Warning: Major spoilers for all five books and all five seasons of the show ahead. #5 has spoilers from a released chapter of The Winds of Winter.
Fans of George R.R. Martin’s epic A Song of Ice and Fire know that the books are even more complicated than the show. In fact, they’re probably more complicated than everything. However, some ambitious fans have worked at untangling the complicated web of lies and come up with brilliant fan theories. Here are five essential fan theories on ASOIAF.
If you go no further, give this one a look, and learn that as complicated as everything seems already, there’s a lot more to Robert’s Rebellion than you might have guessed.
TLDR: Basically, the Starks, Arryns, Tullys, and Baratheons were uniting through marriage and wardship to oppose Aerys II Targaryen, or even throw him off his throne. They wanted more say in the governance of the realm and didn’t like the Mad King. Thus, Robert’s Rebellion was inevitable, but not because of Rhaegar kidnapping Lyanna Stark.
Courtesy: HBO
Not as sweeping as the rest on this list, but definitely of interest. TLDR: The gravedigger Brienne encounters at the Quiet Isle during A Feast For Crows, who is noticeably tall, walks with a limp, and bends down to pet the dog? Yeah, that’s Sandor “The Hound” Clegane. Arya didn’t actually kill him, so he was rescued by Septons to live out the rest of his days in service to the Seven. One of the largest pieces of evidence for this theory is the black, belligerent horse in the stables, who has many similar characteristics to Sandor’s horse Stranger.
3. R+L=J
Courtesy: HBO
No, it’s not algebra. Long time fans of the book have probably encountered this theory several times, but this is arguably the best explanation of Jon Snow’s parentage you’re likely to find. Here’s your TLDR: Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark are Jon Snow’s parents, whether they were in love or he truly kidnapped her. Lyanna Stark died birthing Jon Snow at the Tower of Joy, and made Ned promise to hide Jon Snow’s true heritage, knowing that new-made King Robert Baratheon would not rest until he killed every living Targaryen.
4. Littlefinger is probably behind everything
This theory doesn’t have a name, but that’s because we still don’t know the extent of it.
Courtesy: HBO
After Jaime pushed Bran out of a tower window, the young Stark boy was in a coma for several weeks. A hired assassin set a fire in Winterfell’s library to draw Bran’s guards away from his bedside and entered the room with a Valyrian steel dagger (an incredibly expensive, rare piece of metal), only to be stopped by Lady Catelyn Stark. Catelyn left Winterfell and travelled to King’s Landing to tell Ned. Littlefinger told the Starks that the dagger belonged to Tyrion Lannister, which leads to Catelyn seizing Tyrion and Jaime attacking Ned in King’s Landing. The assassination attempt brought the Lannister-Stark rivalry to a breaking point.
So what’s the big deal?
Well, we no longer have any reason to believe the dagger belonged to Tyrion. It also probably wasn’t Jaime or Cersei’s. So Littlefinger was definitely lying through his teeth (big surprise). But who gave the assassin the dagger? Who wanted to kill Bran? Who manipulated the Starks and Lannisters into turning their distrust into violence? We don’t know. We probably never will. But with the benefit of a few years, some confessions by Littlefinger, and some Sherlock-quality investigations by our favorite characters, it seems the Lannisters didn’t do any of the things that initially led Ned to distrust them, since we find out that it was actually Lysa and Littlefinger who poisoned Jon Arryn.
The War of the Five Kings was more or less a result of the Lannister-Stark rivalry, so the question is: who started this war, and why? The further we get into the series, the easier it is to point to Littlefinger.
Or: how Stannis will absolutely destroy the Freys and the Boltons in The Winds of Winter.
TLDR: It’s hard to summarize this theory, so I’ll just tease with the fact that Stannis doesn’t have his men cutting hundreds of holes in the surface of the lake because he thinks there are more fish to be found. It’s part of his brilliant military strategy to defeat Bolton’s larger army.