re: Crackpot ASOIAF Theories SPOILERS

Really? It seems so obvious.

No, I have no fricking clue.

The numbers add up to 10, 15, 6, 10.

My most optimistic guess:

10/15 release date for Winds.
6/10 (2019) For season 8 premiere.

Or he’s just fricking with everyone and it all really means nothing.

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6/10 for the Targ book

and 10/15 for Winds!

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Ahhh, I forgot about the Targ Book.

I'd take it!

Anything to get Winds released in 2018. It's gonna such if he delays another year.

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Has anyone cracked GRRM's latest tease on Not a Blog?

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Of course. It’s merely just this:

GRRM's post is tagged "television", almost thought he might have finished something.

TD Book Board Poll:

Who was the Alchemist - aka Jaquen H'ghar, aka Pate the Pig Boy - in AFFC Prologue?

We've already agreed that the Alchemist is a Faceless Man. So the question becomes: Who was the Alchemist before he became a Faceless Man?

For example, let's assume that Arya becomes a Faceless Man. The answer to who is Arya would be that she was a Stark, or a Lady of Winterfell, or a Princess of the North, or a hated enemy of the Lannisters, etc. These identities explain her motivations as an assassin.

Refresher:

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A young man’s face, ordinary, with full cheeks and the shadow of a beard. A scar showed faintly on his right cheek. He had a hooked nose, and a mat of dense black hair that curled tightly around his ears. - Prologue, AFFC

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Which matches exactly with Jaquen's description in ACOK.

Pate dies in AFFC Prologue, then shows up in the last chapter, presumably as Jaquen in his Pate disguise.

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The novice in the room the whole time shows Sam to his quarters, finally divulging his name, "I'm Pate, like the pig boy."

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A look at the clues and options for The Alchemist's past self:

(Another) Lost Targaryen?:

The entire Prologue chapter has one overriding theme - Dragons.

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“Dragons,” said Mollander. He snatched a withered apple off the ground and tossed it hand to hand. “Throw the apple,” urged Alleras the Sphinx.

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“Dragons” is not only the first word of the Prologue, it’s all they talk about. Even Pate obsession with Rosey involves a "dragon".

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Pate: “I want my dragon.”
Alchemist: “To be sure.” The coin appeared.

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Option 1 - Could the Alchemist be member of House Targaryen?

Black or red, a dragon is still a dragon:

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“Who are you?” Pate had demanded of him, and the man had replied, “An alchemist. I can change iron into gold.”

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The Golden Company is a group of mercenaries with ties to House Blackfyre and uses the words ""Beneath the gold, the bitter steel".

Option 2: Could the Alchemist be a member of House Blackfyre?

Speaking of Iron and Gold:

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It almost sounded as if the nightingale were trilling gold for iron, gold for iron, gold for iron. Which was passing strange, because that was what the stranger had said..

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Option 3: Could the Alchemist be an agent of the Iron Bank?

Alleras the Sphinx is Sarella of Dorne:

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The Sphinx is the riddle, not the riddler. - Maester Amon

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Option 4: Could the Alchemist be a member of House Dorne?

The Alchemist could just be "No One" of importance:

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Pate: “I do not know you.”
Alchemist: “Nor I you.”
Pate: “Who are you?”
Alchemist: “A stranger. No one. Truly.”

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Option 5: The Alchemist is The Stranger.

Sad that I had to google to remind myself who the Alchemist is.

But I think the actual identity of the Alchemist is irrelevant. He is No One.

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Option 5: The Stranger?

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