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atopvisenyashill · 11 months

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Harrenhal will be the new seat of what’s left of the Seven Kingdoms at the ending.

I know a few people have already said bits and pieces of this but I wanted to get everything in one post for my own sanity lmao. There’s three kind of main branches to this theory: geographical reasons, historical reasons, and reasons specific to King Bran theories.

Geography surrounding Harrenhal

It’s the center of everything! Let me show you on the map because i’m a visual learner:

Ignore the North and Dorne and probably the Iron Islands too, bc the first two are not gonna be part of The Seven Kingdoms anymore and the Iron Islands is…gonna be a fucking mess lmao. Lemme zoom in:

It’s a very centralized point in the Riverlands but it’s also fairly centralized to the Crownlands (which will probably get absorbed into the others), the Stormlands, the Eyrie, the Reach, and the Westerlands. It makes sense, from a geographical standpoint, that if the lords need to choose a new ruling seat - and they will no matter what, because King’s Landing is gonna go boom - that a more centralized location for easier access to the capital would be their decision.

The Riverlands is also an excellent choice in general because geographically, they are always getting screwed due to being right in the middle of everyone. They get fucked during the Dance, the Blackfyre Rebellions, Robert’s Rebellion, AND the War of the Five Kings. The only area that really gets screwed over more during the various wars is probably the Dornish Marches, because of the conflicts between the stony Dornishmen and the Storm and Reacher Lords but you can’t really set up there because it’s too far from the Eyrie and Riverlands.

And the thing about the Riverlands is that part of why it gets fucked up is that it’s right in the middle of everything and has no natural defenses. The Eyrie has the mountains, the North has their snow, the Dornish has their desert. The Reach manages to stay out of a lot of fighting because that’s where the food is (although the Iron Islands are about to screw them, but that’s because the war has spiraled out of control) and while both the Stormlands and the Westerlands have seen big battles, they have some protection in their coasts, which gives them ships that the Riverlands just can’t quite access. Having the King set up in the Riverlands gives the smallfolk of the Riverlands some much needed protection and potentially, a break from all the fighting.

So the Riverlands is a good place to set up shop, but Harrenhal specifically? Well, that’s because it’s huge:

Every child of the Trident knew the tales told of Harrenhal, the vast fortress that King Harren the Black had raised beside the waters of Gods Eye three hundred years past, when the Seven Kingdoms had been seven kingdoms, and the riverlands were ruled by the ironmen from the islands. In his pride, Harren had desired the highest hall and tallest towers in all Westeros. Forty years it had taken, rising like a great shadow on the shore of the lake while Harren's armies plundered his neighbors for stone, lumber, gold, and workers. Thousands of captives died in his quarries, chained to his sledges, or laboring on his five colossal towers. Men froze by winter and sweltered in summer. Weirwoods that had stood three thousand years were cut down for beams and rafters. Harren had beggared the riverlands and the Iron Islands alike to ornament his dream. And when at last Harrenhal stood complete, on the very day King Harren took up residence, Aegon the Conqueror had come ashore at King's Landing.

If it’s going to be the capital, it has to be somewhere that can hold a whole lot of people and Harrenhal is ginormous and perfect for holding lots of people. It’s even happened before; part of why Lord Whent stages his big tourney where Lyanna is crowned queen of love and beauty is because likely because Ser Oswell Whent, his brother on the Kingsguard, asked him to stage an excuse to get all the Lords together so Rhaegar could discuss with them what to do about his father and Harrenhal is the biggest castle they can do that in outside of King’s Landing. From The Kingbreaker chapter:

Old Lord Whent had announced the tourney shortly after a visit from his brother, Ser Oswell Whent of the Kingsguard. With Varys whispering in his ear, King Aerys became convinced that his son was conspiring to depose him, that Whent's tourney was but a ploy to give Rhaegar a pretext for meeting with as many great lords as could be brought together.

It’s also built up to be sturdier than King’s Landing. Whereas King’s Landing was kind of haphazardly thrown together as it built up over the years, Harren the Black had always meant for a lot of people to be housed there. We see how many people can live in it during Arya’s chapters as she runs around inside of it and Harrentown and this is with a ruler who has no interest in keeping a lot of people in it. With a King or Queen living there, it opens itself up to growing in a much more easily defensible way than King’s Landing.

Historical Reasons Harrenhal is Significant

As you can see on the map, it’s built right on the edge of a very important place: The Isle of Faces and the lake that surrounds it, called the Gods Eye.

It’s a key place for the history of Westeros because it’s where the First Men and the Children of the Forest made peace:

Inexorably, the war ground on across generations, until at last the children understood that they could not win. The First Men, perhaps tired of war, also wished to see an end to the fighting. The wisest of both races prevailed, and the chief heroes and rulers of both sides met upon the isle in the Gods Eye to form the Pact…

It’s also notable for being the only place the Andals never managed to conquer:

It is possible that a few [Children of the Forest] survived on the Isle of Faces, as some have written, under the protection of the green men, whom the Andals never succeeded in destroying.

It’s a place associated with peace and negotiations between people, a place to stand strong against war and untouched by its horrors. A monument to what could be, if you will. And Harrenhal sits on its shore; it would add a very rich layer to setting up King’s Landing in a place associated with peace. And this isn’t the only time a succession crisis of sorts is settled there. The Great Council of 101 AC was held there.

To resolve the matter of his heir once and for all, Jaehaerys called the first Great Council in the year 101 AC, to put the matter before the lords of the realm. And from all corners of the realm the lords came. No castle could hold so many save for Harrenhal, so it was there that they gathered. The lords, great and small, came with their trains of bannermen, knights, squires, grooms, and servants. And behind them came yet more—the camp followers and washerwomen, the hawkers and smiths and carters. Thousands of tents sprang up over the moons, until the castle town of Harrenton was accounted the fourth largest city of the Realm.

Once again, we have Harrenhal associated with peace and negotiation in its history. However, that’s not all it’s associated with; there are several very significant battles that take place near the Gods Eye - again, it is in the middle of everything. It’s a place with lots of history and lots of ties to everyone in Westeros. There’s the Battle Beneath the Gods Eye between Maegor and Aegon the Uncrowned, The Battle of the Lake Shore and The Battle Over the Gods Eye during the Dance, as well as the story of Addam Velaryon landing Seasmoke on the Isle of Faces to take counsel from the green men after being accused of treason. It is, all in all, a very significant place in Westeros.

But that’s not the only reason Harrenhal is talked about. Basically every single time Harrenhal is brought up, someone will mention that it’s haunted. This belief comes because of Aegon the Conquerer and Harren the Black. While Orys Baratheon and Rhaenys march for the Stormlands & Daemon Velaryon and Visenya left for the Vale, Aegon himself first turns towards Harren the Black and the Riverlands. All three face opposition but Aegon conquers the Riverlands first because Harren is so ill loved:

So now the riverlands rose against him, led by Lord Edmyn Tully of Riverrun. Summoned to the defense of Harrenhal, Tully declared for House Targaryen instead, raised the dragon banner over his castle, and rode forth with his knights and archers to join his strength to Aegon’s. His defiance gave heart to the other riverlords. One by one, the lords of the Trident renounced Harren and declared for Aegon the Dragon. Blackwoods, Mallisters, Vances, Brackens, Pipers, Freys, Strongs … summoning their levies, they descended on Harrenhal.

And he makes very quick work of Harrenhal, making it the first Kingdom to become part of the Seven Kingdoms:

The riverlords outside the castle walls said later that the towers of Harrenhal glowed red against the night, like five great candles … and like candles, they began to twist and melt, as runnels of molten stone ran down their sides.

Ever since the burning of Harrenhal, no House has been able to hold it without going extinct soon after. For House Targaryen’s rule in Westeros to start with Harren the Black’s hubris and the fall of Harrenhal, and end with Harrenhal becoming the new seat of the King of the Four (??) Kingdoms is a really neat connection.

Reasons Why It Works With King Bran

But wait! you say. Didn’t you just say that Harrenhal is cursed??

Why yes I did. HOWEVER. There is one family that the Curse of Harrenhal supposedly never touched: The Whents.

You see, from Harren the Black up until the Whents, every other House in charge of it has gone extinct.

House Hoare? That’s Harren’s house and we all know what happened there - they don’t call him Balerion the Black Dread for no reason.

House Qoherys? Dead less than three decades later.

House Harroway? Wiped out a decade later.

House Towers? died out within two decades, ending with sickly Maegor Towers and then old and tired Rhaena Targaryen, until the two odd friends died and the holdings were free again.

House Strong? Well…between the fire that kills Harwin and Lyonel, Larys’ shenanigans getting him merced by Cregan, and Aemond just straight committing a minor genocide in the Riverlands, they all died out (except maybe Alys Rivers’ baby but we don’t have any info there).

House Lothston? Interestingly, they hold the castle for several decades, but they too went completely extinct under King Maekar.

So we come to House Whent. They’ve held it for about 6 ish decades and though they’ve also had some bad luck, they’ve had their people grow old - Walter Whent who threw the tourney is called “Old Lord Whent” by Barristan, and Shella Whent is old when she dies. But the most interesting thing is Minisa Whent.

We don’t know a lot about the Whent line, only that Shella refused to bend the knee to Joffrey, fled Harrenhal when it was attacked, and later died. You could say the curse still got them but in every other case, the whole line dies, not just the main line! Even Janos Slynt has no descendants and Littlefinger will have none to inherit either. But the Whents do: they have House Tully. Minisa Whent married Hoster Tully and had Catelyn and Edmure. The Whents are known for their sharp cheekbones and both Catelyn and Sansa, funny enough, are described as having sharp cheekbones. This very close relation could mean that the Starklings have a claim to Harrenhal through their mother.

This fits with King Bran because we know the lords are perfectly fine fudging things and going through the female line if it fits their needs. They did the same thing with Robert and his grandmother Rhaelle Targaryen, who married Ormund Targaryen, Steffon’s mother. Renly says here:

Oh, there was talk of the blood ties between Baratheon and Targaryen, of weddings a hundred years past, of second sons and elder daughters. No one but the maesters care about any of it.

The maesters love a loophole inheritance.

And remember that the odds of surviving the books for the Baratheons and Targaryens is very, very low. It’s pretty much just bastards all the way down (on both sides lmao, because I do not think either Young Griff or Dany are gonna survive). And whenever the inheritance isn’t clear, a Great Council is called. Catelyn even suggested it while parlying with the Baratheons:

Let the three of you call for a Great Council, such as the realm has not seen for a hundred years. We will send to Winterfell, so Bran may tell his tale and all men may know the Lannisters for the true usurpers. Let the assembled lords of the Seven Kingdoms choose who shall rule them.

Mentioning Bran, of course. A lot of people think it’s far fetched and while I do think him being so young is gonna be a hard sell now that the time jump is gone, I don’t think it’s that far fetched that the lords of the Stormlands, The Reach, the Eyrie, and The Westerlands would be convinced to choose Hoster Tully’s grandson and Ned Stark’s baby boy to rule over them.

And finally, Robb wasn’t called “Robb Stark, King in the North” he was also explicitly called “King of the Trident.” All the talk about who is Robb’s heir but look at how they all think of themselves - “as brave as Robb” “as strong as Robb” or they’ll have sons and name them Robb. Whereas Who Rules The North is all tied up in Robb’s legacy, the Iron Throne isn’t! If King Bran rules from the Riverlands, however, it gives Bran that tie to Robb; he gets to protect and rule from the lands Robb swore to protect, the lands he ultimately fought and died in. For Bran, he still gets to be Robb’s heir, at least in spirit, and I think that would be, to Bran, something very bittersweet.

#valyrianscrolls #harrenhal #king bran #harren the black #robb stark #house whent #ados speculation #a dream of spring #bran stark #long post #i might put it behind a cut? idk #i have to start living up to the ‘bran’s lawyer’ part of my bio!!#getting on my soap box

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acewithapencil · 6 months

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Daenerys in ADOS epilogue

#asoiaf #a song of ice and fire #fan art #my art #daenerys targaryen #drogon #viserion #rhaegal #a dream of spring #ados #by god I will get a purple dragon

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laurellerual · 1 year

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My "happy old AU" part 5 with grandma Arya.

What should we name the granddaughter?

#arya stark #au #old!arya #asoiaf fanart #asoiaf #house stark #epilogue #speculations #a dream of spring #arya x gendry

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jeyneofpoole · 7 months

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#asoiaf #a song of ice and fire #valyrianscrolls #ados #a dream of spring #asoiaf speculation

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cthaehbutwithafrog · 2 years

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A maid of three-and-ten

#wip!#brienne of tarth #sansa stark #asoiaf #asoiaf fanart #a song of ice and fire #a song of ice and fire fanart #a game of thrones #a storm of swords #a clash of kings #a feast for crows #a dance with dragons #a dream of spring #the winds of winter #grrm #george rr martin #Westeros #my art

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grey-joys · 5 months

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I’ll only be completely satisfied if we end up with a Narnia-style north with two kings and two queens (or five total if we throw Jon in). Which is completely delusional on my part, but hey, we may only dream of spring

#I keep telling myself ADOS will come out but like. I also know I’m delulu #stupid squid thoughts #game of thrones #asoiaf #valyrianscrolls #sansa stark #arya stark #bran stark #Jon snow #rickon stark #a dream of spring

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daenerystargaryen06 · 6 months

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Targ Restoration

I was thinking over the fact, that what if we do have a Targ restoration, but it's not in the way we think it will happen?

My thoughts on this are- we have ample evidence from the books that there can/will be a Targ Restoration, but it won't end with the Targs on the throne.

If we are to even believe what those hacks D&D said- they were told by G.R.R.M that Bran will end up as King, but they weren't given Jon and Dany's ending. It was also stated by G.R.R.M that Jon and Dany are destined to meet; and we are given a lot of subtle cues/foreshadowing/hints of them becoming eventual lovers in the books.

Now, the way I see this working could be... Dany doesn't actively WANT to be Queen. Her goal for the throne is fed on by the fact that she is the last Targaryen left in the world. She wants to help those considered 'lesser' by others. And what Viserys has told her their entire lives. What Dany truly longs for, is home. The house with the red door, the lemon tree outside her window. Something she can call home for herself, to live in peace.

As for Jon, I think that he could want to be King, but might turn away from ruling to have a live of peace as well. What Dany and Jon do most is attempt to help others. Their arcs have leadership, learning to rule, and helping the downtrodden. But it's not necessarily something they want.

A possible ending could be that Jon and Dany do fight the war against the dead, bring Spring, but decide not to rule over Westeros in the end. Allowing Bran to become King instead (if that's even an ending for Bran that G.R.R.M will give, as it was only told to us by D&D, and I hardly trust anything those idiots say about the show).

Instead- Jon and Dany could go to find a true home for themselves, and build a life together.

Dany will have children with Jon (she thinks she is barren, but one thing I do think she will eventually have is a living child of her own born from her. She had a miscarriage in ADWD, and both her and Jon think of having children of their own). I believe her miscarriage will lead into her meeting Jon, them becoming lovers, and together they finally manage to have a child (or children) of their own. Not expecting it, but finding comfort in one another and starting their own family in a home they find together.

I also believe that Dany's dragons will not be their end. There are many ideas (I've seen videos on Tik Tok covering over this) that Viserion is a she-dragon, and has exhibited nesting behavior in Meereen, and will likely have eggs. Though there's also the fact that dragons, in truth, are genderless- they can switch, they're 'as changeable as flame'. Any one of Dany's dragons could lay eggs and bring back more into the world, but I have my ideas on it being Viserion as the one to do so.

The ending for Jon and Dany wouldn't be as rulers, but together as a family. They find their own home, find a place to truly belong, and continue on the Targ restoration and the age of dragons, not as King and Queen, but as a loving, caring family in a home they chose for themselves.

That isn't to say that I wouldn't be happy if Dany and Jon wind up as co-rulers together over Westeros, as I'd love it if they did, but practically speaking- I just want them to be happy, together, and in a place they can finally call their own and feel where they belong. Dany can run barefoot and breathless through soft grass and warm soil with her children, and give them the childhood she had never known. Jon can tell their children stories of the Wall and the Others, and their children can connect with Ghost and the dragons they have. Dany can hold dragon eggs to her belly as she did with Rhaego. Drogon, Viserion, and Rhaegal can be parents and elder siblings to the human children Dany and Jon have together. It would be the 'sweetness' to G.R.R.M's bittersweet ending. But it can also be counted as bitter, as the last two Targaryen's do not wind up ruling on the throne, and their legacy over Westeros ends.

I just want my asoiaf babies to be happy!

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groundrunner100 · 7 months

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With the answer limit now 12, the competition is more interesting.

Anyways, go at it, & don’t hold back in the reblogs!

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catofoldstones · 5 months

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Please add any theories you have in the notes. Also, please reblog for a larger sample size.

#asoiaf #sansa stark #petyr baelish #polls #littlefinger #winterfell #eyrie #the vale #the winds of winter #twow #twow speculation #a dream of spring #ados #ados speculation #asoiaf theories #theories #asoiaf polls

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sailor-hufflepuff · 2 months

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Just had an idea I really like, that would be so cool to read in Winds of Winter/A Dream of Spring:

(Assuming they ever get published.)

I’ve always liked the theory that the Stark dead can be called from the grave to fight the Others , which is why it’s so important they’re buried in the crypts and there must always be a Stark in Winterfell. (To call them up, should the need arise).

You know whose bones were taken to the crypts too?

Lady’s!

All of the dire wolves prove important and/or symbolic to their Stark halves ending. Grey Wind and Robb are killed together. Jon (potentially?) survives death by going into Ghost. Nymeria going wild in the woods represents Arya becoming “no one”.

And then Lady, who belongs to the “least” Stark of all, is killed before she even makes it south, showing that Sansa loses all her connection to her family. Which would be enough, thematically, if she died in the Red Keep. Or married and was absorbed into another house.

But assuming the foreshadowing (and tv show) are right, Sansa is instead heading to the throne in the North, which is rather an odd ending for someone whose “Starkness” is dead.

What could be more appropriate than Sansa coming home during the Long Night, and Lady rising from the dead to save her? To show that, whatever happened down south, Sansa IS a Stark, will ALWAYS be a Stark?

#asoiaf #got #game of thrones #sansa stark #lady #a song of ice and fire #asoiaf theories #winds of winter #a dream of spring

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georgescitadel · 8 months

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Interviewer: We know that Dany is destined to rule Westeros and it seems that the Lannisters are in disarray, who will be her next major adversary? The Others?

George: I don’t know that I know that Dany is destined to rule Westeros, I think that’s something that is very much going to be explored in the novels to come. Certainly, Dany will be returning to Westeros, but she has a lot of adversaries who may take issue with the assumption of a resumed Targaryen rule… As for the Others, you’ll just have to keep reading the books to see exactly when and how they’ll be coming in.

- George R.R. Martin, Random House (2005)

#Daenerys Targaryen #The Others #The Winds Of Winter #A Dream Of Spring #George R.R. Martin #ValyrianScrolls #ASOIAF

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jackoshadows · 2 months

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A blue flower grew from a chink in a wall of ice, and filled the air with sweetness...- Daenerys Targaryen

"Do you ever find anyone in your dream?" Sam asked. Jon shook his head. "No one. The castle is always empty." He had never told anyone of the dream, and he did not understand why he was telling Sam now, yet somehow it felt good to talk of it. "Even the ravens are gone from the rookery, and the stables are full of bones. That always scares me. I start to run then, throwing open doors, climbing the tower three steps at a time, screaming for someone, for anyone. And then I find myself in front of the door to the crypts. It's black inside, and I can see the steps spiraling down. Somehow I know I have to go down there, but I don't want to. I'm afraid of what might be waiting for me. The old Kings of Winter are down there, sitting on their thrones with stone wolves at their feet and iron swords across their laps, but it's not them I'm afraid of. I scream that I'm not a Stark, that this isn't my place, but it's no good, I have to go anyway, so I start down, feeling the walls as I descend, with no torch to light the way. It gets darker and darker, until I want to scream." He stopped, frowning, embarrassed. "That's when I always wake." - Jon Snow

#GRRM #Notablog #Jon Snow #Lyanna Stark #Daenerys Targaryen #Arya Stark #Blue Roses #The Winds of Winter #A Dream of Spring #asoiaf

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doctorwhomybae · 1 year

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A woman’s shape as in hips and boobies which you get after you have a baby which means she has a baby with Jaime in the future Don’t argue with me 😤

#asoiaf #a song of ice and fire #brienne of tarth #braime #jaime lannister #jaime x brienne #winds of winter #a dream of spring #it has to mean something #so I say she’s going to live to the end of the story past a dream of spring #if i wish hard enough #it’ll become true

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laurellerual · 2 years

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Epilogue of A Dream of Spring

Arya Stark and Jon Snow

(I'm uninspired and in a nostalgic mood, so: Part 3 of my "happy old AU")

#arya stark #jon snow #au #speculation #a dream of spring #asoiaf #asoiaf art #house stark #mance rayder's cape #cause why not #:(#give me your ideas #old!arya #old!jon

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eruherdiriel · 1 year

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Who's getting married at the end of ASoIaF?

Marriage, alliances, and heirs are all tied together in Westeros and are important parts of the nobles' lives. Since A Dream of Spring is never seeing the light of day and The Winds of Winter is a big fat probably not "we'll see," I will go to my grave haunted by this question. So I decided to reason it out. My Jonsa brain wants it to be them but that seems potentially too "happy." But who else could it be?

George made the comment in May 2016.

Yes, I mean, I did partly joke when I said I don’t know where I was going. I know the broad strokes, and I’ve known the broad strokes since 1991. I know who’s going to be on the Iron Throne. I know who’s gonna win some of the battles, I know the major characters, who’s gonna die and how they’re gonna die, and who’s gonna get married and all that. The major characters. Of course along the way I made up a lot of minor characters, you know.

I've decided to look at living POV characters, except for the one-offs, some as individuals and some as couples. Many POV characters are not "major characters" in my eyes and there are some non-POV characters who are more important, but this was the most objective way I could find to decide who made the list. POV characters are bolded in blue.

I initially read George's comment as meaning two mains are getting married, but as I wrote this, I second guessed myself and thought maybe he meant a main character and someone else. But since marriage is transactional and important to the highborn characters in this story, most of them will get married eventually (unless they die or join a celibate order), which brought me back around to thinking GRRM did mean the marriage would be between two key characters. And it would be relevant to the plot, and not mentioned as an afterthought in an epilogue or family tree. Otherwise, why call it out? With that in mind, let's begin.

Sansa and Tyrion are already married, but GRRM spoke in the future tense so he wasn't referring to an existing marriage. The relationship was unconsummated, their stories have diverged, and they are headed for an annulment. I can't see anyone we know ending up with Tyrion. His plotlines with women have involved prostitution, assault, unfulfilled desire, and violent anger. He seems more likely to kill another partner than marry again. More on Sansa later.

Bran is a possibility plot wise, but who would he marry? Meera is significantly older when they meet in the books, so I don't think that match is realistic in this context. And if Bran is the Summer King, he will likely have to marry a southerner for political reasons (unless there is a new succession plan and/or he can't have children). So it's probably someone we don't know yet or has been mentioned in passing. The last book would also need a time jump to make Bran of marriageable age, or the last two books would need to cover much more time than the previous five.

Arya's arc isn't about who she marries. In fact, she tells us whose plot is about marriage.

“You,” Ned said, kissing her lightly on the brow, “will marry a king and rule his castle, and your sons will be knights and princes and lords and, yes, perhaps even a High Septon.” Arya screwed up her face. "No," she said, "that's Sansa." (A Game of Thrones - Eddard V)

But if further convincing is needed that Arya's storyline isn't about marriage, know that a search for "Arya" and "marriage" or "marry" in the books mostly returns results for Sansa talking about marrying Joffrey and then talking about Arya, lol. There's a few other contexts, particularly with fArya, but this one jumped out at me:

Robb was to marry one of their aunts, and Arya one of their uncles. "She never will," Bran said, "not Arya," but Maester Luwin was unyielding, so there they were beside Rickon. (A Clash of Kings - Bran III)

She's not going to be old enough at the end of the series anyway, unless there's a time jump. Next.

Arianne and Aegon/Young Griff: This seems like one of the most possible impending marriages to me, no matter who the Young Griff is in truth. A strategic Dorne marriage is plot relevant and makes sense with Arianne's arc. However, I think it is possible the Young Griff dies before the end of the story. He also doesn't qualify under my slightly arbitrary logic for who a major character is. And Arianne barely qualifies.

Daenerys is dying. Take it up with George. Though technically still married to Hizdahr zo Loraq, maybe she marries a Greyjoy (Victarion or Euron) before she dies, but it won't be relevant long term. Next.

Cersei and Jaime are doomed, as a couple (not that they can marry anyway, as much as they have wished to) and probably individually. Cersei is also vehemently against getting married again, and there's no more Tywin to force her.

Aeron Greyjoy: Can Drowned God priests get married? Doesn't matter. It's not him.

Areo Hotah has two chapters and only made this list because I checked ASoIaF wiki for POV characters to make sure I got everyone with more than one, lol. No weddings to see here.

Asha Greyjoy is sort of married already? Perhaps she gets out of it and later marries a Northerner to ease relations between the North and Iron Islands. A non-POV character likely, but maybe Jon??? Huh. It's not the least or most possible thing here. Not what I expected coming into this.

Brienne: Like Arya, marriage isn't the point of her narrative. It could become important for her to marry in the aftermath of all the wars. But for major characters as her suitor, there's none that make sense. Her interactions with Jaime serve to humanize him and complicate her, but they're not ending up together, even if Jaime ends up alive.

Theon's not getting married if he lives.

Sam is a member of the Night's Watch and technically can't marry. Maybe he gets released from his vows or there is no NW in the end and he is free to marry ... Gilly? Some rando in the Reach? Even if he's not in the Night's Watch, there's that whole maester thing that should prevent him from having a wife.

Davos is already married. Next.

Barristan Selmy is old and a long-serving member of a celibate order.

Jon Connington will be more focused on getting his "son" a match.

And we are back to Sansa. I won't go through all the potential suitors for her. See this brilliant post for that. Given Sansa's narrative themes and that she is headed for a leadership position, a good match for her will be extremely important. She has also been involved in too many marriage plots for one to not work out and be relevant to the larger story.

Jon and Sansa are undoubtedly two of the major characters of the series. Marriage and children are referenced explicitly and implicitly throughout the books for both of them, and they are two of the most romantic characters.

I would need to steal her if I wanted her love, but she might give me children. I might someday hold a son of my own blood in my arms. A son was something Jon Snow had never dared dream of, since he decided to live his life on the Wall. I could name him Robb. (A Storm of Swords - Jon XII)

Implication of bold text = he dreamed of it before, and here he is doing it again. Notice also that he's thinking less of Val specifically and more of what a marriage would give him access to. Sansa does something similar when thinking about Willas.

If I give him sons, he may come to love me. She would name them Eddard and Brandon and Rickon, and raise them all to be as valiant as Ser Loras. And to hate Lannisters, too. In Sansa's dreams, her children looked just like the brothers she had lost. Sometimes there was even a girl who looked like Arya. (A Storm of Swords - Sansa II)

(The parallel content of these passages is ... a lot. One sentence for finding love with Val/Willas, then multiple sentences [three for Jon, four for Sansa] about children. The opening sentences are flipped in order [purple and pink text], and there's the shared idea of dreams [in red] and wanting to name their children for people they've lost [orange].)

Who knows how much time the final two books cover, but Jon and Sansa are both of marriageable age by Westeros/George's standards and will be more so by the end of the series, with a much more appropriate age gap between them than a lot of other possibilities. A union between them makes sense, since Jon would get to become a Stark, something he has always wanted, thought not in the way he dreamt might happen. Sansa would get her true knight, though he is imperfect and not the fantasy version she imagined when younger. It solidifies Stark power in the North. The last book was originally A Time for Wolves, after all.

The questions it leaves though are when does this happen? What does Jon's punishment or social status look like if he plays a role in Daenerys's death (for kinslaying and potentially queenslaying)? Is forsaking the Targ name and kneeling to Bran enough, or does he have to serve an exile period? (Am I letting the show influence me too much with these questions?) Can he acknowledge any children he has, or does that get in the way of the Targ line coming to an end, even if the children are Starks (or Snows)?

The final possibility is George changed his mind since that comment. The garden grew in a different direction. This feels hollow and unfulfilling, especially if you take the view that GRRM is deconstructing tropes so he can reconstruct them. There has to be a hopeful marriage/romance after everything else. And marriage is a big enough point in the books for there to be at least one that helps wrap up the story.

Summary of potential matches between two named characters (does not meet full criteria):

Arianne and Aegon/fAegon

Sam and Gilly

And between POV characters (meets full criteria):

Asha and Jon? (Once again, huh.)

Sansa and Jon

But since Sansa is the character I am most confident in having a plot-relevant marriage, Jon x Sansa wins.

This was not rigged, I swear.

#a song of ice and fire #a dream of spring #asoiaf ending #who's getting married #long post #jonsa #i did this mostly to reassure myself there's hope #there is nothing new here but i needed to play this out #except new crackship asha and jon haha #ignore me #let's pretend my analysis of the greyjoy brothers isn't so pathetic #asoiaf meta #my asoiaf meta #my text

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