A Song of Ice and Fire (Book discussion)

[Vagrant]

dany didn't wake dragons from stone, she birthed them from eggs

Eggs that had turned to stone long ago.

[Plow]

no one alive has seen a dragon egg that wasn't as solid as stone

[BaneTheBrawler]

or the little girl that they "think" has stopped turning into stone

now that's an interesting thought. Blood and fire is the recipe for dragonhatching; perhaps the stone is the blood.

[Plow]

why not just her blood?

blood of kings has powers blah blah

she's ready made, king's blood and stone just add fire

[Jakson]

Tomorrow is street date for paperback DwD, but got it today. Has a Barristan chapter at the end, no idea if new, don't keep up, etc.

[Zetanio]

Seems new. Scan it and post it?

[Plow]

it's the preview chapter included in every paperback

haven't read it yet but from what I've heard there's not much to it

[Jakson]

it's the preview chapter included in every paperback

haven't read it yet but from what I've heard there's not much to it

This. It's basically just about Barristan gettin' mad about bodies being catapulted into buildings and blowing chunks everywhere. Nothing happens.

[Evane]

Just finished reading The princess and the queen novella. I bet GRRM had a blast creating and killing all those Targaryens.

[BadKarma]

Saw this get bumped. Opened it. Was instantly disappointed

[Tyrath]

Sorry if this makes anyone think there's new info about the books...

I just wanted to share the greatest tinfoil theory I've ever read on reddit

http://www.reddit.com/r/asoiaf/comme...rectly_to_the/

We know almost nothing about the past Boltons. Roose is the oldest Bolton we know, and we don't know how old Roose even is. I think the only reference I have seen made to other Boltons directly related to the current batch was an off hand remark Roose said about his "forebears" not being fools.

Thesis: There has only been one Bolton patriarch.

Support: Recall the Faceless Men and their methods for disguise. They use the cured skin of other people's faces, and magically fuse these masks to their faces with their own blood. They assume that person's identity, and no one's the wiser.

Bolton is an ancient house. They were bitter rivals to the Starks back when the Starks were Kings in the North. Back when magic was common place, and the Starks were wargs. How did House Bolton survive this feud, against an enemy with superior man power and magic? Recall that the Boltons were known to have worn the skins of their enemies as cloaks, even having a few Stark skins back at the Dreadfort. Well what if this was the Bolton ace in the hole? They have been flaying people since the beginning of written history. Is it such a stretch that they would know some magic art pertaining to human skin? I think this is the ultimate survival technique. About to be captured by Starks? Okay, let me just don my Lord of Winterfell skinsuit and tell them to fuck off! Perhaps what looked like quick thinking on Ramsay's part when he assumed Reek's identity was actually Bolton instinct.

Ramsay is actually central to my next point. Why does Roose stomach Ramsay? By most counts, letting Ramsay continue to be Ramsay is political suicide. Roose's explanation is that Ramsay continues to kill all of Roose's sons, and Roose will not live long enough to see a boy to manhood, which would be devastating for his house. Which is strange. Roose seems to be in perfect health. Why does Roose think he won't live for another twenty years?

I have pondered this a fair amount. An explanation offered by the GNC and its supporters is that Roose doesn't think he will make it out of his current situation in the North. This doesn't strike me as very in line with Roose's character, nor does it make sense that Roose would feel better about letting his Bastard take his lands over a boy lord. If Roose thinks he's doomed, than I'm sure he thinks Ramsay is twice as doomed. No, this doesn't make much sense to me at all.

But what if there was another reason Roose was keeping Ramsay alive? Why did Roose spare Ramsay when he first found out that he had a bastard? Ramsay had his eyes. Roose is keeping Ramsay around, because Roose plans on stealing Ramsay's identity. Roose plans on stealing Ramsay's face.

Why? Because Roose is immortal. How he achieved this, I'm not sure. One theory that I like is that the Bolton line began when the Night's King and an Other had a half human child. That child grew to an adult, but then ceased to age. How could this strange creature continue its existence while living in the world of men? It must pretend. It must be cautious. It must look to live and die and give birth to heirs, like men do. And when it has lived fifty or sixty years, not long enough for it's unlined face and dark hair to draw too much attention, it flays a son with pale, pale eyes, and assumes his identity.

Roose Bolton’s own face was a pale grey mask, with two chips of dirty ice where his eyes should be. p.487 ADwD

[BaneTheBrawler]

holy shit lol thats actually pretty damn good. plausible enough, given what we (don't) know about the white walkers.

[Andalusian girls]

trash foil

[Zetanio]

Cheesy but entertaining.

[lamp]

Game of Thrones Book 5 Spoilers:

Spoiler: show

So i am 2 chapters off finishing Dance with Dragons, and what the hell... Jon Snow... I am almost certain he isn't dead, and whether to believe all the shit with Stannis and Mance that they heard about from the letter? I have a feeling this could be something to do with Melisandre, has she realised from seeing Jon so much in the flames that he is the Bringer of Light? Or is that Daenerys?. So long to wait for answers, arghh.

[BaneTheBrawler]

wrong book thread, mina. but that's okay. in response to lamp, you should go check out the game of thrones book thread. we've talked about what you mention; i have my own theories.

I'm still working my way through Safehold. Not as many references to Arthurian lore as I implied earlier; just a few really good ones. At this point I'm wondering if the series is going to follow the main characters the entire way back to space, or if it's going to jump ahead after the major things get wrapped up. Not sure which I'd prefer, honestly. I'm just enjoying the ride!

[Zzsark]

Since when does A Song of Ice and Fire not = Game of Thrones? lol

[BaneTheBrawler]

since i posted that in the books books books thread.

[Plow]

so, potential spoiler here, involving gregor

Spoiler: show

so in that panel with rory, momoa, and maisie, they get to a point where somebody asks if momoa will ever be coming back, and basically he hints that there's going to be another dream sequence or something but...

he also went off on a bit of a tangent and started talking about how they had discussed possibly having him eventually come back as sandor's brother... rory is all confused and momoa's like "when he'd never take off the helmet" or something along those lines

so yeah, it really seemed like momoa (who has read all the books where the others haven't) was talking about coming back as robert strong, and referring to him openly as sandor's brother, and of course the others were all confused


anyway, nothing super cereal or anything but it seemed like a strong possibility that he was confirming strong really is gregor and that he's talked about it with the guys that know for sure

also rory mentions that he's read just ahead of where they're meant to be in the show and now he wishes he hadn't lol... and then someone asked something pretty direct about the end of arya and the hound, and arya's all "well how do you know she's going to be just as cold hearted in the show as she was in the books?" but really obviously just trying to put on a front lol...

I was like damn I feel bad for any show watchers that haven't read the books hearing that lol.

[Zetanio]

Book thread needs no spoiler tags :D