[ADWD Spoilers] Speculation About the Winds of Winter

[Vikingkingq]

Or with a person tasked to kill Stannis/Melisandre. This seems more likely to me as she is supposed to be No One and have no grudges against those she kills, and it would reincorporate her into the storyline of the North.

Except that Braavos is basically backing Stannis and Melisandre. The Faceless Men's client needs a motive.

[Jeejee]

Would she be allowed at this point? A half trained faceless man wandering about?

It may be too late now, but Plague Face was willing to let her go up at least up until the beginning of Arya chapter 2 in this book

[Jeejee]

Except that Braavos is basically backing Stannis and Melisandre. The Faceless Men's client needs a motive.

Unless you believe the FM want the Others to win. In which case they might make this assassination on their own, killing off all potential Azor Ahais.

[Ygritte]

Or with a person tasked to kill Stannis/Melisandre. This seems more likely to me as she is supposed to be No One and have no grudges against those she kills, and it would reincorporate her into the storyline of the North.

Naah, I like it being Cersei, and Arya lying about knowing her.

[Alexia]

But Arya needs to go North to help save the kingdom from the Others and reclaim the North for the Starks...

[Vikingkingq]

But Arya needs to go North to help save the kingdom from the Others and reclaim the North for the Starks...

Can't do that without picking up her warg army first.

[Theon Greyboy]

Dany leaves Essos. I desperately hope. I've had silly name overload.

REZNAK MO REZNAK

I agree on this count, in case you couldn't tell.

[generic]

Can institutions send faceless men? Wasn't the whole point of them that you can't hire them without making personal sacrifices?

Someone will have to march along the demon road. Maybe Dany with her new Dothraki? Along the way we get something on the Doom. Seems to have been the most important event in history. Is it a coincidence that Valyria never conquered Westeros although they had a fortress near its coast? And that the dragons died out after a few generations on the continent?

[Basileus777]

Naah, I like it being Cersei, and Arya lying about knowing her.

Well Cersei would be a bit of a stretch. Arya could lie about knowing someone else, but it's common knowledge that Arya Stark knows and has reason to have a grudge against Queen Cersei. I doubt the Faceless Men could be poorly informed as to believe Arya doesn't know her.

[Faint]

One interesting tidbit that has been mentioned by the writer in a recent interview is that Casterly Rock will be seen but via which POV? Taking the writer at his word that he doesn't want to add a new POV, who can possibly be there sometime in TWoW?

[LadySansa]

I agree that Arya couldn't get away with saying she doesn't know Cersei.

I think Brienne is leading Jaime to his death. Whether she gives him the heads up or he figures it out on his own we will have to see. I think he will notice she is acting different. I think he may get out of it though because he and Cersei seem likely to die together.

Cersei is going to go right back to being batshit crazy and I can't wait.

It would be interesting if Dany did end up returning to Westeros with a Dothraki army but not the one she originally thought it would be. I can't imagine Khal Jhaqo has the best intentions but she does have a dragon so it evens it out a bit.

[Spaceman Hobbes]

But Arya needs to go North to help save the kingdom from the Others and reclaim the North for the Starks...

Davos and Rickon should have that covered. I hope.

My prediction for Winds is that Dany will get slightly closer to Westeros. Maybe.

[Ferrum Aeternum]

Davos and Rickon should have that covered. I hope.

My prediction for Winds is that Dany will get slightly closer to Westeros. Maybe.

gods...I should hope so.

[The Sunspear]

Didn't the Kindly Man explicitly tell Arya that the Faceless Men themselves are not meant to judge others; i.e. to kill for their own reasons? They only kill those who have been "marked", either by payment or some other kind of sacrifice from a third-party client. I don't think their organization is going to start acting on its own, murdering whomever they deem fit for some higher purpose only they know about-- that's about as slippery a slope to organizational destruction as I've ever seen. The Faceless Men are much too hardcore to let that happen, in my opinion.

[Dalfiatach]

I'm starting to suspect Dany will never make it to Westeros, and that was never the point of her story in the first place...

[Peasant with No Story Arc]

My prediction for Winds is that Dany will get slightly closer to Westeros. Maybe.

Nah. She might not even make it back to Meereen by the end of Winds of Winter. There will be another Quaithe vision and Dany'll decide she needs to make a pilgrimage to Valyria. She'll receive more visions there (as if she needs them; at this point she has visions for what to eat for breakfast .. excuse me, how to break her fast the next day) and in the meantime Tyrion, Marwyn, Victarion, Barristan, Jorah and the dozen others trying to find her will all have side adventures along the way as they try to reach her (which none will). Sorry. Does it sound like I just read a 950 page book that started with the prospect of all sorts of interesting Westerosi getting the chance to interact with Dany and ended with one of them having done so .. who for his trouble was told to go home then roasted alive by one of her dragons .. I know, I know, the journey, not the destination, but c'mon ...

[GuybrushThreepwood]

Without some sort of time-jump, I can't see Arya's return to Westeros as being Faceless Men-related. There's no way she could get fully trained fast enough. We've seen before that she's holding out on them. She'll probably have to go fugitive.

I agree with the poster above who said we'll see the Demon Road. We just heard way too much about it for it to mean nothing.

edit:

Sorry. Does it sound like I just read a 950 page book that started with the prospect of all sorts of interesting Westerosi getting the chance to interact with Dany and ended with one of them having done so .. who for his trouble was told to go home then roasted alive by one of her dragons .. I know, I know, the journey, not the destination, but c'mon ...

Heh. Wouldn't it be funny if this turned into a Fawlty Towers-type situation for the rest of the series? Everyone just keeps missing her by the smallest of margins, even when she's all the way over into Westeros.

[Lord Damian]

Do not forget about Davos. He looked frightened when Manderly showed him on the map where he believes Rickon and osha went.I

bet is it hardhome North of the wall. Briene is undoubtably taking Jaime to Cat and he will have to either die or do something on the spot that can be taken as trustworthy. Stannis as Lord Commander of the Nights Watch sounds good. Bran is the big question mark as far as whether he stays in the cave and becomes a tree or loves and lives with Meera or returns to claim Winterfell of which he is the rightful lord. There are so many loose ends. I thought for sure that Sansa and the Vale would be in this but apparently not.

[BranS]

REZNAK MO REZNAKI agree on this count, in case you couldn't tell.

I had trouble reading the Dany chapters for all the stupid names. Man alive, I also didn't really like her story arc, but that's a different matter entirely.

I think some things are obvious, Theon remembering himself was a huge theme of A Dance with Dragons and him rising up to be the leader of the Greyjoys is something that is entirely possible. With the fact Asha made mention of ... major paraphrasing here "was not at the kingsmoot and came back to lay his claim" makes it all but indeniable that this is her plan and that she will try and make it so Theon follows Balons example and learns to bend the knee and become the Lord of Pyke.

Jon is obviously not going to die, something will happen, some form of deus ex machina, but I don't believe he'll be at all a part of the Night's Watch anymore. As evidenced by his men saying "For the Watch" whilst they stabbed him. He is either going beyond the wall, or is going to reclaim Winterfell in some form.

Something that I've found rather interesting of late, the last few books is that there are very few real Starks left. Arya is now... well, no one. Sansa is Alayne Stone. Jon Snow is Jon Snow. Now it seems like Bran is poised to forget his role as a Stark and take up the position of the Greenseer as foreshadowed by Bloodraven saying things such as "I have had many names" "My name was Bryndon, once". So I have a theory that Rickon will end up being the lord of Winterfell in the end, but of course he needs to become less wild, which isn't helped by the fact he's paired with Osha.

Dany is going to somehow reclaim a khalaasar and ride back to Meeren just intime to see it fall, and from their realise that she needs to go back to Westeros that her cause here is lost but she can still make a difference with what she has learnt in Westeros. If Stannis is truly dead, I'd be amazed. But if he truly is that leaves that war of the five kings pretty much done. Only the ironborn seem left to attack the Lannisters and they're abit more preoccupied with getting themselves over to Dany and Euron doesn't seem too interested in trying to take that much land before then.

Cersei needs to die next book. I think it's endearing how Kevan looks at her in the epilogue but that is just that, his opinion of her and her being on her best tricky behaviour for the Regeant. I think the truth of it is Cersei is going to declare war on the High Septon after she is saved by Ser Strong at the trial, and after that personally slip back into her benign paranoid madness and go after the Young Queen which will lead to the Tyrells rising up against her and finally, FINALLY her ultimate downfall.

Lady Stoneheart will kill Walder Frey but then die. It is known.

[Blue Steel]

I do think Arya has to be the one to kill Cersei. Otherwise, who else is on her list? All of her training and journeys so she can end up killing Raff the Sweetling?