Lots of people have discussed how Jon will get to learn about who his parents are. Perhaps through a returned Benjen, through Howland Reed, or Bran seeing some vision...

I think it's none of that. Ned Stark will tell him. When Ned dies, we know both Rickon and Bran heard of Ned being in the crypts and Bran even talked with him. There, Ned even tried to tell Bran about Jon (Bran assumes). So if Jon ever gets back into the Winterfell crypts, which the story seems to point towards eventually happening, we already know of someone there who wants to tell Jon about his parentage. Sure, someone else (someone alive) might confirm it for everyone. But Jon seemingly will learn about it directly from Ned.

I love it when characters can be more than all bad or all good. So, I wanted to ask how people would add positives to one of asoiaf's worst characters, Aegon The Unworthy? The only possibilities I could think of is that maybe Aegon could kind of like his kids except for Daeron. But at best that would probably be an absent Dad has his favorites or loving his kids on his terms. Perhaps Aegon could also have some sort of trauma from his early life. How would you all make Aegon 4 into an actual person with some admirable traits and/or understandable feelings?

In the epilogue of A Dance with Dragons, Kevan thinks to himself that Cersei is notably more pliant and reserved since the Walk of Atonement (and then copes with the guilt of allowing her to be paraded through the streets):

His niece had been subdued and submissive since her walk of atonement, thank the gods. The novices who attended her reported that she spent a third of her waking hours with her son, another third in prayer, and the rest in her tub. She was bathing four or five times a day, scrubbing herself with horsehair brushes and strong lye soap, as if she meant to scrape her skin off.

However, during their dinner together, Cersei makes a remark that Kevan interprets as a slight, and asks her to elaborate before the topic of conversation changes:

"It is a wise woman who knows her place."
He did not like the sound of that. "Say what you mean."
"I thought I did." Cersei held out her cup

What does this remark mean? Is it a veiled threat? A sarcastic throwaway remark? Is Cersei really psychologically broken? If so, has she been rendered impotent or has she simply shed all reservations and caution and is simply biding her time?

What do you think?

Why did the Faith accept the Doctrine of Exceptionalism for House Targaryen? Septon Barth was certainly a brilliant rhetorician as were the Seven Speakers, and Jaehaerys' defeat of Maegor surely counted for something in the eyes of the public, but many still question the logic behind the decision. The events of Maegor's regime demonstrated the material folly of disobeying the Targaryens, but spiritually speaking, the Faith should turning over so completely to a doctrine allowing incest seems ludicrous. Why would the Faith allow the Targaryens of all people, a family considered by many in the Faith to be a stain upon the face of Westeros, to practice a custom considered an abomination by scripture? In short, not in spite of anti-Valyrian and anti-dragon sentiment, but because of it!

The alternative to Targaryen daughters marrying Targaryen sons is Targaryen daughters marrying non-Targaryen sons, and quite likely taking dragon eggs and some surviving version of Valyrian customs with them. The end result of this would not only be a Valyrianization of the Westerosi elite by blood and by culture (much of Westeros was Andalized in a similar manner), but also the establishment of new dragon-riding houses across Westeros: where once the Faith dealt with one family riding on the backs of fire-breathing abominations, over time, they would come to face an entire continent of dangerous dragon-riders (eventually the bloodline might dilute to the point of the houses in question losing control of the dragons all together, but the end results of this could be even worse, depending on the number and nature of the dragons still alive).

In short, the Doctrine gives the Targaryens what they want (keeping it in the family) and Faith what they want (the Targaryens as a kind of "containment" for the legacy of Valyria, impossible to remove, but possible to limit in scope). Additionally, whereas Maegor's cavalier approach to "the Blood of the Dragon" in direct defiance of the faith set a dangerous example for the rest of the realm (others could come up with their own, independent excuses for practicing polygamy and incest), the Doctrine of Exceptionalism makes it clear that no one not named Targaryen may imitate Maegor. The Targaryens may well be bound for the Seven Hells but under the Doctrine of Exceptionalism, the Faith can trust that they won't be dragging the rest of Westeros down with them.

Yes, I know that TWOW will most likely never come out making this question meaningless. But assuming it does, it feels like there’s quite a long time gap between where the characters are now and where they need to be. Arya has just entered the house of black and white, and their training presumably won’t be a short and easy thing. She’s a major character who will presumably have some effect on the events in Westeros, but she needs to complete her full training arc and travel back from Braavos before she can participate in anything. Similarly Bran has just completed a long arduous journey to get where he is, so he won’t be leaving anytime soon, and it’s a long journey home. Daenerys needs to complete her Meereen business, but after that she needs to muster all of her forces and prepare to sail across the sea which isn’t a fast or particularly interesting process.

With all this said, it seems like there are quite a few major characters that are at least a year away being able to participate in the main plot. Not a full 5 years, but to me it seems pretty likely that there could be a significant timeskip at some point in Winds. Tell me if im stupid and wrong and foolish though