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Where will Stannis go after Winterfell?


Alyn Oakenfist

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Many people, myself included think that Stannis is going to win the battle of Winterfell by tricking the Freys into drowning and then faking his own death and defeat to sneak into Winterfell with the help of the Manderlys and then kill the Boltons. However after this victory, where will Stannis turn to fight next? The Others or the Lannisters? Will he return to the Wall or to KL?

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He has to turn back, and one assumes the Nightfort will then become his royal seat. But he will likely leave some garrison in Winterfell if he takes the castle, people who rebuild it some more and turn into some sort of refuge for winter.

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At this point, looking at it realistically, Stannis’ best bet is to die a hero’s death in battle against the Others. He will be remembered by the Northerners with love, something which always eluded him in real life. Jesus, that’s sad, but beautifully.

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14 minutes ago, Hugorfonics said:

I just cant see any situation where Stannis doesnt burn the weirwood after his conquest of Winterfell

That would be an incredibly stupid thing to do. As Stannis said, half his army is made of northmen (soon to be even more), so I don't think he'll bow to the fanatics on this one. He'll just instruct the followers of R'hllor to ,,pray harder".

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52 minutes ago, Alyn Oakenfist said:

That would be an incredibly stupid thing to do. As Stannis said, half his army is made of northmen (soon to be even more), so I don't think he'll bow to the fanatics on this one. He'll just instruct the followers of R'hllor to ,,pray harder".

Chances are that 'the queen's men' in his army are going to suffer some losses in the upcoming battles. And considering the plans to sacrifice Theon to the heart tree on the island - something that's not likely to actually happen, it seems - there is a chance that Bran himself is going to speak through the tree and support Stannis in his struggle. The days of the burning trees will likely be a thing of the past.

And speaking of that - I very much hope that Connington or Arianne are going to visit the burned godswood of Storm's End to show us whether the weirwood there was actually consumed by the fire or whether it is just blackened but still alive. I'd not be surprised if this thing wasn't actually a success.

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13 hours ago, James Steller said:

At this point, looking at it realistically, Stannis’ best bet is to die a hero’s death in battle against the Others. He will be remembered by the Northerners with love, something which always eluded him in real life. Jesus, that’s sad, but beautifully.

This seems to make the most sense to me. Maybe it’s just what I want to happen. I do believe his story will lead him back to the wall to fight the Others. 

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Sorry, I like Stannis as a character but I think folks are too hopeful about his chances. I dont think a Southerner will conquer Winterfell. Its too symbolically important. Only the Starks can take it from Ramsay, since they have more of a beef with him than Stannis ever did. Its just story telling logic--what is the most satisfying way to come full circle. 

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I just lol at these wishful theories about Stannis. That Night Lamp theory was pulled out of thin air by a Stannis fanboy, and it is already more or less debunked at this point but people cannot stop treating as canon. If only GRRM releases that Asha I chapter from TWoW as sample …

 

Stannis is written like the villain he is since day 1. Only biased fanboys twist the text and try to paint him like some sort of tragic hero. It is all BS. The blabber of Stannis about heroism and duty is as fake as Mel's tits. The King Who Cared my ass. Wyman Manderly instantly saw the BS in that claim and pointed that Stannis came to the north as a beggar because he did not have any place to go (save fleeing across the Narrow Sea).

 

Stannis is motivated by ambition for the IT and vindication for his imagined slights. He is not a major character in this story. He is just an inconvenience for the actual major characters. He is just a plot device. He does not get to have an arc. His case is a simple Faustian bargain. He sold his soul to the devil for power and it is leading him to his doom.

 

Here is what awaits Stannis:

 

First, Stannis will bring Theon before the weirwood tree for execution but Theon will confess the truth about the Stark boys and then ask to take the black. His story will be confirmed by the survivors from the Battle of Winterfell. Also the Liddles will confirm that at least Bran survived Winterfell and was spotted on the way to the Wall. Stannis will agree and send Theon with Justin and fArya.

 

After they leave, many days will pass before the Battle on Ice starts. Cold count will skyrocket. Sickness, starvation and cannibalism will run rampart. The morale in the camp will get worse and worse. Desertions will start, mainly from Karstark and Peasebury men. Finally the Freys will arrive and the Battle on Ice will start.

 

The Frey vanguard will easily break the ranks of Stannis at the first charge. The deadbeat host of Stannis will get routed. Survivors will chaotically flee all over the frozen lakes. Freys will give them a chase. This is when the ice will break. Both the fleeing men and their pursuers will drown by the hundreds. The Freys will still have their reserves and supply train intact. This is when Manderly knights will arrive and join the battle. To the surprise of Asha and Stannis, they will attack the remaining Freys and finish them off. The Manderly commander will reveal the truth about Davos to Stannis. At this point, Stannis will be left with a very little host. He will make a deal with the Manderlys and go to Wolf’s Den for hiding.

 

After he leaves, Ramsay will finally arrive to the battlefield. Manderly Commander will tell him that they could not find Stannis or his bride and Reek. Ramsay will start hunting the survivors, deserters and broken men for seven days as he will later mention in the Pink Letter. He will capture some southron men (such as the Peasebury men who deserted before the battle). He will eventually question them in the Bolton way and catch the terms “wildling princess” and “wildling prince” from them, which he will later mention in the Pink Letter as we know. Finally, he will come across a corpse armed with the gear of Stannis and still having fLightbringer. This is actually Arnolf Karstark as a ploy devised by Stannis and the Manderly commander. Ramsay will buy the deception and finally return to Winterfell to question the captives and write the Pink Letter.

 

Stannis will hide at Wolf’s Den with Asha and his remaining men but it will be off-screen while GRRM takes his time to build the conflict between Ramsay and Jon. Because as I said before, Jon is the major character here, not Stannis. The conflict between Ramsay and Jon will culminate in a battle at Long Lake. Jon will try to defeat Ramsay with his army of wildlings but will fail at that. Just as he is about to lose the battle, Stannis will arrive with the Manderly knights and finish the Boltons. By the way, Stannis will sacrifice Asha at Wolf’s Den and that will provide the good weather due to which Stannis will be able to use the Manderly ships to sail up the White Knife to join the battle in time.

 

After that, Winterfell will be liberated and a council will discuss what to do next. Stannis will have Rickon brought by Davos but it will be common knowledge that Bran also survived and he is the rightful Lord of Winterfell. Recall that Manderly promised to bend the knee to Stannis only if he brought his liege lord back, which is Bran. As a result, Jon will offer to lead a ranging party beyond the Wall to bring Bran back or confirm his death. He will tell them that if they fail to return before a prescribed time, they will all be declared dead and Rickon will be the Lord of Winterfell and Stannis will get his way.

 

We will follow this ranging mission while Stannis takes Dreadfort off-screen. The ranging mission will run into huge troubles and they will be too late. When they finally return through the Gorne’s Way, they will learn that they were declared dead in their absence and Stannis took the Northmen south to bring Vale under his rule.

 

At the same time, this will be the moment when Dany takes Pentos and looks for a proper place to start her invasion of Westeros. Vale will be her natural target as well. This is the root of the battle between Stannis and Dany as foreshadowed in the HotU. This will be a naval battle where Dany will defeat Stannis and slay one of those lies, though she will lose her first dragon in this battle. I also have a theory that she will give into rage and fly Drogon to White Harbor, burning houses and ships until she cools off.

 

After this defeat, Stannis will return to Winterfell with the survivors but the Northmen will abandon him and produce a new King in the North (BraN tHE bROkEn). That is when Stannis will leave the Great Hall with fury and retreat to Nightfort. At the Epilogue of TWoW, Stannis will sacrifice Shireen at Nightfort to get a dragon by which he will want to punish all those who wronged him in his mind. This sacrifice will break the magic ward of the Wall through a very loud crack.

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44 minutes ago, Mithras said:

Here is what awaits Stannis:

Benioff is that you?

18 minutes ago, Mithras said:

I just lol at these wishful theories about Stannis. That Night Lamp theory was pulled out of thin air by a Stannis fanboy, and it is already more or less debunked at this point but people cannot stop treating as canon. If only GRRM releases that Asha I chapter from TWoW as sample …

Please explain to me how it was debunked. The idea that Stannis will use the ice fits with 3 very important things. First off we know that the ice is very weak and will very easily break. Second off there is Stannis talking about using the terrain to his advantage. The only possible advantage he has is the ice. And third off, there is the historical parallel. GRRM uses a lot of them, especially for his battles (example is the Blackwater and the siege of Constantinople in 717). Likewise this battle will look very much like the Battle on Ice, where a numerically superior, but starving and cavalry-less army managed to defeat a force made of southern knight using the ice.

25 minutes ago, Mithras said:

Stannis is written like the villain he is since day 1. Only biased fanboys twist the text and try to paint him like some sort of tragic hero. It is all BS. The blabber of Stannis about heroism and duty is as fake as Mel's tits. The King Who Cared my ass. Wyman Manderly instantly saw the BS in that claim and pointed that Stannis came to the north as a beggar because he did not have any place to go (save fleeing across the Narrow Sea).

A villain? Are we talking about the same person here. Like have you even read the books. Like your statement is maybe true about show Stannis. Also what the hell do you mean he came to the North a beggar. He came to save the Watch and the Seven Kingdoms from first the wildlings and then the Others.

27 minutes ago, Mithras said:

Stannis is motivated by ambition for the IT and vindication for his imagined slights. He is not a major character in this story. He is just an inconvenience for the actual major characters. He is just a plot device. He does not get to have an arc. His case is a simple Faustian bargain. He sold his soul to the devil for power and it is leading him to his doom.

Vindication? Again are we talking about the same character. For him the Throne is duty not ambition. Also please explain to me how he sold his soul.

28 minutes ago, Mithras said:

First, Stannis will bring Theon before the weirwood tree for execution but Theon will confess the truth about the Stark boys and then ask to take the black.

First off, Stannis is unlikely to even try and kill Theon given the vital intelligence he has on Ramsay and Winterfell. Second off, given the state Theon is in and the fact that from what he knows Jon Snow is the Lord Commander, Theon would probably chose death over the Wall.

30 minutes ago, Mithras said:

After they leave, many days will pass before the Battle on Ice starts. Cold count will skyrocket. Sickness, starvation and cannibalism will run rampart. The morale in the camp will get worse and worse. Desertions will start, mainly from Karstark and Peasebury men. Finally the Freys will arrive and the Battle on Ice will start.

Actually from what we know exactly 3 days will pass, which given the current situation isn't enough to break Stannis's army. Like they still have horses to eat, and even if they run out on the exact day that Theon I happens, a man can survive decently well for 3 days without food.

32 minutes ago, Mithras said:

The Frey vanguard will easily break the ranks of Stannis at the first charge. The deadbeat host of Stannis will get routed.

How? The Freys will be attacking on destriders in deep snow, and we know how well those fair in the winter. Also again Stannis army will probably be strong enough to hold it's own especially given that the Freys have 2 choices. 1. Attack on the narrow piece of land into the tightly packed Baratheon host thus eliminating nay chance to break or rout them, or 2. Attack over the lakes, and drown.

35 minutes ago, Mithras said:

At this point, Stannis will be left with a very little host. He will make a deal with the Manderlys and go to Wolf’s Den for hiding.

How? Given your own statement, hundreds would drown meaning Stannis will still have at least 5k soldiers, more then enough to take Winterfell by tricking Ramsay and entering it pretending to be Freys, Manderlys or deserters.

39 minutes ago, Mithras said:

After that, Winterfell will be liberated and a council will discuss what to do next. Stannis will have Rickon brought by Davos but it will be common knowledge that Bran also survived and he is the rightful Lord of Winterfell. Recall that Manderly promised to bend the knee to Stannis only if he brought his liege lord back, which is Bran.

Actually the lord of Winterfell will be Jon given Robb's will and the fact that Stannis will legitimize him.

40 minutes ago, Mithras said:

As a result, Jon will offer to lead a ranging party beyond the Wall to bring Bran back or confirm his death. He will tell them that if they fail to return before a prescribed time, they will all be declared dead and Rickon will be the Lord of Winterfell and Stannis will get his way.

Why on Earth would Jon Snow do something like that? Also why would Stannis want Rickon and not Jon as Lord Paramount of the North?

42 minutes ago, Mithras said:

At the same time, this will be the moment when Dany takes Pentos and looks for a proper place to start her invasion of Westeros. Vale will be her natural target as well.

Why would Dany land in the Vale and not just go for KL? She has a huge host and dragons, and KL is by far the most important place in Westeros as far as political importance goes.

43 minutes ago, Mithras said:

After this defeat, Stannis will return to Winterfell with the survivors but the Northmen will abandon him and produce a new King in the North (BraN tHE bROkEn).

Again, Robb's will.

44 minutes ago, Mithras said:

That is when Stannis will leave the Great Hall with fury and retreat to Nightfort. At the Epilogue of TWoW, Stannis will sacrifice Shireen at Nightfort to get a dragon by which he will want to punish all those who wronged him in his mind. This sacrifice will break the magic ward of the Wall through a very loud crack.

Just why??????

In conclusion it is heavily foreshadowed that Stannis will win the Battle of Winterfell, he is a good guy and does have a character ark, and you little fanfiction makes even less sense then the dump called GOT season 8.

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On 1/29/2020 at 12:31 AM, James Steller said:

At this point, looking at it realistically, Stannis’ best bet is to die a hero’s death in battle against the Others. He will be remembered by the Northerners with love, something which always eluded him in real life. Jesus, that’s sad, but beautifully.

Imagine a scenario where Stannis liberates Winterfell, then returns to the Wall after hearing about Jon. While Melisandre heals jon's body, and in order to give her time, Stannis defends the realm with his army, struggling against the first wave of Others, dying in the progress and being well remembered by the Northerners as you said, I really like that. 

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21 hours ago, Mithras said:

I just lol at these wishful theories about Stannis. That Night Lamp theory was pulled out of thin air by a Stannis fanboy, and it is already more or less debunked at this point but people cannot stop treating as canon. If only GRRM releases that Asha I chapter from TWoW as sample …

 

Stannis is written like the villain he is since day 1. Only biased fanboys twist the text and try to paint him like some sort of tragic hero. It is all BS. The blabber of Stannis about heroism and duty is as fake as Mel's tits. The King Who Cared my ass. Wyman Manderly instantly saw the BS in that claim and pointed that Stannis came to the north as a beggar because he did not have any place to go (save fleeing across the Narrow Sea).

 

Stannis is motivated by ambition for the IT and vindication for his imagined slights. He is not a major character in this story. He is just an inconvenience for the actual major characters. He is just a plot device. He does not get to have an arc. His case is a simple Faustian bargain. He sold his soul to the devil for power and it is leading him to his doom.

 

Here is what awaits Stannis:

 

First, Stannis will bring Theon before the weirwood tree for execution but Theon will confess the truth about the Stark boys and then ask to take the black. His story will be confirmed by the survivors from the Battle of Winterfell. Also the Liddles will confirm that at least Bran survived Winterfell and was spotted on the way to the Wall. Stannis will agree and send Theon with Justin and fArya.

 

After they leave, many days will pass before the Battle on Ice starts. Cold count will skyrocket. Sickness, starvation and cannibalism will run rampart. The morale in the camp will get worse and worse. Desertions will start, mainly from Karstark and Peasebury men. Finally the Freys will arrive and the Battle on Ice will start.

 

The Frey vanguard will easily break the ranks of Stannis at the first charge. The deadbeat host of Stannis will get routed. Survivors will chaotically flee all over the frozen lakes. Freys will give them a chase. This is when the ice will break. Both the fleeing men and their pursuers will drown by the hundreds. The Freys will still have their reserves and supply train intact. This is when Manderly knights will arrive and join the battle. To the surprise of Asha and Stannis, they will attack the remaining Freys and finish them off. The Manderly commander will reveal the truth about Davos to Stannis. At this point, Stannis will be left with a very little host. He will make a deal with the Manderlys and go to Wolf’s Den for hiding.

 

After he leaves, Ramsay will finally arrive to the battlefield. Manderly Commander will tell him that they could not find Stannis or his bride and Reek. Ramsay will start hunting the survivors, deserters and broken men for seven days as he will later mention in the Pink Letter. He will capture some southron men (such as the Peasebury men who deserted before the battle). He will eventually question them in the Bolton way and catch the terms “wildling princess” and “wildling prince” from them, which he will later mention in the Pink Letter as we know. Finally, he will come across a corpse armed with the gear of Stannis and still having fLightbringer. This is actually Arnolf Karstark as a ploy devised by Stannis and the Manderly commander. Ramsay will buy the deception and finally return to Winterfell to question the captives and write the Pink Letter.

 

Stannis will hide at Wolf’s Den with Asha and his remaining men but it will be off-screen while GRRM takes his time to build the conflict between Ramsay and Jon. Because as I said before, Jon is the major character here, not Stannis. The conflict between Ramsay and Jon will culminate in a battle at Long Lake. Jon will try to defeat Ramsay with his army of wildlings but will fail at that. Just as he is about to lose the battle, Stannis will arrive with the Manderly knights and finish the Boltons. By the way, Stannis will sacrifice Asha at Wolf’s Den and that will provide the good weather due to which Stannis will be able to use the Manderly ships to sail up the White Knife to join the battle in time.

 

After that, Winterfell will be liberated and a council will discuss what to do next. Stannis will have Rickon brought by Davos but it will be common knowledge that Bran also survived and he is the rightful Lord of Winterfell. Recall that Manderly promised to bend the knee to Stannis only if he brought his liege lord back, which is Bran. As a result, Jon will offer to lead a ranging party beyond the Wall to bring Bran back or confirm his death. He will tell them that if they fail to return before a prescribed time, they will all be declared dead and Rickon will be the Lord of Winterfell and Stannis will get his way.

 

We will follow this ranging mission while Stannis takes Dreadfort off-screen. The ranging mission will run into huge troubles and they will be too late. When they finally return through the Gorne’s Way, they will learn that they were declared dead in their absence and Stannis took the Northmen south to bring Vale under his rule.

 

At the same time, this will be the moment when Dany takes Pentos and looks for a proper place to start her invasion of Westeros. Vale will be her natural target as well. This is the root of the battle between Stannis and Dany as foreshadowed in the HotU. This will be a naval battle where Dany will defeat Stannis and slay one of those lies, though she will lose her first dragon in this battle. I also have a theory that she will give into rage and fly Drogon to White Harbor, burning houses and ships until she cools off.

 

After this defeat, Stannis will return to Winterfell with the survivors but the Northmen will abandon him and produce a new King in the North (BraN tHE bROkEn). That is when Stannis will leave the Great Hall with fury and retreat to Nightfort. At the Epilogue of TWoW, Stannis will sacrifice Shireen at Nightfort to get a dragon by which he will want to punish all those who wronged him in his mind. This sacrifice will break the magic ward of the Wall through a very loud crack.

I am a Stannis fan and I love this. But then I don’t want heroics from him, just as much page time as possible. 

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