IIRC doesn’t Arya leave the Hound dead, or dying by the riverside before she leaves Westeros? He asks for mercy and she refuses to finish him off.
Yes, she leaves him dying, or at least she thinks he’s dying, we never actually see him dead.
Thanks, I found the last book in the series unreadable and just stopped the series. I thought maybe he made a reappearance.
Well, a huge portion of it is descriptions of meals, rushes, and nose scratching. If I was OCD, I’d love to literally cut out all of the food descriptions from the paperbacks just to see the result.
Yeah, his next book should start out: IN CONClUSION…
What folks are talking about happens on Brienne’s hunt for Sansa. She stops at the Quiet Isle, where the Elder Brother tells her that he came upon a dying Sandor Clegane (after Arya had left him) and he himself buried the Hound and left his helmet in the open and that whoever is going around wearing the Hound’s helmet and perpetrating outrages like the attack on the Saltpans is an imposter.
What the other posters are pointing out is that while Brienne was there, she saw a new groom/stabler, who might match Sandor Clegane’s physical description and whose face was covered. This new brother also was caring for a horse that might match the description of Clegane’s horse, Stranger.
I vaguely remember that bit. With the last book, I got maybe 100 pages in; Tyrion had just contracted that stoneskin disease and I just. couldn’t. do. it. I’d read a page and look at how much book I had left and then trudget through another page, but I’m done. He desperately needed an editor.
I don’t think Tyrion was infected with greyscale, or at least he hasn’t shown any symptoms yet. It was Lord Jon Connington who was showing symptoms.
Actually, I was warned extensively about how Martin had lost his way in the last couple of books, but I enjoyed books 4 and 5 as much as I enjoyed the first three. There were some chapters that I found dull, but that’s been true throughout the series for me.
The biggest complaint I had was about the introduction of Aegon “Young Griff” Targaryen and Quentyn Martell, but at least the latter has been dispatched forthwith.
Really? I’d read years ago that the name Edwina became popular when King Edward VII was on the throne. I’ve never heard the name “Edwardina” before.
Lady Edwina Mountbatten may have been named in honor of family friend Edward VII, but the name Edwina and its derivations has a very long lineage out of old english, and is considered the female variant of Edwin, at least per OED sources.
Edwardina likewise has old english roots, but was never quite so popular as Edwina.
Or so sayeth “Baby Names” websites.
Both your statements might be true, but Qadgop’s still right. Edwina is just much more popular than Edwardina.
Regarding Rob’s wife, can someone remind me how she is different in the show than from the book? IIRC, in the book she seduces Rob specifically to screw up the relationship with the Freys, has that been hinted at yet in the show?
If she were a spy, it would hardly be intelligent to have her go by her real name, now would it? 
I don’t think it’s all that clear in the book, but I could be wrong. Jeyne’s mother secretly gives her contraceptives, but my impression was that Jeyne herself was a devoted wife.
Does she? I don’t remember that in the books at all. She was not particularly well fleshed out but I don’t remember the books hinting at any ulterior motive, other than the fact that the Westerlings have been sworn to the Lannisters in the past.
Indeed, although Jeyne’s brother is at the Red Wedding, he doesn’t take part and he tries to save Robb’s direwolf. So I’m not sure that the Westerlings were in on it. Certainly, Jeyne’s mother kept communications open with the Lannisters, and made sure that Jeyne didn’t get pregnant.
And there are apparently some theories that Jeyne has gone into hiding and has been replaced by an imposter.
I really need to re-read the books, obviously. How did Jeyne’s mother keep her from getting pregnant? Moon tea in her wine?
I don’t recall that it was specified.
Jeyne told Catelyn that her mother gave her fertility tea, but in light of the RW it’s more likely that it was moon tea.
Possibly.
Drogo isn’t a main character. Tywin is one of the villains. He really doesn’t count.
Killing of characters like Ygritte and Shae isn’t all that “WOW! I can’t believe they did that!”. Killing off Tywin is “thank god!”.
Robb and Ned are the only real shockers. And yes, that’s a lot relatively speaking, but it’s not what you’d expect from the breathless “warnings” from book fans give about how Martin holds no one sacred. This aspect of his writing is overstated.
If Martin was really that rule-breaking, Tyrion would’ve been dead several times. Probably Arya too (and I bet they make it to the climax of the story). Now, I’m glad they aren’t, but Martin has no problem conforming to modern fantasy conventions in a lot of his storytelling (not that I find this a bad thing).
I think only two “untouchable” characters have been offed (Ned & Robb). Is someone like The Hound really considered untouchable (assuming he’s really dead).