Post by stdaga on Dec 12, 2017 9:16:27 GMT
As to your idea of why if Rickard's bones are missing, which would lead to Brandon and Lyanna having statues, could you explain that? I am not sure I follow that thought. I am also curious about the statue of Artos Stark, who was not Lord, but has a statue, and his claim to fame is beating the wildling invader Raymun Redbeard who killed his brother Lord Willem. If Willem's bones went missing during the Battle of Long Lake, maybe Artos bones are in the crypt as a replacement for his brother Willem's bones?
Possibly Rickard died at Aerys' hands privately, then Aerys needed to make Rickard's death look like an execution, a public one at that or at least witnessed, not some dark accident, but that is just all something I just spun up right now. There is very little to indicate that Rickard wasn't in his armor and or that he didn't die as Jaime tells us, but little things that don't connect seem to grow bigger over time and make me question.
However, this idea does given my Septon Chayle surviving his drowning and being the hooded man at Winterfell a little spark!
Some of Cersei's choices for Joffrey's kingsguard happen without Tywin's knowledge. And when she dismissed Boros Blount, it is Tywin who reinstates him, so Tywin's choices are also questionable. Although, the idea that Tywin owed Boros some type of boon for a deed done in the past is interesting.
Certainly what Visenya intended when she created the Kingsguard is not what it has evolved into after 300 years.
The notion that Ashara actually leapt from a tower in Dorne also has an interesting resonance. What if the toj was in flames when she leapt? Perhaps Ned was coming to her rescue when the KG stopped him.
Any time I think about the TOJ, I go back to Eddard X: "It was said that Rhaegar had named that place the tower of joy, but for Ned it was a bitter memory." I think that "but" tells us that Ned's purpose and Rhaegar's were the same. That doesn't tell us what that purpose was, but it may help focus the search for possibilities
The commonly held idea that Lyanna was at the toj is what makes me think that in all truth, she was not there. I think she died elsewhere, and there certainly could have been a weirwood at that place, where ever that might be. But it's possible that she was at the toj, too. What is interesting is that Asha and Ashara are so similar in spelling and sound that it's almost like waving a red flag in our faces. If shymaid is correct about the idea of the tower of the toj and Stannis' tower having a connection, and other towers having a connection to fire at the top (such as the High Tower in Old Town) then this leads me to think it could have been Ashara who was at the toj, which also would connect Dany to the toj baby, if there was a newborn there.
But besides their names, there are very few other connections between Asha Greyjoy and Ashara Dayne that I can see. I will have to think on other possible connections some more.
I don't know if I think that Rhaegar and Ned's purpose at the toj was the same. It actually feels to me that Ned was trying to undo or stop whatever Rhaegar might have been trying to set into motion at the toj.
Tower of Joy is an odd thing for Rhaegar to call a place that might have been the site of several attempted child sacrifices, if that is what was going on, so I am inclined to think that the toj had earned it's nickname from Rhaegar before he might have tried to black magic up some dragon hatching, if that was what was going on!
I think the toj earned it's nickname before the rebellion had begun, and it might have something to do with Rhaegar's trips to Dorne. JonCon talks of one such trip, where Rhaegar stayed at Griffin's Roost on his way back from a trip to Dorne, and I think that the toj was on that line of travel as well, and maybe a frequent stop of Rhaegar's, or even his overall destination.