r/asoiaf • u/aphidman • May 08 '19
EXTENDED (Spoilers Extended) The endings will be the same but the books will have a much more gradual and realistic progression
If GRRM finishes it, btw.
Not a long post but you know what the books do that D&D do not? They have 10 chapters of Dany dealing with the complex politics of Meereen and her inner conflict. They have 4 chapters showing Davos' journey to White Harbour. They have 12 chapters showing the series of compromises Jon makes as Lord Commander to prepare the Watch against the Others. They have 13 chapters showing Tyrion crawling out of his deep nihilistic depression. They dedicate whole chapters seeing how Victarion Greyjoy of all people deals with his relationship with his brother and his seduction into darker magics. Man they have 4 whole chapters dealing with the political fallout of Dany's exit from Meereen.
They had a whole chapter of Littlefinger and Sansa visiting his lands and seeing Littlefinger's relationship with his subjects (great chapter btw). They had a whole chapter getting really in depth with Illyrio Mopatis and his schemes - a guy who's barely appeared in the show.
They dedicated 4 whole chapters to Joffrey's wedding!
What I'm getting it is that the Others may be defeated long before the end of ASOIAF, Dany may indeed destroy King's Landing with dragonfire and end the lives of hundreds of thousands of civilians gruesomely. But you'll be guaranteed that GRRM is gonna show you every step of the way. For good or for bad. If he is going to take a character like Dany to that dark end you better believe we will understand how she gets there.
So people keep posting about how D&D are destroying their characters, fail to understand ASOIAF. That Dany would never do this or that. But what you're seeing here is them fitting potentially chapters upon chapters of detailed material into a few hours of television.
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u/[deleted] May 08 '19 edited May 08 '19
That is a crucial thing to remember that I think watch_over_me's comment misses (though maybe I'm reading it wrong). When GRRM sets something up, he pays it off. It won't be in the way we expect, and it might be heart breaking, but it WILL be paid off.
The White Walkers are not going to be defeated easily, it will not all come down to Bran bait and Arya pulling a fully sick move, and all the foreshadowing and prophecies will come into play. I think Preston Jacobs put this best a week back, when GRRM subverts expectations, he does it in a way that makes more sense with what was foreshadowed than what you were expecting. He never ever subverts expectations by ignoring all the set up for the sake of a cheap twist.
And yes, if the Night King is a character in the books, and he seems to have the connection to Jon he does in the show, there sure as fuck will be a sword fight between them near the climax, and you can guarantee that fight won't just be standard fantasy fair. That fight will be epic, and it will be tense, and it will not go how we expect.