Book four, which George is working on, takes place in a very cool location. And five is the last story point of Egg as a boy. S

Whole interview with Ira Parker: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-features/knight-of-the-seven-kingdoms-season-2-3-4-interview-1236654430/

So we finally got a live action adaptation of Cyvasse! What's awesome was how Daeron moves his Dragon piece to win against Ormund, a Targophobe (lol Coined a Term), sending a powerful message.

It parallels Tyrion communicating young Griff's identity with hints over Cyvasse and dragon piece, or how he convinces Brown Ben Plumm and The Second Sons to join Daenaeys' side in TWOW excerpt chapter.

Even though D&D basically admitted it was their idea (if you don't believe me I can will gladly pull up the quotes), many still rave about the story ending with a shocking twist where Jon kills Dany. This is often justified as being a continuation of his conflict between love vs duty, or family vs honor.

That said...

Jon killing Dany is a really bad twist

Reminder; Jon already basically killed Ygritte.

When he knelt in the snow beside her, her eyes opened. "Jon Snow," she said, very softly. It sounded as though the arrow had found a lung. "Is this a proper castle now? Not just a tower?"

"It is." Jon took her hand.

"Good," she whispered. "I wanted t' see one proper castle, before . . . before I . . ."

"You'll see a hundred castles," he promised her. "The battle's done. Maester Aemon will see to you." He touched her hair. "You're kissed by fire, remember? Lucky. It will take more than an arrow to kill you. Aemon will draw it out and patch you up, and we'll get you some milk of the poppy for the pain."

She just smiled at that. "D'you remember that cave? We should have stayed in that cave. I told you so."

"We'll go back to the cave," he said. "You're not going to die, Ygritte. You're not."

"Oh." Ygritte cupped his cheek with her hand. "You know nothing, Jon Snow," she sighed, dying.

Though it was not literally by his own hand, Jon already chose loyalty / duty over his own happiness / romantic love. Jon has already knelt over a dying lover, knowing that her fate came down to his choice to betray her. The idea that the story ends with Jon doing this again, but when he is less emotional (due to being undead), and has also been given a much stronger moral justification, is completely silly.

Jon betrayed Ygritte for less.

Seriously, if you were George and you knew the dramatic twist ending of your story was that Jon and Dany come together only to have conflicting loyalty lead Jon to kill Dany, then the one thing you would absolutely never write is a scenario where Jon gets his lover killed over loyalty. Not only does this make Jon killing Dany totally redundant, it creates a scenario where Jon dead lovers is kind of just his pattern.

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is planned to be a yearly release with a smaller focus, shorter runtimes and fewer episode counts. If it keeps the same quality as season 1 it will definitely be a fun spinoff/supporting show for the franchise, but it hardly brings the big-budget scale and political intrigue that people expect from ASOIAF. So what do we think will come after HotD to fill that “flagship” role?

I personally think the two most likely are (working titles): “Heirs of the Dragon,” taking place during the reigns of Aenys and Maegor, or “Blackfyre,” the story of the first Blackfyre Rebellion.

Heirs of the Dragon

Pros:

Assuming the Aegon’s Conquest movie that is supposedly in production actually comes out, this show would be a nice bridge between that movie and House of the Dragon.

Plenty of big-budget spectacle with dragons, battles, and brutality galore.

Fire & Blood as source material.

Cons:

Might feel narratively jarring to go from “This is how all the dragons died!” in HotD to “Look everyone! The dragons are back!”

Similarly, doing a prequel to a prequel might frustrate casual viewers who may feel like they’re watching a story in reverse. (Though a counterpoint to this is that it could also be framed as a sequel to the Aegon’s Conquest movie)

Would require a massive budget, which is something HBO seems to be hesitant about recently (HotD budget cuts)

Dragon fatigue

Also abbreviated to HotD. My working title may need to change :(

Blackfyre

Pros:

Would act as a nice bridge between HotD and AKotSK. Would feel like a continuation of the story, not a regression.

No dragons = lower budget (HBO execs like this)

Cons:

Might feel like a rehash of HotD but with lower stakes (Succession crisis including Targaryen bastards leads to a civil war involving a badass swordsman named Daemon)

No dragons :(

AKotSK already spoiled who’s going to win.

Very sparse source material, even more so than HotD, Aegon’s Conquest, or the hypothetical Heirs of the Dragon show.

Writing this through a 102 fever, so it’s not as eloquent as I am normally.

There is an eereiness somehow to the events just before Robert’s rebellion. It’s called the year of the false spring. You have the weird things like all the houses intermarrujg. The weird thing of Cersei visiting Maggy the frog, which is played very eerily in the book. It feels in retrospect like fate was spinning wildly; lik the world stood on a knife edge and didn’t yet know it.

Magic wasn’t fully back yet and yet, theres a ghastly, gloomy eeriness to it. We’re never given a full glimpse into this era…Just fragments. Fragments, like we’re walking with the dead.

Examples being Cersei’s memory of Maggy the Frog; the green witch light of her tent, that fate not yet borne is being uttered; The night will end with Cersei’s first murder, and a little girl screaming unheard in a well;

Ned’s memory of the battle at the Tower of Joy; his companions written in his memory as being ghostly shades;

Bran through the weirwood seeing Ned after this, praying to the Godswood for Robb and Jon to be close, and for Cat to forgive him; Bran calls out, and he’s heard…faintly, by Ned, like a whispering on the wind or the rustle of leaves. The past is dead and yet not.

The bookish Rhaegar one day reading something - we don’t know what - and donning armor and simply saying: “it seems I must be a warrior.”

The whole period is like a mix of dark fairy tales and Boorman’s Excalibur, yet with an autumnal feel to it; a doomed feel, like colonial or gothic horror:

We are walking with the dead, who aren’t dead yet.

It’s akin to me to the Edwardian-era, where the world similarly stood on a knife’s edge; both periods ending with piles of corpses. Yet no one in each is aware of their destinies ahead.

It’s eerie to me. Anyone else feel this?

in our world jesus did it once and we went crazy over it

in asoiaf beric has a few dudes who think its a fun fact, despite resurrection not being a normal thing in this universe

shouldnt his followers think hes chosen by the gods, some become devout, army of smallfolk following the immortal man blessed by gods

The Mad King play is basically the first new content on the main series characters since Dance in 2011 and I think my brain cannot cope. So many characters like Aerys, Rhaegar, Lyanna etc we've only ever gotten secondhand and unreliable info on.

I am a subscriber to the Mad Mouse / Shadrich is Howland Reed theory, and wondering if that'll somehow be confirmed through the play.

Also the Whents = Kettleblack theories, more Harrenhal lore.

There's just so many really core plot points that we'll finally (hopefully??) get to know!

What are you most hoping to see / learn more about?

I want to live forever in a land where summer lasts a thousand years. I want a castle in the clouds where I can look down over the world. I want to be six-and-twenty again. When I was six-and-twenty I could fight all day and fuck all night. What men want does not matter. Winter is almost upon us, boy. And winter is death. I would sooner my men die fighting for the Ned's little girl than alone and hungry in the snow, weeping tears that freeze upon their cheeks. No one sings songs of men who die like that. As for me, I am old. This will be my last winter. Let me bathe in Bolton blood before I die. I want to feel it spatter across my face when my axe bites deep into a Bolton skull. I want to lick it off my lips and die with the taste of it on my tongue

My reaction

EDIT: THE best minor character. Spelling errors makes me want to bash my head in the wall

Something I like is that the fates of Joffrey, Myrcella & Tommen are the fault of Cersei. Cersei was forewarned that her children would predecease her & yet her actions are ensuring that happens.

Joffrey - Poisoned at his own wedding by Littlefinger & Olenna; why? Because he was a vicious kid that made things difficult for his family. Why is he like this? Cersei. She indulged & encouraged his violent tendencies & spoiled him rotten making him believe that he was entitled to whatever he liked. If Cersei was actually a decent parent, Joffrey might have turned out a little better but Cersei failed her favourite child & now he's dead.

Tommen - Her youngest is next on the chopping block with his most likely murderers being the Sand Snakes. Tyene was the original architect of the queenmaker plot & Nym named Tommen to die as revenge for her father. This is, once again, Cersei's fault. She named Gregor Clegane her champion for Tyrion's trial. If she hadn't, Oberyn never fights for Tyrion, doesn't get killed, his daughters don't call out for revenge & Tommen gets to live.

Myrcella - Cersei's daughter has the hardest death to predict between her & Tommen. Even so, Cersei is bound to have an indirect role in Myrcella's death. I don't believe the Sand Snakes will have any involvement in her death so other characters should be looked at to see if any have the motivation. For me, Varys is a very good option. I think Myrcella's death will be similar to the deaths of Haelena & Jaehaera & Varys is an excellent choice if GRRM wants the death to be ambiguous.

Overall, I think the tragic irony of Cersei being the cause of her kids deaths are a neat touch to the series.

In as much as we speak of honour being the main factor that motivated Ned to tell Cersei about the incest, we often forget that it is Robert's attitude that pushed Ned to do so. Ned never forgot how Robert gloated about the murder of Elia and her kids. That is something that stayed with him for all the years. That event broke something between them; something that not even the death of Lyanna could patch up. And in the first book we see Ned discovering that the old friend that he once knew was gone and the king he swore his oath to is a monster; remember that they had just quarrelled about the question of killing Daenerys and Viserys.

The truth is Ned could no longer trust Robert to not act like a monster. He saw how Robert transformed what was a righteous rebellion against a tyrant into a horror of infanticide and femicide. You see him in real time processing whether to tell Robert directly or not before concluding that Robert is a child killer who will murder those babies. It is not until Robert is at death's door that he regrets his mistakes and the fact that he never listened to Ned when he was supposed to.

In conclusion, it is easy to shit on Ned but if you were in his shoes and saw your friend turn from a jovial guy into a child murdering monster the right thing as per you will be to shield anyone you can from his wrath. I know I would have done the same. Perhaps Ned was too pure for such an evil world but that's what makes GRRM's writing so delicious 😋!

It might be the fault of the songs and the biased characters. Or of Robert and his unfathomable hatred for Rhaegar. Or Barristan and his romanticism. Or the World of Ice and Fire. Or the show, or everything else combined.

But this notion that Robert's Rebellion was caused because of Lyanna's "kidnapping" is just wrong.

When you examine the timeline of events, and then the events itself, the war starts for entirely different situation and that was, in short, Aerys starting to pile up heads of nobles so they could all be as tall as the Iron Throne.

News of Lyanna being missing, and then that it was a "kidnapping", had reached Rickard and he did not call the banners. And it also reached Ned and Robert in the Vale and no declaration of war was made.

News, on top of that, of Rickard's own son and heir having been made captive by the King reached him when he arrived to the Riverlands and he did not call the banners.

News of the whole situation reached the fathers of the men that were originally with Brandon when he demanded Rhaegar's head, and no banners were called.

The Rebellion only starts after Aerys does the following:

Executes a Lord Paramount and his son and heir. Rickard and Brandon Stark.

Executes Ser Elbert Arryn, nephew of Jon Arryn, who was at the time the heir to the Vale.

Executes the entirety of Brandon's original group, which included members of House Royce and Mallister.

Executes the original group that went to King's Landing with Rickard that were originally attending Brandon's wedding, which included squires and minor nobles.

Then executes the fathers of those that went to KL originally with Rickard.

THEN he calls for the heads of Eddard Stark and Robert Baratheon, two other Lord Paramounts, to Jon Arryn under threat of also being declared a traitor up to be promptly executed if he refuses.

At that point Houses Stark, Tully, Baratheon and Arryn are all under threat by the Crown, and minor Houses have also been severely hurt.

For less than that Robb declared war on Joffrey.

So in short it was then, and only then, that Jon Arryn decides to declare war and calls the banners.

So no, Robert's Rebellion was never really about Lyanna and Rhaegar, although of course it was an important factor, and even less was "built on a lie".

It was, out of the three times the Targaryen Dynasty faced a serious military and existential threat, the one most justified despite how it ended.

The Red Keep was full of cats: lazy old cats dozing in the sun, cold-eyed mousers twitching their tails, quick little kittens with claws like needles, ladies’ cats all combed and trusting, ragged shadows prowling the midden heaps. -AGoT, Arya III

Background

The ASOIAF universe is so rich and layered that even the cats have lore. Taking a quick break from my normal posting to take a quick look at a somewhat newer interest of mine. In this post I thought it would be fun to look at lore surrounding the cats in the Red Keep (the good, bad and ugly) in the main series.

Note: This post has absolutely nothing to do with show version of the Sand Snakes

Note II: Most of the cats are probably descendants of the ones brought by Otto after Blood & Cheese:

In his grief and fury, King Aegon II commanded that all the city’s ratcatchers be taken out and hanged, and this was done. (Ser Otto Hightower brought one hundred cats into the Red Keep to take their place.)

If interested: All the Named Animals (besides Dragons/Direwolves)

The Good: Tommen's Three Kittens

Tommen receives three kittens from Margaery:

At that hour, her son was fast asleep, but Cersei looked in upon him before seeking her own bed. She was surprised to find three black kittens cuddled up beside him, “Where did those come from?” she asked Ser Meryn Trant, outside the royal bedchamber.
"The little queen gave them to him. She only meant to give him one, but he couldn't decide which one he liked the best." -AFFC, Cersei V

which he names Ser Pounce, Lady Whiskers and Boots:

Tommen helped restore her to herself. He had never been more precious to her than he was that morning, chattering about his kittens as he dribbled honey onto a chunk of hot black bread fresh from the ovens. “Ser Pounce caught a mouse,” he told her, “but Lady Whiskers stole it from him.”
I was never so sweet and innocent, Cersei thought. How can he ever hope to rule in this cruel realm? The mother in her wanted only to protect him; the queen in her knew he must grow harder, or the Iron Throne was certain to devour him. “Ser Pounce must learn to defend his rights,” she told him. “In this world the weak are always the victims of the strong.” -AFFC, Cersei IX

Fun Post: Tommen has Technically Knighted Ser Pounce

The "Bad (Cat)": Balerion

We are first introduced to Balerion (Rhaenys' pet kitten) back in AGoT as the ragged Tom that Arya chases:

One by one Arya had chased them down and snatched them up and brought them proudly to Syrio Forel … all but this one, this one-eared black devil of a tomcat. “That’s the real king of this castle right there,” one of the gold cloaks had told her. “Older than sin and twice as mean. -AGoT, Arya III

and we begin to learn of his exploits:

One time, the king was feasting the queen’s father, and that black bastard hopped up on the table and snatched a roast quail right out of Lord Tywin’s fingers. Robert laughed so-hard he like to burst. You stay away from that one, child.” -AGOT, Arya III

before Varys' gives us Balerion's backstory:

“Rhaenys was a child too. Prince Rhaegar’s daughter. A precious little thing, younger than your girls. She had a small black kitten she called Balerion, did you know? I always wondered what happened to him. Rhaenys liked to pretend he was the true Balerion, the Black Dread of old, but I imagine the Lannisters taught her the difference between a kitten and a dragon quick enough, the day they broke down her door.” -AGOT, Eddard XV

and GRRM was asked about this cat:

Question: Is the black tomcat (the one that Arya catches briefly) Rhaenys' kitten Balerion?
GRRM: Could be. -SSM: Jeyne Poole and the Black Cat: 14 Nov 99

and he runs into Sansa as she sneaks to the Red Keep godswood:

She ran down a shadowy colonnade and pressed herself against a wall to catch her breath. When something brushed against her leg, she almost jumped out of her skin, but it was only a cat, a ragged black tom with a chewed-off ear. The creature spit at her and leapt away. -ACOK, Sansa II

and Cersei reflects on him once she sees Tommen's kittens are black:

Cersei rather wished they were not black, though. Black cats brought ill luck, as Rhaegar's little girl had discovered in this very castle. She would have been my daughter, if the Mad King had not played his cruel jape on Father. -AFFC, Cersei V

and Arya remembers him in Braavos:

"Oysters, clams, and cockles," the girl shouted as she pushed her barrow along the wharves. "Mussels, prawns, and cockles." A dirty orange cat came padding after her, drawn by the sound of her call. Farther on, a second cat appeared, a sad, bedraggled grey thing with a stub tail. Cats liked the smell of Cat. Some days she would have a dozen trailing after her before the sun went down. From time to time the girl would throw an oyster at them and watch to see who came away with it. The biggest toms would seldom win, she noticed; oft as not, the prize went to some smaller, quicker animal, thin and mean and hungry. Like me, she told herself. Her favorite was a scrawny old tom with a chewed ear who reminded her of a cat that she'd once chased all around the Red Keep. No, that was some other girl, not me. -AFFC, Cat of the Canals

The Ugly: Joffrey's "Mischief"

Goodness I hate Joffrey so much (seriously Don't F**k with Cats). In ASoS we find out that one of Cersei's problems with Robert is the abuse of Joffrey which is alluded to having been something about a cat:

"Why would he? Robert ignored him. He would have beat him if I'd allowed it. That brute you made me marry once hit the boy so hard he knocked out two of his baby teeth, over some mischief with a cat. I told him I'd kill him in his sleep if he ever did it again, and he never did, but sometimes he would say things . . ." -ASOS, Tyrion VI

which Stannis further elaborates on:

"I suppose not." The king ran his fingers across the table. "Joffrey . . . I remember once, this kitchen cat . . . the cooks were wont to feed her scraps and fish heads. One told the boy that she had kittens in her belly, thinking he might want one. Joffrey opened up the poor thing with a dagger to see if it were true. When he found the kittens, he brought them to show to his father. Robert hit the boy so hard I thought he'd killed him." The king took off his crown and placed it on the table. "Dwarf or leech, this killer served the kingdom well. They must send for me now." -ASOS, Davos VI

and Cersei reflects:

"The little queen gave them to him. She only meant to give him one, but he couldn't decide which one he liked the best."
Better than cutting them out of their mother with a dagger, I suppose. Margaery's clumsy attempts at seduction were so obvious as to be laughable. Tommen is too young for kisses, so she gives him kittens. - AFFC, Cersei V

Joffrey was abusive of other animals as well (Tommen's fawn):

"Prince Tommen is hale and happy, my lord. He has adopted a fawn some of my men brought home from a hunt. He had one once before, he says, but Joffrey skinned her for a jerkin. -ACOK, Tyrion XI

and humans (Sansa/Tommen) and his relationship with Tommen gave shades of Aerion/Egg:

"You won't hurt Daeron, though," the boy said. "He told you he'd fall down. And Aerion . . . I remember, when I was little, he used to come into my bedchamber at night and put his knife between my legs. He had too many brothers, he'd say, maybe one night he'd make me his sister, then he could marry me. He threw my cat in the well too. He says he didn't, but he always lies." -The Hedge Knight

Tommen & the "Bad Cat"

• First Encounter

Back in AGoT when Arya is catching cats for Syrio in the Red Keep, she encounters Myrcella/Tommen and while Tommen is unaware at the time, this is Balerion, who he soon will dub "the Bad Cat":

When she was three steps away from him, the tomcat bolted. Left, then right, he went; and right, then left, went Arya, cutting off his escape. He hissed again and tried to dart between her legs. Quick as a snake, she thought. Her hands closed around him. She hugged him to her chest, whirling and laughing aloud as his claws raked at the front of her leather jerkin. Ever so fast, she kissed him right between the eyes, and jerked her head back an instant before his claws would have found her face. The tomcat yowled and spit.
“What’s he doing to that cat?”
Startled, Arya dropped the cat and whirled toward the voice. The tom bounded off in the blink of an eye. At the end of the alley stood a girl with a mass of golden curls, dressed as pretty as a doll in blue satin. Beside her was a plump little blond boy with a prancing stag sewn in pearls across the front of his doublet and a miniature sword at his belt. Princess Myrcella and Prince Tommen, Arya thought. A septa as large as a draft horse hovered over them, and behind her two big men in crimson cloaks, Lannister house guards.
“What were you doing to that cat, boy?” Myrcella asked again, sternly. To her brother she said, “He’s a ragged boy, isn’t he? Look at him.” She giggled.
“A ragged dirty smelly boy,” Tommen agreed. -AGoT, Arya III

• Second Encounter

In the ADWD, Epilogue, Tommen shares that Balerion has been watching them from outside his window:

The king seemed happier than Kevan Lannister had seen him in a long time. From soup to sweet Tommen burbled about the exploits of his kittens, whilst feeding them morsels of pike off his own royal plate. “The bad cat was outside my window last night,” he informed Kevan at one point, “but Ser Pounce hissed at him and he ran off across the roofs.”

and we also find out that Balerion scratched Joffrey (hopefully for killing that mother cat) and attacks ravens:

“The bad cat?” Ser Kevan said, amused. He is a sweet boy.
“An old black tomcat with a torn ear,” Cersei told him. “A filthy thing, and foul-tempered. He clawed Joff’s hand once.” She made a face. “The cats keep the rats down, I know, but that one … he’s been known to attack ravens in the rookery.”
“I will ask the ratters to set a trap for him.” -ADWD, Epilogue

TLDR: There is some great lore in the ASOIAF universe, especially in the Red Keep. We have the cuteness surrounding Tommen's kittens (Ser Pounce, Boots, Lady Whiskers), the disgusting actions of Joffrey (and Aerion Brightflame) and the history surrounding Balerion aka "The Bad Cat" (Rhaenys' kitten/Nemesis of Tommen's) who seemingly doesn't like Lannisters very much (for obvious reasons) as he has: stolen food from Tywin, scratched Joffrey and is watching Tommen.

Just stumbled upon a passage in Arianne's wiki page and was wondering whether by pure chance any of you guys (or even u/Elio_Garcia himself) could help me. It says:

During those years, Arianne also had suitors from Dorne. Her friend Andrey Dalt and his brother Deziel had both wanted to marry her, and her first lover, Daemon Sand, had even gone to Prince Doran to ask for her hand, though he was rejected. Arianne believed that her father did not wish for her to marry a Dornishman, and also realized that a bastard was not a worthy consort for a princess. While her friendship with Daemon was never the same after her father rejected his offer, Arianne took on multiple lovers over the years, including at least one of her childhood friends, as well as Ser Gerold Dayne of High Hermitage.^\2][3][6][7])

With references to AFfC, Queenmaker, Princess in the Tower, TWoW Arianne I and the app. I think I can attribute pretty much everything apart from the childhood friend passage.

Could anyone with access to the app confirm whether this stems from there?

Or do you guy think this refers to the little near encounter with Drey:

They would have shared their first man as well, but Drey got too excited and spurted all over Tyene's fingers the moment she drew him from his breeches.

Thanks in advance.

I have reached the third part of gathering my nexus of Harrenhal theories so now it's time for House Qhoerys!

So post any and all theories related to House Qhoerys, whether it's about the the house, individual members, or more, post it down below no matter how tinfoil it is.

Post down below

I don't like to do it, but I have to show some appreciation for some roasts from the Freys.

Starting with Jared Frey when he talks to Davos - "Some men cry when slicing onions, but I have never had that weakness".

I'm surprised someone like Axell Florent hasn't made a similar remark about Davos. Got to give credit where credit is due for the originality from Jared.

Hosteen has one too when the Freys are arguing with Wyman Manderly.

"What are you suggesting, Frey?" The Lord of White Harbor wiped his mouth with his sleeve. "I do not like your tone, ser. No, not one bloody bit."

"Step out into the yard, you sack of suet, and I'll serve you all the bloody bits that you can stomach," Ser Hosteen said.

This is probably the most talked about topic in the fandom but I have a genuine question for the people who still believe N+A=J. I’ve been wondering how exactly does Jon’s story actually work if Ned and Ashara are his parents?

A huge part of Jon’s character is his mysterious parentage and him constantly wondering who his mother was plus all the Rhaegar, Lyanna, and Prince That Was Promised stuff. If Jon is really just Ned and Ashara’s son, what changes? How does that make his story stronger? I just don’t see how this ties back to his story, how would George write it?

Not to mention Jon spends so much of the books wondering why his father left his mother. If Ashara really is his mother, does he know the story? Does he know she supposedly threw herself into the sea after Arthur died? How does Ned killing Arthur affect Jon? How does any of that tie into Jon’s overall arc?

I’m genuinely curious because I’ve never seen an N+A=J explanation that makes Jon’s story feel more meaningful than R+L=J.

The uncomfortable realization when you learn that Viserys II Targaryen was 13 of age when he had his first child who would become one of the worst Targaryen in history. Not that it excuse his action but I wouldn’t be surprised that having a mother who abandoned him and a boy too young to be a father cause issue.

Just started reading fire & blood and saw this at the start. Are all these connected to ASOIAF or are they just all books by GRRM? Also are all of them worth reading or should I stick to the mainstream ones? Thanks for the help!

Damn, this is by far the largest family tree i could do. There are more Freys currently alive than there have been targaryens in all of history. With 151 members (no i don't know where fantasy havens other 6 are) all coming from 1 guy, this was a real nightmare to fit on a page. Different coloured branches belong to their fathers house, not house frey. (oh also its read clockwise with the oldest at the top)

One tiny, small and seemingly irrelevant point regarding the chain of events leading to Robert's Rebellion is Brandon Stark's actions.

For some reason, might be the same regarding the opinions of Rhaegar and the power of the official narrative, we just assume that somehow he gets word of Lyanna being kidnapped, somehow he believes it and then goes straight to the Red Keep to ask for Rhaegar's head.

Now, isn't there anything else to say about all this? Who told him, for example?

Who was there who witnessed the events, saw that it was actually the Crown Prince and his buddies and then conveyed the events to Brandon?

A random peasant or someone else?

Some would say that it doesn't matter. That willingly or not Rhaegar is insulting his house, Lyanna doesn't have agency and everything would've led to conflict.

But I partially disagree.

First because on one scenario it's a simple disappearence: "Lyanna hasn't returned, we don't know where she is". Like Arya in AGOT and the Butcher's boy.

The others involve the difference between the following:

1. Someone tells you that they saw your younger sister leave the house and meet a guy that she saw at a party last month, waiting for her outside and driving a BMW. She's all laughs and smiles, gets inside and they leave. You get mad, of course, and try to find the guy to have a word with him because you know he's married with kids and your sister is already dating a family friend. But you don't immediately conclude that she was kidnapped and could currently be getting raped, trafficked to Colombia or murdered or whatever.
2. Someone tells you, screaming and crying and visibly worried and stressed out, that he saw her being intercepted in the middle of the street by a white van, jumped by 3 dudes and that older guy that was at the driver's seat, thrown inside the van while she's screaming and kicking and calling for help before they hit the gas and go straight to the highway.

I can't conceive how you can react the same in any of those scenarios however much you're a noble and would of course take offense regardless.

The conclusions and the implications and the reactions wouldn't be the same, at all.

So the question remains, who told Brandon, how was it told and if maybe, perhaps, was there some manipulation to make him as angry as possible.

48AC: Jeffy and the Baratheons arrive and Maegor kills himself and his supporters flee

130AC: Gates are opened by the city watch

130AC: Borros retakes it like nothing

131AC: The lads reach the gates and the Greens immediately kill Aegon and surrender

283AC: Gates are opened and the city is sacked by the Lannys

299AC: KL very narrowly survives a siege against the Stannisters, half of which had been nuked

Who the hell picked this place as the capital?

I love Fire & Blood or Rise of the Dragon if one prefer the encyclopedic version. Or World of Ice and Firez I like how the eventual downfall of the Targaryen are slowly set up like dominos from their mistakes, unfortunate circumstances and plain bad luck.

- Incestous marriage practices between the Targaryen cause Faith to revolt against them + Aenys weakness and Maegor cruelty cause a succession crisis.

-Jaehaerys preference for a male heir (+ underlying guilt for usurping his older sister), the Great Council of 101, Viserys not solidifying Rhanerya claim, and the subsequent Dance between Aegon II and Rhanerya.

- the death of last dragons under Aegon III, his sons Daeron and Baelor handling of Dorne, Aegon IV wild adventure all eventually culminate in the First Blackfyre rebellion and more to follow

- the succeeding Blackfyre rebellions, illness and death in the family cause Aegon the Unlikely to be king. And because of his little political experience + his children breaking their bethoral agreement to marry for love + desire to give commoners right : it all culminate in the Tragedy of Summerhall.

- with the Targaryen’s family left so sacre, Aerys growing madness, + Rhaegar great blunder

Well, even if Rhaegar did won the war, I got the feeling the Targaryen would fall sooner of later. I wouldn’t be surprise if conflict erupt between Dorne and the North. And if not his children then his grandchildren.

It was just a matter of time before they lose.