[spoiler]Arien said: “He also said he had a champion for Cersei, although I don’t see how he could use Gregor since he’s not a member of the Kingsguard.”
Maybe he is now. A person can join at any time, can’t he? Gregor was never married and had no children, so maybe Zombie Gregor will be wearing the white. Now THAT would be wild. Probably not what happened, though.[/spoiler]
Regarding Loras:
[spoiler]“I think Loras will survive his injuries and play a greater part in the series, instead of just being really pretty and a good jouster. I hope we have a POV of either him or his sister (or both) in one of the next books.”
He’s not pretty anymore-- isn’t he burned all over? Poor guy. I hope he lives too.
[/spoiler]
Regarding Margaery:
Anyone care to speculate why she needed moon tea? No one will admit to having slept with her, even under torture. Loras is likely gay, correct? So who was she with? Either there are clues that I’ve missed (I’m rereading the whole series from the beginning, so who knows what I’ll pick up this time?) or there’s another reason for drinking moon tea that I don’t know.
[spoiler]Arien: “What does everyone think about the prophesy? It’s pretty specific, so I guess Tommen and Myrcella are going to die. I really hope that they don’t somehow, especially Tommen. I like how he’s finally standing up to Cersei. Also he named his kitten Ser Pounce. I also think that Jaime will be the end of Cersei, even though she thinks it’s Tyrion. Jaime is her (slightly) younger brother, too.”
Me: I hadn’t thought about the fact that Jaime is also younger than she is so could be the ‘younger brother’. Interesting.
I’d say Tommen and Myrcella are either going to die or that Daenerys (who is obviously the queen of prophesy who will suplant her) will somehow take them away from Cersei. I hope they both live…but knowing Martin they are probably crow food at some point.
[/spoiler]
[spoiler]Rubystreak: “Anyone care to speculate why she needed moon tea? No one will admit to having slept with her, even under torture. Loras is likely gay, correct? So who was she with? Either there are clues that I’ve missed (I’m rereading the whole series from the beginning, so who knows what I’ll pick up this time?) or there’s another reason for drinking moon tea that I don’t know.”
Me: Well, leaving aside the ‘Loras is likely gay’ bit (no idea why you think that), it could be the same as our modern Pill…i.e. using it helps with certain other female problems. I know my sister in law takes the pill not because she could get pregnant (my brother in law has been ‘snipped’) but due to some other problem she is having (who’s nature currently escapes me). It could be something similar.
[/spoiler]
I’m kind of bummed out. I went to the local Borders today to get the 4th book on tape (unabridged) but all they have these days are CD’s. I guess no one uses tapes anymore. I feel like I’m starting to age here…
I’m honestly not sure she’s been sleeping with anyone. I’m almost tempted to say it’s going to be something along the lines of her needing it for, say, one of her cousins or something. (Though there’s no reason I could see that they’d need to get it through her, and I believe she’s more cognizant of her station to possibly impugn her reputation like how things are going down now.)
Add me to the “Hates that rat bastard Littlefinger” crowd. What a nasty, nasty little man. But I agree with those who think Sansa is starting to wise up a a little. She may go from being a pawn to being a real player before the game is over.
Re the timing of the next book: I heard an interview with GRRM on the Dragonpage Cover to Cover podcast*. In the interview, GRRM says that he had tons and tons of stuff written up, and since it was too much for one book, he would divide it up. Since most of the stuff was already written, he hopes to have the next volume (really, the other have of this volume out next year.
In the afterword he says:
Y’all are scaring me with your talk of
a zombie Gregor :eek: :eek:
That hadn’t occurred to me before y’all mentioned it.
<wanders off shuddering>
*this is a fun podcast to listen to, btw. Recommended.
I think she has some deliberately, elaborately, provably innocent purpose for it. I think she’s been baiting Cersei this whole time, and will come out of the whole affair smelling like roses.
xtisme, there’s definitely still plenty of books on cassette out there. But the unabridged Feast for Crows on CD is something like 30 discs. Perhaps Martin wouldn’t allow an abridged version (understandable), and the publisher felt that a suitcase-sized box of cassettes wouldn’t sell too well (also understandable).
No reason to spoil this brief comment, as it’s been discussed since his first appearance, but the Song of Ice and Fire FAQ covers the evidence pointing at Loras and Renly being gay lovers.
Oh…ok. I hadn’t considered this angle to be honest. I figured Renly was married and it never crossed my mind that he and Loras were lovers…I guess I just figured Renly would take after Robert. Didn’t he (Renly) have a bastard child?
I have the other 3 books on tape (unabridged)…and those books weren’t any shorter than this one. I think the 3rd book (for example) had 27 cassettes. Certainly I agree that CD’s are a lot easier and take less space…unfortunately my car doesn’t have a CD player atm. Guess I’ll have to break down and finally get one if this is the new trend.
Regarding the outlaw’s knowledge of Arya’s whereabouts:
They don’t know she’s alive - I think they are assuming that she died near Saltpans.
Nope - he was taking care of one of Robert’s bastard kids: Edric Storm. Renly WAS married to Margery, but they never consummated their marriage.
Regarding Margaery and tea:
It’s been suggested that the Tyrells have somehow managed to lure Pycelle onto their side. I’m not sure about this - he’s always been a Lannister creature. But even if he is not in on the plot, I am pretty sure there IS a plot. Margaery wouldn’t have been stupid enough to ask for moon tea from a maester who is obviously Cersei’s creature unless she specifically wanted Cersei to believe that she needed it.
For what it’s worth, we found a car-friendly portable cd player at Target for about twenty dollars. It comes with a device that mimics a cassette and plays the cds through your cassette player. Sound quality doesn’t suck.
[spoiler]“They don’t know [Arya]'s alive - I think they are assuming that she died near Saltpans.”
… but does Brienne know Arya’s alive either? If so, I totally missed that in my lightning-fast first reading. [/spoiler]
[spoiler]“It’s been suggested that the Tyrells have somehow managed to lure Pycelle onto their side…”
So Margaery wanted to get busted and thrown into prison for adultery? I can’t imagine that would be true. The moon tea looks really incriminating, and unless she can come up with a very credible excuse, she’s going to find herself no better off than Cersei. That’s why I was wondering if some other use for moon tea that I didn’t remember. Is there any evidence of a Pycelle conspiracy?[/spoiler]
Ditto here. I’d have to go back and re-read. Actually, I’m re-reading the entire series right now - still on ACoK.
Perhaps they were thinking to have Cersei fall into her own trap. There is enough evidence to suggest that
[spoiler]Merryweather was playing Cersei…and if the conspiracy was really that deep, I don’t see why they would be silly enough to make such a stupid mistake like asking asking Cersei’s pet maester for something so incriminating as moontea. Perhaps Margaery didn’t forsee Cersei making a move so soon. At any rate, there’s no way she could have forseen Cersei would screw up so badly in her handling of the Faith. Maybe she never foresaw that she could end up in the hands of a rabid septon. That doesn’t cancel the possibility that she and her ladies are playing a deeper game than Cersei, with her limited intellect, is able to fathom.
Or maybe Margaery is just screwed. :dubious: I hope not, though. I am so looking forward to Cersei getting what she deserves.[/spoiler]
Yeah, Brienne follows a tip that one of the Stark girls is alive, and goes off in search of who she assumes is Sansa. It’s awhile in that she finds it’s actually Arya whose trail she’s following.
[spoiler]“Merryweather was playing Cersei…and if the conspiracy was really that deep, I don’t see why they would be silly enough to make such a stupid mistake like asking asking Cersei’s pet maester for something so incriminating as moontea.”
Maybe the ousting of Cersei was an unforseen opportunity that the Tyrells were able to seize on when Kettleblack broke under torture. Margaery’s bit about the tea was real, and the Tyrells didn’t see a way out of that situation until the gathering of evidence against Margaery was already under way.
This still doesn’t answer the question of what the hell Margaery could have needed the moon tea for. Either she was sleeping with someone, there’s another use for moon tea that’s not as an abortifacent, or it’s part of some conspiracy that I can’t parse yet. I was hoping someone had a clue that I didn’t…
"Or maybe Margaery is just screwed. "
She might be at that. She and Cersei would go down together, leaving Tommen in the hands of… who exactly at this point? Hmmm.
Is Myrcella really disfigured at this point? Would that prevent her from being queen someday? I just wasn’t sure what the hell was happening with the Dornish story line this time. Ariane’s plan seemed pretty decent, as plans for usurpation go in Westeros these days, but her father put a cold stop to it, just as he did with the Sand Snakes. What game is he playing?[/spoiler]
[spoiler]Rubystrea, this still doesn’t answer the question of what the hell Margaery could have needed the moon tea for. Either she was sleeping with someone, there’s another use for moon tea that’s not as an abortifacent, or it’s part of some conspiracy that I can’t parse yet. I was hoping someone had a clue that I didn’t…
Me: It could be a set up. Works like this. Margaery is aware that Cersei is after her. So, she gets one of her friends and confidants to befriend the queen (and get into her bed…I can’t remember the womans name now), and to put the idea in her head that Margaery is having an affair. Margaery then goes to the maester for the moon tea (though she doesn’t need it…its all part of the set up), and this convinces the queen to move against her. Once that happens the trap springs and the queen is hoist on her own petard so to speak.
At least I THINK thats the alternative theory. I have to admit its something that was going through my head as I was reading the book.
[/spoiler]
I could definitely deal with the next volume coming out next year.