H Wadsworth Longfellow

Bloodraven has a plan to save the people of Westeros. Leaf - "In the world that men have made, there is no room for (direwolves), or us." Is man the real threat? One would think from what we're getting from Leaf. Then the following is contradictory to that argument. Bloodraven wants to save all. "(Bloodraven) has lived beyond his mortal span, and yet he lingers. For us, for you, for the realms of men." "When (singers) died, they went into the wood, into leaf limb and root, and the trees remembered. All their songs and spells, their histories and prayers, everything they knew of this world. Maesters will tell you that the weirwoods are sacred to the old gods. The singers believe they are the old gods. When singers die they become a part of that Godhood." Bloodraven means to save all by migrating their memories and knowledge into the trees. That's what his plan sounds like to me. I changed my mind about Bran's future after reading this chapter. I used to think Bran will survive through the story and live at the end. I don't think that anymore. I now think his body will die and he will achieve that Godhood when he joins the hive minds inside the trees. But there is trouble down the road. "Never fear the darkness, Bran. The strongest trees are rooted in the dark places of the earth. Darkness will be your cloak, your shield, your mother's milk. Darkness will make you strong." All alone in the dark watching the human drama through the eyes of the trees and the ravens. That is Bran's future. And Bran seems to slowly accept it as his dreams of knighthood slowly evaporates in the gloom of the cave. There is trouble though. Bran continues to violate one of the ethics of skinchanging. He keeps forcing himself into the poor stable boy and spies on the Reeds. He begins to develop strong feelings for Meera Reed. I think this is what will turn Bran from the potential greenseer who will save everyone into a selfish boy who will use his power to do harm. Already he has eaten human flesh through his direwolf. Bran is slowly becoming bad.

Daenerys is the equivalent of a Sun Goddess when the story is adjusted for present events. The dragons' disappearing is their way of hibernating. The dragons got weaker during the long Targaryen reign in Westeros. They needed a reboot.

I don't recall Daenerys ever threatening Volantis. I agree that evil city will fall but it will be the work of the slaves. The numerical advantage in manpower is on their side. They don't need help. What they need is legitimacy to make their rebellion more socially or politically acceptable. The church will need political cover before they can start a war for emancipation and one word from Daenerys can provide that.

George put a lot of love in Dany's chapters. He made sure it was a tour-de-force piece of work and those Dany chapters were among the best in all of the books in "A Song Of Ice and Fire." Yeah. I'm biased because I love Dany but even the haters can't deny how good those are. Good enough to stand on their own in a separate novella which won George an award. The DK made their proclamation in Vaes Dothrak that she will bring the stallion who mounts the world and who will unite all of the khalasars. The old ladies were looking past Dany because she is a girl but it turns out she will be the one to do what the stallion is predicted to do, unite the Dothraki.

The prologue is not going to come from a primary character. In other words, it will not come from Daenerys, Bran, or Tyrion. It will be a Sansa or a Jaime kind of chapter. Something like that. It will start with some set up like the one from A Dance with Dragons explaining the rules of skinchanging.

@KingStoneheart Possible but this is dependent on a chain of events of which we can't say happened. What we do know, Jon Arryn was at least curious about the lineage of Cersei's children. But there is not a passage in the text that says Robert Arryn is not who he is.

Catelyn died a violent death like many who was part of the Stark warparty that came from the North. Arya's pet pulled her from the water after she had been dead for some time. Much of what Catelyn was has rotted away with part of her in that river. Arya will have more bodily function because her damage is mental rather than physical.

Jon is the return of the Night's King. I am sure there have been awful commanders in the past but I agree about Jon causing the most harm because of what he has done. Getting himself into conflict with the Boltons is the cause of the coming fall of the Night's Watch. Some of the mistakes was going to happen because Jon was not good at leading. He was too prejudiced and too emotionally attached to Arya and Robb. He was also not the brightest in the brains area. The Dothraki will serve Daenerys and redeem themselves. The khalasars will soon be hers as they have never been Drogo's. The purpose of the khalasars is to bring down the slave trade and by doing so, earn their redemption.

Daenerys Targaryen rescued the Unsullied from their masters. That was an important part of the plot. She is the Liberator, the Breaker of Chains, as well as Azor Ahai. Anyway, by saving the Unsullied from their terrible lives and giving them a worthy purpose, she has changed their story. With the Unsullied at her side, the Dothraki, her natural smarts, and ofcourse her powerful dragons, all things are now within reach. It would have been a mistake to accept the Magister's offer. Instead of depending on another for power and security, she now has them for her own. The Unsullied answer to her and to her designated commanders. Daenerys is free to chart her own course. She can rescue the slaves and reshape that part of Essos to her liking before crossing the seas to take her Westeros back from the pretenders. She has that authority because is Azor Ahai, the daughter of the ruling class of Valyria, and the Targaryen monarch.

Jon was the famous Night's King. He is back and he will pretty much reprise the role of evil commander. The wildlings will either convert and offer up human sacrifices or they will leave Castle Black. The black rock of the ancient stories is either going to be in the Winterfell crypts or somewhere in one of the strongholds at the Wall.

Not just the wildlings. Everybody in the North who knows of what he did.

Mance is the only one who could match Daenerys when it comes to intelligence and leadership. Robb Stark is dead and gone. Cersei, Aegon, Stannis, and Euron are not smart enough to prevent a Targaryen restoration. Mance could become an obstacle. Roose should give that wildling a swift execution before he gets away.

We would have a completely different story. Daenerys is the most important character and her path, the path of the dragon, led to where we are now. We could brainstorm but that is not the story we have. George R. R. Martin wanted to give Drogon, Rhaegal, and Viserion the time they needed to grow and for Daenerys to get experience in governing kingdoms and leading armies. The one deviation which I would have liked is Asshai. That would have been cool.

The Seven Kingdoms will be in a state of misery until it is again unified under Targaryen rule. What I meant was restoring Targaryen rule with Daenerys running the show. And Jon Snow is not a Targaryen. Jon failed to lead a small group at the Wall. Jon is definitely not suitable to rule anything larger than a sheep's pen even if he turns out to be Rhaegar's bastard. Westeros was much better under Targaryen rule than it was when Robert was king. Robert's and Cersei's debt to the iron bank will need to be paid slowly. Though that will be hard to do because of the damage from the five kings at war and the long winter that has arrived. But assuming Westeros survives the assault of winter, the Starks, and the White Walkers, I would like to see the following done. Make payments on the debt. The Wildings will need to go back to the north side of the Wall if they choose to refuse to follow the rules. The Unsulled should replace the city guards and be the security force for King's Landing. Take the Baratheon, Tully, Lannister, and Stark lands and give them to other families who will prove more loyal. Take Sweetrobin for a dragon ride. Show him around the Eyrie from 5000 feet in the air. He will pledge his fealty very quickly. Release Ser Alliser from the watch and give him Storm's End if he kneels and swears fealty. Repopulate the North with the people from Meereen who were slaves.

I have an essay ready to talk about some of the topics in this thread regarding Arya. I am waiting for the right time to post the topic for a more thorough discussion and analysis. It is the second part to https://asoiaf.westeros.org/index.php?/topic/161430-arya-the-darkheart/#comments "Arya, the Darkheart essay part 1." I am thinking of a good title for the new essay. It is part II. I will talk about how George R. R. Martin will more likely than not allow Arya Stark to complete her bloody goal of revenge before she fully goes insane. I also think Martin will bail Arya out and she will die before completely losing her mind.