The Winds of Winter is Going to be a BLOODBATH

[King Doug]

I started a thread like this a while back and someone said something that made a lot of sense. A lot of the POV characters don't necessarily have to die. A lot of them are together, or will be together soon so they don't need to die. Even though I think many will.

Dany, Barristan, Tyrion, Victarion all merge

Asha and Theon Greyjoy have merged (Davos may be back with them soon)

Jaime and Brienne

I'm sure there are more but I'm drawing blanks. I think that if you are alone in a location then that character is pretty safe. Like Cersei in King's Landing. She is the only one there right now so I'm pretty sure she's safe...for now. As well as Melisandre at the Wall. However being the only one there

[Silver Spearwife]

I started a thread like this a while back and someone said something that made a lot of sense. A lot of the POV characters don't necessarily have to die. A lot of them are together, or will be together soon so they don't need to die. Even though I think many will.

Dany, Barristan, Tyrion, Victarion all merge

Asha and Theon Greyjoy have merged (Davos may be back with them soon)

Jaime and Brienne

I'm sure there are more but I'm drawing blanks. I think that if you are alone in a location then that character is pretty safe. Like Cersei in King's Landing. She is the only one there right now so I'm pretty sure she's safe...for now. As well as Melisandre at the Wall. However being the only one there

I've thought that, too. Maybe the minor narrators were only to cover ground. Now that they're being combined, they may be dropped again. Some of them anyway. The situation in Dorne includes Arianne, Areo, and soon probably Jon Connington (as I strongly suspect Aegon will need to treat with the Dornish to discuss them giving him their support), all officially minor POVs. Maybe one will take over?

I do still think that many will die, though, for two reasons. One, that's Martin's reputation and I wholeheartedly believe he'll live up to it. Two, that's sort of how the last war went. And this war is bigger. Much bigger. Actually, it's more like three or four wars combined.

[King Doug]

I've thought that, too. Maybe the minor narrators were only to cover ground. Now that they're being combined, they may be dropped again. Some of them anyway. The situation in Dorne includes Arianne, Areo, and soon probably Jon Connington (as I strongly suspect Aegon will need to treat with the Dornish to discuss them giving him their support), all officially minor POVs. Maybe one will take over?

I do still think that many will die, though, for two reasons. One, that's Martin's reputation and I wholeheartedly believe he'll live up to it. Two, that's sort of how the last war went. And this war is bigger. Much bigger. Actually, it's more like three or four wars combined.

I agree some of the minor POVs could just go away like Areo, even Damphair (even though I really want Damphair to die, he just sounds like a whiny biotch). I think many will die as well, its just inevitable.

[Fae Boleyn]

My prediction is that mostly everyone will die and that Arya and Gendry will marry and rule Westeros. Gendry will be recognized as Robert's heir and marry Arya which is what Robert and Ned orignally wanted. You will have 2 popular rules who will know what it is like to live in fear as peasants.

I have to say, I think even if Gendry could be legitimized - and I doubt he can, because he was never acknowledged - he and Arya would be terrible rulers. Arya often reminds me of a grittier Alanna of Trebond (although Alanna's love of knight tales is a bit like Sansa, except she wants to be the knight) from Tamora Pierce's Tortall universe. In those books, Alanna refuses to be Queen Consort because she knows she'd be horrible at it; she's temperamental, very undiplomatic, would rather be a warrior in the King's service than his wife (she felt this way even when they were in love, fyi).

I feel like Arya would not want to be Queen for similar reasons. And I think the same about Gendry as King. I'd like to see them together once Arya is old enough, but I think they'd both want to be far from politics once Arya has her revenge.

(On another note, first-time poster, hello! *waves*)

[Ser Pink of Floyd]

I started a thread like this a while back and someone said something that made a lot of sense. A lot of the POV characters don't necessarily have to die. A lot of them are together, or will be together soon so they don't need to die. Even though I think many will.

Dany, Barristan, Tyrion, Victarion all merge

Asha and Theon Greyjoy have merged (Davos may be back with them soon)

Jaime and Brienne

I'm sure there are more but I'm drawing blanks. I think that if you are alone in a location then that character is pretty safe. Like Cersei in King's Landing. She is the only one there right now so I'm pretty sure she's safe...for now. As well as Melisandre at the Wall. However being the only one there

That does make sense, and in ASOS esspecially, we got a lot of short chapters from 2/3 characters at the same event, which is another way that GRRM will be writing them.

Personally, I dont think that all 20 or so POVs will have anything more then fleeting apperances as PoVs. Ser Barristans PoV will drop off once/when Dany arrives back and Mels only had the 1 anyway, I doubt shes going to get too many more over the series.

As for merging them, Im for that. But Im also a sucker for the 'Dark & Gritty' so I wouldnt mind seeing some PoVs being killed off in new, inventive and equally OMG moments that we've been given since page 1 of GoTs.

[Knight ofthe Laughing Tree]

Can you see it? UnCat finally meeting up with Rickon, the dark and wild heir of Winterfell (according to everyone who doesn't really know that it's Bran or Jon Snow) along with his disturbing, huge monster-sized direwolf Shaggydog?

I've always been reading with the eye of a traditional fantasy fan.... thinking there will be some grand unveiling of our Hero at the end, etc. What if there's not? What if the world never knows who Jon is (if he indeed is who most of us think he is)? What if we find out (the audience), and maybe a few key characters, but no one really knows the significance of who he is in Westeros (?) Or it there perhaps some other way Rickon could come to be pit against Jon? I cannot truly fathom a fight between these two that makes any kind of sense in the traditional way (dueling or meeting face-to-face)--- but could it happen another way? What do you think? Will UnCat hook up with Rickon, if so, will they ever see Jon again?

[King Doug]

Can you see it? UnCat finally meeting up with Rickon, the dark and wild heir of Winterfell (according to everyone who doesn't really know that it's Bran or Jon Snow) along with his disturbing, huge monster-sized direwolf Shaggydog?

I've always been reading with the eye of a traditional fantasy fan.... thinking there will be some grand unveiling of our Hero at the end, etc. What if there's not? What if the world never knows who Jon is (if he indeed is who most of us think he is)? What if we find out (the audience), and maybe a few key characters, but no one really knows the significance of who he is in Westeros (?) Or it there perhaps some other way Rickon could come to be pit against Jon? I cannot truly fathom a fight between these two that makes any kind of sense in the traditional way (dueling or meeting face-to-face)--- but could it happen another way? What do you think? Will UnCat hook up with Rickon, if so, will they ever see Jon again?

If he is who we think he is then Rickon is not in the way at all as heir of Winterfell. Jon would be in line for bigger things and might be a strong ally with Rickon and the North. I don't see any situation when they would have a qualm towards one another.

I wouldn't be surprised if his identity is unveiled to the readers and only a few characters and he chooses not to pursue it. Being Ned Stark's son has been his life, his true identity. And I don't think he will abandon his duties in the Watch, unless him leaving the Wall is relating to protecting the realm.

[Prince of Braavos]

I think the whole arc of the series is that a ton of these people are going to die. Something I got a strong feeling about reading ADWD was that GRRM was getting back to the original plan. If you look at the first three books, the historical parallels start off really strong in AGOT, then by ASOS they've pretty much completely stopped. Then, in AFFC and ADWD, we're given the papacy asserting power, Cersei's walk of shame, the return of a young exiled heir, and a possible Black Death in the making.

So I think that, when originally laying out the series, a lot of the ADWD and a little of the AFFC stuff was there--that's why it's back to being historical. Then he let the plot write itself so much that it spun out of his control and he had to spend a book and a half getting it back together. And along the way he added a bunch more POVs to keep track of the world he was building. But now he's back to the original plan, he's got people where he wants them, and not too many of these POVs were meant to be created back when AGOT was written... which means there's a lot of minor characters going to die.

Also I just think, after all the deaths in this series, for Winter to really mean something and up the stakes, it has to SUCK. Which probably means killing a ton of people, way more characters than in any book previously. If he's going to build real tension, Winter has to put the characters in an even worse place than the end of ASOS, which means Winter basically has to win.

[NOc]

Being Ned Stark's son has been his life, his true identity. And I don't think he will abandon his duties in the Watch, unless him leaving the Wall is relating to protecting the realm.

Before he was betrayed he WAS PLANNING ON MARCHING AWAY FROM THE WALL AGAINST RAMSAY BOLTON!!! That had nothing to do with protecting the realm. He would absolutely leave the wall, especially now.

[NOc]

But anyways, I hope Davos isn't killed off, although I understand why he might be one of the first to go.

[Tony Soprano]

I'm indifferent about most, but here are the POVs I want to survive:

Sansa

Arianne

Jaime ( I know he's gonna kick the bucket soon... )

Areo

Davos

[King Doug]

Before he was betrayed he WAS PLANNING ON MARCHING AWAY FROM THE WALL AGAINST RAMSAY BOLTON!!! That had nothing to do with protecting the realm. He would absolutely leave the wall, especially now.

Don't agree at all. He was going to march against Ramsay because (assuming the pink letter was actually written by him) he was protecting the Night's Watch. Ramsay threatened the Watch. What is he supposed to do? Sit in his castle that has purposefully been made non-defensible and just take his beating? No way, he's supposed to protect his brothers. The only reason he didn't command his brothers to march with him was because he knew they would perceive that action as breaking their vows. He wasn't marching to Winterfell with aspirations of becoming Lord of Winterfell/King of the North.

Also, if the NW does exist after the assassination attempt, then we have no reason to believe that the actions of the conspirators represented the opinion of the entire Watch. We know Jon has allies, supporters, and friends. Most importantly are the thousands of wildlings that he saved and owe him a huge debt. However, I personally don't think the Night's Watch will survive in the free-for-all that happens in the time that Jon is out of commission, whether he is dead or wounded.

[NOc]

I understand he isn't going after the seat at Winterfell, but isn't there a more important enemy than Roose Bolton? Didn't he get the wildlings on his side so they could go after the others? If Ramsay was to march on the Wall, he'd have the Night's Watchmen, Stannis's men, and the Wildlings as well? They would have the larger number, a number that Ramsay wouldn't expect. Instead, he chose to go away from the wall, which may have put the nail in his own coffin.

[Prince of Dragonstone]

As despicable as Cersei is, I strongly believe that she is one of the pillars of this series. I can't even think of ASoIaF without her evil craziness around. She is one of the most perfectly written villains in the history of this genre, IMO. I know that she is going to die but I hope it happens during the last book. I can't read a book without certain characters being in it and Cersei is one of them.

[King Doug]

I understand he isn't going after the seat at Winterfell, but isn't there a more important enemy than Roose Bolton? Didn't he get the wildlings on his side so they could go after the others? If Ramsay was to march on the Wall, he'd have the Night's Watchmen, Stannis's men, and the Wildlings as well? They would have the larger number, a number that Ramsay wouldn't expect. Instead, he chose to go away from the wall, which may have put the nail in his own coffin.

I would use your same argument. No way Ramsay would expect him marching on Winterfell...at all. Much less him marching on Winterfell with a few thousand wildlings when he only suspects the Watch to have less than 1000 men. And the amount of Stannis's men is negligible. There are only a handful of Queen's men there for her own bodyguard (not positive on the exact number but I think less than two dozen).

I'm sure he had a good strategy since he seems to be quite a military commander, as did his brother. But showing his plans to leave the Wall was his undoing, in the minds of the conspirators.

[Sand Snake No. 9]

I've come to the conclusion that Dany will die. Like the comet, she'll shine brightly for a while and then disappear, her life a study in futility.

[Pommes]

I've come to the conclusion that Dany will die. Like the comet, she'll shine brightly for a while and then disappear, her life a study in futility.

I've come to the conclusion that Dany will die. Like the comet, she'll shine brightly for a while and then disappear, her life a study in futility.

I agree. GRRM said that a dragon can have a new rider when the rider dies. He had a reason for saying this

[NOc]

I would use your same argument. No way Ramsay would expect him marching on Winterfell...at all. Much less him marching on Winterfell with a few thousand wildlings when he only suspects the Watch to have less than 1000 men. And the amount of Stannis's men is negligible. There are only a handful of Queen's men there for her own bodyguard (not positive on the exact number but I think less than two dozen). I'm sure he had a good strategy since he seems to be quite a military commander, as did his brother. But showing his plans to leave the Wall was his undoing, in the minds of the conspirators.

And... The same goes for marching on the wall. We have seen how Stannis's army is doing, and hes south of winterfell. The farther north you go, the worse it gets. Had should have stayed at the wall and smoothed out the transition of wildlings to the watchmen. Instead, they saw that he was going to leave the wall immediately after inviting "the enemy" into their halls. He should have focused on the north rather than the south. The reason Ramsay wants to fight Jon is because he sent Mance to get "Arya" Is the watch not supposed to get rid of family ties? So, going back to the original argument, Jon was going to Winterfell after Ramsay for Arya, his sister, and going against his vows.

[Rheagar Prime]

i know cersei and jamie will die in the last book so will LF and varys this all started because of them and will end with them. i agree with almost everything most ppl said i think bran will "die" in that he will become the tree and most of the others like brinne, euron, theon, Jon C, most tyrells and greyjoys and stannis and mel.

I really hope these characters don't die: sansa, arianne, aegon, arya, davos (oh god spare him from martin's wrath of killing characters i like), asha, rickon.

[Lady Faceless]

Tyrion Lannister: GRRM's favorite wil be around forever.

Jon Snow: His POV will probably be gone for a good part of WoW, at least until he can be brought back.

Arya Stark: All is well-ish.

Sansa Stark: All is well-ish.

Bran Stark: TREE.

Davos Seaworth: I don't think he'll make it to the end of the next book.

Theon Greyjoy: I don't think Theon'll die till the last book. He's gonna pull a total Darth Vader and redeem himself in death.

Asha Greyjoy: QUEEN ON THE SEASTONE CHAIR. Plus, her POV's a good way to look into Stannis's camp and all that.

Brienne of Tarth: I have a feeling her POV will be removed since we can now see what's going on with her through Jaime's eyes.

Samwell Tarly: All is well-ish. Unfortunatly.

Cersei Lannister: I think Cersei's gonna be kicking it in the next book. Maybe.

Jaime Lannister: HELL NO. GRRM HAS MADE ME LOVE HIM TOO MUCH TO JUST KILL HIM OFF.

Daenerys Targaryen: Unfortunatly.

Areo Hotah: Maybe.

Arienne Martell: Yes, but hopefully not for long.

Jon Connington: Greyscales gonna claim him soon, but i'm gonna miss him. I love hearing about his totally heterosexual love for Rhaegar.

Aeron Greyjoy: Meh. I wouldn't complain much if he drowned or something.

Victarion Greyjoy: His chapters are going to be quite interesting in WoW. I hope he sticks around.

Barristan Selmy: Sadly, I think Selmy isn't sticking aound much longer... I hope he at least goes out with a big, badass bang.

Melisandre: Meh. Maybe.