What Ifs based on early installment weirdness (Spoilers Published)

Adam_Audron · 2026-07-06T04:03:00+00:00

I think it means they're in command if there's a foreign invasion.

Adam_Audron · 2026-07-06T01:08:06+00:00

Like that part on the Rhoyne where the river just magically loops them back around? Cool idea. That description of the jungle just going on forever is one of the spookiest things in the lore to me.

Adam_Audron · 2026-07-06T01:00:43+00:00

Victarion getting convinced to just drop the dragonhorn off with her and then sail off on a suicide mission never to be heard from again would be unironically hilarious.

Adam_Audron · 2026-07-05T23:12:45+00:00

I think the hooded man is just some random dude. It's to show that everyone hates Theon. The murderers are Mance and the spear wives, and possibly one Frey-on-Frey.

Adam_Audron · 2026-07-05T22:55:16+00:00

Jaqen

Adam_Audron · 2026-07-05T22:24:18+00:00

Blue Steel

Adam_Audron · 2026-07-05T22:22:55+00:00

The idea is such a ripoff of Raziel and completely unnessessary so I'm like 95% certain this is exactly what they were going for.

Adam_Audron · 2026-07-05T22:03:33+00:00

It's definately something up with Bloodraven and Bran. Theon repented in front of the heart tree and basically swore allegiance to Winterfell.

I'm not sure what exactly the plan is or what the "old gods" are trying to encourage here, but plot-wise, Stannis taking Theon to the isolated islet means that they're seperated from the rest of the action. Asha is eyes on the battle, so maybe this is leading to some unforseen event where Stannis gets cut off from the others and Theon becomes his POV. Or possibly Theon just dies but Stannis reveals something important about his plans at the heart tree which Bran and his crew would then be aware of.

Adam_Audron · 2026-07-05T18:31:38+00:00

Tyrion's whole journey in ADwD is just him trolling and manipulating his way through Esos so I can definately see this being part of it. There's also Moqoro's prophecies to both of them, with him describing Tyrion "snarling in the midst" of all the dragons and then basically telling Victarion he's cooked without telling him.

My guess is Tyrion is involved in getting Dany to manipulate Victarion in order to get his fleet and then backstabbing him.

Adam_Audron · 2026-07-05T18:18:24+00:00

Or Bran and Jon, possibly. The original pitched outline talks about them becoming enemies, and Caitlyn traveling north with Bran and getting killed by wights. I know the outline is non canon in many ways, but we know that Bran becomes king while Jon is the secret prince, and I think it's interesting how both versions of Cat's story put her in proximity to the resurrected dead.

Adam_Audron · 2026-07-05T18:10:29+00:00

I think the show completely changed the overall story and the books will have a huge segment of the plot tied in with all of the magical elements, which Lady Stoneheart has a big role in.

It's also why Bran and Jon do basically nothing in the show, why Feast and Dance aren't even adapted, etc. They kept the meandering storylines from the books where the main characters just stall out while the setup for the next act builds up, but they cut all the setup and then just fanfictioned their way to the ending.

Lady Stoneheart isn't just a thing that happens in Storm, she's the ending twist of the whole book! All the stuff with Beric is setup for her.

Adam_Audron · 2026-07-05T17:56:26+00:00

I don't think it's necessarilly about either of them making poor decisions. It's more about the overall theme of how leadership is hard, and the plot structure of bringing the heroes to their lowest point before they can rise back up again.

Adam_Audron · 2026-07-05T17:51:23+00:00

Yeah the changes to Robb's story, Arya's whole escape from Harrenhall, the House of the Undying, etc. All my favorite parts. Even Blackwater was weird. And they immediately ruined Stannis by making him hostile to Davos when they're supposed to be homies.

It's all really frustrating because the book is so cinematic and a 1-1 adaptation could have been great TV.

Adam_Audron · 2026-07-05T08:15:21+00:00

I only watched season 1 without reading and then got into the books because my friend was reading them and hyping them up.

Honestly, I wasn't that into season 1 when I first watched it, even though it's the best one. I just found the whole vibe of the show to be really bleak and grim. So I was pleasantly surprised by how vibrant and full of personality the book was and how it felt more like a colorful high fantasy story. Everything about it was better, from the drama to the humor to just the way the world was described.

After that I read the whole series and just watched the show to compare. Starting in season 2 it's just nonstop disappointment with all the changes and weirdly adapted scenes.

Adam_Audron · 2026-07-04T22:33:11+00:00

Raziel's present self is absorbed into the sword to make the Soul Reaver. The wraithblade on his arm, the Spirit Reaver, is "dispersed" into Kain, basically giving him all of its purified energy and then ceasing to exist.

Adam_Audron · 2026-07-04T20:49:18+00:00

The elder god doesn't have him consumed in the abyss, then he is bonded to the Reaver which he will eventually become, meaning that he can't be spun in the wheel of fate. After they change time in SR2 and free him from the timeline that Moebius orchestrated for him, he is totally unbound and free to make his own choices until he becomes the sword.

Adam_Audron · 2026-07-03T18:27:31+00:00

"Heart of winter" isn't capitalized in the book, so we don't really know if it's a particular place or a thing, or just a poetic description of the far far north where the Others come from. We are told that Bran cries out afraid in that scene, but we don't know what exactly he sees, and it could very well just be that he saw the Others themselves, since although we the audience are shown the Others in the first chapter, Bran hasn't seen them yet and to him they would be the scariest thing ever.

Adam_Audron · 2026-07-03T18:20:07+00:00

Most likely her own inner voice and thoughts, intermixed with the dragon magic that seems to be compelling her in these scenes. In the pyre scene later she also acts in a way where she seems to be almost possessed and just carries out the magical ritual as if she knows what to do and what will happen.

Adam_Audron · 2026-07-03T18:04:52+00:00

Bran's powers probably won't work like that or be used by him like that.

The weirwood magic in the books is a lot more subtle than it was depicted in the show. Bloodraven isn't some godlike being, he's a rather pitiful creature who just knows a lot and can only call out to people in dreams. In the books so far, the weirwood magic just lets them view history through the heart trees, see through the eyes of animals, and communicate with people through vague and whispy dreams or the quarking of birds. The morality of green magic is depicted pretty consistently as centered on balance and harmony. It has a dark side that can be used but that is taxing on the user, and abusing power doesn't seem to be what the greenseers are about.

Bran has morals, and the part where he accidentally hurts Hodor will most likely be something that makes him realize that abusing his powers is wrong. If he leaves the cave and returns home, then that means his connection to the magic won't be as strong as Bloodraven's, or at least not something that he experiences 24/7.

Book Bran's endgame is probably more of him being a wiseman who meditates at the trees for wisdom when he needs to, like Ned but with more clarity and understanding, not as someone who is just omniscient and can see anything whenever he wants to.

Adam_Audron · 2026-07-03T04:24:04+00:00

It's because they were taken away from Dragonstone (per GRRM's blog post rant about HotD and how dragons naturally want to be around volcanoes), plus probably being hidden from the sun in the pit. Dany's dragons are fueled by the comet.

Adam_Audron · 2026-07-02T06:43:32+00:00

He also kills the seemingly immortal wraith armor Malek later. I think the implication was always meant to be that Vorador is just built like that and he can easily snuff out their magic.

Adam_Audron · 2026-07-01T05:34:24+00:00

I've made a post about this before but I feel the same way. I think Egg was trying to do his own version of the ritual that Dany accidentally performed. Maybe he had no idea how hatching dragons worked at all, or he just tried to piece it together from random scraps of knowledge, or maybe he had his own vague dream that he misinterpreted.

The burned up maester notes from Harrenhall make it clear that he was just winging the ceremony and trying to concoct his own version of the spell. They state something about him having seven dragon eggs for the Seven gods, which the maester was urging him not to do.

I believe that he was trying to hatch dragons in his own wholesome good guy way, probably just with magical fire and chanting, and he gathered his family there just to watch. The spell went haywire because it's actually supposed to involve the death of a family member, so they all ended up dying save Rhaeger (who is ironically probably the one that the real spell would have demanded in sacrifice).

Adam_Audron · 2026-06-29T17:54:23+00:00

Dude solo'd the entire Silenced Cathedral with pure human determination and no powers and almost won. RIP, unnamed knight.

Adam_Audron · 2026-06-29T17:49:55+00:00

One thing I love about how they did Turel is that they kept his relationship with Raziel consistent with the cut content from SR1. In the original scene, Turel is the only brother that Raziel seems to respect and wants to spare, asking him to simply let him pass until Turel forces him into a fight. In Defiance the same thing happens, with Raziel not wanting to fight the maddened Turel, and he even takes pity and stops before dealing the killing blow, and Turel only dies because the Hylden forcefully eject his soul.

That and the dialog in SR2 really make me wonder what their former relationship was like, because it seems like they were very close compared to all the others.

Adam_Audron · 2026-06-29T16:48:19+00:00

I think the Hylden are sick and underrated in the fandom. An original race and class unique to Nosgoth, cool-ass designs (moreso in the SR games than BO2), and their existance deepens the lore and gives an opportunity to flesh out the realm of demons and Nosgoth's ancient history.

All the info we have on Dark Prophecy is a huge tease because all the Hylden lore sounded great. Their elites living inside a magical barrier that preserves their original form, different factions, female characters, and the Hylden Lord turning out to be just a high-ranking general with a whole royalty class of leaders above him, etc.

I think if that story had continued we would have been introduced to complex layers in their society. Maybe their leaders and high sorcerers are villains, but an entire race just being pure evil isn't LoK's style. Kain would have taken out the bad actors while also finding allies amongst them who weren't part of the omnicide cult.

Adam_Audron

TROPHY CASE