A Song of Ice and Fire - Theories Thread - **SPOILERS** for Game of Thrones Show
As promised, this is the thread for discussing book theories. It's late right now but I'll list below some things I have figured out as well as theories and predictions that I subscribe to as well as couple that I'm not convinced of yet but find interesting and am being open minded about. Y'all let me know a couple you want me to tackle first and I'll give the long versions one at a time.
Let me first say that I believe the ASOIAF endgame is going to involve only two real "sides." Those wanting to destroy all mankind and those who seek to defend mankind. Some on the "enemy" side may be unwitting pawns. This colors my big picture understanding of the story as I believe the throne of Westeros is, in the end, small potatoes. If you want to find "the bad guys" who will be against mankind in the endgame you need to look at the those that exhibit some of the following traits:
Human Sacrifice
Blood Magic
Raising of the Dead
now on to theories....
1) not really a theory but a prediction: GRRM is going to tease us by having Victarion almost get revenge on Euron Greyjoy but FAIL. But then Theon Greyjoy, who is on a redemption character arc is going to kill Euron Crow's Eye LIKE A BOSS. He will finally gain the respect of the Ironborn, be elected by a King's Moot with Asha's support and lead the Ironborn to switch sides and be a major factor in the defeat of the enemy.
2) The main hero of the story is Jaime Lannister and the main villain is Bran Stark. GRRM threw us all off by having Jaime throw Bran out of the tower in Book 1. Jaime's the bad guy right!!?? Wrong. In the end we're going to wish Bran had died.
3a) Children of the Forest are evil. Bran is being deceived into helping them attempt to destroy mankind. The Children and the Others are allies. Bran will use greenseeing powers (COF have none) to lead the armies of the Others and their allies against mankind.
3b) The Great Other and R'hollor are one in the same. Melisandre is a pawn. Stannis will become the New Night King and will ally with the Others, the Children of the Forest, and the Faceless men to attempt to kill all mankind.
3c) The Faceless Men agenda is to kill every last man, woman, and child in the world and then kill themselves as they believe this is a good thing. They believe all men are suffering and it is a mercy to put them out of their misery. "All Men Must Die" is not a shrugging quip such as saying we all die one day. "All Men Must Die" is a goal. Varys is a faceless man and the young girl in the room when Kevan Lannister is murdered is Arya Stark.
4) Rhaegar Targaryean is alive. He is incognito as Mance Rayder. He saw himself as the Prince who was Promised and feels that he has to save mankind. The Prince who was Promised and Azor Ahai are not the same person. Rhaegar believed Aegon was AA but he is wrong. His attempt to get the Wildlings South is his attempt to save everyone. The man killed at the Trident was Ser Arthur Dayne. Ned learns the truth at the Tower of Joy and this is why Dayne's death is painful to him.
5) Ned's father conspired with Jon Arryn, Rhaegar and others (even Tywin who is now conveniently dead) to oust the Mad King and implement Rhaegar's plan for the coming war for the survival of mankind. Hot head older brother Brandon Stark kind of 17ed it all up.
6) The valonqar is the Hound. He will bring about Cersei's downfall because he, the little brother, will be the Faith's champion against Cersei's Champion Ser Robert Strong aka UnGregor Clegane. The Hound will kill the Mountain in single combat and doom Cersei. The Hound is a changed man and is still alive by the way, for those of you who didn't figure that out.
7) Jon Connington's "Aegon" is a fraud and is probably the son of Ashara Dayne who is Septa Lemor. It is possible he is still Rhaegar's son by Ashara though. Or Brandon Stark. But I think he is a Blackfyre. This forshadowed in the story about the wrought iron black dragon in the history of the Crossroads Inn.
8) Syrio Forel was captured by Mandon Moore and thrown into the black cells. He is Jaqen H'ghar.
9) Jojen Reed and Howland Reed are the same person. He is now dead which we'll learn in TWOW but GRRM is just 17ing with us with Howland's death. We'll still eventually learn more of the TOJ because of #4 above. Rhaegar was there and was one of the the "they" who found Ned still clutching Lyanna's body.
10) The words "Hodor" and "Other" are the same word. The name Hodor is the name of the great other (who is also R'hllor). Our beloved "Hodor" was traumatized by something that had to do with this and that is why "Hodor" or "Other" is the only word he says.
11) "Winter is Coming" is not a warning. It is a threat.
12) Jon was not stabbed at the end of ADWD. It was Ghost that was killed.
13) Jaime and Cersei are Targaryeans and are the children of the Mad King and Tywin's wife. This prima nocta is the true reason for the falling out between Tywin and the Mad King, although Tywin does not believe the children are the Mad King's. They look like Lannisters after all, but remember Tywin's wife was his cousin and also was a Lannister. The Targaryean seed is weak. Joffrey was a Targaryean after all. Remember that Targaryeans are either great or they are nutjobs. This explains sibling love tendency between Jaime and Cersei as well as Cersei and Joffrey being freaks.
14) Most of the Prophecies about Azor Ahai and the building of the Wall are bullsh*t. The whole history and lore of the wall and the war of the dawn are stories fabricated by: The Children of the Forest, who are purposely banished to the other side of the Wall. None of the men who later became "the Wildlings" were meant to be over there. Azor Ahai is not the same person as the Prince who was Promised. The Prince that was Promised is Theon Greyjoy or Jaime Lannister (I fluctuate between the two on this). Azor Ahai is actually a villain and is the "opposite" number to the Prince who was Promised. I theorize that he's Ramsey Snow with a slight chance of being Jon as a pawn of the enemy. As I've said before Mel, Stannis, and Bran are all of them deceived and are pawns of the enemy. Danaerys is a smokescreen for both Azor Ahai and the PTWP.
15) The Brotherhood has infiltrated Winterfell and is in cahoots with Wyman Manderly and other northern Lords to kick some Bolton and Frey a$$. These "cahoots" are called the Great Northern Conspiracy and is not my own theory but one others have convinced me of.
16) Benjen Stark has so many possibilites as to be mind boggling. I believe he was captured and taken to Mance, who revealed to Benjen that his true identity is Rhaegar Targaryean. Whatever Benjen is up to, it is something that Rhaegar has tasked him to do. Perhaps that is why I think he could also be the hooded man that recognizes Theon at Winterfell. After all, we already know that Mance/Rhaegar and the spearwives are at Winterfell as well. I personally wonder if he's not on Skaggos with Rickon and Osha. Some think he is Daario Naharis. I'm interested but not buying that one yet. Another that is tempting is that Quaithe = Lyanna Stark and whatever role she is playing has something to do with the plan Rickard Stark and Rhaegar hatched. Not quite there on that one yet but it is interesting. What if the reason he is posing as Daario is to try to root out more about Quaithe/Lyanna?
17) The horn that "brings down the wall" and the horn that "controls dragons" does the same thing. GRRM loves doing this cross cultural stuff. You've got to realize that some cultures and characters don't interact much and can be describing the same object, type of object, or person in their own way. By controlling dragons you bring down the wall with dragonfire. This is going to happen.
18) A faceless man killed Balon Greyjoy. Euron Crow's Eye paid for this murder with a dragon egg he found in the East. This is why Jaqen H'ghar (Syrio) has infiltrated the Citadel: To try to find how to make it hatch.
19) Viserys and Danaerys did not grow up in Essos. It was in Dorne (although they were told differently) and Doran knew of it and is part of a plot to restore the Targaryeans with Martell as the "second" family if you will.
Just to ruffle your feathers.... Danaerys, Tyrion, Bran, Stannis, UnCat, Arya and quite possibly even Jon... are all characters that we've been hoodwinked into rooting for who are actually going to find themselves on the enemy side in the endgame. They are going to become antagonists and/or villains. Bran, Stannis, Tyrion, UnCat and Arya are all headed somewhere dark. Danaerys will be a pawn more so than "evil" and Jon as well if he turns out wrong. I personally believe that Danaerys will be eaten by one of her dragons and then the sh*t is really gonna hit the fan.
Similarly, the Hound, Jaime, Theon, and Alliser Thorne are going to be our heroes in the end.
Littlefinger? Even I won't touch him. Littlefinger wants Sansa and the crown. If there is indeed a 3rd side in the endgame it is liable to be Littlefinger's "side."
I disagree with most but I'll see if I can Explain why
I agree with tenure. I think you are way off on most of this.
I'm with you on items 1, 7, 10, 11, 15, 16, 17, and 18.
I'm not sure on 9, 12 or 13.
I think you are off on 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, and 14.
There is room for interpretation due to the unreliable narrators of the POV GRRM writes in. But History is written by the victors, the current history is the Children of the forest and the First Men defeated the Others and built the wall.
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3b) The Great Other and R'hollor are one in the same.
I agree with this part. Melisandre Has no Idea what she is toying with. I'm not sure Stannis is the Night King, But Davos will sacrifice to save his king.
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4) Rhaegar Targaryean is alive. He is incognito as Mance Rayder.
Maybe on the first part, but No way on the second. GRRM has a say on the casting and Mance look nothing like Rhaegar. And his great Uncle would recognize him.
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6) The valonqar is the Hound.
The Hound is dead. Crow food Dead. Cercei gets killed by Jamie, to save the city/kingdom from a crazy power mad regent about to do something stupid, again.
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8) Syrio Forel was captured by Mandon Moore and thrown into the black cells. He is Jaqen H'ghar.
I want to believe this, but I don't think it is true. The big mystery around Jaqen is "Who was he paid to kill?"
