Disclaimer: I don't own A Song of Ice and Fire. GRRM killing several times Beric Dondarrion only for the man to die and create Lady Stoneheart is not only disturbing but also terribly unjust even by Westerosi standards.
raw666: Jaime will have a role to play before the end. But his fighting days are over. To be honest, he deserves it. Even in his POV in the books, Jaime is one of the rare characters it's hard to sympathise with. Unlike the Starks and some other characters who try to uphold their family values, Jaime played the role of the idiot with a sword in his hand for most of his life, and then wondered why the rest of the Seven Kingdoms were so unfair with him in spite of showing a level of arrogance worthy of a god.
Robb will not send Jaime's head to King's Landing, he would receive Sansa's in return. But he's not going to stay inactive. You will see in the next chapters...
Master of Dragons God: The only thing scarier than an angry wolf is an angry Stark with a hungry direwolf. Then you really know the meaning of the world "trouble".
Paul: I assure you that when I write a chapter, there's a reason behind it. In that case, the reason will become evident in several chapters to end an issue with a certain character. As for the creepiness, remember in the books the Lannister guards were hanged too, only Jaime killed more soldiers of the Riverrun garrison because he had still his fighting hand and Arya was not present. Anyway, the world of the Seven Kingdoms has situations which are awful and horrible. Most of them are unfortunately done by humans and humans only.
All hail the Crow
The second Greyjoy Rebellion Part III
"I am the storm, Reader. The first storm, the biggest storm and the last one. "Euron III Greyjoy to Rodrik Harlaw, 300AC.
"I say we take it all! I say we take Westeros! "Euron III Greyjoy to the kingsmoot, 300AC.
"The Ironborn died when the Crow was crowned." Asha Greyjoy, 305AC.
At the beginning, the idea of organising a kingsmoot was Aeron 'Damphair' Greyjoy's, Balon's youngest surviving brother. At first sight, it was a very good idea, as it certainly avoided a civil war in the Iron Islands. In reality, it was anything but: if the losers of the kingsmoot chose to defy the results and refused to recognise the winner as the Iron King, the consequences would be even worse than a Civil war between the different members of House Greyjoy. The Iron Islands were already at war with the Lannisters and the Starks; a conflict between five or six different factions in top of this situation would accomplish once for all the total destruction of the Iron Islands's unity. A kingsmoot was as a result a rather risky bet; more so by the persons who were coming to participate. It was no secret Victarion Greyjoy and Euron Greyjoy particularly loathed each other; and with Theon Greyjoy, Balon's only surviving son, being an "honoured guest" at Riverrun, the two brothers were the most serious candidates.
The first kingsmoot since two thousand years opened on Nagga's hill under a stormy sky, like the weather it realised the importance of the situation and gave the climate of an imminent world's end. The first person to advance was Lord Gylbert Farwynd, Lord of the Lonely Light. Tall and spare, the head of House Farwynd proposed to lead the Ironborn to a land in the Sunset Sea where they would be no winter. The presents offered consisted mainly of whalebones and bronze war horns , and not even House Farwynd as a whole supported him , much less the rest of the captains . The men that immediately followed weren't any better, in ideas or in gifts. Among them was Erik 'the Anvil-Breaker' Ironmaker , a popular captain but unable to stand on his own feet anymore ; at eighty-eight years old , the man was not able to wield his huge warhammer and had to be carried by his sons . While his silver presents were appreciated, his physical deficiencies cut him from popular support. After him came Lord Dunstan Drumm, Lord of Old Wyk and captain of the Thunderer. His bronze gifts were not well received, and moreover, Drumm had already lost everyone on a long and boring speech about the history of his House.
Then it was the turn of Victarion Greyjoy. Advancing with several famous raiders of the Iron fleet at his side like Nute the Barber, Ralph the Limper and Red Ralf Stonehouse as his champions, his gifts of gold, silver and gems attracted many to his side. However, many remarked that unlike the men that had preceded him, Victarion's ideas had nothing original; having followed Balon's orders the majority of his life, the Lord Captain of the Iron Fleet continued his elder brother's ambitions even after his death. His niece Asha Greyjoy took the opportunity to intervene, and criticised her deceased father's decision to invade the North in the most evident fashion: most of her coffers were full of mud, cobblestones and pinecones. The message was clear: until now, the wars of Balon Greyjoy had cost a lot of men for practically no wealth or strategic advantage in return .A polite manner to affirm her father and uncles were rather lacking in the intelligence section. Having considered she had very few chances of being crowned Queen , Asha Greyjoy put her claim in the name of her brother Theon , who was the legitimate heir to the Iron Islands . The proposition of the young woman, to make peace with the North and divide the Westerlands between themselves attracted a third of the assembled captains. However, it also brought conflict with Victarion's supporters, who had not liked in the least the insinuations of the previous King's daughter. A riot was already forming and the crowd appeared ready to fight when one member of Euron Greyjoy's crew sounded a Valyrian war horn.
The sound that went out, according to all witnesses, was horrible and unnatural. The fight, which had seemed unavoidable, ceased instantly. Euron Greyjoy stepped forward, and claimed the Seastone Chair for himself. His reasoning was crystal-clear: with the horn in his possession, Euron affirmed he could bend dragons to his will. With the last three fire-breathing lizards alive in the whole world, the Ironborn would conquer Westeros as a whole. During his speech, the crew of the Silence carried a vast amount of treasure, gold, silver and other jewels from all over Essos and far-away lands. The Iron captains, who had never been the most cunning or cautious men, abandoned instantly the plans of Asha and Victarion Greyjoy, which instantly appeared limited and small-scaled. Euron promised them more victories, wealth and plunder than in their wildest dreams: they would follow him. Nearly four-fifth of the captains present on Nagga's Hill acclaimed Euron Greyjoy as their King to rapturous applause, and Aeron Greyjoy was forced to crown his least favourite brother as King of the Iron Islands.
Not everyone chose to bend the knee to Euron, but with Victarion's Iron Fleet blocking the only way out known as Nagga's Cradle, resistance or escape was not feasible. Asha Greyjoy and several of her most loyal captains managed to evade capture, having taken the precaution of keeping their longships in another harbour. Lord Baelor Blacktyde, captain of the Nightflyer and several of his captains had not this chance. The young man had lost his father in Balon's rebellion nine years ago, and as a result had spent several years hostage as Oldtown, a time during which he converted to the Faith of the Seven. In the kingsmoot he declared for Asha Greyjoy and tried to leave shortly thereafter when Euron was crowned. His tentative and those of others captains failed against the Iron fleet, and Baelor was delivered to King Euron, who ordered his crew to cut him in seven pieces for the gods he adored. Several sailors and captains were also killed in the next days across the Islands when the result of the kingsmoot was known and they refused to swear allegiance to the new King. The Drowned Priests, the men following the call of the Drowned God, started to be hunted wherever they passed, as they never hid their disgust of Euron III Greyjoy. Aeron Greyjoy disappeared, and many believed the new Iron King had permanently dealt with his brother to avoid a religious uprising in his absence.
Having established his power base and broken in the short term all dissention , Euron III Greyjoy gathered all his fleet and sailed south .Erik Ironmaker was named Lord Steward of the Iron Islands and given the hand of Asha Greyjoy (assuming he could find her ) while Euron III was going reaving . The new King (the seventh so far in Westeros to be crowned) had promised Westeros to his troops, and he intended to keep his word. Avoiding the last towers standing of the Westerlands, the Ironborn longships continued their course southwards, before leaving their course along the coast and entering the Sunset Sea. Surprise, after all, had to be total...