What potential plot development do you dread the most?

[Melpomene]

~ The Others turning out to be "good" and just 'misunderstood' :bs: I could buy them being neutral forces of nature or something, but that's about it.

Oh man, this has becoming a big thing for me. Thanks to plenty of other books, movies, TV, stories, mangas etc I am getting so tired of the whole cliche plot where one culture looks down or fears another culture only to have a couple of selected characters finding out that the "inferior" or "bad" culture is actually wonderful and advanced and tries to convince the other culture likewise. Sort of like the whole Pocahontas-theme effect.

Overall, I want The Others to remain eerie, mysterious and ultimitely evil-like. It makes the buildup of uneasyness and uncertainity offer so much more impact. Why cause tension and hints of warnings for 5 books only to have a sudden burst of "Oh, we were good all along!" it would feel so anticlimactic.....

More....

-Bran staying up there in the north, isolated and turning into a member of the forest family.

-For something terrible happens to Tommen and his kittens.

-Arya remaining in the FM world.

-More Starks/Direwolves dying.

-If we never find out the mysteries - Jon's parentage, Benjen's disapearance, Howland Reed etc

- Rickon suddenly appearing and proving to be the perfect badass prince figure who takes back Winterfell and becomes Lord. I know I know, a lot of people like this, and I am a fan of the Starks, want them to have a Winterfell comeback, and I do really want Rickon back...but that specific idea sounds too typical.

And I would actually like it better if one of the girls inherits/takes back Winterfell...going against the conventional ways of the son-dominated world. Unfortunetly I can't see it happening, but here is to hoping.

-A sadder fate for Penny. Her storyline bummed me out so much during ADWD, I either want that to change and develope further (Like she becomes a stronger, empowering and clever person) or have her quietly removed altogether. Nothing against the character in itself, just that her journey, depency/naivity and losing her beloved pig and dog in an awful way made me genuinely sad.

[Im With Stannis]

Every time someone suggests that Jon Snow might live on in Ghost, or every time suggests someone warning into a dragon, I cringe. I HATE reading POV chapters of wolves when Bran, Jon and Arya were dreaming, and I imagine reading POV chapters of dragons would be only slightly less boring. I don't need to get inside of the head of a wolf. It's so incredibly boring. And if Jon is supposed to be the PTWP or AA, how in the world is he going to do that as a wolf? Is he going to lead an army against the white walkers as Ghost? I might stop reading if that happens.

I also hate imaginging ASOIAF without Stannis. I hope he makes it to the end and either gets the crown, serves as someone's hand, or takes up post at the Nights Watch. I'll second the death of Cersei sucking. While its well deserved, I have a feeling Aegon is going to take the iron throne at some point and we'll have to deal with reading JonCon POVs.

[Jolene Brown]

Some of these posts have reminded me of another one of mine - I don't want this series to become all about "who is Azor Ahai?" I barely even understand why Azor Ahai is important, I think it's a dumb name, and I gave up reading fantasy years ago in part because I didn't give a crap about that kind of thing. I would really prefer for it to be a bitter irony that it doesn't really matter who Azor Ahai is, that Lightbringer has little significance, that there is a reason dragons disappeared, and that it is the human drama we've already seen that is truly important.

[Maxpey]

That the whole SOIAF saga was a dream sequence of Bran that occurred while he was laying in a coma.

[The Taupe Grace]

Answering the question in the opposite way - here are THINGS THAT NEED TO HAPPEN with some of the minor characters. All of these have been hinted at, foreshadowed and then forchrissake, never brought up again and it pissed me off when reading the books,

• Gendry needs to learn about his heritage - I really thought he would when Brienne mistakes him for Renly, but NO that would be TOO SATISFYING AND CONCLUSIVE, wouldn't it GEORGE, and actually help in MOVING THE PLOT.
  
• Sandor and Gregor need one last battle - all those stories of them in Book 1 and their hatred: THIS NEEDS TO BE RESOLVED.
  
• Brienne swore that she would get revenge for Renly - I would hate to see her sidetracked from her final mission of revenge from Stannis (though I really like Stannis, plot justice must fall)
  
• Sansa needs to get revenge for the death of Lady, and hopefully we find out just what the narrative relevance of giving all the Stark children familiars is.
  

[Ser Wun Wun]

]Gendry needs to learn about his heritage - I really thought he would when Brienne mistakes him for Renly, but NO that would be TOO SATISFYING AND CONCLUSIVE, wouldn't it GEORGE, and actually help in MOVING THE PLOT.

Ugh, GRRM has been such a freaking tease these last two books, hasn't he? Brienne gets cut off before she can tell Gendry who his father is, Dany cuts off Barristan as he is telling her what kind of man Ned Stark truly was (and several other times when he is talking about Targ history!), Sam runs into Arya and nothing comes of it, Brienne meets Jaime again for all of 2 seconds so we don't learn anything (like what word she screamed!), Tyrion gets within a few hundred feet of Dany but never meets her......I could go on.

That kind of "teasing" is not good writing imo, it's just cruel and inhumane! :bang:

[The Taupe Grace]

Ugh, GRRM has been such a freaking tease these last two books, hasn't he? Brienne gets cut off before she can tell Gendry who his father is, Dany cuts off Barristan as he is telling her what kind of man Ned Stark truly was (and several other times when he is talking about Targ history!), Sam runs into Arya and nothing comes of it, Brienne meets Jaime again for all of 2 seconds so we don't learn anything (like what word she screamed!), Tyrion gets within a few hundred feet of Dany but never meets her......I could go on. That kind of "teasing" is not good writing imo, it's just cruel and inhumane! :bang:

YES!! I absolutely agree, this was one of the most frustrating parts about reading the book. And the thing is, he would not be able to get away with this without a dedicated readership - it would be criticised as poor writing and unengaging... which it is. But somehow he can pull this - not once - but for five books makes me lose faith in his reputation as a writer. It's like he actively enjoys torturing his most avid readers, but you can only do this to a certain point before people can't trust in their favourite characters and can no longer invest any sympathy or expectation for fear of this:

George: "oh, hey, you like this character huh? you think he's a good guy huh? so noble, oh, he just won another battle... yeah he's pretty awesome, what a great guy, so much potential in his future but - OH NO I JUST BEHEADED HIM! hahahaha you didn't see that coming, huh? hahaha AND I JUST STABBED HIM FULL OF ARROWS, I'm so much smarter than you..."

Yes. I think that's what he actually solipsises to himself when writing.

[Jolene Brown]

I don't think it would be such an issue if he was writing the books in a more timely fashion. If he was putting them out every couple of years, fine, but when he knows he's well behind schedule it starts getting a bit mean/cruel.

[AsoiafFTW!]

That the whole SOIAF saga was a dream sequence of Bran that occurred while he was laying in a coma.

switch bran for rhaegar and voilla... GRRM perfect way to end this...

[big.chivichanga]

The dragons melting the wall~ seems cliche

Also euron not having a major role would be a tragedy he makes a great villianous character.

Another stark dying ( except Sansa, I hate her naïveté, she has changed some more and becomes less naive but I don't feel for

And dany taming all her dragons, she would keep drogon but not the other two. It would be interesting to have the dragons split up and somehow

emulate the people they were named after. Possibly fight one another too. It would be major hack if she comes back fully loaded with a khalisar, unsullied and dragons plus the arrow fodder

[HouseMendoza]

I'd hate to see Hodor die, I think he will though. I'd hate to see Aegon marry Dany and rule Westeros. I hope Arya sees Jon at least once more, if he's not dead....don't want see Jon turned into an Other either. The Iron Born taking over Westeros. Little Finger remaining in power of any sort. The Sand Snakes come out to play would be good reading to see them kick ass. And I want more dragon action. Good topic, could keep going on but a lot of I dont want has already been mentioned.

[summer_stark]

1. Arya becoming a FM
   
2. Arya not reuniting with Nymeria
   
3. Brantree
   
4. Jon warging Ghost to stay alive
   
5. Ghost getting killed while the NW was stabbing Jon
   
6. Ghost, Summer, or Nymeria dying period. (I worry about them more than most of the humans in the plot)
   
7. Jon leaves the NW to go to KL
   
8. R+L=J. I want him to be a Stark, not a Targ.
   
9. Dany ruling Westeros
   
10. Dany ruling Mereen
    
11. Dany ruling.
    
12. Dany killing any starks, tyrion or the direwolves.
    
13. the dragon's killing the direwolves
    
14. Jaime being super redeemed -- he's still a prick imo
    
15. anymore undead people.
    
16. uncat living for much longer
    
17. anything where the ironborn win anything. i hope they all die. i hate them all.
    
18. stannis being king. no love lost for him at all.
    
19. rickon being lord of winterfell instead of bran
    
20. the others being misunderstood
    
21. bran being on the side of the others
    
22. arya not reuniting with her family
    
23. sam never going back to the wall
    
24. no one learns that fake arya is fake/arya comes back but can't reclaim her identity b/c of fake arya
    
25. ramsay/boltons keeping the north/stannis losing the battle with him
    
26. freys and boltons surviving
    

[Queen of Spades]

Worst development ever : Ramsay flaying a Stark kid.

I'd rather have Jon/Dany a hundred times.

[big.chivichanga]

Martin is probably looking at these posts scheming on which ones to incorporate later on.

[King Brandon Ice Eyes]

I have a really bad feeling that Davos is going to end up dead. I really want him to be able to go home to his new castle and be with what remains of his family.

Davos is such a likeable character. I really wish him a happy ending too. Sort of a happy ending. After losing four sons, I mean.

[The Crow's Eye]

If Euron dies without doing something really badass. He needs to do something awesome before the story ends.

[Lady Faceless]

Jon x Dany.

Just no.

[Cayrouse]

Littlefinger dying (especisally at the hands of Sansa). He's risen to high with others mocking him to deserve this fate.

Stannis being beaten/flayed by the Boltons.

Dany not fighting with Aegon

Drogon not burning the Iron fleet

[Grip]

I dread another Field of Fire, IE Dany or someone else having dragons burn entire armies etc. I doubt this will happen, atleast to a larger extent, yet you cant be sure..I would hate if the Dragons actually were the deciding factors in the end.

[Lady Lann]

I dread another Field of Fire, IE Dany or someone else having dragons burn entire armies etc. I doubt this will happen, atleast to a larger extent, yet you cant be sure..I would hate if the Dragons actually were the deciding factors in the end.

Seconded. I hate the argument that whoever has the dragons aka the medieval equivalent of a nuclear bomb will win anyway because I dread it might be true. Then again, it is said by Whitebeard that the other Targ dragons died on the battlefield, so there's a way to get rid of them.

GO FOR THE EYES, EVERYBODY.

(I actually like the dragons, just not the huge advantage they give Dany over all the others, given the fact that she'll likely learn to control them. It takes out too much of the suspense.)