Pick a sword, pick a wielder.

[CaiusWickersham]

Not OCD, OCPD. Big difference.
Schizophrenia -- Emotional responses completely off-base from the norm, lack of affect, socially isolated, delusions (no, I'm talking about what Melisandre's feeding him). He also can't seem to grasp concepts like "justification" or "greater good" (again, this seems a problem with Westerosi in general).

[CaptainChewbacca]

And the sword would fix Melisandre's hold on him and make him a good ruler.

[Ahriman238]

For my own all-swords scenario;

I give Woundhealer to Dani. She has no need to do her own fighting and killing, but she's smart enough to see the value in a healing device to save more of her men after each battle, and to build up an enormous stock of good will.

Dragonslicer goes to Ser Jorah Mormont, he's loyal to Dani but also somewhat removed because of his delaings with Varys' agents. Eventually she will probably still banish him. He I will trust to stop Dani if it turns out she needs stopping, and leave her alone otherwise. He's also enough of a badass that he doesn't really need a magic sword to enhance his ocmbat abilities.

Barristan the Bold gets Shieldbreaker. What better blade for a bodyguard, besides perhaps Townsaver. He may be old, but the sword will do wonders for keeping him relevant on the field, and he's smart enough to avoid the pitfalls of the sword. Finally, only Shieldbreaker has the ability to destroy the other swords, best to be very careful who gets hold of it.

To Aegeon Targaryean, I will entrust the sword of vengeance, Farslayer. I wonder if he will have the cunning to make best use of it.

Doomgiver goes to Jon Snow, a man most essential to the defense of the Wall.

Tyrion as I said gets Wayfinder. I expect him to experiment around a bit rather than just taking my word that the more specific he is with the sword, the more it tends to find the most dangerous of paths. So eventually he hopefullly will ask it to show him the right side to be on, or the path that will make him happy. Interesting things could come of that.

Have to go, the rest will come later.

[LadyTevar]

Who holds Coinspinner knows good odds
Whichever move he make.
But the Sword of Chance, to please the gods
Slips from him like a snake.

The Sword of Justice balances the pans
Of right and wrong, and foul and fair.
Eye for an eye, Doomgiver scans
The fate of all folk everywhere.

Dragonslicer, Dragonslicer, how d'you slay?
Reaching for the heart in behind the scales.
Dragonslicer, Dragonslicer, where d'you stay?
In the belly of the giant that my blade impales.

Farslayer howls across the world
For thy heart, for thy heart, who hast wronged me!
Vengeance is his who casts the blade
Yet he will in the end no triumph see.

I shatter Swords and splinter spears;
None stands to Shieldbreaker.
My point's the fount of orphan's tears
My edge the widowmaker.

The Sword of Stealth is given to
One lowly and despised.
Sightblinder's gifts: his eyes are keen
His nature is disguised.

The Sword of Siege struck a hammer's blow
With a crash, and a smash, and a tumbled wall.
Stonecutter laid a castle low
With a groan, and a roar, and a tower's fall.

Long roads the Sword of Fury makes
Hard walls it builds around the soft
The fighter who Townsaver takes
Can bid farewell to home and croft

Who holds Wayfinder finds good roads
Its master's step is brisk.
The Sword of Wisdom lightens loads
But adds unto their risk.

Whose flesh the Sword of Mercy hurts has drawn no breath,
Whose soul it heals has wandered in the night,
Has paid the summing of all debts in death
Has turned to see returning light

The Tyrant's Blade no blood hath spilled
But doth the spirit carve
Soulcutter hath no body killed
But many left to starve.

The Mindsword spun in the dawn's gray light
And men and demons knelt down before.
The Mindsword flashed in the midday bright
Gods joined the dance, and the march to war.
It spun in the twilight dim as well
And gods and men marched off to hell.

[Ahriman238]

Cersei gets Coinspinner, experience shows that when she gets everything she wants, she screws up horribly because she doesn't know what to do with it. To say nothing of what happens when she loses the sword. Great turns of chance are almost as familiar to her as to Tyrion.

Robb Stark gets Stonecutter. How many Lannister castles does he lay siege to? WIth the ability to get through stone walls, he'll be sipping wine in Casterly Rock before even the Greyjoys and Boltons can do much damage.

Edmure Tully is as many have said, a good candidate for Townsaver. But I like Berric Dondarrion more.

For person most able to use Sightblinder, I'd say Tyrion, Littlefinger, Varys, Melisandre, maybe a couple of the Stark children. However, most of these would be at odds with my goals. It'd be nice if there were anyone around who could use the sword to save Winterfell, but I can't think of a good person to do it. Hmmm.

Skulltwister and Soulcutter are the two 'evil' swords and debatably the most overpowered, since they and Sightblinder are the only ones that affect large crowds at a time. I debated excluding them entirely, but it's 12 swords in the book, 12 swords it is here. I'll keep them somewhere safe as weapons of last resort.

So what's the end result? Hipefully with the power of the swords behind her, Dani gets her rear in gear and becomes Queen of Westeros already. Quickly. The Starks easily crush the Lannisters, which hopefully keeps their allies their allies. The North is strong, and Dani can pull everything together in time to face the Others.

[Rogue 9]

Dragonslicer: Jon Snow. For . . . later.

Well, considering Jon is Spoiler

quite dead with no dragon ever coming within a thousand miles of him,

what use would he possibly put it to?

[CaiusWickersham]

Dragonslicer: Jon Snow. For . . . later.

Well, considering Jon is Spoiler

quite dead with no dragon ever coming within a thousand miles of him,

what use would he possibly put it to?

FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU
Who's still alive and can give Dany some grief?

[Rogue 9]

This is A Song of Ice and Fire. If you're not a baby-killing serial rapist, you're not allowed to live. You hadn't figured that out yet?

[LadyTevar]

WTF? They Killed him too?!?!?

That's it, I'm never touching another of the books again, because he's killing off all my favorites.

[Rogue 9]

WTF? They Killed him too?!?!?

That's it, I'm never touching another of the books again, because he's killing off all my favorites.

To be fair, he's not definitively dead. It just said he didn't feel the fourth knife, only the cold of the snow.

[Coop D'etat]

WTF? They Killed him too?!?!?

That's it, I'm never touching another of the books again, because he's killing off all my favorites.

To be fair, he's not definitively dead. It just said he didn't feel the fourth knife, only the cold of the snow.

And with a Red Priest of R`hllor interested in him, death might just end up being an temporary status aliment for Jon rather than the end of his story.

[Ahriman238]

WTF? They Killed him too?!?!?

That's it, I'm never touching another of the books again, because he's killing off all my favorites.

To be fair, he's not definitively dead. It just said he didn't feel the fourth knife, only the cold of the snow.

And with a Red Priest of R`hllor interested in him, death might just end up being an temporary status aliment for Jon rather than the end of his story.

What, so Jon too can become a vengeance-fueled undead murder-machine? I see that working out real well. Assuming the Night's Watch doesn't simply destroy him out of hand.

[The Yosemite Bear]

Stormbringer/Mournblade just because I wish to be that fragging evil, and it would keep my diabeties at bay, now I just have to commit genocide on a scale unheard of in Fire and Ice....

[Crazedwraith]

What, so Jon too can become a vengeance-fueled undead murder-machine? I see that working out real well. Assuming the Night's Watch doesn't simply destroy him out of hand.

Beric was relatively normal after being brought back seven times. Catelyn's only undead crazy person because she was brought back too late.

[Faqa]

AND because of the circumstance in which she died - the end of her death chapter implies she was already halfway to batshit when her throat was cut.

[Ahriman238]

What, so Jon too can become a vengeance-fueled undead murder-machine? I see that working out real well. Assuming the Night's Watch doesn't simply destroy him out of hand.

Beric was relatively normal after being brought back seven times. Catelyn's only undead crazy person because she was brought back too late.

This is so. But it's kind of like people worrying about plane crashes, a thousand successes can't make you forget the one time that went horribly wrong...

Besides, Beric had both experience and good intentions (which turned out real well) I don't believe Melisandre has either.

[avatarxprime]

I'm afraid I've only seen the show so my picks will obviously be fairly limited as a result.

For the 1 sword scenario I'd pick Robb and give him Skulltwister, what better way to quickly end the fighting against the Lannisters then turning their armies against them. Although going through the thread the sword is apparently evil so I'm not 100% on this choice. Does the sword make bad things happen or is it considered evil because of its ability to take control of others?

For the all swords scenario I'd go with the following:

Beric Dondarrion - Townsaver
He's hunting down Gregor to stop him from pillaging across the Riverlands, I'd imagine having Townsaver would be quite a boon in making that happen with as little innocent blood lost as possible.

Daenerys Targaryen - Shieldbreaker
I like Dany from what I've seen of her and want her to succeed. She seems to have a pretty good head on her shoulders and with Shieldbreaker in addition to her dragons she should be in a strong position to sweep across Essos and then onto Westeros.

Catelyn Stark - Woundhealer
With Woundhealer Catelyn can heal Bran and keep Robb's army fighting through just about anything. This should help speed up Robb's victory over the Lannisters, and minimize casualties.

Robb Stark - Skulltwister
For the same reason I stated above, turn your enemy's army against itself and quickly turn the tide.

Theon Grejoy - Stonecutter
This one was based on reading the thread. Since Robb has to lay siege to so many castles I figured I'd give someone on his side Stonecutter to use to help further his war effort along.

Jeor Mormont - Coinspinner
As the head of the Night's Watch I imagine he'd be most understanding of the double-edged nature of Coinspinner. Provided he's willing to take the sacrifice he can use it to hopefully get some good work done on the other side of the wall. Spoiler

Also since I got spoiled on the fact that he dies, the negative consequences of the sword shouldn't be too bad or hamper the Watch. Hopefully it'd be a net gain.

Jon Snow - Doomgiver
Given that Jon, is well Jon, I figure giving him Doomgiver would be a good idea. This way he should be relatively safe against whatever they find on the other side of the Wall an in a good position to go killing whatever horrors exist on the other side.

Joffrey Baratheon - Soulcutter
How could I not give the kid this sword. He pulls it and King's Landing is no longer a concern. If I'm allowed to lie, I'd tell him that the first time it is pulled it casts an aura of invulnerability and that the more people around the more divided the power becomes so he should force as many people out of the city as possible before drawing it, otherwise they will all get a share of its power as well.

Tyrion Lannister - Wayfinder
Based on the thread it seems having Wayfinder should give Tyrion the ability to get away from Soulcutter, which would be a good thing. Like Dany he seems to be a pretty good guy overall (at least as good as Westeros people get) and he should do well with the sword's power.

Stannis Baratheon - Dragonslicer
From what I've heard of Stannis he seems to be a guy worth keeping in power for his sense of honor and duty. Giving him Dragonslicer should provide him with the power he'll need in the future should Dany end up going power mad or something.

Barristan Selmy - Farslayer
Still a strong and capable knight Barristan doesn't really seem to need any enhancements so I thought to give him Farslayer as a "just in case" weapon. I would trust him to use it well, and hopefully in a way where it doesn't come back to bite him.

Gendry Waters - Sightblinder
As one of Robert's illegitimate children, and one that is currently riding around with Arya I figure giving him the means to avoid detection and survive long enough to eventually be in a position to take his rights would be a good thing. This should also net Arya some protection from Cersei as well.

[Ahriman238]

Theon Grejoy - Stonecutter
This one was based on reading the thread. Since Robb has to lay siege to so many castles I figured I'd give someone on his side Stonecutter to use to help further his war effort along.

Yeah, that one's not going to work out the way you hoped.

For the 1 sword scenario I'd pick Robb and give him Skulltwister, what better way to quickly end the fighting against the Lannisters then turning their armies against them. Although going through the thread the sword is apparently evil so I'm not 100% on this choice. Does the sword make bad things happen or is it considered evil because of its ability to take control of others?

It's not 'evil' so much as... well how many good uses can mass mind control be put to? How many stupid or evil ones? If power corrupts, Skulltwister is very, very corrupting. It also has the problem of wearing off eventually. Sure you can keep pulling it out every so often to overcome that, but if you send someone away for more than a month or so (and its a medieval kingdom, you will have to eventually) they will regain their senses and even if they were already your allies, they will be pissed.

[avatarxprime]

Theon Grejoy - Stonecutter
This one was based on reading the thread. Since Robb has to lay siege to so many castles I figured I'd give someone on his side Stonecutter to use to help further his war effort along.

Yeah, that one's not going to work out the way you hoped.

Hmmm, that's a shame. So I guess once an Iron Islands boy always an Iron Islands boy.

For the 1 sword scenario I'd pick Robb and give him Skulltwister, what better way to quickly end the fighting against the Lannisters then turning their armies against them. Although going through the thread the sword is apparently evil so I'm not 100% on this choice. Does the sword make bad things happen or is it considered evil because of its ability to take control of others?

It's not 'evil' so much as... well how many good uses can mass mind control be put to? How many stupid or evil ones? If power corrupts, Skulltwister is very, very corrupting. It also has the problem of wearing off eventually. Sure you can keep pulling it out every so often to overcome that, but if you send someone away for more than a month or so (and its a medieval kingdom, you will have to eventually) they will regain their senses and even if they were already your allies, they will be pissed.

Ah, thanks for the clarification, it is true about the power being potentially corrupting. Still, I wouldn't expect Robb to use it on his allies since they are already considered loyal and as far as sending people on errands, that's what your actual allies are for. I actually like the fact that it wears off over time. If the effect was permanent I would not have given it to Robb, that's just too much power. Instead I'd probably give it to Jeor Mormont or Maester Aemon since both have shown a dedication to their duty of protecting Westeros and a strong sense of honor. Anyway, I invisioned Robb simply using the sword to turn his enemies against each other, once the fight is over any survivors can be captured an held until the effect wears off. After that I'm sure the various hired swords will be more than willing to join up anyway since Robb would be the one winning the fight.

Also, if Robb does go rogue, his brother (Jon) and Dany both have a sword that would protect them from Skulltwister's effects and allow either one to put a stop to things if need be. There is also the fact that Farslayer is still an option should it come down to it.

[starslayer]

A few other things to remember on the swords, although I haven't read/seen enough of GoT to really give answers as to who should get which sword:

Shieldbreaker negates the powers of any of the other swords* that would be used against the wielder except Woundhealer, and is also the only thing that can destroy them; if any of the remaining ten is brought into combat against Shieldbreaker, it will be destroyed like any other weapon. Shieldbreaker also draws its energy from the person wielding it; if someone has it out and in use for too long at once (say, facing a large army alone for a couple of hours), they will die. Unlike with Townsaver, however, they cannot be wounded by arms while wielding it.

Woundhealer will destroy Shieldbreaker if brought against it.

I don't think Skulltwister is named in the books, but whatever (IIRC, it's referred to simply as the Mindsword).

Also bear in mind that given the immense powers of the swords, everyone's going to want them all; I wouldn't be surprised if the objectives of at least some of the characters change heavily in the scenario where all 12 are around. In the Book of Swords, the Gods made them to give to mortals in a great game, though this didn't exactly end up working out well for anyone involved.

*Yes, even Coinspinner; early on in the Book of Swords series, a pickpocket with Coinspinner gets engaged in a round of betting with the man who possesses Shieldbreaker at that point. It does not go well, but the sword does not disappear like usual - the mysterious man walks off with both swords.

[Ahriman238]

Also bear in mind that given the immense powers of the swords, everyone's going to want them all; I wouldn't be surprised if the objectives of at least some of the characters change heavily in the scenario where all 12 are around. In the Book of Swords, the Gods made them to give to mortals in a great game, though this didn't exactly end up working out well for anyone involved.

This is very much something to keep in mind for the all-swords scenario.

Woundhealer will destroy Shieldbreaker if brought against it.

Let's not start that debate again.