Nominations and Ranking Thread 2016 (with results)

[sweetsunray]

It's nearly that time of the year again, where lists are being piled together and voted for. Before we could vote on anything, we collected nominations.

In order for the nomination to be valid these were the guidelines:

• The OP of the thread was posted in 2016 (in general, reread, or tWoIaF).
• The thread contains an original theory proposal or analysis on plot, mystery, character, or world. (It's ok if the poster of the nominated thread has also published it somewhere else, as long as a discussion thread was created on westeros.org as well)
• Post a link to the thread and give a short summary in this thread before 18 december 24:00 GMT. the turn of the year.

1/1/2017 NOMINATIONS ARE NOW CLOSED!

23/1/2017 VOTING IS CLOSED AND RESULTS ARE IN

Voters ranked the nominated threads in the order of preference, from most favourite (1) to less. I chose to use a ranking method, because several categories were too tough one to make a one choice only. The survey was designed so that the nominated threads were randomly listed per voter and thus the order in which I entered the nominated threads in each category to create the survey had no influence. Only in the category swords no ranking was required, nor is the order randomized, as there were only two nominations. 

People were able to vote until 22/1/2017, giving people enough time to read up on the threads they hadn't read yet.

NOTE: this thread is not meant to discuss the content of the threads, let alone the posters. Anyone was free to nominate a thread that fit the above guidelines.

I thank everyone for entering their nominations, for voting and a Happy New Year!!! Regardless of the final results, the aim was mostly to have a list of "must reads" out of the thousands of threads created and discussed throughout 2016. The nomination itself is already a win imo.

SCORING THE RESULTS

The ranking required an effort from people to actually read at least parts of a thread on all sorts of topics, which may or not may always be of your first interest. So, the voting audience could be expected to be on the low side. In fact, 27 people voted. In other words, your vote was quite influential.

I chose to use a weighted scoring, not unlike the Eurovision contest, where being 1st ranked earned the thread a bonus point, and in categories that had 5 or 6 categories a 2nd ranked thread also earned the thread a bonus point. I chose this because such a scoring would not ignore trends. Let me give a short hypothetical example. Let's say we have a category of 4 nominated threads A, B, C, D. Using a simple scoring, the points attributed would be 1-4, with the 1st ranked thread getting 4 points. Now, there is a trend where thread C was ranked  #1 the most, and B #2. Meanwhile those who did not put C 1st voted it 3rd or last, but they did not necessarily rank B as 1st. Regardless whether someone ranked C first, a majority agreed on B being 2nd. And if I use simple scoring B might end up having a slightly higher total score than C. So, despite the fact that a majority agreed B ranked 2nd, and that C was ranked #1 significantly more than the other 3, B ends up being declared #1, which does not reflect the voting trends. Whereas the weighted score rewards a #1 or #2 ranking trend. Now, this was not just solely to the benefit of those that trended #1 or #2. It also reflects a more accurate result imo for the other threads. These threads had a strong competition going between them for 3rd or 4th place as well. And of course sometimes they were ranked 1st or 2nd too. The weighted score would reward this "secondary" trend. So, overall this weighted scoring made the most of the available data, without taking out the competition. For most categories this actually had little to no impact on the final ranking results, except a few, and not always between 1st or 2nd place. And I can assure you that it had no influence on the final resut of the ranking of the nominated threads that had my name as OP.

Without further ado: here are the results

CHARACTERS

MISCELANEOUS

Scores per ranking were 1-4 points, 6 points for 2nd ranking, 8 points for 1st ranking.

You can see from the scores how close the competition between 1st, 3nd and 5th ranking was. Also of note is how two re-read threads competed for 1st place and runner up.

1. Direwolves don't cry: a Direwolves Reread II, OP Seams, July 6 2016, Stark kids and their wolves, total score 129, Congratulations Seams and Julia H. on the victory!
2. Nymeria is poised to return, OP The Fattest Leech, July 29 2016, Jon-Val combo as political and social influence in the North, total score 127, Congratulations Leech on giving them a hell of a competition.
3. The Republic of Littlefinger, OP thought_criminal22, May 23 2016, littlefinger's political motives, total score 119, Congratulations, this was a worthy contesting thread, favored by many.
4. Tyrion's witnesses at the Purple Wedding trial - Myrish looking glasses!, OP WiliamWesterosiWallace, April 8 2016, Garlan Tyrell should have been Tyrion's witness and champion, total score 117, Congratulations, it made a solid overall good impression and competed heavily with Littlefinger's thread.
5. Craster is a Stark, OP Lame Lothar Frey, December 3 2016, Craster is a Stark because the Others only want his children, total score 79, Congratulations Lothar, it made for a tertiary competition between Craster or Bloodraven.
6. Murdering Aenys Blackfyre was not good for the realm, OP Canon Claude, October 24 2016, Bloodraven the politician, total score 77, Congratulations Canon Claude

GREENSEERS

Scores per ranking 1-2 points, 4 points for 1st ranking.

We have two victorious threads here, required to share 1st rank with each other. This may have been the toughest category to rank as the total scores will show. It was like watching a war of the titans.

1. Euron the Abomination, OP Darksister1001, March 8 2016, Euron as greenseer, total score 65, Congratulations Darksister on your insights on Euron that were confirmed by George's reading of his tWoW Aeron chapter.

AND

Mythical Astronomy of Ice and Fire: The Grey King and the Sea Dragon, OP LmL, August 29 2016, the combination of fire, water and weirwood - an Ironborn greenseer, the Grey King, total score 65, Congratulations LmL on your complimentary insights on the Ironborn and Grey King

3. Why Bloodraven is not the Three Eyed Crow, OP LiveFirstDieLater, March 2 2016, Bloodraven beneath the tree, total score 59, Congratulations LiveFirstDieLater, clearly it was not just a competition between Euron and the Grey King

ZOMBIES

Same scoring as before: 1-2 points and 4 points for 1st ranking

The favor for 1st place was evenly split up between the victorious thread and runner up, so it came down to which of the two was favored for both 1st and 2nd place.

1. Dead or Somewhat Dead, OP Curled Finger, September 27 2016, classifying the not-so-dead dead, total score 69, Congratulations Curled Finger. You surely are not the only one who loves classifications!
2. Skinchanger Zombies: Jon, the Last Hero and Coldhands, OP LmL, December 7 2016, what happens if a dead greenseer or skinchanger is resurrected, total score 62, Congratulations LmL. By the length and discussion in your thread you know how much it is appreciated.   
3. Lady Stoneheart - Unlife, Myth and Purpose?, OP Morganna Lannister, August 15 2016, Lady Stoneheart's plot purpose, total score 58, Congratulations Morganna Lannister. Your thread certainly had its share of fans, and I noted how it made a reappearance on page 1 with new comments the past months.

WORLD BUILDING

GEOGRAPHICAL

Scoring: 1-3 points, 5 points for 2nd ranking, 7 points for 1st ranking

While 1st and 2nd ranking were solid, this category had a competition for 3rd place.

1. God's Eye: an Ancient Asteroid Impact Crater, OP StarkofWinterfell, April 17 2016, Formation of the Gods Eye lake, total score 149, congratulations StarkofWinterfell on starting this undisputed victorious thread! Close to 50% of the voters ranked your thread #1.
2. Obsidian under Winterfell, OP SisterWithoutBanners, September 7 2016, could there be obsidian beneath Winterfell?, total score 115, congratulations SisterWithoutBanners with this runner up. Winterfell never fails to fascinate and provoke speculation. 
3. The Broken Arm and global climate change, OP Lord Vance II, February 26 2016, Climate impact after CotF broke the arm, total score 78, congratulations Lord Vance II. The novel consideration how the Hammer-events might influence the weather, the streams of water and wind got you to win the 3rd ranking. 
4. Possible New Black Rocks Location/Connection, OP El Dude, July 22 2016, the House of the Undying and greasy, black rocks, total score 75, congratulation El Dude. Your thread made this category into a competion for the 3rd ranking.
5. Lannister Gold and the doom, OP Lord Vance II, December 28 2016, an obscure prophecy in Valyria before the doom foretold the gold of Casterly Rock would destroy them, total score 69, congratulation Lord Vance II for getting 2 threads nominated in this category. This thread was only recently started. It started to gain favor over the last week though.

MAGICAL

Scoring: 1-2 points and 4 points for 1st ranking

The #1st ranking thread won by a landslide and the competition was fought over being the runner up.

1. The caves are timeless: hollow hills, magic castles and greenseers, OP Wizz-The-Smith, October 10 2016, how castles in Westeros are built on hollow hills to harness greenseer magic, total score 87, congratulations Wizz-The-Smith. As Curled Finger had shown already, people love threads that categorize. Add the level of detail and gathering evidence for it in the OP and 2/3rd of the voters ranked this thread as #1.
2. Seams, portals and bridges - The Magical Landscape of Westeros? What about Islands?, OP Seams, August 15 2016, special magical places, total score 52, congratulations Seams, the same categorizing phenomenon tended to help in securing the runner-up position.
3. Words are wind. Indeed they are in this story, but not this instance. Why?, OP Macgregor of the North, september 22 2016, Comparing occassions when the tree speaks in relation to the wind, total score 50, congratulations MacGregor of the North. This thread that focused on the exception to a pattern had a tought battle agains the runner up.

FOODSTUFF:

Scoring 1-2 points and 4 points for 1st ranking.

To be fair, I nominated my thread and categorized it in here in order not to be taken too serious as a nomination. I kindof hoped that people would go with the funniest conversation. In retrospect I should have added it with the zombies or perhaps magical world building and have it been beaten by the winners there.

1. Craster's Black Blooded Curse (or WTF happened to Benjen), OP Sweetsunray, August 30 2016, wights, Craster and his secret larder full of black sausages and suspicious pork, total score 81
2. Corn as foreshadowing, OP Bonkers, December 10 2016, about corn, from codes, to allusions, implications, the type of toppings and deep frying it, total score 62, congratulations Bonkers on starting a thread that led to amusing conversation about corn.
3. Humus, OP Red Ronnet, June 17 2016, the quality of Humus and whether Danaerys would love it, total score 46, congratulations Red Ronnet of introducing humus as a missing food from aSoIaF

MYSTERIES

MISSING PERSONS & IDENTITIES

Scoring 1-3 points, 5 points 2nd ranking, 7 points 1st ranking

With 40-50% consistently agreeing with each other on the ranking, from 1st to 5th this competition was decided fairly early on, and reconfirmed with new votes.

1. Them Bones (rethinking Ned's Bones, Hallis Mollen and Silent Sisters), OP Sweetsunray, October 28 2016, Possible fate for Ned's Bones, total score 137, thank you for your appreciation, and participation.
2. Ser Shadrich, his allies and adversaries (Morgarth, Byron, Creighton, Illifer), OP Bemused, August 16 2016, possible identities and motives of several characters appearing in Brienne's quest-tour and the men that appear at the Gates of the Moon, total score 112, congratulations Bemused and imvpo Blue-Eyed-Wolf for making us revisit Brienne's arc and pay attention to the various colorful side-characters
3. The Wex Pyke problem, OP Lord Varys, December 9 2016, Speculation on any and all questions how Wex managed to know what he claims, total score 89, congratulations Lord Varys in making people re-examin the off-page plot of Wex Pyke tagging along behind Osha and Rickon
4. Heresy Project X+Y=J: wrap up thread, OP wolfmaid7, August 24 2016, Jon Snow's parents, a project that tried to give posters a chance to make a case for different proposals, total score 80, congratulations wolfmaid for setting up a project to have all imaginable X+Y=J argued over the course of last year
5. Heresy Project X+Y= S+L=J, OP wolfmaid7/kingmonkey, January 14 2016, Lyanna + Stark brother as Jon's parents, total score 68, congratulations kingmonkey for being the devil's advocate and argue a case you don't personally believe yourself. It's a treat on "how to debate".

SWORDS:

No scoring used.

One sword or categorizing more swords? The choice was quite clear for +80% of the vote: the more swords the merrier.

1. Let's Find the Swords, OP Curled Finger, April 6 2016, speculations about the whereabouts of the Valyrian Swords, congratulations Curled Finger!
2. The Name of Ice, House Stark's Greatsword, OP Jattack, August 28, Could the first Ice have been an icy sword of the Night King?, congratulations Jattack with the nomination

SYMBOLISM (general, dreams, prophecies):

Scoring: 1-3 points, 5 points 2nd ranking, 7 points 1st ranking

Oh my, this was another one of those tough competitions as the total scores will show. In this one teeth got knocked out, noses broken and eyes gouged out for each position.

1. Nennymoans and merlings; more Patchface tinfoil, OP Hiemal, September 12 2016, making sense of Patchface's words, total score 104, congratulations Hiemal, although none of usentirely can make sense out of him, Patchface RULES!
2. Puns and Wordplay, OP Seams, February 14 2016, Amassing possible authorial puns and wordplays, total score 103, congratulations Seams, you put puns and wordplays on the map this year, definitely!
3. Weirwood and Jaime's dream, OP Cridefea, August 29 2016, Jaime's dream and what are the possible interpretations, total score 101, congratulations Cridefea and contributors, one of the lesser discussed dreams but thoroughly dissected from all angles!
4. Prophecies and visions: Past & Future, OP Greywater Watch, November 6 2016, prophecies and visions, total score 81, congratulations Greywater Watch, the effort of making a chart and categorize visionaries and their visions by magic and quality was appreciated.
5. Revisiting the HOTUD prophecies, OP El Dude, September 4 2016, Dany's HOTU prophecies, total score 79, congratulations El Dude on making us revisit this classic.

MYTHOLOGICAL AND LITERARY TIES:

Scoring: 1-3 points and 5 points for 1st ranking.

The competition in this category happened mostly for the runner up and 3rd position.

1. The Chthonic Cycle - Part 1-4 - The Persephone, Hades, Demeter and Isis of Winterfell, OP Sweetsunray/Evita, March 18 2016, Ned's, Lyanna's and Catelyn's connections to mythological underworld gods, total score 87, thank you for nominating it Isobel and for others to vote on it. It's a long detailed read and not everyone is a fan of mythology. I was honestly surprised how much this was favored and I'm quite humbled by it. I want to share the credit especially with Evita who posted quite a lot of interesting essays in it as well.
2. Wood Dancers and Bran and Pinocchio, OP The Fattest Leech, March 19 2016, a mentioning of Wood Dancers in Bran's POV and exploring links to the fairytale Pinocchio, total score 68, congratulations Leech, it's not the first fairytale that comes to mind for aSoIaF, but it certainly seemed to have captivated many a voter.
3. A horn? No. A Wolf! Jon, Ghost, and the Horn that Wakes the Sleepers, OP Sly Wren, April 20 2016, Jon Snow and Ghost and the NW vows in relation to Celtic literary sources, total score 63, congratulations Sly Wren, Pinochio had a battle on its hands with Celtic Jon and Ghost.
4. GRRM's Subverted Fairy Tales, OP Fire Eater, September 4 2016, a compilation of fairytale motifs and fairytales that GRRM used and subverted, total score 57, congratulations Fire Eater, for starting a thread that attempts to catalogue fairy tale influences.

That was it! Thank you for your participation, in creating threads and essays and contributing to ideas, in nominating threads, in reading the threads and ranking them. I think we all gained something out of it!

 

[The Fattest Leech]

I want to go with this one...

But I think I may end up starting with this one about Bloodraven  by @LiveFirstDieLater because I think Brynden Bloodraven RIvers is very important to the story in the past and present. He is that rickety old wooden bridge that your not sure if you should cross. Even though some opinions may or may not have changed since this thread started, I learned a lot and was able to form some of my own ideas a little better.

I also like the way that even though there were many differing ideas, most everyone stayed sane.

 

[Jon's Queen Consort]

The first that comes to my mind is; 

Because it's original, it's well written, well supported and contributes to the overall discussion.

[Tijgy]

@sweetsunray does the thread solely to be about one single theory? 

I really love the following thread: 

where people are discussing several puns and wordplays? So I am not really sure the thread fulfills the requirements for a nomination?

 

[sweetsunray]

1 hour ago, Tijgy said:

@sweetsunray does the thread solely to be about one single theory? 

I really love the following thread: 

where people are discussing several puns and wordplays? So I am not really sure the thread fulfills the requirements for a nomination?

 

The OP proposes a theory that George uses puns and wordplay and proposes several particular puns and worplays. So, yes, perfectly valid thread to nominate.

[The Fattest Leech]

I also want to put forward this one by @Seams and @Julia H. because of its wonderful analysis on the Stark kids and their pups and how they relate in to the main story as a whole. 

 

[Meera of Tarth]

Nomination to Bran's new threads from 2016:

There was another about the Winterfell crypts but I can't find it.

[Meera of Tarth]

9 hours ago, The Fattest Leech said:

I want to go with this one...

But I think I may end up starting with this one about Bloodraven  by @LiveFirstDieLater because I think Brynden Bloodraven RIvers is very important to the story in the past and present. He is that rickety old wooden bridge that your not sure if you should cross. Even though some opinions may or may not have changed since this thread started, I learned a lot and was able to form some of my own ideas a little better.

I also like the way that even though there were many differing ideas, most everyone stayed sane.

 

I was looking for it (the second one), good it's posted, even if I don't follow the premise. Was a good reading.

 

[The Fattest Leech]

3 minutes ago, Meera of Tarth said:

Nomination to Bran's new threads from 2016:

There was another about the Winterfell crypts but I can't find it.

GAH! Why didn't I think of this one!?!?! Good choice @Meera of Tarth

[Meera of Tarth]

@sweetsunray my search button doesn't work well and I wanted to nominate one that was about Jaime's dream ....I don't know if it started this year, but I think so.

 

[Meera of Tarth]

3 minutes ago, The Fattest Leech said:

GAH! Why didn't I think of this one!?!?! Good choice @Meera of Tarth

Yes, now I'm confused, but I think I read another one abut Winterfell crypts, more concrete....am I wrong?

[Meera of Tarth]

I nominate this one too:

thanks @The Fattest Leech for finding it for me!

[The Fattest Leech]

My first and foremost for realzzz thread I want to nominate is this one  because it gives a very horrifying plausible reason that out first hero, Ned, may not be at rest. This theory is well thought out and plays into a lot of sub-plots, with potential to carry on in the future books.

And it is horrifyingly sad if it is true and I think about it a lot.

 

[sweetsunray]

 @The Fattest Leech I would not mind if that one turned out to be totally wrong.

In relation to that one I nominate firstly this thread started by  @bemused regarding Shadrich, Morgarth and Byron. That thread gave me an extra viewpoint to read Brienne's chapters in aFfC, that is overloaded with layers for all sorts of interesting theories out there, speculation about identities of some of the people that Brienne meets and how some of those characters may have further impact on the plot, some which may be crackpot and may turn out to be wrong. I had wondered about the assumption that Hollis Mollen was at Greywater Watch before, but I originally found no first-sight obvious hints that he wasn't and what may have happened to him if he hadn't... but rethinking Brienne's voyage, the meeting with the HS and the many references to the Bloody Mummers wreaking havoc near Maidenpool gave me the puzzle pieces for an alternative fate and location.

 

[sweetsunray]

Another thread I'd like to nominate is Dead or Somewhat Dead, where @Curled Finger to take a step back and consider all the different Undead characters and how dead they are. Several people threw in their insights and a sort of group-list resulted out of it.

 

[LmL]

On 12/11/2016 at 7:26 AM, Meera of Tarth said:

Nomination to Bran's new threads from 2016:

There was another about the Winterfell crypts but I can't find it.

Yep, this is a great one for sure!

[Seams]

I am a big fan of "Them Bones," which really broke new ground in my thinking, and a number of others among the nominees.

Is the goal to see which single thread gets the most votes? 

I would suggest that there should be different categories, such as:

- Best conversation among more than three contributors;

- Best contribution by a newcomer;

- Best original theory;

- Best insight into a character;

- Best systematic analysis or reread;

- Overall excellence;

- Best tangent from the original post;

- Most hilarious.

Maybe the nominating and voting would become too complicated with multiple categories. I guess this is my way of saying I like different things about different posts, and will find it very difficult to choose a favorite!

[sweetsunray]

If we have enough threads nominated then categories would make the most sense, and if we have enough nominated threads within a category we could even do a point system a la "douzes points" and "dixes points", where you can select a favourite and runner up. So, please nominate threads

[LmL]

I think it might make sense to do this in two phases. first we should nominate excellent threads and list them here, so people have a chance to read them. In facts thread has already been great for that purpose, pointing oieple towards good work form the board. T o me that is the rea point of these types of things - not for one person to win, really, but for people to see what great work is being done and make sure everyone knows about the good threads (some of them anyway) from this year. So, after people have had a couple weeks to read the ones nominated, then perhaps we can have the vote.  Now, to really make this a thing which a lot of pole participate in, @sweetsunray, you need to get the blessing of @Ran and get him to pint the post to the top so everyone sees it. It needs to look like the official 2016 contest thread of the boards. 

In order to have multiple categories, we would need wide participation.  

[The Fattest Leech]

Nevermind. I need glasses