also lol at using the dragons to destroy the supplies when you could literally be killing their whole army then using their supplies or destroying them after if you feel like it

yeah, pretty stupid of the dragon not to think of that

lol

I thought this scene was great, but was timed horribly. Would've been a great way to open up the season, but instead it's several episodes in because the writers couldn't come up with enough plot. Dany's whole reasoning for not using the dragons is so bad.

pretty sure dany can almost literally decide what drogon does when shes flying

Wasnt there also la scene in an earlier episode before that when they mention targetting supplies (or the banks money)?

*cant find a quote at all but one of the wikis said this about the scene

I think this is correct and that it was ‘Rome’ that held the title before this show came along.

And I’ll watch of course but after last season I don’t really care how it ends, way too much stupid **** happened. Tbh the only character/storyline I care about now is Jaime.

Did anyone catch the teaser during the Golden Globes?

I just read a theory on Reddit dating from a couple years back called The Harrenhal Conspiracy, very long but probably the best thing I've ever read about ASOIAF. It concerns the period before Robert's Rebellion, the tourney at Harrenhal and subsequent disasters, and ties together a number of threads into a very compelling whole.

It's for nerds of the series, so if you don't understand, say, the import of the phrase "southron ambitions" it might be a bit over your head, I'm not sure. One of the things I like about it is that the theory is not true or untrue in its entirety; there might be true and false elements. Anyway, if you're starved of content for the series I recommend this. Links: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4.

I stopped reading halfway through part 1, when he mentions Robert being King as the original goal of the „Southron Ambitions Alliance“ for the tournament at Harrenhal.
Granted we don‘t know the actors involved personally, but that is just not how feudal Lords work.
I think it’s far more likely their goal would have been supporting Rhaegar in return for more independence for the seven Kingdoms. Especially Hoster Tully doesn’t seem to have much interest in overthrowing the Targaryens „unnecessarily“, as the Riverlands are right where that conflict would have been fought, being between King‘s Landing and Tywin‘s lands.

That's the standard Southron Ambitions story, I think you stopped reading a bit early though. There are some questions which are awkward in the standard account which are better answered here. For instance, if Rhaegar was intending to call a grand council at Harrenhal, why didn't he do it? And why did he crown Lyanna Queen of Love and Beauty? (The standard "he fell in love" has some problems, laid out in this piece).

Personally I think the phrase "southron ambitions" connotes a bit more than increased autonomy for the North. The Targaryens had been declining in power since the Dance, if these guys are going to conspire to overthrow a king anyway, why stop at Rhaegar? It should be noted that Robert at that time was naturally fourth in line to the throne, behind only Aerys, Rhaegar and Viserys. All they would have had to do is say that Aerys's madness disqualified not only him from being king, but his issue as well. Boom, instantly Robert is first in line for the throne.

O_______O

Think those are actual shots from the show or just shot as a trailer?

i think its real, but that it's like 50/50 that theyre in a Bran dream

Oh I forgot theyve done fake promos like this before like the wall with faceless men "masks" and the characters faces in them.

Guess this is probably just a promo then. I'm interested why they made Jon look confused if its just a promo tho.

That's where I stopped reading as well last night. I'll still end up reading it all because why not, but it does seem incredibly far fetched.

If they were to go through with this plan, I don't think it would ever go down like this. They would allow Rhaegar to fight his dad awhile then do it. If they pressed the claim at the council then it would just stall the civil war because Rhaeger would then be afraid that if he were to engage his dad that he would then be backstabbed by the northern lords.

It seems likely that the reddit poster is posing a theory for a question which doesn't need to be/never will be answered, but still fun to think about.

Oh I definitely think we will know exactly what went down at Harrenhal by the end of the books, in the unlikely event they ever get written. Rhaegar is the hero of the story. We will know all the important things he did and why he did them.

Isnt't Rhaegar wants support of the Lords Paramount to unseat his father without a civil war, but then ****s things up by falling in love with Lyanna basically already canon about what happened at Harrenhal? There might be some more details, and I will also read the rest of that theory, when I have the time, but the basic story of Robert's Rebellion and that the tourney at Harrenhal played a crucial role, is already there.

Regarding calling the council themselves, the thesis of the piece of that they didn't want to tip their hand like that, as any smell of a threat to Targaryen rule risked unifying them against the Southron Ambitions bloc. They wanted Rhaegar himself to call the council, revealing the extent of the Targ split, then put Robert forward as the unity candidate, with at least 4 and possibly 5 Great Houses backing him.

I'm not sure it's mentioned in the piece, but in the same Lady Dustin rant to Theon where we get the phrase Southron Ambitions, Dustin alleges that Rickard Stark's maester was behind his scheming:

There is some suggestion through the rest of the series that the maesters are anti-Targ, being opposed to magic. Marwyn even alleges that the Citadel had a hand in the Dance. If what Lady Dustin is saying is accurate, it seems unlikely that Walys's plan was to swap one Targ for another, rather than knocking the Targs off their perch entirely.

Well not canon, but that's the standard theory, yeah. This is the argument from the piece against the idea that Rhaegar falling in love with Lyanna is why he crowned her:

In his telling, the love between Rhaegar and Lyanna came later.

You could argue that Rhaegar crowned her simply for her actions as Knight of the Laughing Tree, but that still doesn't explain why Rhaegar declined to call a council at Harrenhal, as he had planned, and it still seems like a super reckless thing to do for a guy who, as far as we know, was pretty conscientious when it came to his duty etc.

I should say I'm not super convinced this is true or anything, and the standard account is still a fave, but I like this theory in part because I think it fits with the way GRRM tells the story. Often we're given an "obvious" explanation (eg Jon is Ned's bastard) and then that explanation is gradually undermined. And typically, there are cynical explanations and hidden machinations underlying things. The Rhaegar/Lyanna story, where he spirits her away to a far off tower because you just can't deny dat love, yo, is pretty fluffy and fairytale-ish for ASOIAF. The piece puts it like this:

imo it would be very GRRM if this apparently rash and romantic action of Rhaegar, queening Lyanna, was actually just another move in the game of thrones.

Agreed

I don't think that means we will find out the inner workings of every great lord during that time though. It's likely GRRM sticks to Rhaegar's ambitions (maybe Tywin's too) but doesn't really mention the Stark's.

As GermanBro mentions, we've already got a pretty good idea what Rhaegar was thinking.

the mountain that carries
https://www.instagram.com/p/BsgPrx7Bxdi/

Confusion is his default look.

Definitely fake, under what scenario would they be looking at statues of themselves in the winterfell crypt? Only way would be if some magic **** put them there for some silly reason. Could be a dream they all have, or a vision Bran has or something though I suppose.

The Rhaegar = Snape theory ?

No idea what that is.