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I read the books a while back, and I’m a little lost. Is Edmure Tully dead? I was under the impression he was a Lannister/Frey hostage with his wife and their newborn baby.

No, Edmure is not dead (for now, at least), and your previous impression is (somewhat) correct. (Long because of quotes, more under the cut)

As Jaime comes to the Baratheon-Lannister siege of Riverrun in "Jaime V" AFFC, his cousin Daven Lannister fills him in on Edmure's condition:

["]Whilst I’ve been building rams and siege towers, Ryman Frey has raised a gibbet. Every day at dawn he brings forth Edmure Tully, drapes a noose around his neck, and threatens to hang him unless the castle yields. The Blackfish pays his mummer’s show no mind, so come evenfall Lord Edmure is taken down again. His wife’s with child, did you know?”

He hadn’t. “Edmure bedded her, after the Red Wedding?”

“He was bedding her during the Red Wedding. Roslin’s a pretty little thing, hardly stoatish at all. And fond of Edmure, queerly. Perwyn tells me she’s praying for a girl.”

Jaime considered that a moment. “Once Edmure’s son is born, Lord Walder will have no more need of Edmure.”

“That’s how I see it too. Our good-uncle Emm … ah, Lord Emmon, that is … he wants Edmure hanged at once. The presence of a Tully Lord of Riverrun distresses him almost as much as the prospective birth of yet another. Daily he beseeches me to make Ser Ryman dangle Tully, never mind how.["]

However, in "Jaime IV", when Jaime parlays with Brynden Tully (the commander at Riverrun resisting the Baratheon- Lannister siege), Brynden makes clear that he won't be moved if Edmure is killed:

“I came to speak of the living, not the dead. Of those who need not die, but shall …”

“… unless I hand you Riverrun. Is this where you threaten to hang Edmure?” Beneath his bushy brows, Tully’s eyes were stone. “My nephew is marked for death no matter what I do. So hang him and be done with it. I expect that Edmure is as weary of standing on those gallows as I am of seeing him there.”

Ryman Frey is a bloody fool. His mummer’s show with Edmure and the gallows had only made the Blackfish more obdurate, that was plain.

So Jaime instead takes Edmure himself, from the Freys:

“Send word to Lord Walder. The crown requires all his prisoners.” Jaime waved his golden hand. “Ser Lyle, bring him.”

Edmure Tully had collapsed facedown on the scaffold when Ser Ilyn’s blade sheared the rope in two. A foot of hemp still dangled from the noose about his neck. Strongboar grabbed the end of it and pulled him to his feet. “A fish on a leash,” he said, chortling. “There’s a sight I never saw before.”

Jaime then discusses with Edmure, as Lord of Riverrun, what he, Jaime, will guarantee for Edmure and Riverrun should Edmure yield the castle:

Edmure stared. "The fate of Riverrun ..."

"Yield the castle and no one dies. Your smallfolk may go in peace or stay to serve Lord Emmon. Ser Brynden will be allowed to take the black, along with as many of the garrison as choose to join him. You as well, if the Wall appeals to you. Or you may go to Casterly Rock as my captive and enjoy all the comforts and courtesy that befits a hostage of your rank. I'll send your wife to join you, if you like. If her child is a boy, he will serve House Lannister as a page and a squire, and when he earns his knighthood we'll bestow some lands upon him. Should Roslin give you a daughter, I'll see her well dowered when she's old enough to wed. You yourself may even be granted parole, once the war is done. All you need to do is yield the castle."

Edmure then agrees to surrender the castle to the crown's new Lord of Riverrun, Emmon Frey (although he intentionally delays the hauling down of the Stark banner and takes advantage of the confusion of the handover to allow his uncle Brynden to escape). Jaime notes that Edmure will "spend the rest of his life a prisoner", and even threatens to put Edmure in an oubliette before Edmure admits his part in allowing Brynden to escape.

So yes, Edmure is alive and is a prisoner (though specifically a prisoner of the Baratheon-Lannister regime, and really if we're being honest a prisoner of House Lannister). However, note that Roslin is not with Edmure; rather, as Jaime notes in ADWD, Roslin "will remain at the Twins until their child is born. Then she and the babe will join him [at Casterly Rock]". (This is the child Genna Lannister hopes is a girl, who could then be wed to her grandson Tywin Frey and unite the former ruling Tully line with the currently ruling Frey-Lannister line.) As of the end of ADWD, Edmure and Roslin's baby has not yet been born, but I would guess the birth is going to happen pretty early in TWOW; the fan-made timeline puts the Red Wedding at about mid-"December" 299 AC, and if we've now reached about mid-"August" 300 AC, Roslin would be, at least by this calculation, almost if not at the end of her pregnancy when TWOW picks up. (Of course, because GRRM can't math to save his life, who knows when the baby will actually be born.)

One last thing - whether Edmure actually stays a prisoner, or gets to Casterly Rock at all, is far from certain at this point. Note Jaime's anxiety about Edmure's journey west:

On the morrow, he would start west. Ser Forley Prester would command his escort; a hundred men, including twenty knights. Best double that. Lord Beric may try to free Edmure before they reach the Golden Tooth. Jaime did not want to have to capture Tully for a third time.

When Edmure and the Westerlings departed, four hundred men rode with them; Jaime had doubled the escort again at the last moment. He rode with them a few miles, to talk with Ser Forley Prester. Though he bore a bull’s head upon his surcoat and horns upon his helm, Ser Forley could not have been less bovine. He was a short, spare, hard-bitten man. With his pinched nose, bald pate, and grizzled brown beard, he looked more like an innkeep than a knight. “We don’t know where the Blackfish is,” Jaime reminded him, “but if he can cut Edmure free, he will.”

“That will not happen, my lord.” Like most innkeeps, Ser Forley was no man’s fool. “Scouts and outriders will screen our march, and we’ll fortify our camps by night. I have picked ten men to stay with Tully day and night, my best longbowmen. If he should ride so much as a foot off the road, they will loose so many shafts at him that his own mother would take him for a goose.”

“Good.” Jaime would as lief have Tully reach Casterly Rock safely, but better dead than fled.

That emphasis on preparing the train for attack, with the special focus on the danger of Edmure escaping, is not there for nothing, I think. It's very widely, and I think correctly, speculated at this point that the brotherhood without banners is going to attack the train commanded by Forley Prester. Whether Edmure is killed - on Forley's orders specifically, or in the crossfire, as I see (very sadly and unfortunately) happening to Sybell Spicer's children - or captured by the brotherhood, presumably to restore him to Riverrun in place of the Freys (the mortal enemies of the current iteration of the brotherhood), is unclear; I certainly hope for the latter, since I like to think that good-hearted Edmure could be one of the series' endgame rebuilders, but it's entirely possible that he's killed during this attack as well.

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if i had a nickel every time an adult man in ASOIAF who is Going Thru It™ meets a younger woman or girl with a belief in stories which stands in for the human capacity for goodness and through knowing her is forced to confront his own cynicism and its limits then i'd have at least four nickels. which is a lot if you think about it.

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'Three Eyed Raven' by Audrey Benjaminsen

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I can shit on tyrion all I like for being annoying and having a boring arc in adwd but the truth is he (alongside cat) is one of the best written characters in the books

even when he's being a little bitch every thought that man ever has is so clearly explained by his upbringing and all the shit he's been through since the start of the series. like yeah I'm mad that he's projecting his insecurities onto sansa and wishing this 13 year old child would want to fuck him but unfortunately I understand him sooo much. I don't have to like or agree with what he's doing but I am forced to always understand where he's coming from because george did SUCH a good job with his psyche it's infuriating

like the way he INSTANTLY becomes more insecure and starts diminishing himself in his on head the SECOND he sees his dad again in agot. the way he slowly becomes the monster everyone sees him at because he can't stand taking so much shit anymore. the way the sound of the crossbow and tywin's death haunt his every thought in adwd and the clearly conflicting feelings he has for his family and his identity as a lannister...

the way he reacts every time he meets another little person, the mixture of disgust and understanding that just drives him mad. even in adwd his whole relationship with penny, the way he resents her father for the way he raised her and her brother to never see themselves as more than a circus act, his enormous empathy towards her and the guilt he feels for her brother's death (even if he denies it)... it's all just so compelling even if I find this whole arc a bit dull

he's such a good and complex character. a masterclass in character writing. the same way there can never be another catelyn stark there can also never be another tyrion lannister I fear

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Knighting ceremonies in ASOIAF

To go along with that last post, and also my big meta on the process of knighthood, here are some knighting ceremonies (and occasional references) in ASOIAF, and the questions they raise:

“…The man behind him is Ser Jorah Mormont.” The last name caught Daenerys. “A knight?” “No less.” Illyrio smiled through his beard. “Anointed with the seven oils by the High Septon himself.”

– A Game of Thrones, Daenerys I

Interestingly, we’re told later that Jorah won his knighthood for his deeds in the final battle of the Greyjoy Rebellion at Pyke… so, did he go to King’s Landing later for the ceremony, if there was one like the post-Blackwater knightings? (see below.) Or did the High Septon come to the Lannisport tourney celebrating the victory? Also, Jorah is a Northman and was probably raised under the Old Gods– did he convert to the Faith for his knighting, or what?

“My father told everyone my bedding had caught fire, and our maester gave me ointments. Ointments! Gregor got his ointments too. Four years later, they anointed him with the seven oils and he recited his knightly vows and Rhaegar Targaryen tapped him on the shoulder and said, ‘Arise, Ser Gregor.’”

– Sandor Clegane, A Game of Thrones, Sansa II

A couple interesting things about this one – not only that Rhaegar knighted Gregor (irony! with a brick) but also the question of when it happened. Gregor was about 16 at his knighting (Sandor age “six, maybe seven” at his burning plus “Gregor is five years older than” him plus “four years later”), and was “a new-made knight of seventeen years” when he became infamous for his deeds in the Sack of King’s Landing. So you’d think a little thing called Robert’s Rebellion would have meant Rhaegar was rather busy at the time! Well, GRRM can’t math, but still, I figure the only way it works out is if Gregor’s knighting was at a tourney shortly before Rhaegar disappeared with Lyanna. More on this here and here.

More than six hundred new knights were made that day. They had held their vigil in the Great Sept of Baelor all through the night and crossed the city barefoot that morning to prove their humble hearts. Now they came forward dressed in shifts of undyed wool to receive their knighthoods from the Kingsguard. It took a long time, since only three of the Brothers of the White Sword were on hand to dub them. Mandon Moore had perished in the battle, the Hound had vanished, Arys Oakheart was in Dorne with Princess Myrcella, and Jaime Lannister was Robb’s captive, so the Kingsguard had been reduced to Balon Swann, Meryn Trant, and Osmund Kettleblack. Once knighted, each man rose, buckled on his swordbelt, and stood beneath the windows. Some had bloody feet from their walk through the city, but they stood tall and proud all the same, it seemed to Sansa.

– A Clash of Kings, Sansa VIII

Not much exceptional about this, although it’s interesting that only three Kingsguard do the knighting here. While being knighted by a member of the Kingsguard is a great honor (although from the likes of Trant and Kettleblack maybe not so much), I wonder why Loras didn’t participate? He’d just been appointed after all. (Also, Sandor couldn’t have knighted anyone even if he hadn’t deserted.) Plus there were many other noble knights in the throne room who could have made the ceremony go faster if they really wanted, but I suppose it was a thing. Though the real point is how many knights are made after great battles; while some were probably squires, it’s likely many others were mercenaries, sellswords or freeriders.

A wan smile crossed Lord Beric’s lips. “Thoros, my sword.” This time the lightning lord did not set the blade afire, but merely laid it light on Gendry’s shoulder. “Gendry, do you swear before the eyes of gods and men to defend those who cannot defend themselves, to protect all women and children, to obey your captains, your liege lord, and your king, to fight bravely when needed and do such other tasks as are laid upon you, however hard or humble or dangerous they may be?” “I do, m’lord.” The marcher lord moved the sword from the right shoulder to the left, and said, “Arise Ser Gendry, knight of the hollow hill, and be welcome to our brotherhood.”

– A Storm of Swords, Arya VII

This is a pretty much straight up knighting ceremony, with vows and dubbing. There’s just one unusual thing about it – a knight’s vows almost always refer to the Seven. (As knighthood came to Westeros with the Andals, along with the Faith of the Seven.) This one does not, probably because Beric Dondarrion is a convert to the worship of R'hllor. (Notably Gendry is also a convert, as seen in AFFC, Brienne VII.) So Beric’s words are most likely his adaptation of the standard oaths for the Brotherhood. It would be interesting to see if Stannis uses similar wording if he ever knights someone in the future.

“Are you Plummer the steward? I came for the tourney. To enter the lists.” Plummer pursed his lips. “My lord’s tourney is a contest for knights. Are you a knight?” He nodded, wondering if his ears were red. “A knight with a name, mayhaps?” “Dunk.” Why had he said that? “Ser Duncan. The Tall.” “And where might you be from, Ser Duncan the Tall?” “Everyplace. I was squire to Ser Arlan of Pennytree since I was five or six. This is his shield.” He showed it to the steward. “He was coming to the tourney, but he caught a chill and died, so I came in his stead. He knighted me before he passed, with his own sword.” Dunk drew the longsword and laid it on the scarred wooden table between them. The master of the lists gave the blade no more than a glance. “A sword it is, for a certainty. I have never heard of this Arlan of Pennytree, however. You were his squire, you say?” “He always said he meant for me to be a knight, as he was. When he was dying he called for his longsword and bade me kneel. He touched me once on my right shoulder and once on my left, and said some words, and when I got up he said I was a knight.” “Hmpf.” The man Plummer rubbed his nose. “Any knight can make a knight, it is true, though it is more customary to stand a vigil and be anointed by a septon before taking your vows. Were there any witnesses to your dubbing?” “Only a robin, up in a thorn tree. I heard it as the old man was saying the words. He charged me to be a good knight and true, to obey the seven gods, defend the weak and innocent, serve my lord faithfully and defend the realm with all my might, and I swore that I would.” “No doubt.” Plummer did not deign to call him ser, Dunk could not help but notice.

– The Hedge Knight

An account of a standard “knight making a knight” ceremony, similar to Gendry’s, though it mentions “the seven gods” instead of just “gods”. But the really interesting thing about this comes up later in the story.

“Knight me.” Raymun put a hand on Dunk’s shoulder and turned him. “I will take my cousin’s place. Ser Duncan, knight me.” He went to one knee. Frowning, Dunk moved a hand to the hilt of his longsword, then hesitated. “Raymun, I… I should not.” “You must. Without me, you are only five.” “The lad has the truth of it,” said Ser Lyonel Baratheon. “Do it, Ser Duncan. Any knight can make a knight.” “Do you doubt my courage?” Raymun asked. “No,” said Dunk. “Not that, but…” Still he hesitated. A fanfare of trumpets cut the misty morning air. Egg came running up to them. “Ser, Lord Ashford summons you.” The Laughing Storm gave an impatient shake of the head. “Go to him, Ser Duncan. I’ll give squire Raymun his knighthood.” He slid his sword out of his sheath and shouldered Dunk aside. “Raymun of House Fossoway,” he began solemnly, touching the blade to the squire’s right shoulder, “in the name of the Warrior I charge you to be brave.” The sword moved from his right shoulder to his left. “In the name of the Father I charge you to be just.” Back to the right. “In the name of the Mother I charge you to defend the young and innocent.” The left. “In the name of the Maid I charge you to protect all women.” Dunk left them there, feeling as relieved as he was guilty.

– The Hedge Knight

Probably the most standard knighting ceremony of all (note it possibly continues with the names of the other three gods), yet the question it raises is also probably the most interesting. See, “any knight can make a knight”… but Dunk hesitates to knight Raymun, and feels both relieved and guilty when Lyonel steps in. Why? Well, because when Dunk claimed that his master Ser Arlan of Pennytree had knighted him before he died… he was lying. (“He knew what it was like to want something so badly that you would tell a monstrous lie just to get near it.”) If he knighted Raymun Fossoway, it would be invalid, a lie before gods and men, and he couldn’t do that to his friend.

So Ser Duncan the Tall… one of the truest knights in Westeros, who the smallfolk blessed because he was “a knight who remembered his vows”… was not truly a knight, and never took vows. (It’s a question as to whether he did by the time he became Aegon V Targaryen’s Lord Commander of the Kingsguard.) This contradiction, GRRM’s exploration of the true meaning of knighthood and “true knights”, is one of the reasons I feel Dunk must be the ancestor of Brienne, among possible others.

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your favorite conqueror’s favorite conqueror

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Little sketch of our lovely ladies <3

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ASOIAF according to Korean translation; Bran II

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“Myrish. ’The Seasons of My Love.’ Sweet and sad, if you understand the words. The first girl I ever bedded used to sing it, and I’ve never been able to put it out of my head." 

idk i couldnt get this idea out of my head. elaborated/added lyrics by me, i figured they might sound a little awkward in translation (which could explain the hair/hair/hair/hair rhyme scheme). melody lifted from parts of avreml, a yiddish folk song. i just feel like myrish music would sound yiddish for some reason lol

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why would any man want to be king

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Jeyne Poole | Safe and Sound

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Alayne Stone / Princess Sansa Stark (2/?)

Uh.. hi! It has been a strong two months since I very brazenly announced my plan to draw every female ASOIAF character. Well, I never said I’d do it QUICKLY. Life happens! I won’t go into detail. So here is Alayne/Sansa. I also drew her in her Sansa era but it was kind of giving depression vibes so I probably won’t post it. Plus I don’t want to commit to having people appear twice in this series– it would make the Arya situation a nightmare. Anyway. I appreciate all the lovely asks I’ve gotten about characters and YES I WILL DO THEM though I might be 93 by the time I finish. See you in 2023

ALso! I’m thinking of opening up a couple commissions this winter, let me know if you would be interested. <3

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SANSA AND ALICENT in a blue dress (requested by anonymous)

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SANSA STARK — Game of Thrones: 7.01

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Sansa. Catelyn’s nails dug into the soft flesh of her palms, so hard did she close her hand.

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actually the real tragedy of asoiaf is that jon and catelyn never got to sit around and talk shit about theon together.

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listen reading a song of ice and fire is at the end of the day somewhat of a faustian bargain because on one hand you do get what still holds up as pretty excellent representation of multiple complex female characters with a lot of depth who are treated as human people with internality and agency , but on the other hand you the reader do have to know what their tits look like. The metanarrative itself is a morally grey narrator.