What We Learned from Today’s Sneak Preview of The Winds of Winter
George R.R. Martin, you insufferable tease.
Everyone’s favorite murderous uncle released another chapter from the (eventually) forthcoming The Winds of Winter today. We may not get the main course anytime soon, but at least we have a nibble. (Assuming you can manage to access it—as of this writing, the server seems to be buckling under the pressure of millions of rabid readers.)
A Dance with Dragons (A Song of Ice and Fire #5) (HBO Tie-in Edition)
Paperback $18.00
A Dance with Dragons (A Song of Ice and Fire #5) (HBO Tie-in Edition)
In Stock Online
Paperback $18.00
This particular taste of Westeros centers on Sansa—or as she’s answering to these days, Alayne Stone, the “bastard daughter” of Lord Petyr Baelish. If you’ll recall, Littlefinger and Sansa made their way to the Vale in A Feast for Crows, where the wiliest weasel this side of Valyria proceeded to wed Lysa Arryn, send her on a one-way flight out of the Eyrie, and set himself up as ruler of the whole unstable roost.
We learn many things from this brief look into life at Littefinger’s lair. Here are a few items of note:
Cousin-Management 101
Lysa Arryn’s son, Robert, has always been a sickly, difficult little lordling. That has not changed. But our Sansa, posing as his beloved Alayne, has learned to manage his moods and manipulate his whims. She’s even managed to trick him into loving her favorite dish: lemon cake. This isn’t the poor, always-the-victim Sansa we once knew. Maybe some of her new daddy’s savvy has rubbed off on her after all. Ew.
Sansa almost seems…happy
She may have a needy cousin and the need to answer Littlefinger’s every beck and call, but Sansa might be the Stark with the lushest set-up right now. Low bar, it’s true, but consider: “Alayne loved it here. She felt alive again, for the first time since her father…since Lord Eddard Stark had died.” Bran’s learning up there with the tree people, sure, and Arya’s mastering the art of being a faceless killer, but nobody else is actually loving anything about life. Sansa even has a friend in Myranda Royce. Though may the Seven help poor Randa, because homegirl’s history with friends is less than commendable (cough Jeyne Poole cough).
Littlefinger is still Littlefinger
With Littlefinger up to his scheming ways and desirous of reclaiming Winterfell, his plan to pair Sansa with the haughty Harrold Hardying, the current heir to Robert Arryn, is coming along slowly. And that means stars in the eyes of our flirty Sansa once again. Ah, how we’ve missed that. It just goes to show that the Lord Protector can do his thing no matter the location. At least someone is reliable.
A tourney! A tourney! Oh no!
In interesting events, we discover there is to be a tournament in the Vale! That should be refreshing for a citizenry used to death and derangement. Should be a humdinger, too, with competitors, “from all over the Vale, from the mountain valleys and the coast, from Gulltown and the Bloody Gate, even the Three Sisters.” (Even better: It was all Sansa’s idea.) The goal is to find candidates for Lord Robert Arryn’s Brother of Winged Knights, a pseudo-Kingsguard, which I’m sure will play out exactly according to plan. It all sounds so joyous. But history tells us that bad things happen during celebrations (oh, gods, the weddings) and sporting events in this hellhole we call Westeros. I mean, we’re still dealing with repercussions from what Rhaegar Targaryen did at a tournament two decades ago. Can’t wait to see what catastrophe befalls the Eyrie.
What fan theories has the new chapter sparked?
This particular taste of Westeros centers on Sansa—or as she’s answering to these days, Alayne Stone, the “bastard daughter” of Lord Petyr Baelish. If you’ll recall, Littlefinger and Sansa made their way to the Vale in A Feast for Crows, where the wiliest weasel this side of Valyria proceeded to wed Lysa Arryn, send her on a one-way flight out of the Eyrie, and set himself up as ruler of the whole unstable roost.
We learn many things from this brief look into life at Littefinger’s lair. Here are a few items of note:
Cousin-Management 101
Lysa Arryn’s son, Robert, has always been a sickly, difficult little lordling. That has not changed. But our Sansa, posing as his beloved Alayne, has learned to manage his moods and manipulate his whims. She’s even managed to trick him into loving her favorite dish: lemon cake. This isn’t the poor, always-the-victim Sansa we once knew. Maybe some of her new daddy’s savvy has rubbed off on her after all. Ew.
Sansa almost seems…happy
She may have a needy cousin and the need to answer Littlefinger’s every beck and call, but Sansa might be the Stark with the lushest set-up right now. Low bar, it’s true, but consider: “Alayne loved it here. She felt alive again, for the first time since her father…since Lord Eddard Stark had died.” Bran’s learning up there with the tree people, sure, and Arya’s mastering the art of being a faceless killer, but nobody else is actually loving anything about life. Sansa even has a friend in Myranda Royce. Though may the Seven help poor Randa, because homegirl’s history with friends is less than commendable (cough Jeyne Poole cough).
Littlefinger is still Littlefinger
With Littlefinger up to his scheming ways and desirous of reclaiming Winterfell, his plan to pair Sansa with the haughty Harrold Hardying, the current heir to Robert Arryn, is coming along slowly. And that means stars in the eyes of our flirty Sansa once again. Ah, how we’ve missed that. It just goes to show that the Lord Protector can do his thing no matter the location. At least someone is reliable.
A tourney! A tourney! Oh no!
In interesting events, we discover there is to be a tournament in the Vale! That should be refreshing for a citizenry used to death and derangement. Should be a humdinger, too, with competitors, “from all over the Vale, from the mountain valleys and the coast, from Gulltown and the Bloody Gate, even the Three Sisters.” (Even better: It was all Sansa’s idea.) The goal is to find candidates for Lord Robert Arryn’s Brother of Winged Knights, a pseudo-Kingsguard, which I’m sure will play out exactly according to plan. It all sounds so joyous. But history tells us that bad things happen during celebrations (oh, gods, the weddings) and sporting events in this hellhole we call Westeros. I mean, we’re still dealing with repercussions from what Rhaegar Targaryen did at a tournament two decades ago. Can’t wait to see what catastrophe befalls the Eyrie.
What fan theories has the new chapter sparked?