Introduction
Season Five (S5) promises to be the most interesting season of Game Of Thrones (GoT) yet. While previous seasons have covered approx. 700 pages of A Song of Ice and Fire each, S5 looks to cover a large portion of A Feast For Crows (AFFC) and A Dance With Dragons (ADWD), books that combine for over 2000 pages of content (in paperback). To say the least, cuts will need to be made, shortcuts will need to be taken and adapatation decisions by D&D and their writers will be fascinating.
If you're an Unsullied viewer, leave now. I intend to write about all of the major storylines of the last two books and some content from The Winds Of Winter (TWOW) that I think will be featured in S5. If you don't want to have a general (and sometimes very specific) idea of what's going to happen next season, stop reading now, because the spoilers will start in the next paragraph. Seriously. Put it this way, if you had heard the words "Red Wedding" before Season Three, you would have known too much.
AFFC and ADWD contain, at minimum, 15 major storylines. Evidence uncovered by various Game Of Thrones fan-sites (http://watchersonthewall.com/ and http://winteriscoming.net/ are my preferred sites for GoT information), indicates that some of these storylines have either been dropped (Aegon), postponed (Kingsmoot?) or significantly altered (Queenmaker). I intend to analyze and make predictions about what I think is going to happen in each of these storylines that I think will be included in Season Five. I plan to break these storylines down as follows (each with their own post):
1. Dropped / postponed storylines, M.I.A. characters and potential surprise appearances
2. Tyrion Lannister
3. Jon Snow / Samwell Tarly
4. Daenerys Targaryen
5. Arya Stark
6. Cersei Lannister
7. Theon Greyjoy / House Greyjoy
8. Dorne / Jaime Lannister
9. Sansa Stark / Brienne Of Tarth
10. Stannis Baratheon / Davos Seaworth
Please keep in mind that most of the advance information for S5 has yet to be revealed (the first trailer will be released later this week) and each piece of information will alter my predictions. My predictions (some of which are complete wild guesses) will be revised frequently and due to the cascading aspect of the storytelling on GoT, most of my predictions will be completely wrong. I will probably get a lot of small details and names wrong, so if you see something, please point it out and I'll do my best to fix them. Also, once the episodes start airing, my guesses will change significantly when actual details are revealed. I can't accurately predict anything that the show-runners make up for the show or anything that isn't hinted at in trailers and leaked information.
Part 1 - Dropped / postponed storylines, M.I.A. characters and potential surprise appearances
Based on casting information and leaks revealed during the filming of S5, several large storylines from AFFC and ADWD will be omitted or delayed until future seasons.
DROPPED / POSTPONED STORYLINES:
AEGON TARGARYEN
The most significant storyline that appears to have been cut completely out of the series is the storyline involving Aegon Targaryen, the son of Rhaegar Targaryen who was believed to have been killed by The Mountain during the sack of King's Landing at the end of Robert's Rebellion.
ADWD introduces the idea that baby Aegon was switched with another baby and then spirited to Essos to be raised by the disgraced Lord Jon Connington and groomed to become the great, benevolent king that lead conspirators Varys and Magister Illyrio Mopatis intended to one-day rule all of Westeros.
This idea is almost certainly complete bullsh*t. In ADWD there are numerous hints that Aegon (dubbed FAegon by many fans) is an imposter posing (probably unwittingly) as a Targaryen. The biggest hint that Aegon isn't who he appears to be (other than his far-fetched origin story) is the vision of a Mummer's Dragon (sort of like a dragon on sticks in a Chinese New Year parade) that Daenerys sees in the House of the Undying.
Aegon is introduced in Tyrion's ADWD storyline. They later part company (more on that in my post on Tyrion), with Aegon taking his traveling companions and the sell-sword army called the Golden Company (GC) to Westeros to lay siege to and capture Storm's End. In a preview chapter to The Winds Of Winter (TWOW), it is revealed that Arianne Martell (the Princess of and heiress of Dorne) is on her way to meet with Aegon. Speculation regarding this encounter lead some (including myself) to believe that Arianne Martell (who also does not appear to be included in GoT) will marry Aegon, in the hopes of becoming the Queen of Westeros (I also think she will succeed).
Even if this speculation proves false, the Aegon Targaryen storyline is a significant part of ADWD and George R.R. Martin's (GRRM) plans for the rest of the series. It's omission from S5 is a huge alteration, which will be felt in several of the existing S5 storylines.
So how do we know that it will be excluded (or at least postponed)? There have been no actors cast as Aegon, Jon Connington or any of the other characters involved in this storyline and there haven't been a great deal of actors cast in unknown roles that interact primarily with Tyrion this season. It's not impossible that the characters could have been secretly cast and involved with filming, but it's extremely unlikely. It's also not impossible that the characters could be introduced in future seasons, but that seems unlikely due to the new cast-member press release that indicates that Trystane Martell is Doran Martell's heir and the Prince of Dorne, indicating that Arianne has been written out of the series. In my estimation, no Arianne means no Aegon, as I think that their futures in the series are tied directly to one another. I'll address my predicted work-around in my post regarding the Dornish storyline.
EURON GREYJOY / VICTARION GREYJOY
Unlike Aegon, the Greyjoys do exist in Game of Thrones, or at the very least Theon Greyjoy has multiple uncles still living during Season 1 (Tyrion mentions them while talking to Theon in Winterfell). Also unlike Aegon, it's entirely possible that their storyline will exist in some context during Season 5 or in future seasons (Tywin's lesson to Tommen in Season 4 sounds like foreshadowing if AFFC's war between the Iron Islands and Highgarden, though that may simply have been a nod to book readers).
At some point before the Red Wedding in A Storm of Swords (ASOS), Balon Greyjoy "falls" (prophecy and speculation indicate that Euron hired a Faceless Man to murder Balon) off of a bridge at Pyke and dies. The very next day, Euron Greyjoy, long exiled by Balon, returns and proclaims himself the new king. His brother, Aeron Damphair (who arguably was featured in Season 2, blessing Theon), a priest of the Drowned God calls a Kingsmoot to determine who the new king will be. Asha Greyjoy (Yara Greyjoy on Game Of Thrones) and Victarion Greyjoy (and other Iron Islands lords) each make unsuccessful claims to the throne before Euron Greyjoy is crowned as king after promising the Ironmen that he possessed a horn that would allow him to take control of Dany's dragons with the intention of using them to conquer Westeros. After successfully invading the Shield Islands that protect the Reach, Euron determines that he can't conquer the Reach and lead the Iron Fleet to Meereen, so he sends Victarion in his stead to take the Iron Fleet to Meereen and bring back Dany and her dragons, though Victarion plots to take the dragons and Dany for himself. A preview chapter from TWOW shows Victarion and the Iron Fleet arriving in Meereen to assist Dany's force in the fight against the armies of Slaver's Bay.
Why do I think that this storyline will be significantly altered, excluded or postponed until a later season? Again, casting is the biggest clue. No actor has been cast as Euron Greyjoy or Victarion Greyjoy as of yet. Also, there's been no indication of any filming involving any of the Iron Islands storylines, though there also hasn't been much in the way of filming information involving Theon Greyjoy's Winterfell storyline and that will certainly be included in S5. Also, one of the main purposes of Victarion's journey to Meereen seems to be to provide Dany with the means of reaching Westeros. In the books, Victarion delivers 93 ships to Meereen. In the show, Daario Naharis and the Second Sons have already seized the Meereenese Navy, which has... 93 ships. Dany doesn't need Victarion to bring the Iron Fleet to Meereen.
That doesn't mean that some aspects of this storyline won't take place in Game Of Thrones. There are two indicators that I think point to the fact that Balon Greyjoy isn't going to survive this season. The first indicator is Melisandre's leech "spell". I put the "spell" in quotation marks because I think that the spell itself is a long con on Melisandre's part, in that I think she saw that Robb Stark, King Joffrey and Balon Greyjoy were going to die and engineered the "spell" to make it look like she was responsible for their deaths, which would happen with no intervention on her part. In the books, all three kings named in the spell die. In the show, two of them have died so far, indicating that Balon Greyjoy will not survive long. The other indicator is that the actor who played Jaqen H'ghar will be returning in Season 5. In the books, a prophecy indicates that Balon is killed by a Faceless Man. Many readers speculate that Jaqen is that Faceless Man (it would certainly be a shortcut that would work for the show) and Jaqen is later seen in Oldtown, appearing in Samwell Tarly's storyline. It's possible that his storyline in S5 could include killing Balon Greyjoy, though many (including myself) speculate that he'll take up the role of the Kindly Man (who has not been cast yet) in Arya's storyline, an equally likely possibility.
If Balon Greyjoy dies during S5 (on-screen, I hope), it's possible that Euron Greyjoy could ascend to the throne and invade the Reach (no Kingsmoot in this scenario, sorry) off-screen with the impact of these events being portrayed through second-hand reports to other characters who receive more screen-time this season (particularly Cersei Lannister and Maergery Tyrell). Doing this would allow the show to wait until Season 6 to cast Euron Greyjoy if they decide to keep him in the story. Unfortunately, there are no indications that this is going to happen and this is all speculation on my part.
ARIANNE MARTELL / QUENTYN MARTELL
I'll address the missing Martells in my post regarding Dorne.
M.I.A. CHARACTERS:
BRANDON STARK
It has been confirmed that Bran Stark will not appear in S5. This is unfortunate, but not surprising, giving that the vast majority of storyline in ADWD has already appeared in Season 4. I had hoped for a series of scenes showing how the Three-Eyed Raven (aka the Three-Eyed Crow, aka Brynden Rivers, aka Bloodraven) trained Bran in the use of his powers, reminiscent of Luke Skywalker's Degobah scenes with Yoda. I think it would have made for a nice parallel to Arya's training in the House of Black And White, but oh well. I have no doubt in my mind that Bran will make at least one meaningful impact on S5, speaking to Theon through the Heart Tree in Winterfell and "restoring" his identity.
RICKON STARK / OSHA
Rickon Stark and Osha have been absent from the show since Season 3. In the books, they travel to Skagos, where they become a part of Davos' ADWD storyline (though they won't appear until TWOW at the earliest). In the show, they're instructed to go to Last Hearth, the seat of House Umber, last seen in Season 1, represented by the Greatjon Umber. It's unknown where they ended up on the show and there are no indications that either of the actors will be returning for S5, but little is known of the storylines they're most likely to be involved in (Jon Snow, Davos, Stannis), so anything is possible. The absence of Wyman Manderly this season indicates that Davos won't go to White Harbor or Skagos. Jon knows that Bran and Rickon are alive and that Rickon didn't join Bran north of the Wall, but he doesn't know where they ended up going because Samwell doesn't know either. That being said, Davos has to do SOMETHING this season and the Umbers are a powerful Northern house that Stannis will seek to ally with this season, so it's entirely possible that he sends Davos there instead of White Harbor. It would be an effective storytelling shortcut to have Davos travel to Last Hearth to treat with the Umbers only to discover that they've been sheltering the heir to Winterfell. Plus, I'd personally love to see the Greatjon again, but again, pure speculation.
ASHA/YARA GREYJOY / BALON GREYJOY
They seem to show up once a season to remind us that they exist and that's probably for a reason. I have no idea what Balon's storyline will involve this season, if he'll appear, but "Yara" has a role to play in Stannis' storyline after he leaves the Wall if they choose to include / show that storyline this season.
GENDRY WATERS
Gendry pops up way too often in A Song Of Ice And Fire (ASOIAF) to not have a significant role in GRRM's end-game. He was last seen rowing away from Dragonstone towards King's Landing at the end of Season 3. If he doesn't show up in S5, there's a chance that he won't be recognized later on, so it's now or never for him to re-join the show. He does appear in Brienne's storyline in AFFC, but that assumes that he never leaves the Brotherhood and never assumes the role of Edric Storm with Melisandre, Stannis and Davos. Also, Brienne's storyline doesn't seem to be taking her in that direction this season and Lady Stoneheart is unlikely to be in the series.
LADY STONEHEART
There's no indication that she'll be included in this series. This season, Jaime is going to Dorne and it looks like Brienne is going to the Vale. Michelle Fairley, the actress who would play Lady Stoneheart (LS) has repeatedly said that she won't be returning to the show and she is currently a cast member on "Resurrection", where my understanding is that she plays (I sh*t you not) a woman who returns from the dead with a secret revenge-based agenda. That doesn't mean that LS has been written out of the show for certain, but it looks that way.
EDMURE TULLY / BRYNDEN "BLACKFISH" TULLY
The Riverlands was almost completely ignored in Season 4 and I don't see any reason why it won't be almost completely ignored in S5. I haven't heard any news of the actors who play Edmure (a regular on Outlander) or the Blackfish appearing this season and it doesn't appear that Jaime will be interacting with either character as he does in AFFC, so I don't think they'll have any on-screen time in S5, though I imagine Cersei will receive reports of Riverrun returning to the King's peace or the Blackfish escaping or Edmure being taken to Casterly Rock if these storylines prove to be important to future seasons of the show. I don't think we've seen the last of either character, but it's entirely possible that they (and the Freys) will mostly be Season 3 "exclusives" for the show.
Next Post: Tyrion Lannister
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