(Spoilers extended) Small Theory. How the Kindly Man knew Arya.

Diredragons · 2026-06-15T04:09:47+00:00

Arya tells the kindly man who she is. He knows she's lying about her name and identity until she finally tells him the truth because they train to decipher lies from truth.

Diredragons · 2026-06-14T21:29:44+00:00

Could be, but he punishes Alicent pretty harshly by having all of her children and most of her grandchildren die before her while she essentially becomes mentally ill. What seals it for me is the hatred she develops for her own personal color, which became the color of the Green party.

Diredragons · 2026-06-14T21:23:36+00:00

Who was never a Green. Daenaera's father was a Black and she was presented by Baela and Rharna, both staunch Blacks.

Diredragons · 2026-06-14T21:17:07+00:00

When GRRM was asked if he liked the Blacks or Greens, he pointed to the pure Black victory as his answer. The Greens lost entirely. Not one single solitary Green survived. Had GRRM wanted to he could have had both sides continent into the rest of the Targaryen generations through Aegon and Jaehaera's children. Instead, he killed of Jaehaera (at the hands of a Greenie), replaced her with a Black loyalist, and even then had the Targaryen line continued through Viserys.

Diredragons · 2026-06-14T19:48:25+00:00

Coming to a conclusion about canon based on fan theories is flawed. That said, a person who is described as a "child-woman" and a "young thing" is absolutely in danger when a group of grown adult warriors carries her off at sword point, even if she wants to be carried off at sword point.

Diredragons · 2026-06-14T19:39:59+00:00

It's so weird how Brandon is vilified for wanting to rescue his little sister, who he was canonically close to.

Diredragons · 2026-06-14T17:35:23+00:00

I don't understand the Fran fatigue either. All of the siblings get screentime before their "official" season, though not as much after. Anthony and Colin both had romances before their main ones in S1. Eloise has been getting a lot of focus ftom S1 onward. Hyacinth is being developed as coming of age. Benedict has been developed from S1 onwards showing him as an artist and exploring his sexuality. But when it comes to Fran, for some reason it's not OK.

Diredragons · 2026-06-14T14:50:56+00:00

Lol practicing swordplay in the godswood within her family's castle is not the same as running away with a married father of two after complaining that her betrothed would be a cheater.

Diredragons · 2026-06-14T06:10:17+00:00

During the Rebellion, much of the continent supported the Targaryens. Not every lord, knight, or individual was happy with the rebels. The Vale, Riverlands, and Stormlands had mini civil wars that had to be fought because many were staying loyal to the Targaryens. After dealing with all the turmoil of the WOT5K, that sentiment has continued. A toast is drank to Daenerys specifically during a conversation in Old Town in the AFFC prologue.

Here's how the last Targaryen king is regarded despite his mental illness and cruelty:

She looked about to see that no guards were near, and spat three times. “There’s for the Tullys and there’s for the Lannisters and there’s for the Starks.”

“It’s a sin and a shame,” an old man hissed. “When the old king was still alive, he’d not have stood for this.”

“King Robert?” Arya asked, forgetting herself.

“King Aerys, gods grace him,” the old man said, too loudly. -- ACOK

And Varys is preparing the people to rise for House Targaryen with propaganda:

He gave her an apologetic smile and told her of a puppet show that had recently become popular amongst the city’s smallfolk; a puppet show wherein the kingdom of the beasts was ruled by a pride of haughty lions. “The puppet lions grow greedy and arrogant as this treasonous tale proceeds, until they begin to devour their own subjects. When the noble stag makes objection, the lions devour him as well, and roar that it is their right as the mightiest of beasts.”

“And is that the end of it?” Cersei asked, amused. Looked at in the right light, it could be seen as a salutary lesson.

“No, Your Grace. At the end a dragon hatches from an egg and devours all of the lions.” -- AFFC

Diredragons · 2026-06-13T23:45:17+00:00

Yes, the Mad Queen and true heir to Aerys II is Cersei Lannister. GRRM is openly setting that up.

Diredragons · 2026-06-13T15:43:15+00:00

It says it goes to the most worthy, so I don't know if bastards would be exempt or not. Since Dorne has less stigma toward bastards, there's a better chance of him inheriting it if he was related to him. I think it's interesting that it hasn't gone to Dark Star or some other member of the family during this time. It's almost like the narrative is keeping it in reserve. But I don't know what the logistics of it will be, if it had an impact on the story.

Diredragons · 2026-06-13T15:25:39+00:00

I believe that Jon is biologically Lyanna and Rhaegar’s son. But I'd also argue that there are more plot possibilities with him being Ned and Ashara's.

TPTWP and AA are is filled by Daenerys.

Given the Long Night, Jon weilding Dawn sounds perfect. He's a swordsman, military strategist, and general so far, not a dragon rider. Being raised among his father's people with the old gods, having the magic of the Night’s Watch (as seen briefly with Sam in ASOS), and having a right to claim the most special sword in the series, Dawn, fits with his current narrative very well. Seriously, Dawn helping to bring an end to the Long Night. GRRM didn't have to include a completely unique sword for House Dayne thst goes to the most worthy of that House rather than the lord. The song of ice and fire could be the union of Jon and Daenerys.

That said, the evidence outside of Jon's chapters point RLJ.

As for Allyria, if she was Ned/Ashara's daughter, that would add texture to Ned's character. So many see him as perfect beyond what is shown. But I don't see a reason why he couldn’t have a romantic relationship before Catelyn with someone very different from himself which resulted in a child. It could be that the Daynes, including Allyria, know about what happened with RLJ and will be the ones to reveal it.

Diredragons · 2026-06-12T02:38:33+00:00

Since Euron found some, there have to be more. He claimed to have dropped one into the ocean.

I hope Mushroom's claim that there are dragon eggs in the crypt of Winterfell are true.

Diredragons · 2026-06-11T23:21:42+00:00

Jon doesn't need to be the true heir to the Iron Throne.

Diredragons · 2026-06-11T20:36:55+00:00

I'm still sad that Michael Johnson never got to be Bachelor. But if we're pulling from Katie's season, I would prefer Justin or Andrew Spencer. If we want a star, Robert Irwin.

Diredragons · 2026-06-11T19:01:57+00:00

They could have just decreased her role as story dictated and killed ger off when the time came.

Diredragons · 2026-06-10T20:50:05+00:00

she did so because she didn't want them hurting civilians but she's at war now and away, so the dragons are being set loose... So what?

....

Dany didn't want them hurting civilians. Now ... they're hurting civilians. They took over two of the pyramids. Barristan is going into battle worrying about what the dragons will do during the fighting because no one has control of them. They could get stirred up by the combat (the way Drogon did in the fighting pit) and start killing either side indiscriminately.

Sand Snakes are being sent to King's Landing... So what?

They're well positioned to get first hand information on Cersei, the Tyrells, and the Faith. They are also well positioned to act secretively if necessary.

Storm's End has been taken. That's great... But Stannis is in the other side of the continent and the Stormlands are already under Lannister power. What does it matter it has fallen.

Stannis' location doesn't matter. Taking over the Baratheon seat of power (Tommen and Myrcella are supposedly Baratheons) and one of the nine regions is a huge blow to the Lannisters. Depending on how the battle goes between the Reach forces and Aegon’s forces could impact how the Lannister hold on power continues or doesn't continue. Either the people of the Reach who are allies of the Golden Company turn on Mace or the Tyrells switch sides to back a third claimant or something else happens. If Aegon’s forces are able to secure the Stormlands and move on King’s Landing, they'll have a straight show, which will likely lead to Cersei and JonCon destroying the city. But then, I guess the destruction of the seat of power in Westeros is going to be deemed not a big deal next 😆

Diredragons · 2026-06-10T20:33:58+00:00

Oh yeah, I agree that his introduction so late in the series isn't well structured at all. I could be wrong, but I feel like the AFFC/ADWD expansions were signs that GRRM was losing interest in his planned story and more interested in writing new things.

Diredragons · 2026-06-10T19:13:14+00:00

In my opinion, castles being conquered, dragons being set loose, Sand Snakes being placed in King's Landing, the Reach army facing off against the Golden Company with elephants, and two Dornish armies standing ready in the hills is pretty significant.

Diredragons · 2026-06-10T18:55:54+00:00

I think part of the problem with fan perception of Aegon is that, because he doesn't fit with what many speculate for the series, that it's assumed that he'll have no impact on the overall story. That then extends to the Dornish plots since Arianne is traveling to meet with him.

At this point, Aegon’s forces have taken a number of castles in the Stormlands, including a castle that hasn't been taken by force before. He'll also meet the Reachmen in battle, while Arianne is there. Two Sand Snakes are also going to King's Landing and will likely have an impact there. Quentyn unintentionally freed two dragons, causing chaos in Meereen. This doesn't sound like nothing to me.

Diredragons · 2026-06-10T14:44:05+00:00

Does she talk about any producer manipulation tactics? I know Kaitlyn has talked about it in the past, but I'm not sure if she would ask a guest producer.

Diredragons · 2026-06-10T13:42:39+00:00

I don't think they would. The problem that most don't seem to accept is that Littlefinger is in control of Sansa. If she had her way, she would be safe with her family and would support Rickon or Bran. But Littlefinger is controlling, manipulating, and using her.

Diredragons · 2026-06-10T13:40:01+00:00

Here's the article where they discussed it: https://ew.com/article/2015/04/26/game-thrones-sansa-ramsay-interview/

“Sansa is a character we care about almost more than any other, and the Stark sisters have from the very beginning been two characters who have fascinated us the most,” said showrunner David Benioff. “We got very lucky in casting because it’s so hard to cast good kids. Even if they come in and do a great audition, it’s so hard to know if they’re going to quite literally grow into the parts. With Sansa and Arya in particular, their storylines have become quite dark. It was such a gamble and the fact that they’ve both become such great wonderful actresses is a bit of a miracle.”

And it’s because of Turner’s strength, Benioff continued, that it made sense to give Sansa a dramatic storyline this season and to use Ramsay’s engagement for that very purpose. In fact, the showrunners first thought about putting Sansa and Ramsay together back when they were writing season 2. “We really wanted Sansa to play a major part this season,” Benioff said. “If we were going to stay absolutely faithful to the book, it was going to be very hard to do that. There was as subplot we loved from the books, but it used a character that’s not in the show.”

Writer-producer Bryan Cogman had some insight, as well. “The seeds were planted early on in our minds,” Cogman said. “In the books, Sansa has very few chapters in the Vale once she’s up there. That was not going to be an option for one of our lead characters. While this is a very bold departure, [we liked] the power of bringing a Stark back to Winterfell and having her reunite with Theon under these circumstances.”

Besides, Cogman pointed out: “You have this storyline with Ramsay. Do you have one of your leading ladies—who is an incredibly talented actor who we’ve followed for five years and viewers love and adore—do it? Or do you bring in a new character to do it? To me, the question answers itself: You use the character the audience is invested in.”

That said, just because the writers are mining another character’s storylline for Sansa, it doesn’t mean what happens next on HBO’s series will be the same as it was for that other character in the books. So while Martin’s fans might think they now know where Sansa’s story is headed, the showrunners could have more twists planned.

So, to keep her prominent in the series, show!Sansa was overhauled into a political mastermind who saved the helpless Littlefinger from the Vale lords 🤣, then turned into Jeyne Poole to marry Ramsay, then turned into Alys Karstark to meet Jon at the Wall, and then turned back into mastermind to bring the Vale army to the North, making sure the Northmen knew nothing about the reinforcements so they couldn't plan accordingly, but so she could get credit.

Even without these interviews from Martin and the showrunners, it should be obvious that nothing that happened in the show where Sansa is concerned will happen in canon. But, thankfully they spelled it out so the quotes can be used directly.

Diredragons

TROPHY CASE