u/Substantial-Ad-299

A common debate I see among ASOIAF fandom is whether GRRM made his characters too young or their ages didn't progress enough through the story, considering the actions they make.

So I wonder, which are the moments in the story where you feel the character's age and their actions or way of thinking mismatch the most? Additionally, what age do you feel would make more sense for the character in that moment?

I'm happy to hear all your opinions

Vince McMahon had his own way which wrestlers he prefered to push and which ones not (or even which ones to de-push). When Triple H took over creative control in 2022 (even though Vince remained in some way involved in creative till TKO merger), it has been a consensus that things moved in better direction.

But I wonder, among the currently active wrestlers on WWE roster, which ones do you believe would have been pushed the most if Vince was still part of the creative? And which ones are you sure wouldn't be as high on the card as they may be now?

I'm happy to hear your opinions

In July 2022, Vince McMahon stepped away from WWE creative control and eventually, Triple H took over. Changes were soon noticable in weekly programming and the consensus has been that WWE improved for the better. There were also callbacks of formerly released talent and several superstars were featured in better way since then.

But on opposite end, which WWE superstars do you feel lost some of their spotlight after Triple H took over? A.K.A that they were featured more prominently under Vince or were in much better card position before the change in creative control?

I'm happy to hear your opinions.

It's been 15 years since last ASOIAF novel was released and I imagine speculation and predictions and headcanons reached new levels of propotion during it. And regardless of how much of a (non)-canon "The Mad King" play may be, I believe it's a likely example how release of the novels would likely shake the fandom as well when some long-speculated stuff might turn out to be not true or opinions being heavily divided on something.

So if we would by some miracle get a complete ASOIAF story (which is unlikely, I know), which predictions/headcanons do you believe would ruffle the most feathers if they turn out to be (not) true after all? A.k.a fandom having hardest time accepting it?

I'm happy to hear all your opinions

Retroactive continuity (retcon) - literary device in fiction, whereby facts and events established through the narrative are adjusted, ignored, supplemented, or contradicted by a subsequently published work that recontextualizes or breaks continuity with the former.

Retcons happen in various pieces of fiction, especially in very expansive stories. They don't necessarily outright break continuity and cause plotholes but can sometimes still stick out as obvious change that initially wasn't meant to be part of the story.

With A Song of Ice and Fire being a very expansive story with hundreds of characters, and GRRM being a gardener writer, do you believe there are any retcons in ASOIAF as well? Which ones?

I'm happy to hear your thoughts

It's been 15 years since A Dance of Dragons has been released and since then, it's been a long wait for TWOW and I imagine there's no guarantee we'll ever get it, from GRRM at least.

ASOIAF fandom has always been heavy on speculation and theories and such. But I wonder, which parts of story & its speculation do you feel were most negatively affected by such long wait among the fandom?

I'm happy to hear all your opinions

The Sand Snakes were introduced in AFFC and then put in active story with the only Dornish chapter of ADWD. On first sight, they might seem to be treated as extension of Oberyn, continuing his legacy, but it could all change. By the end of ADWD, we have:

- Obara being sent with Areo Hotah to hunt down Darkstar
- Nymeria and Tyene being sent to King's Landing, the former to be part of Small Council and the latter to infilitrate the Faith
- Sarella being in Oldtown, widely speculated to live under fake identity of Alleras.
- Elia accompanying Arianne to see Young Griff
- The youngest three staying in Dorne (Obella serving the castellan of Sunspear, Dorea and Loreza being at Water Gardens with Ellaria)

So, at least four if not five are poised to have a potential of playing a firm part in the overall story. But as we know, GRRM loves to pull a rug on characters when things seem to be getting too well or when plans are so openly laid out and I wonder if it would apply to some of the Sand Snakes too (especially the ones at King's Landing in my opinion).

So, what do you speculate would eventually happen to Sand Snakes? What do you feel awaits them? Which ones do you think may make it through and which ones' fates might be quite dark? Let me know in comments below

So, we all know the timeline of the events before Robert's Rebellion:

1. Rhaegar supposedly kidnaps Lyanna Stark
2. Brandon Stark, being a hothead, rides into King's Landing, demanding Rhaegar to come out and die
3. Aerys II has Brandon arrested, summons his father Rickard to ransom him
4. Aerys II has both Brandon and Rickard executed in overly cruel manner
5. Aerys II in his paranoia demands the heads of Robert Baratheon and Ned Stark, fearing they'd avenge their loved ones
6. Rebellion officially breaks out when Jon Arryn openly defies the King's order and raises his bannermen.

So, assuming no.1 and no.2 still happen, what could have king Aerys done to prevent the Rebellion from happening?

I'm happy to hear all your opinions

In nearly 30 years of A Song of Ice and Fire existence, many theories emerged among the fandom, some more directly related to mysteries that the story raised, some more vague. ANd I imagine that the forever wait for TWOW only caused more obscure theories to emerge. Eventually, I imagine only a portion of these mysteries and theories would eventually get answered and some will likely remain a mystery.

Now, in hypothetical future where we would get the complete ASOIAF story (very unlikely, I know), which theories do you firmly expect the story to answer? And which ones do you think will likely never be, in main story at least? I mostly mean those theories that are quite commonly appearing in fandom or that the story itself might have hinted upon.

I'm happy to hear your opinions

There are many characters in A Song of Ice and Fire, some more, some less prominent. So I imagine a lot of different opinions were formed on characters, especially the longer the fandom exists. For certain characters, I imagine the opinions can be quite polarizing.

So among ASOIAF characters, which characters do you feel have had polarizing opinion the longest a.k.a significant portion of opinions being on different sides of the spectrum? And which ones do you feel are more of a recent thing?

I'm happy to hear all your opinions.

ASOIAF novels have been out for many years now, nearly 30 years since the first novel was released. So I imagine several of us re-read them more than once, formed opinions on stuff and with time likely changed opinion as well on certain matters. Which is nothing unusual for such expansive story.

So what parts of the story or characters do you feel you changed opinion the most about with time? (Apart from obvious that GRRM will likely not finish the novels of course) Let me know in comments below.

So, I've been doing another re-read recently after many years and it does seem to me that Kingsguard is portrayed nowhere as rigid celibate order in first novel compared to later.

What we find out through novels is that Kingsguard is actually not that much different fron Night's Watch in terms of rules and all. The members are forbidden to marry, forbidden to inherit anything, and are expected to have 100% obedience to the King - something fully established when Joffrey exploits this by having Kingsguard beat Sansa whenever he pleases and they have to obey with no questions asked, and even in Jaime's mental flashbacks when he recalls being appalled by Aerys's actions, only to be silenced by ser Gerold that he has no right to pass judgement. Jaime shows this same disdain about this "absolute obedience" with ser Meryn when he finds out Joffrey was using him to beat Sansa and actually forbids him from doing anything like that anymore.

While I could understand Bran as a kid wanting to become a Kingsguard because he doesn't have this rational perspective on how rigid the order is, I feel the order is still portrayed as less strict in first novel. The most obvious discrepancy is the fact that Ned mentiones Jaime inheriting Casterly Rock one day which makes me think GRRM hasn't established the no-inherit rule yet. Jaime can also attend the feast in Wintefell in civil clothes (and wearing Lannister colors even) or wear his gold-plated armor instead of regular Kingsguard armor.

But there are even smaller details that make less sense to me in first novel - even though Robert and his entire royal family go to Winterfell, he only takes three Kingsguard with him instead of all seven. Like, who do the remaining four have to guard in first place in King's Landing? If entire royal family departed King's Landing, wouldn't it make sense the entire Kingsguard went with them?

Then we have this part that Lord Commander of the Kingsguard is part of the Small Council but this in my eyes again kinda contradicts what ser Gerold says to Jaime: "We're sworn to guard the King, not to judge him." - so why exactly would Lord Commander of the Kingsguard be in Small Council then?

And finally, ser Barristan's line that Kingsguard serves for life and that no one should be released from this position. But what about when there's peace and a member of Kingsguard gets so old that they no longer have proper fighting skills, what do they do with them? I feel that's a bit of an oversight as well.

So all in all, do you think Kingsguard's deconstruction is to some extent deliberate or was this also a "first bookism" a.k.a GRRM not having firmly envisioned it as this very strict and rigid order?

A Song of Ice and Fire has had fantasy elements from get-go, some present subtly and others less-subtly. But in midst of this, it also has these more grounded story aspects, especially regarding the political subplot for the Iron Throne.

Among these more grounded non-fantasy aspects of the story, which elements do you feel you have to suspend disbelief the most for? A.K.A feeling they are not realistic even though they are "supposed" to be?

Let me know in the comments below.

GRRM self-proclaimed himself to be a "gardener" when writing a.k.a not fully planning entire story ahead but rather evolving it "organically" during the writing process. This allows more story flexibility but at same time it's possible to... garden yourself in corner, I imagine.

So in these five novels, which story plot points or elements do you think are most clear product of GRRM's gardening a.k.a. him thinking of them later or changing mind on what he might have originally planned?

Let me know in comments below

In battle of Blackwater, ser Mandon Moore from the Kingsguard unsuccessfully tries to kill Tyrion and then he's killed by Podrick. Tyrion immediately makes assumption Cersei was behind this assassination attempt.

But at same time, ser Mandon's loyalties are never outright revealed. Varys states to Ned in AGOT that ser Meryn and ser Boros are very much on Cersei's side but never mentions ser Mandon. Ser Mandon is also described as being very devoid of any visible emotion (both by Tyrion and Sansa) and Jaime labeled him as potentially the most dangerous Kingsguard among the seven. He also came from the Vale with Jon Arryn.

So who do you think was really behind Tyrion's assassination attempt? Cersei or someone else? Or did ser Mandon act on his own behalf? And do you think we will ever get an outright answer or will this ultimately stay a mystery?

Let me know in comments below.

Westeros has these 9 regions that all have their Lords Paramounts:

- The North (Stark, later Bolton)
- Westerlands (Lannister)
- Stormlands (Baratheon)
- The Vale (Arryn)
- Riverlands (Tully, later Baelish)
- The Reach (Tyrell)
- Dorne (Martell)
- Iron Islands (Greyjoy)
- Crownlands (Iron Throne itself)

So which one of the Great Houses ruling these regions do you think has the most powerful bannermen a.k.a houses sworn to them are individually the strongest?

Let me know in comments below.

"Boba Fett syndrom" is an informal term originating from Star Wars franchise, when a minor character who is relatively undeveloped on screen gains a big cult following among the fandom, certainly more than the author might have intended.

So in vast ensemble of ASOIAF cast, do you think "Boba Fett syndrome" applies to any character here when it comes to fandom?

Let me know in comments below.

One of the most common theories in ASOIAF is that Young Griff is not the real Aegon, but a pretender groomed to take over the Iron Throne. Most commonly, a Blackfyre descendant, possibly through Ilyrio's wife.

So if he is revealed to be a pretender, how do you think it would happen (if we by some miracle get the novels of course)? Who would be the person to reveal it? Or do you believe we'd never get the actual answer about his true identity?

Let me know in comments below

Many predictions and speculative theories emerged during the time of ASOIAF existence. Some of these elements are more likely to get addressed, some others probably less likely if ever.

So if you imagine a hypothetical future where we'd get a complete A Song of Ice and Fire story (very unlikely, I know), which of speculated plot elements do you believe would ultimately remain a mystery? Never getting addressed or getting a definite answer despite speculation circulating around it?

I'm happy to hear all your opinions

Bran spotting Cersei and Jaime and being pushed out of the tower kicks several events in motion. Him being paralyzed and not going with Ned and his sisters to King's Landing, the assassination attempt that causes Catelyn to travel to King's Landing and arresting Tyrion and eventual conflict between Riverlands and Westerlands and so on. Ned's suspicion also gets raised with Bran's assassination attempt. At same time, crucial events happen that are not connected to Bran's fall and could still lead to War of Five Kings.

So if Bran never climbs upon Cerse and Jaime doing it and Jaime not pushing him out, how do you imagine AGOT story to unfold? WHat would be the same and what would be different?

Let me know in the comments below.