Groo

By my count there are 20 POV characters still alive (21 if you count Lady Stoneheart). One of the reasons for the brisker pace of the first book was that the story was only being told through 8 POV characters. I think Martin could get back to a better paced story just by streamlining the number of POV characters without necessarily giving up major storylines. Here are some obvious contenders. Victarion - He doesn't actually have much of a personal character arc going on. He's given us a POV into the events of the Ironborn and Euron, but we could get that through Aeron's chapters. Once he makes it to Meereen he's just another set of eyes in Essos. He could be killed early on without adversely affecting the overall story. Jon Connington - We haven't spent much time with him. So far, he's been a set of eyes for the events surrounding Aegon. We could get that from Arianne's chapters, assuming she meets up with him which seems likely. We've also gotten some of his reminiscences and regrets about the past which could be the foundation of a solid character arc. However, we haven't spent much time with him and I don't think anyone is deeply invested in his story yet. Besides, if Quentyn can be abruptly bumped off then so can Connington. Aero - He is literally just a fly on the wall. The issue here is whether Martin is interested in us having eyes on Doran, specifically, or if we just need eyes on the actions of House Martell. If it's the later then we'll have plenty of opportunities for that with the Sand Snakes showing up in King's Landing without needing Aero. Ser Barristan - I like him but Daenerys's storyline was working for 4 books without his POV. Also, Tyrion has finally made it to Meereen so we have another set of eyes for the events of Slavers Bay. He could be given a noble death early on. I was tempted to add Melisandre to the list, but she might actually move the story along quicker. Martin will be forced to address the magical elements of the story more directly if he sticks with her.

A "compromise" is only necessary if the timing of several events is close together. Sansa would need to return around the same time as Rickon's return and/or around the same time as Robb's will being revealed (with Jon not being dead and Jon actually being the one Robb named) and/or around the same time as Bran miraculously returning from beyond the Wall. Without that timing there won't be any need for compromise. For example, Sansa isn't going to press any claim if Rickon is found and named Lord of Winterfell before she makes it back north. I doubt any of these will occur close enough to the others to be an issue. The better question is which occurs first. Is Rickon found first or is Robb's will revealed first (again, assuming Jon's not dead and he's the one named)? Even if Bran eventually returns, it's extremely unlikely to happen first. That possibility hasn't even been set in motion yet. I suppose Sansa could return first but that seems unlikely. Littlefinger is getting all his pieces in place. Revealing Sansa too soon means abruptly trigging a war with the Lannisters before Littlefinger is ready with all his plans. Events in North, on the other hand, are already coming to head both at Winterfell and at the Wall.

I completely agree. Most of the story so far has been the game of thrones but the big shadow hanging over everything is the return of magic, including the Others and dragons. If this isn't developed with some kind of significant payoff, I'll be very disappointed. As immensely enjoyable as the game of thrones has been, you can't isolate it from the magical fantasy elements. Without dragons, Daenerys's storyline ends in the Red Wastes. Without Melisandre's magic, Stannis's storyline ends quickly when Renly crushes him beneath the walls of Storm's End. Resolving who "wins" the game of thrones won't be enough of an ending if the magical elements aren't thoroughly written, explored, and resolved as well.

The actual trope is even worse than that. Martin's version of beauty and the beast is The Bear and Maiden Fair. He has several versions of this playing out in the story, including a gender reversed version with Brienne as the bear and Jaime as the maiden fair. Look at what the song is actually about, though. A girl is just minding her own business excitedly going to the fair and dreaming of a knight. A bear abducts her and forces himself upon her, but the experience is soooo good she realizes all she really wants is the bear. If you want to be brutal about it, that's nothing but a toxic male rape fantasy. I'm not a shipper. I don't find myself daydreaming, hoping charact X gets together with character Y. That being said, Martin has clearly put a lot of time and thought into the relationship between Sansa and Sandor. Whether it's healthy or not, it's playing an increasing role in Sansa's character arc. It would feel truncated if Sandor dropped out of the story for good and that was the end of it. Plotwise, I'm not sure how they would meet again but I'm assuming Martin isn't done with Sandor and Sansa.

I could agree with that if it was someone other than Sansa. In the beginning she's all caught up in the stories and songs. Joffrey is the handsome prince, Loras is the gallant and dashing knight, etc. At this stage, for Sansa there's no such thing as "just the 'good guy' ". To be clear, I'm not implying Sansa had deep feelings for Sandor but her general interest in Sandor started well before him coming to her room the night of the Battle of Blackwater. It started before the Hand's tourney too.

It could be a function of their seafaring culture. If you're unhappy with your captain, you can probably join a different crew instead. If you own your own ship and aren't happy with how things are being run, you can always sail away and do your own thing. All of this would mean that the ironborn would need to engage in more consensus building than the "greenlanders". A kingsmoot makes more sense in this context.

I think it says a lot that Robb sent Maege Mormont and Galbart Glover to search for Greywater Watch and Howland Reed. It's hard to even find the crannogmen. They're probably best suited to keeping the Neck safe which is a major protection for the North.

For better or for worse, not having Jaime and Cersei related would necessitate a lot of changes to the story. I'm speaking at the character level here. What does the family dynamic look like for Tryion, Cersei, and Jamie if there's no relationship between Cersei and Jamie? It would be very different and those changes would ripple out through the entire story.

Sansa had an unusual interest in Sandor from the beginning. Just think of the tourney for Ned, for example. Gregor goes nuts, kills his horse, and tries to kill Loras. What's Sansa's reaction? "Sandor won." At that moment no one else was thinking that. I wouldn't say all the moments like this add up to a relationship, but it isn't fair to simply say that Sansa didn't care about Sandor.

Are we talking about where the character started or their position at the time of the marriage? I'm thinking about Petyr Baelish. At the time of his marriage, he was officially Lord Paramount of the Trident, Lord of Harrenhall, and on the small council. From that position marrying Lysa Tully isn't a big reach. If you consider where he started from, however, then he's hands down the winner, at least for the characters in the main story.

That's much more believable than the supposed plan he gave to Sansa. My main problem with it, though, is that Littlefinger seems to want Sansa for himself. Perhaps he's OK with someone else having her first as long as he eventually gets her. Tyrion's continued existence is going to be an ongoing issue for Sansa's story. I agree with you that this might have been deliberate on Martin's part. Aegon as king, however, might be one of the very few in a position to have her marriage to Tyrion annulled.

Perhaps that's related to their seafaring culture. Captains usually have absolute authority over their ship.

It more or less comes down to which scene drew you in the most. There are many objectively terrifying events in the story. Imagine being at the First of the First Men, for example, when the wights start pouring through the ringwall. As a reader, though, I wasn't emotionally drawn in that way. It was more like "Finally! Some action with the Others!".

I've always found that odd. For example, image Stannis in Balon's position. If Stannis led the ironborn to such a disastrous rebellion would any of them keep following him? Yet, not only do all the ironborn houses keep following Balon, they even let him try it again 10 years later. The only way I could see that making sense is if Balon was really speaking to his people's desires, if the average ironborn longed for the Old Way as much as he did.

I think the issue is that we don't see enough of the lessor houses in the story to see bastards being fostered. I'm sure some small Westlands house, for example some house sworn to the Crakehalls, would jump at the chance to foster a Lannister bastard. It's not a great honor but it would give them a direct connection to the Lannisters that they could otherwise could not hope to have.