Balon's death will probably kick off the Iron Islands storyline from AFFC in season 5. It makes more sense for Balon's death to be immediately followed up with the introduction of the people vying for his throne. And given the show's change in timelines and stretching out of book 3 into 2 seasons, it would have been…

Hey, that's her brother-in-law! (But thankfully, not her brother.)

Aegon's main advisor was his surrogate-father Jon Connington. Tyrion was a man he barely knew, and a member of a family that had helped oust his. The fact that he decided to take Tyrion's advice over Jon's speaks volumes about how utterly naive - if not idiotic - he is.

Aegon is no hero. He's a somewhat stupid and very gullible teenager. He changed his life's plans after just a bit of manipulation by Tyrion. Even Jon Connington gets annoyed with his lack of political skills. Sure, he seems to be good-hearted right now, when he has little power, but he seems to be exactly the type who…

Doesn't mean that he isn't. The fact that Stannis is alive and well and in no immediate danger in the Winds of Winter preview chapter suggests that Ramsay was lying through his teeth.

And after reading the novellas - the three 'Dunk and Egg' novellas as well as 'The Princess and the Queen' - I'm now a huge fan of the Targaryens … despite the latter being a story of just how brutally the Targaryens can kill each other. ;)

Dany already did that with Drogo. His death, as well as Rhaego's and Mirri Maz Duur's were the three blood sacrifices that helped her forge her three 'swords', i.e. the three dragons.

Rickon is the reason ice zombies want to invade Westeros.

"Get lost, Jon Snow … don't make us kill you again."

"People of Wethteroth … lend me your earth*."

The Tyrells bounced back pretty fast after Renly's death. They could probably do so again if/when the Lannisters are ousted.

Not necessarily. Targaryens have married outside their family several times over the generations, and the lack of incest has in no way 'diluted' their bloodline.

I wonder how far Faceless Men (and Women) can change their appearance? So far in the books, we've seen them only literally changing their face. But they must be able to change other aspects of their body as well, if they are capable of taking over real people's identities. For instance, I doubt that Jaqen H'ghar/The…

Nope. Rhaenyra Targaryen was officially the crown princess, but her step-mother wanted her own son (Aegon) on the throne, so she claimed that women could not inherit, and that Aegon should be the legitimate king after their father's death. This has zero similarity to the situation between Dany and the current Aegon.…

Based on that definition, Aegon V Targaryen, the best Targaryen king of the past century, was not a 'true' Targaryen either, and the term loses most of its meaning.

'All' is a pretty extreme exaggeration, but 'some' is true: Rhaegar, Lyanna and Aerys are fairly important characters in the book, and they die 14-15 years before the story begins.

Sure - Targaryens like heat, and can probably tolerate it better than ordinary mortals. For example, in the Dunk and Egg novellas, Dunk notices how Egg rarely sweats in extreme heat, and how he likes very hot baths. But that's not the same thing as being fire-proof. A naked flame can still harm them: In the civil war…

Yup, I've read all the Winds of Winter preview chapters.

My respect for Jon would increase a thousandfold if he follows Carrot's footsteps.

Even without the dragons, the Targaryens managed to do a fairly good job of ruling. Dorne joined the Seven Kingdoms through a marriage alliance, not war, and that too well after all the dragons were dead. Sure, there were the occasional whackjobs like Aerys II and Aegon IV (nicknamed the Unworthy) - but there were…