If Eddard for whatever reason was involved more in court and saw Robert more frequently could their friendship survive? It seemed to be verging on a total break down at times after just a few months in canon before Robert's deathbed reconciliatiion.
I agree. I don't think it's a friendship that could have survived close proximity once Ned saw how Robert was using (or not using) the powers his promotion gave him.
considering Robert was a cowardly abuser would cersei have been safer if she had lord of ladies in waiting basically making it impossible for Robert to abuse a quietly like he dod in cannon?
There's no such thing as safe from abuse when your abuser is the king in this system. If these women knew, what are they going to do? What are they going to say? The most they can do is support Cersei herself, which could be very valuable to Cersei's state of mind, but they cannot stop Robert doing exactly what he wants. The very entitlement and misogyny that contributes to Robert abusing Cersei is something that means the criticism of women "doesn't count".
No, I think if Cersei had ladies in waiting, with Cersei's own personality taken into account, I think the abuse would have become a dirty secret known to only a few - and continued on regardless.
The Lannisters never express any concern over Joffrey harming Margaery and what affect this could have on the Tyrell alliance, so you think they figured Mace wouldn’t care (not like Tywin cared about Robert hurting Cersei), or that it never occurred to them?
We have more than one Lannister on scene, all of who have different reasons for this behaviour. Tywin's in town for the least amount of time and frankly not paying all that much attention to his grandson as a person. Like he didn't pay attention to who his children were as people. Tyrion's got his own problems to deal with and isn't looking ahead to the Joffrey-Margaery dynamic.
And Cersei? Cersei thinks the abuse is normal, or if it isn't, that Joffrey's wife should just deal with it like she herself put up with Robert's abuse.
Was Jaime bluffing in his threat to launch Edmure's kid out a trebuchet?
I don't think he knows (by AFFC, I don't think he could do it, myself) and I don't think it matters. He's in a position of power. The people who hear that threat have to take it seriously.
What does claiming the dragon horn "with blood" mean exactly, and what does Victarion think it means?
What exactly is Moqorro trying to gain by deceiving or insincerely flattering Victarion? He seems to have saved him from the dusky woman poisoning him, but why?
For the first, it's unclear. It's magic in ASoIaF. It runs on vibes, not logic.
For the second, if nothing else, Moqorro is at least getting free and reasonably safe transport straight to Daenerys. A big deal in a world without commercial transport.
So Tyrion is supposed to be intelligent so how could he ever even dream that his and Sansa marriage could work out or that Sansa could ever love a Lannister like him? Was he just so desperate that he deluded himself until Sansa told him to his face that she would never want him?
Having emotional vulnerabilities =/= lacking intelligence.
It's a tragic case of the abuse, mistreatment, and discrimination Tyrion has experienced actually limiting his empathy for another person's completely different situation of abuse and mistreatment. It happens. And it doesn't happen because Tyrion's not clever.
Do you think Ned had any intention of actually telling Jon the truth about his parentage?
Safe to say there were no near-term plans to do so, since Ned went south and Jon to the Wall without discussing it. Both would have known that the separation would be years long even under the best of circumstances.
I wouldn't be shocked if Ned initially intended to take the secret to his grave, believing it safer for Jon, and that's why we get this:
The thought of Jon filled Ned with a sense of shame, and a sorrow too deep for words. If only he could see the boy again, sit and talk with him… Eddard XV, AGoT
Do you think it really mattered to Tywin whether Tyrion killed Joffrey or not? Tywin hated Joffrey and it was a golden opportunity to get rid of Tyrion once and for all. So do you think he cared about whether Tyrion was innocent or guilty?
I don't think it's so much that Tywin doesn't care whether Tyrion is innocent of killing Joffrey as much as it is that Tywin's predisposed to think that Tyrion's guilty. He's not forming any sort of impartial view of Joffrey's murder. Like Cersei accusing Tyrion, this is the culmination of Tywin's Issues with Tyrion.
Hi, turtle. Regarding your recent Roose question, you said: "Because it benefited him. Roose is not so very different from Ramsay. He's more organised and can keep the game going longer, but when it comes right down to it - yeah, they're alike."
So basically Roose only realized the he was going to be killed due to his actions during the Red Wedding after he had already done them?
I don't know what he realised about his fate or when. I do think that he decided that killing Robb was Worth It. This was his chance to Go There and Do That. He could be the boss. He could kill the boss. Personally.
A chance like that isn't coming by every day, and I think Roose thought that the personal high outweighed whatever costs might or might not come for him later.
Would you say Renly was a wasted character? Out of all the Baratheon he gets the least characterization, and beyond Brienne( who has a surface level view of him) none of the POV post his death have a different perspective to offer of him. Compared that to Robert, who has later characterization added in Cersei, JonCon, Barristan POV’s.
No, I think he's a minor character who serves his limited purpose well. Spanner comprehensively thrown in the works to the detriment of both spanner and works.
im sorry i only watched the show once long ago so there might be a reason for it already stated, but you said assassinations arent easy to arrange but cant they hire someone from the house of assassins to do the job? they as in the people with money, upper ranks of the the nobles and merchants from essos maybe
They could... but we have a passage that shows us how the House of Black and White sets its fees.
She did not expect the waif to answer, but she did. "I was born the only child of an ancient House, my noble father's heir," the waif replied. "My mother died when I was little, I have no memory of her. When I was six my father wed again. His new wife treated me kindly until she gave birth to a daughter of her own. Then it was her wish that I should die, so her own blood might inherit my father's wealth. She should have sought the favor of the Many-Faced God, but she could not bear the sacrifice he would ask of her. Instead, she thought to poison me herself. It left me as you see me now, but I did not die. When the healers in the House of the Red Hands told my father what she had done, he came here and made sacrifice, offering up all his wealth and me. Him of Many Faces heard his prayer. I was brought to the temple to serve, and my father's wife received the gift." [...] She had been watching the waif's face the whole time she told her story, but the other girl had shown her no signs. "The Many-Faced God took two-thirds of your father's wealth, not all." "Just so.["] Cat of the Canals, AFFC
From the references to sacrifice it very much seems that the Faceless Men charge proportionate to what someone can pay - the price is high for everyone who seeks their services. Not everyone's going to want to fork out 66% of their net worth and their child for an assassination.
What do you think IIyn Payne found so funny about Jaime’s confession that he would have murdered Arya because Cersei told him too? Do you think he just found Jaime pathetic.
Yep.
From Ilyn's PoV, he's been brought along on this nighttime excursion to help Jaime with his sparring, which he sucks at but cannot admit to anyone. Now Jaime's actually unburdening himself. This is a paid killer, though (themes!), so the vibe here is more oh, rich boy's having a widdle emotional crisis about fucking his obviously evil sister! Ilyn has seen Jaime for who he is too.
Unlike Brienne, Ilyn's got nothing but scorn.
What are you thought on Aegon uniting Westeros due to prophecy of the others? Do you think it weakens the character or justifying monarchy as necessary?
I think Aegon I is still pretty much a blank slate and the knowledge of this particular prophecy adds to what we know. We've got a motivation now! And if you liked the headcanon that Aegon I was conquering because of his own ambitions, that can still exist alongside the prophetic motivation.
As for "justifying the monarchy"... we're back to the thing where just because it's in a prophecy doesn't mean a) it must happen or b) it's right. Nowhere in the prophecy do I see the rule that means the Iron Throne has to mean violent conquest and ongoing absolutist or purely feudal rule. Though admittedly it's vanishingly unlikely that a Valyrian noble is going to see a new-to-him continent and think "oh boy oh boy time to become a constitutional monarch alongside a strong and representative parliamentary system!"
This prophecy sits alongside Melisandre's prophecies that lead her to believe Stannis is the chosen one, and all the ends-justifying-means debate from that. It sits alongside Cersei's prophecy and the sure and certain knowledge that she could avert huge chunks of it with a single sentence, even late in the series. Aegon's got a prophecy and GRRM's writing what an entire family did with that knowledge - and from what material he's given us about various Targaryen shenanigans, I'm not seeing the bit where it's all okay because ultimately it will save the world. On the contrary, I think the series is very firm on the fact that the stuff that got lost or trampled on the way is important.
Do you agree that love is the death of duty, duty is the death of love? Jon interpretation of it backfired on him. Do you think we are supposed to support Aemon quote?
Here's our context:
"So they will not love," the old man answered, "for love is the bane of honor, the death of duty." That did not sound right to Jon, yet he said nothing. Jon VIII, AGoT
I think we're meant to think about Maester Aemon's words. It's one of those simplifications that I think reasonable people can disagree about, myself. Honour is such a nebulous concept (as is amply explored elsewhere in the series). Love can create its own duties (as always, looking at Ned here). There are a lot of reasons why someone, Jon included, might have a gut level reaction that this isn't quite right here - even as they get Aemon's point about self-interest and acting with integrity.
did cersei go to the tourney at harrenhal?
We've got this on the attendees:
"A great tourney was about to commence, and champions from all over the land had come to contest it. The king himself was there, with his son the dragon prince. The White Swords had come, to welcome a new brother to their ranks. The storm lord was on hand, and the rose lord as well. The great lion of the rock had quarreled with the king and stayed away, but many of his bannermen and knights attended all the same. The crannogman had never seen such pageantry, and knew he might never see the like again. Part of him wanted nothing so much as to be part of it." Meera, in Bran II, ASoS
We also have this:
Jaime's investiture freed him from Lysa Tully. Elsewise, nothing went as planned. His father had never been more furious. He could not object openly—Cersei had judged that correctly—but he resigned the Handship on some thin pretext and returned to Casterly Rock, taking his daughter with him. Jaime II, ASoS
So it looks to me like no, Cersei was off with Tywin in Casterly Rock.
If Roose thinks that House Bolton's future is a lost cause because of Ramsay and because of his own actions in betraying the Starks and turning most of the North against him, why did he do it in the first place? Or was it something he realized after the Red Wedding?
Because it benefited him. Roose is not so very different from Ramsay. He's more organised and can keep the game going longer, but when it comes right down to it - yeah, they're alike.
Why do you think Roose Bolton isn't really invested in securing his House's future or stability after he's gone? Does he not care about what happens after he dies, or does he feel House Bolton's future is a lost cause because of Ramsay (and, for that matter, because of Roose's own actions in betraying his liege lord and turning most of the North against him)?
Yes.
