brigdh

Chapter 41 (Theon/Reek):
Ugh, poor Jeyne. This is terrible.
Good advice, about making not!Arya appear to be pleased with her husband, but Ramsay would never listen, and Theon certainly isn't the one to tell him anything.
Yep, she was upset about Ned's marriage to Catelyn because she wanted to marry him herself. Brandon sounds a bit like an asshole here. Interesting to see a view of the Stark history from someone outside the family, though.

Chapter 42 (Asha):
Yay, Asha isn't dead! I've been saying that a lot, about various characters, in this book.
"Asha knew how it went with little brothers." Sharp observation.
That is a major snowstorm. I wonder if Stannis has outlived nearly all other contenders to the throne to get beaten by the weather. Or are the gods of the north involved in this? Though you'd think they'd like Stannis better than Bolton. Or maybe they hate them both.

Chapter 43 (Daenerys):
Dany, don't even think about giving up your crown to marry Daario. That is the worst plan ever.
Hmmm, not good that she hasn't been holding court. I know that she's under a lot of stress, but if you want to be a ruler, you can't ignore your people.
I wonder what Daario did to annoy the Green Grace.
Daario is totally an insecure dick, if he can't handle the revelations about Quentyn and co.
I wonder if the "young knight from the stormlands" who Dany's mother loved was Barristan himself. I don't remember where he's from, but he certainly seems embarrassed to be telling her the story. And whoa, Aerys loved Tywin's wife! That adds so many complications to his refusal of marriage between Cersei and Rhaegar. More of these multi-generational complications.
"As Rhaegar carried off his northern girl". Clearly Dany knows the story about Rhaegar and Lyanna, though I wish she'd go into more detail. I wonder if Rhaegar actually took away Lyanna on the day of her wedding to Robert.
Wow, Dany is actually married to Hizdahr! I totally kept thinking something would happen before she went through with it. I wonder if he's going to stay around for long, or if he's going to die/betray her/something else.

Chapter 44 (Jon):
The Iron Bank of Braavos has come to aid Stannis! Very interesting. I like these hints that the war in Westeros is such a minor, back-water concern for the rest of the world. It's an neat turn from the focus of our main characters.
Alys Karstark! That is, well, totally unexpected.
Whoa, treachery. I kind of doubt Jon's going to be able to get word to Stannis in time, though.

Chapter 45 (Arya):
Arya, yay! I'm so glad to see her! I wasn't sure if we'd get her POV in this book.
More dreams of Nymeria. I wonder if that giant wolf pack isn't going to be a major plot point eventually. All of the Starks seem to be becoming more and more like skin-changers, actually. Well, except for Sansa, I guess.
I like how fondly Jon and Arya think of one another. I wonder if they'll ever get to meet again. Of course, if they do, it'll probably be terribly tragic and one of them will have to kill the other or something.
Interesting that slavery is illegal in Braavos! I wonder if this will have consequences for Dany.
Whoa, Arya can slip into the skins of other animals now as well. She's catching up with Bran.
Sight again, yay!

Chapter 46 (Theon/Reek):
Seems like people are getting cabin fever in this storm. That's no good.
Who's killing everyone? Is it Manderly's plot? I know he made an agreement with Davos, but it's a bit unclear how far that agreement went. Will he join with Stannis, if there is a battle?
Is that really Stannis with the horns and drums outside the walls? Or is there yet another army in the area?
Whoa, it was the musician and his women! I did not see that coming. I wonder if these are characters we already know, under new names? Maybe that guy who played the harp and followed the Lightning Lord and Stoneheart? What was his name- Tom of Sevens, or something like that.

Chapter 47 (Tyrion):
So I guess the fat yellow Yunkishman is the "Yellow Whale" from Quentyn's time with the mercenary company. The one who collects "grotesques".
Interesting that Tyrion keeps Jorah nearby. I wonder if they're ever going to make it to Dany.
Hmmm, interesting that Brown Ben tries to win Tyrion. I wonder if he knows who Tyrion is, if he had plans to sell him to either Dany or Cersei.
God, I hope they're not going to make Tyrion and Penny joust to the death.

Chapter 48 (Jaime):
Jaime! I'm glad to see the characters from the last book again.
The Brackens and the Blackwood - more again about the never-ending multi-generational conflicts.
I wonder what's up with the penny tree. It probably doesn't matter, but it's such an odd detail.
Brienne! Oh, Brienne, don't kill Jaime.

Chapter 49 (Jon):
So, he's marrying Alys to the Magnar of Thenn? That seems like an odd choice. I wonder if he let Alys choose, of the available men at the Wall, or if he chose for her. She seems happy enough with this marriage, I guess.
Melisandre thinks Patchface is dangerous? That seems so ...random. Though it might be interesting if he did turn out to do something.
I would have to say that imprisoning Cregan Karstark totally counts as taking a side, Jon.
Val is back! Now to see if she's back on Jon's side or against him.

Chapter 50 (Daenerys):
I still can't believe Brown Ben really betrayed her! I trusted him.
Oh, Dany. Slave markets right outside your gates? For all your efforts, you have won so little.
The middle of your wedding party seems like a really odd time to show off your dragons. I'm glad to see them again, though! There have been remarkably little dragons for a book with them in the title. They are sounding really creepy. I think Dany will end up riding Drogon, whenever he returns, but I don't know about the other two.