Guess at structure of initial parts of TWOW

[Loras]

I think that the first couple of chapters after the prologue will be Arianne I and Theon I. Both of these chapters occur before the end of 'A Dance With Dragons' and both go on to set up major story beats which will have a major impact on the rest of the novel.

Martin's grouping of viewpoints in ADWD will likely be used again in TWOW. The way that Davos and Bran later substitute for Barristan and the AFFC characters was effective in focussing the story.

I'd expect:

1. Prologue

2. Theon I - Stannis moving against the Karstarks is the right story beat to start the novel and show that it is moving forward.

3. Arianne I

4. The Meereen Chapters (Victarion I, Barristan I, Tyrion I, Barristan II, Tyrion II) - I would expect there to be some sort of cliffhanger splitting up two sections of the battle. This could be followed by Arianne II or Dany I. The break in the tension would be good. Then there would be a second phase of Meereen chapters where the outcome of the battle is resolved.

5. Arya I, Cersei I - Again catching up with characters and resolving the situation with Kevan, Jaime I, Sansa I

6. The Winterfell chapters, a much shorter sequence of chapters possibly with a Davos chapter thrown in.

I think that we won't see the Wall for a long time at the beginning of the book. I would be surprised if GRRM didn't drops us straight into the action - chaos at the Wall as the Others attack. And we flashback through Mel to find out what has happened...

[Hos the Hostage]

Prologue: Forley Prestor

1. Daenerys : Stallion who mounts the world, probably ends with plan to invade Volantis the way Tyrion thinks in DwD.

2. Theon I: resolves Stannis death cliffhanger ;-)

3. Victarion I

4. Arianne I

5. Jon Connington : Battle of Storm's End

6. Barristan I

7. Bran (Theon and/or Jon's fate)

8. Cersei I: Kevan's death and Aegon taking Storm's End, some clash with Tyrells

9. Jaime(travel)

10. Tyrion II

11. Barristan II

12. Damphair

13. Melisandre

14. Mercy

15. Davos

16. Jon Connington/Arianne

17. Sansa

18. Daenerys II

19. Tyrion III

20. Jaime/Brienne (some encounter, Gendry )

21. Samwell

.

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[HosteenOsteen]

An opening Daenerys chapter would be great

Not sure we need another Connington POV if we have Arianne to tell us what went down at SE, just as I agree if there is a Theon POV we don;t need Asha

[Hos the Hostage]

An opening Daenerys chapter would be great

Not sure we need another Connington POV if we have Arianne to tell us what went down at SE, just as I agree if there is a Theon POV we don;t need Asha

I read somewhere that Gerorge said we'll see the battle of Storm's End.

Not sure, though.

[HosteenOsteen]

Well, I'd love to see battle of SE, would be great to know how the GC tricked the defenders.....

[Loras]

The opening lines of Mercy are really interesting as well.

I wonder whether the previous chapter has one of the characters in the Riverlands (either Jaime, Brienne or the Prologue) running from a pack of wolves. If the group heading back to Casterley Rock is being hounded by the wolves, could it be possible that 'Mercy' is the first chapter in the book?

Arya's timeline is entirely out of sync with the rest of the timelines so theoretically she could be placed here with Harys Swyft arriving? I guess it depends on whether Swyft appears in Cersei I or not.

[Blutrabe]

According to the German publisher of the books, Tyrion I is the first chapter. I don't know where they got the information though.

Source: https://www.facebook.com/penhaligonverlag

[JonCon's Red Beard]

I read somewhere that Gerorge said we'll see the battle of Storm's End.

Not sure, though.

When he read Arianne II, it was kinda mentioned that they were going to imply the battle, but not showing it. Due to people actually wanting to read about it, he considered writing about it.

[Loras]

According to the German publisher of the books, Tyrion I is the first chapter. I don't know where they got the information though.

Source: https://www.facebook.com/penhaligonverlag

That seems strange due to the fact that the surprise at the end of that chapter is the arrival of the Ironborn. Is Martin going to take us back in time and out of the moment to start Victarion's viewpoint?

I would have thought the order of the Meereenese chapters that we have so far would be:

- Victarion I

- Tyrion I

- Barristan I

- Tyrion II

- Barristan II

Though the timing of Tyrion I is going to be really strange - why would Barristan launch his attack when a new faction is entering the fray?

I'm wondering whether Tyrion I has been scrapped or merged with Tyrion II?

[Boar Island]

My Guess:

0. Prologue - Blackfish?

1. Victarion (tentatively titled "Mr. High Five") - Eve of Battle of Meereen

2. Barristan I- "Sound The Attack"

3. Tyrion I - Cyvasse

4. Melisandre I- Jon Snow dead, initiating resurrection

5. Tyrion II - Battle

6. Daenerys I - Dothraki Sea, doing something, initiating return

7. Barristan II - Battle

8. Victarion II - Battle, Daenerys bringing Drogon and Dothraki

9. Jon I (titled "Ghost") - Our beloved Lord Commander finds himself locked up at Castle Black, yet escapes from his quarters, and slays Bowen Marsh

10. Daenerys II - Resolution of Battle, meeting with Tyrion - future plans are made

11. Theon I - At Stannis' Camp

13. Asha I ("Ms. Freeze")- Initiating move towards Winterfell, we may learn some stuff of Camp Bolton (as in, what are the Freys and the Manderlys up to)

14. Mercy

15. JonCon - Battle of Storm's End

16. Theon II - Battle of Winterfell, ends with his death (redeeming himself in some way)

17. Melisandre - Resurrection of Jon Snow

18. Asha II - fighting under the walls of Winterfell, resolution of the Battle of Winterfell

19. Sansa

20. Cersei - Trial by Combat and on with the rest of the story

I do believe that the two big battles are resolved pretty soon (I think that GRRM already stated that), and I also think that the Battle of Meereen will be longer than the Battle of WF (the latter lacking the POVs both inside and outside the walls).

Additionally, Winterfell will be won only through Bolton getting backstabbed (not literally, though), since Stannis' host is too miserable to win alone.

After both battles are done, we can start with the stories that were meant to be TWOW-material.

[Hos the Hostage]

When he read Arianne II, it was kinda mentioned that they were going to imply the battle, but not showing it. Due to people actually wanting to read about it, he considered writing about it.

Thanks for the info. I really wish he writes it, though.

But since I found I missed Tyrion I in my original list, I'm replacing JC chapter with Tyrion I.

Prologue: Forley Prestor

1. Daenerys : Stallion who mounts the world, probably ends with plan to invade Volantis the way Tyrion thinks in DwD.

2. Theon I: resolves Stannis death cliffhanger ;-)

3. Victarion I

4. Arianne I

5. Jon Connington : Battle of Storm's End Tyrion I

6. Barristan I

7. Bran (Theon and/or Jon's fate)

8. Cersei I: Kevan's death and Aegon taking Storm's End, some clash with Tyrells

9. Jaime(travel)

10. Tyrion II

11. Barristan II

12. Damphair

13. Melisandre

14. Mercy

15. Davos

16. Jon Connington/Arianne

17. Sansa

18. Daenerys II

19. Tyrion III

20. Jaime/Brienne (some encounter, Gendry )

21. Samwell

.

.

[EddardsHead]

Just looking at this thread alone makes you realize the battles of Winterfell/Meereen are going to take up 20% of the book. I really think this series is going to take 8 books unfortunately.

[Casso, King of the Seals]

My estimate is:

0. Prologue (in the Westerlands, featuring Jeyne Westerling)

1. Theon (the sample chapter set in Stannis's camp)

2. Asha

3. Theon (concluding the battle of ice, maybe there will be one more chapter for the battle, but I think 3 are enough, with the chapter we have already seen being the set-up)

4. Melisandre (resolving the cliffhanger at the Wall)

5. Arianne (her first chapter in the book, in which Teora Toland talks about her prophetic dream about the dancing dragons)

6. Victarion (battle plans and a motivational speech)

7. Ser Barristan (battle plans and a motivational speech)

8. Tyrion (his first chapter in the book, at the end the Iron Fleet arrives)

9. Ser Barristan (battle, he notices that the Ironborn are fighting for them)

10. Tyrion (battle, the Second Sons switch sides)

11. Victarion

12. Tyrion

13. Ser Barristan (concluding the battle of fire)

14. Jaime (resolving the cliffhanger)

15. Cersei (her trial)

16. Aeron

17. Jon Connington (the battle of Storm's End, if it is shown)

18. Arianne (arriving at Griffin's Roost and deciding to go meet Aegon)

This is the order of chapters which would work, I think, and it would resolve all major cliffhangers from A Dance with Dragons in 18 chapters (maybe more, around 20, depending on how long the battles will be). Mercy might come after Cersei's trial, so I do not think that chapter is going to be placed so early in the book, and I didn't feel like putting a Sansa chapter in the midst of these battle chapters - after the battles are done, I put there a Jaime chapter and after that a Cersei chapter, which would show us her trial. Then, I thought that a slower chapter should follow, to make the pace a little bit easier - maybe Aeron or Sansa here (not knowing how fast-paced and action-packed those chapters are, though), and after that maybe show us the battle of Storm's End (I don't know if George R. R. Martin was just joking or he is really going to show us the battle) and the second Arianne chapter which was moved over to The Winds of Winter from A Dance with Dragons.

This way, all the main cliffhangers would be resolved quite early and the book could continue in a fast pace (if there are around 70 chapters, there would still be about 50 chapters left to tell the story that is meant to be told in The Winds of Winter). However, this is most probably too subjective and I haven't taken some things into account, and the final order of chapters in the initial part will be entirely different. :)

[Maestor Tarly]

Guessing the order is a crapshoot, but it will clearly begin with the Battles in Winterfell and Mereen. we will get the sample chapters as everyone already knows... but the real question is when will we get to see Jon and the aftermath of his stabbing.. my guess is that we will first see it through Bran

[Chivalry1387]

Personally I have my money on first chapter after the Prologue being Mel, immediately after Snow is stabbed. To me at least, watching that play out with the Night's Watch and Wildlings would be the perfect way to begin.

[HosteenOsteen]

That would have the virtue of resolving the Jon Snow cliffhanger quickly. Obviously the cliffhangers--Stannis, Jon, in a different way Daenerys--cannot go on forever.r Most people in this strand seem to think GRRM will delay the Jon outcome just to whet our appetite though.

[Princess That Was Promised]

I think we have a bigger chance of getting a Jon POV before a Melisandre one, and I have a feeling it'll be early on too. She'll have reanimated him in between books, but he'll just be told he survived the wounds at first. He'll suspect something's up, confront Bowen Marsh (that would be a nice chapter) and later eventually learn what happened with Mel. It would be a nice twist for casual readers to learn that he's actually UnJon, and chapters with him trying to understand and deal with everything would be really cool. It might be a little anti-climatic, but it could be an interesting route if it's written well

[Ser Fingerbones]

This thread has gotten me really hyped up. Here's my guess.

0. Prolouge (In the Riverlands)

1. Barristan I (Battle of Fire)

2. Victarion I

3. Tyrion I

4. Barristan II

5. Tyrion II

6. Victarion II (I do hope Victarion survives this one. Wouldn't want another Quentyn ending.)

7. Tyrion III

8. Barristan III (That's a lot of chapters for one battle, but it seems as if we'll need that many.)

9. Theon I (Battle of Ice)

10. Asha I

11. Theon II (It's hard to say how many chapters will be necessary though.)

12. Arianne I

13. JonCon I (Battle of Storm's End)

14. Cersei I

15. Jaime/Brienne I (This could be a bit later)

16. Arianne II

17. Damphair I

18. Sansa I

19. Cersei II

20. Melisandre I

21. Davos I

22. Dany I

23. Sam I

24. Mercy (Has to link with the queen's return to power and Harys Swyft leaving for Braavos.)

It's difficult to say beyond that. Scary to see how much of the book will be taken up simply resolving the cliffhangers of Dance. That's about a quarter of the book already.

[BryndenBFish]

So besides the Prologue, I'll be curious how GRRM structures it. I'm thinking that GRRM will structure the Battle of Meereen much like he did with the Battle of the Blackwater & the Red Wedding by clumping POVs around the battle while he splits out the Battle of Winterfell & Battle of Storm's End. This is my guess on chapter order and events that will occurin the chapters (and please feel free to laugh at my attempts to figure out the story. Confirmed points are italicized):

0. Prologue: Ser Forley Prester is the POV. I can feel it in my bones. Jeyne Westerling is present; so it takes place in the Riverlands or in the Westerlands. (My guess: Riverlands) Lannisters are ambushed on their way back to Casterly Rock. Jeyne Westerling is killed by a stray BWB arrow.

1. Theon I: You all know this one

2. Barristan I: Barristan prepares Meereen for battle and gives his grand "Dragon Dawn" speech.

3. Victarion I: Victarion gives his grand battle plan, gives a battle speech to his men, gets weird with his dragon horn, sails into Meereen.

4. Tyrion I: Tyrion & Brown Ben Plumm play cyvasse while the Yunkish trebuchet Wicked Sister flings dead bodies to Meereen. Tyrion tries to convince Brown Ben to switch sides; Ben hints that he might when dragon sails are spotted on the horizon.

5. Melisandre I: Melisandre, Queen Selyse & Shireen are being rushed up to the King's Tower as Wildlings & Night's Watchmen slaughter each other underneath. Jon Snow is reported fine, then missing, then wounded, then dead. Melisandre attempts to consult her fires, but the flames reveal nothing. Finally the sounds of fighting die down outside until only silence remain. The silence is broken by a thud against the door.

6a. Asha I: The Battle of the Ice Lakes as seen from the ground level, not the strategic one: The Freys charge across northern ice lake; ice breaks under them, many drown. Those who don't drown are killed by the sudden appearance of the Manderlys & possibly Mors Umber from the rear.

6b. Bran I: Alternatively, GRRM could be super-creative and tell the story of the battle from Bran's POV as we're fairly sure he's controlling the ravens & could very well witness the fall of the Freys via the weirwood tree in the middle of the northern lake.

7. Arianne I: Arianne sets out from the Water Gardens for Aegon & Jon Connington.

8. Barristan II: Barristan and the Stormcrows ride out into battle to make chaos on the Yunkish lines in order to make time for the Unsullied to march out of 3 Meereenese gates to form their spear/shield wall. Barristan's cavalry very nearly crash into a line of Ghiscari spears, but Barristan spins his cavalry out and redirects the assault against a Yunkish slave legion. The Stormcrows & Barristan's squires crash into the slave legions. One of Barristan's Squire, The Red Lamb, kills the Yunkish commander known as the Little Pigeon with the line: "I came for blood not for gold." The Yunkish start to break, and Barristan sees that the Unsullied are pouring out of the gates and forming their spear/shield wall. Barristan then notices sails on the horizon. He thinks it's the Volantene fleet, but then realizes that it's the Greyjoys.

9. Tyrion II: The Ironborn land, the dragons fly overhead, there's a massive sea battle in Slaver's Bay, the Windblown turn their cloaks and kill one of the Yunkish commanders. The Ghiscari legions are being attacked by both Barristan & Victarion's forces. Yunkai is in total disarray. Viserion lights the bodies that the Yunkish fling overhead and then eats them. It's an utter shitstorm for Yunkai. Brown Ben Plumm is away for much of the chapter but finally returns. A Yunkish envoy shows up, Jorah kills him, Brown Ben & the Second Sons turn their cloaks yet again.

10. Jon I: GRRM will do a fake-out on us as this chapter will be told from the perspective of Jon Connington, not Jon Snow. The Golden Company take Storm's End by guile.

111. Theon II: Stannis orders the Karstarks to take off their sunburst surcoats, briefs Ser Richard Horpe on his orders to infiltrate Winterfell with a select few Karstark men (In reality: Morgan Liddle & some of Stannis' loyalest soldiers) and the Manderlys.

12. Victarion II: Victarion observes the battle unfolding and realizes it's going well. Above the Iron Fleet, Rhaegal circles. Victarion signals to Moqorro to bring the horn. The horn is sounded by the 3 thralls & it deafens the battlefield. The only sound that Victarion hears is the swoop of dragon wings and Rhaegal soars not to Victarion's Iron Victory but for the sail of ship that Victarion can only make out in the distance. As it approaches, Victarion realizes in horror the eye sigil sewn onto the sail.

13. Barristan III: The entire Yunkish line south of the city is in chaos. The Unsullied clear the southern Ghiscari & slave legions from the field. The dragon horn is sounded in the distance but its sound still pierces the ear-drums of every soldier in the field. As Barristan turns to give new orders after the horn is sounded, the Spotted Cash stands face to face with Barristan. Before Barristan can feel pain, he reaches up to find his neck, bloody & raw.

14. Daenerys I: Dany flies atop Drogon with her khalasar riding under her, but they aren't riding south to Meereen but north to Vaes Dothrak. Dany reflects back to killing Khal Jhaqo and wishes she had found Mago before he and a small contingent of Dothraki fled. In the distance, the Mother of Mountains rises.

15. Arianne II: Arianne reaches Griffin's Roost. to find that Storm's End is taken.

[Vikingkingq]

So besides the Prologue, I'll be curious how GRRM structures it. I'm thinking that GRRM will structure the Battle of Meereen much like he did with the Battle of the Blackwater & the Red Wedding by clumping POVs around the battle while he splits out the Battle of Winterfell & Battle of Storm's End. This is my guess on chapter order and events that will occurin the chapters (and please feel free to laugh at my attempts to figure out the story. Confirmed points are italicized):

SNIP

Prologue - agreed, but I think Jeyne is killed deliberately as LSH views the Westerlings as traitors.

Don't forget the Winterfell tunnels.