Chapter 9 of A Hero for the Maiden
Added 2024-04-04 23:10:14 +0000 UTC
Comments
The fog of war hides many things. Robb learned from Edmure that she has a protector but no details. There is only so much you can put in a raven. Cat is lying low as she travels to Riverrun. Might wrote a pov about her soon but it wouldn't really add much to the plot
Bub3loka
2024-04-09 21:05:14 +0000 UTCI have a question: Your chapter confirms that Robb knows about Sansa's escape from KL, but did he hear the part about some foreign "sorcerer" helping her? I remember Cersei and Joffrey were keen to capture Percy, too, and created wanted posters. Also, has Cat learned about her daughter's jailbreak and her mysterious savior? I imagine the Manderlys will be sending a TON of ravens detailing Percy and Sansa's escapeds.
Foxesandbooks
2024-04-09 15:15:40 +0000 UTCI like how the Manderly Coast Guards were like "WTF" when they saw the sea serpent's corpse. Percy using sass to enforce his badassery was also in-character. It really fits what Poseidon told him that he technically doesn't need Sansa to obtain power in Westeros. There would be advantages to marrying into the Stark line, but in many ways they would obtain more through him. Ultimately, Percy wants Sansa for herself, and that will make her so happy because she fears in the books that no one will ever want her for more than her claim to the North. I wonder if Robb (and Elaena?) might come to see Percy/Sansa as threats to their rule? A wise Stark Princess married to a powerful sea demigod might be more appealing rulers to the North...
Foxesandbooks
2024-04-08 14:09:52 +0000 UTCInteresting theory but it has several assumptions and misunderstandings. Let's start with Ned leaving his vassals bones in the desert: Historically, it was normal to bury warriors where they died if they fought abroad. Ned could not have been capable of taking all of their bones when he was in the ass end of nowhere. Burying them in cairns from the very tower they died assaulting (how he tore it down with his bare hands dope) was neither insulting nor dishonorable. Ned wanted his sister's bones, that's his one selfish moment in possibly the entire series. Taking Arthur Dayne's bones and sword were supposed to be a peace offering to the Daynes so he could find a way to the North; Naturally, GRRM probably did not have a map set in mind for he ended up placing the Tower of Joy too far to realistically make it, and you have closer friendly castles nearby like Nightsong. Bear in mind that it was never mentioned if Howland followed him to Starfall. We know Jon Snow was never seen before Winterfell, which makes me think Ned had Howland smuggle him all the way to the North overland. Now as for Barbrey's situation; Bolton is not the second strongest House in the North. Hell, he is not even the third. We have seen his total troop count and its barely comparable to the Freys. So why did Ned allow Barbrey to rule, when she would have no incentive at all to rule well when she had no blood to inherit? Author Fiat from GRRM to create conflict in the North. Notice how in the books the Lannisters and Tyrells seemingly have supreme loyalty from their vassals with no issues at all no matter how shitty the war situation was going? Only the North seemed to always have trouble. Again, GRRM railroading the Red Wedding and the fall of the Starks. Disregarding that; We know for a fact that Willam Dustin had family, House Dustin still had members who had the right to the land. It was in Ned's greatest interest NOT to allow another house to usurp Barrowton, for he was still a feudal lord and was raised as such. This is just me fixing GRRM's mess as I keep doing. Like Tywin outpacing the Blitzkrieg, or Robb taking castles with horsemen. Appreciate the long post though.
Bub3loka
2024-04-06 16:58:16 +0000 UTC" I have no idea how Barbrey Dustin was allowed to rule a castle that was not hers when she provided no heirs for her husband." Purely personal theory here, but a possible explanation is that Nedd wasn't in a political position to contest her claim when she became a widow. Remember when the Freys got upset that Robb broke off the engagement to marry some other girl? Well, at least he had the decency to not turn a Frey girl into "used good" before doing so. Unlike Brandon Stark. Then, fast forward a bit, and Brandon, like a fucking idiot, leads the heirs of the houses most loyal to the Starks to King's Landing where he can make death threats against the prince. Gets them all killed. Fast forward a bit more, to the end of Robert's Rebellion, where Nedd takes the lords most loyal to him/House Stark to the ass-end of the Seven Kingdoms (Dorne) on a hunt for his sister. Please note that this isn't something demanded by their oaths. They are going well above and beyond what is demanded of a feudal relationship. Nedd Stark gets all but one of them killed, of course. Then, he leaves their bones to rot in the desert, while collecting Arthur Dayne's bones and sword and bringing it back to his house. Yes, Nedd was just a kid, who was still star-struck by the legends that he grew up on, and probably not in the best state of mind because his sister just died. He still took a colossal dump over his lordly duties and indicated that he cared more for the man that helped kidnap, rape, and murder his sister than the men that gave their lives for him. If someone wrote a book on how to be a feudal lord, there would be an entire chapter titled "The Starks circa Robert's Rebellion" under the section "What not to do". About the only thing Nedd had going for him was the cultural inertia of the Stark name, and his being a victorious war leader. However, his political situation couldn't have been very stable. Barbrey, in turn, was Roose Bolton's sister-in-law. If Nedd insulted her, he would be insulting the second strongest house in the North, alongside the Ryswells. Add in that William loved her - and, again, Nedd left his bones rutting in a desert because fuck that guy - and it isn't a guarantee that the Dustins would have sided with him in this case. And yes, Nedd is a Stark and her feudal lord, but he just got done fighting a war establishing the precedent that if a feudal lord shits on his vassals hard enough, it is a-ok for them to rebel and overthrow him. Basically, Nedd wasn't really in a position to be burning political capital here. On the other hand, if he let the Dustins and Ryswells sort things out on their own? Well, if Barbrey married she would no longer be a Dustin and the problem would go away. If she didn't marry, she would eventually die of old age, and again, the problem would go away. It very much would have looked like a self-correcting problem so long as Barbrey didn't try to pull a stupid (like trying to make her cousin the heir) and so long as Nedd didn't stick his neck in there. Of course, then the War of the Five Kings happened, and having her be in charge became problematic, but we can't really blame Nedd for not predicting that Cersei would, to quote Myrcella, see Jaime as a brother. PS - Sorry for the long post
David Lukacsovich
2024-04-06 15:33:40 +0000 UTCNot even Stannis or Ned were immune to the power of boobs lmao
Bub3loka
2024-04-05 13:30:24 +0000 UTCI also like that Myrcella has learned to enjoy cooking. She needs a fun hobby. Her comparing Sansa's romantic/sexual interest in Percy to her mother's 'sisterly affection' for her Jaime was all kinds of funny and wrong. The Lannisters make Percy's Greek God relatives look semi-normal. 🤣
Foxesandbooks
2024-04-05 13:28:57 +0000 UTCRegardless of whatever universe he's in, Robb Stark can't help but fuck the wrong people. Lady Elaena Marband is so obviously shady it's unreal. Ro🙄
Foxesandbooks
2024-04-05 13:26:21 +0000 UTC"She sighed sadly, to think Sansa would only see Percy as a brother after all he had done for her." Poor Percy. Kid got bro-zoned
David Lukacsovich
2024-04-05 03:02:17 +0000 UTCWas hoping for more Percy, but the Robb part was cool as well
Corlys
2024-04-04 23:41:58 +0000 UTC
