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The Winds of Winter , return of Benjen Stark ?


davybyrne95

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I always thought that an amazing Winds of Winter would be to start off with the sample chapters we've received (plus, I don't know, maybe two more) as the prologue.

Then, the following chapter just states "BENJEN". The remaining chapters (which do not have a POV name above them) are an entire POV book of Benjen's adventures in the great white north, filling in everything about the Others that we need to know for the last book or two. It would be so unconventional in this series, and quite amazing, all at the same time.

Of course, that will never happen.

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But I believe he has said we will find out what happened to Benjen, so obviously ,whether alive or dead , his story influences the greater story.. my guess is he's alive.

I agree. he's just referred to way too often not to play a further role. and I don't think he's coldhands because bran didn't recognize him. it would just be too goofy for bran to spend days with him and never get a good look at his face, without some mention and explanation of that fact, or at least potential implicit explanation..

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A couple things in terms of story telling. You cannot start a story without knowing how you want it to end. Benjen is there in the beginning and somehow needs to come full circle in a big way. I believe it will be Benjen that reveals Jons birthright to him which partially explains the need for him to disapear, although readers might find out from some other source beforehand from Brand. My semi crack pot theory is that Benjen is actually going to the villain of the story who thinks hes doing right by justifying his actions as a cleansing of the sinners of westeros... the same ones that killed his sister. Hes somehow warging the wights or working with the Others. He would probably know more about them the anyone else on the nights watch. The longer he is missing the more suspicious his character becomes.. especially if he shows up in tact later on.. who could survive that long behind enemy lines? I disagree with the assertion that the bad guy in this book is some unknown ancient creature that wants to zombify everybody.. the motive is to simply and doesnt do anything for the story.

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Benjen was very early on established as a man of importance, and has been mentioned too many times since to simply disappear to never show up again. We remember him and wonder what happened to him after he went missing. It is a loose end that needs to be tied. Unless he already is back in a disguised or different shape (e.g. Coldhands, The Hooded Man) he will be back. I don't think as a character in a prologue or epilogue.

And I do think he should reappear in TWOW, yeah.

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I think we will see Benjen through Bran's POV. I think Benjen has travelled to the lands of always winter to really understand what is going on with the others. Since GRRM said we will be seeing the Lands of Always Winter in the last two books, it makes the most sense that it would be Bran exploring those lands since he is closest geographically and his powers may aide him in exploring that area.

In one of Bran's dreams in Game of Thrones he sees what lies past the wall at the edge of the world and the 3EC tells him that is why he must fly. Additionally in Game of Thrones, when Bran hears of Benjen’s disappearance he says that the Children of the forest will help him, this may be additional foreshadowing that Benjen is heading further north. I think we will learn the true nature of the others from Benjen and the children of the forest with Bran, who may have been among the children who fought the others with the first men during the long night.

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“Ben Jen, “ the raven squawked, bobbing its head, bits of egg dribbling from its beak. “Ben Jen. Ben Jen. “

Bloodraven, or whomever is warging Mormont's raven at that time, is obviously trying to hint at the way Benjen died: he got cut in half, straight in the middle.

He's dead. Give it up. :P

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I think Benjen is back already, as the Hooded Man in WF. He may have already been farther north than we've seen , but we get to hear about it ..or once there is a suitable Stark established in WF, he'll be free to do something else.

There are now two experienced Stark leaders ,Jon and Benjen ... one for the wall and one for WF .

"there must always be a Stark in WF" maybe when Bran left Benjen showed up, assuming their does always need to be a Stark in WF.

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I think that's exactly what happened ( but I know not everyone agrees with me :D)

As the boys were escaping , Benjen was on his way back. BR/CoTF would definitely help BJ. They had the opportunity to know the loyalties of the various Northern Lords..and what many , if not all of their various plans for resistance might be. To my mind, Benjen is the one person who could pull them all together, and the only one who could have had the forgotten importance of "There must always be a Stark in WF" revealed to him.

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I always thought Benjen was Coldhands but i'm pretty sure that theory has been debunked somewhere if I'm not mistaken? Otherwise I'll doubt we'll see him again "alive" so to speak.

It's not debunked some people believe that when the singer told Bran that Coldhands had been killed long ago that it means he must have died hundreds of years ago but not everyone agrees, and to my knowledge grrm has not confirmed either way.

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I've often hoped Benjen was alive but part of me thinks he truly is dead and was written that way in order to highlight how harsh it truly is beyond the wall if even a Stark cannot survive it for long.

So Samwell and Gilly, a girl who had recently gave birth, make it out on foot yet Benjen, a seasoned ranger, cant? Benjen's alive

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