Hi everyone,

I’ll be appearing on one of History of Westeros’ streams on Fire and Blood very shortly at 6PM EST. Check it out!

If Jon Con were to have gone full Tywin and burnt the village at Stoney Sept to the ground, killing Robert B, do you think Tully and Strark would have taken the pardons like Toyne asserts? I think any peace with Aerys still on the throne would be utterly undependable in their eyes.

Well, here’s the thing: any scenario where Robert’s immediate threat to the capital gets nullified is a scenario in which Rhaegar has the breathing room to attempt something resembling a coup against his father, as he hints to Jaime right before riding off to face said immediate threat. Jon Connington, who commands the royal armies (and who has just made himself almost as much a pariah as Aerys on the rebel side), is unquestionably going to back his beloved silver prince, so Rhaegar would stand a chance at capturing the Iron Throne.

I think Hoster and Jon Arryn would be willing to talk terms at that point with Aerys out of power, although the new king might be pressured to turn his back on JonCon in order to quell feelings over Robert’s death (and wouldn’t the griffin’s reaction to that be interesting). Ned might resist Rhaegar at first...but he’s still going to find out about Lyanna and Jon sooner or later. Who the hell knows what he does then.

What happens if Asha or Victarian by some miracle win the Kingsmoot? Does Euron try and force Asha into marriage or try and off them both?

The primary reasons Euron wants to be Iron King are that the Ironborn have ships and are pliable cannon fodder. If the latter turns out not to be the case, my bet is he’d still try to take advantage of the former by breaking off with anyone who will follow him. That’d be easier if Asha wins; if Victarion wins, Euron’s going up against the Iron Fleet. Of course, he might just try to kill them both, but Euron doesn’t want to get bogged down in a protracted fight for the Iron Islands, because they’re just a means to an end for him. So if he can get away with a substantial amount of ships and make for Dany and her dragons, I think he’d do that.

What could possibly save Theon from being beheaded by Stannis ? We all know that the northerners will never forgive Theon for turning his back on Robb and for taking Winterfell and murdering Bran and Rickon even if it was in truth two farm boys and than it was Ramsay who did the deed. Do you think that revealing the truth about Jeyne Pool and Bran and Rickon could at least give him a reprieve ?

(TWOW spoilers)

At the end of Theon’s released TWOW chapter, Asha asks Stannis to take off Theon’s head at the local weirwood rather than burning him alive. The birds in the room go nuts at this point, one screaming “the tree, the tree, the tree” and the other screaming “Theon, Theon, Theon.”

The general consensus is that the former bird is being possessed by Bloodraven and the latter by Bran, and that the two are working together to intervene in this storyline. Bloodraven’s eagerness to get Stannis and Theon in front of a weirwood suggests that the greenseers are planning on communicating via the face in the tree (as Bran began to do with Theon in ADWD) and Bran calling Theon’s name in both ADWD and TWOW suggests that he may have taken pity on his former captor and want to spare his life. Bran’s a sweet kid, after all.

Of course, there are also strategic reasons for Bran and Bloodraven to get in touch. The Starks can’t rally at Winterfell against the Long Night if the Boltons possess it, so the greenseers have an interest (at least temporarily) in helping Stannis capture the castle. Moreover, if Euron Greyjoy is indeed Bloodraven’s rogue protege, the latter might be out to save and elevate Theon as an alternate Iron King to the Crow’s Eye, relying on the Torgon Latecomer precedent.

So what I think might happen is that Bran and Bloodraven offer to help Stannis take Winterfell from the Boltons, but only if he spares the godswood...and Theon’s life. The northmen with Stannis despise Theon, no question, but a divine intervention from their prince in exile might do the trick.

(One bit of weirdness, as many have noted, is Asha’s role in all this. She’s the one with the Latecomer wild card in her pocket, and she encourages Stannis to take Theon to the tree, but unless something wild happened in the hours between “The Sacrifice” and Theon I TWOW, she doesn’t know about Bran and Bloodraven. Is it coincidence? We’ll see...)

Fire & Blood, Volume I: The Year of the Three Brides

Fire & Blood, Volume I: The Year of the Three Brides

You know things are about to slow down and get a good deal more complex when you have an entire chapter devoted to one out of the three hundred years of the Targaryen dynasty…

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Sorry this might sound like a stupid question, but do you think there's a chance Euron might have crossed paths with Gerion Lannister either on route or returning from Valaryia?

I hope not for Gerion’s sake, but it’s entirely possible. We’ll find out if Euron lands in Oldtown and unsheathes Brightroar...

Visenya's conception of Maegor was absolutely aided by blood magic, right? She doesn't produce a child for years, and then Rhaenys has a son which potentially squeezes her bloodline out of the line of succession, and then she very soon gets pregnant and confidently and accurately predicts it will be a boy. And the son she makes is just incredibly strong and talented at fighting, and his children end up as stillborn dragon mutants like Rhaego. There's definitely some dark magic at work here.

Yes, given the aura of sorcery clinging to Visenya, this is entirely possible.

When Quaithe warns Dany about the 'perfumed seneschel' is it possible that this does not apply to a person but a ship? The ship Tyrion is sailing on in ADWD is called Selaesori Qhoran otherwise known as 'The Fragrant Steward', or as Tyrion likes to call it, 'The Stinky Steward'.

Possible, but I don’t see why Dany should beware a ship, especially since the most notable passengers on said ship (Tyrion and Moqorro) are mentioned elsewhere in Quaithe’s prophecy. I think the perfumed seneschal that Dany must beware is Varys.

Amen to this. It takes strength to be gentle and kind in this environment--she easily could not be. Look at Cersei!

I really enjoy your analysis and commentary on asoiaf, and am popping by to say thank you for your consistent empathy toward Sansa. I read a lot of analysis of the series and so often run into Sansa-hatred that is utterly bewildering and also, to me, demonstrates a lack of understanding of what GRRM set out to say, big picture, with the series. But a lot of people do hate her (for whatever reason) so I also really appreciate that, in various asks, you do not back down on your points about her.

Well, thanks! I understand gravitating initially more towards POVs like Arya and Tyrion, who at least partially see through the lies of the chivalric tropes undergirding the feudal power structures. (Partially, I emphasize.) But for me, Sansa is the best POV in AGOT because her early chapters provide such a ravishing image of the world through the eyes of someone who takes the songs 100% seriously. That’s what makes the fall from grace that is that first book’s primary subject (from Bran’s very literal fall forward) work so well. You need the Hand’s Tourney to start out “better than the songs,” or it doesn’t mean anything when Ser Hugh dies and Sansa reflects that no songs will be sung of him. By the time you get to her final chapter in AGOT, it’s so damn clear what GRRM is going for with her character:

Sansa stared at him, seeing him for the first time. He was wearing a padded crimson doublet patterned with lions and a cloth-of-gold cape with a high collar that framed his face. She wondered how she could ever have thought him handsome. His lips were as soft and red as the worms you found after a rain, and his eyes were vain and cruel. “I hate you,” she whispered.   

She has learned the truth: a padded crimson doublet and a cloth-of-gold cape don’t make you a hero, which has implications for both the social structure (in that all this wealth and power is orbiting around a sadistic child who just cut off Dad’s head) and the chivalric worldview (in that the imagery falling apart here bolstered that worldview earlier in the book). Sansa is literally seeing the world anew, and she has to start off in a bubble for that to qualify as an arc.

Moreover, her story in the following book (ACOK) is not about her deciding that the corruption of the intertwined society and song justifies nihilism, but rather a growing conviction on her part that she has to live out the values in the songs even as they are rejected by the world at large. That comes through most clearly at the Blackwater, when she internally defies Cersei’s rule through fear in favor of ruling through love, as well as singing for mercy to and from Sandor. I think this is meant to reflect the journey taken by both author and audience from naivete to disillusionment to resolve, and that it’s also meant as a pointed contrast to Littlefinger’s story, not a continuation of it.

I brought up Harrenhal because it’s a good example of how reducing everything to plot beats misses what’s going on in terms of character and theme. It’s incorrect that Sansa “just has stuff happening to her.” She makes intense decisions, all the time! That they don’t result in her escape doesn’t make her passive. It makes her a prisoner. You can still trace a coherent arc from who she is in AGOT to who she is in the released TWOW chapter.

I really enjoy your analysis and commentary on asoiaf, and am popping by to say thank you for your consistent empathy toward Sansa. I read a lot of analysis of the series and so often run into Sansa-hatred that is utterly bewildering and also, to me, demonstrates a lack of understanding of what GRRM set out to say, big picture, with the series. But a lot of people do hate her (for whatever reason) so I also really appreciate that, in various asks, you do not back down on your points about her.

Well, thanks! I understand gravitating initially more towards POVs like Arya and Tyrion, who at least partially see through the lies of the chivalric tropes undergirding the feudal power structures. (Partially, I emphasize.) But for me, Sansa is the best POV in AGOT because her early chapters provide such a ravishing image of the world through the eyes of someone who takes the songs 100% seriously. That’s what makes the fall from grace that is that first book’s primary subject (from Bran’s very literal fall forward) work so well. You need the Hand’s Tourney to start out “better than the songs,” or it doesn’t mean anything when Ser Hugh dies and Sansa reflects that no songs will be sung of him. By the time you get to her final chapter in AGOT, it’s so damn clear what GRRM is going for with her character:

Sansa stared at him, seeing him for the first time. He was wearing a padded crimson doublet patterned with lions and a cloth-of-gold cape with a high collar that framed his face. She wondered how she could ever have thought him handsome. His lips were as soft and red as the worms you found after a rain, and his eyes were vain and cruel. “I hate you,” she whispered.   

She has learned the truth: a padded crimson doublet and a cloth-of-gold cape don’t make you a hero, which has implications for both the social structure (in that all this wealth and power is orbiting around a sadistic child who just cut off Dad’s head) and the chivalric worldview (in that the imagery falling apart here bolstered that worldview earlier in the book). Sansa is literally seeing the world anew, and she has to start off in a bubble for that to qualify as an arc.

Moreover, her story in the following book (ACOK) is not about her deciding that the corruption of the intertwined society and song justifies nihilism, but rather a growing conviction on her part that she has to live out the values in the songs even as they are rejected by the world at large. That comes through most clearly at the Blackwater, when she internally defies Cersei’s rule through fear in favor of ruling through love, as well as singing for mercy to and from Sandor. I think this is meant to reflect the journey taken by both author and audience from naivete to disillusionment to resolve, and that it’s also meant as a pointed contrast to Littlefinger’s story, not a continuation of it.

I just think that’s a shallow take on “impacting the narrative.” It turns out that Arya freeing the northmen at Harrenhal was meaningless in strict plot terms, because the Mummers were going to anyway. Does that make her decision meaningless? No, because it represented a significant moment for her and her relationship to both her identity and death.

I really enjoy your analysis and commentary on asoiaf, and am popping by to say thank you for your consistent empathy toward Sansa. I read a lot of analysis of the series and so often run into Sansa-hatred that is utterly bewildering and also, to me, demonstrates a lack of understanding of what GRRM set out to say, big picture, with the series. But a lot of people do hate her (for whatever reason) so I also really appreciate that, in various asks, you do not back down on your points about her.

Well, thanks! I understand gravitating initially more towards POVs like Arya and Tyrion, who at least partially see through the lies of the chivalric tropes undergirding the feudal power structures. (Partially, I emphasize.) But for me, Sansa is the best POV in AGOT because her early chapters provide such a ravishing image of the world through the eyes of someone who takes the songs 100% seriously. That’s what makes the fall from grace that is that first book’s primary subject (from Bran’s very literal fall forward) work so well. You need the Hand’s Tourney to start out “better than the songs,” or it doesn’t mean anything when Ser Hugh dies and Sansa reflects that no songs will be sung of him. By the time you get to her final chapter in AGOT, it’s so damn clear what GRRM is going for with her character:

Sansa stared at him, seeing him for the first time. He was wearing a padded crimson doublet patterned with lions and a cloth-of-gold cape with a high collar that framed his face. She wondered how she could ever have thought him handsome. His lips were as soft and red as the worms you found after a rain, and his eyes were vain and cruel. “I hate you,” she whispered.   

She has learned the truth: a padded crimson doublet and a cloth-of-gold cape don’t make you a hero, which has implications for both the social structure (in that all this wealth and power is orbiting around a sadistic child who just cut off Dad’s head) and the chivalric worldview (in that the imagery falling apart here bolstered that worldview earlier in the book). Sansa is literally seeing the world anew, and she has to start off in a bubble for that to qualify as an arc.

Moreover, her story in the following book (ACOK) is not about her deciding that the corruption of the intertwined society and song justifies nihilism, but rather a growing conviction on her part that she has to live out the values in the songs even as they are rejected by the world at large. That comes through most clearly at the Blackwater, when she internally defies Cersei’s rule through fear in favor of ruling through love, as well as singing for mercy to and from Sandor. I think this is meant to reflect the journey taken by both author and audience from naivete to disillusionment to resolve, and that it’s also meant as a pointed contrast to Littlefinger’s story, not a continuation of it.

No, a passive character is one who isn’t making decisions. Sansa absolutely comes up with a way to assassinate Joffrey--flinging him off a bridge. She doesn’t do it, but the drama is still there.

I really enjoy your analysis and commentary on asoiaf, and am popping by to say thank you for your consistent empathy toward Sansa. I read a lot of analysis of the series and so often run into Sansa-hatred that is utterly bewildering and also, to me, demonstrates a lack of understanding of what GRRM set out to say, big picture, with the series. But a lot of people do hate her (for whatever reason) so I also really appreciate that, in various asks, you do not back down on your points about her.

Well, thanks! I understand gravitating initially more towards POVs like Arya and Tyrion, who at least partially see through the lies of the chivalric tropes undergirding the feudal power structures. (Partially, I emphasize.) But for me, Sansa is the best POV in AGOT because her early chapters provide such a ravishing image of the world through the eyes of someone who takes the songs 100% seriously. That’s what makes the fall from grace that is that first book’s primary subject (from Bran’s very literal fall forward) work so well. You need the Hand’s Tourney to start out “better than the songs,” or it doesn’t mean anything when Ser Hugh dies and Sansa reflects that no songs will be sung of him. By the time you get to her final chapter in AGOT, it’s so damn clear what GRRM is going for with her character:

Sansa stared at him, seeing him for the first time. He was wearing a padded crimson doublet patterned with lions and a cloth-of-gold cape with a high collar that framed his face. She wondered how she could ever have thought him handsome. His lips were as soft and red as the worms you found after a rain, and his eyes were vain and cruel. “I hate you,” she whispered.   

She has learned the truth: a padded crimson doublet and a cloth-of-gold cape don’t make you a hero, which has implications for both the social structure (in that all this wealth and power is orbiting around a sadistic child who just cut off Dad’s head) and the chivalric worldview (in that the imagery falling apart here bolstered that worldview earlier in the book). Sansa is literally seeing the world anew, and she has to start off in a bubble for that to qualify as an arc.

Moreover, her story in the following book (ACOK) is not about her deciding that the corruption of the intertwined society and song justifies nihilism, but rather a growing conviction on her part that she has to live out the values in the songs even as they are rejected by the world at large. That comes through most clearly at the Blackwater, when she internally defies Cersei’s rule through fear in favor of ruling through love, as well as singing for mercy to and from Sandor. I think this is meant to reflect the journey taken by both author and audience from naivete to disillusionment to resolve, and that it’s also meant as a pointed contrast to Littlefinger’s story, not a continuation of it.

That doesn’t make her “much more passive,” it just makes her story about doing what you can in a powerless situation.

I really enjoy your analysis and commentary on asoiaf, and am popping by to say thank you for your consistent empathy toward Sansa. I read a lot of analysis of the series and so often run into Sansa-hatred that is utterly bewildering and also, to me, demonstrates a lack of understanding of what GRRM set out to say, big picture, with the series. But a lot of people do hate her (for whatever reason) so I also really appreciate that, in various asks, you do not back down on your points about her.

Well, thanks! I understand gravitating initially more towards POVs like Arya and Tyrion, who at least partially see through the lies of the chivalric tropes undergirding the feudal power structures. (Partially, I emphasize.) But for me, Sansa is the best POV in AGOT because her early chapters provide such a ravishing image of the world through the eyes of someone who takes the songs 100% seriously. That’s what makes the fall from grace that is that first book’s primary subject (from Bran’s very literal fall forward) work so well. You need the Hand’s Tourney to start out “better than the songs,” or it doesn’t mean anything when Ser Hugh dies and Sansa reflects that no songs will be sung of him. By the time you get to her final chapter in AGOT, it’s so damn clear what GRRM is going for with her character:

Sansa stared at him, seeing him for the first time. He was wearing a padded crimson doublet patterned with lions and a cloth-of-gold cape with a high collar that framed his face. She wondered how she could ever have thought him handsome. His lips were as soft and red as the worms you found after a rain, and his eyes were vain and cruel. “I hate you,” she whispered.   

She has learned the truth: a padded crimson doublet and a cloth-of-gold cape don’t make you a hero, which has implications for both the social structure (in that all this wealth and power is orbiting around a sadistic child who just cut off Dad’s head) and the chivalric worldview (in that the imagery falling apart here bolstered that worldview earlier in the book). Sansa is literally seeing the world anew, and she has to start off in a bubble for that to qualify as an arc.

Moreover, her story in the following book (ACOK) is not about her deciding that the corruption of the intertwined society and song justifies nihilism, but rather a growing conviction on her part that she has to live out the values in the songs even as they are rejected by the world at large. That comes through most clearly at the Blackwater, when she internally defies Cersei’s rule through fear in favor of ruling through love, as well as singing for mercy to and from Sandor. I think this is meant to reflect the journey taken by both author and audience from naivete to disillusionment to resolve, and that it’s also meant as a pointed contrast to Littlefinger’s story, not a continuation of it.

Gotta say, I disagree. Sansa’s moments of agency don’t have huge impact, but that’s because they can’t in her position. They still stand out emotionally--reaching out to Sandor, confessing the truth about Joffrey to the Tyrells, telling Tyrion she might never want him to touch her, getting Sweetrobin down the mountain. As we pick up with her in TWOW, she’s as actively involved in the goings-on in the Vale as could reasonably be expected. I think there’s a clear and significant progression from the Sansa we saw in AGOT.

As for why Ned didn’t prepare her, it’s the same reason none of his kids were fostered as he was, the same reason he doesn’t want to go to King’s Landing--because he’s so traumatized by what happened to Lyanna outside the safe warm walls of Winterfell that he can’t bear to burst that bubble.

I really enjoy your analysis and commentary on asoiaf, and am popping by to say thank you for your consistent empathy toward Sansa. I read a lot of analysis of the series and so often run into Sansa-hatred that is utterly bewildering and also, to me, demonstrates a lack of understanding of what GRRM set out to say, big picture, with the series. But a lot of people do hate her (for whatever reason) so I also really appreciate that, in various asks, you do not back down on your points about her.

Well, thanks! I understand gravitating initially more towards POVs like Arya and Tyrion, who at least partially see through the lies of the chivalric tropes undergirding the feudal power structures. (Partially, I emphasize.) But for me, Sansa is the best POV in AGOT because her early chapters provide such a ravishing image of the world through the eyes of someone who takes the songs 100% seriously. That’s what makes the fall from grace that is that first book’s primary subject (from Bran’s very literal fall forward) work so well. You need the Hand’s Tourney to start out “better than the songs,” or it doesn’t mean anything when Ser Hugh dies and Sansa reflects that no songs will be sung of him. By the time you get to her final chapter in AGOT, it’s so damn clear what GRRM is going for with her character:

Sansa stared at him, seeing him for the first time. He was wearing a padded crimson doublet patterned with lions and a cloth-of-gold cape with a high collar that framed his face. She wondered how she could ever have thought him handsome. His lips were as soft and red as the worms you found after a rain, and his eyes were vain and cruel. “I hate you,” she whispered.   

She has learned the truth: a padded crimson doublet and a cloth-of-gold cape don’t make you a hero, which has implications for both the social structure (in that all this wealth and power is orbiting around a sadistic child who just cut off Dad’s head) and the chivalric worldview (in that the imagery falling apart here bolstered that worldview earlier in the book). Sansa is literally seeing the world anew, and she has to start off in a bubble for that to qualify as an arc.

Moreover, her story in the following book (ACOK) is not about her deciding that the corruption of the intertwined society and song justifies nihilism, but rather a growing conviction on her part that she has to live out the values in the songs even as they are rejected by the world at large. That comes through most clearly at the Blackwater, when she internally defies Cersei’s rule through fear in favor of ruling through love, as well as singing for mercy to and from Sandor. I think this is meant to reflect the journey taken by both author and audience from naivete to disillusionment to resolve, and that it’s also meant as a pointed contrast to Littlefinger’s story, not a continuation of it.

I really enjoy your analysis and commentary on asoiaf, and am popping by to say thank you for your consistent empathy toward Sansa. I read a lot of analysis of the series and so often run into Sansa-hatred that is utterly bewildering and also, to me, demonstrates a lack of understanding of what GRRM set out to say, big picture, with the series. But a lot of people do hate her (for whatever reason) so I also really appreciate that, in various asks, you do not back down on your points about her.

Well, thanks! I understand gravitating initially more towards POVs like Arya and Tyrion, who at least partially see through the lies of the chivalric tropes undergirding the feudal power structures. (Partially, I emphasize.) But for me, Sansa is the best POV in AGOT because her early chapters provide such a ravishing image of the world through the eyes of someone who takes the songs 100% seriously. That’s what makes the fall from grace that is that first book’s primary subject (from Bran’s very literal fall forward) work so well. You need the Hand’s Tourney to start out “better than the songs,” or it doesn’t mean anything when Ser Hugh dies and Sansa reflects that no songs will be sung of him. By the time you get to her final chapter in AGOT, it’s so damn clear what GRRM is going for with her character:

Sansa stared at him, seeing him for the first time. He was wearing a padded crimson doublet patterned with lions and a cloth-of-gold cape with a high collar that framed his face. She wondered how she could ever have thought him handsome. His lips were as soft and red as the worms you found after a rain, and his eyes were vain and cruel. “I hate you,” she whispered.   

She has learned the truth: a padded crimson doublet and a cloth-of-gold cape don’t make you a hero, which has implications for both the social structure (in that all this wealth and power is orbiting around a sadistic child who just cut off Dad’s head) and the chivalric worldview (in that the imagery falling apart here bolstered that worldview earlier in the book). Sansa is literally seeing the world anew, and she has to start off in a bubble for that to qualify as an arc.

Moreover, her story in the following book (ACOK) is not about her deciding that the corruption of the intertwined society and song justifies nihilism, but rather a growing conviction on her part that she has to live out the values in the songs even as they are rejected by the world at large. That comes through most clearly at the Blackwater, when she internally defies Cersei’s rule through fear in favor of ruling through love, as well as singing for mercy to and from Sandor. I think this is meant to reflect the journey taken by both author and audience from naivete to disillusionment to resolve, and that it’s also meant as a pointed contrast to Littlefinger’s story, not a continuation of it.

I'm going to see George tonight in Jersey City for the release of Fire and Blood! Check out the NotACast livecast about it with @liesandarbor, BryndenBFish, Joe Magician, and Eliana from Girls Gone Canon at 1030 PM EST!

Hi, I discovered your essays a while ago, and... Wow, thanks, a great read while waiting for TWOW. You seem to think that Theon will survive the battle in the ice and even help to overthrow Erik Ironmaker with Asha. I love this character, and I would really like to see how and if he will survive and rebuild himself after all he did and suffered, but I don´t see how he could be of use... Except as a great POV to witness what happens in the Iron Isles. Do you see anything bigger coming for him?

Theon could be potentially be very useful as a Latecomer option to overthrow the kingsmoot. If so, though, Asha and the Reader would probably be the actual mobilizers.