What ending of Game of Thrones do you absolutely not want to see?

[Ser Gareth]

1 hour ago, Byfort of Corfe said:

Two endings, guaranteed not to happen;

 

They all lived happily-ever-after

It was all a dream

 

Also, put me down as against the Zombie Apocalypse.  I know that Zombies are really popular now, just as a decade back it was vampires, but yes, if they win then all the rest of the story makes no sense and was just a colossal waste of time.

 

Another I would hate is that after the final fight the camera zooms out to two gamers who turn to one another and say "that was fun, what should we play now?"

Oh, and Sansa marries the Hound or she continues her marriage with Tyrion.  Or Arya marries Jon.

GRRM has said that the tale is just that, a tale and not some kind of social commentary (which is just as well considering how many years have passed), but if the Others were to win I don't think it's a colossal waste of time as the morale of the tale would be that had the realm stood together they could've defeated the Others, but because they weakened themselves so badly with petty feuds they all eventually lost.

But I don't think the Others will win.  GRRM's six book plan (with the five year gap) was that book four would deal with Dany's invasion to Westeros, book five would deal with the Others invasion and book six would be a giant prologue that dealt with the aftermath.

Ironically what you say about a colossal waste of time I think will prove to be the case.  The primary tale wasn't Stark vs Lannister, or about politics, or intrigue etc.  It has always been about Man's battle with the Others.  All the stuff leading up to that is a plot device to weaken the realm to make the end game seem more hopelessly desperate and to demonstrate what I wrote above.  That man's internal struggles makes it vulnerable to external forces.

[Byfort of Corfe]

3 hours ago, Ser Gareth said:

GRRM has said that the tale is just that, a tale and not some kind of social commentary (which is just as well considering how many years have passed), but if the Others were to win I don't think it's a colossal waste of time as the morale of the tale would be that had the realm stood together they could've defeated the Others, but because they weakened themselves so badly with petty feuds they all eventually lost.

But I don't think the Others will win.  GRRM's six book plan (with the five year gap) was that book four would deal with Dany's invasion to Westeros, book five would deal with the Others invasion and book six would be a giant prologue that dealt with the aftermath.

Ironically what you say about a colossal waste of time I think will prove to be the case.  The primary tale wasn't Stark vs Lannister, or about politics, or intrigue etc.  It has always been about Man's battle with the Others.  All the stuff leading up to that is a plot device to weaken the realm to make the end game seem more hopelessly desperate and to demonstrate what I wrote above.  That man's internal struggles makes it vulnerable to external forces.

I'm pretty much with GRRM on this, I was never looking at GoT or ASOIAF as a morality play.

[BlackLightning]

22 hours ago, Ser Gareth said:

So you don't think she would've been burnt alive in the books?

And you don't think Stannis was going to ever make it back to Castle Black in the books?

Not so fast. That's not at all what I'm getting at.

Something very bad is going to happen to Shireen at the Wall. When it happens, it's going to be a direct consequence of Jon's assassination. Jon Snow as Lord Commander was holding the Night's Watch together with his bare hands. Now, that he's gone, it's going to be an absolute s#!tshow.

I have no idea what's going to happen to Shireen at the Wall.

The Queen's Men have been unintentionally indoctrinated by Melisandre in the "king's blood" … so much so, that they'd likely burn Shireen themselves out of ignorance and desperation. Selyse herself is basically a mix between Lady Macbeth, Claude Frollo (the villain from Hunchback of Notre Dame) and Meryl Streep's character from The Devil Wears Prada. So, she might do something crazy like sacrifice her own daughter. Especially if she hears Stannis is losing...badly.

And that's just talking about that faction. The wildlings have already made it clear that killing Shireen is something that needs to be done ASAP and Bowen Marsh and his friends are so concerned about ''not interfering in the politics of the realm'' that they may kick out or kill Shireen just to placate the Boltons or the Lannister-Tyrell regime.

As for Stannis? I think he will either die in the Battle of Winterfell or survive the battle only to have the rug pulled out from under him by Sansa/Littlefinger, UnJon and/or the northern lords or survive the battle only be taken by the Others. If he goes back to the Wall (or, alternatively, if he is forced to take the black), the Wall is likely to fall within moments of his arrival and Shireen and Selyse will have been dead for a while.

[wolfsbae]

- Dany surviving 

- Dany taking the Iron Throne and ruling alongside Jon 

- Jon leaving Winterfell and moving South as a Targ 

[Timm]

"In the Shadow Lands beyond Asshai, they say there are fields of Ghost Grass, with stalks as pale as milk that glow in the night, that murders all other grass. The Dothraki believe that one day, it'll cover everything, and that's the way the world show will end."

[btfu806]

On 7/7/2018 at 6:13 PM, Ser Gareth said:

I'm not sure that would have been the case.  It would be explained via a Bran POV, in a similar way to Bran's other visions.

The issue becomes the time paradox. Hodor would never be saying Hodor, until Bran did that, and Bran wouldn't be traveling around with a Hodor unless he was already like that... that just goes back and forth. That's what I mean he couldn't explain... or at least, in my eyes couldn't explain..

[wolfsbae]

5 minutes ago, btfu806 said:

The issue becomes the time paradox. Hodor would never be saying Hodor, until Bran did that, and Bran wouldn't be traveling around with a Hodor unless he was already like that... that just goes back and forth. That's what I mean he couldn't explain... or at least, in my eyes couldn't explain..

In that vein, do you think it would be impossible to explain Bran being significant Bran's throughout history?

Apologies if that doesn't make sense or isn't what you were getting at; the time travel thing is hard to wrap my head around.

[btfu806]

Just now, S. OF HOUSE STARK said:

In that vein, do you think it would be impossible to explain Bran being significant Bran's throughout history?

Apologies if that doesn't make sense or isn't what you were getting at; the time travel thing is hard to wrap my head around.

I personally do. If GRRM can do it though, that's awesome.

I guess I should also clarify that this is all something I personally don't see being able to be done. Of course, GRRM is a much better writer than I am, so he may be able to do it. I just don't see how it could be done. Personally.

So I don't think the Bran going throughout history could work, I just don't get the time paradox. But maybe he uses Hodor as an example (and can explain it pretty well in the story) and the Bran through time theory is legit, and isn't that big of a shock to a reader at the end, having it make more sense and not this, out of left field way of finishing the book...

[Ser Gareth]

22 hours ago, Jabar of House Titan said:

Not so fast. That's not at all what I'm getting at.

Something very bad is going to happen to Shireen at the Wall. When it happens, it's going to be a direct consequence of Jon's assassination. Jon Snow as Lord Commander was holding the Night's Watch together with his bare hands. Now, that he's gone, it's going to be an absolute s#!tshow.

I have no idea what's going to happen to Shireen at the Wall.

The Queen's Men have been unintentionally indoctrinated by Melisandre in the "king's blood" … so much so, that they'd likely burn Shireen themselves out of ignorance and desperation. Selyse herself is basically a mix between Lady Macbeth, Claude Frollo (the villain from Hunchback of Notre Dame) and Meryl Streep's character from The Devil Wears Prada. So, she might do something crazy like sacrifice her own daughter. Especially if she hears Stannis is losing...badly.

And that's just talking about that faction. The wildlings have already made it clear that killing Shireen is something that needs to be done ASAP and Bowen Marsh and his friends are so concerned about ''not interfering in the politics of the realm'' that they may kick out or kill Shireen just to placate the Boltons or the Lannister-Tyrell regime.

As for Stannis? I think he will either die in the Battle of Winterfell or survive the battle only to have the rug pulled out from under him by Sansa/Littlefinger, UnJon and/or the northern lords or survive the battle only be taken by the Others. If he goes back to the Wall (or, alternatively, if he is forced to take the black), the Wall is likely to fall within moments of his arrival and Shireen and Selyse will have been dead for a while.

"Although it has yet to feature in A Song Of Ice And Fire, George R.R. Martin has confirmed that it was always his intention for Stannis and Melisandre to sacrifice Shireen to the God of Light."

I don't think it would have happened immediately in the books.  Just like I think Jon would have spent most of TWOW as a corpse in an ice cell.

The impending greyscale plague would have had some bearing on the decision, or at least had others clamouring for her to burn.  It may even be that Stannis would have lost to the Boltons, fled back to the Wall with the need to bind Wildlings to his side.  The Wildlings refuse, due to Shireen's affliction, and in desperate times (either an attack from the Boltons from the South or the Others from the North) he yields and goes through with it.  It obviously won't work as Stannis isn't the chosen one.  This will cause Selyse to realise that her fanaticism was for nought and has cost her, her daughter's life and will then take her own life out of grief.  Chances are Stannis will already be dead by then.....

[Cas Stark]

26 minutes ago, Ser Gareth said:

"Although it has yet to feature in A Song Of Ice And Fire, George R.R. Martin has confirmed that it was always his intention for Stannis and Melisandre to sacrifice Shireen to the God of Light."

I don't think it would have happened immediately in the books.  Just like I think Jon would have spent most of TWOW as a corpse in an ice cell.

The impending greyscale plague would have had some bearing on the decision, or at least had others clamouring for her to burn.  It may even be that Stannis would have lost to the Boltons, fled back to the Wall with the need to bind Wildlings to his side.  The Wildlings refuse, due to Shireen's affliction, and in desperate times (either an attack from the Boltons from the South or the Others from the North) he yields and goes through with it.  It obviously won't work as Stannis isn't the chosen one.  This will cause Selyse to realise that her fanaticism was for nought and has cost her, her daughter's life and will then take her own life out of grief.  Chances are Stannis will already be dead by then.....

That would kind of suck, Stannis has been building for several books, it would be like turning him into Quentyn if after all of this build up, he fails again, and then runs back to the Wall, where he burns his daughter before finally failing one final time and dying.  I am hopeful that he gets a couple of victories over the Boltons before he checks out.  I actually thought he would sit the IT before dying, but it looks like that won't happen.  As for Stannis being a party to burning his daughter who he already directed his men to fight on for her inheritance if he dies....that would take some work on the author's part to get him there mentally.  All IMO

[BlackLightning]

17 hours ago, Cas Stark said:

That would kind of suck, Stannis has been building for several books, it would be like turning him into Quentyn if after all of this build up, he fails again, and then runs back to the Wall, where he burns his daughter before finally failing one final time and dying.  I am hopeful that he gets a couple of victories over the Boltons before he checks out.  I actually thought he would sit the IT before dying, but it looks like that won't happen.  As for Stannis being a party to burning his daughter who he already directed his men to fight on for her inheritance if he dies....that would take some work on the author's part to get him there mentally.  All IMO

Not too much work.

Never, ever underestimate the ugliness of a long, brutal winter and what it will do to people's minds.

Cabin fever is very real.

[Valyrian Lance]

Slow zoom out from the center of Kings Landing to reveal that the whole world is simply in the eye of a blue-eyed giant named Macumber, played by George R.R. Martin.

[Kajjo]

Well, I don't want to see:

"all happily ever after" -- would be too stupid Hollywood-ish 
"Dany or any other queen sitting on the Iron throne" -- would not break the "wheel of power"

If a "Song of Ice and Fire" is to really conclude, to find an end, the wheel has to be broken, no new king or queen on the iron throne to be installed.

It is supposed to be bittersweet and I sincerely hope that they will continue to let major characters die unexpectedly. The seasons got less and less daring, though, in almost all regards (sex, violence, unexpectedness, twists). I hope they will recover somehow for the final.

I am sure the show will end as planned by GRRM, even if the path to that is slightly different or shortened. So there must be some "overall morale" to it, something like Ice and Fire uniting, quenching each other.