How long will the long night last?

[King Adrian Storm]

It's likely the long night will begin at the end of TWOW, and throughout most of ADOS. How long in time will that take? It definitely won't be an entire generation, but if it's too short then it will feel less impactful. So how long will it last? I think it could be a 5-10 year period. The books state a long summer means an even longer winter, and the last summer war 9 years. We know Grrm wanted to have a time jump after ASOS, to age up the characters. Since that didn't happen, I think the last book will span over many years. 

I think TWOW will end with the long night beginning, and there will be probably a month time jump in between books. ADOS, I think will last years. There's a lot of plot to cover, and this could be a good way of covering it, and not making it feel rushed. We can see the characters get hardened by the winter, and really mature. Children can be born and die in the darkness like Old nan says. I want the long night to feel grim and hopeless.

An example could be like similar to Endgame, we have a battle for Winterfell, and everybody feels it's their last hope. Then Winterfell falls, and is overcome by the Others. Maybe the next chapter skips a couple years in the future, and we see the characters hopeless looking for anyway to win. Something similar in tone, I think would be nice.

The time jumps would also be good for having characters travel all over Westeros in logical ways. Say after the battle for Winterfell have Jon or Bran travel up to he heart of Winter and make a big discovery, as well as having everyone meet at the trident for the final battle against the Others. There's a lot of discussion about a possible romantic relationship between Jon and Dany. I agree it would feel rushed in one book, so having it take place over many years would feel more authentic. This would also bring home the title of A Dream of Spring. With the characters being hopeless over say a 10 year period.

Do you guys think this is possible?

[James Fenimore Cooper XXII]

2 hours ago, King Adrian Storm said:

It's likely the long night will begin at the end of TWOW, and throughout most of ADOS. How long in time will that take? It definitely won't be an entire generation, but if it's too short then it will feel less impactful. So how long will it last? I think it could be a 5-10 year period. The books state a long summer means an even longer winter, and the last summer war 9 years. We know Grrm wanted to have a time jump after ASOS, to age up the characters. Since that didn't happen, I think the last book will span over many years. 

I think TWOW will end with the long night beginning, and there will be probably a month time jump in between books. ADOS, I think will last years. There's a lot of plot to cover, and this could be a good way of covering it, and not making it feel rushed. We can see the characters get hardened by the winter, and really mature. Children can be born and die in the darkness like Old nan says. I want the long night to feel grim and hopeless.

An example could be like similar to Endgame, we have a battle for Winterfell, and everybody feels it's their last hope. Then Winterfell falls, and is overcome by the Others. Maybe the next chapter skips a couple years in the future, and we see the characters hopeless looking for anyway to win. Something similar in tone, I think would be nice.

The time jumps would also be good for having characters travel all over Westeros in logical ways. Say after the battle for Winterfell have Jon or Bran travel up to he heart of Winter and make a big discovery, as well as having everyone meet at the trident for the final battle against the Others. There's a lot of discussion about a possible romantic relationship between Jon and Dany. I agree it would feel rushed in one book, so having it take place over many years would feel more authentic. This would also bring home the title of A Dream of Spring. With the characters being hopeless over say a 10 year period.

Do you guys think this is possible?

The last book will probably last many years.  George will then have to jump forward in time.  Older folk like Jorah, Wayman, Barristan, Walder won't make it to the end.