Greetings. How are you all doing? The below is a fan fic imagining of a blog post. George decides he expanded things too far. How do you collapse a story when its expanded beyond your reach? Behold...the end...
He knew what he had to do. He had spent weeks thinking about it. At some level, he'd wanted to do it for much longer. Yet even now there was...hesitation. He knew there would be anger in some quarters. Just as much as the relief among those who just wanted to know how the story ended.
Yet...it has to be this way.
He had expanded himself too far. Built a world so rich and full of plots and potential that it there was little hope of giving everything a satisfying resolution. It had consumed him. Become more job than fun.
He started the post...
Hi friends. I must level with you. The story expanded too far. It has been hard trying to wrap up everything the way I wanted. And I worry. Worry about when and whether a Dream of Spring ever would have gotten done. I want to make sure there is an ending. Therefore, consider the below the...last book in the franchise. Called "Whispers on the Winds of Winter". A collection of notes of how this is all supposed to go. Could even be published as a free paperback.
Sorry this took so long, folks...
"This is it", he thought. "The story will be complete. Controversial? Sure." Yet it WILL be finished. Plots resolved. Images for people to pour over.
And liberation...to focus on Dunk and Egg. To maybe get his head out from under this. Freed from the obligation of figuring out the end...to expand and explore the world even more. Yes...this is way. Its time...
And the grey author of worlds continued the post...
-13,000 Years before the start of the story, there were multiple advanced civilizations on Planatos.
-A series of wars, and with them environmental catastrophes, happened. This was the start of the Long Night.
-The Children do not know (or at least say they do not know) all of the details. The earliest the Weirwood Net has for them is vague images of cities and them burning. Most of the memories come from the end of the war.
-The ancestors of the Children taught them about "The Old Gods" and created the Others at where the Winterfell Godswood is.
-The Others are a collective hivemind which utilizes a conduit. The conduit is the Night King. The Night King is the basis of the legend of the 13th Lord Commander, The idea of the Great Other, and the Many-Faced God of the Faceless Men.
-Yi-Ti's legend of the Blood Betrayal is a mythical retelling of a coup that happened around where Yi-Ti is today. It caused environmental catastrophe, but was not the cause of the Long Night itself.
-The Yi-Ti legend of the Blood Betrayal spread to Asshai. It morphed into the legend of Azor Ahai, which in various forms spread throughout the world.
He thought of the theorists who had correctly guessed this. Who had even helped influence some of his thoughts. He smiled.
-As various civilizations were collapsing, they came together to stop the Others and other threats that emerged from the wars and factions that caused the Long Night.
-The worship of the Lord of Harmony and the faith of the Lord of Light have a common origin that stretches back to a religion of "one creator god who created the other gods" before the Long Night. However, something Cthulhu like does sleep in Stagai and its influence led to some of the darker aspects of the religion of R'hllor. In addition, the Great Other was a later addition, some images that the priests see in the fire come from the Children, and some of the priests are charlatans.
-The alliance was not able to destroy the Night King, who was lost deep in the ice of the far north and lay hidden for generations until he and the Others started to awaken.
-As the Others advance, their presence can kill Weirwoods, endangering the souls of the Children of the Forest in them.
-The plan of Bloodraven and the Children is for thousands of them to jump into Bran, and then to have Bran travel to Winterfell, lure the Night King there, and then destroy him and thus the Others. Bran's abilities, amplified by everyone living inside of him, will give him tremendous power, such as the ability to make agriculture happen even in winter.-Rodrik Stark actually did win bear island in a wrestling match
-The legends of Lann The Clever and the Rat King are actually linked to the same origin story.
-A number of the children abandoned by Northerners before Queen Alysanne were adopted by the Free Folk.
-Hugo of the Hill was a war chief who adopted the worship of 7 Gods based on the ideas of a small group of folks (who say their ideas came from an ancestor's vision) he encountered. The seven pointed star was written a bit after his life.
- House Dustin/The Barrow Kings were not kings of all the first men.
-Blackwoods are descendants of one of the families involved in the final alliance. Elements of the Warg King story are part of their background, but also there is a lot that is myth.
-The Brackens are correct that the Blackwoods were vassals of them who rebelled.
-History of the Blackwood family did end up influencing legend of the grey king of the iron islands
- Fossils of unicorns are on skagos
-Supposed Ice Dragons are a myth.
-The Valeryons didn't speak to a merman king per se but rather found ruins related to the old world (and the forces Euron summons) and feel this is a sign.
-Andals never fought the children of the forest
- Aenar Targaryen sold his valyrian sword to Lannisters to get the money to pay the Faceless Men to kill enough fire mages to trigger the Doom. He did this because he came to hate the slavery and sacrifice the empire practiced.
-Lyanna Stark was the knight of the laughing tree
-The Weirwoods do not require people being sacrificed to them so much as burying your dead in/near them does help them grow. Some things Bran saw were not human sacrifice per se. Human sacrifice might help them get bigger, but just to keep them alive, occasionally burying people who died is enough if you are not insisting on making them particularly big. Bran states that while some First Men did at different points think they needed to engage in human sacrifice, one of the reasons it eventually stopped was the Children working to subtly let them know it was not needed (though whether you believe Bran is up to your own interpretation).
-Ser Duncan was a long lost descendant of House Strong. In addition, House Strong is a long lost offshoot of House Stark.
-Jeyne Poole lives to the end of the story. We see here last living at Winterfell
-Dany's first chapter after Dance of Dragons opens with a twist. The Khalasar that captured her is quickly burned and scattered by Drogon. Dany will head back to Meereen.
-Euron gave Victarion a false dragonbinder. He has the real one, which does not have the weakness inscribed on the glyphs.
-The end of the battle sees most of the enemy armies destroyed, but Victarion, Daario, Jorah, and Barriston die as well.
-Tyrion joins Dany.
-Dany and Tyrion find out he is a Targaryan.
-A council of three is elected to run Meereen in the style of Volantis. Tyrion and Dany then march on and burn Yunkai and Astropor. Before they return to Westeros, they trigger a revolution in Volantis by burning down the neighborhood protected by the Black Walls.
-Jon warged into Ghost. Mel restores Jon to his body, but the process kills her and Ghost.
-Jon, along with some of the Free Folk (like Val), travels south and joins Stannis, Asha, and Theon.
-Meanwhile, Jaime ends up joining the BWB and Lady Stoneheart. Their group is joined by Nymeria's wolf pack and after going to the Vale are joined by some of the Hill Tribes Tyrion armed.
-This group ends up helping Sansa overthrow Baelish, who they kill. -Sweetrobin ends up dead. But because of her encounters with the Weirwood Throne (which was connected to the Weirwood Net), Sansa ends up discovering she can, while not fully warg, at least influence nearby animals.
-We learn from Leaf (and an at the time seeming to be half mad Bran) about the theory that the Greenseeers can send whispers though time. Though they also suggest maybe Bran will be the only one who can. It's confirmed he is the strongest Greenseeer of all.
-In conversation with Leaf, we hear her say at the mention of the Others "Others. In that war, we were all Other to one another. For all the good that did."
-We see Bran in blackness. Lots of the Children are talking. He lets out a scream that seems to ripple across time. But we then see the Night King and the Others approaching the tree. No firm answer is given whether and how much this was Bran's fault or the Children's plan.
-There are no chapters beyond what has been published (and Bran's scream across time) written from Bran's perspective. So if you choose to have darker views of what is going on, you are free to interpet as such.
(From Bran's perspective, probably seems like he is in a time travel loop. But loops have to start somewhere. Is it a case where time meddling creates alternate timelines without deleting the start timeline? Up to you all to decide)
-Jojen, and Summer die, Bloodraven and Leaf jump into Bran along with the other Children -The ripples across time seem to be the cause of numerous visions. There is a delayed effect after Bran's scream that seems to cause Wylis to become Hodor.
-Later in conversation, Bran says he can't send time whispers anymore. He had enough for one blast, but that seems to be it.
-The Stark-Vale Army goes North (though they manage to raid the Twins, leaving Walder Frey dead)
-Rickon and Osha die on the way to Skagos. The Children seem to guide Shaggydog back to Winterfell.
-Before the Battle of Ice, Edric Dayne surprises Stannis by showing up to his camp with Dawn and some of Stannis's men left on Dragonstone, bringing dragonglass.
-Euron, who it is also revealed stole House Celtagar's horn, plans to blow the Horn of Winter (which is at the Citadel) which, along with the Celtagar horn, will enable him to command a number of Krakens and other "deep ones" to wreak havoc on the world. Bran explains that the weapons Euron is using, and forces he will summon, are linked to the war that caused the Long Night. However, as we are only seeing what Bran tells them, we don't get a more detailed explanation. Bran is very general and almost cryptic when describing it.
-Euron attacks Oldtown. Sam is sadly killed. Euron blows the horns.
-Before we see the results, we see Varys died a natural death in Kings Landing from a burst belly.
-Shortly after Vary's death is when the catastrophe strikes Westeros. Among the consequences of Euron's plans:
Kings Landing is destroyed
Lannisport is destroyed
Damage is done to the Wall. The damage is such that the part of the Others are able to get behind the Wall and attack Winterfell. Even if the Free Folk, Night's Watch, and some of the Northern Lords temporarily "plug the gap" the damage done to the Wall will enable the rest of the Others to apply the collective psychic might of their hivemind to damage the Wall until they can break through.
-Stannis begins the Battle of Ice. However, because of Euron, a portion of the Others have gotten behind the Wall and attacked Winterfell. The Stark-Vale Army ends up saving them.
-During the battle, we see Stark warging can momentarily distract individual members of the Others
-Jon left Longclaw with Ed at the Night's Watch, but a member of the Night's Watch arrives at Stannis's camp with Longclaw right as the Others arrive at the Battle of Ice, dying to get the sword back to Jon.
-The body count includes:
Stannis and his family
the Boltons
Shaggydog
Asha
Theon
-Bran arrives back at Winterfell, proclaiming R+L=J.
Jon is declared King of all of Westeros.
-The Measter Conspiracy was only a few individuals who decided to pit the Targaryans against each other to get as many dragons as possible killed. Afterwards, the conspiracy was largely forgotten, allowed to pass into oral legend within the Citadel. Sam will get this more or less confirmed during his time at the Citadel.
-The exact way this happened is never explained, but it is made clear that the Many-Faced God (or at least the interpretation they have it) of the Faceless Men is ultimately derived from the Night King. As the Night King and the Others woke up, some of the highest members of the Faceless Men order became aware of this/influenced by/communicated with them in some form, and came to the conclusion they were supposed to "bring the gift of death" to everyone.
-Arya learns about the conspiracy within the Faceless Men. She tries to stop them or at least make sure the others within the order learn the truth. She is killed. HOWEVER, she ends up warging via the moon into Nymeria.
-We never learn alot of specifics about the destruction of Kings Landing and Lannisport. (and we see bits of the damage elsewhere in Westeros south of the neck, but often are shown hurt landscapes without being told exactly where they are) But we see Cersei survived and she is seeking out Euron to try and survive by offering to be his Queen. We also see that Myrcella, Tyene, and Nym have survived and are returning to Dorne. Myrcella reveals she has figured out her parentage, denounces Cersei, and will help Dorne.
-Sir Robert Strong was...not Gregor. We never learn more. The Gravedigger, (who gets one more conversation with characters in the story) is Sandor, but stays where he is and finds peace. For revenge is pointless.
-Using the moon, Bloodraven and then Bran are able to communicate with Dany, Tyrion, and Aegon. In the case of Dany and Tyrion, this actually seems to amplify thier Valerian warg-like powers (though Aegon receives the visions more as dreams. It's never stated whether he is a fake Targaryen or not).
-Young Griff agrees to help with Dorne and what is left of Andolos resist Euron. To at least stall him. Dany and Tyrion fly to White Harbor and march to Winterfell.
-Lady Stoneheart has become a fanatical follower of R'hllor who blames the 7 for the Stark's struggles, her feelings towards Jon, etc. This causes problems, but Jon is also torn because of all the motherly devotion she is now showing him. Her overall arc is about, not rejecting religion per se, but coming to reject the concept of hell (at one point, we see Bran call her and Thoros in for a conversation, but we don't see the exact conversation. Her end comes during the battle when we see her turn back to Sansa for a sad smile, then protect a bunch of characters by setting a bunch of the Others and their army on fire, though the process kills her.
-Howland Reed arrives before the Battle of the Long Night. He and Meera survive.
-Jon finds and hatches the dragon eggs in the Winterfell left during the Dance of the Dragons. However, when the Battle of the Long Night happens, they are still only tiny dragons.
-Among the casualties of the Battle of the Long Night are:
Davvos
Brienne
Pod
Grey Worm
Penny
Thoros and the rest of the BWB and most of what is left of the Night's Watch (We find out at the end of the story that the North will abolish the Night's Watch as an organization)
-During the Battle of the Long Night, We see Bran using his powers. Many instances of his psychic powers vs. the collective psychic might of the Others (who at one point generate enough of one that they force the dragons, already a little hungry, to fight on the ground).
-Arya-Nymeria, Jon, and Lyanna Mormont work together to stab the Night's King in the Godswood, which they ultimately succeed at, though the process kills Lyanna. The stab disrupts the Night's King for a moment, which allows Bran to shatter him and the entire Others collective, destroying them.
-Before the Battle of the Long Night, Arya-Nymeria and Bran manage to ensure the arrest of a couple of Faceless Men who made it up to Winterfell. -We also hear that chaos has befallen a number of cities of Essos. This seems to possibly be a consequence of the Faceless Men.
-However it works (mechanism never specified), they find out about the end of the Battle of the Long Night, and the order tears itself apart. Bran confirms they are tearing each other apart in the last conversation of the story.
-With the threat of the Others dealt with, attention turns towards Euron. The final battle against him will come to be known as the Battle of the Crows.
- Howland and Meera head home. Meera gives Bran a kiss before to leave
-When Jaime mourns over Brienne, we see Tyrion put his hand on Jaime, signaling that he is trying to forgive him.
-Jaime goes to infiltrate Euron and Cersei's forces to get to Cersei.
-Jaime, who now knows of the Valonqar prophecy, when he finds Cersei, does not strangle her, but ensures they both die.
-In the final battle, Euron is killed, Dragonbinder is destroyed (the Horn of Winter dissolved after it was used at Oldtown) and the celtagar horne is lost in the ocean. However, the casualties include Aegon, Randal Tarly, and Missandei. The dragons of Tyrion and Jon die, and Tyrion and Jon seem to die.
-In reality, they have warged into Dany, all three personalities co-mingling.
-The penultimate conversation of the story involves Sam's mother and sister talking to Gilly, promising to protect her and her child.
-The last conversation is between Arianne, Dany, and Bran. Nymeria, a couple of members of her pack, the dragons that hatched at Winterfell, and Drogon are there.
-What is left of Westeros has been broken up into different kingdoms, with Dorne taking a significant amount of territory.
- Drogon and the Winterfell dragons will remain with Bran. They will be used to assist those in Essos wanting to resist slavery (and deal with the chaos unleashed by the Faceless Men and their collapse), to deal with what lefts of the Ironborn, and to help Bran as he helps with agriculture, being an intermidiary between the different kingdoms, and adding trees to the Weirwood Net.
-Arianne mentions she can have a Dornish Consort provided for Sansa, ensuring House Stark continues.
She also mentions how Darkstar was arrested after the destruction of Kings Landing.-We see Dany say goodbye to Drogon and riding north on a horse, with Nymeria and her pack.
-(Post story: Dany swears fealty to Sansa and is given the Dreadfort, renamed the Dragonfort. She paints a number of entrances red).
There it is. He thought. One click away...and its set.
He paused to think. Of all he did. Of everyone who got him here. Of all the fandom had done. He didn't know what the future would hold.
But as someone once said..."life is full of...possibilities".