. King Erik, aye, I like the sound o' that. Come, say it with me. ERIK! ERIK ANVIL-BREAKER! ERIK KING!"

[...]

"Stand up, Erik," she [Asha Greyjoy] called. "Stand up and I'll shout your name with all the rest. Stand up and I'll be the first to follow you. You want a crown, aye. Stand up and take it."

Elsewhere in the press, the Crow's Eye laughed. Erik glared at him. The big man's hands closed tight around the arms of his driftwood throne. His face went red, then purple. His arms trembled with effort. Aeron could see a thick blue vein pulsing in his neck as he struggled to rise. For a moment it seemed as though he might do it, but the breath went out of him all at once, and he groaned and sank back onto his cushion. Euron laughed all the louder. 

Lovers' quarrel.

I'm giving this speech a 6/10.

I'm giving the takedown by Asha a 9.5/10.

I'm giving Euron's laughing a 10/10.

+.+.+

"Who shall rule the ironborn?" Aeron Damphair called again. "Who shall be king over us?"

Men looked at one another. Some looked at Euron, some at Victarion, a few at Asha. Waves broke green and white against the longships. The gull cried once more, a raucous scream, forlorn.

Can it please be Bran? It's important that Bran watch and learn how to win a democratic vote.

+.+.+

The Drumm came next, another old man, though not so old as Erik. He climbed the hill on his own two legs, and on his hip rode Red Rain, his famous sword, forged of Valyrian steel in the days before the Doom.

[...]

He drew Red Rain and told them how Hilmar Drumm the Cunning had taken the blade from an armored knight with wits and a wooden cudgel. 

People on the messages boards believe the sword originally belonged to House Reyne. I don't know, don't ask me.

+.+.+

"Who shall be king over us?" the priest cried once more, but this time his fierce black eyes found his brother in the crowd. "Nine sons were born from the loins of Quellon Greyjoy. One was mightier than all the rest, and knew no fear."

Victarion met his eyes, and nodded. 

Excuse me, it's illegal to advocate for your candidate at the voting booth.

+.+.+

Victarion waited till they quieted, then said, "You all know me. If you want sweet words, look elsewhere. I have no singer's tongue. I have an axe, and I have these." He raised his huge mailed hands up to show them, and Nute the Barber displayed his axe, a fearsome piece of steel. "I was a loyal brother," Victarion went on.

Look at my hands! Of course Victarion would give the most lackluster speech of all time.

I'm surprised someone isn't feeding it into his ear.

+.+.+

When Balon was wed, it was me he sent to Harlaw to bring him back his bride. 

You have experience with fetching wives? Good to know. Also, why is that a good reason for you to be king? Lol.

I'm giving this speech a 2/10.

+.+.+

With that his champions began to chant: "VICTARION! VICTARION! VICTARION KING!" Below, his men were spilling out his chests, a cascade of silver, gold, and gems, a wealth of plunder. Captains scrambled to seize the richest pieces, shouting as they did so.

[...]

But it was not Euron who put an end to the shouting, it was the woman. She put two fingers in her mouth and whistled, a sharp shrill sound that cut through the tumult like a knife through curds. "Nuncle! Nuncle!" Bending, she snatched up a twisted golden collar and bounded up the steps. Nute seized her by the arm, and for half a heartbeat Aeron was hopeful that his brother's champions would keep her silent

Had to include the italics on the woman.

You know what's crazy? I'm convinced Dam-phair would prefer Euron over the woman.

+.+.+

Victarion loomed above all of them save Andrik. His brother wore no helm, but elsewise he was all in armor, his kraken cloak hanging golden from his shoulders. 

x

"It was good of you to bring such gifts to my queensmoot, Nuncle," she told Victarion, "but you need not have worn so much armor. I promise not to hurt you."

Every time I'm told Victarion is wearing a lot of armour, I'm forcing you to read it.

+.+.+

Asha turned to face the captains. "There's no one braver than my nuncle, no one stronger, no one fiercer in a fight. And he counts to ten as quick as any man, I have seen him do it . . . 

Liar.

+.+.+

though when he needs to go to twenty he does take off his boots.

That I believe.

+.+.+

"Daughter?" Asha slipped a hand beneath her jerkin. "Oho! What's this? Shall I show you? Some of you have not seen one since they weaned you." They laughed again. "Teats on a king are a terrible thing, is that the song? Ralf, you have me, I am a woman . . . though not an old woman like you. Ralf the Limper . . . shouldn't that be Ralf the Limp?" Asha drew a dirk from between her breasts. "I'm a mother too, and here's my suckling babe!" 

I have to be honest, I'm cringing a little bit.

+.+.+

They pushed past Victarion's three to stand below her: Qarl the Maid, Tristifer Botley, and the knight Ser Harras Harlaw, whose sword Nightfall was as storied as Dunstan Drumm's Red Rain.

I love that all these irrelevant houses have Valyrian steel swords, while Tywin had nothing.

It's too bad he didn't know about Jaime giving his away.

+.+.+

"A wolf is not a kraken," Victarion objected. "What the kraken grasps it does not lose, be it longship or leviathan."

"And what have we grasped, Nuncle? The north? What is that, but leagues and leagues of leagues and leagues, far from the sound of the sea? We have taken Moat Cailin, Deepwood Motte, Torrhen's Square, even Winterfell. What do we have to show for it?" She beckoned, and her Black Wind men pushed forward, chests of oak and iron on their shoulders. "I give you the wealth of the Stony Shore," Asha said as the first was upended. An avalanche of pebbles clattered forth, cascading down the steps; pebbles grey and black and white, worn smooth by the sea. "I give you the riches of Deepwood," she said, as the second chest was opened. Pinecones came pouring out, to roll and bounce down into the crowd. "And last, the gold of Winterfell." From the third chest came yellow turnips, round and hard and big as a man's head.

[...]

"Peace," said Asha. "Land. Victory. I'll give you Sea Dragon Point and the Stony Shore, black earth and tall trees and stones enough for every younger son to build a hall. We'll have the northmen too . . . as friends, to stand with us against the Iron Throne. Your choice is simple. Crown me, for peace and victory. Or crown my nuncle, for more war and more defeat." 

I understand this is the best party platform, but I don't think it's a great strategy to show everyone how worthless capturing Sea Dragon Point and the Stony Shore has been, right before you promise them that land if they make you queen.

I'm giving this speech a 5/10.

+.+.+

"VICTORY!" shouted Rodrik the Reader, his hands cupped about his mouth. "Victory, and Asha!"

"ASHA!" Lord Baelor Blacktyde echoed. "ASHA QUEEN!"

The two best ironmen, who are sure to live long prosperous lives.

+.+.+

Asha's own crew took up the cry. "ASHA! ASHA! ASHA QUEEN!" They stamped their feet and shook their fists and yelled, as the Damphair listened in disbelief. She would leave her father's work undone! Yet Tristifer Botley was shouting for her, with many Harlaws, some Goodbrothers, red-faced Lord Merlyn, more men than the priest would ever have believed . . . for a woman!

Had to include the italics on a woman.

I'm choosing to believe Asha purposely split the vote with Victarion so Euron can win and kill Dam-phair. That's high level thinking on her part.

+.+.+

Men began to shove at one another. Someone flung a pinecone at Asha's head. When she ducked, her makeshift crown fell off. For a moment it seemed to the priest as if he stood atop a giant anthill, with a thousand ants in a boil at his feet. Shouts of "Asha!" and "Victarion!" surged back and forth, and it seemed as though some savage storm was about to engulf them all. The Storm God is amongst us, the priest thought, sowing fury and discord.

Ants!

Good call, a savage storm is definitely about to engulf you all. Two.

+.+.+

Sharp as a swordthrust, the sound of a horn split the air.

Bright and baneful was its voice, a shivering hot scream that made a man's bones seem to thrum within him. The cry lingered in the damp sea air: aaaaRREEEEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

All eyes turned toward the sound. It was one of Euron's mongrels winding the call, a monstrous man with a shaved head. Rings of gold and jade and jet glistened on his arms, and on his broad chest was tattooed some bird of prey, talons dripping blood.

aaaaRRREEEEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

See, now this is a well-run campaign.

10/10 already. Substance? No thank you. Give me sizzle.

+.+.+

The horn he blew was shiny black and twisted, and taller than a man as he held it with both hands. It was bound about with bands of red gold and dark steel, incised with ancient Valyrian glyphs that seemed to glow redly as the sound swelled.

aaaaaaaRRREEEEEEEEEEEEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

It was a terrible sound, a wail of pain and fury that seemed to burn the ears. Aeron Damphair covered his, and prayed for the Drowned God to raise a mighty wave and smash the horn to silence, yet still the shriek went on and on. It is the horn of hell, he wanted to scream, though no man would have heard him. The cheeks of the tattooed man were so puffed out they looked about to burst, and the muscles in his chest twitched in a way that it made it seem as if the bird were about to rip free of his flesh and take wing. And now the glyphs were burning brightly, every line and letter shimmering with white fire. 

Shit, I'm not ready for the horn. Low expectations please.

Unlike that fake ass sword, I don't think there's any glamour happening here.

The horn was as warm and smooth as the dusky woman's thighs, and so shiny that he could see a twisted likeness of his own features in its depths. - Victarion I, ADWD

The horn is warm, and does real damage to those who use it.

+.+.+

The hornblower's breath failed at last. He staggered and almost fell. The priest saw Orkwood of Orkmont catch him by one arm to hold him up, whilst Left-Hand Lucas Codd took the twisted black horn from his hands. A thin wisp of smoke was rising from the horn, and the priest saw blood and blisters upon the lips of the man who'd sounded it. The bird on his chest was bleeding too.

Euron claims he died.

"Cragorn's died, you know."

"Who?"

"The man who blew my dragon horn. When the maester cut him open, his lungs were charred as black as soot." - The Reaver, AFFC

The following might be accurate.

"A true tale." Moqorro turned the hellhorn, examining the queer letters that crawled across a second of the golden bands. "Here it says, 'No mortal man shall sound me and live.'" - Victarion I, ADWD

+.+.+

Euron Greyjoy climbed the hill slowly, with every eye upon him. Above the gull screamed and screamed again. 

Bran, shhhh. Let it happen.

+.+.+

Asha's champions stepped aside, and Victarion's as well. The priest took a step backward and put one hand upon the cold rough stone of Nagga's ribs. 

Body language experts tell me Euron Greyjoy has already won.

+.+.+

The Crow's Eye stopped atop the steps, at the doors of the Grey King's Hall, and turned his smiling eye upon the captains and the kings, but Aeron could feel his other eye as well, the one that he kept hidden.

Does he have a fully functioning eye under that thing?

+.+.+

"Crow's Eye, you call me. Well, who has a keener eye than the crow? After every battle the crows come in their hundreds and their thousands to feast upon the fallen. A crow can espy death from afar. And I say that all of Westeros is dying. Those who follow me will feast until the end of their days.

I think all of the Bloodraven x Euron talk is overblown, but I understand why it exists.

+.+.+

"We are the ironborn, and once we were conquerors. Our writ ran everywhere the sound of the waves was heard. My brother would have you be content with the cold and dismal north, my niece with even less . . . but I shall give you Lannisport. Highgarden. The Arbor. Oldtown. The riverlands and the Reach, the kingswood and the rainwood, Dorne and the marches, the Mountains of the Moon and the Vale of Arryn, Tarth and the Stepstones. I say we take it all! I say, we take Westeros." He glanced at the priest. "All for the greater glory of our Drowned God, to be sure."

For half a heartbeat even Aeron was swept away by the boldness of his words. 

Euron Greyjoy promising things he'll never deliver. A true politician!

A lot of people have theorized that instead of binding dragons to people, the horn actually binds people to Euron, because Aeron is swept away by his words. I don't believe that for a second.

+.+.+

The priest had dreamed the same dream, when first he'd seen the red comet in the sky. We shall sweep over the green lands with fire and sword, root out the seven gods of the septons and the white trees of the northmen . . .

Not this god damn comet again.

He dreamed a (prophetic?) dream when the red comet first appeared in the sky: fire and sword will sweep over the land. Tee-hee.

+.+.+

"I know as much of war as you do, Crow's Eye," Asha said. "Aegon Targaryen conquered Westeros with dragons."

"And so shall we," Euron Greyjoy promised. "That horn you heard I found amongst the smoking ruins that were Valyria, where no man has dared to walk but me. You heard its call, and felt its power. It is a dragon horn, bound with bands of red gold and Valyrian steel graven with enchantments. The dragonlords of old sounded such horns, before the Doom devoured them. With this horn, ironmen, I can bind dragons to my will."

Semi-canon sources suggest he's lying.

The dragonlords of Old Valyria did control dragons with horns,

The dragonlords of old Valyria had controlled their mounts with binding spells and sorcerous horns. - Daenerys X, ADWD

But according to the World of Ice and Fire mobile app, he didn't find this horn amongst the smoking ruins of Valyria.

I have questions.

If he's lying about that, what else is he lying about?

If the warlocks had a horn that can bind dragons to people, why didn't they use it when she was in Qarth?

If this horn can bind dragons to people, why in the world would Euron give it to Victarion? Please.

+.+.+

The mutes and mongrels from the Silence threw open Euron's chests and spilled out his gifts before the captains and the kings. Then it was Hotho Harlaw the priest heard, as he filled his hands with gold. Gorold Goodbrother shouted out as well, and Erik Anvil-Breaker. "EURON! EURON! EURON!" The cry swelled, became a roar. "EURON! EURON! CROW'S EYE! EURON KING!" It rolled up Nagga's hill, like the Storm God rattling the clouds. "EURON! EURON! EURON! EURON! EURON! EURON!"

Even a priest may doubt. Even a prophet may know terror. Aeron Damphair reached within himself for his god and discovered only silence. As a thousand voices shouted out his brother's name, all he could hear was the scream of a rusted iron hinge.

Don't even judge me, it's okay to laugh at Dam-phair. It's encouraged.

Final thoughts:

The ironborn invented democracy.

-> return to menu <-

[where-be-dragons]

nymeria <3

what a sentence though i thought i loved commas a little too much

loving the arya parallels, esp the "slays any wolf that tries to mount her" with the winds mercy chapter

[brydeswhale]

Imagine a few days after he murders Lady, Ned and co. come across a shepherd family mourning the loss of several fine sheep, a sheep dog, and their eldest son.

What could have happened?

A giant wolf came out of the woods and destroyed the sheep, which the boy and the dog died trying to protect.

But by the grace of the seven the eldest daughter took up her spear and was able to slay the monster, avenging dog, sheep, and brother.

They inspect the monster.

It’s Nymeria.

Having been fed by humans ever since her infancy, the wolf came across the herd and did what animals who’ve habituated to humans do after being abandoned in the woods, and when they fought back, she killed them. And with the practicality of country people, they killed her.

[aegor-bamfsteel]

I really liked your views on how grrm handled sexual assault in asoiaf. Do you think grrm oversexualise the underaged girls in books? I mean why people want to know how Dany and Sansa boobs look when they are child?

GRRM sexualizes pretty much every woman in the books, and it’s mostly unnecessary, and often quite strange and creepy (why is Catelyn remembering what Lysa’s breasts look like on her wedding day? Why should Bran care about the size of Osha and Meera’s breasts? Why did GRRM interrupt Dany’s dragon birthing scene with “milk streamed from her red and swollen nipples”?) Heck, he even sexualizes Nymeria with the “she slays any wolf tries to mount her” in AFFC (despite the fact that at 3 years old and wild, she wouldn’t have reached sexual maturity), and she’s not even human. My advice is that when we know more about a female character‘s breasts than about her personality, the passage should be rewritten, but this type of “characterization” only gets worse in the supplemental material (trying not to think of Jaehaerys’ daughters, Aerea, and Baela among others or this response would get even longer and more disorganized). However, constant sexualization of female characters by male writers is so common in fantasy, reviewers have had to ignore it if they want to enjoy some of the most popular series (ex: Wheel of Time or The Dresden Files), so it’s not like GRRM is just a one-off (this kind of writing dates back at least to pulp stories, among them GRRM’s favorite Conan the Barbarian). In the case of underaged female characters, I guess it’s the “realism” he talked about in that interview, even though the most common age of marriage for girls in the Middle Ages was late teens/early 20s, and younger marriages were not usually consummated.

But the short answer is: yes, he oversexualizes the girls, and no I have no idea why we‘d want to know the appearance of their breasts. It’s one of those parts of the writing that you’ll have to ignore if you want to enjoy the books, but I’d totally understand if it turns you off reading them.

[bighound-littlebird]

Do you think Sansa is going to kill Gregor? you know that there is the whole "no MAN alive can kill him", the prophecy of slaying a giant, and I think GRRM wrote parallels between Sansa and Brienne, and Bri fought a bear that was described as Gregor Clegane

No, because Gregor Clegane is already dead in the books. His skull was sent to Doran Martell to provide a measure of justice for the rape and murder of Elia and her children.

The headless, reanimated corpse of Gregor's body, the end result of Qyburn's experiments, is now called Ser Robert Strong. No man can kill him, because he's already a corpse. But it remains to be seen if Sandor Clegane or someone else puts it out of it's misery.

My headcanon is that Nymeria will be the one to do it, as Arya has good reasons for killing off Cersei's champion as well as whatever remains of Gregor Clegane's body.

I'm pretty confident that Gregor isn't the "giant in a castle of snow". Though Petyr Baelish uses a mockingbird as his personal sigil, House Baelish's family sigil is the titan's head, as his great grandfather was a Braavosi sellsword. So this points to the identity of the "giant" Sansa slays as Petyr Baelish.

The castle made of snow that Sansa built was meant to be Winterfell. Sansa "killed" Sweetrobin's "giant" when he tried to force his toy into the snow castle by savagely tearing it apart. I believe this could be foreshadowing for the manner in which she kills Baelish, perhaps by utilizing one of the family's direwolves.

Jaime's judging the bear's size by Gregor, the largest knight - and man - that he had witnessed in battle is a standard technique for assessing range and safe distances in swordfighting. He was trying to guage the animal's reach in relation to Brienne's, as she already had been wounded by the animal. This is confirmed by his next thought:

The beast did not have the reach the Mountain had with that monster greatsword of his, though.

In my opinion this isn't one of parallels GRRM may have made (It isn't that I'm denying there are parallels; it's just because I can't recall any others off the top of my head and I haven't done any research on that) between Brienne and Sansa. I'm open to reading meta on the subject, if anyone has recommendations for me.

Thanks for the question!

[thelustybraavosimaid]

We know for sure that Nymeria would only follow Ghost, out of the other direwolves. This is indicative of Arya's relationship with Jon.

"Nothing is fair," Jon said. He messed up her hair again and walked away from her, Ghost moving silently beside him. Nymeria started to follow too, then stopped and came back when she saw that Arya was not coming. (Arya I, AGoT)

She isn't noted to follow any of the others.

We also have moments like this:

He was watching the action, so absorbed that he seemed unaware of her approach until his white wolf moved to meet them. Nymeria stalked closer on wary feet. Ghost, already larger than his litter mates, smelled her, gave her ear a careful nip, and settled back down. (Arya I, AGoT)

--

Arya was in her room, packing a polished ironwood chest that was bigger than she was. Nymeria was helping. Arya would only have to point, and the wolf would bound across the room, snatch up some wisp of silk in her jaws, and fetch it back. But when she smelled Ghost, she sat down on her haunches and yelped at them. (Jon II, AGoT)

I do think this will have importance later on. Especially since:

"Some will tell you that they are demons. They say the pack is led by a monstrous she-wolf, a stalking shadow grim and grey and huge. They will tell you that she has been known to bring aurochs down all by herself, that no trap nor snare can hold her, that she fears neither steel nor fire, slays any wolf that tries to mount her, and devours no other flesh but man." (Brienne V, AFfC)

And:

“Wolves and women wed for life,” Haggon often said. “You take one, that’s a marriage. The wolf is part of you from that day on, and you’re part of him. Both of you will change.” (Varamyr Sixskins, ADwD)

Jon agrees.

My last friend, Jon thought ruefully. And I had best outlive you, or you'll eat my face as well. Ghost did not count. Ghost was closer than a friend. Ghost was part of him. (Jon III, ADwD)

I don't think it's super unlikely that Ghost and Nymeria would meet in Winds. George wanted this in the show:

Mysterious Direwolf Plans: Speaking of which: Martin leaves a little note for the producers when writing about Ramsay’s flesh-eating hounds, whom we see hunting down a girl for sport.

[ [N.B. A note for future reference. A season or two down the line Ramsay’s pack of wolfhounds are going to be sent against the Stark direwolves, so we should build up the dogs as much as possible in this and subsequent episodes.]]

I've seen it be suggested that it could be possible that Ghost and Nymeria meet and possibly mate and, well...I don't exactly put that past George, especially considering that we know his initial intention was Jon and Arya being together. To what extent and how that would even begin to happen, no one knows. But George did promise that Winds would be a very, very dark book...hmm.

But, in the Varamyr Sixskins prologue, there's an instance of this and while twisted, I find this theory a lot more likely than *Arya/Jon dies and Nymeria/Ghost becomes a replacement for Lady* I've seen peddled around.

[agentrouka-blog]

What do you think about direwolves vs hounds narrative in asioaf? Even Sansa had both hounds n direwolves image.

Well, it’s definitely there. 

As far as my very superficial impression goes, dogs/hounds have a running theme of being loyal servants to cruel masters, with the decided option of turning on them. Also, rape.

Take the Hound. He’s a loyal Lannister lackey, doesn’t hesitate to assault Sansa, abandons Joffrey in battle.

Jon, the night after being coerced into a sexual relationship with Ygritte and being super ashamed of enjoying it physically, compares himself to a dog. He eventually escapes, which is framed as a “betrayal”. 

Ramsey’s “girls” are his loyal, vicious tools, named after girls he hunted and murdered. There is no doubt in my mind that they will be the ones to kill and eat Ramsey, eventually.

The General mood between dogs and direwolves is not great. 

Ghost confronts a “black mongrel bitch with yellow eyes” over his honeyed chicken under the table. 

Lady grrrrr’d at Sandor Clegane.

Ghost does not get along with the wildling hounds, even though they are part wolf.

The Hound keeps referring to Arya as a she-wolf and there is lots of dog and wolf tension in their conversations.

Septon Meribald’s companion Dog has killed a dozen wolves.

Nymeria has killed a dozen wolfhounds, among many other dogs.

probably more

Now, the thing I find interesting is that the sigil of House Clegane is three black hounds on a yellow field, which is oddly reminiscent of the three-headed dragon of House Targaryen. 

The dragonlords of old Valyria had controlled their mounts with binding spells and sorcerous horns. Daenerys made do with a word and a whip. (ADWD, Daenerys X)

We already know Dany has trouble controlling her “children”. What if dragons are, in their own way, like hounds. Bound to Targaryen/Valyrian blood in a volatile bond of badly aged blood magic, capable of betraying their master. 

The lioness didn't give a shit that she was Lannister's own sigil. (ACOK, Sansa II)

So if the hound-dragon v. wolf image holds, it gives us a glimpse into tense conflict, force and invasion, but also the potential for betrayal between a hound-dragon and its mistress. Now that traitorous hound-dragon might be a literal one or a Jon Snow one. Or both. Or more.

Gregor Clegane turned Ser Robert the Strong is a pretty obvious Khal Drogo turned Drogon kind of hound-dragon. Loyal to his mistress.

Sandor of the burn-scarred face is more murky. If he’s a Jon-avatar, it’s clear he’ll help House Stark because of contrasting but significant bonds to Sansa and Arya. If there’s a dragon to represent him, I can’t yet guess which one. 

Aegon “Young Griff” Martell-Targaryen and his merry connection to his dragon-slaying ancestral family is bound to figure into this, as well. Gregor WAS brought down by Oberyn Martell with a poison spear. Quentyn confronted the dragons. He is about to meet up with Arianne and Elia Sand. Sarella Sand is lurking in the wings near Sam the Slayer. It’s a Dragon Doom Squad.

Ned killed Lady. Someone is going to betray a dragon by using their bond, too, probably.

I bet there’s much more to this. But I’m off to lunch now. 

Either way, ice threat or fire threat, things are going to be waaaaay better than on the show. 

[jackoshadows]

@currentlyconfused16

So I didn’t want to reblog this post:

https://currentlyconfused16.tumblr.com/post/618980963706355712/jackoshadows-reganx2

you commented on since it had other reblogs and comments and I thought I would make a separate post on this since I have received similar comments on other posts, namely that:

I actually do think and hope that Sansa will end up as the Lady of Winterfell in the books (maybe Queen of the North, idk) but she’ll be much more prepared, as her current arc in the books is about learning how to play the game of thrones and being in charge of her own destiny, surrounded by her family.  Which is why her show ending is so disappointing. Yes, she ends up on a throne in Winterfell, but she’s alone, with no family or true friends around her, surrounded by bannermen who hardly know her. The books have always put emphasis on the Starks being and working together in the end, and they all end up alone.

So let me address why I think that Sansa is not going to end up in charge of Winterfell at the end of the books. This is just my interpretation and speculation based on the books and the author’s thoughts and opinions.

I am coming at this from the perspective of a book reader. If you have not read the books, then just skip to the tl;dr version at the end 😁

First, note that the only ending on the show confirmed to be from the books/GRRM is Bran being King on the Iron Throne/7K. D&D have variously explained the badly written other endings of the show as being there to ‘subvert expectations’ and because ‘it would be different’ and ‘it would be unexpected’ and to ‘surprise the audience’ etc.

Second, playing the game ≠ ruling a kingdom. The show equated the two in order to push their Queen Sansa narrative. But that has never been a thing in the books.  GRRM has clearly shown this with the narratives of the actual rulers and entire books on what it actually takes to rule city states. What Littlefinger does in the books and what Dany, Stannis and Jon do are entirely different things. The one has no connection to another. Do you think that Littlefinger or Varys would be good rulers?

Sansa’s ending  has been particularly criticized because it makes no sense - it’s like fitting a round peg into a square hole. D&D knew the book endings from GRRM before they wrote season 3 - if Sansa is going to end up in charge of Winterfell, he would have have given them a path to queen Sansa and they could have figured out a way to do it on the show.

In contrast to Bran/Isaac Hempstead who sat out an entire season, was sidelined and basically given nothing much to do on the show other than exposition, D&D have admitted in interviews that they wanted MORE Sophie Turner on the show and therefore gave her the plot of another book character.

Their exact words:

“And it’s because of Turner’s strength, Benioff continued, that it made sense to give Sansa a dramatic storyline this season and to use Ramsay’s engagement for that very purpose. In fact, the showrunners first thought about putting Sansa and Ramsay together back when they were writing season 2. “We really wanted Sansa to play a major part this season,” Benioff said. “If we were going to stay absolutely faithful to the book, it was going to be very hard to do that. There was a subplot we loved from the books, but it used a character that’s not in the show.” 

https://ew.com/article/2015/04/26/game-thrones-sansa-ramsay-interview/

To re-iterate, Sansa will have nothing to do with the battle of the bastards or retaking Winterfell in the books. She is stuck in the Vale and will not be going North anytime soon. Ramsay Bolton is Theon Greyjoy and Jon Snow’s nemesis. They are going to be the ones taking him down along with Stannis Baratheon.

Out of all the Starks, Sansa has the least connection to the North in the books.  She grew up revering the south and learned from a Septa.  Every other Stark (Other than Rickon) knows more about the North and how it works than Sansa Stark. We can read it in their POV chapters.  Every other Stark has a living Direwolf - the symbol of house Stark. Sansa lost hers after siding against her family and with the Lannisters.

The show just put the Starks into boxes: Sansa - politician, Jon - warrior, Arya - fighter/Killer, Bran - warg. This is not true in the books. Arya and Jon are also strong wargs and connected to Rickon and Bran through warging via their direwolves. Something that Sansa cannot do because Lady is dead. 

Jon Snow is planning Stannis’ entire Northern campaign, advising him on the finer details of Northern politics and battle. He has learned the same as Robb from the same people. So has Bran. Bran Stark has actually ruled Winterfell as the prince of Winterfell. Arya Stark sat by her father Ned Stark and learned from him as he worked with the people of the North. She is currently  learning manipulation, reading emotion, languages and courtly manners from the Faceless Men.

There is no way that Sansa is going to be in charge of Winterfell over these other Starks who have actual experience and knowledge in how the North works as opposed to her. Does Sansa know how to attack Deepwood Motte? Does Sansa know how to approach the Mountain clans? These are things that Jon has learned from Ned Stark - the man that Sansa calls stupid on the show.

Then there is the fact that GRRM has put a couple of obstacles in the story to prevent Sansa from getting Winterfell as Ned’s eldest daughter.

She is still married to Tyrion in the books - a marriage that cannot be easily annulled. There has to be a friendly regime in KL before this marriage can be undone. Until then she is disinherited by Robb Stark’s will and no ruler friendly to the North will want to see a Lannister get Winterfell.The show ignored this marriage.

Jon Snow has been legitimized as Jon Stark by Robb Stark’s will. That makes him the eldest living Stark child and his age, experience and knowledge of the North makes him a strong contender to be Lord of Winterfell as opposed to LF’s protégé in the south. If he becomes KITN by Robb’s will in the books, he will also be the Lord of Winterfell. The show ignored all this to make Sansa Lady of Winterfell.

Robb’s will is binding. Meaning that once Jon is legitimized, there is no going back on this. Catelyn makes it a point to warn Robb about this  - which indicates that it will be important later on in the books.

Bran and Rickon are still alive and well in the North. GRRM reminded everyone on his blog that Rickon was still alive in the books after the show killed him off to make Sansa the Lady of Winterfell on the show. Bran randomly tells Sansa that he cannot be lord of anything, only to go on to become King on the show. Garbage writing to once again justify Sansa in charge of WF even if it makes no sense.

Now, one can make the argument that if Rickon dies in the books as he does on the show, Bran is king of the 7K at the end and Jon is exiled as in the show,  then Sansa can end up in charge of Winterfell. I disagree. Why? The answer is Arya.

Arya is arguably GRRM’s central female character in the books. She is the female character with the most POV chapters in the books after Jon and Tyrion. She was one of the first characters he created and other characters like Sansa were created around her. Sansa was created as a foil to Arya and because he wanted that one Stark family member who did not get along with the rest of them like for all the other houses.

Because of D&D’s open preference for Sansa over Arya - they have said as much in interviews - they gave over many of book Arya’s narrative themes, plot significance and relationships to show Sansa. The entire reason for why Sansa ended up in the North on the show is plot borrowed from the books for another character that is all about Arya’s importance to the North and several characters and houses fighting over Arya Stark to hold the North. The North is rising up for Arya in the books.  They basically erased Arya from her story to put Sansa in there. Thematic words like - ‘The lone wolf dies, but the pack survives’ belong in Arya’s story in the books, not Sansa’s.

So basically the show had to co-opt Arya’s story and hand it over to Sansa to give her a path to QITN/Lady of Winterfell on the show. It could not be any more clearer here which character is headed towards being Lady of Winterfell and possible Warden of the North in the books. Hint: It’s not Sansa.

Arya still has a strong connection to her Direwolf Nymeria described thus:

“She says there's this great pack, hundreds of them, mankillers. The one that leads them is a she-wolf, a bitch from the seventh hell."

"Some will tell you that they are demons. They say the pack is led by a monstrous she-wolf, a stalking shadow grim and grey and huge. They will tell you that she has been known to bring aurochs down all by herself, that no trap nor snare can hold her, that she fears neither steel nor fire, slays any wolf that tries to mount her, and devours no other flesh but man."

“Wolves. Hundreds of the bloody beggars." He'd lost two sentries to them. The wolves had come out of the dark to savage them. "Armed men in mail and boiled leather, and yet the beasts had no fear of them. Before he died, Jate said the pack was led by a she-wolf of monstrous size. A direwolf, to hear him tell it. The wolves got in amongst our horse lines too. The bloody bastards killed my favorite bay."

And as per GRRM, Nymeria and her pack of wolves will have a major role to play in the North where they are headed. We already know that direwolves are going to be taking on Ramsay’s dogs in the battle of the bastards from GRRM’s notes. Which direwolves? Ghost? Shaggydog? A Bitch from the seventh Hell with her pack of wolves? All of them?

Arya is symbolic of the North. The other daughters of the North - Lyanna Mormont, Wylla Manderly, Alys Karstark etc. - are all Arya types in terms of personality and looks. The Arya/Lyanna comparisons have been strongly made in the books for a reason.

And finally Arya is the only Stark to have the Stark look. The only one. Think about this for a second - who would GRRM have end up as the last Stark in charge of Winterfell if Bran, Rickon and Jon are out of contention for the position? The Stark with the traditional long face and grey eyes of House Stark or the Stark with the red hair and blue eyes of house Tully?

Who will be Lady of Winterfell? The Stark with the Direwolf or the Stark without one? The Stark who has learned how the North works from her father or the Stark who has not learned this? The Stark who is still following her father’s words - ‘The man who passes the sentence should wield the sword’ while far away in Braavos or the Stark who is complicit in her little cousin’s slow poisoning in the Vale?

And lastly Arya has a lot of foreshadowing/hints of becoming a leader in the books. She is one of the rare nobles in the books who is friendly with the small folk, sympathizes with them and actively helps them - hallmarks of GRRM’s leaders like Dany and Jon. Varys’ description of a perfect ruler fits Arya to a tee:

Aegon has been shaped for rule before he could walk. He has been trained in arms, as befits a knight to be, but that was not the end of his education. He reads and writes, he speaks several tongues, he has studied history and law and poetry. A septa has instructed him in the mysteries of the Faith since he was old enough to understand them. He has lived with fisherfolk, worked with his hands, swum in rivers and mended nets and learned to wash his own clothes at need. He can fish and cook and bind up a wound, he knows what it is like to be hungry, to be hunted, to be afraid. Tommen has been taught that kingship is his right. Aegon knows kingship is his duty, that a king must put his people first, and live and rule for them"

Of course Varys is describing Aegon here, but everything he says holds true for Arya as well and is basically GRRM laying the groundwork for leader Arya. Arya’s ability to connect with the common folk, to identify with them, to work with them, to know them personally, to sympathize with them, is all leading to a path towards her becoming a leader of all the people.

And finally why am I saying that this Queen Sansa is D&D giving Sophie Turner her desired ending? Because that’s very evident from all their interviews. Sophie has wanted Sansa to be Queen and has been pushing this narrative since season 6 - talking about how every other character was useless except for Sansa - something that Sophie seems to actually believe in.

D&D have openly stated in interviews that at a certain point they stopped adapting Sansa and Arya from the books and based these characters on what Sophie and Maisie wanted for them. And Maisie clearly takes her lead from Sophie. That’s why the show versions resemble a self insert Mary sue propped up at the expense of other characters.

Queen Sansa at the end makes absolutely no sense when her brother, a Stark, just became King of the 7K. You mentioned as much in your post. So why was it there?   In an interview they gave in Japan after the show ended D&D talked about being most interested in the Stark sisters and their endings because they had known them as child actors and seen them grow into adults from tiny children. (Isaac for some reason gets no such consideration from them even though he was an even younger child actor).

So it was not really about the characters at that point but more about the actors. It’s not that hard to put two and two together and come up with four here. It was a completely nonsensical ending for Sansa in a long list of other nonsensical endings on the show that they just put in there to make Sophie happy. That’s all. It’s clear they had just given up on making a well written show for the final season with shit like ‘Well Dany just forgot about the Iron fleet’ . So what’s one more garbage writing in there to make their child actress happy?

And to be clear, I am not blaming Sophie here. I am blaming the adults, the supposed expert writers of a big budget HBO TV show adapting a popular book series. Who, instead of adapting the book characters, decided to let a couple of teenagers dictate the writing for their characters on this show.

TL;DR: The show reduced and took away Jon, Arya, Bran and Rickon’s important roles in the North in the books and replaced it with Sansa from season 5 onwards in order to give Sophie Turner more to do on the show. They gave away book Arya’s narrative themes, plot significance and importance to show Sansa, then kicked Arya out and gave the North to the least deserving Stark on the show. The only logical conclusion that can be made from all this is that Sansa will not end up Lady of Winterfell/QITN in the books.

[goodmeowningcols]

Jonrya Week 2020: Day 4 - Mythology

A year after Aunt Catelyn dies mysteriously during a charity event at the Crossing, Uncle Ned disappears during a hunting trip with his friend Robert. One by one all over Westeros, the Stark children also keep vanishing until Winterfell falls empty. Jon is forced to retrieve the only remaining Stark cousin he has left, out of concern for her safety.

His favourite cousin Arya studies at a prestigious boarding school in Braavos. She is happy to see Jon at first but is upset that she has to leave school indefinitely. However, this quickly changes when she learns about what has happened to the rest of their family. She is prepared to do everything to get them back.

A mysterious demon tries to kidnap her the night before their flight back to Winterfell. He introduces himself as Ramsay, a demon prince from the Underworld. He has been watching Arya since she was born and has now come to collect her to be his bride. Arya fights him with Needle, the rapier that Jon gave to her when she was only nine years old. But her little blade is no match for his inhuman strength. He holds her down and marks her hand with a demonic knife. Jon bursts into her bedroom just in time to shoot the demon with Valyrian steel bullets. Ramsay is quick to dodge but it still grazes his shoulder which spews black blood. Wary of the unexpected danger, he disappears immediately with a glare at Jon.

Jon and Arya fly back to the North and try to return to Winterfell but the demon Ramsay and his cronies have taken over. Too powerless against the supernatural forces of the demon, they go on the road instead, trying to find the rest of the Starks. To make things worse, because of Ramsay’s mark on her hand, Arya seems to become a magnet to supernatural creatures like ghosts, vampires, and spirits. She also begins to have vivid dreams where she thinks she may be looking through the eyes of various animals, but mostly the wolves around Winterfell.

Their bond becomes even deeper with each passing day as they’re forced to travel and fight their enemies all the time. They do almost everything together, including sharing hotel rooms and beds at the end of the day. The memories they start to make are of favourite playlists as they ramble along endless roads, small town diners, endless coffee stops, pizza, alcohol, the clean smell of soap on each other’s skin, and just falling asleep next to each other in cheap motels while bingeing their favourite shows.

The search for the Starks is almost hopeless because there are no clues. One day, after they gain the demon-slaying direwolves Ghost and Nymeria, and the ancient Valyrian steel swords Ice and Dark Sister, they decide to return to Winterfell to confront Ramsay and take back their home.

Ramsay has a proposition for Jon: give Arya to him so that she could be his bride in the Underworld and in return, the rest of the Starks will be set free, including Jon’s mother Lyanna who died a long time ago.

Arya is prepared to sacrifice herself for the greater good but Jon is not. He never will be. And so the battle begins.