HOW GAME OF THRONESWILL END

Who Will Win the Game?

The Protagonists: Predictions

AryaWho will Arya the assassin be called on to slay? Littlefinger’s “lady?” Cersei? Tommen or Myrcella? The Hound? Qyburn? People on her list?

Tyrion He was a good Hand – will he be one for Daenerys?

He’s always longed to ride a dragon. Will he?

Can he find his wife Tysha? Reunite with Sansa? Discover true love at last?

After his great crime, will he simply fall into a bottle forever?

Will he finally inherit Casterly Rock over Tywin’s dead body?

Or just go to Madagascar?

Daenerys

Stannis & Shireen “When the stars bleed and the cold winds blow, a warrior shall draw from the fire a burning sword. That sword will be Lightbringer. The one who draws it will be Azor Ahai…When the red star bleeds and the darkness gathers, Azor Ahai shall be born again amidst smoke and salt to wake dragons out of stone.”

Is there any way he’d give up his claim? To Daenerys? To Shireen’s husband? To whoever defeats the wights?

Is Shireen cursed? Doomed? Or just scarred? Will Davos ever abandon them?

Sansa

“Was this Robin’s silly snowman? Or will she actually slay Littlefinger or the Mountain? Will she become the Stark? Wed Robin or an Arryn and rule the Eyrie?

End up with Tyrion?

I dreamt of a maid at a feast, with purple serpents in her hair, venom dripping from their fangs. [It’s a hairnet in the books, not a necklace.] And later I dreamt that maid again, slaying a savage giant in a castle built of snow.” (III:492)

Sam

“I always wanted to be a wizard” What secrets are the Maesters keeping?

Night’s Watch can’t marry – what of Gilly?

Jon Who’s his mom? Jon Snow looks like Ned…and also Ned’s dead sister, who ran off with Daenerys’s brother Rhaegar. He may be a bastard but not Ned’s bastard.

Is he destined to be one of the wights? Or Night’s King?

What does Melisandre plan?

Missandei/Grey Worm Book characters: No personality, no plot. Show characters?

Rickon

Will he become The Stark? He’s barely visible in book or show. Is this because he’ll get killed? Will anyone care if he is?

Jorah Mormont Will Daenerys forgive him? Will he give up on being her husband? Or find someone else? Or die poetically in her service?

Will he finally join the Night’s Watch as his father wished? What if Dany goes North?

Will he regain Mormont lands?

Bran Will he and Meera find love? Will he end rooted forever like the Three-Eyed Crow?

What about Hodor? How old will Bran look by series end?

Brienne She seems out of luck in saving Stark girls.

Will she find someone else to save? Keeping vague for the spoiler-free zone, Lady Stoneheart has her over a barrel in the later books…will Brienne betray her oath to Jaime?

How much can they truly trust each other? Will it ever turn romantic?

Jaime and Cersei Will he become a truly honorable man? Hand of the King? Lord of Casterly Rock?

Will he ever tell Tommen or Myrcella the truth? He’s out of time for Joffrey…

Cersei is now completely in charge in King’s Landing. Who else will she alienate? Or seduce?

Will she end the series dead at Jaime’s hands? At Tyrion’s? Or packed off to Essos to marry a Dothraki for the poetic justice?

Margaery She seems sexually experienced. Is she having an affair while waiting for Tommen to grow up?

Will she have a great testing moment as Jaime has had?

Does she have it in her to be a good queen?

The Boltons

Theon and Asha/Yara Will Theon rule the Iron Islands? Sacrifice himself? Save Bran or Rickon? Kill Ramsay?

Yara ended season three proclaiming she’d conquer the North and save her brother. Her only attempt was short and rather sad. What next?

Will the siblings rule the Iron Islands together? Will Yara’s heirs inherit? Or will she make a dynasty elsewhere?

Or die?

Tommen &Myrcella The Dornish hold a major playing piece. Will they finally marry her off? (in another infamous Westeros wedding?) Will they learn she’s an incest-kid?

Will she gain a personality and fight for her crown? Or only make a pretty corpse?

What about Tommen?

Will They Return? Drogo or his son? Their ghosts? Olenna Tyrell? The Hound? Arya’s wolf? Gendry? Bronn? Quaithe?

The Big Schemers

What Does Melisandre Want?“Melisandre has gone to Stannis entirely on her own, and has her own agenda”--Martin Does Melisandre truly believe Stannis is her Chosen One? Or is he a credulous dupe?

Is she just waiting for the war of ice and fire?

Is she using him while plundering Dragonstone for its ancient secrets or seeking the real Lightbringer sword?

What does Varys Want? Why did he come to Westeros? Varys already had wealth and power in the east as a spymaster.

In Robert’s Rebellion, Varys advised Mad King Aerys to bar the gates against Tywin Lannister, who came to “help” and instead butchered the Targaryens. Was Varys actually going down with King Aerys’ doomed cause?

Do Illyrio and Varys believe that Targaryen dragonriders must battle the Endless Winter? Illyrio gave Daenerys three eggs, after all.

If Varys (no hair) and Illyrio (Targaryen-haired wife) are really Targaryens or Blackfyres (exiled Targaryen bastards) they may be playing the Revenge Game.

We All Know What Littlefinger Wants

The Real Conflict of Fire and Ice

What is Daenerys’s Real Power?

Prophetic dreams +

Daenerys has raised her animals, sigil of her house, from babies.

= Sound familiar? A bunch of mad Targaryens like Viserys claim that they are the dragon.

Does Daenerys have the Stark gift for animal transformation?

We Want to See the Cool CGI Payoff

What does the Wall really do? What’s buried on Dragonstone Isle? Dragonglass and “dragonsteel” can slay wights. Is that Valyrian steel? Martin still hasn’t said.

Does Dragonstone with its stone dragon sculptures has dragons waiting to emerge?

There’s a rumored ice dragon under the Wall Will the children of the woods go to battle? How about an army of Bran’s woodland creatures?

Bring on the dragonfire!

What’s in Asshai? “To go north, you must go south. To reach the west, you must go east. To go forward you must go back, and to touch the light you must pass beneath the shadow.” Asshai, Daenerys thought. She would have me go to Asshai. “Will the Asshai’i give me an army?” she demanded. “Will there be gold for me in Asshai? Will there be ships? What is there in Asshai that I will not find in Qarth?” “Truth,” said the woman in the mask. And bowing, she faded back into the crowd.

What’s there? dragon eggs and dragonglass magic, dragonlore and training Lightbringer? Shadow creatures? Food that isn’t bloody beef, beets, pomegranates, or red grapes?

Religion “For the night is dark and full of terrors,” chants the red priestess who insists on burning their enemies and worships fire as their savior. Is this all a “warm-up” for wights?

“What is dead will never die” … wights again?

“Valar Morghulis” (All Men Must Die) say the Faceless Men. Do they secretly defend against the undead?

The Reeds’ oath to Bran: “We swear it by ice and fire.” What do they know?

Have the gods been gearing up for an epic ice-fire battle?

Predicting the End

The War of the Roses: York and Lancaster

Martin notes, “The Lancasters and Yorks fought themselves to extinction until the Tudors came in. But the Tudors were really a new dynasty; they weren’t Lancasters. So...” (“A Very Long Interview”). Will Daenerys battle Stannis and win? Or will her opponent be the Lannister regime? Or Stannis as Richard III? The last Stark and Lannister: Sansa and Tyrion?

Arya, Rickon, Myrcella, and Tommen? Jon Snow (who may end up the last Stark) and Daenerys, the prince(ess) from over the sea?

Is this Lord of the Rings?

With all their heirs to the Iron Throne dead, the seven kingdoms break apart. There are no more dragons, no more magic. The weirwoods go silent.

Bran sure seems like Frodo, who will fight the Other all alone in the dark while the big battle rages elsewhere. After, he will advise the heroes of Westeros from afar. Of course, if he’s stuck in a weirwood chair for the rest of time, one hopes the dragonglass candles get cable.

Celtic Myth In Celtic myth, “Bran” means raven.

Many heroes, including several Brans, journeyed into the land of the elves and fairies, under the burial mounds.

The curious reference to a “dragonstone” (a slingstone) and shapechanging suggests a connection.

Will Bran Stark bond with a dragon and soar into the skies? Will he vanish into the realm of the Children and wierwoods? Or die young, sacrificing himself to save the world?

53. He will be in the shape of every beast,Both on the azure sea and on land,He will be a dragon before hosts at the onset,He will be a wolf of every great forest. 54. He will be a stag with horns of silverIn the land where chariots are driven,He will be a speckled salmon in a full pool,He will be a seal, he will be a fair-white swan. 58. He will be--his time will be shortFifty years in this world:A dragonstone from the sea will kill himIn the fight at Senlabor. 59. He will ask a drink from Loch Ló,While he looks at the stream of blood,The white host will take him under a wheel of cloudsTo the gathering where there is no sorrow.

“The Voyage of Bran Son of Febal to the Land of the Living”:

Starks and Ragnarök

Basically, the world is destroyed in a battle of the gods. Could happen. The fire giants of Muspelheim, the world of fire, will battle Niflheim, the world of ice and redefine the known universe. Dragons vs Wights?

The god Heimdall will blow the Gjallarhorn (“Shrieking Horn”)

Jon Snow, the “Warder of the Bridge,” will break the Bifröst bridge and lead his men into the realm of the gods to do battle.

The citizens of Westeros had better start building their comet shelters…

There was three years’ winter. The first was called the Winter of Winds: storms blew and snows drove down and frosts were mighty. The children of men might hardly keep alive in that dread winter.The second winter was called the Winter of the Sword. And the third winter was called the Winter of the Wolf.

Oh, You Thought This Was an Epic?

In a shocking twist, someone who is not any kind of chosen one takes the throne.

GRRM snickers. Just picture:Gendry BaratheonSansa and TyrionVarys and his puppet kingLittlefinger & Robin ArrynLady Olenna & MargaeryMance RayderYara GreyjoyRoose BoltonBronnJaqen H'ghar

Introducing…Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey, the classic epic fantasy plot.

Is Bran Frodo?Is Jon King Arthur? Or Mordred?

Hero’s Journey EndingsSteps Jon/Harry

PotterJon/Mordred Jon/Celtic Bran/Frodo

Facing the ShadowThe Belly of the Whale The Ultimate Boon

He dies, fighting to defend the free people of Westeros. He returns to life by Melisandre’s magic but now with fire burning within him.

He returns from death, frozen…but EVIL! When Daenerys arrives, he leads the army of wights against her to bring down Westeros.

The Corn King was sacrificed each winter to herald in the spring… Mormont’s raven cries “king” and “corn” a lot.

He descends into the cave, then travels North and confronts the Other. He may warg into Rhaegal and sacrifice his physical body to win.

Refusal of the ReturnThe Magic FlightRescueReturn

He returns to Westeros with Daenerys and becomes her consort and a protector of the people.

He moves in with the wights and Uncle Benjen, fighting for their cause until Daenerys’s dragons torch him.

He is resurrected more powerfully to bring about the spring.

Nearly dying, he revives, only to discover he can never be the Stark of Winterfell. OrBran flies away in Rhaegal’s body and is never seen again.

Master of the Two WorldsFreedom To Live

He keeps his wolf power and adds Targaryen dragon-power.

His spirit haunts the North as the new Night’s King. Bran or Sam finally finishes him off by battling the Other, ending the plague of wights at last. Rickon, the Stark of Winterfell, erects heroic statues to both brothers.

Returned to life, he marries the eternal ruling goddess, Daenerys.

Bran, crippled, still advises the heroes of Westeros from afar. Of course, if he’s stuck in a weirwood chair for the rest of time, one hopes the dragonglass candles get cable.

The heroine quests to save loved ones and defeat the destroyer as champion of life, a quest as dangerous as any journey of the hero.

Yes, There’s a Heroine’s Journey

Frankel's Heroine’s Journey

Daenerys Prophecy of the House of the Undying

The World of Common Day

Daenerys dwells with her brother, the Beggar King.

The Call To Adventure

Daenerys is promised to the Khal and gets the silver horse

three mounts must you ride . . . one to bed

Refusal of the Call

Daenerys meets Drogo and pleads to stay with her brother.

The Ruthless Mentor and the Bladeless Talisman

The Maegi teaches Daenerys about women’s secret magic but ultimately betrays her. She offers a harsh lesson, but her life quickens Daenerys’s dragons.

three treasons will you know . . . once for blood

The Crossing of the First ThresholdOpening One’s Senses

Daenerys dies in the fire and is reborn as the Mother of Dragons

three fires must you light . . . one for life

Sidekicks, Trials, Adversaries

Daenerys conquers cities and befriends lords and knights. Ser Jorah betrays Daenerys

three treasons will you know . . . once for gold

Frankel's Heroine’s Journey

Daenerys Prophecy of the House of the Undying

Wedding the AnimusFacing BluebeardFinding the Sensitive ManConfronting the Powerless Father

Daenerys must find the two heroes to ride her dragons. These will be different as fire and ice, reflecting her many sides. The triple prophecies also suggests three husbands.

three heads has the dragon . . .

Descent into DarknessAtonement with the Mother Integration and Apotheosis

Death and Dread may occur in Meereen, or more destruction may be coming. A female adversary is possible, or perhaps the force of entropy the life-giving heroine often battles—The Other that controls the wights. The series seems to favor this course.

The following steps of prophecy remain:. . . three fires must you light . . …one for death and one to love. . . three mounts must you ride . . . one to dread and one to love . . .. . . three treasons will you know . . . once for love . . . These clearly correspond to the heroine coming to know the masculine side of her nature through falling in love, fighting a great battle as the champion of life, and winning the reward of love and family.  

Death and Rebirth. Reward: Winning the Family

If Azor reborn (Jon?) betrays his love, Daenerys, and stabs her (treason for love) to reforge Lightbringer, the blade’s new “fire to love” might trap Dany or awaken a hidden warg power. Or she might stab Jon. Sacrifice will save the world.

The Magic Flight Reinstating the FamilyReturn

She returns to her people.

Power over Life and DeathAscension of the New Mother

Daenerys is queen, with a new understanding and power borne by magic.

And We Wait…

Meanwhile, check out books by Valerie Estelle Frankel…

Come say hello! Free books, cheap books, signings and fannish debates. The booth is Valerie Estelle Frankel B41 in Artist’s Alley on the end, near the concessions.

Hardcore Questions

Dragons + Walkers = Seasons? Pyat Pree says magic and dragons are back (and hey, White Walkers are back too). “It is strongest in their presence,” he says, “and they are strongest in yours.” Daenerys apparently is magic incarnate.

Melisandre’s magic is stronger at the Wall (V:411). Daenerys’s dragons and the Stark shapeshifting may gain strength there as well. What else can the Wall do?

As described in Martin’s short stories, “The summers have been shorter since the last dragon died, and the winters longer and crueler.” Are the Targaryens and their dragon powers holding back the winter?

The Prophecy of Azor AhaiA: “When the red star bleeds and the darkness gathers, Azor Ahai shall be born again amidst smoke and salt to wake dragons out of stone.” B: “There will come a day after a long summer when the stars bleed and the cold breath of darkness falls heavy on the world. In this dread hour a warrior shall draw from the fire a burning sword. And that sword shall be Lightbringer, the Red Sword of Heroes, and he who clasps it shall be Azor Ahai come again, and the darkness shall flee before him.” (II:110)So, big sword, big hero, big dragons. A. sounds like Daenerys in the funeral pyre. How bout B?

Waking Dragons from Stone Daenerys has hatched her dragons from stone eggs, but more may be coming. Does Dragonstone with its stone dragon sculptures has dragons waiting to emerge?

There’s a rumored ice dragon under the Wall.

Targaryens are referred to as dragons, so a Targaryen might be resurrected.

Those infected with greyscale, like Stannis’s daughter Shireen, are called “stonemen.”

Probably not cash (gold dragons).

Lightbringer“To fight the darkness, Azor Ahai needed to forge a hero’s sword. He labored for thirty days and thirty nights until it was done. However, when he went to temper it in water, the sword broke. …The third time, he called for his wife, Nissa Nissa, and asked her to bare her breast. He drove his sword into her breast, her soul combining with the steel of the sword, creating Lightbringer.” Daenerys has already learned only death can pay for powerful magic.

If the dragons = Lightbringer, then Daenerys sacrificing Drogo may have already done it. More likely, it set the stage for a greater sacrifice to come…probably true love.

Is one of these it? Oathkeeper, of Lannister fire and Stark ice Joffrey’s Widow’s Wail is still in the Red Keep

Brightroar, the ancestral sword of House Lannister, lost in Valyria. Sounds fiery, no?

Ser Arthur Dayne’s fabled Dawn, the Sword of the Morning. Sounds mythic, but the show hasn’t even bothered to mention it.

Lost Targaryen swords include Aegon the Conqueror’s Blackfyre and his warrior sister’s Dark Sister. Will Daenerys get one?

We see mystical fire, ice, light, dark, and…one sword named by an arrogant little shit.

Aegon VI Several theories behind Aegon’s backstory are floating around online: Aegon’s an actual Targaryen, needed because Winter is Coming. He will be one of the three heads of the dragon and possibly Daenerys’s husband.

However, most fans are skeptical that the hero who will save everyone is not Jon, Dany, or Bran but a new character introduced as late as book five. There are several prophecies of a false dragon or mummer’s dragon that particularly cast doubt on Aegon. He has silvery hair, but this is common in Volantis. His eyes are a lighter color than the deep Targaryen purple of Prince Rhaegar. Of course, if he’s legitimate but gets killed or refuses the throne, the story arc won’t be severely affected.

Most fans prefer the theories that he’s not Aegon Targaryen but is in fact Illyrio’s beloved son by his wife who had “pale golden hair streaked by silver.” A descendant of the Targaryen bastards who founded the Golden Company and Varys owes them something or is a descendant of theirs himself. (He’s spent the entire series as the observer with no family or selfish agendas of that sort, so this would be something of a disappointment.)

A descendent of the mad, savage Prince Aerion from “The Hedge Knight,” who traveled to the east a century ago

A random baby from the silver-haired descendants of Old Volantis—Varys wants to make a good king, not watch one inherit because of an unstable, inbred bloodline. His hatred of magic and rough upbringing on the streets would support this.