lieselstark2-blog - Tumblr blog

[lieselstark2-blog]

I look forward to the inevitable “Let It Go” Sansa and Daenerys mashup S8.

Sansa - Anna

Daenerys - Elsa

Jon - Kristoff

Sven - Ghost

Olaf - Podrick

Are the trolls the wildlings? Who would be Hans and the other characters?

The GOT fandom community has a responsibility to make this happen. We just need the scenes set in snow for it to work.

[lieselstark2-blog]

Are you going to put your fanfic in AO3? Please say you will!

I will, but I’m on the waitlist until January 29th. So I’ll post there about then, I guess. I’ll probably finish a few chapters by then though and post them on tumblr.

[lieselstark2-blog]

A Time for Wolves: Chapter 1

The North falls asunder at the end of the world and their independence. A Jonsa fan fiction prediction of the final season.

Note

This is a Jonsa fan fiction prediction of the final season. Because of that, the story’s outline is based on an episodic structure, and each chapter represents a scene. It’s also told in limited third-person, which is unusual for fan fiction, but is meant to represent the sequence of events for an entire season.

That also means the story won’t focus on just Jon and Sansa and their relationship, as I would need to represent a season’s worth of events. Take it as a fun prediction of the final season.

Some of you may be aware of the drama surrounding this story’s original outline, but for those of you who aren’t: my roommate plagiarized the outline and pretended they were leaks. Although she was stopped, this story may seem familiar to a few of you because of that.

You may have also read the rough outline that I uploaded to prevent further leaks of the final outline. There are some changes between the two versions, but nothing so drastic that the final resolution is changed. If you wish to read this fan fiction and remain surprised, I suggest avoiding that outline entirely if you haven’t seen it already.

It should be noted, however, that this prediction is heavily inspired by Jonsa metas, so particularly active tumblr users may know in which direction this story is headed.

I hope you enjoy reading. I struggled pushing myself to write it, but I think I’m going to go ahead and give it a go. I’ll be uploading each chapter as I finish them, but you’ll be able to come back here for the table of contents.

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 - The Godswood

Chapter 1

The Godswood

The winds of winter howled across the Godswood, the snow falling heavy like the press of a woolen blanket in the dead of night. In the sky above, a single crow called out, its caw a cautionary cry of mortal peril. It flew with a lilt, its wing sprained from its trials, but the creature was strong enough for the journey and found its way to Winterfell where a crippled young man sat in front of a weirwood tree with a face etched in the bark.

Brandon Stark’s own expression was strained, and he looked into the face of the heart tree as if it was staring back at him. He seemed not to notice the biting chill around him, and while he had a fur thrown across his legs, it appeared as if there was not warmth enough to melt away his sullen attitude.

The young man reached out and touched the face of the heart tree. His eyes went white, and he left this time and place for another.

Further away, at the edge of the Godswood, the woman who was once his eldest sister stood watch of the brother who now called himself the Three-Eyed Raven. Sansa Stark was still as she was, or at least an older, less foolish woman of the girl she used to be, and felt the wind’s harsh embrace as it billowed her cloak.

Her red hair was set in an elaborate, but functional Northern style. It was bereft of ornament and unlike the styles of the south, but it suited her position as Lady of Winterfell. So too, did her dress, a heavy gray wool embroidered with white thread along the skirts and four direwolves dancing in the snow.

Like the boy she called Bran, Sansa appeared desolate. She grasped a letter in her gloved hands. Her brows furrowed throughout her watch, but after a few moments she shut her eyes as if she were trying to go away herself and sighed.

“Arya,” she called out. “I know you’re there.”

The young assassin stepped beside her sister, her arms clasped behind her back and her blades at her hip. She had a stony frown, but it was pained. Though she tried so hard to appear emotionless, Sansa could see Arya indeed felt everything, and some of that pain they shared.

“You shouldn’t be out here,” Arya replied, “The weather’s taken a turn. Father used to say it would get so cold in winter that even a King could die of frost walking from one room to another.”

Sansa shook her head. “It’s not that bad yet. We have time, and I have a lot of work to do if Daenerys Targaryen is coming to Winterfell.”

Arya bowed her head in the direction of their younger brother. “But the Godswood? Bran doesn’t need anyone when he’s like this, and he could be out here for hours.”

Sansa looked down at the letter. It was from Jon and carried a message which said he bent the knee.

“I asked Bran to watch Jon’s passage North,” Sansa admitted, “He couldn’t see anything on Dragonstone because there are no heart trees there, but he’ll see them when they land. We’ll know what to do then.”

Arya was surprised by this answer. “What to do? We already know what to do. We’re going to kill the Mad King’s daughter and save Jon.”

Sansa hurriedly rolled the letter back into her sleeve, ire clear on her face.

“Kill Daenerys Targaryen? Are you mad?” Sansa said, but not in an accusatory way. She was more frustrated and knew her voice sounded powerless. “Daenerys has dragons and two armies. We’re fortunate she didn’t invade the North first. We cannot defeat her in battle. It would be irresponsible to try.”

“I don’t mean start a war,” Arya retorted, “Just kill her, and then her armies can go home to Essos. It wouldn’t be hard. I can do it if you’re scared.”

Sansa turned away from her sister. “I’m not scared of a Targaryen. I’m worried about what will happen when she arrives. The Northern lords weren’t happy that Jon went south. I have no idea what they’ll do now.”

Arya turned her head slightly, a thought crossing her mind, but not one she shared. However, she did have an observation.

“They still know nothing,” she said, but it was more like a question.

It made Sansa uncomfortable.

“You’re not certain if Jon pledged himself to Daenerys willingly. Maybe he was forced to write a letter, like you did to Robb,” Arya added. “I told you, we should just kill her. We deserve the right to rule ourselves.”

But Sansa wasn’t swayed by Arya’s argument.

“Neither of us have seen the army of the dead,” Sansa told her sister, “But I believe Jon, and if he thinks we need Daenerys’s help, then we need to make sure she feels welcomed in Winterfell.”

Arya gave Sansa a wry smile. “So, I shouldn’t try anything yet.”

Sansa returned that smile with a softer one, though her brows were furrowed, and it was clear Daenerys weighed heavily on her mind. “No, but it’s the North I worry about. Taking back Winterfell emboldened them, and they are all here to fight a war, but Jon might have brought one from the South.”

Bran called out to them, and Sansa and Arya looked toward the heart tree. He had a severe and pained expression, which was more emotion than either sister had seen of their brother since they returned home.

They quickly ran over to him, Arya standing in front of him as if challenging whatever terrible vision he had, and Sansa grasping the handles of his chair, ready to wheel him back to the castle so he would be safe.

His next words were almost lost by a sudden gust of wind.

“Something terrible has happened,” he said, looking as if he were still in the midst of a vision, as he stared straight ahead.

He didn’t have time to explain, and the sisters had no time to ask, for the next moment came the harrowing echoes that sounded like a mountain breaking apart.

Sansa gasped, for she knew what it meant even if she had yet to put it to words. She lost her footing, but she felt Bran reach out to grab the hem of her sleeve before she fell to the ground. Arya stepped forward, and grasped both her siblings’ hands into her own.

The Wall had fallen, and the dead were coming.

[lieselstark2-blog]

i know you said you didn't want to write your fan fiction but it would be so nice if you did. what ever happened with your roommate?

My roommate is still plotting against me using my various online accounts. Recently she tried to tarnish my reputation on an old roleplay forum, but no one’s biting since I was a lurker and my old friends have long since moved on. She’s long since moved on from tumblr though and a few other places.

As for my fan fiction, the outline I posted was only a rough draft that I e-mailed a friend to ask for advice before rewriting it and writing the first few chapters. I initially planned to write every chapter and then release them week by week leading up to the final season when it was announced, but it was deleted when my roommate lost her damn mind and tried to ruin my life.

I’ve been trying to rewrite the outline from what I remember and trying my hand at the first chapter, but it’s too disheartening most days to get beyond a few lines. I’ll probably at least post the revised outline (close to what the story was actually going to be, though mostly the same as the original outline), but I’m still not up to actually writing it yet. We’ll see.

[lieselstark2-blog]

I’ll give it a go. And oh good heavens does this stray mention in the commentary say everything. Literally everything.

First, a little disclaimer. I’ve never read this book or watched the movie, but I read some summaries and I watched some clips in order to give it a cursory attempt, and judging by what I’ve read the conclusion becomes quite clear once the evidence is laid bare.

The French Lieutenant’s Woman is a book (and movie) about a man who falls in love with a woman with a terrible reputation. This man is already engaged to  another who is less worthy than she appears, and the supposed story of the whore (who I will cal dark woman from now on) is not true.

Both the book and the movie have multiple endings, but they approach them differently. The book is a piece of metafiction that is a satire of gothic novels. The author inserts himself as a character mid-book and three possible endings are given:

The man chooses to stay with his engaged and enter the family business. However, the marriage is not a happy one and the author-narrator describes that this didn’t happen and is merely a fantasy. Critics consider this the traditional happy ending of a gothic romance, as the dark woman with  the terrible reputation represents a bad character traditionally and the fiance the good. But, to emphasize, the novel is a satire of tradition, and the narrator says this is a daydream.

The man has a sexual encounter with the dark woman and breaks off his engagement. This causes him social ruin. His friend, Sam, fails to deliver the letter of love to the dark woman and she runs off, pregnant, and uses a few years to find herself in the house of a painter before she ends up trying to reunite with the man.

The author-narrator turns back his watch and the meeting between the dark woman and the man goes sour. The man leaves the country (and both women) and wonders if the dark woman was truly terrible after all.

The movie completely disregards the first possible ending and shows the two story lines as modern actors of what will ultimately be the third ending in the book playing the parts of the second ending from the book.

Really convoluted, but I wanted to describe this because there are some pretty clear points:

No matter the ending, the man never marries his fiance.

The “good” ending is supposed to be the dark woman and the man coming together, but this is supposed to be seen as a twist on the traditional gothic romance.

The heroine is not the fiance, but the dark woman.

It’s also clear that Sansa is meant to be the dark woman in this scene, but I need to say something: she’s always been the dark woman long before this scene:

Sansa was the dark woman after Joffrey Lannister was killed. Terrible rumors plagued her reputation after this event, as it was believed she worked alongside Tyrion to commit regicide. But this isn’t true, although her words to Olenna ultimately did lead to his murder.

In the books, a villainess takes in the dark woman as an act of charity, but not to be kind, merely to be seen as being kind. In the show, Sansa is taken in by Lysa Arryn who accuses her of being intimate with Littlefinger (not true). Oh, and by the way - Lysa dies.

After marrying Ramsay, Sansa suffers terribly under his rule and eventually escapes him, and Myranda is killed by Theon in the process, but her own people don’t trust her and consider her a Bolton. And then she killed the shit of out him.

After Littlefinger tried to further divide her family but ruining their reputations, Sansa puts on the cloak of death and sentences him to death.

Interestingly, the dark woman in the show is a persona Sansa puts on, a costume like the dresses she designs to channel elements into her personality like some weird, needlework magic. Someone who has wronged her or her family suffers after this, a somewhat fatal addition to the dark woman character compared to the original but interesting in that Sansa never directly kills someone - there is always some vehicle which enacts poetic justice.

Sansa may be the girl in the gray cloak, but she may also be the dark woman - and that’s important, because it’s a D&D symbolism of what is likely to be the ending of Game of Thrones.

Let’s go back to the scene which so defines the moment in both Game of Thrones and the allusion to the book and the movie.

In The French Lieutenant’s Wife the man is out with his future fiance looking at skeletons. He spots a woman in a cloak on a dangerous sea wall - one wrong wave, and she’ll be swept out to sea. The fiance warns him about her sordid reputation, but compelled by the desire to save a woman from death, he goes to retrieve her and is stunned by her beauty.

It should be noted that Sansa is not wearing the cloak of death when she reunites with Jon, a divergence from the allusion. However, considering the fact that Sansa stops wearing the very practical hood when running with Theon and when travelling with Brienne suggests that the hood represents death of someone who has wronged the Starks, the costume department probably decided that it was important Jon and Theon didn’t receive death flags.

There is also another divergence from the allusion when Sansa kills Ramsay. However, unlike the other deaths this was one in which Sansa appeared to feel no remorse and was directly involved in even if the dogs did the killing. Perhaps it was simply because they really liked her costume that episode. However, I think it’s because there was a difference in that Sansa felt more conflicted with Littlefinger than Ramsay.

Regardless, that scene in the allusion of the man searching for fossils with his future fiance is very similar to another scene in the episode... one which happened only moments before:

That Sansa was supposed to be The French Lieutenant’s Woman was so clear an allusion that it was mentioned in the script explicitly. However, the scene in which they borrow from has the man looking for fossils with his betrothed whom he later spurns, and yeah...

You get that they weren’t just alluding to the The French Lieutenant’s Wife just in Sansa’s scene, but in this one with Jon and Daenerys.

The book goes on to describe a story in which the fiance is false in character but pretends to be a lady and the dark woman is actually a virgin who never had relations with the French Lieutenant but leaned into that identity as a rebellion.

The man also sought out a relationship with his fiance because it was advantageous, but as he fell for the sincere dark woman he suffered gravely in his social standing for acting immorally despite it being true to his heart.

I believe that, if Jon is the man, Sansa is the dark woman, and Daenerys is the spurned fiance, than what is destined to happen is the following:

Jon is seeking an alliance with Daenerys for purely political reasons expected of him in his position as King. But when he returns to Winterfell, he falls in love with Sansa because she represents what he actually wants in life.

In The French Lieutenant’s Wife both the dark woman and the man are modern individuals who do not belong in their time, and in Game of Thrones Jon and Sansa also share a desire different from their contemporaries (Daenerys wants power) in that they want to reunite their family and rebuild Winterfell.

However, like the allusion, Jon’s immoral romance with the outcast Sansa (which I suspect she will become next season) leads him to the dissolution of a comfortable alliance with Daenerys as his affair comes into focus.

I also want to say something else: every suitor Sansa has encountered has died, and so too have those who were struck by the power of death cloak. The dark woman is assumed by others to be waiting for her lover to return, but in the books the dark woman confesses that is not the case. In the show, we can’t help but wonder if Sansa is waiting for Jon, and I must posit that perhaps what the dark woman was waiting for was a happy future. Sansa may not be aware of it, but her missing Jon and waiting out on the battlements (she does this often) where she was once with Jon seems powerfully related imagery to the dark woman and I think it is done so in a positive way.

Now, another point: the showrunners have mentioned multiple endings. What if the multiple endings are meant to mimic the multiple endings of The French Lieutenant’s Wife? If that’s the case, here is what they might look like:

The “perfect” ending results in Jon and Daenerys marrying and ascending the throne together.

The “bittersweet” ending results in Jon and Sansa marrying.

The “bad ending” results in everyone going their separate ways.

In this case, I think the third “bad ending” would specifically be: Daenerys and Jon dying (the only way they are removed from the setting) and Sansa, the dark woman wearing a death cloak Stark, ascends the throne.

However, if the ending is the same sort of bittersweet twist of the novel (and ironically the happy ending of the movie it’s based on), than only the second ending, in which Jon and Sansa marry, is the one in which happens.

Likely this would take the form of Jon and Sansa sleeping together, conceiving a child, and him returning from war to her and not Daenerys.

To compare Sansa to The French Lieutenant’s Woman is a powerful picture, especially because that character’s storyline is one of acquiring independence and personal revolution - Sansa’s essential plot. However, it can be no accident that they would insert a scene just moments before this one in which Jon and Daenerys are also compared to the man and the spurned fiance without it meaning something in the long run.

The skulls are supposed to be in the dungeons of the Red Keep, and yet baby dragon skulls were left in the dragon pit? No. No, they were put there to ensure the allusion to The French Lieutenant’s Woman was strong.

Sansa and “The French Lieutenant’s Woman”

I heard that the Season Seven, Episode 7 commentary said that the script for the scene where Sansa wears her hooded cloak and looks to the horizon, actually said, “The French Lieutenant’s Woman”. I never read the book or saw the movie. Does this reference mean anything for Sansa or Jonsa?

[lieselstark2-blog]

I think Daenerys has been written as an antagonist or a false protagonist.

We’re meant to initially believe that she is going to take back the throne. We get to know her as an abolitionist whose home was taken from her by a man who killed her family.

However, we also are given clues that the obvious hero is not the true hero.

Martin already used a false protagonist in the first book, Ned Stark, so it’s not unreasonable to assume he wouldn’t do it again. In fact, if you think about it, the original trilogy was probably designed to propagate a false protagonist in each book: Ned, Robb, and Daenerys.

Daenerys’ role also has a savior is complicated exactly by what @athimbleful says in their meta. She’s not coming to save anyone, she’s coming to take over.

Cersei is a bad person, but until Daenerys began to plan to conquer Westeros Cersei had no connection to Daenerys’ misfortunes. It was Robert and her father who committed atrocities, and as a young woman, Cersei had no part in it. She also did not threaten the the abolition in Slaver’s Bay.

In fact, in the first season Cersei didn’t seem concerned about Daenerys either, suggesting even into Robert’s reign she took no part in any actions against Daenerys.

That means Daenerys was planning a direct attack on someone who, until that point, was no threat to Daenerys or the work she had accomplished in Slaver’s Bay. But of course Daenerys believe she is doing the right thing - she knows Cersei is bad news and people don’t like her.

But who is telling her this?

Tyrion Lannister, accused of killing his own nephew and father. Varys, a spymaster with previous Targaryen ties. Barristan, who was insulted for being let go in his old age from his position as bodyguard and joined a pretender’s cause. Jorah, who was exiled for selling Westerosi into slavery.

As viewers we know these characters are more than their alleged or actual crimes, but we also know these are biased perspectives, and that’s also important. Daenerys is hoping the words of such traitors to the realm she wishes to conquer have the realm’s interest at heart. But such motivations are suspect for each of these individuals due to their own personal motivations, and these suspicions are something Daenerys herself is aware of.

And so is the viewer. We know that Daenerys is going to conquer Westeros. She even uses those words. And we know as viewers that she is also aware of the fact that her father was cruel and her eldest brother started a war. The people rose up against her family in revolution similar to the very same revolution she instigated in Essos.

But unlike in Essos, Daenerys isn’t motivated to liberate Westeros. She wants to strike down all the noble families which were part of the rebellion. Daenerys wants revenge. And, judging by her discussion with Tyrion about inheritance, she isn’t actually concerned about the the effect of longterm rule because it was the act of conquering and punishing that she was focused on.

And judging by the Tarly’s demise there could have been dire consequences for these families if they did not bow to her. Her initial plan was to raze King’s Landing and all the people inside. To raze armies, which she did, even if there were innocent soldiers following orders.

Only to get revenge.

However, Daenerys was very fortunate to encounter a cause which she could attach herself to. A cause that she was uniquely qualified to act on and could rally support for her rule: the Long Night. Now instead of fighting against Westeros, she is fighting for it.

This would make her an anti-hero at best considering her motivations to become Queen. But that’s a separate classification entirely and not the reason she’s a false protagonist. I say all of this to put it into perspective and simply to help show who Daenerys is as a character and why, when compared to Jon Snow, she’s an illusion of the author.

The defining feature of an actual protagonist is that they are the center of the story and make the key decisions. Their experiences define the story, and their decisions ultimately function to affect the lives of the other main characters. They are, essentially, the moving force of the story. They are also in conflict with the antagonist, and this conflict reveals the character of that protagonist.

By this description it’s clear to see that there are different protagonists and antagonists in each subplot, but careful consideration of the overall plot reveals that the central character is and always has been Jon Snow.

Jon’s entire existence and his future is going to determine the fate of Westeros, and he is closely connected to the greatest threat any of the main characters face: the White Walkers. And he is also the rightful heir of the throne, and unlike Daenerys, he has a clear and vested and justifiable grievance against Cersei due to her direct role in his family’s sufferings.

The conclusion of the story can only be resolved by Jon because he is the protagonist.

...but it’s war

When season 7 aired, I read a review on a different site that discussed Dænerys’ behavior. Like many times before, I’d felt uncomfortable by her actions without being able to verbalize why, but this was the first time I really looked up reviews to see whether someone else could. I found a reviewer who talked about misogyny and how no one would judge a man for burning the Tarlys alive. This was war, and Dænerys did what anyone would do at war.

At that point I said to myself, oh, okay, it’s internalized misogyny speaking. I was wrong. Dæny did what anyone would do in her position.

But then it ate at me. Perhaps because I so far hadn’t asked myself this simple question:

Why is there a war in the first place?

Keep reading

[lieselstark2-blog]

Thank you for your support.

It’s been difficult for me dealing with the fallout of my former roommate. The gotleaker drama is only a small, but weird event in a series of personally inconceivable troubles. I’m certain if I didn’t try to take it down Kelsey would have blown it further out of portion and used the leaks as a platform to later ruin my reputation more than she already has.

I thought I had been done with her and that she was going to be punished for her earlier actions, but I guess I was wrong. Because of her I’ve lost some family, friends, and almost my job. What she did was dark.

According to her most recent post over @gotleaker she seems to have moved on from whatever she was planning against me now that she was caught before it went anywhere. Not that I trust it’s over, or that she doesn’t have another hoax going on elsewhere. The problem with crazy people is that their motivations and actions are unpredictable.

However, I’ve previously sought legal help with this situation and I will continue to do so.

[lieselstark2-blog]

Gotleaker is fake. It’s an elaborate hoax, and I’m it’s victim. So are you.

@thelawyerthatwaspromised @reysbae @myrish-lace-love @wolfmaiden25 @wolfmaiden25 @tiny-little-bird 

Hello, my name is Liesel Stark and I am a Jonsa meta writer.

Or I was, but not too long ago something happened outside the fandom. Something very personal that nearly destroyed my life.

I had a roommate. We never got along, but I hoped it would remain civil and I would find a new place at the end of my lease.

However, this roommate wanted a guard dog. I didn’t want this, as I was bitten by a dog when I was a child and I’m scared of them. Pets are also not allowed in our lease. I thought that was the end of it when she brought it up, but a week later I came home and she had adopted a dog from the pound - it kind of looked like a Rottweiler, and I was scared to death.

So I informed our landlord. However, my roommate, who is the landlord’s cousin, called her and said I was lying. Our landlord came to investigate, but my roommate had taken her dog over to her friend’s house and pretended the dog didn’t exist.

I took pictures, but the roommate kept our landlord around her finger and said it was just visiting. It was all so awful.

Unfortunately, the dog was not well behaved, and while nothing ever happened, the lack of discipline and free reign the dog was given over the house meant there was fur and pee everywhere. I would come home at night from work and be greeted in the doorway by one of my worst fears.

One night I snapped and just left and slept over at my sister’s house. This would prove to be a terrible mistake.

It only took a few days and a broken lease before the landlord realized that her cousin lied. The landlord did pay for my grievance and is giving me a good reference, but she refused to kick out her cousin over a dog.

Bad, but not the point of this story.

When I left that night, my roommate went through all of my things. Like an idiot, my computer pass code is also my phone pass code, which she must have seen me tap hundreds of times whenever I unlocked my phone around the house, and she was able to get onto my computer and steal my identity.

She went through all my documents and accounts, and sent terrible things to my family and friends. I didn’t realize it at first until my parents asked why I posted that I never loved them on facebook and was cutting them out of my life that something was happening.

Everyone I ever met had been told some awful lie about me in the span of two days, and every account I had ever used was part of her campaign to ruin my life all because I didn’t want a dog for the remaining seven months of our lease!

She was always unhinged, but I never thought it would amount to this. Eventually I threatened legal action, and I thought it was over.

But I didn’t account for tumblr. I didn’t even think about it for awhile. When everything settled because I threatened legal action, I actually decided to come and log in and de-stress with fandom, but found that my tumblr was gone.

Okay, I thought. She deleted this account too.

I just kind of gave up after that. So much had happened that I figured I would cut my losses and move on with my life.

But that wasn’t the whole of it. Because my former roommate is a fucking psychopath.

I’m not ashamed of the fact that I ship Jonsa (it’s fiction), but she must have seen a possible opportunity to hurt me and took all the metas I wrote, the drafts in my account and computer, and the outline of a fan fiction I was writing to create an elaborate hoax in which she was planning to “out” me.

Seriously. What the hell.

I found out because I still browse the Jonsa tag on tumblr and saw mention of some new leaks, so I checked them out. They were suspiciously close to my metas and fan fiction outline, but when I saw the ending of episode two, I knew that it was one of her plots.

She must have been planning this for some time, and I don’t know exactly where she’s going with it, but if the past if anything to go by she plans to dox me and falsely incriminate me for something.

This is just ridiculous.

To prove that I am being framed, an outline to my fan fiction is included below. I expect @gotleaker to blow a gasket soon.

Now, I want to apologize to anyone who has been mislead by this maniac and to please stop believing her because she’s plotting against me simply because she’s upset she couldn’t get her way.

Please tag and reblog this so she’s discredited.

And FUCK you Kelsey.

A Time for Wolves

Episode 1 – Bat

Chapter 1

Daenerys and Jon arrive in Winterfell.

Chapter 2

Euron makes an agreement with the Golden Company to betray Cersei.

Chapter 3

Sansa is anxious over the prospect of Jon and Daenerys marrying for reasons she can’t describe, and is upset to learn from Tyrion that it appears to be happening.

Chapter 4

Jon is adamant that he will do what is necessary to protect the North and his family. However, Sansa doesn’t agree, because she feels the tension in the North better than he does.

Chapter 5

Although initially welcoming of Daenerys, their relationship sours over disagreements largely of Sansa’s making (due to her fears of losing Jon and the North).

Episode 2 – Eel

Chapter 6

Euron betrays Cersei, and in response to the Red Keep being overrun, she uses the wildfire, destroying the city and killing hundreds of thousands of people. She miscarries in the process.

Chapter 7

A settlement nearby is attacked (possibly the Dreadfort so they can reuse some of the sets and it make sense, considering their possible path), forcing Jon and Daenerys to prepare to depart. Sansa and Jon have a tender moment despite their current disagreement, and I think Tyrion is witness to sparks flying he didn’t see with Jon and Daenerys, causing his suspicions to be raised.

Chapter 8

Jon ends up showing these feelings because he has been informed by Sam and Bran about his parentage, and it’s eating him alive for so many reasons. Unfortunately, he hasn’t told Sansa and Arya yet, because he isn’t sure he wants to accept and go public with his parentage due to the political ramifications.

Chapter 9

However, the Dreadfort is lost (and destroyed), and the forces of the North are dealt a devastating blow. They return to Winterfell, licking their wounds, unaware that they accidentally are leading the Night King on path to Winterfell.

Chapter 10

Mid to the end of the episode, Jaime arrives and informs Daenerys that Cersei has betrayed them after a lost battle against the White Walkers. Daenerys, furious, rides off to take King’s Landing using Drogon as a threat in order to secure their manpower for the upcoming battle. She leaves Rhaegal to protect the North after a frustrating conversation with Jon who pleads with her not to leave because she is abandoning her people.

Chapter 11

Jon is frustrated by this, and isn’t too happy about Sansa’s smugness and seemingly glee (think about: Daenerys is gone, and also going to kill Cersei. That’s a win for her), but his anger is due to the fact he fears he cannot protect the North or Sansa, without Daenerys since he cannot control dragons. Bran offers to help. He also makes more cryptic comments to Sansa. I think Bran’s vision about her wedding may be of the future to Jon, like previous metas have stated, and Bran is starting to see dreams of spring and hoping to make them happen.

Chapter 12

Daenerys’s actions are not well received by anyone in the North, and when Daenerys leaves, all hell breaks loose politically. The Northerners fear that Daenerys will be a dictator like the Targaryens before her, reminding Jon of Torrhen and his uncle and grandfather’s deaths under the Mad King. This only further cements his desire to control Rhaegal. Episode 3 – Ghost

Chapter 13

The surviving Greyjoy siblings take an imprisoned Cersei Lannister North, narrowly missing Daenerys as she arrives to the destroyed King’s Landing. Since they go by ship and are one of the few survivors, the true perpetrator of King’s Landing fall is mistaken to be Daenerys when people outside the city arrive.

Chapter 14

They end up penning a raven that is received at Winterfell that blames Daenerys for the destruction. Her army leaves, no longer feeling welcomed, though Tyrion and Varys stay.

Chapter 15

Sansa is no longer so smug. She’s scared, and so is Jon and everyone else. Jon confers with Tyrion, who, knowing about the wildfire, erroneously believes it to be true not because Daenerys purposefully set the entire city on fire... but because Drogon was the spark that caused the wildfire to get out of control. Either way, Tyrion admits to losing faith, and switches support to Jon.

Chapter 16

But Jon sees his power waning, and now Sansa’s political power is on the rise. Tyrion sees an opportunity, but he is conflicted because he is starting to form feelngs for Sansa now and he believes Jon and Sansa are siblings. But he’s certain they have feelings for each other now, because Jon and Sansa are caught kissing after he gives her a blue rose and between all this hyper jealously as Tyrion spies and insinuates himself in Sansa’s company, fearing that Jon, Bran, and Sam are keeping something from him and hoping to use Sansa to figure it out (unaware she knows how the game works).

Chapter 17

But basically, political shit happens following this, and Jon tames Rhaegal. He then “comes clean” to the North. He initially thinks he will give up his claim to Sansa, but to his surprise he is hailed as King in the North and South.

Episode 4 – Owl

Chapter 18

Daenerys is trying to convince the people around King’s Landing of her worth, but news of Jon being a Targaryen reaches her. Remember in Daenerys’s vision that the first prominent image we see of the throne room is not the throne, but the Winter Rose on stained glass - a reminder of Starks and shade thrown at Daenerys that she doesn’t have Jon’s affections.  Daenerys decides to leave and head back to the North, and he meet her army in the Neck.

Chapter 19

But back in the North, it’s discovered the White Walkers are moving towards Winterfell just as Daenerys has departed for it. Fearing that they may be attacked on two sides, Jon decides to meet Daenerys at the Neck with Rhaegal and make a deal. Tyrion warns him that she won’t go for it. Jon mentions a political alliance, but Tyrion tells him Westeros would never go for two Targaryens on the throne, and jokingly tells him that Sansa would be the better wife. Tyrion realizes his mistake, because Jon appears to seriously consider it.

Chapter 20

However, Jon is determined to make an alliance with Daenerys by any means necessary, and though he has a tender moment with Sansa, he departs and arrives in the Neck for a parlay with Daenerys (who flew over land, instead of sea, and thus misses the Greyjoys).

Chapter 21

He initially believes she will threaten him when he mentions that his people wishes she bends the knee, but instead she does (reluctantly) for three reasons: 1, she sees Rhaegal bonding with Jon and is forced to reconcile that he may actually be a Targaryen and she will lose Rhaegal if they are not on good terms, and 2, she wants to be seen as a worthy ruler again and loves Jon... unaware about the Sansa situation.

But more than anything, Daenerys doesn’t want to be seen as a Mad Queen.

She proposes that they join themselves in marriage, knowing that is what Tyrion initially suggested, but Jon refuses. She initially thinks this is because she has to prove herself, but really Jon refuses despite initially planning to accept and even offer it himself first on an impulse when he sees winter roses around them.

Chapter 22

However, despite this positive turn of events of an alliance without conditions, the episode ends with combined army at the Neck learning that Winterfell has been attacked sooner than expected and is being sieged by White Walkers.

Episode 5 – Wolf

Chapter 23

Sansa, Arya, and Bran are desperately trying to protect Winterfell. They are being attacked by an advanced force, and not Viserion, but they know it is only a matter of time. Unfortunately, they are surrounded and unable to escape and flee even if they wanted to. Sansa stands at the battlements, wanting Jon to return.

Chapter 24

En route to Winterfell, Daenerys is desperate to prove herself worthy of being Queen and worthy of Jon, mistaking his earlier actions in season seven for love when really Jon was hoping to get an alliance (and stopped pursuing that after Sansa). She takes a risk, and heads off into battle despite Jon telling her not to.

Chapter 25

The scene switches, and FINALLY the Greyjoys arrive with an imprisoned Cersei at Winterfell, helping Daenerys stop the advance White Walker army besieging the castle with their forces and the remaining Golden Company. They inform Sansa of the truth, and Sansa apologizes (unfortunately, no one in the North is willing to take Theon’s words at face value).

Chapter 26

Jon and the others arrive. Jaime was with Jon, and he is shocked to see Cersei for so many reasons, but especially when he learns she was responsible for King’s Landing. She is put on trial, and found guilty.

Chapter 27

Despite the North rebuking Daenerys, she believes that Jon will warm up to her after her heroic save of his home and Theon informing Jon of what really happened in King’s Landing. But that is not the case, because Daenerys soon realizes that Jon and Sansa have a relationship when they are reunited in an affectionate way.

Chapter 28

However, before she can do something she’ll regret, the Night King attacks, and Daenerys and Jon takes their respective dragons to the sky. Rhaegal is killed in battle, and Jon falls to his death, the battle lost.

Episode 6 – Nightingale

Chapter 29

Starts with Jon surviving his fall like Sansa and Theon did by falling on a mound of snow. Unfortunately, the people of Winterfell need to flee as the Night King licks his wounds for the final assault.

Chapter 30

Cersei is in the broken tower after a cryptic discussion with Bran (he likes those). She wants to die where Bran told her it all began. Jaime and her get into a fight, and she manipulates him to choke her, thereby fulfilling the prophecy. Jaime is horrified, burns the tower with all his crimes, and goes into battle to protect the fleeing civilians and army alongside Brienne.

Chapter 31

He ends up encountering Jon Snow, and instead of going out in a blaze of glory, helps Jon to return to the retreating army. Jon and Sansa are reunited, and Daenerys feels alienated, and is still reeling from the death of Rhaegal knowing he too will be revived by the Night King. She is devastated by the loss of her children and lover. Cue another cryptic discussion with Bran; this time, Daenerys is his victim. He promises her that she will meet her son and husband again (referring to Drogo and Rhaego). Daenerys does not take that well, but nobody takes Branvisions well.

Chapter 32

The army is pushed back into the South in attritional warfare, not having the numbers. They make it all the way to Stokeworth before they are able to secure a castle long enough to defend it. It appears to be the last battle - they will either win the war and live, or lose the war and die.

Chapter 33

In order to secure succession, Jon marries Sansa and their wedding is the last feast before the battle. Jon promises to come home, and we get a repeat of Jon waving goodbye to Sansa with Daenerys looking on in Baelish’s place.

Chapter 34

The battle begins, and Daenerys prepares to square off against Viserion and Rhaegal who are now controlled by the Night King. She takes a risky move, and there is the biggest ball of flame in the sky.

Chapter 35

The three dragons are destroyed, but the Night King survives, seemingly impervious to fire. The dragons are gone, but the army lives on, and Jon prepares to lead the surviving soldiers in a final charge as the castle is sieged and those inside try to hold everyone off.

Chapter 36

But just as all appears lost, Bran wargs into the Night King, momentarily stupefying him, and Jon is able to get the upper hand and kill him, destroying the army. He feels victorious, but when he returns he sees that Bran is dead.

Chapter 37

The snows begins to recede, and Sansa becomes round with child. They return North to Winterfell together with their child.