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A Song of Ice and Fire - Page 25

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Vifee
Profile Joined July 2010
United States31 Posts
July 15 2011 23:15 GMT
#481
Spoilers for the Wall in Dance.
+ Show Spoiler +
Reread the prologue, specifically the description of Varamyr's death, then read the last line of Jon's chapter "only the cold..." I'm going to assume that means he's dead and warged into Ghost.
sjh
Profile Joined April 2010
Canada136 Posts
July 16 2011 04:15 GMT
#482


On July 15 2011 04:12 DURRHURRDERP wrote:
dwd spoiler
+ Show Spoiler +
BLOODRAVEN - holy shit did not see this coming
probably need to have read the dunk/egg mini stories for this to have some significance but this guy is fucking legendary - bastard of aegon the unworthy, alleged sorcerer, hand of the king, kinslayer, lord commander of the nights watch...greenseer?!!?! wtfffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff


Could you explain his role in this? I haven't read dunk/egg .
Ceterum ceseo Protatem esse delendam
DURRHURRDERP
Profile Joined May 2006
Canada929 Posts
July 16 2011 10:19 GMT
#483
ok so...
+ Show Spoiler +
bloodraven (brynden rivers) is a bastard son of aegon the unworthy (the one who legitimized all his 2734274 bastards before he died which led to the blackfyre rebellion (because he passed down his valyrian sword to one of his legitimized bastards while passing the iron throne to one of his legitimate sons)

during this rebellion he killed daemon blackfyre by arrowing him and his sons during the battle (another bastard son of aegon the unworthy) which effectively ended the rebellion and earned him the kinslayer title...

bloodraven ended up being the hand of the king and was infamous at the time because he was the de facto king (also rumored to be a sorcerer) and had spies and informers everywhere to inform on further rebellions ("the one thousand eyes and one" song is about him), then somehow ended up being thrown in prison (?? not really explained in the books) but then later formed an honor guard that escorted master aemon to the wall (he took the black along with aemon) and eventually rose to lord commander of the nights watch

uhhh and somehow between then and now apparently he's the last greenseer? (he should be like dead or something...he's definitely like 150+? years old at this point) the weirwood tree must be keeping him alive somehow

but yeah definitely very interested to see where this leads with his character. he's far older than master aemon was when he died so he has to be the oldest living human (?) in the series
"I am an iconic role model for everyone aspiring to be better at League of Legends." - Roffles
Fzero
Profile Blog Joined October 2007
United States1503 Posts
July 16 2011 11:13 GMT
#484
On July 14 2011 23:44 KOFgokuon wrote:
+ Show Spoiler +
WTF JON SNOW. WTF KEVAN LANNISTER. WTF QUENTYN WHY ARE U GOING TO INTRODUCE YET ANOTHER CHARACTER JUST TO DIE AO#$ITJA$OITJA$OITJ$TOIJA$OTI$OJATIOJ

sigh. Quentyn I wasn't that attached to, if Jon Snow dies, then like 600 pages of book development are completely pointless (unless it's all a pretext for a wilding invasion of the North, if he gets brought back my Melisandre and becomes a convert to the Fire god I quit the books ><

I enjoyed Davos' storyline, especially Manderly's granddaughter who is so faithful to Robb and the North.

Tyrion, I've never been a huge fan, so meh. And didn't see that Aegon storyline coming...holy shit.

As for Jaime, pretty sure Brienne came to him to bring him back to see Catelyn, I'm curious to see how that goes...

Sam's storyline is uber boring, don't care about that. Cersei, broken woman, she got what she deserved, but Kevan dying might light a fire under her again. Varys, you sneaky sneaky bastard.



+ Show Spoiler [SAM'S STORY] +

I was curious if you didn't catch some of the subtlety of the Oldtown storyline because quite a few people that I speak with don't on their first read.

I'm sure you probably figured this one out, but Sarella = Arellas. If you need convincing, just let me know - there's plenty of evidence. Sarella is one of the Sand Snakes from Dorne. She's posing as a man because only men can be Maesters and she wants to be a Maester.

Meanwhile, you know that Dorne will support Daenerys based on the Quentyn storyline. Much of Book 6 since will probably be devoted to Dany's journey from East to West(eros) and then south (Dorne) to North (the wall). There are a bunch of major players that could support or be against Dany in the south including the Snakes, Hotah, the Darkstar, Jaqen H'ghar, the Maesters, etc.

Back to Oldtown -> Jaqen H'ghar is there posing as Pate after he kills him. We don't know why he wants access to the Maesters, but we do know that the Maesters were the ones who helped bring down the Targ's originally (especially the Dragons). We know that the ArchMaesters probably have knowledge to most of the secrets we've seen in the series surrounding magic, including the cooky guy who practices with things we've never seen like the glass candles, and he supports Sarella.

+ Show Spoiler [affc chapter] +

Alleras stepped up next to Sam. "Aemon would have gone to [Daenerys] if he had the strength. He wanted us to send a maester to her, to counsel her and protect her and fetch her safely home."

"Did he?" Archmaester Marwyn shrugged. "Perhaps it's good that he died before he got to Oldtown. Elsewise the grey sheep might have had to kill him, and that would have made the poor old dears wring their wrinkled hands."

"Kill him?" Sam said, shocked. "Why?"

"If I tell you, they may need to kill you too." Marywn smiled a ghastly smile, the juice of the sourleaf running red between his teeth. "Who do you think killed all the dragons the last time around? Gallant dragonslayers armed with swords?" He spat. "The world the Citadel is building has no place in it for sorcery or prophecy or glass candles, much less for dragons. Ask yourself why Aemon Targaryen was allowed to waste his life upon the Wall, when by rights he should have been raised to archmaester. His blood was why. He could not be trusted. No more than I can."

"What will you do?" asked Alleras, the Sphinx.

"Get myself to Slaver's Bay, in Aemon's place. The swan ship that delivered Slayer should serve my needs well enough. The grey sheep will send their man on a galley, I don't doubt. With fair winds I should reach her first." Marwyn glanced at Sam again, and frowned. "You . . . you should stay and forge your chain. If I were you, I would do it quickly. A time will come when you'll be needed on the Wall." He turned to the pasty-faced novice. "Find Slayer a dry cell. He'll sleep here, and help you tend the ravens."

"B-b-but," Sam sputtered, "the other archmaesters . . . the Seneschal . . . what should I tell them?"

"Tell them how wise and good they are. Tell them that Aemon commanded you to put yourself into their hands. Tell them that you have always dreamed that one day you might be allowed to wear the chain and serve the greater good, that service is the highest honor, and obedience the highest virtue. But say nothing of prophecies or dragons, unless you fancy poison in your porridge." Marwyn snatched a stained leather cloak off a peg near the door and tied it tight. "Sphinx, look after this one."

"I will," Alleras answered, but the archmaester was already gone. They heard his boots stomping down the steps.

"Where has he gone?" asked Sam, bewildered.

"To the docks. The Mage is not a man who believes in wasting time." Alleras smiled. "I have a confession. Ours was no chance encounter, Sam. The Mage sent me to snatch you up before you spoke to Theobald. He knew that you were coming."

"How?"

Alleras nodded at the glass candle.

Sam stared at the strange pale flame for a moment, then blinked and looked away. Outside the window, it was growing dark.


Basically, you've seen the theme with Weirwoods = Books/Knowledge, the Maesters represent Science and advancement vs. "magic" and superstition. The Maesters are just another puzzle piece in the story playing the Game of Thrones, trying to shape the world how they see fit. I'm sure we'll get more information about Pycelle's influence on the Kings over the years at some point.

The major point here is that a lot of people dismiss AFFC as not having a lot of impact due to some weaker parts (Brienne, Oldtown, Iron Islands) but if the author knows what he's doing he won't have wasted our time. He definitely didn't with Oldtown and the Iron Islands, we're still waiting on Brienne.
Never give up on something that you can't go a day without thinking about.
Odoakar
Profile Joined May 2010
Croatia1837 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-07-18 18:57:19
July 18 2011 18:52 GMT
#485
Read the book in two days..I'm more pissed off than dissapointed:|

+ Show Spoiler +
Basically, after waiting on this book for 3-4 years, very little happens in the actual book, if anything at all. I prefered the quick pace of the first 3 books - something that Martin would before mention as happpening off screen is now being described in several chapters. Tyrion's chapters were the most dissapointing for me, I feel as if his whole trip could have been summed up in one chapter. Actually, you can sum up the whole 800+ book in few words: 'Tyrion travels to Meerene, Dany tries to rule the Mereen, Jon manages the Wall.

An example of what I'm talking about is after Theon fleds Winterfell, Martin doesn't take 2-3 chapters descibing his trip from Winterfell to Stannis. He just brings it out in the last few sentences of the chapter and leaves the reader to fill out the gaps of his flight, how he met with Braavosi, and how he came upon King's camp. And that's why I loved the Storm of Swords. The other 99% of the this book Martin 'wastes' chapters and chapters describing almost pointless details and makes the books character driven, rather than plot drivent...I prefered the second one.

What else...I don't know, as I was reading the book, and slowly realising that nothing major will happen, I just grew more and more irritated. The unvieling of Aegon came as a 'meh' moment, not sure why, but I just didn't have any build up to it. Dany riding a dragon was a great scene, but it lasted so short.

I don't know, I love Martin's work, and have read most of his other books before I started with A Song, ready every book from the series three times so far..but this one just feels worse than AFoC, not to mention the first 3 books.

My favorite character Tyrion had the most boring chapters in the book, that's probably my biggest grief with this book.

And now to wait another 2-4 years for the next book :sigh:




And it seems I'm not the only one with these same feelings, sums up my feelings much better.

On July 14 2011 18:38 Tyrio wrote:
Just finished DwD, spoilierz.

+ Show Spoiler +

Overall the book had a very FoC feel to it. The entire book seemed very...transitional with nothing important happening until the very end (and then everybody gettin' raped in here).

Tyrion, Victarion and Quentyn's chapters were like Brienne's chapters - just traveling and ultimately being rather boring, especially Tyrion's. Was stoked when Quentyn got himself burnt to a crisp though,

Davos - Happy to see that he's still alive.

Jaime - Definitely didn't like the ending to his chapter. Brienne isn't dead and knows where Sansa is? wut

Cersei - FrankenGregor will be lulz. Return of Varys is cool, felt bad for Kevan though.

Arya - Awesome chapters. Still wondering how/when she'll be relevant. Hopefully she won't fade into obscurity.

Dany - I especially didn't like Dany's chapters, since half of them are just her lusting after Daario. She didn't do anything the entire book. Near the end I was half expecting her to just go and die of dysentery and the last page being a trollface.

Melisandre - Had an interesting chapter. I liked how it humanized her by showing her compassion and the fact that she's not all-powerful.

Jon - I was lolling hard when Aegon showed up since to me it casts a lot of doubt on him being Lyanna and Rhaegar's son. But three dragon heads and all so maybe not. Expecting some miraculous recovery from getting Caeser'd.


Now only five years till the next one (╯°□°)╯︵ ┻━┻

Gryffindor_us
Profile Blog Joined November 2002
United States5606 Posts
July 20 2011 03:54 GMT
#486
Dance with Dragon spoilers:

+ Show Spoiler +


That was lengthy. I only found myself skimming two chapters. Victarion's first chapter in the book was like a slap in the face to me at the time because whatever came before it was far more interesting and so I was running through that chapter as fast as can be. Despite Quentyn Martell's introduction and seeming importance I still didn't like him as a character and so his chapters were meh to me.

I don't really agree about Daenerys' chapters. The only issue I have is that she didn't resolve to go to Westeros in the end. It was sort of a tease though, I had wanted her to meet Tyrion, resolved Mereen/Yunkai blah and be ready to leave for Westeros by the time it was over.

I enjoyed Reek's chapters.

The primary problem I have with DWD is that for him to bring a conclusion to this story it feels like he's going to have to write even larger books for the next two or kill off some characters to trim it down. I don't mind longer books but that increases the chance of him not completing it before he dies. The enormity of this story at this point with its number of characters and plots and the time it took him to write it (not harping on that, it's huge) has me wondering if he can keep this story in one piece.

If Jon Snow is dead I'm not sure how I'm going to feel. I love a story that isn't afraid to kill characters, and I love the fact that the beneficent characters aren't overly triumphant. But, we've already lost Ned and Robb. If you kill off Jon then you've eliminated every character that remotely approaches pure honor and virtue. Bran looks to be leading a life of solitude and Rickon is far too young to be of consequence in this story. I hope he has it written down how he wants the story to end and he'd at least have the notes released upon his death if he doesn't complete it. Otherwise, leaving on a cliffhanger of Jon Snow being dead would scar many people lol.

I'm wondering how everyone here thinks this story is going to play out. At this point I'm wondering where and how it's all going to come together. That's good and bad. It will be bad if it's a lame fairy tale ending, I will feel like I was at the end of a cruel, cruel joke. I don't think I'd be happy with a Daenerys tames dragons, comes to Westeros, kills etc.. unites/subdues Kingdom, kills Others, live happily ever after. I'm also not sure I like the idea of Jon Snow being Rhaegar's son. I think it would be hilariously awesome if GRRM just kept him Ned's bastard. The idea of a "never-ending summer" is abhorrent to my cynicism.

Anyway, I hope he's faster about this next book than he was about this one, obviously. And yeah this "review" is all over the place.
Remember 11-12-04. 이윤열 ~. |||| ZerO, IriS, JangBi, Stork, BackHo! Mah Jae Yoon is no longer a feared entity.
Mercadia
Profile Joined December 2010
United States257 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-07-20 04:20:12
July 20 2011 04:18 GMT
#487
DwD:

+ Show Spoiler +

I agree with everyone saying it's just transitional and nothing really happens. It took me 8 days to read it, vs it taking me 6 days to read the other 4 back to back. It really feels like he isn't holding the story together. Splitting the same timeline into two books like he did was... well, fucking retarded considering the time he put into the two books.

Quentyn Martell was a huge waste of time for this series. He should have just arrived inside of a Dany section instead of having his entire journey documented. Odoakar's example about Theon above feels dead on to me - if there was a chapter about him fleeing in the snow from Winterfell to Stannis, I would have just skipped it. I imagine the only noteworthy thing Martin could have done is kill yet another character he introduced briefly, Jeyne (Fake Arya).

Oh. And if I ever reread this series (maybe before 6), I'll count up fun things such as how many feasts he describes excessively. The descriptions of food while I'm dieting broke my heart more than Jon's murder.

My rating: 7.5/10. You get a C George Martin.
Sevryn
Profile Joined September 2010
698 Posts
July 20 2011 04:44 GMT
#488
DwD+ Show Spoiler +
Am I the only one that wants to see a picture of the final scene in the epilogue with all the skinny creepy murderous kids coming out of the woodwork. I think it was a super badass scene and I cant wait for varys stuff in the next book
aebriol
Profile Joined April 2010
Norway2066 Posts
July 20 2011 04:48 GMT
#489
DwD:
+ Show Spoiler +
Something awesome is about to happen ...

Only problem is, I've been having that thought since book 1. Which I read back when it was originally released.

I just feel the entire series is one big buildup.
randombum
Profile Blog Joined April 2007
United States2378 Posts
July 20 2011 05:26 GMT
#490
DwD:

+ Show Spoiler +
Anybody else notice the pies? Hint: You want some Frey's with that?

Overall I was highly disappointed. The book is good, but after that wait I expected more. (probably unfaily). But, after-all what actually happened in the book? All of Jon's chapters are: "He let in some wilders, tries to save Arya, gets stabbed." ('m guessing he dies, but not for good. Hanging Slynt was epic though.

Dany was worse. "Mistake after mistake while spending half her time thinking about getting laid. Then runs away on her dragon." (which admittedly was sweet).

Quentyn was pretty pointless seeing how he simply died. Although it was funny seeing his failure wasn't due to his failures or lack of effort. He simply wasn't hot enough.

Jaime's chapter I liked. However, we spent that long on Brienne's cliffhanger only to find out she's alive and we're left with another cliff hanger? At least we should be told what happens next book unlike say Asmodan who took 10?

Tyrion was pretty good. His whole story in this book was enjoyable. I like how he managed to bid his own price up. Meeting another dwarf named Penny was funny. Dwarf's Penny... get it?

Mel's not evil although I never suspected she was.

Reek was probably my favorite, nothing bad to say about his chapters really.

Arya was also very enjoyable she's probably my favorite character to follow along on. Too bad she only had two chapters.

Cersie got off far too lightly.

Wylla, Lyanna, and Alys were some of the highlights of the book. Such bad ass little girls. And the fat lord was probably the greatest minor character in the book. The North Remembers

So, good parts and bad. But 2 of the three major characters were pretty meh, and since they are the major characters they take up like half the book making it pretty meh too. Everyone else was better.
acker
Profile Joined September 2010
United States2958 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-07-20 05:41:50
July 20 2011 05:41 GMT
#491
On July 20 2011 14:26 randombum wrote:
DwD:

+ Show Spoiler +

Jaime's chapter I liked. However, we spent that long on Brienne's cliffhanger only to find out she's alive and we're left with another cliff hanger? At least we should be told what happens next book unlike say Asmodan who took 10?


+ Show Spoiler +
I don't think Brienne is alive. Pretty sure she's a zombie. I'm not sure as to whose life they used, or whether or not Thoros agreed to try.
randombum
Profile Blog Joined April 2007
United States2378 Posts
July 20 2011 05:44 GMT
#492
On July 20 2011 14:41 acker wrote:
Show nested quote +
On July 20 2011 14:26 randombum wrote:
DwD:

+ Show Spoiler +

Jaime's chapter I liked. However, we spent that long on Brienne's cliffhanger only to find out she's alive and we're left with another cliff hanger? At least we should be told what happens next book unlike say Asmodan who took 10?


+ Show Spoiler +
I don't think Brienne is alive. Pretty sure she's a zombie. I'm not sure as to whose life they used, or whether or not Thoros agreed to try.


Perhaps, but still cliffhanger to cliffhanger is frustrating.
Zeroes
Profile Blog Joined April 2010
United States1102 Posts
July 20 2011 07:04 GMT
#493
+ Show Spoiler +
I think Jon will wake up as a wraith in winds of winter
Check out my SC Lan pics Here: http://picasaweb.google.com/bunk.habit
tyCe
Profile Joined March 2010
Australia2542 Posts
Last Edited: 2011-07-20 09:44:17
July 20 2011 09:39 GMT
#494
On July 16 2011 20:13 Fzero wrote:
Show nested quote +
On July 14 2011 23:44 KOFgokuon wrote:
+ Show Spoiler +
WTF JON SNOW. WTF KEVAN LANNISTER. WTF QUENTYN WHY ARE U GOING TO INTRODUCE YET ANOTHER CHARACTER JUST TO DIE AO#$ITJA$OITJA$OITJ$TOIJA$OTI$OJATIOJ

sigh. Quentyn I wasn't that attached to, if Jon Snow dies, then like 600 pages of book development are completely pointless (unless it's all a pretext for a wilding invasion of the North, if he gets brought back my Melisandre and becomes a convert to the Fire god I quit the books ><

I enjoyed Davos' storyline, especially Manderly's granddaughter who is so faithful to Robb and the North.

Tyrion, I've never been a huge fan, so meh. And didn't see that Aegon storyline coming...holy shit.

As for Jaime, pretty sure Brienne came to him to bring him back to see Catelyn, I'm curious to see how that goes...

Sam's storyline is uber boring, don't care about that. Cersei, broken woman, she got what she deserved, but Kevan dying might light a fire under her again. Varys, you sneaky sneaky bastard.



+ Show Spoiler [SAM'S STORY] +

I was curious if you didn't catch some of the subtlety of the Oldtown storyline because quite a few people that I speak with don't on their first read.

I'm sure you probably figured this one out, but Sarella = Arellas. If you need convincing, just let me know - there's plenty of evidence. Sarella is one of the Sand Snakes from Dorne. She's posing as a man because only men can be Maesters and she wants to be a Maester.

Meanwhile, you know that Dorne will support Daenerys based on the Quentyn storyline. Much of Book 6 since will probably be devoted to Dany's journey from East to West(eros) and then south (Dorne) to North (the wall). There are a bunch of major players that could support or be against Dany in the south including the Snakes, Hotah, the Darkstar, Jaqen H'ghar, the Maesters, etc.

Back to Oldtown -> Jaqen H'ghar is there posing as Pate after he kills him. We don't know why he wants access to the Maesters, but we do know that the Maesters were the ones who helped bring down the Targ's originally (especially the Dragons). We know that the ArchMaesters probably have knowledge to most of the secrets we've seen in the series surrounding magic, including the cooky guy who practices with things we've never seen like the glass candles, and he supports Sarella.

+ Show Spoiler [affc chapter] +

Alleras stepped up next to Sam. "Aemon would have gone to [Daenerys] if he had the strength. He wanted us to send a maester to her, to counsel her and protect her and fetch her safely home."

"Did he?" Archmaester Marwyn shrugged. "Perhaps it's good that he died before he got to Oldtown. Elsewise the grey sheep might have had to kill him, and that would have made the poor old dears wring their wrinkled hands."

"Kill him?" Sam said, shocked. "Why?"

"If I tell you, they may need to kill you too." Marywn smiled a ghastly smile, the juice of the sourleaf running red between his teeth. "Who do you think killed all the dragons the last time around? Gallant dragonslayers armed with swords?" He spat. "The world the Citadel is building has no place in it for sorcery or prophecy or glass candles, much less for dragons. Ask yourself why Aemon Targaryen was allowed to waste his life upon the Wall, when by rights he should have been raised to archmaester. His blood was why. He could not be trusted. No more than I can."

"What will you do?" asked Alleras, the Sphinx.

"Get myself to Slaver's Bay, in Aemon's place. The swan ship that delivered Slayer should serve my needs well enough. The grey sheep will send their man on a galley, I don't doubt. With fair winds I should reach her first." Marwyn glanced at Sam again, and frowned. "You . . . you should stay and forge your chain. If I were you, I would do it quickly. A time will come when you'll be needed on the Wall." He turned to the pasty-faced novice. "Find Slayer a dry cell. He'll sleep here, and help you tend the ravens."

"B-b-but," Sam sputtered, "the other archmaesters . . . the Seneschal . . . what should I tell them?"

"Tell them how wise and good they are. Tell them that Aemon commanded you to put yourself into their hands. Tell them that you have always dreamed that one day you might be allowed to wear the chain and serve the greater good, that service is the highest honor, and obedience the highest virtue. But say nothing of prophecies or dragons, unless you fancy poison in your porridge." Marwyn snatched a stained leather cloak off a peg near the door and tied it tight. "Sphinx, look after this one."

"I will," Alleras answered, but the archmaester was already gone. They heard his boots stomping down the steps.

"Where has he gone?" asked Sam, bewildered.

"To the docks. The Mage is not a man who believes in wasting time." Alleras smiled. "I have a confession. Ours was no chance encounter, Sam. The Mage sent me to snatch you up before you spoke to Theobald. He knew that you were coming."

"How?"

Alleras nodded at the glass candle.

Sam stared at the strange pale flame for a moment, then blinked and looked away. Outside the window, it was growing dark.


Basically, you've seen the theme with Weirwoods = Books/Knowledge, the Maesters represent Science and advancement vs. "magic" and superstition. The Maesters are just another puzzle piece in the story playing the Game of Thrones, trying to shape the world how they see fit. I'm sure we'll get more information about Pycelle's influence on the Kings over the years at some point.

The major point here is that a lot of people dismiss AFFC as not having a lot of impact due to some weaker parts (Brienne, Oldtown, Iron Islands) but if the author knows what he's doing he won't have wasted our time. He definitely didn't with Oldtown and the Iron Islands, we're still waiting on Brienne.

+ Show Spoiler +
IIRC, in ADWD, Tyrion recalled that the book, "Death of Dragons", was locked in a vault in the Citadel. Considering that the Faceless Men are from Braavos, which are themselves, descended from the escaped slaves of the Valyrian Freehold, I'm guessing that Jaqen is posing as Pate (after having Pate steal the master key) to steal the book, or something along those lines.


+ Show Spoiler +
Edit: Whatever view you have of ADWD, we know that the next book is probably gonna be the most epic and awesome book in the series yet. I'm sure GRRM won't spend another 1000 pages keeping all the interesting characters apart and placing stupid Cersei and Sansa-esque thoughts in the mind of the brilliant/slightly mad Dany.
Betrayed by EG.BuK
KOFgokuon
Profile Blog Joined August 2004
United States14900 Posts
July 20 2011 13:49 GMT
#495
No way, the next book is going to have even worse cliffhangers because it's almost over
-Frog-
Profile Joined February 2009
United States514 Posts
July 20 2011 14:35 GMT
#496
On July 20 2011 12:54 Gryffindor_us wrote:
Dance with Dragon spoilers:

+ Show Spoiler +


That was lengthy. I only found myself skimming two chapters. Victarion's first chapter in the book was like a slap in the face to me at the time because whatever came before it was far more interesting and so I was running through that chapter as fast as can be. Despite Quentyn Martell's introduction and seeming importance I still didn't like him as a character and so his chapters were meh to me.

I don't really agree about Daenerys' chapters. The only issue I have is that she didn't resolve to go to Westeros in the end. It was sort of a tease though, I had wanted her to meet Tyrion, resolved Mereen/Yunkai blah and be ready to leave for Westeros by the time it was over.

I enjoyed Reek's chapters.

The primary problem I have with DWD is that for him to bring a conclusion to this story it feels like he's going to have to write even larger books for the next two or kill off some characters to trim it down. I don't mind longer books but that increases the chance of him not completing it before he dies. The enormity of this story at this point with its number of characters and plots and the time it took him to write it (not harping on that, it's huge) has me wondering if he can keep this story in one piece.

If Jon Snow is dead I'm not sure how I'm going to feel. I love a story that isn't afraid to kill characters, and I love the fact that the beneficent characters aren't overly triumphant. But, we've already lost Ned and Robb. If you kill off Jon then you've eliminated every character that remotely approaches pure honor and virtue. Bran looks to be leading a life of solitude and Rickon is far too young to be of consequence in this story. I hope he has it written down how he wants the story to end and he'd at least have the notes released upon his death if he doesn't complete it. Otherwise, leaving on a cliffhanger of Jon Snow being dead would scar many people lol.

I'm wondering how everyone here thinks this story is going to play out. At this point I'm wondering where and how it's all going to come together. That's good and bad. It will be bad if it's a lame fairy tale ending, I will feel like I was at the end of a cruel, cruel joke. I don't think I'd be happy with a Daenerys tames dragons, comes to Westeros, kills etc.. unites/subdues Kingdom, kills Others, live happily ever after. I'm also not sure I like the idea of Jon Snow being Rhaegar's son. I think it would be hilariously awesome if GRRM just kept him Ned's bastard. The idea of a "never-ending summer" is abhorrent to my cynicism.

Anyway, I hope he's faster about this next book than he was about this one, obviously. And yeah this "review" is all over the place.


DWD

+ Show Spoiler +
I don't think Jon is dead. If you read over his last scene again it is a pretty good representation of the Azor Ahai (sp?) legend. AA is supposed to reborn from salt (Bowen Marsh is crying) and ash (Jon describes his wound as smoking) and it's supposed to occur beneath a bleeding star (the man Wun Wun is thrashing around is bleeding profusely and has a pointed star as his sigil).

As for Quentyn Martell. He wasn't entirely pointless because he fulfills a part of Mirri Mhaaz Duur's (definitely spelled that wrong) prophecy about Dany being able to bear children again when the sun rises in the West (he came from the west) and setting in the East (he died in Mereen and the sigil of Sunspear is a sun).
powered by coffee, driven by hate.
WhiteDog
Profile Blog Joined November 2010
France8650 Posts
July 20 2011 15:05 GMT
#497
I'm reading some review about DWD (avoiding the spoilers when I can) but it seems everybody have mixed feeling about DWD.

I hated AFFC, so, tell me, should I get ADWD asap or is it not worth it ?
"every time WhiteDog overuses the word "seriously" in a comment I can make an observation on his fragile emotional state." MoltkeWarding
floor exercise
Profile Blog Joined August 2008
Canada5847 Posts
July 20 2011 15:16 GMT
#498
On July 21 2011 00:05 WhiteDog wrote:
I'm reading some review about DWD (avoiding the spoilers when I can) but it seems everybody have mixed feeling about DWD.

I hated AFFC, so, tell me, should I get ADWD asap or is it not worth it ?


It's much more interesting than AFFC although it's still kind of slow/poorly paced in parts. It picks up about half way through but since it basically covers the same period as AFFC you can't expect any solid conclusion.

All in all I didn't think it was great but it's still tons better than Feast
Odoakar
Profile Joined May 2010
Croatia1837 Posts
July 20 2011 16:22 GMT
#499
For me it's the same transitional style of book, but I found AFFC better, just because Cersei and Jamie's chapters had a lot of things going on. In this book, there's nothing going on.

I fear the next book will be the same, as there's is no way Martin can get all the characters that are currently in the East to get to Westeros at a proper time to mesh well with storylines of the characters currently in Westeros.

+ Show Spoiler +
He was talking about his Mereen knot that he needs to solve, but he wasted the whole book and did nothing about that. All the people traveling to Dany, except Martell, haven't even arrived there, the dragons are still not grown up enough, Dany is still stuck in 'trying to rule' situation. I expected this book to place all the characters in the right positions so the hell can break loose in the next book, but I don't see that happening.

Also, regarding AA prophecy, Jon will probably be reborn, but I find this salt in tears omen really ridiculous, might as well said that the sea is close so there's solt in the air. Or better yet, there's salt in the Wall itself. The prophecy is fulfiled. Meh.
-Frog-
Profile Joined February 2009
United States514 Posts
July 20 2011 17:17 GMT
#500
On July 21 2011 01:22 Odoakar wrote:
For me it's the same transitional style of book, but I found AFFC better, just because Cersei and Jamie's chapters had a lot of things going on. In this book, there's nothing going on.

I fear the next book will be the same, as there's is no way Martin can get all the characters that are currently in the East to get to Westeros at a proper time to mesh well with storylines of the characters currently in Westeros.

+ Show Spoiler +
He was talking about his Mereen knot that he needs to solve, but he wasted the whole book and did nothing about that. All the people traveling to Dany, except Martell, haven't even arrived there, the dragons are still not grown up enough, Dany is still stuck in 'trying to rule' situation. I expected this book to place all the characters in the right positions so the hell can break loose in the next book, but I don't see that happening.

Also, regarding AA prophecy, Jon will probably be reborn, but I find this salt in tears omen really ridiculous, might as well said that the sea is close so there's solt in the air. Or better yet, there's salt in the Wall itself. The prophecy is fulfiled. Meh.


DWD


+ Show Spoiler +
Seems to me that Mereen is all but wrapped up.

Barristan has Hizadhar (butchered that) locked up and the Brazen Beasts and under his control as well.

The Yunkai'i army is boned because of plague and the Second Sons are under the control of Tyrion. If he chooses to ally himself with Dany then they will be under her control as well.

The dragons are grown enough to fly and to withstand spears and arrows. I'd say they are more than ready to be used in battle.

The Iron Fleet is almost at Mereen and with them they bring two very important things: Ships and the Dragon Horn. With the ships Dany can get to Westeros and with the Horn she can control the dragons. Not to mention the large number of fighting men that Victarion brings with him.

Finally Dany encounters Khal Jhaqo (butchered again I'm sure) with his khalasar. Given that she has an enormous dragon at her back I feel like he is going to swear his allegiance to her and help her destroy the Yunkai'i and any other Mereen enemies she may have.

As far as the Jon prophecy goes: I don't think it's nearly as ridiculous as you're claiming. The man stabbing him is crying and the wounds that the crying man's knife have made are smoking. Of course all of this could be misdirection but I think it's plausible for sure.
powered by coffee, driven by hate.
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