Since I spent my last post talking about Stannis, I thought with this one I would talk a bit about what else is going on in the North, especially with the Night’s Watch, the Starks, and the rest of the North in general.
First, I thought I would talk about what happened with Ser Davos Seaworth. He was sent away by King Stannis to bring back supplies, and told to not come back without them.
Now, in the books Davos is sent away to try to recruit the lords of the North to Stannis’ cause. This is where Davos goes to White Harbor and deals with the Manderlys, which I have talked about as one of my favorite parts of Book Five. Near the end of Book Five, Davos agrees to go to the island of Skagos to retrieve Rickon Stark for Lord Manderly. Essentially, the lords of the North have put their faith in Stannis after he helps free the North from the Wildlings, the Ironborn, and (eventually, we can assume) the Boltons. This seems to be not because they have so much faith in King Stannis and his cause, but because they 1) have no one else that is able or willing to help them, and 2) it seems to be the only way to get a Stark back in Winterfell. Ultimately, that is what the North wants more than anything else, I think.
Now, on the show we already have a Stark back in Winterfell: Sansa. We have seen that a lot of people still harbor strong loyalty to the Starks, even if they don’t show it all the time. Understandable, considering what happens to anyone who gets on the bad side of the Boltons. But like the books, on the show Rickon has been taken by Osha to someplace where he will presumably be safe: Last Hearth, the castle of the Umbers. I just don’t know if Rickon is actually there, or if he is at Skagos like he is in the books, or if he is someplace else altogether. I have no idea what they intend to do on the show. I do hope they don’t just drop Rickon’s storyline entirely. I want to see some Northern lords either brought back (the Greatjon Umber, which would be SO awesome) or introduced as new characters (the Manderlys, or the female Mormonts). But at this point I can’t guess what is going to happen with Ser Davos because the show has just wandered WAY off from the books on so many things. Maybe he will travel to Last Hearth himself?
So… the Night’s Watch. Obviously, Lord Commander Jon Snow is in big trouble. In the books, Snow is attacked by several of his brothers, including First Steward Bowen Marsh, after tension builds between members of the Watch over the issue of the Wildlings. Snow sees the big picture (in the books and the show) and wants to get as many (warm) bodies as possible to guard the Wall. In the books he manages to recruit enough Wildlings to man several more castles along the Wall, ones that had been abandoned. In the books, Dolorous Edd takes command of one of these castles, and it is possible we may see that in the show as well. But many other characters involved with the Watch and the Wildlings in the books will not be present in this season finale, either because they never appeared on the show (such as Mance’s wife and her sister) or because they are suddenly dead on the TV show (Grenn and Pyp). Young Olly seems to be a leading candidate for the scene in which Jon is attacked by his brothers. Perhaps Ser Alliser will also be one of those, and/or perhaps he will take the place of the knight who is killed by Wun Wun in the books. Again, too tough for me to guess at this point. But I can’t imagine that the attack on Snow will not happen, simply because it is such a huge event in the books.
The only characters from the books that I am 100% pretty damn sure they will introduce in Season Six are Lord Randyll Tarly, Sam’s father, and the rest of the Tarlys. I am basing this on the casting calls that have been made for Season Six. So I would say it is likely that Sam will be heading to Oldtown after all, and that Gilly and the baby are going with him, just like the books. There are other strong possibilities too, like Euron Greyjoy, which means we will see the Greyjoys and the Iron Islands again.
We also know that Bran and Hodor will be back in Season Six, and based again on casting calls I am going to guess that Bran has more visions of the past through the eyes of the weirwood trees.
I am pretty sure that Book Six will be out next year, and I sure hope it is. I am tired of speculating on stuff that might happen or that might not happen.
-Geoff
The Books are Taking Over... 