Speculations!

Hmm... now that I think of it, he could probably name Lord Robert as his heir. Now, that's an unpalatable thought, isn't it...

Also rules are being discarded left and right - Kingsguard aren't supposed to be dismissed either, but Barristan Selmy was.

 

I really thought that Robb would name Jon. I guess that's just wishful thinking on my part but to me that seemed like the course he was on but with GRRM who really knows?

 

That's what's certainly implied, but Crusader's raised a good point. The way I see it, only Jon Snow and Robert Arryn are the only people with any claim on Winterfell. Well, maybe some of the other Tullys do as well.

 

but rob named an heir to stop the claims being made, so the lannisters couldnt take winterfell. theoretically he could probably have named anyone.

 

Actually, by Westeros law, his close male relatives do have a first shot at it - such as his bastard brother or trueborn uncle or cousin. I thought I posted all this legal crap before. Multiple times.

 

Yes but if rob gets a decree signed by all his lord bannermen, the name on it can be anyone he choses cant it?

the very point of such a document is to avoid the usual line of succession rather than following it.

 

Don't believe so....
If a house's succession is uncertain, a related kinsman might well be seen as the best choice to be heir. He would then take the House's name as his own, despite his father being of another house (II: 190)

The laws of inheritance in Westeros are vague. Outside of Dorne, a man's eldest son is his heir, followed by the next youngest son, and so on. After the sons, most would say that the eldest daughter would inherit but there might be argument from the dead man's brother or a nephew. There are many other questions with murky answers, in particular having to do with the rights of legitimized bastards (SSC: 47)

Noble holdings are seldom divided, nor are they generally combined, although one person could concievably hold more than one title. If a lord intended to pass his lands in some unusual fashion, however, that would carry some weight (and likely lead to disputes) (SSC: 59)

And while this is a Stark king, rather than a Targ one, they convened a Great Council the last they had weird lines of inheritance in royalty.
The Great Council is a rare event which has not been called in a hundred years, and is the gathering of the assembled lords of the kingdom to decide some matter. The last time it was convened, it choose the next king of the Seven Kingdoms, over-riding proper lines of inheritance to give the crown to the youngest son of Maekar I, Aegon V (II: 78, 366. SSC: 26)



Also, we have to keep in mind that he could probably name anyone as his heir to Winterfell. But as King in the North, his claim rests on the fact that the Starks used to be the King in the North. Can you see the Northmen accepting anyone other than a Stark? ONLY a Stark would be allowed.

 

But the accweptance comes in the signing of the document, which did happen, so obviously they accept it.

how could they accept a stark anyway, in their minds half od them are dead, the only one for sure left is married to tyrion. the lords would likely never agree to a bastard any more that catelyn would. But if he named someone they would accept even if it werent a blood link it would still work.

For instance as i suggested, maybe edmure, the blackfish or even one of the westerlings, relatives by marriage.

I'm just not expecting it to be jon snow, he already turned down the offer from stannis and acknowledged his devotion to the wall, another proposition is just tired.

 

I'd originally suspected that the document was instead one legitimizing Jon Snow by royal decree, but as I've mentioned before, the most likely candidates after Jon are Robert Arryn and his Tully relatives.

Dunno if you misunderstood or not, but by trueborn uncle/cousin, I meant those on the Tully side.

 

New speculation! What does Jaime's dream about Brienne in SoS mean? (It's in the chapter where he rescues Brienne from Vargo Hoat.) I'll try typing it out later... as best I can with a torn book, lol.

 

could justr be a fever dream?

 

Nah... GRRM usually puts stuff in for a purpose.

 

Well the purpose could be to refelct jaime's thougths and feelings, past or present, it might not have any future relevance though.

 

Lol. I still think it has some sort of relevance. OK, so the part about him having his hand back is pointless, but what's this deal with a pit under Casterly Rock that doesn't exist in Westeros life, where his father and sister leave him? And if the light in his sword goes out, he dies? And what's the point of Brienne being with him? We know that Tywin's dead, and Cersei's going to die (OK, so it's not confirmed. But people say that if you hope enough, sometimes... it happens. Not that logic/hope applies to GRRM. -.-) . Could it possibly mean that they're leaving him alone?

 

I miss the Cru v LDH rants!

 

*sigh* All right, all right... we'll arrange for some public entertainment soon. We've been keeping our squabbles private for the most part.

Although I'm not sure if you ever saw this, Il - the fun begins on post #24. http://www.thefantasyforum.com/showthread.php?t=12636&page=2 Was going through some of the old ASoIaF archives and encountered THAT. I'm fairly certain that you'd find it as amusing as I did.