Thursday is theory day. And this time, for real.
This is the thirty-fifth article of the series. Since there are a lot of theories floating out there and I'm
asked often enough what I think of them, I thought I write it down. You
can then laugh about me when I am totally proven wrong by "The Winds of
Winter" or something like that. Rules are as follows: you put a question
about any theory or plot element (really, let's stress "theory" a bit
for the sake of interesting questions) either in the comments of any
theory post or by mail (stefan_sasse@gmx.de) and I will answer them in
an upcoming post. And if you now ask "Stefan, isn't this a shameless
rip-off of Sean T. Collin's "Ask me anything"?", I would tell you to
shut up, because you are right.
Who is the best player of the game of thrones?
This is a question that seems to run as a theme throughout the first novel at least and frequently resurfaces in other novels, but I think it's as misleading as the question. What is the "Game of Thrones", other than a TV show and the title of the book? There is much talk about winning it, about pieces and players, but in the end, there is no clear definition about what exactly the "game" is and how you even win it. Is it about influence behind the scenes, not to be exposed and to exert power through various channels? Then Varys and Littlefinger clearly win. Is it about gaining the Iron Throne? Then the Lannisters, especially Cersei, come out clearly on top. Is it about gaining support among the other "thrones"? Then Renly wins. Is it about surviving? Stannis is our winner, the only living king from the War of the Five Kings. Is it about doing a good job at ruling and protecting the people you were sworn to protect? They all pretty much suck at it. The Game of Thrones is the biggest red herring of the whole series. It doesn't matter. No one cares who is king, who has this throne or that one, when the Long Night comes. And I guess this will be the final lesson that Dany learns, which will put her above all the other players and lead to her finally smashing the game board, ending the damn game once and for all and creating a large middle ground in which everyone can survive.
Will Dany arrive in Westeros in "The Winds of Winter"?
Yes, but I think only at the very end. Let's have a brief look about what she does as first part of this answer. The battle for Meereen will be in the opening chapters (Martin already read them at a con), and there's no reason to believe that Dany will linger any longer in Slaver's Bay. Instead, she will need to make way, and the arrival (and death) of Victarion will open the way to a fleet for her, and Moqorro will align herself with her, giving her the next destination: Volantis. I guess the alliance with the Red Priests and the conquest of Volantis and final death blow to the slave trade in Essos will take the bulk of "The Winds of Winter". She will then receive the news from the Others, together with Moqorro and the other red priests, which will prompt her voyage to Westeros. For the second part of the answer, I want to remind you of the title of the book. "The Winds of Winter". There's not much of them to take center stage when Dany arrives early with her dragons, and there are several Westerosi plots that need to be driven towards conclusion before the final battle against the Others begins (which will almost certainly not consist of a big battle of the people of Westeros plus Dragons vs. an army of Others and Ice Spiders before the Black Gate of Mordor). And then, when Dany arrived, we will have "A Dream of Spring". Of course, once "The Winds of Winter" is out, you will remember this post and laugh me out of the room because nothing happened that way.
Yes, but I think only at the very end. Let's have a brief look about what she does as first part of this answer. The battle for Meereen will be in the opening chapters (Martin already read them at a con), and there's no reason to believe that Dany will linger any longer in Slaver's Bay. Instead, she will need to make way, and the arrival (and death) of Victarion will open the way to a fleet for her, and Moqorro will align herself with her, giving her the next destination: Volantis. I guess the alliance with the Red Priests and the conquest of Volantis and final death blow to the slave trade in Essos will take the bulk of "The Winds of Winter". She will then receive the news from the Others, together with Moqorro and the other red priests, which will prompt her voyage to Westeros. For the second part of the answer, I want to remind you of the title of the book. "The Winds of Winter". There's not much of them to take center stage when Dany arrives early with her dragons, and there are several Westerosi plots that need to be driven towards conclusion before the final battle against the Others begins (which will almost certainly not consist of a big battle of the people of Westeros plus Dragons vs. an army of Others and Ice Spiders before the Black Gate of Mordor). And then, when Dany arrived, we will have "A Dream of Spring". Of course, once "The Winds of Winter" is out, you will remember this post and laugh me out of the room because nothing happened that way.
Do you think we'll get a Prologue or POV from an Other?
Never ever. I would really, really be reading the series wrong if Martin gave us that. Man, these guys are called "the Others". Ponder on that for a second. Martin doesn't give us any POV from Essos, because he wants to keep the story tightly in the context of our medieval European style Westeros. The Others can only be terrifying because we don't understand them. It's like writing a book from the Point-of-view of the Aliens or the Predator. It takes away everything that makes them frightening in the first place. If he would make an Other into a POV character, they wouldn't be the Others anymore, would they?
About that "Martin doesn't give us any POV from Essos".... I keep hearing it, but (a) there's Daenerys, of course, who has never set foot in Westeros in her life, and (b) there's Areo Hotah, who was born and raised in Norvos. So that has to be narrowed down to "there's no POV on Essosi events from someone who was born in Essos", which sounds a little narrower anyway.
ReplyDeleteDany is not Essosi, and Areo Hotah isn't a character - he's exposition on two legs. Since Martin stated himself that he doesn't want to include an Essosi viewpoint, and we don't really get a window in their culture, I stick with my argument :)
DeleteSo you don't think Daenerys is going Targaryen-crazy in the final chapter of ADWD?
ReplyDeleteIt's a very real possibility, but if she does, I guess it'll be temporary.
DeleteI don't think we'll ever get a POV from an Other, but I hope we'll get some background on the Others in the end.
ReplyDeleteHowever, an author has to walk a fine line if he wants to satisfy the curiosity of the readers without diminishing the story by overexplaining everything.
LOTR is a great story, even though Sauron and the orks are little more than an evil that wants to take over the world. How Sauron became who he is in LOTR is a different story and the Silmarillion is the right place for it.
By contrast, that's where the by now infamous ending of Mass Effect 3 failed. Bioware had portrayed the Reapers as omnipotent space-gods for three games. Letting a new character explain their background five minutes before the ending the way they did completely diminished their menace at the supposed climax of the story.
But I'm confident GRRM can end ASOIAF in a satisfying way.
In my opinion LOTR works as well as it does because Sauron isn't a part of the narrative at all; instead, he's an antagonist the characters only react to. I can't decide if ASoIaF is the same kind of story, with the same kind of mysterious, unmotivated antagonists.
DeleteGood question. Let me think about it.
DeleteI've been waiting for ever for Dany to arrive in Westeros
ReplyDelete