The Vale Tourney in TWoW

In this post I thought it would be fun to discuss anything and everything related to the upcoming Vale tourney that is set to take place in at the Gates of the Moon. One of the things I most excited to see about the actual tourney is reading it through Sansa's eyes. We got to see the Hand's Tourney through her eyes and seeing another tourney through a more grown up/hardened Sansa will be a great juxtaposition.

Background

The tourney is set to take place at the Gates of the Moon (The Eyrie is closed for the winter). Men have come from all over the Vale to compete at what is now Nestor Royce's seat (granted from "Lysa" (Littlefinger).

If interested: The Lords Declarant & Characters Who Could Know Alayne's Identity

Note: I originally had this whole section on the Winged Knight but it was basically just taking up space, so go look at the wiki if you want.

Note II: This chapter is very old, GRRM definitely could have changed it by now.

Tourney Information

As 64 knights invited/64 knights attending:

Four-and-sixty knights had been invited to vie for places amongst Lord Robert Arryn’s new Brotherhood of Winged Knights, and four­ and-sixty knights had come to tilt for the right to wear falcon’s wings upon their warhelms and guard their lord. -TWOW, Alayne I

The Knights of the Vale are unbloodied and eager (knights of summer as older knights, etc were not invited):

“They’re young, eager, hungry for adventure and renown. Lysa would not let them go to war. This is the next best thing. A chance to serve their lord and prove their prowess. They will come.

and out of the 64 competitors, 8 will be chosen:

The competitors came from all over the Vale, from the mountain valleys and the coast, from Gulltown and the Bloody Gate, even the Three Sisters. Though a few were promised, only three were wed; the eight victors would be expected to spend the next three years at Lord Robert’s side, as his own personal guard (Alayne had suggested seven, like the Kingsguard, but Sweetrobin had insisted that he must have more knights than King Tommen), so older men with wives and children had not been invited. -TWOW, Alayne I

and in the feast before the tourney we get:

The feast proved to be everything her father promised.

Sixty-four dishes were served, in honor of the sixty-four competitors who had come so far to contest for silver wings before their lord.

and:

And best of all, Lord Nestor’s cooks prepared a splendid subtlety, a lemon cake in the shape of the Giant’s Lance, twelve feet tall and adorned with an Eyrie made of sugar.

also worth noting the gifts for each of the competitors and their family members:

Each of the competitors received a cloak of cloth-of-silver and a lapis brooch in the shape of a pair of falcon’s wings. Fine steel daggers were given to the brothers, fathers, and friends who had come to watch them tilt. For their mothers, sisters, and ladies fair there were bolts of silk and Myrish lace.

Houses Present

The competitors came from all over the Vale, from the mountain valleys and the coast, from Gulltown and the Bloody Gate, even the Three Sisters. Though a few were promised, only three were wed;

Out of the 64 competitors we have numerous Houses confirmed to be there:

• House Belmore
• House Lynderly
• House Breakstone
• House Tollett
• House Redfort

At the north end of the yard, three quintains had been set up, and some of the competitors were riding at them. Alayne knew them by their shields; the bells of Belmore, green vipers for the Lynderlys, the red sledge of Breakstone, House Tollett’s black and grey pily. Ser Mychel Redfort set one quintain spinning with a perfectly placed blow. He was one of those favored to win wings.

• House Shett of Gulltown
• House Lipps

The one on her right had a grizzled beard, a bald head, and a belly that spilled over his swordbelt where his lap should have been. The one on her left was no more than eighteen, and skinny as a spear. His ginger-colored whiskers only partially served to disguise the angry red pimples that dotted his face.

The bald knight wore a dark blue surcoat emblazoned with a huge pair of pink lips. The pimply-gingerlad countered with nine white seagulls on a field of brown, which marked him for a Shett of Gulltown. He was staring so intently at Myranda’s breasts that he hardly noticed Alayne until Myranda rose to hug her. “Thank you, thank you, thank you” Randa whispered in her ear, before she turned to say, “Sers, may I present you the Lady Alayne Stone?”

No, my lady. I am from Gulltown.”

And I am not, though Alayne was born there. She would need to be careful around this one. “I remember Gulltown fondly,” she told him, with a smile as vague as it was pleasant. To Myranda she said, “Do you know where my father’s gotten to, perchance?”

“Ossifer Lipps is the dullest knight in the Vale, but Uther Shett aspires to his laurels. I am praying they fight a duel for my hand, and kill each other.”

• Sistermen (House Sunderland and maybe more)

Those Sistermen who came in yesterday were gallant,” she said, to change the subject. “If you don’t like Ser Ossifer or Ser Uther, marry one of them instead. I thought the youngest one was very handsome.”

“The one in the sealskin cloak?” Randa said, incredulous.

“One of his brothers, then.”

• House Corbray

A few feet away, two knights were fighting with blunted practice swords. Their blades crashed together twice, then slipped past each other only to be blocked by upraised shields, but the bigger man gave ground at the impact. Alayne could not see the front of his shield from where she stood, but his attacker bore three ravens in flight, each clutching a red heart in its claws. Three hearts and three ravens.

She knew right then how the fight would end.

• House Waynwood
• House Hardyng

Ser Roland was the oldest of the three, though no more than five-and-twenty. He was taller and more muscular than Ser Wallace, but both were long-faced and lantern-jawed, with stringy brown hair and pinched noses. Horsefaced and homely, Alayne thought.

• House Grafton

Ser Lothar said, “inspecting Lord Nestor’s granaries with Lord Grafton and Lord Belmore.”

Likely Named Competitors

the eight victors would be expected to spend the next three years at Lord Robert’s side, as his own personal guard (Alayne had suggested seven, like the Kingsguard, but Sweetrobin had insisted that he must have more knights than King Tommen), so older men with wives and children had not been invited.

• Mychel Redfort
• Harry Hardyng
• Edmund Breakstone
• Lynn Corbray
• Roland Waynwood
• Wallace Waynwood
• Ossifer Lipps
• Uther Shett
• Ben Coldwater
• Andrew Tollett
• Owen (unknown)
• Lymund Lynderly
• Andrew Tollett
• Albar Royce
• 3 sons of House Sunderland
• Lothor Brune, Byron the Beautiful, Morgarth the Merry, Targon the Halfwild (unlikely but unconfirmed)

Note: I don't think Donnel Waynwood attends, by the way it is worded but it is possible.

The Joust

While completely speculating here, I think we can take some of the information we have and look at who could potentially end up a victor:

• Mychel Redfort

The former lover of Mya Stone (Robert's bastard) is favored to be a victor:

Ser Mychel Redfort set one quintain spinning with a perfectly placed blow. He was one of those favored to win wings.-TWOW, Alayne I

• Lynn Corbray

Double/Triple Agent Lynn Corbray is in a bad mood due to his brother's recent child. We see him hammer other knights in the yard.

The venom in his voice was so thick that for a moment she almost forgot that Lyn Corbray was actually her father’s catspaw, bought and paid for. Or was he? Perhaps, instead of being Petyr’s man pretending to be Petyr’s foe, he was actually his foe pretending to be his man pretending to be his foe.

• Whoever wears Sansa's Favor

It will be interesting if this person ends up facing Harry.

He grinned. “I will hold you to that promise, my lady. Until that day, may I wear your favor in the tourney?”

“You may not. It is promised to… another.” She was not sure who as yet, but she knew she would find someone.-TWOW, Alayne I

• Harry Hardyng

Harry Hardyng is not that good it seems, but I do think similar to the melee held by Bronze Yohn, Harry will likely be given the easy path to victory (similar to Daemon II Blackfyre in the Mystery Knight):

"Our cousin Bronze Yohn had himself a mêlée at Runestone," Myranda Royce went on, oblivious, "a small one, just for squires. It was meant for Harry the Heir to win the honors, and so he did." -AFFC, Alayne II

and:

Ser Lothor Brune and almost knocked him off his feet. “Harry the Heir? Harry the Arse, I say. He’s just some upjumped squire.”-TWOW, Alayne I

...

He may think he’s some great knight, but Ser Lothor says he’s just some upjumped squire.”-TWOW, Alayne I

Worth noting:

• The sistermen potentially aren't very good jousters

Myranda rolled her eyes. “They’re from the Sisters. Did you ever know a Sisterman who could joust? They clean their swords with codfish oil and wash in tubs of cold seawater.”-TWOW, Alayne I

Other Subplots Surrounding the Tourney

As we see with the Red Wedding, Purple Wedding, Hands Tourney, etc. GRRM loves to use these types of events to have something major happen in the plotline:

We have more deaths, and we have more betrayals. We have more marriages. EW Interview, TWOW Tease: 26 June 2014

We see personal grudges takeover such as Gregor/Loras at the Hand's Tourney, but I think this tourney could parallel Harrenhal a bit in addition to how I mentioned we get to see Sansa view a tourney as a much different, older person.

The Lords Declarant

Please check out the post I linked above, but its obvious the Vale Lords don't want LF there (even though some are in his pocket.

A Mystery Knight

So far the closest thing we have to a mystery knight in the main series is Brienne (to the reader and Cat) at Bitterbridge, I would love if we got a mystery knight at this tourney but it seems like there were only 64 invites sent out:

Mystery knights would oft appear at tourneys, with helms concealing their faces, and shields that were either blank or bore some strange device. Sometimes they were famous champions in disguise. -ASOS, Bran II

If interested: Mystery Knights in ASOIAF

Who Wears Sansa's Favor ?

She could give it to a number of characters, listed above, the obvious main thing being her not giving it to Harry:

“You may not. It is promised to… another.” She was not sure who as yet, but she knew she would find someone.-TWOW, Alayne I

It could range from someone who LF directs her to give it to, to Lothor Brune (if he participates), etc.

The Melee

“Perhaps you will try the melee instead?” Alayne suggested. The melee was an afterthought, a sop for all the brothers, uncles, fathers, and friends who had accompanied the competitors to the Gates of the Moon to see them win their silver wings, but there would be prizes for the champions, and a chance to win ransoms.-TWOW, Alayne I

• We know the Mad Mouse plans to participate:

“A good melee is all a hedge knight can hope for -TWOW, Alayne I

The Mad Mouse

He may attempt to kidnap Sansa having just stumbled up on a "bag of dragons":

You know who Varys is, I trust? The eunuch has offered a plump bag of gold for this girl you've never heard of. I am not a greedy man. If some oversized wench would help me find this naughty child, I would split the Spider's coin with her." -AFFC, Brienne I

and:

“A good melee is all a hedge knight can hope for, unless he stumbles on a bag of dragons. And that’s not likely, is it?”-TWOW, Alayne I

If interested: Ser Shadrich of the Shady Glen aka The Mad Mouse

Myranda Royce/Mya Stone

both of these characters have recently lost their loves/crushes in Mychel Redfort/Harry the Heir):

My Harry will be with them, though. I notice that you left him out. I shall never forgive you for stealing him away from me. He’s the boy I want to marry.”

“The betrothal was my father’s doing,” Alayne protested, as she had a hundred times before. She is only teasing, she told herself… but behind the japes, she could hear the hurt.-TWOW, Alayne I

and:

Mya had straw in her hair and a scowl on her face. That scowl comes of having Mychel Redfort near*, Alayne knew.* -TWOW, Alayne I

Sweetrobin's Health

When Robert dies. Our poor brave Sweetrobin is such a sickly boy, it is only a matter of time. When Robert dies, Harry the Heir becomes Lord Harrold, Defender of the Vale and Lord of the Eyrie. Jon Arryn's bannermen will never love me, nor our silly, shaking Robert, but they will love their Young Falcon . . . and when they come together for his wedding, and you come out with your long auburn hair, clad in a maiden's cloak of white and grey with a direwolf emblazoned on the back . . . why, every knight in the Vale will pledge his sword to win you back your birthright. So those are your gifts from me, my sweet Sansa . . . Harry, the Eyrie, and Winterfell. -AFFC, Alayne II

and:

“I hate that Harry,” Sweetrobin said when she was gone. “He calls me cousin, but he’s just waiting for me to die so he can take the Eyrie. He thinks I don’t know, but I do.” -TWOW, Alayne I

Vale Clansmen

The Vale Mountain Clans have now been armed with steel and also were promised the Vale by Tyrion:

The senior branch of House Royce was close to open revolt over her aunt's failure to aid Robb in his war, and the Waynwoods, Redforts, Belmores, and Templetons were giving them every support. The mountain clans were being troublesome as well, and old Lord Hunter had died so suddenly that his two younger sons were accusing their elder brother of having murdered him. -ASOS, Sansa VII

They could be an obstacle once the Tourney is over and Sansa's plotline is driven out of the Vale.

If interested: The Vale Mountain Clans in TWoW

TLDR: Sansa/Alayne's Vale Plotline is likely coming to an end during/right after the Tourney of the Brotherhood of the Winged Knights. While I have my thoughts on the direction her plotline heads, I do think it is one of the bigger question marks in the series. Similar to some of the plotlines there are plenty of subplots that could seemingly drive this Tourney in a few directions. I tried to touch on the main characters competing/likely victors and then lastly the different subplots that all should make for a pretty interesting couple chapters, especially with the growing number of characters there who already know her identity.