u/mistery987

(Jena Dondarrion and Dyanna Dayne by @Marlotte0)

One of the big points of contention before and during the reign of Daeron II, pre and post First Blackfyre Rebellion, was Dornish presence at court.

Many houses, especially the Marcher Lords of the south of the Reach and Stormlands, were slow to accept Dornish integration into the realm, and loathed having to bow to a Dornish Queen. And it seems Daeron, like always, solved the problem with diplomacy.

Jena Dondarrion and Dyanna Dayne are only ever mentioned in passing, and we never see them on page, but we know they were married respectively to Prince Baelor and Prince Maekar. The Heroes of the Redgrass Field, the Prince of Dragonstone and the Prince of Summerhall, through their marriages brought the daughter of a Marcher house and the daughter of a Dornish one to court, and bound together the two factions to the Iron Throne.

Having two sisters-in-law from different sides of the Dornish Marches might have been a historical first. And the promise that the next Queen would be a Dondarrion of Blackhaven must have done a lot to calm the malcontents and those jealous of Dornish influence.

This is why I love these books. Two names mentioned once in a side story slot perfectly into that period of history, and tell an interesting story on their own. I want a Blackfyre Rebellion book sooo bad 🥲.

EDIT: sisters-in-law. Not step sisters. English is hard.

(Bloodraven by Bella Bergolts)

Introducing Bloodraven to the main story so late in the game opens a barrel of worms. Especially given how little we concretely know about greensight and fucky wucky timey wimey stuff.

On the one hand, it's easy, WAY too easy, to point at any seemingly weird or conspicuous event in the main story or lore and scream 'BLOODRAVEN DID IT!', as evidenced by the sheer amount of theories cropping up around this guy like weeds.

On the other hand, if you've got a nigh omniscient wizard who can control animals and probably people too, it's hard not to wonder what the fuck he's been doing.

Waiting for Bran, maybe. But 50 years is a longass time. I don't feel Brynden is the kinda person to sit back and watch the shitshows unfolding south of the Wall from afar.

Too much interference would make the world smaller and cheapen some parts of the story, but too little makes no sense.

How do you think the story will handle this? What has he influenced? What hasn't he influenced?

My biggest question mark is Craster. The one (among many?) making human sacrifices to the Others. I don't think it would have been hard for Bloodraven to send Coldhands down or warg a few wolves or bears and destroy him. Whether or not you believe Craster is his bastard son, if we know one thing about Brynden, it's that he's pragmatic. Regardless of how he feels about Craster, if he decided he needed to go, he would have killed him. And he might have been able to save him from the Night's Watch mutineers if he still needed him around.

This makes me question his motives. My personal theory is that he doesn't want to outright destroy the Others. He wants to channel them somehow. Ride the wave. Use them as a grand bigger-than-life-threat to scare Westeros towards whatever political / prophetic agenda he has.

Kinda plays into the idea that the Others were / are(?) an instrument of fear of the Old Gods, used to reinforce their authority and control over the First Men.

(If that sounds interesting to you, I highly recommend Michael Talks About Stuff on YT. He goes full tinfoil sometimes, as every ASOIAF theorist worth their salt must, but he has some great and thematically fitting ideas about the connections between the Others and the Starks and the Old Gods and the Wall.)

(Addam Velaryon by @killjo-q)

Following the Treasons of Tumbleton, Rhaenyra is understandably suspicious of her inner circle and dragonriders. So, naturally, her next step is to... Order the arrest of Addam Velaryon?

Addam Velaryon? The one dragonseed who hails from a noble house? Whose loyalty probably can't be bought by gold or titles because he already stands to inherit both, as opposed to Ulf and Hugh?

The heir to Driftmark? The one whose claim is inextricably tied to Corlys and the Black cause?

The son of the fucking Sea Snake??? Her Hand and the spine of Black naval power?

Am I missing something here? I can understand paranoia and the fear of losing another dragon, but this just feels incompetent. Addam is the one seed who's actually invested in the Black cause, and she managed to alienate both him and his father and house in one master stroke.

EDIT: Just finished The Dying of The Dragons. She WAS just being incompetent.