Is this GRRM's big twist that he just came up with?

[Victarious2]

http://ew.com/article/2016/02/25/george-rr-martins-game-thrones-twist/

He mentioned a character who died in S5, and that it involves multiple characters, and that he'd come up with a twist for one in particular.  Could it be that it involves Mance Rayder, and the twist being that he is actually Rhaegar Targaryen in disguise?  After all, he is a musician, a good fighter, and he has an interest in the Winterfell crypts for some reason (perhaps to visit Lyanna's tomb?)  George has faked plenty of character deaths by now, so I'm not sure he'd rule out a twist that Rhaegar is alive.  Besides, it's a good way to reveal to Jon Snow his true parentage.  And if Jon Connington ever meets Mance and recognizes him then there's more proof.

[Aegon VII]

39 minutes ago, Victarious2 said:

http://ew.com/article/2016/02/25/george-rr-martins-game-thrones-twist/

He mentioned a character who died in S5, and that it involves multiple characters, and that he'd come up with a twist for one in particular.  Could it be that it involves Mance Rayder, and the twist being that he is actually Rhaegar Targaryen in disguise?  After all, he is a musician, a good fighter, and he has an interest in the Winterfell crypts for some reason (perhaps to visit Lyanna's tomb?)  George has faked plenty of character deaths by now, so I'm not sure he'd rule out a twist that Rhaegar is alive.  Besides, it's a good way to reveal to Jon Snow his true parentage.  And if Jon Connington ever meets Mance and recognizes him then there's more proof.

This is my best theory for what the twist is.

[Makk]

No chance in my opinion. As far as I am aware he never said the character in question died in any particular season. The way he describes it the twist grows out of a decision a character makes. He also says the twist feels organic and makes perfect sense

Quote

It’s easy to do things that are shocking or unexpected, but they have to grow out of characters. They have to grow out of situations. Otherwise, it’s just being shocking for being shocking. But this is something that seems very organic and natural, and I could see how it would happen.

To me what you suggest feels completely opposite of what he has said here.

It is and will be an interesting discussion as to what the twist actually is however.

 

[Renly's Banana]

Mance being Rhaegar is somehow worse than Tyrion being a Targaryen. 
There are more holes in that theory than swiss cheese. 

[JNR]

49 minutes ago, Victarious2 said:

George has faked plenty of character deaths by now, so I'm not sure he'd rule out a twist that Rhaegar is alive.

It depends on whether you think he lied outright in this SSM.

Quote

 

[What happened to Rhaegar's body?]

Rhaegar was cremated, as is traditional for fallen Targaryens.

 

 

[lancerman]

My problem with this is that when we first see Mance he's described as being fairly unremarkable, not too tall, not buff or stoic. Just sort of very average an unassuming. Rhaegar is described as tall and pretty much the most ideal male in the 7 kingdoms. 

[Good Guy Garlan]

12 minutes ago, lancerman said:

My problem with this is that when we first see Mance he's described as being fairly unremarkable, not too tall, not buff or stoic. Just sort of very average an unassuming. Rhaegar is described as tall and pretty much the most ideal male in the 7 kingdoms. 

That's just one of the many problems with this, another one being that Rhaegar would never in a million years be stupid enough to crash a feast where there's Ned Stark, Robert Baratheon and the Lannister siblings. 

[Lucius Lovejoy]

1 hour ago, Renly's Banana said:

Mance being Rhaegar is somehow worse than Tyrion being a Targaryen. 
There are more holes in that theory than swiss cheese. 

 

13 minutes ago, lancerman said:

My problem with this is that when we first see Mance he's described as being fairly unremarkable, not too tall, not buff or stoic. Just sort of very average an unassuming. Rhaegar is described as tall and pretty much the most ideal male in the 7 kingdoms. 

Agreed on both counts.  Would Dalla's baby be the 4th head of the dragon?  Rhaegar is made out to be this mysterious romantic character - it would be really odd if he was Mance on so many different levels.  I think Stannis is the character whose storyline is changing.

[Victarious2]

35 minutes ago, Lucius Lovejoy said:

 

Agreed on both counts.  Would Dalla's baby be the 4th head of the dragon?  Rhaegar is made out to be this mysterious romantic character - it would be really odd if he was Mance on so many different levels.  I think Stannis is the character whose storyline is changing.

Stannis changing in what sense?  That he'd give up on his quest for the Iron Throne?

[zandru]

Also, isn't Mance described as having black hair? Whereas Rhaegar would have the silver hair and lavender eyes of the Targaryeons. (Yeah, the blackness could be dirt, but that's truly stretching it.)

[Jon's Queen Consort]

TV series topics belong to the TV series forum.

[rotting sea cow]

Being a twist doesn't automatically mean secret identities. For example. There was a talk about a controversial chapter involving Sansa, I seem to recall. I could perfectly imagine her becoming manipulative and deceitful, and doing questionable things, like Littlefinger, only to find her truth self later on.

In the end it could be anything, from Mance writing the PL, to Barristan becoming the king of Meeren.

 

8 minutes ago, Jon's Queen Consort said:

TV series topics belong to the TV series forum.

It doesn't seem to be related to TV series, except that the character is dead in the show, but not in the books.

 

 

[Jon's Queen Consort]

Just now, rotting sea cow said:

It doesn't seem to be related to TV series, except that the character is dead in the show, but not in the books.

That is what makes it a TV series topic. Many people here don't care and don't want to be spoiled from the TV. Hence this belongs to the TV series forum.

[Ferocious Veldt Roarer]

16 hours ago, Victarious2 said:

http://ew.com/article/2016/02/25/george-rr-martins-game-thrones-twist/

He mentioned a character who died in S5, and that it involves multiple characters, and that he'd come up with a twist for one in particular.  Could it be that it involves Mance Rayder,

Could be.

16 hours ago, Victarious2 said:

and the twist being that he is actually Rhaegar Targaryen in disguise?

Could not be.

[Ferocious Veldt Roarer]

15 hours ago, Renly's Banana said:

Mance being Rhaegar is somehow worse than Tyrion being a Targaryen. 
There are more holes in that theory than swiss cheese. 

Well, to be fair, this theory contains no Swiss cheese. Like, at all. (More the pity, that could be actually interesting).

[Robert Baratheon's hammer]

Everyone is a secret Targaryen.

[Clegane'sPup]

Martin supposedly made the remark sometime early in 2015. I compared the two articles.I don't know if he mentioned on his blog.

http://ew.com/article/2015/04/03/george-rr-martin-winds-date/

In one intriguing new wrinkle, Martin says he just came up with a big, revealing twist on a long-time character that he never previously considered. “This is going to drive your readers crazy,” he teases, “but I love it. I’m still weighing whether to go that direction or not. It’s a great twist. It’s easy to do things that are shocking or unexpected, but they have to grow out of characters. They have to grow out of situations. Otherwise, it’s just being shocking for being shocking. But this is something that seems very organic and natural, and I could see how it would happen. And with the various three, four characters involved… it all makes sense. But it’s nothing I’ve ever thought of before. And it’s nothing they can do in the show, because the show has already—on this particular character—made a couple decisions that will preclude it, where in my case I have not made those decisions.”

Who is the ASOIAF long time character twist that Martin is talking about in this article?

My scientific wild ass guess would be Jojen since the twist involves 3 or 4 people.

Martin seems to have stopped giving interviews and has on more than one occasion criticized internet journalism.

If I wanted to spend a couple hours comparing characters I would start with this.

http://time.com/3924852/every-game-of-thrones-death/

[Prince Yourwetdream Aeryn]

Doran Martell is not weak as he seems. He tries to manipulate enemies.

[Vaedys Targaryen]

15 hours ago, lancerman said:

My problem with this is that when we first see Mance he's described as being fairly unremarkable, not too tall, not buff or stoic. Just sort of very average an unassuming. Rhaegar is described as tall and pretty much the most ideal male in the 7 kingdoms. 

 

15 hours ago, Good Guy Garlan said:

That's just one of the many problems with this, another one being that Rhaegar would never in a million years be stupid enough to crash a feast where there's Ned Stark, Robert Baratheon and the Lannister siblings. 

 

2 hours ago, zandru said:

Also, isn't Mance described as having black hair? Whereas Rhaegar would have the silver hair and lavender eyes of the Targaryeons. (Yeah, the blackness could be dirt, but that's truly stretching it.)

 

15 hours ago, Lucius Lovejoy said:

 

Agreed on both counts.  Would Dalla's baby be the 4th head of the dragon?  Rhaegar is made out to be this mysterious romantic character - it would be really odd if he was Mance on so many different levels.  I think Stannis is the character whose storyline is changing.

Pretty much all these; Rhaegar was described as being an incredibly beautiful man with indigo-coloured eyes and silver hair and with a beautiful singing voice and a talent for music so good he could make many women cry.

Mance is described having brown, almost grey hair and brown eyes and there is nothing particularily beautiful about him, and his voice is described as "passable" and his playing "fair", according to the Wiki.

Also, Rhaegar was obsessed with prophecy; if he had married Dalla, his child by her would be the fourth head of the dragon, which is wrong.

[rotting sea cow]

3 hours ago, Jon's Queen Consort said:

That is what makes it a TV series topic. Many people here don't care and don't want to be spoiled from the TV. Hence this belongs to the TV series forum.

Hi, I don't actually watch the show (I don't even own a TV), but from what I read not only the show and books have diverged considerably in storylines, but also the show severely lacks the complexity and richness of the books. Furthermore, the fandom has already guessed major plotlines. E.g.  Nobody will be surprised when R+L=J is revealed, nor will feel spoiled because she/he read it in some forum. The manner of the revelation and what it means for JS character and influence in other plot lines is what matters. 

I read myself some of the spoilers of the next season of the show, and they are laughable as guide for the book plot. But there is still some meaning we can extract. Given the long wait for the next book, all we can is speculate.