rotting sea cow

She will have her wolf (according to this little theory, see above) and she won't come alone but with others who will vouch for her.

I think the Boltons are going to be dead by the time of the succession crisis. Yes, indeed, LS may already want to crown Arya knowing that she is alive and somewhere in the Riverlands Oh, no... Don't misunderstand me. No claim can be dismissed here, but all of them pose problems for the northmen.

"If he comes so far, but no one thinks he will," Robb said. "I've sent word to Howland Reed, Father's old friend at Greywater Watch. If the Lannisters come up the Neck, the crannogmen will bleed them every step of the way, but Galbart Glover says Lord Tywin is too smart for that, and Roose Bolton agrees. - Catelyn VIII, AGOT What folly? Defending the Neck? It may well be that Howland gets greendreams or something similar, but he is not a greenseer. Still, it is unclear what he knows and what not. What grand conspiracy? It depends on the content of the will and how the lords will interpret it. Some will wish to abide to it, some other not. I think it is bound to happen, but they will get out of it.

Yes. They killed Lord Eddard and Lady Catelyn and King Robb. He was our king! He was brave and good and the Freys murdered him. - Wylla Manderly

Ned & Catelyn, Jon & Lysa were married in the same ceremony. Your post has a quite heavy dose of presentism, because nobody though much of Littlefinger at that point. Nobody still think much of Littlefinger at the end of AFFC, because he plays a completely different game. Rising Littlefinger to higher positions was Jon Arryn's mistake. Hoster for all he knew, Littlefinger will remain in the littlest of the fingers caring for a dozen of sheep for the rest of his life.

I read that theory sometime ago and it is interesting to consider. It doesn't need to happen to make it interesting or fun. In particular it would require careful timeline planning to make it happen and give the big timeline issues, it is indeed difficult. Let's first consider the Stark succession crisis. The Stark succession crisis refers to the (hopefully non violent) conflict among the different claimants to Winterfell and their supporters. In my opinion the conflict will be cut short by the fall of the Wall. But let's review it. At the time of Ned's death the succession was clear. Robb, Bran, Rickon, Sansa and Arya. Jon (as Ned Stark bastard) would be considered only in very exceptional circumstances. Now, Robb, Bran, Rickon and Arya are believed dead. Sansa married to the enemy. Jon joined the Night Watch so he renounced to any feeble claim he ever had. However King Robb altered in his last will. Whilst we do not know the exact contents of that will (not even its current location), it is certainly contain at the very least a legitimization for Jon, putting him ahead in the succession list as the eldest brother. The will may also contain other things like orders to preserve the realm, provisions against Sansa Lannister (was she disinherited?), etc, but these are more speculative. We know however that Bran, Rickon and Arya are not dead and thus have a definite claim to Winterfell. At the same time there seems to be definite plans by Littlefinger to put Sansa in Winterfell. Jon has just been killed. So, the situation is more complicated that Robb ever envisioned. At the end of ADWD, it is likely that the content of the will is not widely known among the Northern Lords. So, other lords are acting independently for a Stark restoration. Specifically Manderly. So, let's revise the claims as ordered by Robb's will and the problems for each claimant. Jon: Not a son of Ned Stark. Although I think this will not known for a while, a key personage (Howland Reed) will see that Jon's legitimization creates a big problem ahead. Jon is also sworn to the Night Watch and thus cannot claim lands. We don't know how dead and resurrection change that. Some of the Northern Lords will claim that the will was issued under false premises so it is not valid anymore, whilst at the same time others will prefer to honor it. King Stannis will likely have a say and may prefer Jon over the others. Bran: The true heir of Robb Stark. The Mountain Clans know he is alive, now missing in the vastness beyond the Wall, so currently unavailable. Although he is going to show supernatural powers it may be that the only way to effectively communicate is through ravens or Theon Turncloack. He is also a cripple and has a Tully look. Rickon: He is a child, so there will be need of a long regency. Supported by powerful White Harbor, which means that the Manderlys will become too powerful for the taste of the other Northern Lords. He may be already back (I think not, but there has been enough time) and come with an army of Skagosi mounted in unicorns and White Harbor knights. He also has a Tully look. Sansa: Married to a Lannister. If she marries again, she will be looked even with more suspicion. Backed by an ambitious, sly and upjumped coin counter. Backed by the powerful army of the Vale, the most Andal of the 7 Kingdoms and the strongest followers of the Seven. On the practical side, she may offer the Vale foodstores to the hungry North. Arya: Nobody ever mention Arya in this thing, so here goes my little theory People have kind of guessed that Arya will return to the Riverlands at some point. Why? There are too many elements of her story that link her there. Nymeria, Gendry, Hot Pie, Sandor, Brienne, TBWB and her mother (or whatever remains of her). I think that the theory that Arya will be the one who puts LS out of her misery is quite compelling. If this is true, Arya will become strongly involved in The Brotherhood without Banners and she may be wooed to claim Winterfell (by some northmen, for example) if they do not know who rules there. She may be even declared Queen then and there. She will have the support of TBWB, of the remaining northmen in the Riverlands, the Nymeria pack, the Blackfish (eventually) and she will take possession of her late brother crown. This is a good way to bring some key people north, where they are needed, like Brienne, Sandor, Gendry, Thoros, maybe even Jaime. She may lay down her claim after meeting her siblings but if the situation is too complicated she may also be compelled to press on.

He needs to destroy that helmet, slaying the Hound once for all. BTW, I think the next Hound will be Strongboar. You put too much emphasis on that. White Harbor follow the Seven and I don't think that most people in the North will really care. Most Old Gods followers doesn't seem to be religious zealots.

They did. They were charged to defend the Neck and they fulfill their mission as best they could. Crannogmen are terribly unsuitable for conventional warfare. Let the Hobbits to stab Trolls in LOTR And his children call him "Prince", indicating that crannogmen recognized Robb kingship. Unless Howland is a greenseer, he doesn't know that Bran and Rickon are alive. He may not even know that his own children are alive. And then, you fall in a plot hole. Why Howland does nothing when Winterfell is taken? These kind of questions are fair, but do not help to resolve the mysteries of the story or make predictions for future installments. I didn't say that Howland Reed would favor Jon. I said that Howland will see troubles (beyond bastardy, NW, blablabla) in supporting Robb's will. But on the other hand, what options are left? Sansa Lannister? The whole thing is being set up to have a succession crisis once the different claimants show up. With some of the North lords supporting Robb's will and others claiming it's moot, etc. And do not forget that Stannis should also have a say.

Howland did support Robb, just ask Victarion. They just weren't in the battles, because crannogmen aren't good at that.

Well, in my view, he needs to literally slay the Hound. I don't think is a Hound cycle if you are trying to set things rights. His hatred in knights is based on his hate towards his brother. If someone teaches him that upholding the knights values makes sense, maybe he will change his mind. Sansa has done a part on this. This is not about the North. It is about Sandor, it is about Sansa.

Because Howland knows who Jon really is. So after the RW, he set out to rescue the last (known) Stark heir. He dyed his hair in orange and went to KL, but arrived too late. He has met other people looking for that heir, particularly curious was a tall, ugly and not very intelligent woman dressed in mail. As per TWOW released chapters, Howland has - at last - found the last Stark heir.

It depends on what he does after leaving Quiet Island. I think he will go out to slay the Hound, who still is out there, doing Hound-things. He will certainly have bad times because of the Saltpans. What I mean is that Sansa will make an exception by knighting him. It will matter to him. Of course, but the climax hasn't reached yet. I think GRRM planned to have him there for five years. You know, that plan failed. So, certain things need to happen at faster pace. This is right, but aren't we discussing Ser Sandor Clegane? I always said if Sandor get knighted it must be by Sansa. Any other person doesn't make sense, and therefore Sansa must be Queen. I believe that will happen, but maybe not. Only the gods (aka GRRM) know. climax

And Sandor couldn't be an exception? Specially when you have an invasion of ice zombies? If Sandor is going to be knighted, it cannot be by some random dude, specially given his loathing of knights. Only after (not before as many knights) doing some awesome deeds (maybe saving Sansa and/or Arya?), he may be receive knighthood. And to make the whole thing satisfying to his (and Sansa and Arya's) arc who is better than Sansa, but Sansa must be queen otherwise cannot knight anyone. This gives their whole relation some chivalric romance overtones. This is the only satisfying outcome if Sandor is going to become a knight (which he may not, but I think he will). It is the same with Brienne, if she receives knighthood (which I think she will), it must be from Jaime. Otherwise, what the point of investing in their respective relationships if you don't get these intense moments? See above. But don't worry about GRRM's PC, DOS is far more stable that any Windows shit that MS produced afterwards and easier to fix in case of a crash or even MBR virus (been there, done that). Also, being mono task makes it even difficult even for NSA thugs to get into the computer, so it is pretty secure, although certainly the security of collaborators is sloppier.

Sandor will get knighted by Sansa Stark, the Queen in the North, will dress in Bronze Yohn armor (which has of course some magic on it) and will take Lady Forlorn (what an apt name for Sansa too) valyrian sword to battle the Others. Many other things will happen in between but that is his endgame.

GRRM has expressed many times his preferences for grey characters, characters with internal conflicts who could do great and evil things depending on the circumstances and their own choices. As the series continue, we know that the important fight is the one against the others. Plenty of grey characters will join that fight. Chiefly among the grey ones are Daenerys and Tyrion (Jon is painted quite white), but others greyish will likely join too, like Jaime, Sandor, Stannis, Jorah, etc. What about those who are clearly in the black side. Shit people like Euron, Tywin, Ramsay, Gregor or Vargo. Some of them have died or will day soon, but there are plenty of petty and bigger villains (Aeron or Victarion for example) . None of them will join the fight? It is possible that one thing that define villainy in these series is the inability of these evil characters to have any conflict about their acts.