Kierria

Jon and Arya have already succumbed to their inhumanity. Winterfell is a place of evil. It would be fitting if the black rock, the one worshipped by the Bloodstone Emperor, is the foundation of the castle.

A Game of Thrones began with a Bran chapter and ended with Daenerys and the birth of her Dragons. I think it is also the way the story will end. The story began on a very, very dark note. Ned Stark, spouting silly nonsense like the man passing the sentence should do the actual killing, forces his children to watch him murder a sick man who has loyally protected the realm for forty years. Theon, the a$$, kicks the man's severed head around is our introduction to how the bodies of the dead are violated. It seems not even death earns dignity in the North. Arya would later apprentice to the Faceless Men and she also violates the bodies of the dead. The execution party happens upon a disturbing scene where a Stag and a Direwolf had killed each other. The Starks take the wolf cubs in and begins their mental and emotional descent into savages. Winter has begun. The rise of Bran Stark is the beginning of the Darkness and the harbinger of death in Westeros. Bran and the Starks will bring a world of hurt to the people of Westeros. Supernatural pestilence, unclean creatures like Direwolves, ice spiders, and such as what nightmares are made of. In the last chapter, we are given hope. The beautiful music of the dragons heard in the dark of night for the first time in a very long time. Daenerys, Azor Ahai, brought dragons back from a long extinction. She and her dragons will defeat Bran and end his cold grip on Westeros. The land should bloom again and the plans for reconstruction can begin.

No happy endings for them. Though they may get temporary and brief satisfaction from getting even.

We should give Dunk the benefit and see how he turned out after spending his time on the road and in the company of a smart little boy. Lack of education because he was confined to the slums of Kings' Landing limited his growth. Arlen was the first person he knew who could read. Dunk's shortcomings in natural intelligence is compensated with practical street sense. I think the book's author respect practical sense over IQ. He sure would know the value of street sense from having grown up in New Jersey public housing. Disclaimer > never been to Bayonne. Am basing my opinions from time in NY. I think you all get the point though. Practical sense is what will keep Arya alive in the Game longer than Sansa even though the difference between them is small. Arya is handicapped by her emotional and mental issues but the lessons she learned in the slums of Kings' Landing is a better preparation over Sansa's. Victarion is a brute. He keeps company with brutes and low lifes. What natural intelligence he was born with got wasted like unused muscles. The Greyjoys never impressed me with their intelligence. That goes for Victarion, Euron, Theon, and Balon.

He was paid by the magister to kill Ned Stark and Robert Baratheon. He was already in King's landing before the birth of Dany's dragons.

Jon is definitely not the hero. He is the Judas who betrayed the Brotherhood tasked with saving the living world from the Others. His betrayals are not yet done. It looks like he will come back and murder the men guarding the wall. Daenerys, on the other hand, is the promised savior. The one who became Azor Ahai after being born again from the flames. The pyramids of Meereen came straight from the bible. She is like a Moses liberator who will lead the slaves from bondage and punish the slavers. She will do the same in westeros and burn the Others for their evil sins. The Others and the Skin Changers are even more evil than the slavers. What they do with skin changing is slavery.

Hoster Tully Joffrey Baratheon Syrio Forel Jon Snow Little Walder

The battle of the bastards is an hbo creation. It can still happen in the books if Stannis is killed and Arya fails to kill the Boltons. The Boltons catch Arya and puts her to the question. Arya dies and Jon leads a pack of wights to avenge his sister.

A dragon is worth more than any army. The Astapori would have been the rulers of the bay given time for Drogon to grow. The Astapori can always train more soldiers.

Injuries are not healed when the dead are brought back. What killed them are serious injuries. They do not get repaired by the resurrection ritual. Arya will carry the physical damage but what is left of her mind will be tucked away in her wolf. Nym will be one crazy direwolf with part of Arya's mind in her. The dragons were not dead because of injury or the body giving out because of old age. The species just went extinct. The vitality of the dragons were connected to the vitality and strength of the Targaryen family. Daenerys is very strong mentally and she has a strong will. That means Drogon, Rhaegal, and Viserion are strong.

Bran is being exposed to horrors. Most of those horrific things were done by his own ancestors. It is Arya though who has already lost some of her sanity.

There is a telepathic connection between her and her dragons. Drogon in particular senses her feelings and worries.

The legend is an attempt to explain the origins and the periodical rebirth of dragons. It perfectly matches the story of Daenerys and Drogo. Drogo, the Moon, got too close to the Sun, Daenerys, and burned. The dragons are hatched, or rather released from the eggs. Quentyn got too close to Daenerys and her dragons and got burned. The dragons get out. Daenerys is Azor Ahai. Drogo was her Nissa Nissa. Drogon, Viserion, and Rhaegal are the dragons who will multiply and repopulate the species.

Arya's critical thinking skills are immature and lacking. It gets worse in recent books because her sanity has slowly been eroding. We last read an Arya who has become an out of control killing machine. It has only made her more dangerous because she is increasingly obsessing over revenge while her sanity has decreased to an alarming low.

The Tyrion-Sansa story will end in a fashion similar to the Hunchback's and Esme's in Hugo's novel. Sansa will be executed for the deaths of Lysa. And Sweetrobin, whom Sansa will murder.

George will keep magic mysterious. Explanations are not coming. Daenerys is very special because she has the ability to bring an extinct species back to life. Her best traits are not magic though. She is very intelligent and very cunning. She is a great leader. The fire resistant tricks aside it is her non-magical qualities that make her admirable.

She did survive another fire. At Daznak's Pit.

Arya and her direwolf are too wild for the south to deal with. The faceless men can't handle her and the silent sisters won't be able to. Arya will not die in prison. She will die in combat while fighting one of her victims.

Worst diplomatic moment in the series ? The worst diplomatic moments conduct came from the young men. Viserys loses his temper and makes threatening behavior in Vaes Dothrak. Jon puts the NW in danger to rescue his sister from the Boltons. Robb's execution of Lord Rickard Karstark was a terrible political move.

We must be on different camps when it comes to the families we like. I have always seen Daenerys and the Targaryens as the protagonists. The clues are there in the Daenerys sections in the books. Her dream vision of walking and then running fast while her godly ancestors were telling her to go faster. The three betrayals which she has to discover, expose, and then punish. The Sealord of Bravos must have understood and that was why he was supporting the restoration of the Targaryens. Qaithe is going through a lot of trouble to protect Daenerys and her dragons. The Gods took Rhaegar and Viserys out of the way to make sure it is Daenerys who will rule. Daenerys is more capable than any of the leaders of an age with her. She is the only person who can be trusted with enormous armies and the power that comes along with that.

Which characters do you hope dies in the coming books? Jon Snow, Bran Stark, Jaime Lannister, Euron, and Aegon.

The Targaryen + Targaryen parent requirement for the Prince Who Was Promised-Azor Ahai was also to produce someone who can bring the dragons back to life. To bring an extinct species back to life takes very powerful magic and that magic belongs to Dany alone. It is additionally necessary in order to remove the possibility of the non-Valyrian gene causing madness. The few Targaryens who went mad came from Targaryen + Non-Targaryen parental pairings.

Samwell's trickery. Jon is not leader material. He would have been a good ranger as long as his duties never conflict with Stark interests. But Jon should never be entrusted with leading and ruling. Whereas Daenerys is a very talented young leader who continues to sharpen her skills.

Trauma from repeated stress and this new revelation fully explains Arya's mental instability.

Arya will be in full-blown insanity by the time she returns to Westeros. Her insanity level will be off the charts. She suffers from madness now but she still has some control. Jon's death, when the news reach Arya, will send her to level 11 madness.