According to a recent Entertainment Weekly article, George R.R. Martin has already confided his “top-secret end-game plan” for the Song of Ice and Fire series to the showrunners of Game of Thrones, presumably in case he drops dead before he gets to it or (more likely, I think) the series gets to it before the books do. In case neither of them gets to it, though, you don’t have to worry. I’ve totally figured it out. And, no, this is not going to be satire (though it really sounds like it should be). It’s a deadly serious, uh, guess.
Winter is definitely coming!
I’m sure there are lots of theories floating around as to where Game of Thrones (the TV show) and A Song of Ice and Fire (the books) are headed. I haven’t heard or seen any of them because I don’t follow any Game of Thrones blogs, forums or podcasts. So my theory of how the series is going to end is completely original even if a thousand people have come up with it before me. I want that firmly established in your head, especially if you’ve come up with it too and written a blog, a forum post or recorded a podcast about it. I’m so convinced that I’m right that I’m going to include a
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Okay, now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, here comes the theory. I hear it slightly contradicts something that’s said in one of the later books, but I think that was just misdirection (i.e., somebody lied). Here it is:
Before he went off with Ned Stark to fight the war against the Targaryens (which must have had a name, maybe The Targaryen War, but even though I’ve read the first book twice and seen the TV season based on it once, I can’t for the life of me remember what it was), I think Robert Baratheon secretly wed Ned Stark’s (now late) sister and got her with child, as they probably would have put it then. How the sister hid this from Catelyn and pretty much everybody else except Robert and Ned, I don’t know, but I suspect it involved taking a long vacation from Winterfell before she started to show, probably at a place that was accessible, at least at one point, to her brother and possibly her husband before they returned from the war. She then died in childbirth. Robert was so stricken by this that he refused to raise the child (or, more likely, he knew the kid would be murdered by his queen’s family when he became king), so he gave Jon — who was, of course, the child, in case you’re not already ahead of me — to Ned to raise as his own. But Catelyn knew damned well that the kid wasn’t hers, so Ned had to say he was a bastard and give him the last name Snow.
This makes Jon Snow a plausible heir to the Baratheon throne. I mean, he has a better claim to it than Joffrey does, should (clears throat loudly) Joffrey survive until Jon figures this out. (Robert and Ned are both dead now, but SOMEBODY else must know.) I think, however, that Jon will abdicate the throne in order to avoid breaking his sacred Night’s Watch vows. Face it: Martin had this part set up in the first book, when Jon learns that Maester Aemon could have been a Targaryen king but renounced the title for the Night’s Watch and also when he has Jon start to violate his oath by running off to avenge Ned then get talked out of it by having his friends catch up with him and recite the Night’s Watch oath to him until he cries. (I think I was crying too. I really can’t remember.)
So that leaves only one serious possibility for the next King, except she won’t be a king, she’ll be a queen. When Danaerys arrives across the Narrow Sea, she’ll demolish any remaining contenders for the throne with a few puffs of dragon breath. (Believe me, I’ve occasionally woken up with dragon breath that would at least have demolished Joffrey. And maybe Renly.) And then, either before or after she claims the throne, Danaerys will realize why she REALLY needs those dragons: to demolish the White Walkers. Because, in case you haven’t been reminded enough, winter is coming and the White Walkers thrive on it. By then they may be trying to cross the Narrow Sea themselves, if it’s iced over enough.
This is where the real battle begins, when (perhaps with Jon Snow’s help) Danaerys fights the White Walkers with her army and (mostly) her dragons. She’ll save Westeros from the actual enemy, probably send reinforcements to the Night’s Watch so they can reopen all 10 forts and, as Danaerys takes the throne, Jon Snow will happily remain with the Night’s Watch, possibly with a dragon or three to keep him company and to keep any remaining White Walkers in line. (Sam can take care of them, like he does with the ravens. After he gets over being scared to hell by them.)
Oh, yeah: There are some subplots that I haven’t addressed here. For all I know, Arya will become a Braavosi hooker, Jaime Lannister will discover that women are really turned on by amputees and Cersei…well, I really don’t want to think about it. But I’ll leave theories about those as an exercise for the reader.
(And I have to give credit to Amy for helping with the part about Danaerys, the dragons and the White Walkers, though I’d really thought of it first.)
Adrift in the Infosphere 
I’ve had the same theory about Jon Snow all along. I hadn’t thought about who his mother was, but figured that Robert was his real father, not Ned. It seems incongruous that Ned ever would have been unfaithful–but he was loyal enough to Robert to maintain a ruse that he had been.
Yeah, the mother’s identity is completely a guess on my part, but I think it makes sense. I think Jon Snow has to be legitimate and Ned’s sister is the ONLY woman Robert would have married, even during the war.
There seem to be no shortage of these. I’ve had a similar one – that Lyana wasn’t kidnapped by Prince Rhagar (I’m sure I’m spelling that wrong) in the first place, but was in love with him and went willingly. Jon is their son. That makes Jon half Stark and half Targarean (a song of Ice and Fire), and an heir to the throne.
But Ned would have to hide him, as:
A) Robert had all the Targarean babies killed (well, the Lanister’s did, but he had to be tacitly thankful they killed everyone with a better claim on the throne than him), and
B) Robert loved Lyana and hated Rhagar, so their lovechild? Not likely to please him
Therefore, Ned pretended his nephew was his bastard. It was a secret so dangerous that he even kept it from Cat.
It kept Jon safe until he was old enough to know, but Ned died before he could tell him.
At any rate, none of us seem to believe Ned was Jon’s father. We all have that much in common. This’ll be interesting to watch/read….
It occurred to me after I wrote the above that this is the reason Martin killed off Ned in the first book, precisely so that he couldn’t tell Jon Snow his real parentage and ruin the surprise/suspense.
I also believe that Jon Snow is Rhaegars son.
What about Tyrion and Sansa? If the dragons solve the problem w/ the white walkers, why does Ned’s paralyzed son have to go to the other side of the wall? I hate it that we have to wait forever for this stuff.
Have you read Book 5 (A Dance with Dragons) yet? There are some major clues about Bran. In fact, I thought he got the best chapter in the book.
I haven’t READ any of it. Only watched.
Gotya! Which is why I’m not discussing that part.
This is similar to a theory I had about Jon Snow previously. The only difference was that he is a Targaryen. Robert was slaying every Targaryen he could find, even children. Ned isn’t one to kill children, and upon finding a Targaryen baby still alive and knowing Robert would kill the baby if he knew, Ned took the baby and said it was his bastard to protect him. That was my theory until I read book 5. Your’s is quite good and well reasoned, especially about Dany returning with the dragons to save the Seven Kingdoms from the White Walkers.
Thanks! There appear to be no end to the variations on this theory, so I wish Martin would just hurry up and get the damned series finished so we can all find out who’s right. And the producers of the TV show have my permission to use Martin’s ending first if he doesn’t get the books done on time. (I suspect they have Martin’s permission too.)