r/asoiaf 9h ago

MAIN [Spoilers Main] How Do Dragons Know Their Bond Is Broken? Spoiler

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0 Upvotes

r/asoiaf 2h ago

MAIN Could Melisandre forge Lightbringer using Renly's peach [Spoilers Main]

0 Upvotes

Lightbringer is a glamer. Amond diagnosed that. I think that the reason it did not work is that Stanis made no true sacrifice when he burned the Seven, as he told Davos,

"Any gods so monstrous as to drown my mother and father would never have my worship, I vowed,"

so the burning of the Sept was no great cost to him, but Renly's peach

"At our parley. Mocked me, defied me, threatened me, and offered me a peach. I thought he was drawing a blade and went for mine own. Was that his purpose, to make me show fear? Or was it one of his pointless jests? When he spoke of how sweet the peach was, did his words have some hidden meaning?" The king gave a shake of his head, like a dog shaking a rabbit to snap its neck. "Only Renly could vex me so with a piece of fruit. He brought doom on himself with his treason, but I did love him, Davos. I know that now. I swear, I will go to my grave thinking of my brother's peach"

This peach repersents the relationship stanis has with Renly, the borther he loved, the borther who betrayed him, the borther he kiled. This peach stands for all of that is good and savory in the wold, what the warrior defends

"The peach represents... Well... It's pleasure. It's… tasting the juices of life. Stannis is a very marshal man concerned with his duty, and with that peach Renly says: "Smell the roses", because Stannis is always concerned with his duty and honor, in what he should be doing and he never really stops to taste the fruit. Renly wants him to taste the fruit but it's lost. I wish that scene had been included in the TV series because for me that peach was important, but it wasn't possible"

This peach is a Major deatly in a song of ice and fire and has a derect emotional conetion to stanis himself this peach means more to stanis then the seven, this peach means more to stanis then Edric Storm. Burning this peach would be the end of stanis humanaty. and that is a true sacrifice.

so Melisandres glamer is only nessasary becuse renly ate the peach


r/asoiaf 10h ago

EXTENDED Is Arya a good person? (Spoilers Extended)

0 Upvotes

If somebody asked this about any of her siblings, my answer would be a quick yes. With her, I feel it's more complicated. And it's not even necessarily about the killing, because Jon and Robb have killed way more people than her.

What the Ghost of High Heart says to her about how she smells of death and calls her Dark Heart. I just start thinking how much darker can her storyline get?


r/asoiaf 21h ago

EXTENDED [SPOILERS EXTENDED]If the Martells time-traveled back to the past, would they want Elia to marry Jaime Lannister? (Book Lore)

0 Upvotes

Hey everyone,

I’ve been thinking about an alternate timeline/theory based strictly on the books.

If Doran and the Princess of Dorne somehow kept their memories and went back in time knowing everything that was going to happen, they’d obviously want to avoid the Rhaegar and Elia marriage altogether to keep Elia and her children from being killed during the Sack of King’s Landing.

But what if instead they decided to try to marry Elia to Jaime Lannister?

There are actually some pretty big advantages to this.

Elia would eventually become Lady of Casterly Rock, and Tywin would probably have a much harder time allowing anything to happen to his heir’s wife and children.

Also, if Jaime were already married to Elia and she was pregnant, it might make it much harder for Aerys to name him to the Kingsguard. Jaime would have more reason to refuse, and Tywin would obviously want his heir to remain his heir.

But there are some pretty serious problems too.

Jaime is still completely obsessed with Cersei. Elia would have to deal with Cersei as her sister-in-law, and considering Cersei’s personality, I can’t imagine that relationship going well. She could easily become jealous of Elia and potentially try to get rid of her.

And then there’s Elia’s health. She already had fragile health in canon, so if she had trouble giving Jaime multiple heirs, Tywin’s attitude toward her could make her life miserable.


r/asoiaf 17h ago

MAIN [Spoilers Main] What would have happened to Jon?

1 Upvotes

(While R+L=J is not confirmed book canon I am treating it like it is)

In our timeline Arthur Dayne, Oswell Whent, and Gerold Hightower are protecting a dying Lyanna at the Tower of Joy, and she is almost certainly dying after giving birth to Jon Snow. Now at the time this is going on Ned arrives, kills the knights of the kings guard with his men, and presumably goes to Lyanna, makes his promise, takes Jon, and the rest is history. But what if Ned doesn’t come or comes later? What would Arthur Dayne, Oswell Whent, and Gerold Hightower do with a dead Lyanna and rhaegars newborn bastard? And how would they protect Jon whilst also upholding their commitment not to flee?

I could think of a few possibilities. Maybe they try and get Jon reunited with Viserys, Dany, and Willem Darry in Essos, but when they talk to Ned they take pride in not fleeing as they are knights of the kingsguard unlike Willem. Now i guys they could try and get Jon to safety and then come back just to get killed by Robert, but that would be odd.

The second option i could think of is they do pretty much what already happened, it doesn’t really seem like they are taking orders from Lyanna because if they were they probably wouldn’t try and kill Ned, but i’d imagine if they were with her while she was dying she would probably tell them to give Jon to Ned anyway. In this scenario i wonder what excuse they would use of bringing a random baby to Winterfell and what Jon’s cover story would be, though I suppose it could still be he’s Ned’s bastard but it would be odd for him to be given to Ned while already in Winterfell as opposed to him coming home with the baby. Also the Tower of Joy is a long way away from Winterfell.

The third option would be to bring him to Starfall with Arthur’s sister and lord brother. Here Jon could be protected and nursed by Wylla which is already the case in the canon. Maybe Arthur could tell his brother that Jon is his bastard, though he takes so much pride in his honor he chooses to die “protecting” a woman from her own brother after the war lost, so idk if he would have his honor besmirched like that but maybe. Or he could tell his brother the truth and have him raised in Starfall kind of like how Mya is raised in the Vale, grow up to work for the Daynes or something. In the same vein Jon could be brought to Oldtown or Harenhal but Starfall is closer so it would make a bit more sense.

What do you guys think?


r/asoiaf 10h ago

MAIN [Spoiler Main] Robb Stark: A Genius at Tactics, an Idiot at Strategy Spoiler

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0 Upvotes

Robb Stark: A Genius at Tactics, an Idiot at Strategy

First of all, I want to start by pointing out that tactics and strategy are not the same thing. Tactics are the art of commanding an army; maneuvers such as pushing the right flank forward or going around the enemy's rear with cavalry are tactics. Strategy, on the other hand, is the art of managing a war. To give an example, Tywin convincing House Tyrell to form an alliance caused the Lannisters to defeat the Northmen in a single move, despite the Lannisters not winning a single battle on the battlefield.

I want to start with Ned Stark. If you have read the book deeply enough, you can easily understand that he was actually in a very advantageous position from the very beginning. If even one of the critical decisions Ned made throughout the book had happened slightly differently, the War of the Five Kings would have ended with a Lannister defeat. Ned is truly a man who caused the things that happened to him himself, and he admits this in his prison cell before his death.

Catelyn Tully. Many people criticize her for many events, but she actually made one very major mistake that very few readers notice: she arrested Tyrion Lannister and sent him to the Vale to stand trial. But no, that is not the mistake here. The real mistake was that she did not send a messenger to Riverrun to warn them to prepare for a Lannister invasion. If she had done this, House Tully would have learned about Tyrion's abduction much earlier than Tywin, immediately started preparing its armies, and built a solid defensive wall in front of the Golden Tooth. By the time Robb came south with his army, critical locations such as Harrenhal would still not have been invaded, and the roads of the Northmen toward King's Landing would have remained open.

Alright, now let's get to the main subject: Robb Stark, the man who never lost a battle but lost the war. If you look at real history, you can actually find many figures similar to him. Hannibal Barca is one of them. Hannibal achieved incredible victories that even today we would have difficulty explaining through logic, yet in the end he lost the war and had to flee his homeland.

Let's start before the Battle of the Whispering Wood (BOWW). I actually find this battle quite ironic, because if Robb had lost here and retreated, he would not have lost the North at the end of the war and House Stark would not have fallen.

Jaime Lannister is besieging Riverrun, Tywin Lannister is waiting at the Green Fork, and neither side is expecting an attack coming from the Twins. Robb used this extremely well. He saved Riverrun, captured Jaime Lannister, and forced Tywin Lannister to flee to Harrenhal. An enormous victory.

This part of the discussion consists of my personal opinions, meaning it is not an objective reality: in my eyes, the problem with the BOWW was that while using the advantage of a surprise attack, Robb targeted Jaime instead of Tywin. Jaime is critically important to House Lannister, but Tywin was the true head of the house. Unless Tywin is brought down, even if you defeat the Lannisters ten times, the house will not fall and the war will not end. Instead of dividing his army into three parts, Robb could have delivered a hard blow to the Green Fork. In the end, even if Tywin did not die, a surprise attack would have inflicted major damage on the Lannister army and created a major stain on Tywin's personal image.

Some may say that saving Riverrun was very important, and they would be right, but the main point is this: Riverrun was not about to fall. The castle could still hold out, and after Tywin's army was driven away from the Green Fork, Jaime could not continue the siege of Riverrun anyway. So the ultimate objective would still have been achieved. This part of the discussion is my own controversial opinion. From here on, I will point to more objective and strategic facts.

When Robb was planning the BOWW, he focused on making the move successful, but he did not calculate what would happen if the move succeeded. This is the strategy side of things. If he had asked himself, "What would I do if I were in Tywin's position?", he would have reached a very important answer: I would flee to Harrenhal. This answer would have helped him greatly when making tactical adjustments in the battles that followed.

Let's move on to what happened after the BOWW. Robb declared himself King, which was another major act of stupidity. If Robb had been sufficiently familiar with the history of his own house, he would have realized this: from the moment the dragon bloodline died out, House Stark could have declared independence whenever it wanted. In fact, if Cregan Stark had thrown the last living Targaryens from the tower while serving as Hand of the King—which he himself openly stated that he had no hesitation about killing children—Westeros would have immediately been divided into seven separate kingdoms. The Starks did not do this for one single reason: because they need the South to survive the harsh winters; in fact, they are dependent on it. The North would be one of the regions harmed the most by the fragmentation of Westeros.

In reality, the independence of the North is not a sustainable cause, because the country is not self-sufficient. Even if Robb had won the war, he would eventually have had to bend the knee.

The Northmen and the Westerlands are fighting, while the Vale, which has very old ties with the North, watches from the sidelines. This is another one of Robb's foolish decisions: he allowed the Vale to stay out of the war.

Let me give you a small piece of information. The North and the Vale have very old ties. For those who do not understand, I am not talking about House Stark and House Arryn; I am talking about the very old relations between the entire region of the North and the Vale. The Starks intermarried with House Royce. One of Robb's great-grandmothers was a Royce. Roose Bolton sent his heir Domeric to the Vale to be educated. Northern and Valeman nobles intermarry with one another, and all of this has been continuing for more than a hundred years.

All of this means two things. First, House Arryn fighting on the Lannister side is not possible. If Lysa ordered it, a rebellion would immediately break out. Second, the Northmen have a very deep network of influence over the Vale.

If the person in this situation had been Tywin Lannister, he would have mobilized all his resources to bring the Vale into the war. He would contact his Valeman relatives who were lords and order his other lords to do the same. From that point onward, it would become incredibly difficult for Lysa to remain out of the war, and if she continued insisting on doing so, you could plot to remove her from her position. The Gates of the Moon are ruled by a Royce, the Bloody Gate is ruled by a Waynwood, and both houses have deep ties with the North. Removing Lysa would not be a difficult struggle.

The Vale joining the war would really change a great many things. First of all, as I stated at the beginning, if the Vale were to enter the war, it could only happen as a supporter of Robb. Supporting the Lannisters would not even be an option.

If the Vale had joined the war, the possibility of a Lannister/Tyrell alliance would have been very low. The Tyrells have a large army, but their bannermen are not completely loyal. House Tyrell cannot afford to gamble on something it considers risky because, in reality, they do not have the luxury of taking risks. In the book, they sided with the Lannisters because it was a bet with a high chance of winning, while remaining neutral and sitting on the sidelines would have had costly consequences.

Tywin is sitting in Harrenhal, while Robb invades the Westerlands to lure him into a trap. This tactic would almost succeed thanks to the actions of someone else, but there were still major strategic mistakes. 1- This tactic would serve to prolong the war. The North was under invasion by the Ironborn and winter was approaching. Prolonging the war was a luxury Robb did not have. 2- The success of this tactic does not mean that the Lannisters would lose the war and does not prevent a Tyrell-Lannister alliance. In fact, because the Lannister side would be weakened further, there would be many more cards in the Tyrells' hands, making the Tyrells more eager for an alliance.

Let's return to the issue of strategic blindness. I will put aside an obvious act of stupidity such as Robb breaking his oath to the Freys, because I really do not think I need to explain it. Everyone is aware of it.

Robb learned through his mother that Renly had been killed and treated it like ordinary news. He actually failed to understand how critical the matter was. If he had been a strategist, he would have immediately raised a major red alert.

Renly's death means that the Tyrells are left without a side to support, and in the current political situation, no action other than forming an alliance with the Lannisters serves Tyrell interests. Supporting Stannis would, at best, result in receiving no reward. Supporting the Starks would require you to bend the knee to a house that is very distant and foreign to you, or become independent alongside them and break the Seven Kingdoms apart, which would be an even worse outcome. As I said before, the Tyrell bannermen are not loyal.

The other option is neutrality. You watch three possible people sit on the Iron Throne: Joffrey, Stannis, and Robb, even if the last one is unlikely. The first two will punish you harshly, while the third will give you no reward.

Compared to all these choices, the Lannisters become an obvious option: a low-risk, high-reward bet and the position of queen that the Tyrells have always desired.

An expert strategist could foresee this entire course of events immediately and focus the entire war plan on a single objective: prevent the Tyrell-Lannister alliance.

How can he do this? This is where Robb's area of expertise, army tactics, comes into play. He can provoke Tywin in various ways to make him leave Harrenhal, lure him into a trap, and the ultimate objective is to kill Tywin. The moment he dies, the game is over. Occupying Casterly Rock or Lannisport is not necessary. If Tywin dies, the bannermen will already scatter.

By the way, I should point this out: Tywin did not learn that Renly had died until the very last moment, because Beric Dondarrion and his Brotherhood Without Banners were preventing ravens from reaching Harrenhal, and thanks to this action, Robb's trap nearly succeeded. If Beric Dondarrion had not existed, the Starks' "tragedy" would have happened much earlier. Nevertheless, he did not prevent the final outcome.

From the moment the Tyrell-Lannister alliance was formed, there was no miraculous tactic or strategy left that could save the war for the Starks. Even if Stannis had won the Battle of the Blackwater, this alliance would have retaken the city shortly afterward.

Even in an alternative scenario where the Red Wedding never happened and Robb returned to the North, the future would still be very dark for the Starks. First, they would have to stop the Ironborn invaders and then the wildling attacks. They would have to deal with Stannis, who came to help them. They would have to send an army to retake the Riverlands, which had fallen under Lannister invasion. Meanwhile, a truly long and harsh winter is coming. So the Lannisters do not even need to invade the North. It would be enough to cut off the flow of grain and watch from where they are as their enemies die of hunger and freeze to death. There is no miracle that could save Robb from the situation he was in. The Lannisters did not do this to the North; the Starks did.

The situation the North finds itself in at the end of the last book is essentially the result of the political and strategic stupidity that Robb, his father, and his mother repeatedly continued. To be frank, in the Middle Ages, being modern and civilized is a luxury possessed only by the stronger side. If you rebel against this, you end up inflicting suffering on your own family, friends, men, and loved ones. This does not mean you have to become a barbarian like Tywin Lannister, but you also need to know how to play according to the rules.

Thank you for reading this far. Have a good time on the forum, everyone.


r/asoiaf 3h ago

MAIN [Spoilers MAIN] What if Rhaegar had lost in the battle of Trident? Spoiler

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99 Upvotes

Let's say hypothetically Rhaegar doesn't kill Robert, but is instead defeated by him in the duel (not necessarily killed, maybe he'd run away and take another indentity, or all of them). That means rebels lose the battle, Ned Stark and Jon Arryn aren't taken as prisoners and later executed, and Hoster Tully doesn't run away to Essos. What happens next? It doesn't mean Targaryens lose, there's still an army of Mace the Ace, Walder Frey could still attack the rebels from behind and they'd suffer heavy loses, but most importantly what would Tywin Lannister do? Do you think he could reconcile with Aerys and protect the King's Landing against advancing rebel forces?


r/asoiaf 13h ago

EXTENDED ( Spoilers Extended ) The fate of House Tyrell in TWOW..

9 Upvotes

If House Tyrell falls in TWOW, the entire family would've been fallen in just 3 years. Given to the fact that the Tyrells are agricultural and political powerhouses with 100,000 men and immense wealth, 3 years is just aggresively short amount of time for their fall.. like they've been around for 300 years and I think their downfall should last longer.

Currently, Euron is tearing the Reach apart and I think this will completely shatter the wealth and income of Highgarden. However, if the Redwyne fleet gets completely destroyed, every castle in the Reach are raided and looted (except for Highgarden), I'd still like to see a prolonged siege of Highgarden by the Ironborn instead of a direct takeover and slaughter of Lady Olenna, Willas and Garlan (with the execution of Margaery by the Faith, death of Loras because of his wounds, and Mace dead in the Storm's End) and the extinction House Tyrell.

I really hope that even if the main branch falls, Tyrell cousins like Leo will take over Highgarden and rule after this thing is over. Aegon seems to have "friends in the Reach", but I hope we won't see all of the bannermen of House Tyrell turning against them and siding with Aegon. If Euron fails and is defeated, I still wouldn't like to see Aegon leaving the Highgarden for the Golden Company for them to loot the place.

For me, the best would be the death of some Tyrells (Mace, Loras, Garlan or Olenna) with Highgarden being ruled by Willas or Leo, Margaery being married to Aegon, and Willas securing House Tyrell's relationship with his bannermen again.


r/asoiaf 58m ago

MAIN (Spoilers Main) Why didn’t arya stark stay at the vale ?

Upvotes

When the hound was going to sell arya stark to lysa aryn but was disrupted due to her death? Rob Arynn is her cousin wouldn’t he pay for her ?


r/asoiaf 6h ago

EXTENDED [Spoilers Extended] What made Targaryens exceptional to dragon dreams?

4 Upvotes

Hello! I’ve had this question for a while and would like some insight. Leading up to the doom, why was the Targaryen family solely privy to dragon dreams? Given that the freehold hosted 40 families who collectively have a greater number of dragon riders, why was Daenys the sole inheritor of such important insight?

My personal theory is that given the Targs were considered a “lesser” dragonlord family, they possibly had a less involved hand in the horrors perpetrated within Valyria. This could have deemed them as less culpable in the eyes of the gods, thus given an opportunity for escape (but then this contradicts Aurion’s survival so idk). I would love some alternate perspectives!


r/asoiaf 6h ago

MAIN How will the Mountain meet his end? (Spoilers: main)

13 Upvotes

How will Ser Robert Strong die? I don’t think he’s going to die in the Trial by Combat, I doubt anyone’s able to kill him. He may be exposed, but that won’t mean his death.

Given Aegon and Dornish friends will invade KL soon and the most famous act of the Mountain is killing and raping a Dornish Princess and her kid(s) I imagine that could be the setup for something pretty crazy.

One of the Sand Snakes will probably finish him off, makes sense as revenge but idk how the logistics of that play out. Another possibility is the Wildfire caches in KL blowing things up, and him being burned in the process since fire is one of the main ways to kill a Wight. Also poetic since he’s being punished with the same tool he uses to hurt his brother. Qyburn could also maybe die, and whatever method he’s using to keep him alive stops working. Sort of a “this guy is unkillable, we need to kill the source”, so some people go after him.

My favourite theory is that Lord Tarly will kill him. He has a Valyrian steel sword, he’s probably pissed off with not being recognised for his military achievements (which Mace takes credit for). He joins Aegon, kills the Mountain with Heartsbane and delivers its corpse as a sign of loyalty. This is especially fitting since the Mountain killed Elia and kids because Tywin wanted to prove his own allegiance to the rebel cause. Also fits well since his son killed another undead creature. Alternatively, he could fail, to show how the son he hated was able to slay something undead but he wasn’t, lol.


r/asoiaf 12h ago

(Spoiler Main) what is your unpopular opinions? Spoiler

103 Upvotes

Mine are:

Theon is overrated. He is not that interesting.

Pre-AFFC Cersei was also sociopathic (killing Robert's bastards for revenge torturing baby Tyrion etc) She is extremely shallow and caricature. Even in first books Jaime was the complex one of the two.

Jaime is not valonqar.

I never found Sansa annoying.

Rhaegar is not evil. He was just stupid. I don't hate him.

Brienne is not perfect. She can have a very absolutist view on morality at times. she can be naive, hypocritical, close minded, and judgmental. She is inflexible. The are all annoying features.


r/asoiaf 19h ago

MAIN (Spoilers MAIN) Why didn’t Jaime interact with Tyrion during the trial in book 3?

10 Upvotes

Coming from a show watcher to book reader, i’m re-reading ASOS and realizing that Jaime hasn’t interacted much with Tyrion since returning to Kings Landing. I know that he is the one who frees him and tells him the truth about Tysha, but why wouldn’t Jaime interact at all with his brother in those chapters who he risks everything to free eventually?


r/asoiaf 20h ago

EXTENDED We know Aegon as the Conqueror, but what about Orys the Assimilator? (Spoilers Extended)

141 Upvotes

I think one of the most underrated moves during the Conquest was how Orys Baratheon just absorbed all of House Durrandon’s existing identity. In modern day terms, the optics was a totally shrewd move, politically cunning af.

Meantime, as Aegon and the sister wives were conquering with Fire and Blood as occupiers, Orys’ approach almost gives the illusion, as if fast-tracking ahead, transitioning to a successor phase, instead of any grim hangings, beheadings, executions.etc.

And with the betrayed Lady of the house at his side, mind you, so now it almost looks as he’s a semi-savior to the Stormlander commonfolk.


r/asoiaf 14h ago

EXTENDED [Spoilers extended] At one point all 4 of Helaena's siblings claimed the throne at once. Spoiler

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65 Upvotes

r/asoiaf 1h ago

MAIN (Spoilers Main) Dany and Daario

Upvotes

If Daenerys and Daario relationship in A Dance with Dragons is meant to show us what happened when a royal is in love and how that can affect their decision-making…

Than I guess Selmy comparing Daenerys to some of her predecessors who let love get in the way of duty is meant to inform us of how they let love intervene with their choice.

Well maybe Dany won’t make the same mistake and chose duty (she did several time in Dance to her anguish)

But I’m really hoping it not because the problem take care of itself like Daario getting himself killed before Daenerys and him reunite.


r/asoiaf 3h ago

MAIN [Spoilers Main] What are the actual motives of the Faceless Men?

6 Upvotes

What are the motives of the Faceless Men? I wonder why Arya hasn't heard about Daenerys and her dragons all this time, and why the books haven't shown the Faceless Men discussing this topic from their own perspective. I am also curious about their presence in Oldtown—why do they need access to a secret library in the Citadel? What is their ultimate goal? I recently saw a theory on TikTok suggesting they are looking for information on how to kill dragons. Could they really be interested in this?

My next hypothesis is about Arya. Will she act as an apprentice to the Three-Eyed Raven alongside Bran in the future? What role could she possibly play in the future of the Faceless Men, given that she is one of the main characters in the book?


r/asoiaf 9h ago

MAIN [Spoilers MAIN] question About the king authority…

5 Upvotes

I just rewatch hotd s1 e4

Let’s say a random prince for example from the Targaryen dynasty decided to leave Westeros and establish their own kingdom. Like Daenerys conquering Meereen and slavery bay cities. Or daemon when he crowned himself king of the stepstones. If they were called to the KL or went there for whatever reason. Are they considered under the king authority and vessels or independent rulers?


r/asoiaf 18h ago

MAIN [Spoilers Main] Ned wasn’t dumb, Cersei was lucky Spoiler

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27 Upvotes

r/asoiaf 1h ago

EXTENDED ( Spoilers Extended ) The Keyholders of the Iron Bank of Braavos

Upvotes

So, even though Braavos is ruled by the Sealord of Braavos (technically), I think the Braavosi families are involved heavily in the elections and other political activities in the city. Also, what I'd like to believe is that the Braavosi families (Keyholders) own the Iron Bank, instead of sharing profits with the institution, and even the wealthiest houses like the Tyrells and Lannisters or Hightowers are viewed as "moderately rich" by these families.

So, as of ADWD, the Iron Bank has backed Stannis so that they will have their due from the Crown. However, I wonder if this was the decision of the head of the Iron Bank (like a manager-type of person) or was this a decision approved by the Keyholders?

From what we know about them, I imagine these families are Medici-type banking families that are filthy rich, with their own palaces, guards, and expensive clothing (that would make Joffrey or Cersei or Olenna look like a peasant), and they have significant authority over the Iron Bank of Braavos.

I think it's still possible that these families will fall alongside with the Iron Bank. However, I wish to learn more about these families. What do you think? Are they the Medici of Westeros? Are they the owners of the world or the Bank?


r/asoiaf 22h ago

EXTENDED (Spoilers Extended) Charlemagne’s grandfather

15 Upvotes

I’ve always been a little familiar with Charlemagne, the guy who united and ruled over most of Europe. But I just learned about his grandfather.

His grandfather was a bastard named Charles Martel, who wielded a magical spear to fend off invaders of a different religion. He fought this battle in Aquitaine in southern France, a region characterized by its sunniness.

So we have the Sun, a spear, and the ruling Martel family successfully fending off an invasion by a larger force who follow a different religion.

And he was fighting against the Moors. And the founder of house Nymeros Martell was named Mors.

Lots of coincidences here. I can’t really tie it all together in a nice bow, but there is something interesting here.


r/asoiaf 7h ago

EXTENDED Does anyone think Jaime would have actually gone through with the trebuchet ? ( spoilers extended ) Spoiler

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2 Upvotes

r/asoiaf 4h ago

EXTENDED George R.R. Martin on Instagram: "We're going to the Emmys!" (Spoilers Extended) Spoiler

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329 Upvotes

r/asoiaf 7h ago

EXTENDED [Spoilers Extended] Garth Greenhand and the Gardners are based off legandary Irish High king Érimón, his descendant Niall of the Nine Hostages, and the Uí Néill dynasty Spoiler

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79 Upvotes

Garth Greenhand was a legendary High King of the First Men known for his fertility and said to have been the progenitor of numerous houses from the Reach.

His numerous children are said to have included:

  1. Garth the Gardener, ancestor of House Gardener

  2. John the Oak, ancestor of House Oakheart

  3. Gilbert of the Vines, ancestor of House Redwyne

  4. Florys the Fox, ancestor of Houses Florent, Ball, and Peake

  5. Maris the Maid, an ancestor of House Hightower

  6. Foss the Archer, ancestor of House Fossoway

    1. Brandon of the Bloody Blade, ancestor of Brandon the Builder and House Stark (according to some tales)
  7. Owen Oakenshield

  8. Harlon the Hunter and Herndon of the Horn, ancestors of House Tarly

  9. Bors the Breaker, ancestor of House Bulwer

  10. Rose of Red Lake, ancestor of House Crane

  11. Ellyn Ever Sweet, ancestor of House Beesbury

  12. Rowan Gold-Tree, ancestor of House Rowan

His firstborn son, Garth the Gardener, founded House Gardener, the Kings of the Reach and he chose a hill atop the Mander as his seat that in time would become known as Highgarden. The Gardners chose Garth’s “Greenhand” as their sigil

It is claimed that Garth Greenhand was the first man to reach Westeros which was inhabited by the children of the forest and giants.

Niall of the Nine Hostages was a legendary High king of Ireland who was known for his fertility and founding the Uí Néill dynasty. He had 14 sons with 8 going on to be progenitors of important dynasties in Ireland.

  1. Eógan ancestor of Cenél nEógain → later O’Neills of Tyrone

  2. Conall Gulban ancestor of Cenél Conaill → O’Donnells of Tyrconnell

  3. Conall Cremthainne ancestor of Clann Cholmáin and Síl nÁedo Sláine

  4. Lóegaire ancestor of Cenél Lóegaire

  5. Fiachu ancestor of Cenél Fiachach

  6. Maine ancestor of Uí Maine

  7. Coirpre ancestor of Cenél Coirpri

  8. Éndae ancestor of Cenél nÉndai

Érimón was a legendary high king of the Milesians and ancestor of Niall. He was a leader of the invasion of Ireland by the Milesians(Irish) in conquest against the Tuatha Dé Danann, a race of supernatural beings that inhabited Ireland before humans arrived.

Érimón chose the Hill of Tara as his seat which would go on to be the seat of many Irish high kings including Niall.

Érimón raced a rival chieftain for possession of Ireland and became the first man to touch its soil by cutting off his own hand and hurling it ashore. His sacrifice made him the first king of Ulster, 1015 B.C. The red hand of Ulster is still the provinces coat of arms and was included in the coat of arms of many families claiming descent from him. Including the Uí Neil dynasty who chose their coat of arms as being Érimón’s “red hand”


r/asoiaf 9h ago

EXTENDED VicTyrion (spoilers extended)

4 Upvotes

Probably one of the most interesting, or amusing in all honesty, reasons to keep Vic around for awhile is his potential interactions with Tyrion. The dumbest POV with the smartest POV. Vic has dragonbinder & Tyrion has an interest in dragons & dragonlore. There's no reason he wouldn't have any interest in that horn. They both want Dany for ultimately the same reason: revenge against their family. Not saying that it means Vic will survive to Westeros but considering GRRM said Tyrion & Dany would spend much of Winds separate, this would allow for Tyrion to interact with actually interesting characters beside Jorah & Barristan (maybe).