Starks Still Standing

[Queen Elsa]

1. Arya --I give her 66%. She is a very sympathetic character, but does that really matter to GRRM? By the end she will have a very unique set of skills, that will probably be important for the final triumph of good over evil....assuming it is a triumph and she's on the side of good.

She's my favorite Stark but I don't want to get too attach. I do hope she'll survive 100% and be reunited with Nymeria and her siblings but it's wishful thinking. GRRM said the ending is bittersweet.

2. Jon Snow--75%--Assuming he is even alive when book 6 starts. I dont count a zombie Jon Snow as having "survived."

I don't mind him being dead, tbh.

3. Sansa--50%--She is little bird, ofc, but Clegane isnt around to protect her anymore. She really isnt a braniac and being pretty only goes so far--see Sersei....

Sansa may be dead, only Alayne Stone is alive. I read that somewhere in the SSM.

4. Bran--90% --something about his being already disabled makes him less of a threat, but more of a threat because of his special and spatial abilities

He's now with BR far from the woes of the Wot5K. Though he's not 100% safe while the Others roam the land beyond the Wall. But I have this feeling he will survive the series.

5. Rickon--25%--unless GRRM throws us a curveball, his favorite pitch--there is nothing special about him to point toward survival.

I hope he'll survive. The Starks need to multiply; with Jon and Bran unable to, he is their only hope.

[silentwanderer]

I'm thinking Arya can survive pretty much anything at this point.

So can Bran and Rickon, but I can only picture Rickon going back to Winterfell.

Jon and Robb are as good as dead.

And, if Sansa survives, she'll be married to either a Lannister ( Tyrion) or an Arryn (Robin's heir), so I can't see her going back home.

[Erkan12]

Why not anyone count Benjen Stark ???

[silentwanderer]

Why not anyone count Benjen Stark ???

Personally, I think he has been dead since the first book.

I'm just hoping he's Catelyn-Stark-dead and not White-Walker-army dead.

[weaselontherun]

There is no longer an Arya just a faceless girl (see The Ugly Ltttle Girl chapter)..That is her saving grace to survive to end of the series...What happens in the Epilogue of the seventh book will be very interesting.

ToJ Jon Snow is central to the theme of the series and there is no doubt he'll survive to the end..whether he makes it thru the Epilogue is another story

Sansa who knows..I wouldn't be suprised if she ends up on a settee surrounded by puppies and receiving a dozen blue roses a day by lifelong companion Willas Tyrell

Rickon is going to be the interesting one...Davos will return with him not to White Habour but Sisterton..where Rickon meets and is befriended by Jon Snow of the Sisters...together they rally the north decimate the Boltons, the Karstarks (except for those loyal Alys and Magnar), Ryswells, Lady Dustin and the Ironborn except for Asha who Jon Snow Siisterton will marry and then carve out the autonomous region on the Stoney Shore, the Rills & Seapoint Point....in the end they will stop access to The Neck after Stannis passses completely cuttinng off by land North South and give Wardenship to Howland Reed and his heirs

[silentwanderer]

If there's one thing I think the faceless men have failed at is to deprive Arya of her identity; she still wargs, executes Night's Watch deserters and remembers to sword fight well into the last book.

That being said, her identity is of a tomboy, not a proper Lady so I don't see her sizing Winterfell, power or glory the way I do see Rickon in the near future.

I picture Arya as a young Brienne of Tarth going back to Gendry/the Brotherhood because of her mother, or to the Wall to following the footsteps of Bran and Jon Snow.

Rickon remains the only Stark I picture ruling Winterfell.

[StarkofWinterfell]

If there's one thing I think the faceless men have failed at is to deprive Arya of her identity; she still wargs, executes Night's Watch deserters and remembers to sword fight well into the last book.

That being said, her identity is of a tomboy, not a proper Lady so I don't see her sizing Winterfell, power or glory the way I do see Rickon in the near future.

I picture Arya as a young Brienne of Tarth going back to Gendry/the Brotherhood because of her mother, or to the Wall to following the footsteps of Bran and Jon Snow.

Rickon remains the only Stark I picture ruling Winterfell.

Interesting, because the true Stark women are she-wolves aren't they not? Remember that Arya does not resemble Sansa, Robb, or Rickon. She most likely resembles Jon, and has the dark looks of a Stark a la Lyanna. She is just as likely to rule Winterfell as any of the surviving male Stark children.

[silentwanderer]

I'd picture Sansa ruling Casterly Rock alongside her husband than Arya ruling anything remotely like it.

Rickon? Rickon is a little Ned Stark just waiting for his own arranged marriage to raise 5 children and 1 and a half bastard.

[ieeshan]

At the end ADWD the list of living Starks it growing thin. My question for all is who among the Starks, if any, will be standing at the end of ASOIAF? My thoughts and percentages:

1. Arya --I give her 66%. She is a very sympathetic character, but does that really matter to GRRM? By the end she will have a very unique set of skills, that will probably be important for the final triumph of good over evil....assuming it is a triumph and she's on the side of good.

Completely uncertain about Arya, may be GRRM wants her to kill one of the most crucial antagonists, my list is, victorian greyjoy, the snake girls, crow's eye, Dany and her dragons, Cersie, Aegon Targeryean or may be all of them.

2. Jon Snow--75%--Assuming he is even alive when book 6 starts. I dont count a zombie Jon Snow as having "survived."

He will definitely survive,

3. Sansa--50%--She is little bird, ofc, but Clegane isnt around to protect her anymore. She really isnt a braniac and being pretty only goes so far--see Sersei....

Cersie will learn the Game of Thrones from Littlefinger, absolutley. She will command loyalty and power in future but my gut says there is a tragedy associated with her somewhere.

4. Bran--90% --something about his being already disabled makes him less of a threat, but more of a threat because of his special and spatial abilities

Bran will attach himself to Wierwood trees and will help Jon to fight the war against wights and white walkers through out the winter, he will be the herald of returning of Children of Forest.

5. Rickon--25%--unless GRRM throws us a curveball, his favorite pitch--there is nothing special about him to point toward survival.

My bets are for Reckon following the winter which will be for ten years I suppose Rickon will be a very strong one later in the story. We should not forget that he is after all a Stark!

So overall...Bran is my choice, followed by Jon Snow, and Arya.

[Jars]

Nobody has mentioned Jeyne Stark, Robbs wife. In the books she did not attend the RW and many comments in the books alluded to a pregnancy. Do we just dismiss the possibility of Robb's heir because Jeyne was killed off on the TV?

[silentwanderer]

Nobody has mentioned Jeyne Stark, Robbs wife. In the books she did not attend the RW and many comments in the books alluded to a pregnancy. Do we just dismiss the possibility of Robb's heir because Jeyne was killed off on the TV?

I dismiss it because her mother gave her a powerful contraceptive: Robb died childless and Jayne is bound to marry whoever the Lannisters choose for her.

She's out IMO.

[TheSwordofDawn]

Given the fact that the dire wolves represent the Stark children, a fate could correspond with another.

Anyway:

1. Arya --I give her 66%. She is a very sympathetic character, but does that really matter to GRRM? By the end she will have a very unique set of skills, that will probably be important for the final triumph of good over evil....assuming it is a triumph and she's on the side of good.

Ever since Nymeria was chased off in AGOT and grew feral in the subsequent books, I personally think that Arya Stark will die but will only remain as a faceless woman, so this could be bitter-sweet that she will be alive but not have the family name or meet her surviving siblings again.

2. Jon Snow--75%--Assuming he is even alive when book 6 starts. I dont count a zombie Jon Snow as having "survived."

I think he is dead or will die in the following books if the prophecy is about him.

3. Sansa--50%--She is little bird, ofc, but Clegane isnt around to protect her anymore. She really isnt a braniac and being pretty only goes so far--see Sersei....

I personally hope that she dies.

4. Bran--90% --something about his being already disabled makes him less of a threat, but more of a threat because of his special and spatial abilities

He's alive but unable to venture south of the wall.

5. Rickon--25%--unless GRRM throws us a curveball, his favorite pitch--there is nothing special about him to point toward survival.

I think Rickon will be alive and will re-build Winterfell and the Stark line.

[silentwanderer]

Given the fact that the dire wolves represent the Stark children, a fate could correspond with another.

I agree. Arya lost her identity just as she lost Nymeria, Robb lost his life just as Grey Wind did (serious hint to Sansa's fate as well) and Jon would end up a ghost that wargs inside his animal if he survives the latest book.

Summer tells me Bran will live to see the summer and Shaggy Dog that Rickon would grow up into a shaggy beard once he becomes a man.

[In Lieu of Grayce]

while I agree with the above theories. I think that Nymeria, being still alive and bonded with Arya bodes well for her. I agree that once the wolf is gone, what's left. Though Sansa has given this idea hard moments!

[Petyr Patter]

I am not sure why anyone would think direwolf fate implies Stark fate. Lady's been dead for 5 books, and Sansa is still standing. Grey Wind survived Robb by 15 minutes, or something like that. The Direwolves are definitely a reflection of their owners personality, and they do share a "bond," but they are NOT instruments of foreshadowing.

[silentwanderer]

Lady's been dead for 5 books, and Sansa is still standing.

Sansa is barely standing, the only reason she survived so far is because someone took care of her:

- The Hound, at the riot of King's Landing (Sansa should've died out there),

- Tyrion at the poisoning of Joffrey (or Sansa would've been accused in his place),

- Littlefinger when Lysa wanted to throw her out of the moon gate (Sansa should've died right then and there), etc.

Lady died because her owner didn't stand up for her, same as Sansa could die the minute the next person who owns her fails to stand up for her.

[bloodsteel bitterraven]

Nobody has mentioned Jeyne Stark, Robbs wife. In the books she did not attend the RW and many comments in the books alluded to a pregnancy. Do we just dismiss the possibility of Robb's heir because Jeyne was killed off on the TV?

I don't think she's important based on the fact that the writers of the tv show never introduced her character. They know how the story ends, and if she was important, she would have been there.

[somechords]

Why not anyone count Benjen Stark ???

I was waiting for them to reveal that Benjen Stark was Coldhands.

[kanes_son]

I was waiting for them to reveal that Benjen Stark was Coldhands.

That is exactly what I thought as soon as he showed up. And can Melisandre do what Thoros of Myr can do? That would sort out the Jon Snow situation.

[somechords]

That is exactly what I thought as soon as he showed up. And can Melisandre do what Thoros of Myr can do? That would sort out the Jon Snow situation.

Alot of people think that Melisandre can 'breathe fire' into people, and she will either do that to save Jon or he will be trapped in Ghost's body which almost definitely won't happen - would make more sense to kill him off permanently and be done with it.

The only problem with Benjen being Coldhands is that some fans argue that because the children of the forest say he died 'a long time ago' he can't be Benjen because it had only been three years(ish) since he disappeared - But tbh three years is a long time to be dead, still makes sense in that context to me but if people want to believe that he's the Night's King then they can. We'll see who's right in the next book I expect ;)