Suddenly, it all makes sense [Spoilers for HBO viewers]

[Needle]

LordSnow-

I still have the belief that he will pull it together and one of the last two books will outdo ASOS as the fan favorite.

I agree here IMO the final book should be better than all the rest if done right, because we should get the answers we all seek and hopefully some happily ever after for at least some of those we love! That is if we can avoid hating it because it is the final one! The rest of my life with no more visits from Arya seems a sad prospect!

 

[Ursa major]

I wish we would have been told what Briennes last word was....

Perhaps he was too embarrassed to admit that Brienne said, "Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious."

 

[Culhwch]

I expect that we will find out the word in a Brienne chapter in tWoW, in a flashback of sorts. Either that, or George himself didn't know when he wrote it, figured he'd think of something, and never did.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

Don't be silly. Brienne's last word needs no explanation.

"But --" and then she died before she could finish the sentence. Whoever said last words have to be significant?

 

[Culhwch]

Are you suggesting that she is now unBrienne?

 

[Ursa major]

GRRM may be hinting at it, I suppose. Jaime says:

Gods be good, she looks ten years older than when I saw her last. And what's happened to her face? "That bandage . . . you've been wounded . . ."

The deterioration Jaime sees in Brienne specifically precedes, and is separated from, the presence of the bandage.

I'm assuming that Brienne's appearance is a consequence of the ordeal she's been through rather than that she's been brought back from the dead.

 

[Lady of Winterfell]

Wasn't Brienne's cheek chewed on at the end of AFFC? Am I remembering that correctly? I think her looks are from her last fight, and not because she is unBrienne.

 

[Ursa major]

Yes, Biter lived up to his name and took a chunk out her cheek.

But I wanted to point out that Jaime's first reaction to her looks wasn't about the bandage/injury but the way she'd aged (in his eyes). Whether this is due to her ordeal, and illness or (unlikely) some supernatural effect is unknown, and will remain so until TWoW (at the earliest, unless GRRM releases an early Jaime or Brienne chapter, as he did with one or two ADwD ones).

 

[The Imp]

Yes, Biter lived up to his name and took a chunk out her cheek.

But I wanted to point out that Jaime's first reaction to her looks wasn't about the bandage/injury but the way she'd aged (in his eyes). Whether this is due to her ordeal, and illness or (unlikely) some supernatural effect is unknown, and will remain so until TWoW (at the earliest, unless GRRM releases an early Jaime or Brienne chapter, as he did with one or two ADwD ones).

There were four actually Dany, Tyrion, Jon and Reek. I almost wish they weren't released, as it made it harder to get started on the book.

 

[Wybren]

I'm leaning to the position that if Aerys fathered any of the three, it was Jaime and Cersei. I can't recall where the passage in ADwD was, but I'm sure it referred to a superior lord's first night rights, which would indicate the first child (or children, if twins).


(And there's a great big hint in the first chapter of AGoT: brother-sister incest.)

I have just finished the book and this has been playing on my mind, that rather than Tyrion being a Targ, that it is Jaime or Cersei or both. As Jaime and Cersei are fraternal twins, it is possible that one is the child of Tywin and the other a child of Aerys. It is rare, but it has happened. Anyway just a random thought.

Isn't Tyrion's hair described as more white than blonde? That could hint at Targ heritage

Yes, I believe it was something along the lines of so pale it was almost white