Black Crow

I don't necessarily see it as circular - rather that the issue of Winter has always ben important and this is just a reminder

Ah, but that ending is about to be followed by the Winds of Winter - which rather suggests a continuation of that first prologue As to the pretty picture. Seen it before. The immediate reaction is that its Rhaegar and Lyanna - and he looks glum

True and it references another Sherlock Holmes text - the dog that barked in the night. Or rather, of course, it didn't. In this case Aegon Targaryen invaded Westeros and with the aid of his dragons proceeded to conquer everything in sight. Until he got to the North and agreed a treaty with the Lord of Winterfell. Then down south the Targaryens build Summerhall which has a so far undisclosed significance.

Coming from Scotland and currently living in Northumberland I've always read Winterfell as a noun - Vinterfed if you prefer, but the thought occurs to me, reading this post, that the Stark possession of Winterfell may be balanced by the Targaryen possession of Summerhall

Various things... seriously though. Heresy began way back in 2011 as the Wall, the Watch and a Heresy. The Heresy essentially was the suggestion that the then assumption that the Starks were good and that the Wall was mankind's last best hope against the horror from the North. We also had our doubts about some other conventional wisdoms such as R+L=J and so on its gone, offering a forum for a quirky, unconventional look at the story.

I'm not sure that there's confusion. It seems pretty straightforward that Mels warning that she will be going too rather than predicting an unknown "other" red woman - which would be confusing

Fern is relatively small, a Collie cross and quite joyfully mad. George, however, is an English Mastiff and rather big. Happily not mad, which is just as well

Sad news. My two send their condolences as they too lost a dear friend a couple of days ago

Its Mel's usual bit about "the path ahead and the path not taken and it comes over as a warning that if he goes, she'll go too. OK its ambiguous anent Mel but there is no-one else in Red at Castle Black to go along with the rangers

As Takiedevushkikakzvezdy says, its discussed in the Reddit info dump published by Mithras. It was some detailed info on the War of the Ninepenny Kings. It didn't make it into the book but was used for a game so Elio reckoned it was only cut to save space rather than because GRRM had changed his mind. ie; it can [tentatively of course] be regarded as "factual"

I'm inclined to disagree. There's no alternative candidate so far and I think that Mel is simply warning Jon that if he does go ranging, she will go too

I agree with the intervention by Borroq - there has to be a reason for him there - but I think it will be much more straightforward Jon's human body has been killed but As he died his last thought was "Ghost" GRRM famously commented "oh you think he's dead do you" Jon is still alive, but has shifted to Ghost Borroq realises this Borroq arranges for Ghost to escape [with Jon] to the Haunted Forest

I'm sure that he will contact them, but he doesn't have legs. And yes it could be chewy - and make sense too if Rickon is also to be found

All things are possible, but Jon/Ghost escaping north into the Haunted Forest to find Bran seems more like what we can expect from GRRM. Jon as Beric seems a touch pointless and leaves Bran unrescued

I think that Jon in Ghost will fit with where the story is going rather than Ghost plus wight.

Oh I agree. I fully expect that he will turn up as a Nazgul/Walker, but not as the big bad of the Mummer's Farce - and yes Stannis seems much more likely

Anent, Jon/Ghost running north, I'm very much reminded of an old SSM - I think a newspaper or magazine article - where GRRM was grumbling about writer's block and by way of example spoke of Jon being pursued through the forest and wondering where he could find food. It obviously didn't tell us much but would be entirely consistent with Jon/Ghost escaping. The need for food sounds very Ghost-like

Might be, but I'm not convinced that they are "hunting" rather than hunted

I thought that this one was interesting: "The snow was falling where his brother was, covering all the woods in white. And there were hunters near, living men and dead men, and the ones who wore the shapes of men but smelled only of cold." "The ones who wore the shapes of men but smelled only of cold" is a superb description of the Walkers if we accept them as wargs forming temporary bodies of snow and ice and cold as discussed in previous heresies. The dead hunters are obviously wights But who are the "living men" ? Ghost seems to sense that all three are working together.

That's rather the point. There' is of course an alternative theory played out in the Mummer's Farce that he will be raised from the dead by our Mel, who is of course handy situated. There are a number of problems with this - starting off with the possibility of her being complicit in the assassination and having no experience of such a trick, but ultimately the fact that Jon is not dead, but removed to a different body [Ghost]. On the other hand the Ghost/Jon travelling north not only works but makes sense of it all.

Then skipping over to Jon [and Ghost... As you know I've argued for some time that his story arc is going to revolve around Winterfell and Winter rather than the Iron Throne etc etc. I've suggested that he's going to embrace the Musgrave Ritual and turn Cold, ie; become a Walker. To my mind that outcome makes a lot of sense, but the accomplishing of it has always been unclear. However, the hints here seem clear: that he gets his human body killed and jumps into Ghost. The problem then is how does he escape from Ghost, but if he and Ghost flee north into the Haunted Forest and make their way to Bran, then that offers Opportunities with a capital O

Yes, I agree. Mel's knowledge of history [and anything else] up north amounts to didley squat Referring to the Nightfort as the "heart of the Wall" is of a piece with her descriptions of the Wall as a source of power. It also, moving on, suggests that the Nights King was a product of that power, ie; we're not going to see a return of the Nights King [GRRM has already dismissed him] but there could well be a "curse" on anybody forting up there at the present time.

A long read, but oh so meaty and so important. Lots of stuff to think about and discuss, not least the likely explanation of Jon and Ghost

announced today

Nothing metaphysical We have a beginning, which I've argued is founded on the fall of die Mauer in this world and the Wall made of "ice and magic" - per his latest notablog entry. We have a middle, we've discussed And then we're looking towards a bittersweet ending based on that middle and those discussions Straightforward, by itself, but... Enter the House of the Dragon and the central question of the OP. Is it a part of the middle and if so has the ending changed after all ?