GRRM's new Not a Blog post

[I hate Catelyn Stark!]

Coldhands' identity as Benjen is a near certainty to me. I would bet serious money on it.

How much do you want to bet? I am almost certain Coldhands is NOT Benjen and that we WILL see Benjen again, alive. Perhaps he will return with Stonesnake (or whatever is that ranger's name who left Halfhand's group). But he will return.

No, Coldhands is Brynden "Bloodraven" Rivers from the Dunk & Egg stories. He was hinted to be a warg or wizard, had the blood of the first in him (his mother was a Blackwood, I think), and was Lord Commander of the Nights Watch in his later years. It's inconceivable that he did not get involved in the mystical goings-on of the deep North.

It's not for nothing he's such a significant character in the Dunk & Egg stories.

So let's bet.

[Steel_Wind]

How much do you want to bet? I am almost certain Coldhands is NOT Benjen and that we WILL see Benjen again, alive. Perhaps he will return with Stonesnake (or whatever is that ranger's name who left Halfhand's group). But he will return.

No, Coldhands is Brynden "Bloodraven" Rivers from the Dunk & Egg stories. He was hinted to be a warg or wizard, had the blood of the first in him (his mother was a Blackwood, I think), and was Lord Commander of the Nights Watch in his later years. It's inconceivable that he did not get involved in the mystical goings-on of the deep North.

It's not for nothing he's such a significant character in the Dunk & Egg stories.

So let's bet.

You are on.

And as for Bloodraven -- if he is still "alive" (which "alive" state may only be his consciousness moving about and between creatures/Weirwoods able to contain his consciousness after his mortal body has died) he's a MUCH better bet for the Three Eyed Crow.

So yeah - Coldhands is UnBenjen; if Bloodraven is out there (and I am not sure he is) then he's the 3EC - not Coldhands.

It is possible, I suppose that we are BOTH right. That Coldhands body is Benjen's, but his consciousness is Bloodraven's (who is also the 3EC). If a powerful skinchanger can possess a shadowcat, a wolf, an eagle (or a Hodor) -- who is to say that possessing a wight is impossible? A wight, after all, has already been possessed by whatever blue-eyed malevolent force inhabits them. It should be easier to slip inside them that way.

Ditto for a weirwood tree -- or a dragon (which is my personal bet on where Bran's story ultimately leads: Drogon = Brandon).

[KyleLitke]

Yeah, I'd take that bet in a second. I do think Brynden is alive, but not as Coldhands. He makes way more sense as the 3 Eyed Crow, I think. Not saying Benjen is Coldhands, I don't know (my guess is yes, but we'll see), but I don't think it's Bloodraven.

[Shakey]

A) Loras Tyrell: Loras is supposed to be horribly burned and at death's door. IMO, he isn't and his "injuries" have been greatly exaggerated so as to cause Cersei to discount choosing Loras as her Champion. To identify Loras as a POV would ruin this reveal.

Since the events are happening concurrently with aFFC, it would be great to go back and actually see the siege through the eye's of Loras.

[Faint]

For me that is justification that Brienne's fate will be revealed in the Jaime chapters in ADWD. It could be something as mundane as Jaime riding past Brienne's corpse?

Actually, that could be the case, although I've always favored a scene where she's cut down in front of Jaime by his men after she can't go through with completing the mission Catelyn assigned her.

[Tall Tyrion Lannister!]

Actually, that could be the case, although I've always favored a scene where she's cut down in front of Jaime by his men after she can't go through with completing the mission Catelyn assigned her.

Could be that they stumble upon her corpse hanging. He could camping and send some people scouting what's ahead.They scout ahead of the area and one of the scouts is like "there is something you need to see" and then he shows Jaime the body.

[Lord O' Bones]

Quick. Name a POV character that GRRM has frivolously discarded.

Now, slap yourself for participating in the latter part of this thread since you can't do that.

[Padraig]

Quick. Name a POV character that GRRM has frivolously discarded.

Now, slap yourself for participating in the latter part of this thread since you can't do that.

Indeed. Brienne is (in all likelihood) not dead.

[Anya, Vengeance Demon]

1) It's somebody entirely new and not somebody we will care much about. GRRM threw it out there and has kept it mysterious to keep us entertained. If so, it's a strategy that certainly has worked. I think it's more complicated than that, however.

I'm not sure why you discount this possibility. To my mind, it's the most likely. He writes as if there will be multiple POV characters who haven't been introduced yet, and at the moment, we only know of one, Quentyn Martell. IMO, he's not telling us who it is because that information wouldn't be meaningful yet.

[Snow Wight]

I, for one, don't think the continuation of Brienne's story in this book is essential, but I also don't believe her story is finished by any stretch of the imagination, nor do I believe it to be solely bound to Jaime.

Jaime and Brienne are both interesting, along with others like Baristan and the Hound, in that they are different lenses to view the concept of a "True Knight" through. GRRM deliberately has drawn parallels between Brienne and a certain tall knight from a previous generation. I think there's more to tell about what it means to be a true knight, through Brienne, through Jaime, through Sandor, I just don't think it will be told in this volume.

I agree strongly that she is too well drawn and well thought out a POV to discard as simply as it would seem at face value from her last appearance, but unfortunately insisting that we NEED to see the resolution for that RIGHT NOW is more our will being put upon the story than the needs advancing whatever current plots are in the air.

While it would be nice to get a nod somewhere yea or nay so that fans could stop debating it, it's not essential. Given that, although she is clearly a second tier POV, she is still well developed, and whatever the next arc of her story is going to be, it probably deserves more depth which can be more easily be afforded in the next installment.

[Phostopheles]

I honestly don't understand why people insist that Brienne NEEDS to live. Just because Martin saved Davos and Theon doesn't mean that Brienne is safe. In fact, counting the second half of CoK and SoS, she has actually received more development than Ned, who, need I remind everyone, was killed off after one book.

We don't know what Brienne's purpose is. For all anyone can guess, she has completed it by:

a) causing a face-heel turn in Jaime

B) giving us a glimpse of war-torn Westeros

c) giving us insight into Sam's character by showing us how much of a dick his father is

d) letting us know that Sandor is still alive

e) updating us on Gendry's situation

f) giving UnCat information about Sansa/Arya

g) DYING to give UnCat and Jaime even more reason to war with each other

Characters need to start dying if Martin ever hopes to finish this series. And Brienne is so far the most obvious candidate. For this reason alone I'm fairly certain she'll live...but I'm not so blind as to exclude the alternative.

[Lord Godric]

I, for one, don't think the continuation of Brienne's story in this book is essential, but I also don't believe her story is finished by any stretch of the imagination, nor do I believe it to be solely bound to Jaime.

The only thing that doesn't make sense to not have Brienne in this book is how she will fit into timeline when she does finally reappear. I guess it depends on how much time the post-aFfC story covers, but if we see Brienne in tWoW it could not be a direct continuation from where we left her. By that I mean that Brienne's first chapter will not pick up with her and Pod still hanging there, and Brienne shouts that word. Instead we will be well past that point and probably see it in a flashback. Assuming it happens this way it also would seem that the BwB will not be doing anything significant in this book, unless we hear of it from a second-hand source. But I doubt major things like recapturing Riverrun would happen without a PoV cahracter there.

Since this post from Martin, I just wonder how good the post-aFfC part of the book will actually be. I was hoping for the culmination of many of the cliffhangers and plotlines from Feast, but now I am not sure we will get that.

[Prince of the North]

You are on.

And as for Bloodraven -- if he is still "alive" (which "alive" state may only be his consciousness moving about and between creatures/Weirwoods able to contain his consciousness after his mortal body has died) he's a MUCH better bet for the Three Eyed Crow.

So yeah - Coldhands is UnBenjen; if Bloodraven is out there (and I am not sure he is) then he's the 3EC - not Coldhands.

It is possible, I suppose that we are BOTH right. That Coldhands body is Benjen's, but his consciousness is Bloodraven's (who is also the 3EC). If a powerful skinchanger can possess a shadowcat, a wolf, an eagle (or a Hodor) -- who is to say that possessing a wight is impossible? A wight, after all, has already been possessed by whatever blue-eyed malevolent force inhabits them. It should be easier to slip inside them that way.

Ditto for a weirwood tree -- or a dragon (which is my personal bet on where Bran's story ultimately leads: Drogon = Brandon).

My money's always been on this. Well, except for the Coldhands was a wight part. I don't believe Coldhands was ever a wight ;)

[Anya, Vengeance Demon]

The only thing that doesn't make sense to not have Brienne in this book is how she will fit into timeline when she does finally reappear. I guess it depends on how much time the post-aFfC story covers, but if we see Brienne in tWoW it could not be a direct continuation from where we left her. By that I mean that Brienne's first chapter will not pick up with her and Pod still hanging there, and Brienne shouts that word. Instead we will be well past that point and probably see it in a flashback.

I think that would work fine. We didn't need a direct continuation from Theon being captured by Ramsay Bolton to him in A Dance With Dragons; and Brienne doesn't need to do anything important either in the next few months either.

Assuming it happens this way it also would seem that the BwB will not be doing anything significant in this book, unless we hear of it from a second-hand source. But I doubt major things like recapturing Riverrun would happen without a PoV cahracter there.

Well, I don't think that the BWB are going to "recapture" Riverrun in the first place, in the sense of actually trying to hold it. But if we're talking about the BWB putting the Freys inside to the sword and then leaving, I don't know why we'd need to see that firsthand. We didn't need a POV character to see the rape of Saltpans, or the execution of Ryman Frey and his party.

------

We don't know what Brienne's purpose is. For all anyone can guess, she has completed it by:

...

g) DYING to give UnCat and Jaime even more reason to war with each other

See, that's just it. Ned's death had a clear story purpose: it prevented the Lannisters and the Starks from making peace, and was a major factor in the ensuring civil war. Brienne's death, meanwhile, would have no purpose. Your item (g) basically says that Brienne's death would make sure that nothing in the story changes. UnCat already hates Jaime with a murderous passion. Jaime already wants to execute bandit leaders so as to bring order to the riverlands. Brienne being dead wouldn't affect either of those things.

[Faint]

I think it's a great deal more difficult to explain what Brienne is doing if she is not in the process of trying to kill Jaime. The alternate train of thought has us believing that Catelyn cut her down for some other reason and then kept her alive. Moreover, she would have to be either with the Brotherhood Without Banners right now or on some mission for them. As it is, I'm already having a hard time believing that Catelyn consented to a change in her ultimatum after how unequivocal she was in giving it. The other, even less likely possibility, is that Brienne was rescued by a third party which, along with making the word she screamed meaningless, would also seemingly render all the setup for the taking of Riverrun a waste, since a third party would have to cut through a good amount of the Brotherhood Without Banners to get to her. And since Brienne is not a POV in this next book, the only way I see her surviving until TWoW is to join a major character's POV, unless someone wants to argue that TWoW will have 20 POV characters.

As for Brienne's death being meaningless, this only applies if you think Jaime is going to continue towards King's Landing and that will be the end of it. If you're wedded to that theory, then, yes, Brienne's death comes up looking pretty small. I think very differently on that account. I can't see Jaime taking up Tyrion's former role of being at the center of King's Landing politics. I think any information we get about what's happening there will be via Qyburn to Cersei. Jaime, on the other hand, I think takes up Brienne's sword to complete her original mission of finding Sansa or, alternatively, in order to confront Catelyn after finding out she's the head of the Brotherhood Without Banners. I tend to like the first option better because Jaime's thoughts were already turning to Littlefinger in his last chapter of AFfC. He might find some information about Sansa, purely accidentally, while poking around trying to get in contact with Littlefinger in order to ask him to be Hand to Tommen. And yes, his change in priorities will be a direct outgrowth of Brienne's death, which is where the significance of her death comes in. Anyway, that's my guess.

[Phostopheles]

See, that's just it. Ned's death had a clear story purpose: it prevented the Lannisters and the Starks from making peace, and was a major factor in the ensuring civil war. Brienne's death, meanwhile, would have no purpose. Your item (g) basically says that Brienne's death would make sure that nothing in the story changes. UnCat already hates Jaime with a murderous passion. Jaime already wants to execute bandit leaders so as to bring order to the riverlands. Brienne being dead wouldn't affect either of those things.

You're almost correct that it wouldn't do anything for UnCat, though I believe a case could be made that Brienne's death would demonstrate precisely how much Cat has changed since GoT and be one of several ways GRRM could move the plot away from its current pro-Stark position. But if Jaime got word of it, it would make things personal. Right now, Jaime's just foundering around, trying to play the part of the politician and keep the lords in check, but he hasn't really DONE anything directly to stem the revolt. News of Brienne's death would definitely cause him to be more aggressive with the BwB and set up the Riverlands for endgame much more quickly.

That said, I'm still fairly certain that Brienne will live, because GRRM has been too much of a coward to kill of his main POVs since Ned. If he does kill her off, rest assured it will serve the plot, and I will rest easier knowing Martin hasn't gone soft.

[Padraig]

You're almost correct that it wouldn't do anything for UnCat, though I believe a case could be made that Brienne's death would demonstrate precisely how much Cat has changed since GoT

See, I don't think Cat is alive anymore. I don't need unCat to kill Brienne to prove she isn't Cat. That's why I disagree with your point about GRRM not killing main POVs. unCat is a tragic reflection of what Cat used to be.

I imagine most people would support Jaime against unCat. Brienne's death doesn't make any difference to that also IMO. And i'd be surprised if a lot of time is spent on Jaime revenging himself on the BwB. It doesn't sound like a very useful storyline.

[AtoningUnifex]

I'll say the final unknown POV is a member of the GC. Someone whose name we haven't been given yet, though I suspect we know some of his dead relatives. The only thing that gives me pause, is that this will mean a hell of a lot of Essos POVs.

However, I do remember GRRM stating years ago (prior to the scrapping of the 5 year gap, I think) that the next novel would focus a good bit on Casterly Rock. This may or may not still be the plan, but perhaps a POV from there.

[Faint]

I imagine most people would support Jaime against unCat.

Under what ground? It's not as if Catelyn threw Joffrey off a tower and crippled him.

[Heal]

I guarantee the unknown PoV is Jorah Mormont.