Ladies, gentlemen, book readers all, I give you The Grand Northern Conspiracy I II III IV V VI VII Emphasis on the book readers part. Mega spoilers within. tl;dr Spoiler Wyman Manderly has organized behind the scenes an anti-Bolton coup with the aim of making Jon Snow the King of Winter and killing every Frey in existence Spoiler HOLY **** IT'S TRUE
Good stuff... One thing that caught my attention... Spoiler Is the Star Wars reference, where Ned acted as Obi Wan to Jon's, Luke. Alfie Allen (who plays Theon) said he once asked GRRM about Jon's parentage. AA didn't give spoilers away, but mentioned a Luke Skywalker situation. In truth, many character's story arcs are ... borrowed (not sure if that's the right word) from other characters and stories. Perhaps influenced is a better word? For example, Arya represents Odysseus as her story seems to be influenced from the Odyssey. Anyway... That reference stood out to me. While I don't think Jon's father is alive (I think his father is Rhaegar) and he won't be dueling him anytime soon ala Luke and Vader, I do wonder though if Vader takes another form, so to speak... Mance Rayder (It even rhymes, come on!) Mance Rayder, like Anakin Skywalker, doesn't really know his parentage (Anakin knew his mother though). Both grow up in an order (Night's Watch, Jedi) which share a number of ideals/traits. Both grow to resent their order and eventually jump ship for the opposing team. Mance eventually takes the surname Rayder and Anakin, Vader. And while Mance isn't "evil" by normal standards, he is considered a villain from the Westerosi perspective. The one thing, that the theory (which is quite good) didn't discuss, is the pink letter sent from, Ramsay... /JimRomeVoice: Allegedly. There are a number of inconsistencies (at least, by all appearances, until further information is provided) with that. There are two theories which I've read regarding this letter. Both of which involve Mance Rayder writing the letter. Perhaps Rayder is working with the North to get Jon off the wall and into the fight against Ramsay w/ a combined force of Jon, the watch (who the letter threatens, giving them the ability to defend themselves, which bypasses their political neutrality), and wildings. As the theory mentioned, some in the North know Jon is working w/wildlings. Mance obviously hates what the Watch stands for, and is trying to show him that it's a bull**** order. Wants him to be free. This would mirror Jaime and Brienne's story, where Jaime sees himself in Brienne. At least before his life experiences showed him that what it means to be "honorable" isn't what he thought it was. Or perhaps, Mance is simply trying to get his army of Wildlings back from Jon, along with his loved ones, who Jon has held hostage. Mance can't bring a fake Arya home to Jon without repercussions. So have Jon w/Mance's army (mostly Mance's army), let Stannis and Ramsay fight and sneak attack w/his wildlings while they're occupied? Perhaps even take Winterfell? Maybe even more simple, Mance wants to push Jon to rebel against the Watch as Vader wanted Luke to rebel against the Jedi order? And Jon will somehow "save" Mance (emotionally and "spiritually" and not physically, which he has already done). I mean, Mance wanted to get his people south of the wall and that's accomplished. But they're still not "free" men... Where do they go from here? There's no place for them unless they agree a (Hobb's) social contract... This story is taking a turn for the best. Can't wait to read what comes next. The north is finally becoming as interesting as the south, especially with three super powers (Boltons, Stannis, and Jon/Wilding's) all headed for a fight. One other thing... Spoiler Jon declined to become legalized by Stannis and Lord of Winterfell before. If the North recognizes Jon ala Robb's will, will Jon reconsider? It's tough to say, IMO. He didn't reject Stannis's offer for just one reason. There were many, including certain conditions Stannis had (lord of light and stuff, etc..). However, Jon has now been attacked by the Watch... Can he really stay there?
I can't help but think there might have to be an 8th book. We're too close to the end with too much explanation left to give.
I don't doubt that one bit given how slowly Martin tells a story. But the odds he lasts long enough to write an 8th book at the pace he's set? [video=youtube;2V3CfD8TPac]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2V3CfD8TPac[/video]
Don't remind me. I'm genuinely afraid of the possibility that he keels over face first into a bowl of pesto. He has told the TV producers how the series ends, though. Just in case.
Right which means we should get a good enough ending to the TV show. But us readers will be left feeling empty inside and wishing we could get the days, weeks, months, or years we spent reading those thousands of pages back.
[video=youtube;9m4ZPULXJKw]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9m4ZPULXJKw[/video] Straight from Comic Con.
Spoiler It's an awesome theory. At this point, I am just a bit too skeptical that the author is going to give me what I want and make me happy lol. So I keep my distance a bit Btw, any book readers catch the sample chapters? very good
There have been only two sample chapter releases from what I've seen. They're alright, but they don't do much to advance the plot. They just show the situation at the beginning of The Winds of Winter, which is basically the same as left at the end of ADWD.
Spoiler I thought the quality of writing in the Theon chapter was a step up. Reminded me of the third book. Martin also read a Barristan chapter. Some on the Westeros forum were in attendance and by their description it sounds awesome. Its of him rallying troops for the battle of Meereen Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 2
Soooo... first time participant in this thread... I just watched all three seasons in about a 10 day span. So now I am going thru withdrawals, as you can probably imagine. My question, if I wanted to switch to reading the books (like a fiend looking for his fix), where should I start? Without telling me details, are the books vastly different than the TV show? Should I start the books at the very beginning??
Same thing happened to me lol. Honestly, you've got like, 7-8 months. Start at the beginning with Game of Thrones. The books are not wildly different. But there are a number of changes. Certain characters from the books are combined for the tv show, lesser stories dropped, easter eggs, etc...
Yeah, this is the right course of action. Start at the beginning. The show is actually fairly different from the novels, IMO. There are more characters in the novels, and existing secondary characters are introduced differently and take different arcs. The order of events is also different. And there are little things that can't be included because the events they reference were excluded. And the characters are all younger in the books. IMO it's best to treat them as two separate products.
I ordered the books last night, first four in a group. I was planning on starting at the 3rd as I heard that is roughly where we are in the TV show. First two books.. that's a **** ton of reading Might as well start at book 1 I guess.
This. There's also a running joke that half the books' volume is taken up by descriptions of clothes and food. It's not that far off the mark...
Robert Jordan had the same problem with his Wheel of Time series, except he was even worse, I gave up reading what started off as a great series because of it. What is it with the clothes/food obsession with these fantasy authors?!
I saw a cookbook for sale in Books a Million the other day just based off of dishes he's described in the series. I can understanding wanting to make the story as immersive as possible but he goes a little overboard. You can literally go through the series and pretty much find out what every character likes to eat for breakfast in the morning.
Got my books today, see you in 6 months. And I do think we should have two separate Game of Thrones threads... one for the TV show... one for the books.
Seeing the TV show will help your mind's eye keep track of the characters. But I would recommend a wiki to help you along with places and events. There are a couple out there where you can adjust the spoiler level. I may have posted one somewhere in here. There are some really good online maps out there as well
Two full pages talking about the room that they are taking a bath in. TWO FREAKING PAGES!!!! Do I really need to know about the drapes in the Royal Bathhouse to understand what is going on in this scene? Don't forget about the book that spent half the book describing what happened in the pervious book with just different people.
Finished A Dance With Dragons (the book) last night. While there's some payoffs, there's also, frustratingly, not all that much movement, or at least not as much as I would have liked to see. Spoiler I was gutted after reading Jon's chapter, but after visiting ASOIAF on Reddit, it appears as though he may be "mostly dead" as opposed to "completely dead." I really like the Manderly situation that Desides outlined above. It makes a lot of sense, especially if you believe that R+L=J ... something I had figured out by the third book.
So do you guys actually think "you know who" dies at the end of book 5? If that character is really dead I'm going to be seriously pissed.
Can't wait for the new season. I bought the audio book versions and finished the series in a couple of months. Such an amazing story. It inspired me to get GoT/ASoIaF tat.
Been watching GOT with limited excitement until last night when I reached "Garden of Bones" in season 2. Simply amazing. Gruesome. Had me on the edge of my seat. If this is how the show is going to be moving forward I think I may finally understand all the hype.
The last two episodes of season 1 were great. But I couldn't get into it like I did last night, where my jaw was on the floor the entire episode.
I just bought seasons one and two of GoT on bluray at Best Buy for $20 apiece. A pretty good deal if you have a Best Buy nearby and don't have them already.
im pretty sure he is still with us. started reading the books in high school around 2003-2004 on a suggestion from a teacher, they are still my favorite books of all time. bring on winds of winter!
anyone see the last few South Parks? Although I think they could have made it a **** load more funny.
