Brienne is not related to the Mormonts. She’s from some little island off the east coast of Westeros, if I remember correctly.
Brienne is from House Tarth, as I recall, and last we saw was given Jaime’s Valyrian sword and went off in search of Sansa, thought to be the last living Stark.
Oops. I guess even my memory isn’t perfect.
Anyways, since I’m probably a couple weeks from getting to the dreaded Red Wedding (stupid work) I wanted to ask…since Catelyn is back to life is it possible for Robb to make it back?
I seem to remember someone being beheaded, but I think it was Grey Wind, not Robb…
-Joe
They cut off Robb’s head and attached Grey Wind’s head to Robb’s body. Of course we don’t know for certain that Thoros couldn’t revive Robb if he managed to acquire both pieces, but I’d say it’s unlikely.
Hmm…I was kinda close. I guess.
I was happy that the Five Kings problem got resolved, I just didn’t like Robb not surviving it. 
Hell, I can’t even remember all five. Robb, Joff, Stannis, Renley. Greyjoy?
-Joe
Can you imagine her being one of the POW characters in FFC:
Catelyn
Grrhhrhhhahaahhhhhburblegrhhhhhhhhhhgrrggghbbhhh
Must…not…make Marlee Maitlin joke…
-Joe, straight to hell, do not pass go
Meh, that’s not so long before his SoCal appearance, so I’m not turning that dark a shade of green. 
(Martin’s appearance schedule.)
And WRT an earlier post about whether or not there’s going to be another world-threatening wave of Others and wights, I’ll have to say yes. (Prediction: The Wall will be breached.) Another prediction of mine is that dragonflame will prove to be anathema to the Others (Other-killing obsidian being referred to as Dragonglass and all), and Dany’s going to bring massive DFA down upon the Others.
And now, a question out of left field: Who, or what, is Old Nan? I could be way off, but I have the feeling there is much more than meets the eye here. (And none of my SOIAF-reading/rereading friends have found mention of her body turning up…)
Close. Here’s a section from an excerpt GRRM made publicly available prior to publication:
I don’t think that Cthulhu actually lurks beneath the waves off of Pyke, but rather that this is just GRRM being cute and giving something for certain readers to recognize as the Ironmen are nothing at all like worshippers of Cthulhu.
I’ve not had much time to read, but I’ve finally finished the first book.
And I’ve come up with a question I haven’t figured out the answer to.
During the Rebellion, Robert had the best claim on the throne…but how is that possible when Stannis is his older brother? Wouldn’t he be the best claimant by default?
-Joe
Stannis is Robert’s younger brother. He’s Renly’s older brother, hence Stannis being so angry that Renly claimed the throne.
Duh duh duh.
Oops.
-Joe
I’ve found another truly noble character in the course of my rereading: Davos. Certainly he qualifies.
I’ve also come across another question that I can’t seem to find an answer to. In the opening chapter of Book 3 Jaime thinks something along the lines of how (paraphrasing) he’s “loved for a trifle and reviled for his greatest deed.”
Killing the Mad King was obviously his greatest deed, but what is the other he’s referring to? Anyone have any ideas?
-Joe
He says that he’s loved for a deed he never performed, and hated for his finest act. He’s talking about(Storm of Swords spoilers):
the girl that Tyrion married when he was young. Tyrion, remember, thought that Jaime had set the whole thing up for him, when really it was a complete accident.
Oh, that makes sense.
I was thinking of it from a “loved” in a “loved by the people” kind of way, it never occurred to me that it might be a reference to just Tyrion loving him.
I’ve come across another wacky theory during my reread as well…
Dany’s new friend Whitebeard has shown up to help her. He’s old, from Westeros, and well-travelled. Is he really Barristan Selmy?
It makes sense for him to be since, once he escaped he totally disappeared. It’s entirely possible for Varys to have sent him to Illyrio who would have then sent him on to Dany. Barristan would have been willing to do this to atone for his swearing to Robert which, of course, led to the disaster of the latest war as well as Little Bastard Joffrey ending up on the throne…
Any opinons?
-Joe
Umm… just how far have you read the series? If you haven’t reached the end of book 3, then finish it and then start with the theories.
Actually, I have finished book 3 but it was a couple years ago and, while my memory is usually pretty good for books, my memories for the ASoIaF are pretty terrible for some reason. So, on my rereads, I’m about 450 pages into Book 3.
Must be my subconscious, then!
-Joe
Does anyone know exactly what the Doom of old Valyria is? It seems (from the latest book) that the place got nuked or something…but do they actually ever come right out and say what happened to the place?
-XT
Nope. It’s a secret. It seems to still be a smoking wreck though. Maybe volcanos. Or a magical disaster. Or magically disasterious volcanos. Anyway, I wouldn’t be suprised if we find out eventually, but we don’t know yet what happened, and it’s not clear to me how well known the actual details are in Westeros.
I never really understood why Tyrion would be grateful to Jamie for that.
When Tyrion first meets Tysha, he assumes she’s a “crofter’s daughter, chance met on the road.” Later he is told that she was paid by Jaimie to … pluck his cherry, I suppose. His father makes him watch her be raped by numerous guardsmen, and later makes Tyrion himself rape her. Now, what part of his would make Tyrion grateful to his older brother? That he helped him get laid? That he bought him a whore and let him think she was in love with him? I don’t get it.