#asoiaf spoilers

[tomapoganka]

harpy hare, where have you buried all your children?

[greenbloods]

love how both tywin and ned are genre definingly different from the predecessors from their houses. lannisters have always been the clever house, from lann the clever swindling casterly rock to tyland lannister splitting kings landing's treasury. but tywin's 'low cunning' and use of brutal crushing military force to solve his problems which he employs in the reyne-tarbeck rebellion and the scouring of the riverlands and the red wedding is different from the historical version of house lannister. it's a new brand of lannisterism, tywin's version, and it is this version of lannister legacy that he passes on to his children.

ned on the other hand very much likes to distance himself from the stark features of the wild and the wolf's blood, which other starks like brandon and rickard and cregan and even lyanna are defined by, adopting instead an ethos of duty and honor more like the tully words or his foster father jon arryn. he does this because he thinks that it is this wolf's blood that killed them in the end. just like the lannister kids contend with their father's idea of a good lannister, the starklings contend with their father's idea of a good stark.

[alvsanne]

Queen ALICENT HIGHTOWER & the Dance of the Dragons As described in Fire & Blood Part 2

[vintrage]

nothing but respect for MY aegon

[hvitserkk]

@gameofthronesdaily's HOTD SEASON 2 APPRECIATION WEEK Day Seven: Parallels or Foreshadow — The foreshadowing fates of Aemond and Daemon Targaryen

"It was upon the twenty-second day of the fifth moon of the year 130 AC when the dragons danced and died above the Gods Eye." — The Dying of the Dragons - Rhaenyra Triumphant

[starogeorgina]

“No, I forbid it, I forbid it! After him!” Rhaenyra shouted. “All of you, every man, every boy, to horse, to horse, go after him. Bring him back, bring him back, he does not know. My son, my sweet, my son...”

“Mother, forgive me,” Joffrey supposedly said with his last breath...

— Fire & blood

[claudiatherelentless]

[itisasadness]

Sleepwalker (1978) by Maximilian Pirner

Aemond One-Eye at the bottom of the Gods' Eye by Sam Hogg

And it was then, the tales tell us, that Prince Daemon Targaryen swung a leg over his saddle and leapt from one dragon to the other. In his hand was Dark Sister, the sword of Queen Visenya. As Aemond One-Eye looked up in terror, fumbling with the chains that bound him to his saddle, Daemon ripped off his nephew’s helm and drove the sword down into his blind eye, so hard the point came out the back of the young prince’s throat. Half a heartbeat later, the dragons struck the lake [...] It was upon the twenty-second day of the fifth moon of the year 130 AC when the dragons danced and died above the Gods Eye. Daemon Targaryen was nine-and-forty at his death; Prince Aemond had only turned twenty [...] That very day, not long after sunset, another horror visited the queen’s court. Helaena Targaryen, sister, wife, and queen to King Aegon II and mother of his children, threw herself from her window in Maegor’s Holdfast to die impaled upon the iron spikes that lined the dry moat below. She was but one-and-twenty.

– Fire & Blood

[defnotkanyewest]

[restinginpiecesofpizza]

Reading Jon chapters kinda makes me want to claw my eyes out but my god, he’s just swimming in symbolic imagery.

[duxbelisarius]

The Dragon has Three Heads or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Believe That Young Griff is the Real Deal

Before going any further, I want to warn anyone reading this analysis that it will contain spoilers for A Dance With Dragons, so proceed at your own risk.

This essay came about from an 'epiphany' I had while reading ADWD on break at work, specifically chapter Daenerys VII. In this chapter, Quentyn Martell and his companions present themselves to Daenerys and offer her a marriage alliance with Dorne. This being the day of her wedding to Hizdahr zo Loraq, Dany refuses and makes note mentally of Quaithe's earlier warning about not trusting "the Sun's Son." The identification seems simple enough, with House Martell's sigil featuring the sun and Quentyn being the son of Doran Martell, Prince of Dorne, but there are serious problems with this conclusion.

The issue with labeling Quentyn Martell the Sun's Son stems from how Dany reaches this conclusion; for starters, this is the original quote given by Quaithe in Daenerys II:

"No. Hear me, Daenerys Targaryen. The glass candles are burning. Soon comes the pale mare, and after her the others. Kraken and dark flame, lion and griffin, the sun's son and the mummer's dragon. Trust none of them. Remember the Undying. Beware the perfumed seneschal."

And this is how Dany identifies Quentyn as the Sun's Son in Daenerys VII and VIII:

Something tickled at her memory. "Ser Barristan, what are the arms of House Martell?"

"A sun in splendor, transfixed by a spear."

The sun's son. A shiver went through her. "Shadows and whispers." What else had Quaithe said? The pale mare and the sun's son. There was a lion in it too, and a dragon. Or am I the dragon? "Beware the perfumed seneschal." That she remembered. "Dreams and prophecies. Why must they always be in riddles? I hate this. Oh, leave me, ser. Tomorrow is my wedding day."

...

The pale mare. Daenerys sighed. Quaithe warned me of the pale mare's coming. She told me of the Dornish prince as well, the sun's son. She told me much and more, but all in riddles.

George has talked about the fickle nature of prophecy in the books and publicly, citing the Duke of Somerset's death at the Battle of St. Albans in Shakespeare's Henry VI as an example of why the literal or easiest interpretations are not always the most reliable. While Dany's conclusion that Quentyn is the 'Sun's Son' seems straightforward, she bases it solely on Barristan's description of the Martell arms. Her reasoning is mainly to justify marrying Hizdahr by dismissing the Martell offer, as Dany herself barely remembers Quaithe's warning and bemoans her 'riddles'.

Assuming that the 'Pale Mare' refers to the 'bloody flux' that the Astapori refugees bring to Meereen, and that the Kraken, dark flame, lion, griffon and mummer's dragon refer to Victarion Greyjoy, Moqorro, Tyrion, Connington and Young Griff respectively, the sequence of Quaithe's warning makes no sense with Quentyn as the 'Sun's Son.' At the end of ADWD, Tyrion is outside the walls of Meereen while Victarion and Moqorro are en route with the Iron Fleet, and Connington and Young Griff are in Westeros. If Dany's return to Meereen from the Dothraki Sea is followed by her journeying westwards, then this sequence makes sense. Victarion will likely destroy the Slaver's fleets and is seeking Dany's hand in marriage, while Moqorro is with him for the purpose of acknowledging her as Azor Ahai and encouraging her to free the slaves of Volantis. Given Tyrion's association with Varys, Illyrio, Jorah and now 'Brown Ben Plumm,' and his family's role in Robert's rebellion, it makes sense that he would not immediately seek out Daenerys on her return to Meereen. Connington and Young Griff await her in Westeros, but Quentyn as the 'Sun's Son' precedes all of them, breaking Quaithe's otherwise sensible sequence. If Quentyn were the 'Sun's Son' he could just as easily have been paired with the Kraken, since both are sent by the heads of their houses to offer her an alliance, while Tyrion and Moqorro travel together on the Selaesori Qhoran (the 'Perfumed Seneschal') and Connington and Griff are in league with Varys.

The far greater issue with Dany's interpretation is that we have access to Quentyn's POV, and there is nothing to suggest that he seeks to betray Daenerys. His purpose was to approach Dany with a marriage alliance, to assist her in reclaiming her crown; his party was even sent by Tatters to scope out the situation in Meereen for a possible double-crossing of the Yunkai'i, specifically to aid Dany. The only thing close to untoward that he does is attempt to claim one of her Dragons, and this was a desperation move driven by his insecurities and his fear of returning to his father empty handed, which would mean that his fallen companions died for nothing:

"What name do you think they will give me, should I return to Dorne without Daenerys?" Prince Quentyn asked. "Quentyn the Cautious? Quentyn the Craven? Quentyn the Quail?" (The Discarded Knight, ADWD)

Volantis, Quentyn thought. Then Lys, then home. Back the way I came, empty-handed. Three brave men dead, for what?

...

His father would speak no word of rebuke, Quentyn knew, but the disappointment would be there in his eyes. His sister would be scornful, the Sand Snakes would mock him with smiles sharp as swords, and Lord Yronwood, his second father, who had sent his own son along to keep him safe … (The Spurned Suitor, ADWD)

Disqualifying Quentyn as the Sun's Son leaves us with only three options, of which only one really works. Trystane is the only other son of House Martell aside from Quentyn via Prince Doran, and given his limited roll in the story thus far I think it's safe to cross him off the list. Doran could theoretically work as the 'Sun's son,' as his mother was Princess of Dorne before him; given that Quaithe describes the figures as going to Dany, Doran's limited mobility and poor health would disqualify him. This leaves us with only one 'son of a sun,' that being 'Young Griff,' aka Aegon VI Targaryen, the son of Rhaegar Targaryen and Elia Martell, Princess of Dorne.

This association of Aegon with the Martells via his mother fits with the copious amounts of imagery linking him to the Rhoynar and to 'Egg' aka Aegon V of "Dunk and Egg" fame, specifically that character's travels in Dorne. Tyrion finds him living on a pole boat in the Rhoyne River, home of the ancient Rhoynar culture that Dorne descends from. The Shy Maid is operated by Yandry and Ysilla, so-called 'orphans of the Greenblood' which are another allusion to Dunk and Egg's travels on the Greenblood River in Dorne:

A poleboat had taken them down the Greenblood to the Planky Town, where they took passage for Oldtown on the galleas White Lady.

...

When they’d been poling down the Greenblood, the orphan girls had made a game of rubbing Egg’s shaven head for luck. (The Sworn Sword)

In Tyrion IV of ADWD, a massive horned turtle appears in the river by the Shy Maid, an obvious reference to the Rhoynish 'Old Man of the River,':

It was another turtle, a horned turtle of enormous size, its dark green shell mottled with brown and overgrown with water moss and crusty black river molluscs. It raised its head and bellowed, a deep-throated thrumming roar louder than any warhorn that Tyrion had ever heard. “We are blessed,” Ysilla was crying loudly, as tears streamed down her face. “We are blessed, we are blessed.”

Duck was hooting, and Young Griff too. Haldon came out on deck to learn the cause of the commotion . . . but too late. The giant turtle had vanished below the water once again. “What was the cause of all that noise?” the Halfmaester asked.

“A turtle,” said Tyrion. “A turtle bigger than this boat.”

“It was him,” cried Yandry. “The Old Man of the River.”

And why not? Tyrion grinned. Gods and wonders always appear, to attend the birth of kings.

When Tyrion and Haldon visit the Painted Turtle inn to find information about Daenerys' whereabouts, we have an interesting description of the inn from Tyrion:

The ridged shell of some immense turtle hung above its door, painted in garish colors. Inside a hundred dim red candles burned like distant stars. (Tyrion VI, ADWD)

We once more have Rhoynish symbolism in the turtle, while the 'garish colors' are reminiscent of Young Griff's hair, which is dyed blue in the Tyroshi fashion. Tyrion's description of inside the 'Painted Turtle' is one of dim red candles burning like stars, which can be seen as an oblique reference to the red rubies on Rhaegar's black breastplate, thereby associating the red of Targaryen heraldry with the cultural symbols of the Rhoynar.

The 'Dunk and Egg' imagery goes further, with both Egg and Aegon wearing distinctive straw sun hats, and being accompanied by their Hedge Knights from the Stormlands, both of whom have titles derived from their own simplistic personalities (Duncan the Tall, Rolly Duckfield). Moreover, Egg's journeying to Dorne ends up giving him refuge from the Spring Sickness that ravages Westeros, while Aegon's time in Essos serves as a refuge from Robert's spies and the chaos of the War of the Five Kings. While these similarities might be viewed as a doomed attempt by Varys to recreate Egg through Aegon, I think the purpose of these parallels is to establish both princes as following similar trajectories: both are sons of a Targaryen prince (Maekar, Rhaegar) and a Dornish noblewoman (Dyana Dayne, Elia Martell); become King of the Seven Kingdoms through unexpected circumstances: and if George plans to end ADOS with a mini-Dance of the Dragons, I would expect Aegon VI to meet a fiery end like Egg did.

If Young Griff is actually Aegon VI Targaryen as well as the 'Sun's Son,' this leaves the 'mummer's dragon' without any clear identity. Part of this is due to the conviction that Dany's identification of the cloth dragon from the undying visions with a 'mummer's dragon' or puppet dragon must be correct. In truth, there are countless cases from ADWD alone that show us that a mummer's object is not necessarily a puppet, but more broadly means something which is not as it appears:

I know one stands before me now, weeping mummer's tears. The realization made her sad. (Daenerys III, ADWD)

"Not here," warned Gerris, with a mummer's empty smile. "We'll speak of this tonight, when we make camp." (The Windblown, ADWD)

"My lord, I bear you no ill will. The rancor I showed you in the Merman's Court was a mummer's farce put on to please our friends of Frey."

...

I drink with Jared, jape with Symond, promise Rhaegar the hand of my own beloved granddaughter … but never think that means I have forgotten. The north remembers, Lord Davos. The north remembers, and the mummer's farce is almost done. My son is home." (Davos IV, ADWD)

His reign as prince of Winterfell had been a brief one. He had played his part in the mummer's show, giving the feigned Arya to be wed, and now he was of no further use to Roose Bolton. (The Turncloak, ADWD)

Fat Wyman Manderly, Whoresbane Umber, the men of House Hornwood and House Tallhart, the Lockes and Flints and Ryswells, all of them were northmen, sworn to House Stark for generations beyond count. It was the girl who held them here, Lord Eddard's blood, but the girl was just a mummer's ploy, a lamb in a direwolf's skin. So why not send the northmen forth to battle Stannis before the farce unraveled? (A Ghost in Winterfell, ADWD)

Mummer's tears and smiles are obviously false emotions, being affectations put on to hide what someone truly feels. Wyman Manderly is engaged in a mummer's farce wherein he pretends to be loyal to King Tommen and Roose Bolton, but in truth is scheming to restore the Starks to Winterfell and assist Stannis against the Boltons. Roose Bolton, Petyr Baelish and the Crown have in turn engaged in their own mummer's farce by sending Jeyne Poole north to wed Ramsay Snow in the guise of Arya Stark, "a lamb in direwolf's skin." If the 'mummer's dragon' is in fact a dragon that has been made to appear as something else, then Jon Snow more than fits this bill. By birth he should be a Targaryen, having been fathered by Rhaegar Targaryen upon Lyanna Stark; instead, his fortuitous Stark features inherited from his mother, and Ned's claiming Jon as his bastard and raising him amongst his children at Winterfell, has allowed Jon to hide in plain sight from those who would kill him for being Rhaegar's son.

The significance of Dany, Jon and Aegon being the three heads of the dragon is due to their mirroring a less conspicuous triad in George's World: elemental magic and it's connections to the Long Night. We are aware of three forms of elemental magic in the story, being pyromancy, cryomancy and hydromancy. Pyromancy is the most obvious, being the control and use of fire as we see with followers of Rhllor, and also tied to dragons. Cryomancy or ice magic appears in the powers of the Others and in the Wall separating the Seven Kingdoms from the lands beyond. Finally we have hydromancy or water magic, which was used by the Rhoynar against the Valyrian Freedhold and by Nymeria's Rhoynar settlers to support their communities within the deserts of Dorne. Company of the Cat has an excellent video discussing these three 'schools' of magic, but to summarize what she's said: Blue, Red and Green are the colours commonly associated with Ice, Fire and Water/the Sea in ASOIAF; in addition to being featured on the arms of ancient houses such as Massey and Strong, these elements are in turn associated with three magical items in the books. The first, The Horn of Joramun, can raise and lower The Wall (Ice); Dragonbinder, a horn that was likely used alongside similar horns to control the volcanoes of the fourteen flames in Valyria (Fire); and the 'Kraken summoning horn' which is most likely the Hammer of the Waters, since the Hammer raised the seas to swamp the 'Arm of Dorne,' which would have filled the seas fill with corpses of the dead and 'summoned' krakens, which would have fed on the bodies of the drowned.

The Valyrian, Northern and Rhoynish heritage of Dany, Jon and Aegon ties them to these three forms of magic respectively, and by extension to the Long Night. We are given three accounts of the Long Night between ASOIAF and TWOIAF, which I dub the 'western,' 'far eastern' and 'near eastern' versions. The 'western' account concerns the First Men, the Night's Watch, the Last Hero and the Others; the 'far eastern' account covers the 'Jade Compendium' and the Yi Tish account of the Blood Betrayal; and the 'near eastern' or Rhoynar account in which the children of Mother Rhoyne sang a song to return light to the world. Aegon is tied to the Rhoynish account through his mother's heritage, with references to the Rhoynish account in the 'Old Man of the River' appearing in ADWD and Dany's vision of Rhaegar talking about Aegon's 'Song' (that of Ice and Fire):

The Rhoynar tell of a darkness that made the Rhoyne of Essos dwindle and disappear, her waters frozen as far south as the joining of the Selhoru, until a hero convinced the many children of Mother Rhoyne, such as the Crab King and the Old man of the River, to put aside their bickering and join in a secret song that brought back the day. (TWOIAF: Ancient History: The Long Night)

...

“Will you make a song for him?” the woman asked.

“He has a song,” the man replied. “He is the prince that was promised, and his is the song of ice and fire.” (Daenerys IV, ACOK)

Jon's connection to the Northern account is obvious given his Stark lineage and service in the Night's Watch, as well as his dreams in ADWD:

Burning shafts hissed upward, trailing tongues of fire. Scarecrow brothers tumbled down, black cloaks ablaze. "Snow," an eagle cried, as foemen scuttled up the ice like spiders. Jon was armored in black ice, but his blade burned red in his fist. As the dead men reached the top of the Wall he sent them down to die again. He slew a greybeard and a beardless boy, a giant, a gaunt man with filed teeth, a girl with thick red hair. Too late he recognized Ygritte. She was gone as quick as she'd appeared.

The world dissolved into a red mist. Jon stabbed and slashed and cut. He hacked down Donal Noye and gutted Deaf Dick Follard. Qhorin Halfhand stumbled to his knees, trying in vain to staunch the flow of blood from his neck. "I am the Lord of Winterfell," Jon screamed. It was Robb before him now, his hair wet with melting snow. Longclaw took his head off. Then a gnarled hand seized Jon roughly by the shoulder. He whirled … (Jon XII, ADWD)

Finally, Dany is directly referred to as Azor Ahai in the books while her visions from Daenerys IX of AGOT connect her bloodline to the Great Empire of the Dawn. The eye colours of the figures she sees match the titles of four of the eight emperors of the GEOTD, Opal, Jade, Tourmaline and Amethyst, with the Bloodstone Emperor killing his sister the Amethyst Empress and causing the Long Night. Azor Ahai and the Bloodstone Emperor are themselves connected, and I recommend David Lightbringer's Nightbringer series and "Azor Ahai the Bad Guy" video for a concise explanation. It's worth noting that David is well within the Faegon Blackfyre camp, but I think his theories here more than fit my own conclusions also.

Aegon being one of the three heads also fits in with the symbolic relationship between water, fire and ice and the green, red and blue colour scheme. As Company of the Cat points out in her video about the magic horns (timestamp 26:52), green is a secondary colour made from a 'cool' and a 'warm' colour, placing it in the middle of the spectrum while red and blue are polar opposites. Similarly, fire can melt ice back into water and water in turn quenches fire, situating Aegon at a middle ground between Jon's ice and Dany's fire. Whereas Jon's only aspect of himself that ties him to House Targaryen is his father and otherwise he is firmly associated with his mother's house, Dany is tied symbolically to her Targaryen identity in the books, being a product of Targaryen incest, the first to hatch dragons in over a century, and her ties to fire through her 'rebirth' on Mirri's pyre under the Red Comet. While Aegon's physical appearance and his father tie him clearly to House Targaryen like Dany, the support of his mother's family alongside his Rhoynar lineage and symbolism place him in a similar situation to Jon, besides their being half-brothers. This also calls to mind the three accounts of the Long Night: if Jon is the Last Hero leading the Night's Watch and Dany is Azor Ahai driving out the darkness with her 'lightbringer' (ie her dragons), Aegon is the unnamed hero who rallied the children of Mother Rhoyne to sing a secret song which brought back the day. To quote alexis_something_rose's essay about Young Griff, "I can wager who will be bickering and who will tell them to set their differences aside and join together in a secret song that will bring back the day."

Whether or not all three or some combination of them will play a decisive role in defeating the Others, or if that will be Bran's part to play, I believe strongly that Dany, Jon and Aegon will be the 'three heads of the dragon.' If 'Young Griff' is truly Sun's Son, Aegon son of Rhaegar, his joining with Dany and Jon represents a unification of the three Dawn Age narratives of the Long Night and it's eventual end. Uniting the icey North, the dragon lord's fire and the songs of Mother Rhoyne would make the endgame a true 'Song of Ice and Fire.'

[ariavar]

Today, we celebrate all the stabbed boyos <3

[trogthefrog]

The Clues - What is up with Roose Bolton?

That guy's kinda weird right? Skin stealing vampire? Sinister lord? Emotionless man? Depressed man? Drinking weirwood paste? revenge blood feud? What's he up too?

Spoilers for literally all of asoaif.

To me. No one's got a good theory that works within the framework of asoiaf (vampire is fun tho). Most of all I can't get behind the ancient Stark-Bolton blood feud, conflict in asoiaf is recent and fed by recent actions.

When making a good asoiaf theory, speculation is pointless without considering the personal, the evidence and the context. It's why I like random internet guy's Littlefinger theory because it really takes into account personality, actions and context. SO to enable better Roose Bolton theories I have compiled as much evidence and context as I could about Roose Bolton (pls lemme know if I missed anything).

BEHOLD:

Roose Bolton what do?

Married to an unknown woman

Marries Barbra Ryswell (273-281)

Has numerous sons who “died in the cradle”— buried them beneath the dreadfort

Absent from the Tourney at Harrenhal (281)

While out foxhunting rapes a woman illegally under the tradition of the first night says “I wanted her”, hangs her husband, (in or before 282.) Gives annual gifts, and the mill when she comes to him with Ramsay with expectation of silence and cuts out the husband’s brother’s tongue to prevent Rickard Stark from knowing and because he says he was annoyed. Later later gifts her a servant (Reek) because he thought it would be amusing

Advises Eddard to kill Barristan Selmy after the Battle of the Trident (283)

Had the servant Reek whipped for stealing perfume

Sends his son Domeric to served four years as a page in Barrowton for his Aunt and squire for three years in the vale under Horton Redfort

The bastard’s boy Grunt has his tongue cut out for speaking carelessly in Roose Bolton’s hearing

Brings Ramsay to the Dreadfort even though he thinks he poisoned Domeric

AGOT

Asked for command of the Northern armies brusquely, seen by Bran as part of northerners “testing” Robb. Robett Glover asks for the same thing but with a “smile and a jest”

Questions Catelyn about Tyrion Lannister and vows they could make good use of him as a hostage

Agrees with Galbart Glover that Tywin is too smart to march at Robb up the Neck (counsel to Robb)

Given command of the Northern infantry a “cold” man to scare Lord Tywin (Robb and Catelyn’s analysis and decision)

Offers counsel at the Twins, 1. That it cannot be taken by assault and 2. Agrees with Galbart Glover that Walder is not to be trusted and says that if Robb goes in alone he is under Walder Frey’s power

Fights Tywin at the Green Fork. 

Robb says the plan is for the main host to march south so Tywin is lured north and a river is put between Tywin and Jaime’s armies

Roose Bolton marches south in the night to surprise Tywin (who’s marched north), proves more cautious than Tywin thought “Robb” would be

Probably fires at Lannister troops and his own soldiers from houses Cerwyn, Frey, Glover, Hornwood, Karstark, and Stark at the Green Fork. His own troops seem to have been absent.

Stark lines are described as shattering under a cavalry charge

Retreats north with his defeated army intact, of 17,200 by my count 5,350 die 31% of his original force. We have no comparison for successfully retreating armies that I could find. Lord Hornwood dies, Wylis Manderly is taken captive, Lord Cerwyn is taken captive. Medieval retreats especially routs tend to have high casualties, higher than actual battle 

Roose retreats and reforms what Kevan describes as the remnants his army at the mouth of the causeway

ACOK

Moves army to the Twins, marries Walda Frey for her weight in silver, takes Elmar Frey as squire 

Harvest Feast- Ramsay Snow gathering men at the Dreadfort, everyone hawkish over Hornwood succession, Luwin says Roose Bolton would not overlook the chance even without a claim

Ramsay kidnaps and forcefully marries Lady Hornwood. Made heir to Hornwood, Manderlys occupy Hornwood castle and fighting breaks out between Bolton and Manderly

occupies the Ruby Ford and crossroads,

Commanded by Edmure to take Harrenhal, sends a letter to Edmure promising to kill everyone within its walls if needed hoping it will weigh against his bastard’s crimes who has been presumably put to death by Roderick Cassel. “fails” to cross the Ruby ford, scheme with Brave Companions to take the castle works in weasel soup plot. “Nan” made his cupbearer.

Roose sets up stocks near the bear pit for women who slept with Lannister men (Pia & others). Women are stripped and shaved, and locked up for any man to rape

"Lord Bolton, he used to say a naked man has few secrets, but a flayed man's got none." - Reek (Ramsay)

Leeches himself, holds court with Freys post Battle of the Blackwater. Promises to think on what they’ve said, (Robb’s lost, the North has been lost to Ironborn, they can’t fight Tywin, they cannot be besieged at Harrenhal) seeming confident Lord Tywin will not march on them. Roose says he does not mean to be besieged at Harrenhal and says King Robb has not yet lost a battle. 

Coordinates with the Freys, exchanges letters with his wife

Burns castle Darry, sends troops to Duskendale (military disaster and slaughter), goes to hunt wolves, Freys learn that Robb married Jeyne Westerling that evening (unknown if Bolton had the information beforehand)

Ramsay wins the battle of Winterfell and sacks and burns the castle

At this time likely coordinating with Tywin Lannister and Walder Frey to plan the Red Wedding

ASOS

Sends Jaime to Tywin after negotiation

Presumably warned by Robb about Karstark’s execution

Gives Harrenhal and Brienne to the Brave Companions

Looses 2050 men crossing the Trident, Wylis Manderly POW, intentional loss of forces and garrisons the rest of Stark loyalists at the Ruby Ford

At the Twins- informs Catelyn and Robb about ironmen burning winter town and winterfell and of Ramsay capturing and flaying Theon. Offers Robb a piece of skin

Firmly counsels using Theon as a hostage as the presumably new King of the Iron islands. Robb relents and says to keep Theon as hostage at the Dreadfort

Blames Duskendale on Robett Glover

Given command of Robb’s rearguard marching north

Red Wedding

Sips hippocras and eats little

Kills Robb

Bolton, Frey and Karstark soldiers slaughter the feasting army.

Breaks guest right but only Walder Frey’s guest right? (may be a distinction)

Waits at the Twins for “Arya Stark”, plans to marry her to Ramsay, gains Ramsay legitimization by the crown,  named Warden of the North

AFFC

Marches north with Freys to defeat Stannis

TWOW

Ramsay retakes moat Cailin, 

Roose’s terms for Manderly:

“…Lord Tywin offered White Harbor full pardon… promised that my son would be returned to me once I paid a ransom of three thousand dragons and proved my loyalty beyond a doubt. Roose Bolton, who is named our Warden of the North, requires that I give up my claim to Lord Hornwood's lands and castles but swears my other holdings shall remain untouched. Walder Frey, his good-father, offers one of his daughters to be my wife, and husbands for my son's daughters here behind me.” 

Roose travels in a wayn up the causeway with an armored decoy, “Just caution”

Flayed ironmen corpses nailed to posts along the kingsroad (probably Ramsay), Roose Bolton summons all leal lords to Barrowton, to affirm their loyalty to the Iron Throne and celebrate his son's wedding to “Arya” 

Plots with Karstarks to get Stannis to attack the dreadfort.

Gets Ramsay to look for the missing Freys, insinuates Wyman of killed them but justifies why they would have split up from Manderly’s party, states plainly that violence against Barbrey Dustin will not make her heed Ramsay and will only lose them the Ryswells and Dustins

 “Barbrey Dustin is my second wife's younger sister, Rodrik Ryswell's daughter, sister to Roger, Rickard, and mine own namesake, Roose, cousin to the other Ryswells. She was fond of my late son and suspects you of having some part in his demise. Lady Barbrey is a woman who knows how to nurse a grievance. Be grateful for that. Barrowton is staunch for Bolton largely because she still holds Ned Stark to blame for her husband's death."

Roose knows Bran and Rickon are alive. Questions if Ramsay is his kid. Says people fearing Ramsay is a bad thing and it was good that no tales were ever told of Roose. “A peaceful land, a quiet people” personal rule. Commands that Ramsay wed at Winterfell and have a child with “Arya”, baiting Stannis to attack instead of marching at him at Deepwood. 

talking to Theon

"...Fear is what keeps a man alive in this world of treachery and deceit. Even here in Barrowton the crows are circling, waiting to feast upon our flesh. The Cerwyns and the Tallharts are not to be relied on, my fat friend Lord Wyman plots betrayal, and Whoresbane … the Umbers may seem simple, but they are not without a certain low cunning. Ramsay should fear them all, as I do…” - List of enemies, personal rule

Leeches leach away bad blood, “no man can think so full of anger”

Story of Reek, story of Domeric (possible fondness?), speaks of being left with Ramsay, “Tell me, my lord … if the kinslayer is accursed, what is a father to do when one son slays another?"”

Knows how commoners speak and corrects Theon (may have known Arya was something by her speech?)

Offers theon better treatment, introduces him to Barbrey Dustin

 Rebuild’s Winterfell and occupies the castle

Polite toasts, a joke about Stannis, Only eats what Wyman eats, Barbrey talks about him

“…he watches Manderly. No dish… until he sees Lord Wyman eat of it first. No cup of wine is sipped until he sees Manderly drink of the same cask. I think he would be pleased if the fat man attempted some betrayal. It would amuse him. Roose has no feelings, you see. Those leeches that he loves so well sucked all the passions out of him years ago. He does not love, he does not hate, he does not grieve. This is a game to him, mildly diverting. Some men hunt, some hawk, some tumble dice. Roose plays with men. You and me, these Freys, Lord Manderly, his plump new wife, even his bastard, we are but his playthings." A serving man was passing by. Lady Dustin held out her wine cup and let him fill it, then gestured for him to do the same for Theon. "Truth be told," she said, "Lord Bolton aspires to more than mere lordship. Why not King of the North? Tywin Lannister is dead, the Kingslayer is maimed, the Imp is fled. The Lannisters are a spent force, and you were kind enough to rid him of the Starks. Old Walder Frey will not object to his fat little Walda becoming a queen. White Harbor might prove troublesome should Lord Wyman survive this coming battle … but I am quite sure that he will not. No more than Stannis. Roose will remove both of them, as he removed the Young Wolf. Who else is there?" "You," said Theon. "There is you. The Lady of Barrowton, a Dustin by marriage, a Ryswell by birth."... "The widow of Barrowton … and yes, if I so choose, I could be an inconvenience. Of course, Roose sees that too, so he takes care to keep me sweet."”

Next THeon chapter, Stannis bearing down:

"The gods of the north have unleashed their wroth on Lord Stannis," Roose Bolton announced come morning as men gathered in Winterfell's Great Hall to break their fast. "He is a stranger here, and the old gods will not suffer him to live."

Next theon chapter, Stannis bearing down

Tries to prevent rumors of yellow Dick’s murder from spreading, 

“Roose Bolton would welcome such a fight, he sensed. He needs an end to this. The castle was too crowded to withstand a long siege, and too many of the lords here were of uncertain loyalty.”

Theon I

Little Walder murder discovery, Roose raises his voice, sends Manderlys and Freys out of the castle

Imma add some northern political context prior to AGOT in another post. Lemme know your theories and if I missed anything.

[fandomlife-confessions]

[magnificentsapcaddy]

HOTTEST NEW HOTD THEORIES FOR Q3 2024

Jojen was not in the Bran Paste, but was in the Daemon Paste that Alys gave him

Viserys was right and Luke and Jace really were Laenor's

The Arya Prophecy Dagger actually just says "this dagger is the property of Aegon the Conqueror" and neither Viserys nor Jaehaerys could really read High Valyrian (EVIDENCE: Aegon II is also king and can't read it either)

Arryk and Erryk were just one guy named Aerryk moving very quickly

Alys Rivers was lying when she said she was a barn owl cursed to live in the body of a human, but only because she's a crow cursed to live in the body of a human

The Bracken's and Blackwood's thing is all kayfabe. They pretend to fight until the king or the Tully's or someone give one family a stipend of recompense and then both houses split it. The Battle of the Burning Mill was a false flag

Cregan's Greybeards don't really give a shit about Rhaenyra or anything, they're just trying to get the hell away from the Night Man in a long, Scooby-Doo style chase (BONUS: In season 3, the Night Man will finally come to King's Landing, and he will speak English)

Whoever wins the Dance of the Dragons (no spoilers!) will actually secretly be a Celtigar

Jeyne Arryn invented the female condom

Mushroom was right about everything

[starogeorgina]

“Though his fifteenth nameday was still half a year away, Prince Jacaerys proved himself a man, and a worthy heir to the Iron Throne.”

— Fire & blood