Lady Arianne Martell Posted July 10, 2012 Share Posted July 10, 2012 Do you think Bittersweet could also refer to who is left alive, rather than who is left dead?There are several characters who we, as readers, severely and almost uniformly antagonize with, (Gregor, Freys, etc.)Do you think Bittersweet could mean leaving such characters alive as well? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christina Ceriddwynn Posted July 10, 2012 Share Posted July 10, 2012 its all open to interpretation :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jabronius Maximus Posted July 10, 2012 Share Posted July 10, 2012 I think the bitter part means Dany will survive :bang:But seriously, we have quite a few characters that we root for (Jon, Arya, Bran, Tyrion, among others), and I don't see all of them making it to the end. Some will have to be killed off, but I think the major conflict will be resolved. That sounds bittersweet enough for me.ETA: At this point we don't even know what the major conflict is, so the ending could be a long way away Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Malena Posted July 10, 2012 Share Posted July 10, 2012 I read somewhere, he meant to end it with a huge graveyard. I just pray some of my favorite characters end up alive (and happy). The Mountain has to go, but I don´t care if some Freys live.http://reinosdefabula.blogspot.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sailing the sunset sea Posted July 10, 2012 Share Posted July 10, 2012 I have no doubt it will be bittersweet and the end of some character arcs will leave us devastated. Good guys will die, bad ones will thrive and survive.Has anyone here read 'Fevre Dream' by GRRM?The book's main character is a steamboat capitain who has only one big dream: win a steamboat race against the biggest, most famed steamboat on the river. After a couple of hundreds pages that famed steamboat gets randomly crushed by a storm. So, after anticipating the glorious final race all the time the reader gets....nothing. It's definitively a surprising twist, and it's the bitter in bittersweet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dontos the Slim Posted July 10, 2012 Share Posted July 10, 2012 My two closest reader friends and I were discussing this notion of "bittersweet" not too long ago. My take was that the bitter part could wind up being really, really bitter. As in, everyone that we love dies, the entire Stark family is wiped out (except for tree-Bran), Tommen sits the throne with Cersei behind him and Margaery beside him, the Freys are elevated to a Great House, etc."So what's the 'sweet' part?" they asked. Well, after the Wall fell, Jon, Dany, Tyrion, Arya, the Sand Snakes, damphair, all the northern lords, and warging Bran teamed up to defeat The Great Other and his minions and return magical balance to the realm. And it was F'n sweet!In short, I don't really care as much about the dénouement as I do about, 1) the existential threat presented by the Others being mitigated (if not destroyed, 2) some type of resolution (or explanation) about the role of The Citadel and The Septons in all this, and 3) Bran.Cersei lives? Great. Some random person on the Iron Throne? Whatever. Arya dies by falling off a horse? OK. Just give me the super-sweet and I'll take whatever bitter he can serve up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jabronius Maximus Posted July 10, 2012 Share Posted July 10, 2012 Imo it would be ridiculous to have Cersei sitting on the throne in the end. The Lannisters are all but destroyed, and I see Cersei going through a long, long suffering (including seeing all 3 of her kids die). In fact, she may go through so much that we as readers actually feel sorry for her, and guess what? That's when GRRM trolls us offs her Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
deadphoenix Posted July 10, 2012 Share Posted July 10, 2012 It is his story and he can end it how he wants, but hopefully it is satisfying for the readers and not overly bitter. Bittersweet to me means favorite characters will die, but ultimately the worst will die and the best won't. That Westoros will be left in shambles but not to the point where one can't envision it being rebuilt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kittykatknits Posted July 10, 2012 Share Posted July 10, 2012 I read somewhere, he meant to end it with a huge graveyard. I just pray some of my favorite characters end up alive (and happy). The Mountain has to go, but I don´t care if some Freys live.http://reinosdefabula.blogspot.com/GRRM was joking when he made that comment about the huge graveyard.As to the ending, Martin has said he does not like the ending to Harry Potter but has described the ending of LoTR as bittersweet. I think we can use that to extrapolate what the end will be like. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stormcatcher Posted July 10, 2012 Share Posted July 10, 2012 Or it could be that characters we like (e.g. Sansa) end up living, but in a less than favourable manner (married and believing she is Littlefinger's second Cat or something). Dany turning up in Westeros far too late as it becomes more stable, only to be branded a crazy invader. Arya losing all sense of identity as she becomes a FM. Jon living as unJon, and being just as miserable and empty as the other unPeople. Bran living in the same way as Bloodraven. Really, there are many ways for the main characters to live miserably.I also fear that the ending might be post-apocalyptic and leave me wishing that Dany had stayed in Essos with all my favourite characters. Westeros overrun with wights and Others, quarantined by the other continents. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
houseHB Posted July 10, 2012 Share Posted July 10, 2012 The ending will be Jon emerging from the wall after defeating the Others and seeing Arya since AGOT, holding Needle at her side. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teren_Kanan Posted July 10, 2012 Share Posted July 10, 2012 I expect some of the most popular and main characters to live.. and some to die.I expect some of the people we hate to live, and some to die.It will be a mixed bag, very realistic. Not every bad person gets what they deserve, and sometimes great people die like dogs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the Scorpion Knight Posted July 10, 2012 Share Posted July 10, 2012 the seven kingdom saved but in dire need of rebuilding and the next generation on the way Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mladen Posted July 10, 2012 Share Posted July 10, 2012 Bittersweet...I always thought that maybe means opposite sides shall collide...Ice and fire, lion and wolf, good and bad...Maybe Martin meant that everything shall be bittersweet, because he means to connect and unite oposite sides Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Intransigence Posted July 10, 2012 Share Posted July 10, 2012 the seven kingdom saved but in dire need of rebuilding and the next generation on the wayThat's the way I look at it. He's built such a complicated world with a history to match. We as readers are dipping into a slice of that. Unless he's building to something genuinely apocalyptic it feels to me that 'our' story should end in an open way to show that what follows will be just as complicated and bloody.We don't want dany and jon holding hands and skipping across fields of wild flowers and cheering small folk. Especially if they're being led into a garden by a talking lion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SerStinger Posted July 10, 2012 Share Posted July 10, 2012 I think the novels will end in the middle of conflict, yet in a hopeful way. (With a "Dream", but not the "Spring" itself).I'm sure it will lack closure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sailing the sunset sea Posted July 10, 2012 Share Posted July 10, 2012 I think Dany will die (after defeating the Others). Many people seem to find her annoying, but I think she's meant to be one of the characters that people should root for the most. It would be a bittersweet ending. She never gets the Iron Throne and sie dies heirless as the last of the Targaryens, but she will serve the Realm and ultimatively save everyone in it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John W Posted July 10, 2012 Share Posted July 10, 2012 It's too painful for me to even think about it.I'll be upset if the Starks don't get some measure of revenge against the Lannisters.When you think about it there's already been some bittersweet moments like Joffrey's death. Yeah it was great to see him die but he died at the hands of the Tyrells. Also Sansa was able to escape from the clutches of the Lannisters but now she's in the hands of LF. Out of the frying pan and into the fire. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lady Arianne Martell Posted July 10, 2012 Author Share Posted July 10, 2012 I would be furious if there's absolutely no closure...there's too many plotlines and mysteries I need resolved :(Please, I really would be mad if it ends in the middle of conflict. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Child of Spring Posted July 10, 2012 Share Posted July 10, 2012 All I have to say to this topic is that we'll probably be surprised :laugh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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