What will happen now that Winter has come?

First of all if you are a massive fan of A Song Of Ice And Fire, and you have not read up to the end of A Dance With Dragons then DO NOT read this post as it has many spoilers!

Again….. Too many Spoilers… You have been warned.

Right, so after finishing A Dance With Dragons and being informed the wait for The Winds Of Winter could be another 2 years away or even more, I have decided to write about what I think and actually what I hope will take place.

I will start with the two big battles that George RR Martin has confirmed will take up the start of the sixth novel. We left Dany in the Dothraki Sea with Drogon and being encountered by a Khalasar. Khals are brave warriors but on their horses they will join with the Dragon, not fight it. So Dany will march to the relief of Meereen just in time to save it. Also at Meereen is Victarion with the dragon horn but I believe he will die and the dragon horn will be captured by Dany who then uses it in some way to tame her wild dragons. One of A song of Ice and Fire’s main character viewpoints, Tyrion, will reveal himself to Dany and she will let him join her, but Ser Jorah will perish in the battle leaving Dany heartbroken. By the end of her and Tyrion’s story in The Winds of Winter I think they will be ready to sail to Westeros and take the Iron throne. But most importantly, they will have to encounter the Others in A Dream Of Spring .

Stannis baratheon will not kill Theon, I do not think that George RR Martin would leave Theon out of two Novels and keep him alive through so much just to  kill him off like that. Asha will die however in an attempt to get Theon away (which actually works). Before Stannis’ battle with the Boltons and the Freys, Davos will return with Rickon Stark and Shaggydog. One of my favourite phrases from the series is ‘The North Remembers’ and they definitely will remember Rickon and rise up against Ramsey and the Freys. This segment will end with Stannis still sieging Winterfell but receiving news that the wall has fallen (due to chaos between the nightswatch and the wildlings) and that the others are on their way. Which makes A Dream Of Spring even more exciting.

Now, while reading the books, there have been three times that I have thrown the book I was reading across the room in anger (but then picked it up again a few minutes later). The first was Ned Stark’s execution, the second and most shocking to me was the Red Wedding and that one really hurt. The third was what seemed like Jon Snow’s murder at the end of ADWD. I have however jumped on the bandwagon that Jon is not dead (Thank the old Gods and the new)! Although we have not seen Melisandre revive someone, after what she did with Mance Rayder, it is clear she is powerful enough for such a thing. Jon will not remain at the wall however and travels south to Winterfell with Wildlings as he planned to do in the first place. I, like many other fans believe the theory that Jon is the son of Lyanna Stark and Rhaegor Targaryen. It is clear that there was more to their relationship and Ned did reveal that she made him promise something. It is also unknown what Lyanna died of but it could have been childbirth. In the end though Jon will unite the North and South against the others and be one of the three dragon riders, but that’s for A Dream Of Spring. The wall will fall without him however due to the wildlings and the nightswatch unable to put aside their differences.

Someone who was left out of ADWD was Samwell Tarly, I expect him to be back in TWOW and his story will consist of learning about the others and how to defeat them. He will end the sixth novel with a race against time to get back and tell Jon all he has learnt at the Citadel (he does not know about the events at the wall as it happens roughly at the same time).

At Kings Landing Cersei will return to her old scheming ways. She will be more determined than ever to get rid of Margery after her ordeal but this time she will be even more devious. With Kevan dead she will have full control of King Tommen and start to increase the split between house Lannister and house Tyrell. Varys will kill off more people in Kings Landing in preparation of Aegon, who is not a fake. I have seen many people predict he is a fake Targaryen but if he was fake I think Tyrion would have seen it. Aegon will fail to take Kings Landing and will flee to Dorne to marry Princess Arianne. I am not sure whether he will be the other dragon rider as it could end up being Tyrion or my most likely prediction, Bran.

Bran can see what is going on in Westeros and will try to help. As a Warg he can take control of people and animals and even see the past through the eyes of the world. He may end up controlling a Dragon in the seven novel, but for TWOW I think he will try to use his powers to help in the north and be involved in Theon’s storyline as he called his name in ADWD. Arya will kill some more people in Bravos before accepting a contract to come back to Westeros and there she will meet another family member. Every Stark has been separated from each other for so long so I think two have to meet up again, it may even be Arya meeting her mother Lady Stoneheart. Sansa will marry the heir to the Vale conveniently a few days before Lord Robert dies( although it is just a coincidence). Little finger has underestimated how much Sansa has learnt since her father was killed and she will get rid of him and bring the Vale into the war against the Lannister and Tyrell alliance.

Two people I do not want to die in this book are Jamie and Brienne, and while it looks very likely that one or both of them will die, I think they could surprise us. I hope that Jamie convinces Cat/Lady Stoneheart that he too wants to avenge Robbs death and leads the Brotherhood without Banners against the twins. Or they will set off on a wild goose chase to find Sansa which would be silly. Most disappointing would be if Brienne has to kill Jamie.

So, a lot of things are going to happen to a lot of characters including a few deaths. But most importantly I think this book will be the set up for the final battle against the others in A Dream Of Spring. The Others will feature much more in TWOW and at the end of the book they will be near Winterfell.

It will be some time before we know whether my predictions are true but I think there is a very high chance that at least one of them will come true. Saying that George RR Martin is highly unpredictable and I could as well be 100% wrong. But either way I cannot wait to find out!