How will Stannis survive the Battle in the Snow?

[kissdbyfire]

But... but... what about the Bolton's connection to the WWs?

 

[Lord Varys]

1 hour ago, Jon Ice-Eyes said:

My only fear is that the Boltons, and this battle, might take up more than two or three chapters. If they last more than half the book it will be a disappointment. The Boltons are a goddamn speed bump, not real villains.

That is most definitely going to be the case. We have one Theon chapter covering the pre-prelude to the battle, with another Asha or Theon chapter covering the events on the island. Then there might be a chapter covering the battle involving the battle(s) involving the Freys and Manderlys, and then another covering the battle against the Boltons under Ramsay (if he is going to show up and not Roose or somebody else entirely).

Then we are still not at Winterfell. And it is not a given that those battles will only get one chapters each. If they drag on then it could be two chapters per battle. And there might be a chapter for the aftermath of the various battles including the making of new plans. There won't be a time jump ahead from, say, Theon standing over the slain Ramsay or Hosteen Frey to them standing in front of Winterfell.

And it is quite interesting how they are going to play the taking of Winterfell. George could make Asha 'a captive' of the Manderlys/Karstarks who might go back into Winterfell to give us the POV of the people inside while Theon remains with Stannis.

The lack of a Winterfell-Bolton POV right now would make the depiction of the conflict after the battle(s) at the village somewhat difficult or at least awfully one-sided. We won't to see how Roose and Ramsay lose everything they worked for. It would be pretty unsatisfying if both were killed off screen by some no-name Northmen.

[OberynBlackfyre]

On 6/21/2017 at 1:35 AM, lAPPYc said:

Hi. This is my first post on this forum. I am a new member, signed up only to ask this question in fact.

So, I've searched this site before for this question. But they all seem to ignore one thing or another in the answers. Someone will not explain the bastard letter, someone will say that Stannis faked his death, but why??? Some people think it was Stannis that wrote the bastard letter, but then again, why, with the possibility of scaring his wife into taking their heir across the narrow sea to save her being hunted by Ramsay's dogs? A lot of people think that he is going to die, but I don't think that it will happen. They say that Stannis loses in the series because he always does the right thing, but that is not true for ASoIaF. ASoIaF has a habit of giving you what you have sown. Ned Stark, Robb Stark, Jaime Lannister, all got the appropriate justice for their actions. Stannis hasn't broken his honor yet(Nor do I think he will). People give a rationale for his losing because he alienates allies by burning people, but that is just a death sentence, deal with it. The allies that leave him because of that will die, not Stannis. Others say that Stannis has to win and survive because he has yet to face Dany etc... but don't provide the how.

In this question, I only want to focus on the Battle in the Snow, and the Bastard Letter and who sent it and why. Remember, in the TWoW sample chapter, we know that the maester sent the ravens to Winterfell, meaning that Ramsay knows about the lakes and a possible plan of Stannis driving the Winterfell soldiers into the lakes is foiled. But, at the end of the same chapter, when Theon lists all the cons of the battleground, Stannis simply replies "yet", and the ravens get excited, this means there exists some other plan. If so, what is it. And if it was a success, why the bastard letter?

First- WELCOME TO THE FORUMS!!!!!!

 

Secondly- I think your reasoning works for the Battle of Ice, but unfortunately like you pointed out in the OP- i think you are leaving out a HUGE piece of foreshadowing.  

Stannis has on multiple times, had the prophecy made that he will break.  He is already one of the most changed characters in the series, although people don't see it.  He has been corrupted too much by Melisandre that this kingship is his "right".  

 

And especially since we now know that  

Shireen will definitely die by being burned at the stake

 

I think this just compounds the fact that he will turn into something like a fire version of the Night's King.  

The thing with the Pink Letter is that if Jon does end up going to help Stannis, the North may rally around HIM.  Since he was technically Stannis' saving grace, he would be resurrected by then as well, and he would be "of the North".   This could easily be when Stannis breaks.

[MostlyMoody]

Most people expect Stannis to lose. The odds are against him; Bolton army, starvation, freezing cold, dubious northmen alliances. So he will likely win the battle somehow, most likely using that lake but who knows.

As to the letter - I think Mance wrote it. The language used in it is heavily implying him to be the author (focus on Mance himself in the letter, un-Ramsay like Ramsayisms, 'black crows', 'false kings', 'red witch').

Also if it is Mance, his motives aren't as clear as Stannis or Ramsay which makes for a more interesting read.

5 hours ago, OberynBlackfyre said:

And especially since we now know that  

 

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Shireen will definitely die by being burned at the stake

 

 

Can't wait for the Missandei/Grey Worm romance =D 

[Aegon VII]

Forgive me if you have already, but I think you're going to get the best info if you read the nights lamp theory and then some theories on stannis as the lights/nights King. Also, Mance writing the pl and conspiring with other northern houses leads nicely into the other northern houses abandoning stannis after wf for Jon. So, stannis wins battle of ice->north betrays him-> stannis goes to night fort as nights King-> becomes blue eyed man holding flaming sword that we see in Danys vision.

stannis knows Mance is alive and was sent to rescue arya, does not know that Mance went rogue and is really working on his own ploy (involves umber conspiracy which we know from Rowan, and pl)