210 replies to this topic

[EnergeticCrab]

Jon surviving
Asha anything
Arya and her training (and maybe being reunited with Nymeria)
Tyrion meeting Dany
Sam and the citadel
Cersei's decline and eventual death
Brienne and the aftermath of "sword"
Davos/Osha/Rickon on Skagos
Loras recovering from his 'injuries'
Dany doing anything redeeming
Sansa owning Littlefinger somehow
Jaquen as Pate?
Patchface explained
Hodor revealed!
Sand Snakessssss
Gendry coming back into the picture
Bran-Tree
Margery taking names
Myrcella becoming more important
Aurane Waters, Pirates, Krakens

[ebevan91]

I'm looking forward to Sansa's the most. We went an entire book without a Sansa chapter. Time to see what George has in store for her.

[A Man Has Said]

Lord Liam DarkStark, on 12 September 2012 - 08:29 AM, said:

I'm like 98% sure syrio is dead. They never showed him die. But how arya described it it was implied. And her path led her to the faceless men which is much cooler than a water dancer or those annoying ass braavos strutting around challenging everyone.

I think the mere fact that Meryn Trant appears later on is proof that Syrio was killed. I'm really disappointed in that scene both in the book and TV show btw. Facing half a dozen armed and armored knights with a wooden sword, he disarms, incapacitates and kills all of them but Trant, who is several paces away. And he doesn't have the presence of mind to pick up one of the swords of the men lying on the ground? It strains credibility.

[A Man Has Said]

Before I read all of this thread and am tempted to respond to most comments, let me say what a great idea the topic is. A lot of peoples' anticipation reads to me like fan fiction - not just naming a story line they like, but literally writing what they 'anticipate' is going to happen. So much fun to read.

I'm most excited about the MAIN story - the Song of Ice and Fire. Having spawned all these factions, coalitions and conspiracies through the last 3 books, GRRM's task in the TWoW and ADoS will be to pare that down to a cataclysmic struggle between two forces - not of light and darkness as Melissandre believes, but of ICE magic (represented by the Others, the Children of the Forest and Bran) and FIRE magic (represented by Danaerys and her Dragons.)

That would be one way to go anyway.

I know one thing; if by the end of A Dream of Spring there are a couple of dozen sub-plots still left hanging,
resolving one 'main story' is not going to bring much to the reader in the way of a sense of satisfying closure.

Though on second thought, doing that could guarantee GRRM a rich aftermarket writing short stories that tie up all the loose ends.

[winterdirewolf]

Dany getting her butt in gear and then everything else...

[CatTheUglyBlindLittleGirl]

Arya and Sansa.

...and the three headed dragon (Jon, Dany, Tyrion)

[Blood of the Flagon]

DAVOS!!!
I want to see skagos/what has become of rickon/osha

Also I want to see sansa get in touch with/react to her powers.

[aryagonnakill]

A Man Has Said, on 30 March 2013 - 02:14 PM, said:

I think the mere fact that Meryn Trant appears later on is proof that Syrio was killed. I'm really disappointed in that scene both in the book and TV show btw. Facing half a dozen armed and armored knights with a wooden sword, he disarms, incapacitates and kills all of them but Trant, who is several paces away. And he doesn't have the presence of mind to pick up one of the swords of the men lying on the ground? It strains credibility.

Dude that drove me nuts too.  It's like when an action hero has no gun but killed a million guys with guns a minute before.

Edited by aryagonnakill, 30 March 2013 - 09:37 PM.

[A Man Has Said]

Bluesnow, on 08 October 2012 - 07:08 PM, said:

Actually... there were quite a few storylines I was getting fed up with in the last two books... or rather... too many POVs... Too many Greyjoys scampering around for my liking... and Dorne Chapters always put me to sleep. I feel like the excessive POVs was slowing the plot down rather than adding to the story.

I SO agree! I really like GRRM's writing, but if I have a criticism it's that he just can't discipline himself to Tell the Damned Story Already! It's as though he broke in his writing chops on the staff of "Lost."

It doesn't serve the narrative to keep adding characters, plotlines, points of view, entire races of people ad infinitum. Take all those great ideas and give them to the existing characters. Move things along. Obviously GRRM finds it easier to create new plots than to resolve existing ones. This may have something to do with how long it takes him to finish a book. Every new novel he creates 100 loose ends and only ties up 10 of them. The burden on the last book to tie them up is going to be enormous!

Introducing and establishing a new character takes a lot of time and words, and it also puts a burden on the reader to keep everything straight in their heads. The first novel, Game of Thrones was very strong but Clash of Kings was only half as good because of all the new characters introduced; Davos, all those ironmen, Melisandre, Stannis's retinue at Dragonstone.. Things picked up with Storm of Swords, mostly because it went back to the main characters again - Arya had the most chapters in that book, followed by Jon, followed by Tyrion and Jaime. I think it's the strongest book.

AFfC and ADwD introduce even more characters: More bloody-minded Ironmen,  Griff and Young Griff, hordes of sellsword companies, A desertful of Dornishmen, ... And I personally found that the saga of Quentyn Martell to be an unnecessary and confusing parallel to that of Griff/Prince Aegon. Hours and hours of reading about Quentyn's tedious quest to present himself to Dany, only to get spurned and burned. How did that serve the overall story? Even the other characters in the book find Quentyn boring.

[grod823]

I am doing a reread of the entire series and I am reading GOT.   I came across this quote:



"We all lie," her father said. "Or did you truly think I'd believe that Nymeri
a ran off?"
Arya blushed guiltily. "Jory promised not to tell."
"Jory kept his word," her father said with a smile. "There are some things I d
o not need to be told. Even a blind man could see that wolf would never have l
eft you willingly."
"We had to throw rocks," she said miserably. "I told her to run, to go be free
, that I didn't want her anymore. There were other wolves for her to play with
, we heard them howling, and Jory said the woods were full of game, so she'd h
ave deer to hunt. Only she kept following, and finally we had to throw rocks.
I hit her twice. She whined and looked at me and I felt so 'shamed, but it was
right, wasn't it? The queen would have killed her." "It was right," her father said. "And even the lie was . . . not without honor.


I know it seems obscure and probably has been used in reference to this,  but couldn't this be a bit of foreshadowing in the case of Ned Stark not being Jon Snow's true father.    Ned Stark references that there are lies that are "not without honor".   Maybe Ned Stark was torn between his friendship with Robert and his love for his sister Lyanna that he chose to lie to Robert to protect his own blood knowing that Rhaegar was Jon's true father.   Robert was hell bent on killing every Targaeryan that he could and Jon (if the theory is true) would be a Targaeryan.     Just a thought.

[ebevan91]

grod823, on 05 April 2013 - 08:37 PM, said:

I am doing a reread of the entire series and I am reading GOT.   I came across this quote:



"We all lie," her father said. "Or did you truly think I'd believe that Nymeri
a ran off?"
Arya blushed guiltily. "Jory promised not to tell."
"Jory kept his word," her father said with a smile. "There are some things I d
o not need to be told. Even a blind man could see that wolf would never have l
eft you willingly."
"We had to throw rocks," she said miserably. "I told her to run, to go be free
, that I didn't want her anymore. There were other wolves for her to play with
, we heard them howling, and Jory said the woods were full of game, so she'd h
ave deer to hunt. Only she kept following, and finally we had to throw rocks.
I hit her twice. She whined and looked at me and I felt so 'shamed, but it was
right, wasn't it? The queen would have killed her." "It was right," her father said. "And even the lie was . . . not without honor.


I know it seems obscure and probably has been used in reference to this,  but couldn't this be a bit of foreshadowing in the case of Ned Stark not being Jon Snow's true father. Ned Stark references that there are lies that are "not without honor".   Maybe Ned Stark was torn between his friendship with Robert and his love for his sister Lyanna that he chose to lie to Robert to protect his own blood knowing that Rhaegar was Jon's true father.   Robert was hell bent on killing every Targaeryan that he could and Jon (if the theory is true) would be a Targaeryan. Just a thought.

You bring up a good point, but what about Maester Aemon? Would Jon be safe from Robert like Aemon since he joined the Night's Watch?