How long will the winter be?

[Rahgh Neqaj]

Hi,

apologies if it has been discussed before - I searched for it but couldn't find anything:

How long do we expect the coming winter to be?

From the books I'm expecting a long winter. Old Nan's tale about the last hero says

[...]a winter fell that was cold and hard and endless beyond all memory of man. There came a night that lasted a generation[...]

which may be a bit exaggerated (there's no written documents from the age of heroes to begin with) but is a really long time. The bad winters definitely last a couple of years and I vaguely remember someone mentioning a winter that lasted close to a decade to scare the "summer children". (Might be a case of bad memory though.)

However, the first five books span only three years. If GRRM continues at this pace, he's got to write at least another five books for a winter that lasts multiple years. (I doubt that "A Dream of Spring" refers to starved people dreaming of spring one or two years into a long winter. I rather believe that he intends spring to come towards the end of that book.)

So I would like to hear (read) your thoughts on that topic. Short winter? More books? Faster pace? Freezing & starving people hallucinating in the cold?

Cheers!

[Hodor knows]

Well, isn't this Summer about nine years long? I would guess the Winter will be ten or so. :shrug:

[eggs]

Ever heard of a time skip? Winter will probably end when the Others are defeated.

[TalalOfDorne]

If we believe the "Long summer mean longer winter" saying, then I have bad news for Westeros.

[Rahgh Neqaj]

Ever heard of a time skip? Winter will probably end when the Others are defeated.

Of course I have heard of time skips but so far GRRM hasn't made any big time skip a couple of years ahead. That's why I say that GRRM changing pace in the last two books is one possibility. (However, I don't quite see him changing pace yet.)

Another option is a quick defeat of the Others and - big IF - seasons are connected to the Other that might result in a short winter. But I don't see that connection yet.

And yes, long winter = westeros is buggered but I wouldn't necessarily object to more books. ;-)

[Nezzer]

I can't see GRRM doing a time skip, so I think winter will last for a year or two for plot reasons. I also can't see the war against the Others being resolved in only two books and being as well written as the Wot5K. I expect a big deus ex machina. This is how I see it: Jon Snow, after coming back from the dead, becomes a dragons rider with Dany and Tyrion and defeats the Others, ending the winter because the Others are the ones that caused the long-season anomaly :frown5:

[Ser Pounce FTW]

I agree with the posters that think this winter will be long. I expect it to last for the next 2 books and jus the idea of spring showing itself in the epilogue of the last book. I think it is the opportune time for Martin to have time pass in big "gulps" given he had to scrap the 5 year gap. But that remains to be seen.

[TalalOfDorne]

The next last will be called "A Dream of Spring". This makes me thin it will definitely end while winter is still present.

[Ser Pounce FTW]

This makes me thin it will definitely end while winter is still present.

I wonder if this will be the bittersweet ending. Not having definite resolution to several things.....

[Theli]

Not sure if it was in the tv show only or is based on the books, but iirc, the small council were discussing about preparations for winter at some point, saying they have stored food for 3 years, so my guess is that winters normally last for 2-4 years. The problem is that the war might have depleted the food reserves and they'll probably screwed for the next winter...

:stillsick:

[Ser Pounce FTW]

the small council were discussing about preparations for winter at some point, saying they have stored food for 3 years, so my guess is that winters normally last for 2-4 years. The problem is that the war might have depleted the food reserves and they'll probably screwed for the next winter...

:stillsick:

I think it's a combination of things. War wlll definitely affect reserves but more importantly, winter lengths mirror summer lengths and Westeros has just had it's longest summer.

*cue scary music*

plus (off topic but should be considered!) there's a few people running around Westeros that have been exposed to the grey scale plague. The Starks may change their house words to "Doom and destruction is coming."