So, 5 Seasons down, 5 books down. Almost a whole year before we definitely get more GOT (Maybe less if book 6 is somehow finished before the end of the 2015).

Time to speculate on where we're heading!

Something that is very interesting to me is how the conclusions reached in the TV series could differ from the books. With many changes being made to the fates or purposes of characters, how will they still reach the same(ish) conclusion? Martin more or less revealed his endgame to the showrunners but it's the details that I find worth investigating.


Obviously, if you're not all caught up, SPOILERS ABOUND











Ok.


First off, I think what really needs to be further fleshed out now is what exactly the "Others"/White Walkers purpose is. As has been said over and over, Martin is no fan of just good and evil. Up until now, they are just seen as some lumbering, lurking power of death. It is my distinct belief that these last two books/seasons of TV will finally give us insight in to what they are and what they want.

Who holds the key here? I think it's good old Sam Tarly. Heading to Oldtown will give him access to all of the lost knowledge of Westeros. That must be the linchpin of everything going on, buried somewhere in an old library.

What do you think he finds? That somehow, The Others are here to restore balance perhaps? That we (meaning humans) made a pact with them all those many years ago? That death is really the best possible outcome when you play the GoT?

His findings, along with further misadventures of Dany abroad remain the real heart of this story, but why? I don't think everything ends with her riding back home with her dragons and conquering all. That's far too happy and cliched. Instead, what if the tables have turned and Dany is actually the villain of everything? An agent of chaos that will shake up the world, resulting in the deaths of millions? Then, she has a choice, fulfill this destiny and ride headlong in to the destruction her return would bring or take a new way and give up the throne altogether, perhaps even kill her dragons, who are the literal manifestation of chaos and power.

If this is the case, why does the show and to a lesser extent books give us so much attention to the power struggles of the Iron Throne? Isn't that a really small matter with the looming death now waiting right at the Wall? Is each POV going to end with a White Walker murdering them as they scheme for how to overcome their rival?

To borrow a lesson from another TV show, "The Sopranos", the politics of GoT is like the mob violence on that show. It's not really what it's about but is the background noise that gives each character meaning and purpose. "The Sopranos" was really about a man at war with himself, in conflict over whether he could overcome his past and try to lead a life as a somewhat decent person instead of constantly taking the more base, "easy" ways out. Perhaps Dany is at war with herself too? Does she take the "easy" way, the way of death an dragons? Or the hard, more moral choice of ending the endless cycle of death by never returning home?

As I speculated, half-jokingly elsewhere, maybe the series and TV show end with the dawning of democracy. Or at least, the end of a King or Queen ruling over everything. The "Others" usher in the idea that we cannot look to one person as our savior but have to be our own heroes since the flow of time and nature does not stop for any one man, woman or dragon.


So, what do you think is ahead for us?


Take care all.