Twin Peaks in ASOIAF

I've [previously argued] that the original Twin Peaks series and the film Fire Walk With Me were a major influence on ASOIAF, and that GRRM has seeded ASOIAF with Peaks references in order to foreshadow that there is something very Peaks-ish at the core of ASOIAF (perhaps involving predatory skinchangers abusing/inhabiting children in a way …

The Sharna Post, Part 4: Sharna Crane & Ashara Dayne?

This is Part 4 of 4 of one big writing about Sharna the Innkeeper, exploring my suspicion that she is connected to Dorne and perhaps to the Daynes. This simply picks up where Part 3 left off. You can read Part 1 HERE, Part 2 HERE, and Part 3 HERE. After wrapping up my look …

The Sharna Post, Part 3: A Duck Snatched & A Snatching Duck, Orphans of the Riverlands & The River, Husband & Yandry, Etc.

This is Part 3 of one big writing about Sharna the Innkeeper — a writing exploring the notion that Sharna might have something to say about Ashara Dayne, perhaps because she is Ashara's mother. You can read Part 1 HERE and Part 2 HERE. This simply picks up where Part 2 left off, continuing to …

The Sharna Post, Part 2: Sharna, Ashara, Dorne, & Snow White

This is Part 2 of a writing centered on Sharna the Innkeeper. This picks up where Part 1 left off and sets the direction for what's to come. You can read Part 1 HERE. Part 1 laid out the deep 'rhyme' between Sharna and Sabitha Vypren, and argued that while the 'rhyme' could connote that …

The Sharna Post Part 1: Sharna & Sabitha

Remember Sharna? Sharna is the matriarch of the Inn of the Kneeling Man, where Jaime, Brienne, and Cleos stop while fleeing Riverrun and where Arya, Hot Pie, and Gendry are brought by Lem Lemoncloak, Tom O'Sevens, and Anguy the Archer. Her husband is Husband, and she's foster mother to the orphan "Boy". A midwife and …

Myriad Musings About Mya Stone, Ashara Dayne, Robert, Myles Mooton, “Mandon Moore”, Brandon & More

Warning! This is a(nother) fever dream of a post: a bunch of somewhat-related thoughts and ideas that have been bouncing round my "brain" for a bit. It's an outgrowth in part of some writing I did on 'Dayneland' and 'Valeland', which you can read here. I've long believed that Ashara Dayne was no blushing damsel …

“A Single Fortified Tower” With A Pockfaced Guard: A Tower of Joy Preview?

Warning: Fever (Day) Dreaming Ahead In AGOT Tyrion V, Tyrion makes the following observation about attacking the Eyrie: "The Eyrie is impregnable," Lysa Arryn declared calmly.… The hell of it was, she was no doubt right. Having seen what it took to get here, Tyrion could well imagine how it would be for a knight …

The Land of the Daynes & The Lands of the Vale

The Daynes of Starfall's sigil shows, in white against a purple backdrop (presumably representing the evening sky), a celestial body — a falling star, plunging from sky to earth — overlaid by a deadly sword: presumably Dawn, "forged from the heart of a fallen star." (ACOK Bran III) The Arryns of the Eyrie's sigil shows, …

The Name That Makes Me Laugh Every Time That Isn’t Dick Manwoody

People like to joke about ol' Dick Manwoody, but as far as puerile joke names go, the one that gets me every time is a "whore" at the Peach. You've got Lanna, Cass, and Helly. You've got Alyce and Bella. And then you've got Jyzene. "Come on, come on. Cass, Lanna, put some kettles on. …

Was Arthur Ever Fairly Unhorsed? Regarding Rhaegar Defeating Arthur At The Tourney At Storm’s End

Was Arthur Dayne ever legitimately unhorsed in joust? We know of two occasions on which Arthur was supposedly defeated. I think it's fairly clear, reading between the lines, that Arthur was not actually unhorsed by Rhaegar at the tourney at Storm's End, as some seem to assume. Consider what Barristan Selmy tells Daenerys about Arthur's …