[TWoW Spoilers] The Winds of Winter - OUR PREDICTIONS -

[tsunad]

Will Aegon get the Dorne? I don't think that it's that easy. Remember that Dorne is promised to Dany. But now that Quentyn is dead, a marriage between Arianne and Aegon (which is unlikely because he is saving himself for his aunt...would we ever get a break from incest in this series?) might seal the deal. I only mean to say that Prince Doran won't grant fifty thousand spears on a first-come-first-serve basis. He is an incredibly cautious and sly player and he will wait before making that decision.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but at this point, Doran doesn't know his beloved sister's son is still alive, does he?

I agree that Doran is cautious. After he learns his nephew is alive, he'll wait to see what sort of person Aegon is, and what his chances are, before supporting him. But if Doran is convinced that Aegon is the real thing, and that Aegon has a good chance, I see no reason why Dorne won't throw their weight behind him.

Question: Is there some way that Doran could identify Aegon as the real thing? Did he ever meet Aegon as a baby? Does he know of any identifying marks?

Marriage between Aegon and Marg? Depends on how much Aegon needs the Reach behind him. Look at the tactical picture for a moment. He took Storm's End in like a week. The Tyrell host is in KL and Mace is refusing to move until Marg's trial is over. The Highgarden navy is smashed, they are on a brink of attack from the Ironborn fleet, Loras is boned, Lannisters pretty much dead. At this time, Mace can -

a. Declare for Aegon. But then he has to take up arms against his daughter.

b. Fight Aegon.

If Marg is still in King's Landing under the reach of the Lannisters, couldn't Mace plead that the Iron Islander threat has tied up his armies, making him unable to come to aide of the Lannisters? Be it true or not?

Which raises the question - how much of a threat are the Iron Islanders to the Reach? It appears that the Iron Islanders have a far larger naval force than the Reach, and that means that the Shield Islands and the Arbor will be hard for the Hightowers to regain control of. But looking at the Iron Islands (a rocky, barely fertile group of Islands) versus the Reach (a large, fertile land), I must conclude that Hightowers can field a far larger fighting force than the Iron Islanders. I don't think Euron can hope to match Mace's forces on land. But the raiding can tie up a far larger force near the sea, especially since Oldtown will need a standing army for defense due to its vulnerability to being raided. Maybe Mace will sit out the coming conflict regardless, too busy with his own problems.

[Lord Aethorn Elarion]

My own theory :

The Battle for Meereen - Khal Jhaqo bends his knee before Daenerys saying that he now understands why Drogo took her as his Khaleesi, she then rides to Meereen. Barristan releases his forces on the Yunkai who were already sick and not well prepared for such a bold move (reference to Barristan's title), but then the ships of Volantis seem to arrive and end the battle in disfavor of the Queen's Hand, but is smashed by the Iron Fleet. In the chaos, the Second Sons betray their clients and at the end Daenerys charges on Drogon's back and with Dotraki screamers slaughtering the fleeing Yunkai.

The Battle of Winterfell - Ramsay Bolton strikes and is trapped by Stannis who, imitating the northern fishermen, made wholes in the ice to trap Ramsay's cavalry. His sortie seems to fail until the Manderlys arrive and announce that they killed Stannis and bring Lightbringer. Ramsay comes back to Winterfell with his prize but Roose is quite paranoid and refuses to take hasty conclusions, but still the Bastard writes a letter to Jon. Stannis isn't dead and has been preparing a trap and Roose finds out about it, he closes Winterfell's gates and is about to put the Manderlys and Stannis' host to death but Howland Reed arrives with the remnants of Robb Stark's host, led by Maege Mormont and Galbart Glover, and a Skagosi force led by Davos Seaworth now in posession of Rickon, using the direwolf banner, which makes the Northeners turn their backs on Stannis and Roose Bolton. Winterfell is taken by Reed who is in possession of the name of the North's heir to the throne. Some Frey hostages are exchanged for GREATJON UMBER !

The Wall - The Others attack and storm the Wall. The Night's Watch cannot stop it and is smashed. It takes time, but the Others finally put the Wall down.

Bran - He explores the Lands of Always Winter thanks to his greenseeing skills and learns more about the Others (based of Martin's interview stating that we will find more about them in TWOT).

Jon - He dies and wargs into Ghost until Melisandre resurrects him. She declares him Azor Ahai. Now that the Wall and the Night's Watch are no more he is heading South with what's left of Tormund's wildling host and arrives to Winterfell. There, the situation is odd, Stannis wants the Northerners' allegiance but Howland Reed makes no promise because he is not to decide, and it is finally revealed that Robb chose Jon to be his heir, Reed confirms the Ashara Dayne theory and finally he becomes Jon Stark, Lord of Winterfell but does not bend the knee to Stannis yet, as he is now weakened before the new Lord. He now has Tormund's host, the clans of the North, the remnant's of Robb's army, a Skagosi force which arrived with Rickon, the Fleet of the North prepared to sail in White Harbor, and all the noble houses of the North (Manderly, Glover, Mormont, ...) and prepares for the upcoming Others' invasion.

A Dream Of Spring : Jon receives Dawn from the Daynes as he is Ashara's son and Arthur's nephew. Dawn is revealed to be the real Lightbringer.

Sansa - The marriage is interrupted by Brynden Tully and Sandor Clegane, the Hound reveals to her that Petyr Baelish is the one who betrayed Ned back in King's Landing, and the Blackfish, having the appreciation of most of the lords of the Vale as Lord Protector. Littlefinger is thrown through the Moon Gate on Sansa's behalf who becomes "Sansa the Player".

Jaime - He arrives in the Eyrie, and is accursed, Brynden Tully won't believe him when he says he has come to accomplish his vow and arrows are fired on Brienne and him, he decides to sacrifice to protect her. His fate whether he dies of his wounds or not isn't revealed.

Cersei - She becomes even more paranoid with Kevan's death, thinking that the Tyrells might be the cause of his decease. She calls Daven Lannister's host to go back South and protect her. Margaery and her both win their trials but Cersei loses her seat as Queen Regent as the Tyrell has more influence now. Mace decides to go down south fighting against Aegon.

Aegon - He marches to King's Landing and is made aware of the Tyrell host going down on him and his small chances to succeed, he then decides to attack the Reach and getting an alliance with the Martells.

ADOS : He learns that he is in fact a Blackfyre but still prefers naming himself a Targaryen and claims that the Blackfyre rebellion happened a long time ago. When Daenerys arrives and learns this, she refuses any marriage proposal and exiles him. The Golden Company joins her and gives her Blackfyre.

Daenerys' Journey - After the Battle of Meereen, everyone now worships Dany, the one who fought on a dragon's back, and even Victarion bends his knee. He gives her the Iron Fleet and promises her the Iron Islands when they get back to Westeros after he takes Euron down, Tyrion promises he will give her Casterly Rock and the West and becomes her Queen's Hand, Jorah Mormont is re-installed in the Queensguard thanks to his prowess in battle and his contribution with Tyrion to have the Second Sons betray the Yunkai. She now has Jhaqo's khalasar, the Unsullied, the Iron Fleet, the Second Sons, a standing Queensguard and her three dragons. Tyrion informs her of Aegon fighting in Westeros and she finally decides to sail in the rescue of her nephew.

___

ADOS : Jon and Daenerys decide to make an alliance against the Others who are ravaging the North. Tyrion claims Casterly Rock and becomes a bit like his father (ruthless and capable of burning towns down if any trason should come).

[Apoapsis]

Jon is not dead, but close. His attackers are stopped by Wun Wun before they can finish him off, and then Melisandre and Val manages to sneak him off to some hut beyond the wall where Val treats him. He later finds the Brancave where he meets the uneaten Reed who tells him about his parents.

Victarion scares off the Slaver's Bay army, sacks Meereen, kills everyone in Dany's posse (including Selmy, Belwas and Missandei) and steals the two dragons, using the horn to make them follow him. He then decides that he doesn't need to marry Dany when he has dragons of his own, so he sets sail for Westeros.

Dany is captured by the Dothraki but manages to escape and returns to Meereen with Drogon. She meets Jorah and Tyrion, who explain that Victarion has the other two dragons and is planning to take Westeros. Tyrion bribes/steals/buys a ship and they leave for King's Landing. Moqorro, who stayed behind when Victarion left, goes with them and tells Dany about the prophecy of Azor Ahai.

Gregorstein wins Cersei's trial-by-combat. Margaery is sentenced to death for treason but the Tyrells get her safely to Highgarden. The Lannister/Tyrell alliance is obviously over. Aegon's army conquers all of the Stormlands and marches for King's Landing. The Tyrells join him instead. Margaery marries Aegon.

Stannis wins Winterfell easily since Manderly, having received a message from Davos via the Umber brothers that he has returned with Rickon, turns on Bolton just as the battle is about to begin. Roose is executed. Ramsay escapes. So do Asha and Theon.

Bran discovers that unlike what Bloodraven has told him he can not only watch the past but also have some control over it, by talking to people through the heart trees and by other means. He accidentally creates the Others and causes the weird seasons with long winters and summers a couple of tens of thousands of years ago. He feels a bit stupid.

Arya continues her training in Braavos but decides after a while that it's pointless and leaves for Westeros. King's Landing is under siege from the combined forces of the Golden Company + the Stormlands + the Reach, so the ship she's travelling with lands at Duskendale instead and she makes it on foot from there. She sneaks into the Red Keep the same way she snuck out in A Game of Thrones and kills Cersei by sticking her with the pointy end. And then the dragons attack King's Landing.

And there the book ends.

[Feron Amathy]

General: The whole series shows each of the seven kingdoms (plus Riverlands) steadily exhausting their strength in civil war leaving them completely unprepared for a massive onslaught of the Others, who are ultimately defeated by a resurrected Jon (possibly reinforced by Dany). Jon dies (without Resurrection) in doing so. I really hope Dany doesn't end up on the Iron Throne because she's such an annoying character and a poor ruler, attractive as a symbol (brings back Dragons, frees slaves, etc) but irritating as a person, but given her plotlines have been getting duller by the book the payoff at the end of the series needs to be huge so it may happen.

The North: Rickon or possibly Sansa as recognised ruler. The Boltons wiped out. Stannis and Mel dead. The Watch destroyed, or at least the Wildlings settling permanently south of the Wall in return for effectively becoming the Watch. Arya reunited with the surviving members of her family but as to her final position I have no idea. Bran a tree. UnCat very, permanently dead, with Martin regretting ever resurrecting her in the first place.

The Riverlands: Couldn't care less about the Tullys. It's pretty much obligatory right now for the Freys to be wiped out to the last man, woman and child.

The Vale: I'd be amazed if Robert Arryn survived Winds. Littlefinger burned alive by a surprise dragon attack on the Eyrie (a shame, because he's one of my favourite characters).

The West: Tyrion as Lord of Casterly Rock. Cersei dead and remembered with disgust. Jamie either surviving to guard a monarch not of his own House, openly declaring his paternanity of Tommen to allow the latter to live without fear under a new dynasty, or dying in such spectacularly heroic fashion that 'Kingslayer' is forgotten.

The Reach: No idea, but can't see Mace surviving Winds.

The Iron Islands: Asha reconvenes the Kingsmoot to depose Euron on the grounds that Theon wasn't present before. The Ironmen scoff that she can't mean a broken thing like Theon to rule them. Theon spits back that he doesn't want to. Gives some speech along the lines of these brave warriors abandoning him as a child to save their own skins, blaming it on him when he returns, then refusing to support him when he proves his mettle and loyalty by capturing Winterfel. Tells them Ned may have held him captive and Ramsay may have tortured him but it was them who made him this way. Tells them where to shove it and leaves. Never finds a place to call home. Asha to rule.

Dorne: Arianne to rule after Doran. Don't really care because Doran and Oberyn are the only interesting Dornish characters.

The Stormlands: Gendry or Edric Storm or one of Robert's bastards rules. Shereen and Selseye (sp?) dead.

Iron Throne: Probably Dany. Aegon won't survive the series. I would love it if the child Tommen somehow survives as king given what's happened to his predecessors.

Essos: The Tattered Prince takes Pen - meh no one cares.

[Aegon II]

I expect to know more about "The Others" here, they are supposed to be the ultimate foe but still little is known about them. But who's POV is it gonna be? perhaps Melissandre, Bran or even Jon (wargs into a whitewalker?).

[Weeping Sore]

_{Jamie and Brienne take Gendry to Kings Landing to claim the throne based on Jamie's confirmation to the High Sparrow that he fathered Joffrey & Tommen. High Sparrow legitimizes him into Gendry Baratheon and presto! New King. He probably sits on the iron throne for about 5 minutes.}

_{Stannis actually dead. Jon (alive) must give up the black and become King in the North. The wall falls. The actual remaining Night's Watch are slaughtered. All (frozen-over) hell breaks loose.}

_{Dany comes to Westeros at the end of the book as the Others + wights are basically going to town on everybody.}

[Golden Twin]

@ apoapis.

Really dark predictions about dany and her story. She has been an annoying brat of late especially in dance. But I feel very protective about the dragons. I would be outraged if Victarian steals two of them.

but there seems to be a consensus that dany will help out with the threat of the others before she attacks KL.

[CBroome1979]

Jon - Martin mentioned that all the minor resurrections are leading to a major resurrection. Jon is about as main as a main character can be in this series, so I would think this is it. He gets revived and is recognized as Azor Ahai by Melisandre. Eventually we will find that he IS indeed the child of Lyanna and Rhaegar, and the Song of Ice and Fire was made for him, the child of Stark and Targaryen. I'll go so far as to predict he will sit the Iron Throne by the end of the series.

Bran - I think we'll see very little of Bran POV's, instead learning of his actions through other POV's. When his POV's show up, I believe they will take us to the Land of Always Winter and further North, to the Curtain of Light he 'dreamed' of in Book 1. There we will learn the Others' origins and/or secrets. I believe he will not leave his little cave.

Sansa - She's getting built up to be Littlefinger's downfall, and will ultimately outfox and outmaneuver him in the Vale. She becomes Lady of the Vale and weds Harry the Heir. Robert Arryn, at this point, has died either naturally or with help.

Arya - With the Faceless Men at Oldtown researching, I'm assuming they are plotting Dany's death. I believe she will kill Dany and ultimately be slain herself.

Victarion - Will have the horn blown, only to find out the dragons fly off to Euron. Will be impotent, full of rage, and ready to murdalize some slavers. After that, he's the way home for Dany's flock.

Tyrion - Convinces the Second Sons to double turncloak. Goes back west with Dany, advising her, and will become Lord of Casterly Rock by the end.

Jaime/Brienne - Brienne is leading him to the BwB, and there I predict one or the other will sacrifice themselves on the other's behalf. I suspect Jaime lives, if only to carry out Cersei's prophecy of being slain by the valonqar.

Cersei - Continues going batshit crazy, especially with Ser Robert Strong around. Will be slain by Jaime.

Melisandre/Wall - This could go many ways! NW could just start executing and chaining up Wildlings, thereby causing a big fight. Wildlings go ahead and kill NW Caesars after they stab Jon, then everything calms down. Does Queen Selyse live? Melisandre? Too much up in the air. Almost certain the Others will attack soon after this point.

Stannis - He's alive and well and will destroy the Bolton/Frey force with Manderly's assistance. Will return north and die in the attempt to stop the Others.

Theon - Too much buildup on the redo of the Kingsmoot storyline for him to be executed in the North. Will somehow return to the Iron Islands, maybe after Euron's demise, and Asha will sit the Seastone Chair.

Dany - I'm thinking darker here...I'm thinking the dragon horn will blow and Drogon will go bye-bye with the rest, leaving Dany in a truly screwed-up situation with Mago and Khal Jhoqo. They will attempt to return her to Vaes Dothrak, and in the meantime have a little fun along the way. After Euron's plans are defeated, Drogon will return for her and she will blast the two and take control of the Khalasar and return to the Seven Kingdoms, where she will be killed by Arya.

All in good fun...there's so many twists and turns in the first five I'll be lucky to bat .500.

[Arkash]

I remember somewhere reading GRRM saying that other events as hard as the Red Weding are ahead of him to write.

My predictions on this is that these / this event(s) will take place when Jaime and Brienne end up meeting Cat...

I have a feeling this will be bloody and we will have some deaths among this list of characters:

Jaime. Brienne. UnCat. Gendry. Hot Pie. Podrick. Lem. Tom...

[Fire Eater]

Jon - Martin mentioned that all the minor resurrections are leading to a major resurrection.

Would you provide the reference?

[iRead]

I've actually thought about this a lot as I am terrifed that GRRM will die before he finish the series. I sincerely hope not, but every man must die... so I jokingly told a friend I was going to have an insurance policy and write fanfiction. Turns out it is hard to write fanfiction for this series, but I decided to just figure out what would happen if I did write fanfiction and this is what I have come up with... warning: it's a bit long.

THE WALL:

Jon is Azhor Azai/The Prince that is Promised/the song of fire and ice. He will die, warg into ghost and truly understand his connection to the direwolf. Imediately after Jon's death, the wildlings and Night's Watch/Queen's men will fight. I am pretty confident that there will be heavy causalties on both sides, but seeing as the wildings have a fricken giant, I have faith that they will win. Most if not all of the Queen's men will die, and the remaining wildlings will peace the fuck out to go further South. They no longer are safe at the wall, and I think Val and Tormound will be leading them. I think Selyse was truly the driving force behind his attack, influencing Bowen Marsh and others to stop Jon's "madness" of co-existing with the wildlings. Melisandre will realize this plan and be rightfully livid. I think it will be, at this point in time, very clear to her that whenever she asks to see AA, she sees Jon in her flames. She will finally realize her mistake. Mel and the remaining men of the Night's Watch will be left to "clean up" the dead after the battle at the wall and I believe that she will use her charms to disguise Jon as someone else, and stow him away in a the dungeon where several other dead men have been placed to see if they reanimate/become wights. She will try to bring him back to life, but it won't work because of his warging abilities. This is ultimately good, although Mel will be PISSED and take it out on Selyse. With all of the Queen's men dead, Mel will have the perfect reason to sacrifice Selyse, grasping for straws that maybe it is a royal sacrifice she must perform in order to raise AA. Selyse will be the only royal she currently has access to, even though her royalness is questionable at best. I think she will be very desperate and willing to try anything to make up for her mistakes. She also will no longer be worried about Stannis or his reaction to killing Selyse as he is no longer her AA, although it is doubtful he will really truly care anyway. Selyse will burn (pretty fitting, given her dedication to R'hlor) but much to Mel's dismay, Jon will remain dead/warged in Ghost.

ABOVE THE WALL

While Jon is in Ghost, he will somehow form a communication with Bran and realize that Bran is alive. Bran will have by this point in time will have a basic knowledge of the Children of the Forest and the balance of magic. I think he will also have some knowledge about Jon's true identity, which he will have seen through the trees at Jojen and Meera's prompting, seeing as they both already seem to know about who Jon truly is... or at least their dad knows. Bran will be the one who tells Jon that Lyanna Stark was his mother and Rhaegar Targaryen is his father, and that he has a destiny. Jon, of course, will have a limited reaction to this, seeing as he is currently sharing a body with a direwolf. The children of the forest will also give Bran the horn that will bring down the wall. They are discovered to be the true creators of said horn, due to the fact that they wanted the power to undue the magic that they put in to the Wall so that by the time AA was ready, he would have no barrier and could vanquish the Others forever. Bran will be told that he will know when to blow the horn due to his green seeing abilities which will be progressing like nothing the children of the forest have ever seen before.

JAMIE/BRIENNE

Brienne will have said "Stannis" in an attempt to make Lady Stoneheart remember her promise to let Brienne have her own vengeance. Ultimately, Lady Stoneheart will make a deal with Brienne that if Brienne brings back Jamie to her alone, Lady Stoneheart will help Brienne kill Stannis. Lady Stoneheart will have no actual intentions of keeping this deal, but wants Jamie to die at her own hands and is willing to believe Brienne's pull for vengeance is just as strong as her own, and that Brienne will bring Jamie back. LS will also keep Pod and Hyle as hostages and promise to release them upon Jamie's arrival. Of course, she won't have any intention of doing this either. Brienne will bring Jamie back, but she will have told him the entire truth as she now as ample evidence to not believe that LS would keep her word. Jamie and Brienne form a plan to rescue Pod and Hyle and defeat BWB and LS. They will show up at night, and LS will inform them that she has no interest in letting any of them leave, will reveal that Pod and Hyle are already dead, and that she will now kill Jamie and Brienne as well. Before Jamie and Brienne have time to enact their plan, two things will happen to cause chaos. Gendry and several other BWB member will have had enough of LS's unhonorable rule (Pod's death will serve as the straw on the camel's back - just one too many innocents mudered), and will join Brienne and Jamie. Fighting will ensue and suddenly in the heat of the battle, Nymeria's wolf pack will attack, ending the fight but causing confusion and chaos. Lady Stoneheart will flee alone but not before locking eyes with her daughter's direwolf. Jamie Lannister will also have a moment with the direwolf, and he will realize that he was just saved by the Stark girl's direwolf and feel indebted. Jamie, Brienne, and Gendry will all survive, but barely, and Jamie will be in really rough shape.

ARYA: Will continue her training and learn much more about the faceless men, but will still be unable to convince the kindly man that she is no one. She will have a warging dream and will see what occurs with Jamie, Brienne, and will see the monster her mother has become through Nymeria's eyes. This is also why Nymeria will have such a strong impact on Lady Stoneheart. Lady Stoneheart likewise will have a large impact on Arya. She will recognize her mother, and she will see the absolute monster her mother has become. To be honest, although I love Arya, she is headed down the same path. She is all about vengeance which we all now see as her being super badass, but ultimately it is pretty unhealthy. What will become of Arya after she has finished her list? I think seeing LS will kind of wake Arya up… it will be like looking into her own future if she stays on her current path… I think it’s pretty clear that she is just planning on using her Faceless training as a means to kill everyone who has ever wronged her and not to actually become Faceless in the whole essence of the word. She will awake from the dream and later tell the kindly man that she can no longer stay. She will leave for Westeros at the end of the book, with a specific mission that the reader will be unsure of and with a deadly set of skills, Liam Neeson style.

KING'S LANDING

The Tyrells will learn more about Aegon but will scoff at the rumors. They will only pay attention to him towards the end, when word finally reaches them about his alliance with the Martells.

Margaery will survive her trial. Cersei will realize that Jamie is not coming to save her and will have Qyburn's champion which will be undead Mountain, Gregor Clegane. Clegane will triumph, and Cersei will be allowed to live but will ultimately be a prisoner in the castle she once ruled, as Ser Kevan is now dead. Cersei will essentially be in the same position that she forced Sansa Stark to be in. She will be more and more paranoid, and as Tommen begins to be more and more taken with Margaery, she will begin to think that Tommen is turning on her as well, and that it is all Margaery's fault. She will attempt to poison Margaery but will instead accidentally poison her own son. Tommen will die at the end of the book, just as Aegon launches an attack on King's Landing. It will be left as a cliff hanger as to whether or not Aegon takes King's Landing.

Davos/Rickon/Osha:

He will have to battle a lot, but he will finally find Rickon and Osha. Because of his upbringing, Rickon will be a wild child but will know crazy wildling secrets - he will also have some warging ability that Osha has told him to embrace instead of fear. Davos will struggle to teach him noble ways as they journey back to Stannis and will become a sort of foster father to Rickon. I think Rickon will be a pain in the ass at first but after Davos protects him, he will learn to trust and respect Davos. Osha will desperately try to convince Davos and Rickon that they should NOT go North, and Rickon and Osha will initially run away from Davos. But they will stumble upon a weirwood tree that has absolutely NO business being that far South. Rickon will see Bran in that tree, and decide that he needs to go home, and he will make Osha take him back to Davos. Then they will set off to find Stannis/head for Winterfell.

Theon/Asha/Stannis/Mance Rayder/Boltons/Manderlys:

I am less clear about where this left off... so this may be very off. But Stannis will fight the Boltons and Freys and win - the Karstarks will be d-bags, but the Manderlys will turn against the Boltons and finally give them a taste of their own medicine. Roose will die, but Ramsay will remain alive as a prisoner, and he will continue to try and manipulate and intimidate Theon, who is still terrified of him. It will be revealed that Theon is the one who wrote and sent the letter that Jon Snow recieves at Ramsay's insistence, Ramsay hoping to gode Jon Snow in to attacking a Winterfell that is now Stannis's. Stannis also discovered Mance's true identity right away (either he recognizes him from the Wall or the charm that Mel puts on him fades) Either way, Mance is also a prisoner, as Stannis believes Mel will want to sacrfice him (he doesn't believe Mance's story that Mel actually let him go and believes Mance used his own methods to trick Mel into executing the wrong man). Mance therefore is also known to Ramsay, who uses this information to further convince Jon Snow to attack Winterfell. Asha will become aware of the power Bolton has over Theon and this will further her resolve to form an escape plan and hold another Kingsmoot/Queensmoot with Theon present, claiming the other previous one null and void. Mance and Ramsay will both be in cells as far as I see it, but Asha will still be allowed to roam more hostage than a prisoner, and I believe she will use this to her advantage trying to get Mance to join her escape plan. Fake Arya Stark will also be in Stannis possession and will be treated as a hostage. Mance knows immediately that she is NOT Arya Stark, seeing as he saw her during King Robert's visit, but keeps this information to himself. Another snowstorm rocks Winterfell at the end of the novel, basically ending any hope that Asha has of ever getting home. There will be no Queensmoot.

Arianne/Aegon/Connington/Martells:

Arianne will find Aegon and will be entirely convinced that he is who he says he is. Jon Connington will play a huge role in convincing her. News will reach the Prince about his son's death and failure to marry Dany, and he will also hear about Dany's supposed demise/disapppearance. Arianne and Aegon marry (I think there might be a pretty big age difference here, but it will not matter to anyone) and unite House Targaryean and House Martel once again as Aegon, Connington, and a few others plot their military strategy. Aegon desperately wants to somehow gain the two dragons that Dany has reportedly left behind and as he is the only Targ left, he believes that he is the only one that can possibly control the dragons and that it is his destiny to do so. Connington argues against this as he knows better - no one can control dragons. He instead pushes for Aegon to make his way to King's Landing and take the city while Stannis stalled by winter storms and while they still have the element of surprise.

Littlefinger/Sansa: Littlefinger will continue to be a creeper and Sansa will be more and more disturbed by him. Honestly, don't care for either Littlefinger or Sansa, and I am hoping that Lady Stoneheart eventually kills Littlefinger, but this is just wishful thinking. I kind of just want both of them to die in Winds of Winter... too bad no one can just nuke the Vale.

Blackfish: I have NO idea where this dude could is. But he's going to be back in the 6th book. I'm hoping he finds Sansa at the Vale and just when you think she's finally going to escape and be free, that her great-uncle is going to help her out, BAM! She is killed. But I am not sure how this would all happen or go down.

Sam: Will learn more about AA and how to defeat the others. Will be also learning all about Maester training. Perhaps Jaqen H'gar is there but I'd be cooler with Jaqen being at the wall as it would make more sense. Seeing as he was captured and on his way to the wall with Yoren, it seems to imply that he allowed himself to be captured because he WANTED/NEEDED to be sent to the Wall. This is not an original theory. What he'd be doing at the wall is way more mysterious, but it would have been very easy for him to have joined Stannis army at one point in time and just blend in so he could accomplish whatever needs to be done at the wall. I'm also convinced the Arellas is in fact Sarella, Oberyn's daughter, but I still am at loss as to how this is going to really impact anything.

DANY: She's honestly the one I care the least about. She will join with Khal she meets in the end of ADWD, as I see the Khal being entirely terrified of her dragon. But he will not take too kindly to being bossed around be her, and eventually tire of her and make a move to kill her. Drogon will eat him, therefore ending any other qualms about Dany's rule and that Khalasar will follow her once again as she makes her way back to her other two dragons. She will head back to them, but have a dream where she is reminded to move east to go west, and will ultimately decided that she has to trust both her dreams and Quathe's previous advice, and not go back for her dragons, despite the fact that it pains her to do so.

Baristan the Bold/Victarion/Tyrion/Penny/Jorah

Barristan will continue to rule wherever the eff they are, but will grow weary of waiting for his Queen to return. Just when they are all about to give up hope of finding her alive, they hear reports of a Khalasar boasting the presence of black dragon, the mother of the dragons leading them. Victarion will reach wherever the eff they are (seriously can't keep those Eastern places straight) and take the city in some way fitting, killing some of the stupid bastards that gave Dany such a hard time. Barristan and all of the soldiers who remain faithful to Dany will fight Victarion's forces as he attempts to reach the dragons. Victarion's forces will be decimated, but Victarion himself will find the location of the dragons and blow the horn thing that will control allow him control over one dragon. This horn will NOT grant him control of any of Dany's dragons but will instead give him control over the famed Stone Dragon. We won't know where it located, but we will know that it has been awoken at the end of the novel. Victarion will find that he has NO control over either dragon as he attempts to bend them to his will. As a result Victarion dies horribly and the other two dragons are released upon the world. He ultimately releases three dragons - the "glory" that the Red priest promises him. As the dragons are no longer holding them to wherever they are, Barristan and Dany's army will desert the city as it is being set on fire by Dany's two crazy dragons, and they take over Victarion's fleet. They watch the city go up in flames, ultimately destroyed as they sail away. Daario dies, as do the other hostages, still trapped in the city, ultimately destroyed by Dany's "children". Barristan decides his only remaining option is to sail for the rumored locations of Dany, and sails East.

Tyrion will convince the sellswords to pledge allegiance for Dany after many chapters plus will actually learn to fight best he can, but by the time they do, it doesn't matter as they find out she is presumed died. The company, not far away from the city that Dany's dragons were released on, soon encounter the hungry dragons themselves. There is chaos, and Tyrion and Jorah manage to escape, although not before Tyrion has a moment with one of the dragons - it will almost eat him, burn him, whatever but then will seemingly change it's mind. Penny dies. The two dragons head West, away from their mother leaving a trail of destruction behind them.

END OF NOVEL: Bran will blow the horn, the wall will fall. We will have no idea about the true fate of the people still on the wall at the time of the fall, and whether or not Melisandre lives. The wall falling however will be a sort of magical explosion, and it will be this magic that pulls Jon from Ghost and ressurects him. He will have "killed the boy" just like Maester Aemon said, and in a different way than anyone expected. The wall falling will also reforge the broken obsidan glass fragments that Jon found earlier - this will be the fabled Lightbringer (the fire that it is pulled from will be more metaphorical, as obsidan is technically dragon glass/fire glass), and Jon will be seen rising from the rubble ice of the wall with lightbringer in his hand. With the wall down, the

Others will begin to invade in the 7th book.

Dany and Barristan will reunite with Victarion's fleet. They will make their way across the Sunset Sea, headed for Westeros.

I am probably wrong about all of this. But it's fun to just theorize.

[aryagonnakill]

iRead i like some of your ideas but i find some of them ilogical. first grrm said brienne shouted sword not stannis. I originally thought stannis too but oh well, it doesnt really have to change that part of what you said. secondly rickon is in skagos, which is not the south, and therefore its perfectly reasonable for weirwoods to be there. thirdly the karstarks have been taken prisoner, so i dont think theyll be able to pull a d bag move, but i could be wrong. 4th i dont see why anyone thinks anyone other than roose wrote the letter but theres no basis of fact there. Lastly jaqen didnt join or get captured by yoren, jaqen was locked up in kings landing when yoren went there , Ned let him have his pick from the dungeons. I do like your idea about nymeria seeing lady stoneheart i think thats interesting. However where you see lady stoneheart surviving i see nymeria ripping her to shreds. I also love the idea of cersei poisoning tommen on accident.

[wotad]

dany goes to westros and owns everyone becomes queen and we all live happily ever after

[MotherofFlagons]

So I have been trolling this thread since I finished Dance a few months ago because i googled "is Jon Snow dead?" in a panic. My gut tells me he is too integral and unfinished in terms of character development to be done. it had been, since the beginning, my girlish (re:Disney-influenced) hope that somehow, some way, Jon and Dany would end up together- mostly just because I like them both a lot, and because it'd be a tidy way to join the North and the generally-Targ-loving South. I've learned a lot from all the theories out there and am embarrassed to say, I didn't catch the whole R+L=J connection initially, how could I have missed it?  My main issue with this theory, while it made me happy since i thought jon could possibly be dead, is that if he truly is R+L's son, and possibly the pwwp/AA, what does that make Dany? I feel like her role in the series so far has been this obviously prophesied individual(s) and if Jon fulfills the prophecy, she'd just be some Targ girl who had a star bleed for her and dragons awaken from stone? I would be disappointed if there was some random dragon sleeping under winterfell (but maybe that's how the spring stays hot...), it would cheapen the three dragons Dany awakened and the 3-headed aspect Martin keeps alluding to. If there were a bunch of dragons sleeping, dany wouldnt be important. I just don't know how the two can coexist and both fulfill prophecies... Then I thought:

Dany still thinks she has to be betrayed once more, for love, what if her and Jon fall truly and madly in love and he sacrifices her Nissa Nissa style to temper lightbringer? I realize this is a long shot given the leagues between them and only 2 books to go and wars about to ignite- but still, both the betrayal, the sacrifice need to happen and if the two can't coexist it'd be a dramatic way to solve that. That being said, I would hate it. Jon was raised Stark and therefore doesn't have betrayal in his nature, it wouldn't be right. And Dany is ma girl - hence the user name. Also, someone on here recently said that Rhaegar was melancholy because he knew the pwwp had to sacrifice himself - where does it say that? I was not aware of this aspect, but that'd also mean whoever it is would have to die - shame. Although I'd guess Jon would sacrifice himself before Dany. I've never read anything else by Martin but he definitely likes to kill people I love. What we want for these characters is for Dany to have a home and Jon to not be a bastard... But what will Martin give us? 

Hmm... All I know is I cannot wait years and years to get my hands on book 6 and we know that it's going to have the most infuriating cliff hangers of all.

Time for a flagon...

[MotherofFlagons]

Additionally,

Sansa: will get some Mad independence and do in for LF, be a basass female by being hardened by years of putting up with shit and not need a man, by the end.

Lady stoneheart... I really disliked Cat in the books but like her character on the show. The zombie characters don't do it for me and unless she was furthering justice by cutting down Freys and boltons I'm not interested. I like the idea of her "seeing" Arya/Nymeria in book 6.

Arya: is coming back on a mission in book 6 but I don't think FM will just let her go With no consequences despite what the "kindly" old man says. Were the children who murdered Kevan actually FM? I think Arya will be asked to kill an integral player, probably Dany, and end up joining forces with her (not as a Stark) I don't see why else she would go to Westeros with no reason.

Wall: it's gonna fall, probably the end of book 6. With John "dead" temporarily he is freed from his duty, "til death", I don't know how this plays out.

Jaime and Brienne... Sacrifice for each other. Valonqar. Typical prediction. 

Southrons: actually see Aegon and Marg making a great ruling duo, both would be beloved and good to their subjects. But Not sure how they'll survive though.

Arianne bores me, but Dorme will declare for a Targ.

Irons: Theon will somehow see Bran in a tree and sacrifice himself for Rickon later on, redeeming himself, maybe even saying as his dying words "I'm a Stark". Asha will rule. The "nuncles" will all die, except Aeron.

Tyrion:. Will get the rock, will see Bronn again and probably Tysha. He will def ride a dragon.

Cersei: "bat shit cray". Ends up knocking boots with moon boy.

[total1402]

I think Aegon will learn one of two things that will have a big impact on his decisions

1-Quentyn Martell has went east to marry Danny. He has no reason to assume that she would refuse him; leaving him free to marry. Even though this would disinherit the woman with dragons

2-That she has in fact married a Mereenese slaver

Dorne will assume such a contract has been done and join Aegon. No further marriage would be needed.

I think Varys will kill Tommen, he has the ability and the motive to do so. This leaves Margery free, again. The Tyrells then switch sides once again and offer her up to Aegon. Impetuous, eager for immediate victory, Aegon ignores the advice of Connington that you do not disinherit the woman with three dragons and joins Tyrell in the hopes of shattering Lannister and Ironborn. Frey would certainly jump, he would have the Stormlords and Martell. Easily enough to win. This would then leave the two double crossing factions, Frey and Tyrell incredibly exposed when Daenerys arrives as will probably be the cliffhanger at the end of Winter. Given that Dany thinks in prophecies, its hard to see her not immediatly think Mummers Dragon when she hears of Aegon.

I honestly can't fathom what Baelish is planning on doing or what his reaction would be. His scheme still needs to come to fruition to have any power and Sansa could well spoil things for him.

[PromisedPrince]

so heres my prediction.

its pretty farfetched but i think brienne and jamie will meet with lady stoneheart and jaimie will be imprisoned. whilst jamies imprisoned and awaiting death lady stoneheart will get news that stannis has arya , jaimie will hear this from brienne and decide to tell lady stoneheart that he will keep his oath to her to help return her daughters to her and brienne will swear his honesty.

he will then either lead the brotherhood north or command his lanisters to follow him north to get lady stoneheart arya. they will run into stannis dead and will continue north to the wall to find jon snow dead and melisandre there trying to revive him and keeping his body in the salt

below

the wall, the wildlings would explain that he was a warg and that he was still alive inside ghost.

thoros the red priest will then say that they will need to burn ghost in order for him to give his body "the kiss of life" and bring his body back to life as he did with lady stoneheart (or lady stoneheart will see he is better able to protect her family because she is practically a walking corpse and decide to give him her "fire") melisandre will then burn ghost and before he is dead brienne will feel sorry for ghost and give it a quick death with oathkeeper.

thoros will then revive jon snow or lady stoneheart will, then whilst a part of jon dies inside ghost in the fire and smoke jon will be reborn into his body in the salt. oathkeeper will then turn into the flaming sword because of the sacrifice made of ghost such as Azor Ahai did to his wife. jon will

claim

the sword and melisandre will see the prophecy fullfilled.

the queensmen being religous and devoted to their red god will also believe he is azor ahai and stannis was a misinterpretation once melisandre tells them. they will swear their swords to jon and jon will get rid of the black brothers who tried to assasinate him.

the wights and white walkers will then attack and bring down the wall somehow, many will die and the rest will flee south with jon snow leading them.

[Annikina]

The dusky woman is actually Euron. He has one of his men blow the dragon horn. The story arc ends in a cliffhanger.

best. theory. ever.

that's what I call a cliffhanger!!!

[Annikina]

GRRM decides that he has far too much material for one book so releases "The Nippy Ground Frost of Autumn" as a volume between ADWD and TWOW. It will mostly consist of Tyrion playing cyvasse and Bran trying to find a comfortable seat. GRRM will also introduce A New Targaryen, probably a girl who will have been hidden in plain sight at King's Landing. She will be turn out to be Ros in the TV adaptation and the internet will implode under the weight of fanboy opprobrium.

quite accurate. you made me rofl. thank you! :D :D :D

[tolthar]

I think a lot of everyone will die and that westeros will be covered in ice with potentially Oldtown being my favourite candidate for the last human City. And a new wall is built probably somewhere in the Reach. and Summer will only ever return to that new land south of the new wall. They could call it New Westeros.

Only PoV's that survive are Samwell, Hotah, Aeron, Arya and Bran.