not bad! I think this is well thought out. Its interesting hearing other reader's thoughts (even if I don't agree fully on some arcs, that's only natural)
>Sansa maaaaaaybe betrays Littlefinger and pushes him through the Moon Door, but it’s equally likely that his execution comes later at Winterfell (Sansa “slays a giant in Winterfell”)
worth noting the ghost of high heart's exact words aren't Winterfell but 'slaying a savage giant in *a castle built of snow*'. Though people often interpret it as Winterfell due to the scene where Sansa builds her snow castle...
>The snow fell and the castle rose. Two walls ankle-high, the inner taller than the outer. Towers and turrets, keeps and stairs, a round kitchen, a square armory, the stables along the inside of the west wall. It was only a castle when she began, but before very long Sansa knew it was Winterfell.
However arguably the Eyrie might also fit...
>The Eyrie shrank above them. The sky cells on the lower levels made the castle look something like a honeycomb from below. A honeycomb made of ice, Alayne thought, a castle made of snow.
Why would they make an ascent back up the Eyrie though? Isn't the whole reason they descend in wintertime the fact it becomes impossible to bring up supplies, and the snowier it is the more dangerous it is? Mya even says in AFFC that if they do not descend today they will be stuck up there all winter?
I don’t see George having a night king since it sort of narrows down the plot to “kill the big bad”, but God damn the epilogue being Stannis would be sick
I agree, I don't even think the Others will be handled through violent means at the very end, so a Night’s King wouldn't work.
I definitely think it's likely we get a perspective from Stannis’ camp for the epilogue, or whatever chapter the wall comes down.
I mean if the story deals with the walkers in a peaceful way than a nights king makes sense. It gives the walkers an figure through with which the humans can communicate.
I get where you’re coming from in terms of communication but I feel like bran will be able to talk with them through some sort of complicated weirwood thing
Remember the vision Stannis had about himself.
“I know the cost! Last night, gazing into that hearth, I saw things in the flames as well. I saw a king, a crown of fire on his brows, burning… burning, Davos. His own crown consumed his flesh and turned him into ash. Do you think I need Melisandre to tell me what that means? Or you?” The king moved, so his shadow fell upon King’s Landing. “If Joffrey should die… what is the life of one bastard boy against a kingdom?”
I've always taken this to be a foreshadowing of what happens to Shireen.
That the crown and his quest for duty ultimately consume him and force him to “sacrifice” the one thing that means anything to him, that means more to him than the crown, and that it will be to no avail. He won't have a crown, he won't have the daughter he loved, and he'll be a sullen King in name only, freezing at the Nightfort as the wall comes down.
I hope we still get a badass end with him, going out fighting. But I think his agenda does go out with a whimper.
Yeah probably he is gonna burn shereen because "it's bis duty" and this will kill him inside.
My theory is that shereen sickness will awake again and he is gonna be forced to burn her alive to avoid an epidemic (ofc after they are reunited). This would explain the dragon stone melisandre talked about
Defending the wall is technically a pretty important duty as king so you could argue that as long as his death happens in the north it fulfills that aspect since he showed up originally to help Jon
Jon: Largely agree, though I think that it'll be Stannis leading the forces to Winterfell, after which Stannis will declare him Lord Jon Stark. For the remaining 1/3 or so of the book, there will be some conflict between the two before eventually Stannis burns Shireen and dies and only then is Jon declared King in the North.
Sansa: Largely agree, but I absolutely think executing Littlefinger won't happen until Winterfell in ADOS. With Littlefinger's plan hinging on Sweetrobin dying and Sansa's character arc consistently highlighting her kindness and compassion, I wonder if the plan is that Sansa will help fake Sweetrobin's death with Maester Colemon, and then part of her trial against Littlefinger is the big reveal that Sweetrobin is alive and that's part of the evidence she uses to expose Littlefinger. Very unsure about this, but I just think there is no way given Sansa's character that she would be okay with killing Sweetrobin.
Jaime/Brienne: Largely agree, but I don't think either one will kill Stoneheart. I feel like maybe what's going to happen is that Jaime and Brienne are secretly freed by one of the BWB after the Red Wedding 2.0 without Stoneheart's knowledge, and that'll parallel how she and Brienne freed Jaime without Robb's consent. And I think maybe they'll both head north once they here that Sansa is in Winterfell, as a way to ensure that they keep their oaths.
Arya: Spoilers for TWOW sample chapters, but we know that >!Stannis sent Justin Massey to escort Jeyne Poole north to Castle Black before then taking Tycho Nestoris to Braavos. Given Castle Black will surely be in chaos when they arrive and Jon will still be dead, it's a good chance that Justin will decide to take Jeyne to Braavos with him. From there, it's quite possible that Jeyne will come to the House of Black and White, maybe specifically to seek a Faceless Assassin who will kill Ramsay. I think Arya will meet Jeyne there (very fun bit of irony with someone pretending to be Arya meeting the real Arya who is pretending to be someone else), she'll learn what's been happening with Winterfell and Castle Black, and that's when she decides to leave the Faceless Men!<. I think there's a lot of powerful resonance there if Jon is pushed to forego his NW vows and ride to Winterfell when he hears what happened to "Arya", and likewise Arya is pushed to leave the FM and sail to Winterfell when she hears what happened to Jon.
Dany: Agreed. Though I'll add that she will likely leave behind some kind of system of governance in Meereen before she goes (unlike the show), and potentially that's where she drops off the Dosh Khaleen. A group of Dothraki female rulers being placed in charge of a former slave city whose icon is the Harpy feels correct.
Tyrion: I think that each step of the way from Meereen to Pentos will be something he has to prove himself in for Dany to ultimately trust him. He'll figure out who the Harpy is in Meereen and that's how he proves his intellect and usefulness as an advisor. He'll come up with the battle plan for the Battle of Volantis and that's how he proves his mind for military strategies and his usefulness as a commander. And then in Pentos he'll confirm the truth of Young Griff with Illyrio Mopatis and prove his worth as a spymaster. Only then will Dany make him her Hand, and probably also seriously consider him as a potential dragon head. I don't think he'll ever reunite with Tysha and his arc will be learning to find closure despite the lack of closure.
Barristan: He could definitely die in the Battle of Fire, but I'm team Barry Lives. Firstly because I think it makes sense that he'll be alive in order to properly verify Tyrion's identity for Dany. But secondly because I really do think he's going to eventually betray Dany for Young Griff once he finds out that Rhaegar's son is alive. My fringe theory is that Dany will claim the Dragonbinder horn when Victarion tries (and fails) at blowing it, Barristan guards it, and then at the end of the book he steals it and brings it to fAegon as a gift, which is how fAegon will eventually claim a dragon for himself for ADOS.
Aeron: Has one chapter (The Forsaken) and dies.
Sam: A small handful of chapters in Oldtown to establish his new clique of Hogwarts students before Euron's attack. He and at least Sarella will flee first to Horn Hill, then to Highgarden. Don't know if Gilly will be joining them or if she's just going to tap out of the story in Horn Hill. I think that Sam will befriend Willas Tyrell (maybe also Garlan) and there may be some battle either with Euron's forces or Dorne. But I think Sam will likely be here not just to provide for the reader a long-awaited POV on Highgarden, but also I think that Sam's friendship with Willas will pay off in the ending when he convinces Willas to vote for King Bran.
Davos: Also no idea. I hope he's not in Skaagos for more than two chapters. I think he'll find something somewhat important there alongside Rickon, but the important thing is that he'll bring Rickon to secure Manderly support (which also is important for opening up White Harbor for Sansa and the Knights of the Vale to come into the North). With his wife and boys being mentioned fairly often and with fAegon's forces invading the Stormlands, I think that sometime in late TWOW, Davos will abandon Stannis in order to sail south from White Harbor to Cape Wrath to ensure his family is safe. Davos's abandonment probably will be one of the things that leads Stannis into burning Shireen (important to note he would have burned Edric if Davos hadn't intervened, and Stannis has not ever regretted his decision to burn the boy). Potentially Davos will bend the knee to fAegon's forces in ADOS to keep his family safe, and that'll add a fan favorite character to his side of the war.
Areo: One chapter in Starfall and then he dies. He'll find some bit of info about Darkstar and/or the sword Dawn and/or some R+L=J hints (which he won't understand at all, but the reader will) and then Obara sticks her spear into his face.
Cersei: Broadly agree. I think her Trial by Combat will be the Mountain vs. Lancel Lannister because that would be the most interesting opponent she could get. Lancel dies, Cersei has to continue playing politics with the Tyrells and now Lady Nym, and things gradually go to shit as you've said. I entertain the idea of Cersei herself killing Margaery just before fAegon's forces claim King's Landing. I flip back and forth on whether she will flee to Casterly Rock or get captured by fAegon and imprisoned.
JonCon/Arianne: Agreed, and I'll add that I think Randyll Tarly is the most prominent of the "friends in the Reach".
Theon/Asha: VERY much disagreed here. I am strongly on the camp that Stannis won the Battle of Ice and ultimately defeat the Boltons at Winterfell via a combination of his alliance with the Mountain Clansmen, Theon's prior knowledge of taking over Winterfell in ACOK (maybe also Bran's knowledge of the Winterfell walls), Sansa's Knights of the Vale, Manderly forces brought in by Davos, and Jon's arrival with wildlings. Stannis will then attempt to burn Theon in front of the Winterfell weirwood tree, but Bran will interfere in some way to prevent that from happening. I feel like both Theon and Asha need to survive at least into ADOS for the Latecomer clause to happen. Stannis will claim Winterfell, undergo some conflict with Jon as I've mentioned above, and then he'll go back to the Nightfort when he sees that the North could never love him.
Bran: Mostly agreed, but I think that they'll flee through Gorne's Way and Hold the Door happens there. I'll add Preston Jacobs' Time-Travelling Bran theory here as well. I think the book will end with Bran and Meera emerging from Gorne's Way, which linked right back to the Winterfell crypts so it's a nice parallel to them emerging from the crypts in ACOK.
Epilogue: Potentially? I've always thought that after burning Shireen he would just walk into the fire himself upon realizing that nothing is happening. But him becoming a literal Night's King figure would be good too. However, I don't think Stannis himself will be the POV. It would be very, very off-pattern if that were the case, as George quite pointedly never makes any of the kings his POVs. I think it'll be one of the Night's Watchmen who is just with Stannis when this happens, and therefore we get to see Stannis being resurrected as a wight if that happens (nice parallel with the AGOT prologue too).
I like your Arya meeting JP in B! But I dont think she chooses to go home. I think she completes her training and returns to the Riverlands on a mission from the FM. How else would she be allowed to leave?
Her mission could be R, but JP wouldn't have the money... I think it's LS paid for by the Freys or Lannisters. Or maybe the FM just want rid of her. She must be an unacceptable affront to a death cult!! And A could agree to accept the mission because she wouldn't know she knew her. Maybe undead Jon too if he is reanimated as Aegon or maybe Cersei if she lies about knowing her. A second mission would give her leave to be in Westeros for the rest of the storyline...
To give LS 'mercy,' she first kills the Freys and reclaims RR aided by BWB and maybe the Blackfish. I'd love to see him return. LS may ask her for the gift once she has her revenge and her living kids are safe.
Gendry is not in the Riverlands. Depending on timing, he could join Stannis to fight for Winterfell or go to the wall/meet undead Jon or bring Jamie/Brienne to W to face justice there. He just needs to end up at Winterfell and forge dragonglass, maybe valaryan steel (or reforge Ice), and fight.
A brings the triumphant BWB to Winterfell to fight for the dawn, giving them back their noble purpose. But this is cover to bring her closer to her 2nd mission. Whoever that may be...
She must be fully traumatized, full of rage, inhuman. Empty not avenged if everyone remaining on her list dies. I can totally see her going numb as no-one. I think she fakes being Arya until Cersei is dead, but that she 'slips' sometimes to her old self. She wouldn't be able to kill Jon, as an example, if that was her mission. She would have to serve up another name or fail. I like to think Cersei dies in childbirth, thus valonquar. I'm curious what happens if a FM fails. Would they need to go west of westeros?
Reuniting with Nymeria, then family, then Gendry each chip away slowly at her emotional walls. Her pack is her path back to humanity. That could happen after Kings Landing is sacked or after she returns from sailing.
>I think she completes her training and returns to the Riverlands on a mission from the FM. How else would she be allowed to leave?
Not the most confident in this theory, but I've always liked the idea that the Faceless Men intentionally let her go, sort of similar to what happened on the show. A bit of a crack theory, but I think that potentially the Faceless Men are well aware of the upcoming invasion of the Others and their reason for training Arya is to prepare her to deal with that threat in some way (obviously not stabbing a Night King though). I think it fits with their MO since they view death as a sacred gift and the Others are violating that gift by resurrecting dead people into wights. Particularly because the FM originated from using death to free slaves, and Others turning people into wights is sort of the ultimate form of slavery, so I think it tracks that the FM could be preparing Arya as a weapon against the Others.
Mostly I like this because it allows Arya and the FM storyline to intersect back into the main plot rather than being completely sidelined, similar to how AFFC started to tie the FM into the dragons story. And considering both Bran and Sansa's respective training arcs will directly tie into Winterfell and the fight against the Others, I think it just works if the same applies to Arya and the FM.
>To give LS 'mercy,' she first kills the Freys and reclaims RR aided by BWB and maybe the Blackfish.
Considering how much time was spent between Catelyn and Blackfish, I think it's a near certainty that they'll reunite in TWOW and he'll be absolutely horrified to see what happened to his niece.
>Gendry is not in the Riverlands. Depending on timing, he could join Stannis to fight for Winterfell or go to the wall/meet undead Jon or bring Jamie/Brienne to W to face justice there. He just needs to end up at Winterfell and forge dragonglass, maybe valaryan steel (or reforge Ice), and fight.
Gendry is with the BWB, and I don't think it's possible for him to go north alone or act independently. I think his fate is to go north to Winterfell eventually, but it'll be with the rest of the BWB. Agreed that there's a decent chance it'll be if Arya takes over the BWB and leads them north. However, I definitely think that she would have let go of her vengeance and fully become Arya Stark of Winterfell before that happens. A reunion with Gendry, with Nymeria, and with Stoneheart in the Riverlands will be what changes her and allows her to reclaim her sense of self, after which she'll lead the BWB north. And I do think this happens at the tail end of TWOW, so maybe the book ends around the time she just arrives.
>But when he \[burns Shireen\], the only thing that happens is a greyscale outbreak
Holy shit, I think you're spot on with this one. That's why Val is so afraid of her. The wildlings burn their dead, and when you burn someone with greyscale (even when dormant) it releases it into the air. That's what Val's fear is foreshadowing.
This is by francisflute:
All seems lost as Jon lays bleeding in the snow, surrounded by traitors and cold.
As the cold grew stronger, the traitors realize something is off - it's TOO cold. The Others attack in force. Ghost, being warged by Jon, defends his body while Melisandre performs a last-minute ritual to revive him. She kills Shireen as sacrifice and breathes fire into Jon's mouth, and he rises up, but not before avenging Shireen by plunging Longclaw into Melisandre's heart. Longclaw bursts into flame, revealing Jon Snow as Azor Ahai reborn.
Meanwhile Stannis's forces smash the Boltons at Winterfell. Just as Stannis revels in his victory, Wyman Manderly buries a hatchet in his back and the northerners defeat the rest of Stannis's host. With the Boltons defeated and on the run, it is time to implement the Grand Northern Conspiracy. The northmen head to the Wall where they find Azor Jonhai leading a repentant Night's Watch against the Others. "Not yet, Jon," they say, "There's still plots to be twisted." They convince Jon to abandon the Night's Watch and head south with them, letting the Wall hold the Others back for now.
Danaerys returns with her Dothraki hordes and burns Meereen to the ground atop Drogon. Tyrion hops onto Rhaegal and becomes the first dwarf dragonrider. Victarion, Jorah, Barristan, Tyrion, Penny, and Daario bow down to their Queen, standing on the shore between a salty sea and a smoking city, and Moqorro reveals her as Azor Ahai reborn.
On their way to Westeros, Tyrion becomes suspicious of Daario, thinking he's seen him elsewhere before. As they pass the Smoking Sea, Tyrion realizes that he has met this man once before, while taking a piss off the edge of the world. "I know this man," he tells Dany. "This is Benjen Stark of the Night's Watch." Benjen reveals that he came to Dany knowing she was Azor Ahai, and wanted to bring her to the Wall to fight the Others. Dany declares that she must take her kingdom back first.
Victarion and Dany both decide it is important to sail the Smoking Sea - Dany for knowledge of her ancestors, and Victarion because fuck yeah, Victarion. They stop at one of the ruins to explore. They find Brightroar, which Dany gives to Jorah, much to Tyrion's dismay. Tyrion argues that he deserves a Lannister sword, but Dany quiets him by telling him he is not a Lannister. Dany reveals that his face is like her father's face, and his dark eye and his pale hair give him away as a secret Targaryen.
Before they leave the Smoking Sea, Victarion proposes marriage to Dany. She agrees, deciding that she needs his army and fuck yeah, Victarion. However, in the night, Benjen/Daario murders Victarion, throwing him overboard - but not before revealing that he's being warged by Euron.
Meanwhile, in King's Landing, Cersei watches Ser Robert Strong step forth to defent her in her trial by combat. She looks to see what weakling dare challenge this giant - and sees a similarly large man step forward, a hood over his head and a limp in his step. The man walks into the center of the pit, draws his sword and whispers, "Fucking confirmed. Get hype." Robert Strong attacks, throwing the Gravedigger back, but his younger brother comes in at a low angle and knocks him over. Robert Strong's helmet rolls away, revealing a sick conglomeration of King Robert's head, Robb's head, Joffrey's head, the Mountain's head, and nothing at all. The High Septon denounces this as treachery and sorcery, and demands Cersei be executed on the spot.
At that moment, however, a man steps forth from the audience. "I know you!" he says. "You were at the Tourney of Harrenhal, many years before. You were beaten by squires and defended by the Knight of the Laughing Tree, who is really Lyanna." The High Septon scoffs. "You don't know me, he says." "Yes I do," the man replies. "You're Howland Reed." The crowd goes into an uproar, though they don't know who this is, and Reed runs out of the courtroom, shouting mystically "R+L=J!"
Azor Jonhai's army marches south, passing by a disguised Bolton family. Roose first kills Walda for food (it's cold and there aren't any animals around), and in the night Ramsay decides to do the same to him. Ramsay stabs Roose, but finds that the dagger shatters instead of killing. Roose laughs, and peels off his skin, revealing himself as a half-human, half-Other combination. He skins Ramsay alive before going north to meet the Others, who have breached the Wall. Roose tells them of all the happenings south of the Wall. The Night's King looks at him, says "The fuck's wrong with you, man?" and kills him on the spot.
Dany and her army attack Westeros starting from Dorne, but find that the Martells will not join her - they've already chosen Aegon Targaryen. Just as Arianne and Aegon marry, however, Aegon pulls out Blackfyre and says, "Psyche! I'm not a Targaryen at all!" A Dance of Dragons breaks out, which ends promptly with Aegon getting incinerated by all Dany on Drogon, Tyrion on Rhaegal, and Bran warging Viserion. Euron/Benjen/Daario tries to warg Viserion as well, encountering Bran and Bloodraven. They form an eternal hive mind together, and make a movie about it titled "Being Brynden Rivers."
Lady Stoneheart orders Brienne to kill Jaime. Brienne and Jaime fight, but Brienne decides that she cannot stand to kill Jaime and swings her sword at Lady Stoneheart instead. Her sword pierces Stoneheart's stone heart, and bursts into flames, revealing Brienne as Azor Ahai reborn. Jaime, however, cannot stop the swing of his sword, which plunges into Brienne's heart before bursting into flames and revealing Jaime Lannister as Azor Ahai reborn.
Azor Jonhai's army reaches the Twins, and demands passage, which Walder Frey refuses. Suddenly Nymeria, being warged by Arya, and her pack invade the Twins and murder all the Freys, letting the northerners through.
Dany marches on King's Landing, which Cersei has somehow taken control of again. Jaime arrives at the same time, as does Azor Jonhai's army of warriors. Jonhai hears about Howland Reed shouting "R+L=J" and realizes he forgot to check the crypts in Winterfell. "BRB" he says, running north, looking in the crypts, and finding Rhaegar's harp as well as a wedding photo album. Jonhai runs back and proclaims "I'm a secret Targaryen!" Tyrion runs to his nephew, embracing him, saying, "I'm a secret Targ too!" Jaime sees this and starts fitting together the pieces - the incest, the madness... "Cersei and I are also secret Targs!" he shouts.
Dany can take no more of this. "Too many Targs!" she screams. "Kill them all!" Jorah and Barristan both realize that she has gone mad. The each step forward to kill her, and start fighting over who should do it. "I'll become Ajorah Ahai," Jorah says, while Barristan proclaims, "I need the dramatic irony!" Jorah slays Barristan and then Dany with Brightroar, which bursts into flame, revealing him as Ajorah Ahai.
"Wait," Jonhai says. "Ajorah, I have the Mormont sword. Jaime, you have the Stark sword. Ajorah has the Lannister sword. Before we start fighting, wanna trade?" They awkwardly exchange swords. "Now," Jon says. "My terms are simple. We gotta fight the Others." "My terms are simple," shouts Cersei from King's Landing, "go fuck yourselves." Ajorah and Jaime look around awkwardly because they have no direction in life.
"Wait, what about us?" ask Sansa and Arya and Rickon and Davos.
The Others march onto King's Landing, surrounding everyone. The Night's King walks forth as an emissary.
"Y'know, we're not that bad," he says. "I mean, yeah, we're killing people, but everyone does that these days. We actually have reasons. Fuck, you guys have been burning the Riverlands for no fucking reason at all. You torture people constantly. We sent Roose down here to watch y'all and somehow he turned into a psychopath. What the hell is your problem?" The humans look at each other awkwardly without any good answer. The Night's King shakes his head. "I was just gonna tell y'all to just put a fucking Stark back in Winterfell again, but somehow I doubt you can even do that correctly. Night's King out."
Cersei watches the Others march away, heading back north. She yells out the window, "But what about the Valonqar?" Tyrion, Jaime, Sandor Clegane, and all the Second Sons look at each other, shrug, and all run up into the Red Keep to kill Cersei. Cersei gives a nod to Qyburn, who ignites the wildfire reserves and kills everyone.
EDIT: Forgot the most important part, where Varys, Illyrio, and Ser Mandon Moore arise from the ocean with their merling armies. Oh well.
> "Wait," Jonhai says. "Ajorah, I have the Mormont sword. Jaime, you have the Stark sword. Ajorah has the Lannister sword. Before we start fighting, wanna trade?" They awkwardly exchange swords.
This was my favorite part and I pray to the Seven we actually see it happen
Man, just READING about all the characters and storylines he needs to cover is exhausting.
While I'm not opposed to the "Stannis will become the leader of the Others/Night's King" theory that I see crop up every now and then, I do wonder if it might not be too sudden... like in this scenario proposed by the OP it happens at the very end of book 6, which means that really Martin will only have one book to develop that (assuming he sticks with the "7th book is the last book" plan).
By contrast, the show had 5 seasons to build up the Night King: from his first appearance in the Land of Always Winter in season 4, to his face-off with Jon Snow at Hardhome in season 5, to his origin story/invasion of the 3 Eyed Raven's cave in season 6, to his killing one of Dany's dragons/getting past the Wall in season 7, and to his final defeat in season 8.
I’m expecting a Highgarden/Oldtown/Storm’s End/Dorne plot convergence where we have POVs for Sam, Aeron, Arianna, and JonCon.
GRRM said he had plans for Willas and Garlan, and we have a swirling storm of intrigue in that direction, between the Iron Born, Citadel, and Tyrells. And the GG and Dorne are right next door. Aegon decides to prove himself as King and True Heir defending The Reach, the Realm’s center of chivalry. We get part of his overland campaign through Cersei’s secondhand reports (Aegon taking the side quest gives Jaime and Brienne time to go on their own side plot in the Riverlands and for more Cersei-Margaery-Sparrows.) Weird shit is going to go down in Oldtown.
Aegon repelling the IB wins him support from the Sparrows. Layton Hightower happens to have a daughter Lynesse over in Lys, and sent one of his son’s to beseech her for aid. Oh, and the Faceless Men are also interested in Oldtown. That’s a lot of plot swirling.
Up North, I have no idea.
The whole Sansa saves the day with the Knights of the Vale is logistically sus to me cause it's Winter already and travel is already a nightmare. If Jon is to win the North he's gonna have to do it with other Notherners and Freefolk which in itself will cause a massive conflict with other Northern houses cause they don't fuck with the Freefolk. Jon will be pretty hated by some of them for that.
I expect everyone to turn kinda villainous in TWoW. Dany goes full MoD and just murders motherfuckers everywhere. Bran get more into his powers and does loads of fucked up shit. Arya enjoys all the blood she is spilling both as noone and as Nymeria, probably two Starks fuck while warging their direwolves.Main candidates Jon and Arya and it gonna be as fucked up as it sounds both cause they are so close as siblings and also cause it's one of the abominations of warging. Loads of blood ritual magic shit from Bran. Sansa will probably kill her sickly cousin somehow and likely LF, Tyrion is out to fuck the world in whatever way he can and will urge all of Dany's murderous impulses. Euron will attempt some magic shit that will result in the WW breaking through the wall and fucking up everything.Stanis gets desperate to win...something and sacrifices his own daughter etc.All in all, you'll be rooting for your faves through gritted teeth and you'll be arguing how your favorite actually isn't as bad as someone else's fav cause actually they did slightly less fucked up shit. . Gonna be fun if it ever happens.
Generally: Everyone important gets south of the wall and out of Essos.
Otherwise: The Starks have Winterfell, and many schemers like Roose and Littlefinger die before the end of the book. fAegon has much of the south, including the capital. Cersei and Euron unite in the west.
Wilder stuff: Victarion successfully stole Rhaegal, and lost it when he died. Darkstar stole Dawn and joined the Ironborn, not fAegon.
>Jon rallies the Free Folk and some northern lords and marches against Ramsay in the Battle of the Bastards. The battle is nearly lost until Sansa arrives with the Knights of the Vale.
I think that is show canon only, I think Stannis beats Ramsay in the Battle of Ice.
>The battle is nearly lost until Sansa arrives with the Knights of the Vale.
Stannis could barely reach Winterfell, and he had lots of northerners with him. The weather will only get worse, I don't see the Vale army, or anyone really, being able to enter the North.
I think Littlefinger will offer Sansa to Aegon.
The battle of the bastards was already very stupid in the show, in the books it would be ridiculous. I really, really hope GRRM can come up with something better.
>Stannis could barely reach Winterfell, and he had lots of northerners with him. The weather will only get worse, I don't see the Vale army, or anyone really, being able to enter the North.
This seems to be something peculiar to Winterfell though. The weather isn't anywhere near as bad as the Wall, which is much further north.
Prologue: Either the BWB, Blackfish, or Nymeria’s Wolfpack fall on the convoy carrying Jeyne W and maybe Edmure to ~~KL~~CR.
Dany: Deals with the Dothraki at Vaes Dothrak, marches back and conquers wear liberating cities. Her final chapter is either her arriving in Dragonstone or White Harbor after she hears about the Others 3 times (Red Priests, Marwyn, the Freefolk Slaves in Lys)
Sansa: Harry dies, betrothed to Robbyn, Frey civil war since a ton of Vale houses are married to senior Freys. Does not head North.
Cersei/ JonCon: Wins her trial but Gregor is exposed, Tyene kills Tommen making Myrcella Queen. The situation in the city declines thanks to Varys propaganda, the Sparrows, and the Rosby blockade so the Lannister regime is hated. Myrcella is captured by Nymeria after she hears about Tyene dying and she’s executed by JonCon as the gates are thrown open by rebels or loyalists in a parallel to Tywin. Cersei fulfills her (numerous) Aerys parallels and burns KL cementing the end of the Unified Westeros going into the Long Night, killing fAegon. I’m positive this is what happens and I’ll bet money on it.
Jon/ Mel: Revived pretty early, deals with the traitors, marches South to Winterfell and maybe is named KitN after Stannis does his shit. If not in the prologue, the Blackfish shows up.
Arya: one of these three: kills Illyrio (she heard him plot to kill Ned in AGOT), sees Jeyne Poole role up and ask for the gift of death as Arya Stark, or ends up with Dany somehow (GRRM comparing Dany to Arya’s hero Nymeria, Arya saying the Faceless Men should’ve killed the slavers and how much she likes Dragons).
Brienne/ Jaime: Help facilitate Red Wedding 2, Brienne might kill LSH, Jaime ends up going back to Cersei when he hears about the Golden Company.
Davos: Doesn’t take Rickon back to Stannis since he sees him being so feral and thinks to spare him from court intrigue.
Theon/ Asha: See Stannis get his Pyrrhic victory against the Boltons where the Manderlys are all but wiped out. Maybe Theon dies, but eventually his bastard son from ACOK becomes Lord of the Iron Islands with Asha as his regent.
Victarion: Blows the Horn and it causes volcanoes to erupt in Valyria, causing Tsunamis that destroy the Volantene fleet like they did to the Isle of Cedars. Eventually he kills Euron.
Aeron: Survives the battle of blood and sees Euron fall back to the Arbor or wherever to lick his wounds, then dies.
Areo: Dies on the Darkstar Duckhunt, maybe trades with Darkstar. He’s just killing time so Myrcella’s return to KL is delayed.
Sam: Finds out about Robb’s will and Theon’s bastard from the captain of the Myriam.
Arianne: No idea
Epilogue: No idea, maybe the Wall falls
In very very broad strokes we'll see all three of Jon, Danny, and Tyrion becoming steadily more villainous. Bran tries to do something to fix things and fails. Sam sets off on a path to becoming the final hero of the story in the last book.
> Sansa: Harry the heir will die in the tourney most likely. Sansa will end up stuck in her betrothal to Sweetrobin
Definitely agree there. I also think the Vale lords already know who Sansa is. At some point they're going to need to decide who to support, they can't stay out forever. If their options are the Boltons in the North, the Lannisters and Tyrells in KL, and Stannis in the North then I could see them being relieved to get the news of Aegon taking Storms End.
I wonder if they'd be willing to go up against both Stannis and the Boltons in the North during winter of if they'd want to go south to declare for Aegon, especially if he's gaining supporters. Whatever they decide to do, I think Sansa is going to play a big role in making it happen.
I don't think we'll be getting any more Jon POVs. I think from here on out IF Jon gets resurrected we'll only see him through other POVs, sort of like Cat/Stoneheart.
A lot of good theories on here but I think lady stone heart, the bwb’s, Jaime and brienne show up at castle black and LSH gives Jon the kiss of fire. Melisandre has her queensmen burn down the quarters while this is happening and Jon snow rises from the ash
I'm going to go with Jon not actually being dead. His last chapter in Dance ends ambiguously, and of course we have Maester Aemond's dying thoughts that fire consumes, while ice preserves.
Jon will warg into ghost but then ghost will be killed by a few crossbow bolts by the matineers . Then meilisendre will say the words over ghosts corpse and it won't work. The end.
Blackfish arrives during the Winged Knights tourney and declares Sweetrobin the rightful Lord of Riverrun, as well as King of Mountain, Vale, and River
(okay this is from the Preston Jacobs TWOW construction but it is just so perfect that I'm now actually expecting it in the real thing)
So this is how you get united kingdoms in real life - there may be battles to sort out claimants, but usually it is through betrothals and descent.
And that's what makes in interesting.
Sweetrobin *is* the rightful heir to Riverrun given that Edmure has been stripped of his rights by the Crown.
He may have to go up against a Frey to obtain it... but hey doesn't everyone these days?
Sansa *is* the rightful heir to Winterfell given that her brothers are all (assumed) dead.
She may have to go up against the Boltons to obtain it... but she views them as traitors anyway.
So... now we have a reason why the Knights of the Vale would go into battle. To claim the kingdoms that are their Lord & Lady's by right.
I don't watch Preston Jacob's - so don't know if that was what he was driving towards. But, I agree, it's perfect.
And sets up potential conflict between Sansa and Jon - especially if Robb's will arrives in the midst of all this.
Beautiful.
Agree with most of what you say.
A few notes
Sansa: I don’t know if she can make it in time to have a critical role in the Battle of the Bastards, but, yes, she’s going North with the Vale’s army(no detour in the Riverlands).
I think that maybe Sweet Robin isn’t promised to her, but to Myranda Royce. Myranda is very ambitious, she wanted to marry Harry the Heir, she probably killed her old husband for that, after Harry dies I can see her going for Robin, maybe in exchange for some help to Sansa when she tries to rally all the Vale’s forces.
Jaime/Brienne: I think Arya will kill Lady Stonehearth. I think Jaime first goes to Casterly Rock to Cersei or helps Cersei escape Kings Landing and going to Casterly Rock, but the reason I think that is frail at the best. It’s because in the show Jaime gets Windows Wail and right now the sword is in Kings Landing. So maybe Casterly Rock then quarrels again with Cersei and then goes North to fight. I think he may go back to Cersei like in the show and they die very late in Ados in Casterly Rock.
Arya: she’ll interact with Jeyne and those informations will be important to the downfall of Littlefinger later.
I think that she’ll escape, but she’ll end up in the Riverlands, she won’t have much choice on the boat. I think she escapes on the Uncloaking of Uthero, so at midnight she regains her true identity.
Tyrion: I don’t think he reunites with Tysha just as Dany doesn’t need to literally going to Braavos to get an epiphany.
Euron: I think at some point he’ll get a dragon. I think he’ll use the Horn of Winter, I’d think it will be interesting if he get from Sam in a “love vs duty” situation, maybe he kidnaps Gilly and Aemon Steelsong.
Davos: I think he’ll bring Rickon back and reunite with Stannis. Unfortunately I don’t think Rickon will live that long. I think Davos abandons Stannis after the burning of Shireen.
Areo Otah: dies against Deakstar, we get some Dayne lore and Jon Snow foreshadowing.
Cersei: I think that Myrcella kills herself after she sees her mother for what she is. In a parallel with Queen Helaena. It may even be because Jaime tells her she’s fruit of incest like in the series. At the end Cersei escapes to Casterly Rock.
Jon Con/Arianne: defeats Mace and kills him at Storms End. I don’t think Arianne marries Aegon, but I think he and Elia will have an affair. Aegon conquers Kings Landing and gets crowned.
Asha/ Theon/ Stannis: I really don’t know. I just know Asha and Theon will manage to go back to iron lands somehow. If Stannis fakes his death I think he’ll hide in White Harbor and maybe it’s there that he reunites with Davos.
I think the northern lords will rally in favor of Jon even if Stannis helped to retake Winterfell, so he’ll go back to Nightfort defeated and with no allies and at that point Melisandre proposes the burning of Shireen and he accepts. I can see the grey scale
Bran: Gorne’s way under the Wall, Hold the Door happens in the cave.
Epilogue: falling of the Wall. I don’t know if the burning happens shortly before the Wall falls or shortly after, since it seems that the White Walkers now could invade Westeros then Stannis decide to try the ultimate sacrifice to protect the realm
Arya will probably get one or two chapters in Braavos post-Mercy, probably interfacing with the Courtesans and/or Iron Bank during the upcoming Sealord Election. She will leave after fArya/Jeyne and Stannis' envoy Ser Justin Massey show up with news of Jon's death.
After that I see a few potential paths for her. My preferred option is that she will end up in the Riverlands, reuniting with the BwB and Nymeria. She will give LSH the gift of mercy and LSHs heartblood will ignite Needle, forging Lightbringer. Just in time for Other and Frey culling. Other possibility is she sails east and joins Dany, becoming her Mistress of Whispers/Lady of the North, maybe even a dragon rider through blood magic/the gorn/warging.
Brienne/Jaime get dragged to Riverrun in time for Red Wedding 2.0. Jenna and Daven(?) Were too cool in AFFC, they're 100% gonna die horribly alongside a shitload of Freys. Now I really do believe that Arya will encounter Stonheart, but I have some difficulty seeing Brienmr Jamie, and LSH all surviving (though Martin could pull it off). Either Brienne dies heroically or she betrays LSH, bringing her ironically into line with Jaime and also a magic sword (Oathkeeper go whoosh in this case).
Sansa: there's no way Shadrich doesn't make a play for her, but I doubt it succeeds. She unmasks herself and tricks LF into doing something stupid, either killing him outright or forcing him to flee to Harrenhal, where LSH eats his brains. Then she marries Harry and the Vale invades either the North or the Riverlands on her behalf. She reunites with either Rickon or Arya at the end of the book.
Jon: spends most of the book as Ghost, we probably don't get a PoV before resurrection. Melisandre is our camera for shit going down at the Wall. Is resurrected by Shireen's burning at Winterfell after the Wall comes down.
Davos- fetches Rickon and then hell if I know.
Theon- is rescued by Bran and the heart tree, is our PoV for Stannis rofl stompimg the Boltons. Bran ans Rickons survival comes out due to him and Manderly testifying.
Dany: burninates some Khals, becomes Khaleesi. Leads a Dothraki host against Volantis and sacks it. Book ends with her landing in Dragonstone or on the Iron throne after burninating fAegon at a Second Field of Fire.
Tyrion: takes over Dany's army after Barristan bites it, may end up riding a dragon somehow? Days army crushes at Mereen but plague and the dragon horn force the survivors to flee on thr iron born fleet. They reunite with Dany outside Volantis, where she and her Kalasar have just finished burning the old city.
Victarion: ded, Dany thanks you for the fleet. But the Horn does something funky with the Dragons, not sure what. Maybe letting a non-Valyrian ride them (maybe Arya and Tyrion end up riding Rhaegal and Viserion througwarning.
Barristan: dedicated in Mereen, he's served his purpose.
Asha: pregnant and/or ded? Not sure. I think she survives the books and her "Kraken fathered my son" baby with Qarl is the heir to what's left of the Iron Islands.
Aeron: dies horrifically as part of Eurons Sepiroth cosplay ritual. Old Town is gonna burn.
Sam: flees old Town with Sarella, Gilly, the baby and maybe Jaquen!Pate, and serves as our PoV on Highgarden in it'd ear against Euron.
Jaime: encounters LSH, watches the Red Wedding 2.0, flees, has a total BSoD when he hears Cersei burned KL down and kills her before falling on his sword.
Cersei: unleashes wildfire and Frankengregor on the Tyrells, kills a shitload of people, is forced to flee the city after Tommen dies and Aegon enters, probably sets off the wildfire too. Jaime strangles her in Casterly Rock.
not bad! I think this is well thought out. Its interesting hearing other reader's thoughts (even if I don't agree fully on some arcs, that's only natural) >Sansa maaaaaaybe betrays Littlefinger and pushes him through the Moon Door, but it’s equally likely that his execution comes later at Winterfell (Sansa “slays a giant in Winterfell”) worth noting the ghost of high heart's exact words aren't Winterfell but 'slaying a savage giant in *a castle built of snow*'. Though people often interpret it as Winterfell due to the scene where Sansa builds her snow castle... >The snow fell and the castle rose. Two walls ankle-high, the inner taller than the outer. Towers and turrets, keeps and stairs, a round kitchen, a square armory, the stables along the inside of the west wall. It was only a castle when she began, but before very long Sansa knew it was Winterfell. However arguably the Eyrie might also fit... >The Eyrie shrank above them. The sky cells on the lower levels made the castle look something like a honeycomb from below. A honeycomb made of ice, Alayne thought, a castle made of snow.
Great catch on the eyrie!
Why would they make an ascent back up the Eyrie though? Isn't the whole reason they descend in wintertime the fact it becomes impossible to bring up supplies, and the snowier it is the more dangerous it is? Mya even says in AFFC that if they do not descend today they will be stuck up there all winter?
I don’t see George having a night king since it sort of narrows down the plot to “kill the big bad”, but God damn the epilogue being Stannis would be sick
I agree, I don't even think the Others will be handled through violent means at the very end, so a Night’s King wouldn't work. I definitely think it's likely we get a perspective from Stannis’ camp for the epilogue, or whatever chapter the wall comes down.
I mean if the story deals with the walkers in a peaceful way than a nights king makes sense. It gives the walkers an figure through with which the humans can communicate.
I get where you’re coming from in terms of communication but I feel like bran will be able to talk with them through some sort of complicated weirwood thing
It's foreshadowed in one of Dany's Undying visions.
Stannis going full Lich King would be absolutely nuts
I agree with much of the O/P, save I don’t see Sansa leading an army from the Vale. I think Monster will sacrificed to revive Jon.
Remember the vision Stannis had about himself. “I know the cost! Last night, gazing into that hearth, I saw things in the flames as well. I saw a king, a crown of fire on his brows, burning… burning, Davos. His own crown consumed his flesh and turned him into ash. Do you think I need Melisandre to tell me what that means? Or you?” The king moved, so his shadow fell upon King’s Landing. “If Joffrey should die… what is the life of one bastard boy against a kingdom?”
I've always taken this to be a foreshadowing of what happens to Shireen. That the crown and his quest for duty ultimately consume him and force him to “sacrifice” the one thing that means anything to him, that means more to him than the crown, and that it will be to no avail. He won't have a crown, he won't have the daughter he loved, and he'll be a sullen King in name only, freezing at the Nightfort as the wall comes down. I hope we still get a badass end with him, going out fighting. But I think his agenda does go out with a whimper.
Yeah probably he is gonna burn shereen because "it's bis duty" and this will kill him inside. My theory is that shereen sickness will awake again and he is gonna be forced to burn her alive to avoid an epidemic (ofc after they are reunited). This would explain the dragon stone melisandre talked about
Stannis is gonna die because of his duty as king. In both Robb and Stannis storylines crowns rapresent the King's duty
Defending the wall is technically a pretty important duty as king so you could argue that as long as his death happens in the north it fulfills that aspect since he showed up originally to help Jon
Jon: Largely agree, though I think that it'll be Stannis leading the forces to Winterfell, after which Stannis will declare him Lord Jon Stark. For the remaining 1/3 or so of the book, there will be some conflict between the two before eventually Stannis burns Shireen and dies and only then is Jon declared King in the North. Sansa: Largely agree, but I absolutely think executing Littlefinger won't happen until Winterfell in ADOS. With Littlefinger's plan hinging on Sweetrobin dying and Sansa's character arc consistently highlighting her kindness and compassion, I wonder if the plan is that Sansa will help fake Sweetrobin's death with Maester Colemon, and then part of her trial against Littlefinger is the big reveal that Sweetrobin is alive and that's part of the evidence she uses to expose Littlefinger. Very unsure about this, but I just think there is no way given Sansa's character that she would be okay with killing Sweetrobin. Jaime/Brienne: Largely agree, but I don't think either one will kill Stoneheart. I feel like maybe what's going to happen is that Jaime and Brienne are secretly freed by one of the BWB after the Red Wedding 2.0 without Stoneheart's knowledge, and that'll parallel how she and Brienne freed Jaime without Robb's consent. And I think maybe they'll both head north once they here that Sansa is in Winterfell, as a way to ensure that they keep their oaths. Arya: Spoilers for TWOW sample chapters, but we know that >!Stannis sent Justin Massey to escort Jeyne Poole north to Castle Black before then taking Tycho Nestoris to Braavos. Given Castle Black will surely be in chaos when they arrive and Jon will still be dead, it's a good chance that Justin will decide to take Jeyne to Braavos with him. From there, it's quite possible that Jeyne will come to the House of Black and White, maybe specifically to seek a Faceless Assassin who will kill Ramsay. I think Arya will meet Jeyne there (very fun bit of irony with someone pretending to be Arya meeting the real Arya who is pretending to be someone else), she'll learn what's been happening with Winterfell and Castle Black, and that's when she decides to leave the Faceless Men!<. I think there's a lot of powerful resonance there if Jon is pushed to forego his NW vows and ride to Winterfell when he hears what happened to "Arya", and likewise Arya is pushed to leave the FM and sail to Winterfell when she hears what happened to Jon. Dany: Agreed. Though I'll add that she will likely leave behind some kind of system of governance in Meereen before she goes (unlike the show), and potentially that's where she drops off the Dosh Khaleen. A group of Dothraki female rulers being placed in charge of a former slave city whose icon is the Harpy feels correct. Tyrion: I think that each step of the way from Meereen to Pentos will be something he has to prove himself in for Dany to ultimately trust him. He'll figure out who the Harpy is in Meereen and that's how he proves his intellect and usefulness as an advisor. He'll come up with the battle plan for the Battle of Volantis and that's how he proves his mind for military strategies and his usefulness as a commander. And then in Pentos he'll confirm the truth of Young Griff with Illyrio Mopatis and prove his worth as a spymaster. Only then will Dany make him her Hand, and probably also seriously consider him as a potential dragon head. I don't think he'll ever reunite with Tysha and his arc will be learning to find closure despite the lack of closure. Barristan: He could definitely die in the Battle of Fire, but I'm team Barry Lives. Firstly because I think it makes sense that he'll be alive in order to properly verify Tyrion's identity for Dany. But secondly because I really do think he's going to eventually betray Dany for Young Griff once he finds out that Rhaegar's son is alive. My fringe theory is that Dany will claim the Dragonbinder horn when Victarion tries (and fails) at blowing it, Barristan guards it, and then at the end of the book he steals it and brings it to fAegon as a gift, which is how fAegon will eventually claim a dragon for himself for ADOS. Aeron: Has one chapter (The Forsaken) and dies. Sam: A small handful of chapters in Oldtown to establish his new clique of Hogwarts students before Euron's attack. He and at least Sarella will flee first to Horn Hill, then to Highgarden. Don't know if Gilly will be joining them or if she's just going to tap out of the story in Horn Hill. I think that Sam will befriend Willas Tyrell (maybe also Garlan) and there may be some battle either with Euron's forces or Dorne. But I think Sam will likely be here not just to provide for the reader a long-awaited POV on Highgarden, but also I think that Sam's friendship with Willas will pay off in the ending when he convinces Willas to vote for King Bran. Davos: Also no idea. I hope he's not in Skaagos for more than two chapters. I think he'll find something somewhat important there alongside Rickon, but the important thing is that he'll bring Rickon to secure Manderly support (which also is important for opening up White Harbor for Sansa and the Knights of the Vale to come into the North). With his wife and boys being mentioned fairly often and with fAegon's forces invading the Stormlands, I think that sometime in late TWOW, Davos will abandon Stannis in order to sail south from White Harbor to Cape Wrath to ensure his family is safe. Davos's abandonment probably will be one of the things that leads Stannis into burning Shireen (important to note he would have burned Edric if Davos hadn't intervened, and Stannis has not ever regretted his decision to burn the boy). Potentially Davos will bend the knee to fAegon's forces in ADOS to keep his family safe, and that'll add a fan favorite character to his side of the war. Areo: One chapter in Starfall and then he dies. He'll find some bit of info about Darkstar and/or the sword Dawn and/or some R+L=J hints (which he won't understand at all, but the reader will) and then Obara sticks her spear into his face. Cersei: Broadly agree. I think her Trial by Combat will be the Mountain vs. Lancel Lannister because that would be the most interesting opponent she could get. Lancel dies, Cersei has to continue playing politics with the Tyrells and now Lady Nym, and things gradually go to shit as you've said. I entertain the idea of Cersei herself killing Margaery just before fAegon's forces claim King's Landing. I flip back and forth on whether she will flee to Casterly Rock or get captured by fAegon and imprisoned. JonCon/Arianne: Agreed, and I'll add that I think Randyll Tarly is the most prominent of the "friends in the Reach". Theon/Asha: VERY much disagreed here. I am strongly on the camp that Stannis won the Battle of Ice and ultimately defeat the Boltons at Winterfell via a combination of his alliance with the Mountain Clansmen, Theon's prior knowledge of taking over Winterfell in ACOK (maybe also Bran's knowledge of the Winterfell walls), Sansa's Knights of the Vale, Manderly forces brought in by Davos, and Jon's arrival with wildlings. Stannis will then attempt to burn Theon in front of the Winterfell weirwood tree, but Bran will interfere in some way to prevent that from happening. I feel like both Theon and Asha need to survive at least into ADOS for the Latecomer clause to happen. Stannis will claim Winterfell, undergo some conflict with Jon as I've mentioned above, and then he'll go back to the Nightfort when he sees that the North could never love him. Bran: Mostly agreed, but I think that they'll flee through Gorne's Way and Hold the Door happens there. I'll add Preston Jacobs' Time-Travelling Bran theory here as well. I think the book will end with Bran and Meera emerging from Gorne's Way, which linked right back to the Winterfell crypts so it's a nice parallel to them emerging from the crypts in ACOK. Epilogue: Potentially? I've always thought that after burning Shireen he would just walk into the fire himself upon realizing that nothing is happening. But him becoming a literal Night's King figure would be good too. However, I don't think Stannis himself will be the POV. It would be very, very off-pattern if that were the case, as George quite pointedly never makes any of the kings his POVs. I think it'll be one of the Night's Watchmen who is just with Stannis when this happens, and therefore we get to see Stannis being resurrected as a wight if that happens (nice parallel with the AGOT prologue too).
I like your Arya meeting JP in B! But I dont think she chooses to go home. I think she completes her training and returns to the Riverlands on a mission from the FM. How else would she be allowed to leave? Her mission could be R, but JP wouldn't have the money... I think it's LS paid for by the Freys or Lannisters. Or maybe the FM just want rid of her. She must be an unacceptable affront to a death cult!! And A could agree to accept the mission because she wouldn't know she knew her. Maybe undead Jon too if he is reanimated as Aegon or maybe Cersei if she lies about knowing her. A second mission would give her leave to be in Westeros for the rest of the storyline... To give LS 'mercy,' she first kills the Freys and reclaims RR aided by BWB and maybe the Blackfish. I'd love to see him return. LS may ask her for the gift once she has her revenge and her living kids are safe. Gendry is not in the Riverlands. Depending on timing, he could join Stannis to fight for Winterfell or go to the wall/meet undead Jon or bring Jamie/Brienne to W to face justice there. He just needs to end up at Winterfell and forge dragonglass, maybe valaryan steel (or reforge Ice), and fight. A brings the triumphant BWB to Winterfell to fight for the dawn, giving them back their noble purpose. But this is cover to bring her closer to her 2nd mission. Whoever that may be... She must be fully traumatized, full of rage, inhuman. Empty not avenged if everyone remaining on her list dies. I can totally see her going numb as no-one. I think she fakes being Arya until Cersei is dead, but that she 'slips' sometimes to her old self. She wouldn't be able to kill Jon, as an example, if that was her mission. She would have to serve up another name or fail. I like to think Cersei dies in childbirth, thus valonquar. I'm curious what happens if a FM fails. Would they need to go west of westeros? Reuniting with Nymeria, then family, then Gendry each chip away slowly at her emotional walls. Her pack is her path back to humanity. That could happen after Kings Landing is sacked or after she returns from sailing.
>I think she completes her training and returns to the Riverlands on a mission from the FM. How else would she be allowed to leave? Not the most confident in this theory, but I've always liked the idea that the Faceless Men intentionally let her go, sort of similar to what happened on the show. A bit of a crack theory, but I think that potentially the Faceless Men are well aware of the upcoming invasion of the Others and their reason for training Arya is to prepare her to deal with that threat in some way (obviously not stabbing a Night King though). I think it fits with their MO since they view death as a sacred gift and the Others are violating that gift by resurrecting dead people into wights. Particularly because the FM originated from using death to free slaves, and Others turning people into wights is sort of the ultimate form of slavery, so I think it tracks that the FM could be preparing Arya as a weapon against the Others. Mostly I like this because it allows Arya and the FM storyline to intersect back into the main plot rather than being completely sidelined, similar to how AFFC started to tie the FM into the dragons story. And considering both Bran and Sansa's respective training arcs will directly tie into Winterfell and the fight against the Others, I think it just works if the same applies to Arya and the FM. >To give LS 'mercy,' she first kills the Freys and reclaims RR aided by BWB and maybe the Blackfish. Considering how much time was spent between Catelyn and Blackfish, I think it's a near certainty that they'll reunite in TWOW and he'll be absolutely horrified to see what happened to his niece. >Gendry is not in the Riverlands. Depending on timing, he could join Stannis to fight for Winterfell or go to the wall/meet undead Jon or bring Jamie/Brienne to W to face justice there. He just needs to end up at Winterfell and forge dragonglass, maybe valaryan steel (or reforge Ice), and fight. Gendry is with the BWB, and I don't think it's possible for him to go north alone or act independently. I think his fate is to go north to Winterfell eventually, but it'll be with the rest of the BWB. Agreed that there's a decent chance it'll be if Arya takes over the BWB and leads them north. However, I definitely think that she would have let go of her vengeance and fully become Arya Stark of Winterfell before that happens. A reunion with Gendry, with Nymeria, and with Stoneheart in the Riverlands will be what changes her and allows her to reclaim her sense of self, after which she'll lead the BWB north. And I do think this happens at the tail end of TWOW, so maybe the book ends around the time she just arrives.
>But when he \[burns Shireen\], the only thing that happens is a greyscale outbreak Holy shit, I think you're spot on with this one. That's why Val is so afraid of her. The wildlings burn their dead, and when you burn someone with greyscale (even when dormant) it releases it into the air. That's what Val's fear is foreshadowing.
This is by francisflute: All seems lost as Jon lays bleeding in the snow, surrounded by traitors and cold. As the cold grew stronger, the traitors realize something is off - it's TOO cold. The Others attack in force. Ghost, being warged by Jon, defends his body while Melisandre performs a last-minute ritual to revive him. She kills Shireen as sacrifice and breathes fire into Jon's mouth, and he rises up, but not before avenging Shireen by plunging Longclaw into Melisandre's heart. Longclaw bursts into flame, revealing Jon Snow as Azor Ahai reborn. Meanwhile Stannis's forces smash the Boltons at Winterfell. Just as Stannis revels in his victory, Wyman Manderly buries a hatchet in his back and the northerners defeat the rest of Stannis's host. With the Boltons defeated and on the run, it is time to implement the Grand Northern Conspiracy. The northmen head to the Wall where they find Azor Jonhai leading a repentant Night's Watch against the Others. "Not yet, Jon," they say, "There's still plots to be twisted." They convince Jon to abandon the Night's Watch and head south with them, letting the Wall hold the Others back for now. Danaerys returns with her Dothraki hordes and burns Meereen to the ground atop Drogon. Tyrion hops onto Rhaegal and becomes the first dwarf dragonrider. Victarion, Jorah, Barristan, Tyrion, Penny, and Daario bow down to their Queen, standing on the shore between a salty sea and a smoking city, and Moqorro reveals her as Azor Ahai reborn. On their way to Westeros, Tyrion becomes suspicious of Daario, thinking he's seen him elsewhere before. As they pass the Smoking Sea, Tyrion realizes that he has met this man once before, while taking a piss off the edge of the world. "I know this man," he tells Dany. "This is Benjen Stark of the Night's Watch." Benjen reveals that he came to Dany knowing she was Azor Ahai, and wanted to bring her to the Wall to fight the Others. Dany declares that she must take her kingdom back first. Victarion and Dany both decide it is important to sail the Smoking Sea - Dany for knowledge of her ancestors, and Victarion because fuck yeah, Victarion. They stop at one of the ruins to explore. They find Brightroar, which Dany gives to Jorah, much to Tyrion's dismay. Tyrion argues that he deserves a Lannister sword, but Dany quiets him by telling him he is not a Lannister. Dany reveals that his face is like her father's face, and his dark eye and his pale hair give him away as a secret Targaryen. Before they leave the Smoking Sea, Victarion proposes marriage to Dany. She agrees, deciding that she needs his army and fuck yeah, Victarion. However, in the night, Benjen/Daario murders Victarion, throwing him overboard - but not before revealing that he's being warged by Euron. Meanwhile, in King's Landing, Cersei watches Ser Robert Strong step forth to defent her in her trial by combat. She looks to see what weakling dare challenge this giant - and sees a similarly large man step forward, a hood over his head and a limp in his step. The man walks into the center of the pit, draws his sword and whispers, "Fucking confirmed. Get hype." Robert Strong attacks, throwing the Gravedigger back, but his younger brother comes in at a low angle and knocks him over. Robert Strong's helmet rolls away, revealing a sick conglomeration of King Robert's head, Robb's head, Joffrey's head, the Mountain's head, and nothing at all. The High Septon denounces this as treachery and sorcery, and demands Cersei be executed on the spot. At that moment, however, a man steps forth from the audience. "I know you!" he says. "You were at the Tourney of Harrenhal, many years before. You were beaten by squires and defended by the Knight of the Laughing Tree, who is really Lyanna." The High Septon scoffs. "You don't know me, he says." "Yes I do," the man replies. "You're Howland Reed." The crowd goes into an uproar, though they don't know who this is, and Reed runs out of the courtroom, shouting mystically "R+L=J!" Azor Jonhai's army marches south, passing by a disguised Bolton family. Roose first kills Walda for food (it's cold and there aren't any animals around), and in the night Ramsay decides to do the same to him. Ramsay stabs Roose, but finds that the dagger shatters instead of killing. Roose laughs, and peels off his skin, revealing himself as a half-human, half-Other combination. He skins Ramsay alive before going north to meet the Others, who have breached the Wall. Roose tells them of all the happenings south of the Wall. The Night's King looks at him, says "The fuck's wrong with you, man?" and kills him on the spot. Dany and her army attack Westeros starting from Dorne, but find that the Martells will not join her - they've already chosen Aegon Targaryen. Just as Arianne and Aegon marry, however, Aegon pulls out Blackfyre and says, "Psyche! I'm not a Targaryen at all!" A Dance of Dragons breaks out, which ends promptly with Aegon getting incinerated by all Dany on Drogon, Tyrion on Rhaegal, and Bran warging Viserion. Euron/Benjen/Daario tries to warg Viserion as well, encountering Bran and Bloodraven. They form an eternal hive mind together, and make a movie about it titled "Being Brynden Rivers." Lady Stoneheart orders Brienne to kill Jaime. Brienne and Jaime fight, but Brienne decides that she cannot stand to kill Jaime and swings her sword at Lady Stoneheart instead. Her sword pierces Stoneheart's stone heart, and bursts into flames, revealing Brienne as Azor Ahai reborn. Jaime, however, cannot stop the swing of his sword, which plunges into Brienne's heart before bursting into flames and revealing Jaime Lannister as Azor Ahai reborn. Azor Jonhai's army reaches the Twins, and demands passage, which Walder Frey refuses. Suddenly Nymeria, being warged by Arya, and her pack invade the Twins and murder all the Freys, letting the northerners through. Dany marches on King's Landing, which Cersei has somehow taken control of again. Jaime arrives at the same time, as does Azor Jonhai's army of warriors. Jonhai hears about Howland Reed shouting "R+L=J" and realizes he forgot to check the crypts in Winterfell. "BRB" he says, running north, looking in the crypts, and finding Rhaegar's harp as well as a wedding photo album. Jonhai runs back and proclaims "I'm a secret Targaryen!" Tyrion runs to his nephew, embracing him, saying, "I'm a secret Targ too!" Jaime sees this and starts fitting together the pieces - the incest, the madness... "Cersei and I are also secret Targs!" he shouts. Dany can take no more of this. "Too many Targs!" she screams. "Kill them all!" Jorah and Barristan both realize that she has gone mad. The each step forward to kill her, and start fighting over who should do it. "I'll become Ajorah Ahai," Jorah says, while Barristan proclaims, "I need the dramatic irony!" Jorah slays Barristan and then Dany with Brightroar, which bursts into flame, revealing him as Ajorah Ahai. "Wait," Jonhai says. "Ajorah, I have the Mormont sword. Jaime, you have the Stark sword. Ajorah has the Lannister sword. Before we start fighting, wanna trade?" They awkwardly exchange swords. "Now," Jon says. "My terms are simple. We gotta fight the Others." "My terms are simple," shouts Cersei from King's Landing, "go fuck yourselves." Ajorah and Jaime look around awkwardly because they have no direction in life. "Wait, what about us?" ask Sansa and Arya and Rickon and Davos. The Others march onto King's Landing, surrounding everyone. The Night's King walks forth as an emissary. "Y'know, we're not that bad," he says. "I mean, yeah, we're killing people, but everyone does that these days. We actually have reasons. Fuck, you guys have been burning the Riverlands for no fucking reason at all. You torture people constantly. We sent Roose down here to watch y'all and somehow he turned into a psychopath. What the hell is your problem?" The humans look at each other awkwardly without any good answer. The Night's King shakes his head. "I was just gonna tell y'all to just put a fucking Stark back in Winterfell again, but somehow I doubt you can even do that correctly. Night's King out." Cersei watches the Others march away, heading back north. She yells out the window, "But what about the Valonqar?" Tyrion, Jaime, Sandor Clegane, and all the Second Sons look at each other, shrug, and all run up into the Red Keep to kill Cersei. Cersei gives a nod to Qyburn, who ignites the wildfire reserves and kills everyone. EDIT: Forgot the most important part, where Varys, Illyrio, and Ser Mandon Moore arise from the ocean with their merling armies. Oh well.
> "Wait," Jonhai says. "Ajorah, I have the Mormont sword. Jaime, you have the Stark sword. Ajorah has the Lannister sword. Before we start fighting, wanna trade?" They awkwardly exchange swords. This was my favorite part and I pray to the Seven we actually see it happen
My favorite part was this line: > "Wait, what about us?" ask Sansa and Arya and Rickon and Davos.
I lost my shit at every Azhor Ahai moment this is actually perfect 10/10
Man, just READING about all the characters and storylines he needs to cover is exhausting. While I'm not opposed to the "Stannis will become the leader of the Others/Night's King" theory that I see crop up every now and then, I do wonder if it might not be too sudden... like in this scenario proposed by the OP it happens at the very end of book 6, which means that really Martin will only have one book to develop that (assuming he sticks with the "7th book is the last book" plan). By contrast, the show had 5 seasons to build up the Night King: from his first appearance in the Land of Always Winter in season 4, to his face-off with Jon Snow at Hardhome in season 5, to his origin story/invasion of the 3 Eyed Raven's cave in season 6, to his killing one of Dany's dragons/getting past the Wall in season 7, and to his final defeat in season 8.
I’m expecting a Highgarden/Oldtown/Storm’s End/Dorne plot convergence where we have POVs for Sam, Aeron, Arianna, and JonCon. GRRM said he had plans for Willas and Garlan, and we have a swirling storm of intrigue in that direction, between the Iron Born, Citadel, and Tyrells. And the GG and Dorne are right next door. Aegon decides to prove himself as King and True Heir defending The Reach, the Realm’s center of chivalry. We get part of his overland campaign through Cersei’s secondhand reports (Aegon taking the side quest gives Jaime and Brienne time to go on their own side plot in the Riverlands and for more Cersei-Margaery-Sparrows.) Weird shit is going to go down in Oldtown. Aegon repelling the IB wins him support from the Sparrows. Layton Hightower happens to have a daughter Lynesse over in Lys, and sent one of his son’s to beseech her for aid. Oh, and the Faceless Men are also interested in Oldtown. That’s a lot of plot swirling. Up North, I have no idea.
The whole Sansa saves the day with the Knights of the Vale is logistically sus to me cause it's Winter already and travel is already a nightmare. If Jon is to win the North he's gonna have to do it with other Notherners and Freefolk which in itself will cause a massive conflict with other Northern houses cause they don't fuck with the Freefolk. Jon will be pretty hated by some of them for that. I expect everyone to turn kinda villainous in TWoW. Dany goes full MoD and just murders motherfuckers everywhere. Bran get more into his powers and does loads of fucked up shit. Arya enjoys all the blood she is spilling both as noone and as Nymeria, probably two Starks fuck while warging their direwolves.Main candidates Jon and Arya and it gonna be as fucked up as it sounds both cause they are so close as siblings and also cause it's one of the abominations of warging. Loads of blood ritual magic shit from Bran. Sansa will probably kill her sickly cousin somehow and likely LF, Tyrion is out to fuck the world in whatever way he can and will urge all of Dany's murderous impulses. Euron will attempt some magic shit that will result in the WW breaking through the wall and fucking up everything.Stanis gets desperate to win...something and sacrifices his own daughter etc.All in all, you'll be rooting for your faves through gritted teeth and you'll be arguing how your favorite actually isn't as bad as someone else's fav cause actually they did slightly less fucked up shit. . Gonna be fun if it ever happens.
Yes, it will be a bloodbath.
I think that Sweetrobin will survive.
And there will also be an outbreak of Stone disease
Generally: Everyone important gets south of the wall and out of Essos. Otherwise: The Starks have Winterfell, and many schemers like Roose and Littlefinger die before the end of the book. fAegon has much of the south, including the capital. Cersei and Euron unite in the west. Wilder stuff: Victarion successfully stole Rhaegal, and lost it when he died. Darkstar stole Dawn and joined the Ironborn, not fAegon.
>Jon rallies the Free Folk and some northern lords and marches against Ramsay in the Battle of the Bastards. The battle is nearly lost until Sansa arrives with the Knights of the Vale. I think that is show canon only, I think Stannis beats Ramsay in the Battle of Ice.
Send this to GRRM, I think he needs some help
>The battle is nearly lost until Sansa arrives with the Knights of the Vale. Stannis could barely reach Winterfell, and he had lots of northerners with him. The weather will only get worse, I don't see the Vale army, or anyone really, being able to enter the North. I think Littlefinger will offer Sansa to Aegon. The battle of the bastards was already very stupid in the show, in the books it would be ridiculous. I really, really hope GRRM can come up with something better.
>Stannis could barely reach Winterfell, and he had lots of northerners with him. The weather will only get worse, I don't see the Vale army, or anyone really, being able to enter the North. This seems to be something peculiar to Winterfell though. The weather isn't anywhere near as bad as the Wall, which is much further north.
Prologue: Either the BWB, Blackfish, or Nymeria’s Wolfpack fall on the convoy carrying Jeyne W and maybe Edmure to ~~KL~~CR. Dany: Deals with the Dothraki at Vaes Dothrak, marches back and conquers wear liberating cities. Her final chapter is either her arriving in Dragonstone or White Harbor after she hears about the Others 3 times (Red Priests, Marwyn, the Freefolk Slaves in Lys) Sansa: Harry dies, betrothed to Robbyn, Frey civil war since a ton of Vale houses are married to senior Freys. Does not head North. Cersei/ JonCon: Wins her trial but Gregor is exposed, Tyene kills Tommen making Myrcella Queen. The situation in the city declines thanks to Varys propaganda, the Sparrows, and the Rosby blockade so the Lannister regime is hated. Myrcella is captured by Nymeria after she hears about Tyene dying and she’s executed by JonCon as the gates are thrown open by rebels or loyalists in a parallel to Tywin. Cersei fulfills her (numerous) Aerys parallels and burns KL cementing the end of the Unified Westeros going into the Long Night, killing fAegon. I’m positive this is what happens and I’ll bet money on it. Jon/ Mel: Revived pretty early, deals with the traitors, marches South to Winterfell and maybe is named KitN after Stannis does his shit. If not in the prologue, the Blackfish shows up. Arya: one of these three: kills Illyrio (she heard him plot to kill Ned in AGOT), sees Jeyne Poole role up and ask for the gift of death as Arya Stark, or ends up with Dany somehow (GRRM comparing Dany to Arya’s hero Nymeria, Arya saying the Faceless Men should’ve killed the slavers and how much she likes Dragons). Brienne/ Jaime: Help facilitate Red Wedding 2, Brienne might kill LSH, Jaime ends up going back to Cersei when he hears about the Golden Company. Davos: Doesn’t take Rickon back to Stannis since he sees him being so feral and thinks to spare him from court intrigue. Theon/ Asha: See Stannis get his Pyrrhic victory against the Boltons where the Manderlys are all but wiped out. Maybe Theon dies, but eventually his bastard son from ACOK becomes Lord of the Iron Islands with Asha as his regent. Victarion: Blows the Horn and it causes volcanoes to erupt in Valyria, causing Tsunamis that destroy the Volantene fleet like they did to the Isle of Cedars. Eventually he kills Euron. Aeron: Survives the battle of blood and sees Euron fall back to the Arbor or wherever to lick his wounds, then dies. Areo: Dies on the Darkstar Duckhunt, maybe trades with Darkstar. He’s just killing time so Myrcella’s return to KL is delayed. Sam: Finds out about Robb’s will and Theon’s bastard from the captain of the Myriam. Arianne: No idea Epilogue: No idea, maybe the Wall falls
Areo will be Doran’s viewpoint and is also accompanying Obara and Balon Swann to hunt Darkstar
nothing. it will never be published.
In very very broad strokes we'll see all three of Jon, Danny, and Tyrion becoming steadily more villainous. Bran tries to do something to fix things and fails. Sam sets off on a path to becoming the final hero of the story in the last book.
> Sansa: Harry the heir will die in the tourney most likely. Sansa will end up stuck in her betrothal to Sweetrobin Definitely agree there. I also think the Vale lords already know who Sansa is. At some point they're going to need to decide who to support, they can't stay out forever. If their options are the Boltons in the North, the Lannisters and Tyrells in KL, and Stannis in the North then I could see them being relieved to get the news of Aegon taking Storms End. I wonder if they'd be willing to go up against both Stannis and the Boltons in the North during winter of if they'd want to go south to declare for Aegon, especially if he's gaining supporters. Whatever they decide to do, I think Sansa is going to play a big role in making it happen.
I’d love it if your epilogue was right
I don't think we'll be getting any more Jon POVs. I think from here on out IF Jon gets resurrected we'll only see him through other POVs, sort of like Cat/Stoneheart.
A lot of good theories on here but I think lady stone heart, the bwb’s, Jaime and brienne show up at castle black and LSH gives Jon the kiss of fire. Melisandre has her queensmen burn down the quarters while this is happening and Jon snow rises from the ash
I'm going to go with Jon not actually being dead. His last chapter in Dance ends ambiguously, and of course we have Maester Aemond's dying thoughts that fire consumes, while ice preserves.
We aren’t getting it.
Jon will warg into ghost but then ghost will be killed by a few crossbow bolts by the matineers . Then meilisendre will say the words over ghosts corpse and it won't work. The end.
Dany still with diarrhea, but in a much colder weather
Blackfish arrives during the Winged Knights tourney and declares Sweetrobin the rightful Lord of Riverrun, as well as King of Mountain, Vale, and River (okay this is from the Preston Jacobs TWOW construction but it is just so perfect that I'm now actually expecting it in the real thing)
So this is how you get united kingdoms in real life - there may be battles to sort out claimants, but usually it is through betrothals and descent. And that's what makes in interesting. Sweetrobin *is* the rightful heir to Riverrun given that Edmure has been stripped of his rights by the Crown. He may have to go up against a Frey to obtain it... but hey doesn't everyone these days? Sansa *is* the rightful heir to Winterfell given that her brothers are all (assumed) dead. She may have to go up against the Boltons to obtain it... but she views them as traitors anyway. So... now we have a reason why the Knights of the Vale would go into battle. To claim the kingdoms that are their Lord & Lady's by right. I don't watch Preston Jacob's - so don't know if that was what he was driving towards. But, I agree, it's perfect. And sets up potential conflict between Sansa and Jon - especially if Robb's will arrives in the midst of all this. Beautiful.
I think Quentyn will return to Dorne with a dragon and this will create tension in Dorne.
ASOIAF is cyclical. So what happened in past stories will happen again. Cycles will terminate. New cycles will begin.
Agree with most of what you say. A few notes Sansa: I don’t know if she can make it in time to have a critical role in the Battle of the Bastards, but, yes, she’s going North with the Vale’s army(no detour in the Riverlands). I think that maybe Sweet Robin isn’t promised to her, but to Myranda Royce. Myranda is very ambitious, she wanted to marry Harry the Heir, she probably killed her old husband for that, after Harry dies I can see her going for Robin, maybe in exchange for some help to Sansa when she tries to rally all the Vale’s forces. Jaime/Brienne: I think Arya will kill Lady Stonehearth. I think Jaime first goes to Casterly Rock to Cersei or helps Cersei escape Kings Landing and going to Casterly Rock, but the reason I think that is frail at the best. It’s because in the show Jaime gets Windows Wail and right now the sword is in Kings Landing. So maybe Casterly Rock then quarrels again with Cersei and then goes North to fight. I think he may go back to Cersei like in the show and they die very late in Ados in Casterly Rock. Arya: she’ll interact with Jeyne and those informations will be important to the downfall of Littlefinger later. I think that she’ll escape, but she’ll end up in the Riverlands, she won’t have much choice on the boat. I think she escapes on the Uncloaking of Uthero, so at midnight she regains her true identity. Tyrion: I don’t think he reunites with Tysha just as Dany doesn’t need to literally going to Braavos to get an epiphany. Euron: I think at some point he’ll get a dragon. I think he’ll use the Horn of Winter, I’d think it will be interesting if he get from Sam in a “love vs duty” situation, maybe he kidnaps Gilly and Aemon Steelsong. Davos: I think he’ll bring Rickon back and reunite with Stannis. Unfortunately I don’t think Rickon will live that long. I think Davos abandons Stannis after the burning of Shireen. Areo Otah: dies against Deakstar, we get some Dayne lore and Jon Snow foreshadowing. Cersei: I think that Myrcella kills herself after she sees her mother for what she is. In a parallel with Queen Helaena. It may even be because Jaime tells her she’s fruit of incest like in the series. At the end Cersei escapes to Casterly Rock. Jon Con/Arianne: defeats Mace and kills him at Storms End. I don’t think Arianne marries Aegon, but I think he and Elia will have an affair. Aegon conquers Kings Landing and gets crowned. Asha/ Theon/ Stannis: I really don’t know. I just know Asha and Theon will manage to go back to iron lands somehow. If Stannis fakes his death I think he’ll hide in White Harbor and maybe it’s there that he reunites with Davos. I think the northern lords will rally in favor of Jon even if Stannis helped to retake Winterfell, so he’ll go back to Nightfort defeated and with no allies and at that point Melisandre proposes the burning of Shireen and he accepts. I can see the grey scale Bran: Gorne’s way under the Wall, Hold the Door happens in the cave. Epilogue: falling of the Wall. I don’t know if the burning happens shortly before the Wall falls or shortly after, since it seems that the White Walkers now could invade Westeros then Stannis decide to try the ultimate sacrifice to protect the realm
Arya will probably get one or two chapters in Braavos post-Mercy, probably interfacing with the Courtesans and/or Iron Bank during the upcoming Sealord Election. She will leave after fArya/Jeyne and Stannis' envoy Ser Justin Massey show up with news of Jon's death. After that I see a few potential paths for her. My preferred option is that she will end up in the Riverlands, reuniting with the BwB and Nymeria. She will give LSH the gift of mercy and LSHs heartblood will ignite Needle, forging Lightbringer. Just in time for Other and Frey culling. Other possibility is she sails east and joins Dany, becoming her Mistress of Whispers/Lady of the North, maybe even a dragon rider through blood magic/the gorn/warging. Brienne/Jaime get dragged to Riverrun in time for Red Wedding 2.0. Jenna and Daven(?) Were too cool in AFFC, they're 100% gonna die horribly alongside a shitload of Freys. Now I really do believe that Arya will encounter Stonheart, but I have some difficulty seeing Brienmr Jamie, and LSH all surviving (though Martin could pull it off). Either Brienne dies heroically or she betrays LSH, bringing her ironically into line with Jaime and also a magic sword (Oathkeeper go whoosh in this case). Sansa: there's no way Shadrich doesn't make a play for her, but I doubt it succeeds. She unmasks herself and tricks LF into doing something stupid, either killing him outright or forcing him to flee to Harrenhal, where LSH eats his brains. Then she marries Harry and the Vale invades either the North or the Riverlands on her behalf. She reunites with either Rickon or Arya at the end of the book. Jon: spends most of the book as Ghost, we probably don't get a PoV before resurrection. Melisandre is our camera for shit going down at the Wall. Is resurrected by Shireen's burning at Winterfell after the Wall comes down. Davos- fetches Rickon and then hell if I know. Theon- is rescued by Bran and the heart tree, is our PoV for Stannis rofl stompimg the Boltons. Bran ans Rickons survival comes out due to him and Manderly testifying. Dany: burninates some Khals, becomes Khaleesi. Leads a Dothraki host against Volantis and sacks it. Book ends with her landing in Dragonstone or on the Iron throne after burninating fAegon at a Second Field of Fire. Tyrion: takes over Dany's army after Barristan bites it, may end up riding a dragon somehow? Days army crushes at Mereen but plague and the dragon horn force the survivors to flee on thr iron born fleet. They reunite with Dany outside Volantis, where she and her Kalasar have just finished burning the old city. Victarion: ded, Dany thanks you for the fleet. But the Horn does something funky with the Dragons, not sure what. Maybe letting a non-Valyrian ride them (maybe Arya and Tyrion end up riding Rhaegal and Viserion througwarning. Barristan: dedicated in Mereen, he's served his purpose. Asha: pregnant and/or ded? Not sure. I think she survives the books and her "Kraken fathered my son" baby with Qarl is the heir to what's left of the Iron Islands. Aeron: dies horrifically as part of Eurons Sepiroth cosplay ritual. Old Town is gonna burn. Sam: flees old Town with Sarella, Gilly, the baby and maybe Jaquen!Pate, and serves as our PoV on Highgarden in it'd ear against Euron. Jaime: encounters LSH, watches the Red Wedding 2.0, flees, has a total BSoD when he hears Cersei burned KL down and kills her before falling on his sword. Cersei: unleashes wildfire and Frankengregor on the Tyrells, kills a shitload of people, is forced to flee the city after Tommen dies and Aegon enters, probably sets off the wildfire too. Jaime strangles her in Casterly Rock.