Game of Thrones Season 6 - Discussion & Predictions

This post is mostly about the revelations from the latest season of the show, however I will talk about the book and the future of the books within this post.

SPOILERS will be heavy.

Hit the jump to read on…

Once again, MAJOR SPOILERS FOR THE BOOKS AND SHOW AHEAD!

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Okay! Here we go:

Overall

Season 6 is fun because it’s ahead of the books. I didn’t know what would happen, even though I’ve had some predictions. The wait for the next book is killing me, because I want to see the differences there will be. I don’t believe Stannis will die in the way he did on the show. I don’t believe Dorne will plummet into chaos like it did. Aegon is coming. The Sphinx is the riddle, not the riddler. The Faceless Men have actual ambitions. There are so many things that will make the book so much deeper than a television show can possibly go, and I’m excited for it like nothing else. That said, I loved season 6. It’s better than 99.9% of television out there, so as many criticisms as I could have for being a book-nerd, it’s still awesome entertainment.

Mel and Arya

Jon sent Melisandre riding south, but to where? Well, she did make a promise to Arya that she needs to keep: I predict that they will meet again. Mel told Arya so. But to what ends? Well, Arya just got out of a death cult (she still has face-change powers), what if she’s taunted by the powers of a new religion?

But why? Well… Arya Stark has names to check off her list:

1.Cersei Lannister

2. Ser Ilyn Payne

3.The Mountain

4.Melisandre

5.Beric Dondarrion

6.Thoros of Myr

It might just be convenient that Mel is on Arya’s list for what she did to Gendry, but Mel has a way with talking herself out of being murdered. So, maybe, just maybe… the Red Woman and Arya will have a shared purpose.

That purpose, I’ll talk about in a minute.

But first….

I predict that Mel and Arya will meet up with the Brotherhood Without Banners. That would reunite Arya with several more names on her list, for one thing, but I believe that she and the BWB will tell her that they plan to fight the White Walkers by meeting up with Jon Snow, KINGINDANORF!

The promise of seeing her brother and sister at Winterfell seems like it might make Arya postpone or even forgive the BWB deaths on her list. After all, she’s forgiven someone of death before…

However, I also predict that Mel will see Cersei and/or Gendry in her flames. This will leave Arya with a choice: Go north to Jon Snow, Winterfell, and family or go south to complete her revenge and possibly save Gendry.

I think she’ll ultimately head south with Mel.

The Hound

But with a BWB/Arya/Mel meetup comes an awesome Arya/Hound reunion.

Thought: The Brotherhood Without Banners started when Eddard Stark sat the Iron Throne in King Robert’s name and sentenced Ser Gregor “The Mountain” Clegane to death.

Nobody hates Gregor Clegane more than Sandor Clegane.

Therefore, it is weirdly appropriate that Sandor would join the BWB.

Mel, Arya, the BWB, the Hound…

They will all cross paths… but they will split. The BWB will die to save them all (more on this after the Brienne section below). The Hound will ride north to inform Jon Snow of what happened, and Arya and Mel will join a certain hostheaded south…

Let’s Talk Littlefinger

The Hound, upon arriving at Winterfell, will tell Jon Snow and Sansa that it was Littlefinger who betrayed Eddard, put a knife to his throat.

Jon, now KINGINDANORF, will have to decide his fate, as he just did for Mel.

Jon didn’t kill Melisandre. She saved Jon, but she committed a terrible crime. Jon sent her south as a punishment. He couldn’t kill the woman that saved him.

Prediction: Jon Snow won’t kill Littlefinger. He saved Jon, but he did betray Eddard to his end. I predict that Jon will send Littlefinger south as his punishment. He won’t kill the man that saved him.

But, if Littlefinger is sent south, then where will he go?

I predict that Littlefinger will be tasked with proving his loyalty to Sansa and Jon by retaking Riverrun from the Freys.

Sansa, with the building strife between her and Jon, will want a seat of her own away from the north. Riverrun could be that seat. She should be angry that the northern lords bypassed her and named Jon their king, when she is a legitimate Stark. So, this will be her plan: She is half-Tully, she will take Riverrun and declare herself Queen of the Riverlands.

Remember, Littlefinger is technically Lord Paramount of the Trident (which is a part of the Riverlands), lord of Harrenhal… so a marriage between the Lord of the Trident and the Tully-descendent at Riverrun would have huge legitimacy in declaring themselves King and Queen of the Riverlands.

The Mad Queen and Jamie

Jamie Lannister to Walder Frey (Season 6, Episode 10): "They don't fear the Freys, though, they fear the Lannisters. We gave you the Riverlands to hold the Riverlands. If we have to ride north and take them back for you every time you lose them, why do we need you?"

Imagine if my prediction comes true and Littlefinger and Sansa take back Riverrun in the name of the Starks and Tullys (which Sansa is both). Walder Frey and his closest heirs are both dead. There will be a new Frey heir, but they will squabble about who that should be. Meanwhile, a North+Vale army could descend upon Riverrun.

Would Jamie and his Lannister army bother to come to the aid of the Freys? After what Jamie said to Walder, I think not. They don’t need the Freys anymore. They can’t even hold the Riverlands, so what use is their allegiance?  

So, assuming that the Freys are removed from Riverrun, and Sansa and Littlefinger now sit behind the walls.

I predict Jamie will be forced to return to Riverrun, under similar pretenses as the last time. The difference is that it will not be the Blackfish, but Sansa behind the walls… with Brienne.

From Season 6 Episode 9: Brienne to Jamie: "Should I fail to persuade the Blackfish to surrender and if you attack the castle, honor compels me to fight for Sansa's kin."

Jamie - "Of course it does."

Brienne - "To fight you."

Jamie - "Let's hope it doesn't come to that."

That could be exactly what it comes down to. But what choice will Jamie make this time? Will he begin a new siege? Will he try and remove Sansa and thusly be forced to fight and perhaps kill Brienne?

Everyone knows about the Maggie the Frog prophecies. They’re slightly different from book to show. I want to key in on a certain line:

Season 5, Episode 1: Maggie the Frog to Cersei: "Oh yes, you'll be queen, for a time... then comes another younger, more beautiful, to cast you down and take all you hold dear.”

What does Cersei have left to hold dear? Her children are all dead. She only has power and her brother left. Most people have assumed that Margery was the younger, more beautiful woman to cast Cersei down… but Marg is dead, and now Cersei, at least in the show, is the Queen of Westeros, sitting the Iron Throne. Cersei is at the height of her power.

Brienne the Beauty

Brienne is constantly made fun of for being ugly, but she is more beautiful when it comes down to what matters. She is mockingly called a beauty, but Brienne has a beautiful soul, personality. She has a beautiful sense of right and wrong.

I predict she is the younger, more beautiful person in Maggie the Frog’s prophecy.

If Brienne is on the walls of Riverrun with Sansa, it is very possible that Brienne is the only one who can convince Jamie to allow Sansa to keep it and avoid war/a siege. Brienne could steal Jamie from Cersei, convince Jamie, finally, that Cersei is terrible.

With Jamie’s help, though, Cersei could be stopped. If Jamie switched sides, then he could move in close enough to Cersei to capture her (or kill her) and take her back to Casterly Rock.

tin foil time

Domino Prediction (mentioned above in the Hound section): If I’m right that Jamie will turn on Cersei and refuse to attack Sansa and Brienne, then perhaps Cersei will send The Mountain north to handle things instead. If Gregor goes north, then wouldn’t it be appropriate for the BWB to defend the north against him? After all, that was the original reason for forming.

What I’m saying, truly: Looks like Cleganebowl is back on the menu, boys.

I foresee, however, the Mountain destroying the BWB. The Hound would ride north to Jon Snow, and Arya and Mel would ride south.

Either way, I hope they remember to let Edmure out of the dungeons.

Bran, Dolorous Ed, and the Wall

Bran will accidentally the Wall, and Ed will make a bad joke about it.

Sam and Gilly

I think half the purpose of S+G in the final seasons will be data. Sam will learn about the White Walkers and magic and dragonsteel. Sam, I think, will also learn about Dawn and the Sword In The Morning. He will take the Valyrian Steel swords where they will be needed.

Dany, Tyrion, Greyjoys, Dorne, and the Queen of Thorns

They’re all rolled up into one big plot now, aren’t they?

Listen, Euron. Why did they bother introducing you? I guess there’s going to be some tricky sea battle with Euron and Dany, just to slow her up. Ultimately, I just want Theon to escape from it all and go back to the north.

I bet the next season is all stall. Euron and marriage pacts will slow things up, so that Dany won’t attack King’s Landing until the very end of next season or later. Perhaps Euron and Cersei will ally or marry. It’s possible.

Maybe Dany will take Casterly Rock, first. Tyrion would enjoy that. 

Not a prediction, but still… Finally, R + L = J is confirmed.

My final note is just that it happened. What a crazy moment for literature! A Song of Ice and Firewill likely be considered a fantasy classic in the future, such as The Lord of the Rings. So, the fact that we’re living the moment of R + L = J’s reveal is pretty cool. That is a big deal.

That’s it for my predictions/review. Thanks for reading! Overall, I would give season 6 a score of 9/10. I don’t watch any other TV shows, honestly. I don’t even like many movies, but GoT is awesome!
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 Follow me on twitter! @oxyborb




Also, I wrote more about the books/show....

 Predictions I made after reading the books

 A Song of Ice and Fire Reread Project

KING: my concept for a TV series

SPOILERS FOR STEPHEN KING BOOKS AHEAD!

With shows like American Horror Story, The Walking Dead, and Gotham bringing such creepy characters and worlds into the average TV-watcher’s home, I feel like there could be a good market for a show idea I’ve had:

KING

The concept of this show would be that all of the horrors that Stephen King created are unleashed onto the town of Bangor, Maine at once, and a hero must stop them.

Stephen King’s novels have always had semi-shared universes and themes. Weird parallels and sort-of-dimensional doors connect the books. Wouldn’t it be fun if the evil people/monsters from the books met on an ensemble TV show?

a Batman-like detective/crime fighter

Now, the title of the show, KING, could refer to both Stephen himself and the main antagonist of the show, The Crimson King, who brought the other villains into this shared universe. Of course, the show wouldn’t be canon to the novels, but a fun what-if scenario.

Other villains could include:
Pennywise
Cujo
Randall Flagg
Gage

Collie Entragian
AnnieJack Torrance

There are a million others that would be great to have.

But for heroes, I would suggest an all-new character, so that readers would know that this is not a retread of the old stories, but an all-new story. Sort of like how Batman is a detective who is powerful enough to fight his crazed all-star enemies, this new hero would have to be inquisitive and yet strong, a match to these semi-supernatural villains.

Another idea is that the leading hero could be Ben Hanscom from It. He would be the one with the resources and knowledge to fight.

The other idea might be to have a villain as a protagonist. What if the series followed Randall Flagg in his attempt to overthrow the Crimson King?

Just an idea. What do you think?

A Song of Ice and Fire / Game of Thrones thoughts and predictions, spoilers after the pagebreak

SPOILERS AHEAD. After the jump, I will be talking about the book series called A Song of Ice and Fire. SPOILERS will be said. If you don’t want the books (all five of them!) ruined for you, then stop reading.

No, seriously. Stop reading if you don’t want spoilers. I, personally, HATE spoilers, so I’m trying to be clear that they are ahead. If you keep reading, they will come.

SPOILERS AHEAD.

I just finished all five books that are currently out in the series. That’s 4273 pages of writing, and let me tell you, the font is not big. I feel like this is a major accomplishment, and there are at least two more books that are going to be released in the future. So, I thought I’d have a postmortem. What did I think? What are my theories? Etc. Etc. After the pagebreak, I will be saying all, spoilers included. 

SPOILERS AHEAD.

click the pagebreak for massive spoilers

SPOILERS AHEAD.

lol, ok. I'll stop. Sorry, it’s just that someone spoiled Harry Potter for me, and I was extremely disappointed. My favorite book was the green one. A Storm of Swords, the third book. The ending had SO MUCH payoff. I loved every moment.

Ygritte’s death was masterfully written. You know nothing, Jon Snow. Possibly the saddest moment of the entire book series.

The Red Wedding was less shocking because I had seen the show. In fact, the reason I began the books was because of the Red Wedding. I needed to know what happened after it. For the show, it was the most shocking moment of television/movies I’ve ever witnessed. It freaked me out, majorly. I had nightmares. HBO made it even more gory than it was in the books, which was good.

It’s weird to see the departures from the book. Obviously, the cast is already huge, and to hire so many actors and get so many commitments is probably costly, so it’s weird to see how they’ve had to move characters around so that way certain actors get their screen time.

Books 4 and 5 were good, but difficult. Before I say anymore more, I loved all the books, and I think that this series is amazingly written and worth every moment of your time. Read them, immediately. The TV show is fantastic, too. I've never felt more emotion because of a book tham what ASOIAF has brought me. Now, I will say that I was sad to not be reading about all my favorite characters during my time with Book 4, but then when I began Book 5, I was disappointed with the direction my favorite characters were being pushed in. I miss the Littlefinger VS Varys rivalry. I miss the secrets and squabbles of King’s Landing politics. Without the spider and the finger, King’s Landing is not as interesting.

Tyrion in Book 5 was the hardest part. I mean, the best part of Tyrion is the fact that he gets through situations because he is so witty, but in Book 5 he was being shoved around. He didn’t have a chance to use his wit much, and so his sections weren’t as good as when he was the Hand. I also really, really dislike him riding a pig and acting like a fool. I hate the other dwarf, Penny. I’m glad that part is over. I hope Penny dies/exits the plot.

Dany, too. I like her when she’s badass, and in Book 5, she’s not badass. She’s sort of just dealing with all the BS of running a kingdom. It’s sort of sad. Plus, I didn’t want to her marry that jerk. I hate that she allowed the slavers to bring slaves into her city. I hate that she gave in. If I had to guess, though, I would say that I think that the Shavepate is the Harpy. This is why: the bowl of poisoned food was locusts. Locust was the mask that the Shavepate made his Beasts wear during the mutiny.

My favorite moments from Book 5 were the ones with Stannis and Jon. I love how they interacted, and I loved that Jon helped Stannis. If you think about it, returning Moat Caitlin to the rightful northern lord was exactly what a King should do. That was such a cool idea, and it all clicked in my head.

For the record, I do not believe that either Stannis or Jon Snow are dead. I feel like the letter from Ramsey to Jon Snow was a deception created by Stannis. Jon Snow could go either way, but I choose to believe he will either survive or be resurrected through Melisandre. It would be in keeping with GRRMartin’s writing style to kill Jon Snow right then and there, but I believe that Jon Snow IS the song of ice and fire.

Jon Snow’s parentage, if I had to guess, is Lyanna Stark and Rheagar Targaryen’s child. Ned kept this information from his good friend King Robert because Robert would have killed Jon. Anyway, Stark is the bloodline of ice, Targaryen is fire… so a child between the two families would be the song of ice and fire. That is the reason I believe Jon Snow will live or be resurrected.

AND if he does die and is resurrected, then his duty to the Night’s Watch is over. The vows that the oaths of commitment to the Watch “shall not end until my death.” Meaning, if Jon dies, he no longer must be a member to the Watch… and if he’s resurrected… he is alive again and free of his oath. Meaning Jon will finally have a chance to go wherever he wants and bring justice down on his enemies.

And now, I will make a series of predictions for the last two books. I am positive that I will be wrong about most of these, simply because GRRMartin is crazy unpredictable, and doesn’t seem to do anything the readers want him to. I also think he leads people on, only to take a crazy direction that nobody expect. I believe he knows what people are predicting, and I believe he purposefully goes against it. So, my making a prediction, I am contributing to my predictions being wrong.

PREDICTION: Dany will die in the last book. I feel this is what will happen. I do not believe that she will be in power by the end. I believe Dany will sacrifice herself to kill the white walkers.  

PREDICTION: Bran will forever be in the tree.

PREDICTION: Jojen said that he saw a Stark in Winterfell again, so I believe that Rickon Stark will live to become the lord there. 

PREDICTION:  Jon Snow will meet Howland Reed and learn his parentage. He will join with Stannis and fight for King’s Landing. Upon Stannis’s death, Stannis, as the King he believes himself to be, allows Jon to take the name Targaryen. Jon Targaryen will be the King in the end.

PREDICTION: Tyrion will live and be named Lord of Casterly Rock, as rightful and lawful heir to the Lannister house. This will put an end to the Stark/Lannister war, because Jon likes Tyrion and knows he’s a good person.

PREDICTION:  Samwell will meet Sansa.

 PREDICTION: Sansa will make a decision that shows her loyalty to Littlefinger over her family. Littlefinger will, in turn, have her put to death later.

PREDICTION: Arya will die after everyone on her list is dead. She’s too drunk on murder to survive the series. Perhaps Littlefinger and EvilSansa will be the reason. Perhaps Littlefinger finds her, and Sansa has to make the choice, and she chooses Littlefinger over Arya, causing Arya’s death. The reason I see this as a possibility is because out of all of the people on Arya’s list, the one person that isn’t on it is Littlefinger, although he’s the cause of some of the biggest problems that the Starks had to face (such as Ned’s death, for starters). Perhaps, after that, Arya in the wolf’s body will kill Sansa.

PREDICTION: The Dornishmen are all doomed.

PREDICTION: King Tommen will pick Margery Martell over Cersei his mother. This one is complicated, but the show gave me insight into the direction of the books. I believe that the reason why Margery was drinking moontea, the reason she’s no longer a virgin… is because she had sex with Tommen. I believe, at Margery’s trial, Tommen will admit to it and Margery will be free. Cersei, in turn, will not be pardoned for her crimes and will be sentenced to death. She will not be executed, however, until she believes that both of her children are dead. However, I think that her children might survive and become wards of Tyrion if he takes Casterly Rock.


That’s all I got. Let me know what you think of my predictions/thoughts in the comments!


Hit me up on twitter! Harrison Aye is @Oxyborb