re: Crackpot ASOIAF Theories SPOILERS

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Is it Pedro?

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Pedro is married??

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The House of the Undying

You book readers knew this one was coming…

While Daenerys does indeed enter the House of the Undying both in the second book of ASOIAF entitled A Clash of Kings and Season 2 of the HBO adaptation, fans of the books will note that her experience differs immensely.

Missing in the TV series are Daenerys’ various visions viewed by her on her journey through the dreadful fortress. Many of these visions have foreshadowed events that have already taken place in both the books and the show, most notably the events of the Red Wedding.

Fans of the books have spent literally years deciphering what each vision could possibly hint at later in the story. With Martin already knowing how the series is going to ultimately end, it is likely that clues hidden in these visions foreshadow major story events and the ultimate fate of Westeros.

Why the change?

The scene showing every single one of her visions would most likely take up a large chunk of time, which could definitely have been a factor. But more importantly, we come to one of the first instances in which the switching of mediums becomes a factor in the storytelling.

If you check out a list of the visions, you will note that they are all very vague and non-descriptive, merely showing glances into the future, past, or perhaps alternate history of Westeros.

But translating all these vague descriptions into visuals would most likely make them a lot less vague.

Various theories have been swirling all over the internet about who “the blue-eyed king who cast no shadow” could be in reference to. So if the show was to show us the vision, that character would most likely have to be spoiled in order to accurately present them. Or simply just guess as to who the clues may be referring to.

But as we know, not even some of Martin’s closest confidants know the identity of some of his more mysterious characters, so making wild guesses as to who is who would be a big mistake.

And even more, if the visions are truly foreshadowing future events, then they would have eventually just become redundant in the grand scheme of things, so leaving them out really isn’t that big of a game changer.

Ruling: WARRANTED

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The Race of Westeros

This entry is not so much an omission of a particular event or scene, but more so an omission of racial politics altogether.

The world of ASOIAF encompasses a vast amount of different cultures, languages, and religions among its many regions. Yet despite the array of cultural diversity, the skin color of these different cultures isn’t as clearly defined.

For example, certain people of the world are said to have certain features: the Dothraki are said to be “copper-skinned” while the Asshai are said to have a “dark and solemn appearance” which many imply they are a darker skinned ethnicity.

In the TV show, the racial makeup of the different cultures is inconsistent.

For the most part, race doesn’t seem to be defined in any concrete way, with all sorts of skin colors (although a majority would be described as white) making up the various people of the world. So it appears that perhaps each culture does not have a particular race associated with it.

But then why are the Yunkish slaves featured in the finale of Season 3 all clearly darker-skinned rather being of all different skin tones? The episode received a lot of flak in the form of accusations of racism and portraying the “white savior” trope which, upon watching the episode, I can’t say isn’t completely unwarranted.

Why the change?

Most likely because race doesn’t seem to play that big of a role in the story. While there are talks of different values and norms among the different cultures, very little if anything is ever spoken about how the skin-tone of a certain people plays into the politics of the world or their status.

While clearer racial lines would have offered the opportunity for a more diverse cast in a show that has been criticized for its lack of diversity, it was mostly likely left out because race in the world of ASOIAF isn’t as important as it is in our current real world.

Ruling: WARRANTED

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Ygritte’s Death

While TV fans who longed to see the steadfast Jon Snow and his wild child Wilding squeeze Ygritte get together were heartbroken by her demise at the end of Season 4, at least they got a classic final meeting between the two.

Good thing they didn’t read the books…

If you did read the books, Ygritte’s death would be no surprise to you. But the final meeting between her and Jon may have rubbed you the wrong way.

In the show, you may remember the barrage of arrows fired at the oncoming Wildling army. In the books, Jon finds Ygritte among the Wildings who were struck by this storm of arrows.

The beautiful, yet sad irony of the moment is that Jon doesn’t know whether or not the arrow that killed her was sent by his bow, the uncertainty weighing on his conscience far more than her clear-cut death on the show.

Why the change?

Ygritte’s death in the books is quite anti-climactic… as it was supposed to be. Martin never gave us the story book ending we wanted and instead threw the harsh reality of war straight into our faces where families are torn apart and lovers stand on the opposite ends of the battlefield.

But TV is a different animal than literature.

Ygritte’s TV death is much more, for lack of a better term, “cliché”. Her love for Jon led to her hesitance which resulted in her death, but not before sharing a final exchange with Jon, who somehow is able to hold her and speak to her for several seconds despite a major battle raging around him.

You can find this trope in several action films, where characters carry on full conversations in situations that do not warrant it whatsoever.

While I understand the writers wanting to give a tender yet epic final moment between Jon and Ygritte, Martin’s original scene was far more true to the tone and reality of his world.

Ruling: UNWARRANTED

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Brienne VS The Hound

Fans of the books were in for quite a surprise come the Season 4 finale when Brienne and Podrick just so happened to happen upon The Hound and Arya while in search of her sister, Sansa.

Brienne pieces together who Arya is and offers to take her to safety in accordance with the oath she made to Lady Catelyn, but upon discovering she is on good terms with Jamie Lannister, both The Hound and Arya refuse to trust her.

Brienne and The Hound clash in an epic swordfight which ends with Brienne sending The Hound off a steep cliff. Arya finds him bloodied and beaten and, rather than give him a merciful death, leaves him to die (presumably) while she makes her way to Braavos.

Why the change?

Fans of the books will note that, technically, the fight with Brienne ends with The Hound and Arya in the exact same situation. The only difference is that in the books, The Hound is left to die following a battle at an inn in the Riverlands against Lannister soldiers. He is injured and Arya leaves him. This battle is featured in the first episode of the fourth season.

There is nothing specifically “wrong” with the run in between Brienne/Podrick and The Hound/Arya. It just seems… unnecessary.

The confrontation, while giving us a kick-arse sword battle, didn’t actually accomplish anything significant. Arya fled following the fight, so Brienne and Podrick will be forced to continue on their way as if nothing happened.

However, perhaps the clashing of Brienne and The Hound foreshadows a supposed fan theory regarding a certain “Gravedigger” that Brienne observes later in her travels. We may have not seen the last of Sandor Clegane.

Ruling: UNWARRANTED

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Reek’s Reveal

Once again, we come across an alteration made due to the restrictions between different mediums.

Both book and show fans know Reek aka Theon Greyjoy. Theon was given the name Reek after being driven utterly insane by Ramsey Snow. But if you read the books, Theon’s transformation into Reek was far more incredibly blindsiding.

You see, novels have a certain technique they can use that television can’t. Following his capture by Ramsey, Theon was tortured and eventually forced to take on the persona of Reek. But for a while in the books, the readers did not know that Theon was in fact Reek, as he was only mentioned by name.

This, of course, could not be done on television, as one look at “Reek” would reveal him to be Theon. The same technique was used on Barristan Selmy aka Arstan Whitebeard. We were introduced to the character of Whitebeard first, only to have his true identity revealed to us later when Jorah Mormont recognizes him. This is why Selmy was introduced to us right away in the TV show at the beginning of Season 3.

Why the change?

As already explained, the change in mediums. Novels allow for this sort of character misdirection in a way that television does not due to its visual component. Martin does this often in the series with characters taking on different personas only to later be revealed as a familiar character.

While this is absolutely warranted and necessary for a TV adaptation, we wonder how it may affect any surprise reveals Martin has in store for us later in the series and how Benioff and Weiss will handle it.

Ruling: WARRANTED

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The White Walker’s Plan

Both book and TV fans were in for a treat come Season 4 of Game of Thrones when an added scene not found in the books aired in episode “Oathkeeper” featuring the White Walker “King” turning one of Craster’s bastard sons into a White Walker.

This was news to even the books fans who haven’t gotten any concrete information on the happenings of the Others for quite some time. Now it appears that The Walkers have been using Craster’s sons to build an army which they plan to lead South of the Wall and take the Seven Kingdoms for themselves.

Why the change?

Again, not sure. We don’t know if this is Martin’s input or if the scene is an invention of the TV show itself. Either way, it was nice to see what the White Walkers/Others were up to. They seemed to play a much bigger role early in the series, but sort of took a backseat to the other happenings of Westeros.

It was nice to know they were not forgotten about and that their threat is still very much a big one. At least we know that will be coming… eventually.

Ruling: WARRANTED

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Where the frick is Lady Stoneheart?

Those of you who didn’t read the books probably thought that Arya sailing off to Braavos was a great ending to Season 4 right? Well for those who did read the third book of the series A Storm of Swords, the finale was perhaps the biggest disappointment of the entire show.

In the epilogue of A Storm of Swords, we are introduced to Lady Stoneheart who is resurrected Catelyn Stark. She was revived by Beric Dondarrion and she currently resides with the Brotherhood Without Banners.

She now exists as a ghastly shell of a woman, plagued with the desire for vengeance against those who betrayed her and caused the deaths of her children and husband.

But, for whatever reason, Lady Stoneheart did not make her much-anticipated appearance at the end of Season 4, much to the dismay of the fans.

Why the change?

Who knows. The Epilogue was purposefully meant to serve as a teaser for the next installment of the books, so it stands to reason that the TV show could have used it in the same way.

Hopefully, despite her absence in the Season 4 finale, we will eventually be introduced to her as she becomes vital to the story later down the road.

Ruling: UNWARRANTED

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“the blue-eyed king who cast no shadow”

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Catelyn Tully

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Has to be. Nights King after discovering who Jon is. He's too committed to the idea that he is the rightful king. No way he just agrees to retire to Storms End like a good little lord.

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