How isn't it Margery?

Seemed like a meh episode:

-Meereen was terrible and pointless, same as it ever was. Varys did sound kind of like Miss Marple in his summation though, which was funny.
-Sam and Gilly. A boring conversation where boring people decide to go somewhere boring rather than somewhere interesting and instead of arguing about it they just make calf eyes at each other and puke. Fantastic.
-King's Landing. Actually good.
-Winterfell. Actually good.
-It's really incomprehensible why they're making the Arya plot so boring. In the books, she trains by running around and gossiping and murdering people, here she just gets hit with a stick and denies having a name, over and over and over again. Awful.
-ToJ was fine, but having it be 2v7 rather than 3v7 was odd, given how strained it made the fight choreography, and also the double swords was silly.
-The execution at the Wall was well-done, but Jon Snow leaving the Watch was underexplained at best.

could be:

- Direwolf head was not actually Shaggy Dog but rather a wolf
- Direwolf was deemed an acceptable loss in order to convince Ramsey of who Rickon was
- Direwolf died in (some way) and then his head was cut afterwards as a ruse
- Umbers have some plan to protect Rickon even while he's in Winterfell

I, dunno, just feels like

- Ramsey getting ANOTHER Stark is a repetitive storyline
- Introducing Umber as a badass to work with Ramsey feels off
- Ramsey is way overdue for some comeuppance

and that all combines into a ruse here

This has been my feeling for a long time, IDk Where the Karstarks wind up in this but they still seem pretty butt hurt over there lord being whacked . I had thought they all might pull the old fast one , Northern's are loyal to a fault and betraying Rikon [even for the hatred of Robb] doesn't seem like something even they would do no matter how hurt they were.

#stannislives

#notachance

This capable fella is out there somewhere

casting information/rumors for the rest of the season, so putting in spoilers but relevant to above convo:

If you want confirmation this isnt happening google the interview the actor who plays stannis recently gave. He flat out said he disliked the show and only took the part for money. He's not coming back.

karstarks are w boltons all the way in this show.

Umbers tho are part of the northern conspiracy and will betray boltons. Character choices are also important in this: karstark is a tightass pedo while umber is a straight boss.

As for who rules once Lannisters are out of the picture its hard to say. Prolly someone who has the backing of Faith Militant since i guess when the hound kills gregor in cersei's trial as the champion of the faith the FM will have all the power in KL (temporarily ofc). Marg cant rule since she and tommen got no heirs, she herself has no royal blood and once Tommen is revealed as a bastard she'll be just a bastards wife. There are many theorys on this, but none of which seem to be a lock imo.

Sounds like he is negotiating for a raise.

Preston Jacobs said that the showrunners don't know if Stannis or dead or alive; they've left it ambiguous so they can go either route depending on their needs

I agree with that

He's dead

That's giving the show runners way too much credit.

Concerning the line of succession, there is no clear candidate, so itwould come down to a power struggle. Ederic Storm and Shireen (books) seem to have the most direct claim. They would both probably need some kind of edict of legitimization, but that is no difference than what Must have happened After Robert's rebellion, as they somehow removed Viserys from the line of succession.
As the Baratheon claim to the throne goes through Rhaella Targaryen the throne would revert back to the Targaryens if that edict didn't rule out all of them.

right, if Tommen dies the next ruler will be whoever has the biggest army. it won't be succession

This was my thinking as well as to why Arthur Dayne had two swords. It's still stupid though.

According to the world book, the last time succession was unclear they had a "Great Council" assemble to decide who would be the next king. But yes in the current case it would probably just come down to war over the throne.

I think Karstark is in on the Umber conspiracy, if there is one. The "he likes them young" joke would be a perfect setup for Umber and Karstark to trick Ramsay into thinking they are not working together. Karstark may have even already been working with the Umbers before Roose was killed.

Really don't think there'd be a war. Lannisters are powerful and Cersei is there, she'd just take over as Queen. Most wouldn't recognize her but winter is here and most are weakened due to the previous war so they'd not want to start a war with the Lannisters. This would cause Westeros to default back to the 7 kingdoms... which is mostly based on who is powerful in their local areas.

Being ruler of King's Landing would be mostly worthless.

It would really take something special (like 3 dragons, an army of unsullied and a khalasaar) to reunite the 7 kingdoms.

True that would work because it's already fooled me!

Having both of them betray Ramsay seems a bit of overkill though, I think someone has to stick with him.

Well, when Robert died his wife (Cersei) didn't get to continue to rule as queen. It passed on to their son. Not sure what happens if Margery and Tommen don't have a son.

Hopefully it plays out as a power struggle to be determined in a trial by combat. Cersei looks on smugly as Ser Robert Strong Gregor trots into the arena and gestures to take on all challengers. It looks like no one will contest, until Dany comes riding in on her dragon and roasts the Mountain (not so) alive. Just as she is giving her speech about being the mother of dragons etc, etc. Jon Snow Targaryan rolls in and stakes his claim. Dany laughs in his face and asks if he truly wishes to face her dragon. Jon says, "no, but my champion will". Wun Wun then busts through the gate like the Kool-aid man, grabs the dragon by the tail, swings and smashes his dragon skull into a wall. The issue is settled and Jon Snowgaryan is prepared to usher in the dawn of a new era of peaceful rule...until suddenly zombies swarm the arena led by their new blue eyed ruler, the Night's Hodor! Credits roll...final post script a scene with a boat. Gilly is still nagging and sulking while Sam continues to retch in a bucket. The end.

100%. Also, minor gripe, I was kinda hoping Reed would do something remotely magical to develop his mysterious image a bit (or at least use the net or whatever) but nah just a dagger in the back.

Been thinking about this for a while, but with Jon Snow leaving the wall. Do you think others will follow? Like how much reason do they have to stay now that their Lord Commander legged it and there aren't exactly many Ned Starks out there anymore either.

Seems like an excellent time to leave.