Where The Iron Throne ended and A Dream of Spring began
I think there are two historical events which will be on repeat with the ending of ASOIAF:
1. The more obvious one is Duncan Targaryen Jon abdicating his throne for love for his brother Jaehaerys Bran to become King.
2. The other event will likely be Aegon V Bran banishing Bloodraven Tyrion and sending him to the Night’s Watch.
But before I go any further, this is what GRRM has said regarding naming his chapters on two separate occasions.
Based on this, I think it is safe to conclude that Chapter names serve as a hint to what’s coming in this story. With that in mind, the last half of Chapter titles in Fire and Blood probably gives away the entire endgame of ASOIAF.
The red line is where The Iron Throne ends, whereas ADOS will likely have some more story to cover, aka the sweet to the bitter.
Unlike most things this season, I like to think that this line of dialog is there for a reason.
Breaking down the Fire and Blood chapter titles to see what they might be hinting towards:
1. The Dying of the Dragons - The Blacks and the Greens
The Dying of the Dragons - A Son for a Son
The Dying of the Dragons - The Red Dragon and the Gold
Drogon vs Rhaegal, Dance of the Dragons.
Furthermore, there is this passage once again foreshadowing DotD along with Jon pulling a Duncan.
He sang of the Dance of the Dragons, of fair Jonquil and her fool, of Jenny of Oldstones and the Prince of Dragonflies. – Sansa I, AFFC
Furthermore, Melisandre’s vision from ADWD also indicates DotD. This is the same vision which has Sansa traveling to the wall and King Bran.
Dance of the Dragons is a foregone conclusion in the books, which is why I have even more trouble believing that this is Jon’s proper (or even deserved) ending.
2. The Dying of the Dragons - Rhaenyra Triumphant
The Dying of the Dragons - Rhaenyra Overthrown
Nuff said. She ate up all the space on the show so I refuse to give her any space in my meta, except I’ll say this much - ‘Good Riddance’.
3. The Dying of the Dragons - The Short, Sad Reign of Aegon II
Ahh, Jon pulling a Duncan.
I’m probably in the minority but I really like this plot point. Did I see this coming? No. Does it make sense? Yes.
Jon gave up Winterfell twice for Sansa.
By right Winterfell should go to my sister Sansa. – Jon I, ADWD
Winterfell belongs to my sister Sansa. – Jon IV, ADWD
Where did I think this was going – oh, of course, Jon will give up the throne for Sansa.
I think it had to be this way, he had to do give up his claim. You know why?
Because Sansa Stark said this:
It is my claim. No one will ever marry me for love. – Sansa VI, ASOS
There are no heroes. – Sansa VI, AGOT
This is Jon stepping up to the occasion of being Sansa’s ultimate hero. It is hardly a coincidence that Sansa’s “No one will ever marry me for love” is directly followed by the chapter where Jon meets Janos Slynt and starts his journey towards becoming the hero that Sansa will marry for love.
(Yes, delulu me still believes Jon and Sansa will get married by the end. I’ll expand more on why I think so in my next delulu meta).
If Jon were King, it would have been a semi-political marriage. I’ll be honest with you, brick by brick ala Ned Cat is what I always expected Jon and Sansa’s storyline to be, but I think Jon’s final act is actually paving the way for a far more passionate love marriage, what Sansa always dreamed of.
I like to think of the entire act of Jon channeling a Duncan as a setup just for the Jonsa payoff. The show did the setup, not the payoff, they simply left the payoff in foreshadowland. 😡
4. Aftermath - The Hour of the Wolf
This quote defines Bran’s arc
So long as there was magic, anything could happen. Ghosts could walk, trees could talk, and broken boys could grow up to be knights. “But there isn’t,” he said aloud in the darkness of his bed. “There’s no magic, and the stories are just stories.” And he would never walk, nor fly, nor be a knight. – Bran IV, ACOK
If handled correctly, this can prove to be a very triumphant story of overcoming adversities. I do not like Bloodraven Bran theories OK, I think we are looking at a boy king who dreamed of becoming a knight but couldn’t because he thought himself to be too broken. As is hinted from the chapter names below, this will likely be a regency. There will likely be some magic involved, just not the complete occupancy of Bran like the show hinted.
5. Under the Regents - The Hooded Hand
We all know there is some pretty direct foreshadowing for Tyrion joining the Night’s Watch early on.
Jaime smiled. “I hope you’re not thinking of taking the black on us, sweet brother.“ – Tyrion I, AGOT
But what caught my attention was the term ‘hooded hand’.
Now look at this passage when Bran meets Coldhand:
for though the ranger’s face was pale, his hands were black and hard as iron, and cold as iron too. The rest of him was wrapped in layers of wool and boiled leather and ringmail, his features shadowed by his hooded cloak and a black woolen scarf about the lower half of his face. – Bran I, ADWD
You know whose chapter immediately follows?
You guessed it, Tyrion!
6. Under the Regents - War and Peace and Cattle Shows
What is Bran’s tax policy?
GRRM is probably planning a learning arc for Bran here. He is probably planning to show Bran’s rule, as is very evident from this chapter title. The show miraculously left out the very thing that GRRM criticized about fantasy. 😡
7. Under the Regents - The Voyages of Alyn Oakenfist
Arya sailing West of Westeros.
Again, I’m probably in the minority when I say that I like this plot development.
I have never expected Arya’s arc to be associated with marriage or domesticity. (Sorry Gendrya shippers, please don’t hate me, but by all means keep shipping. Who am I to stop you).
I always found this quote to be quite foreboding:
You’ll be sewing all through winter. When the spring thaw comes, they will find your body with a needle still locked tight between your frozen fingers.”
Arya didn’t think it was funny. “I hate needlework!” she said with passion. “It’s not fair!” – Arya I, AGOT
After the finale though, this line turned out to be more metaphoric, more restorative than foreboding, and is meant to give Arya a new purpose. I think “Needlework” is two fold, it means having to use Needle as well as a domestic life. But there is no need for needle after winter, and once she is done with her revenge and retribution arc, I do think Arya will find domesticity quite constrictive. An explorer arc after all the bloodshed she witnessed might be a lovely end-point (or rather a beginning) for a free spirit like Arya.
The one thing I did not like is that Arya left so soon after the sack of KL. But if the chapter index is anything to go by, considerable time will pass between KL sack and Arya venturing off.
8. The Lysene Spring and the End of Regency
Lineages and Family Tree
Allow me draw your attention to something interesting. This is the chapter index published in late October 2018.
And this is the actual chapter index published in the book in early November 2018.
Spot the difference? That’s right. GRRM changed the last chapter title from ‘The Succession of House Targaryen of Westeros’ to simply ‘Lineages and Family Tree’. Now why, why will he change it?
Option A) Bran made him do it
Option B) It’s all Sansa’s fault
Option C) The chapter titles are maybe hinting towards something? Like maybe the endgame of his books? Like maybe, just maybe, he wants us to picture the whole theme of spring and rebirth and regeneration and fertility and legacies together?
To me this very deliberate last minute change screams, SCREAMS a Stark legacy. This saga does not end without a Starkling OK, or atleast a hint of a Starkling. And who are the two people constantly being foreshadowed to carry on the Stark bloodline???????
In short, these four quotes are what’s driving this endgame:
I hate needlework! It’s not fair! – Arya I, AGOT
And he would never walk, nor fly, nor be a knight. – Bran IV, ACOK
No one will ever marry me for love. – Sansa VI, ASOS
A son was something Jon Snow had never dared dream of. – Jon XII, ASOS
This is a time for wolves, a time for wish fulfillment of the wolves. The show simply misrepresented the tone or didn’t go far enough to depict this.
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