books [SPOILERS] A Dance with the Dragons ending...?

[Passion 3,489]

In case you didn't notice the title, be wary that this thread is one, giant spoiler.

 

 

 

First, I'll address something I don't want to talk about. The death of Sir Kevan Lannister and Grand Maester Pycelle. It is nicely explained and the person responsible for this, namely Varys, is still an interesting character due to the fact that we know very little about his motives. Throughout the books, he swears he's doing everything for the well-being of kingdom. However, in the end he explains that the fragile peace Sir Kevan is slowly bringing to the Seven Kingdoms is not really going too well with Spiders' own plans. Considering that the winter is knocking at the doors, this is one of the most questionable but at once interesting things that could have happened.

 

Next, Ramsay Bolton's letter to Jonn Snow about Stannis' death. No issues here either. Stannis is a character constantly put at risk, and his whole undertaking is at least wobbly from the beginning to the end. I'm not sure how to explain it, but I believe that his death would serve the story very nicely. What would Melisandre do? What would happen with his army remnants on The Wall? His family? These are all interesting questions to ask, although of course the letter might be one, giant lie.

 

But thing that I really cannot understand (and thus want to talk about), no matter how hard I try... the supposed death of Jonn Snow. The fragile situation on The Wall is one of the most interesting things to read about in The Dance with the Dragons for me. A lot, really A LOT is riding on how events go there. Now, I can't say if Jonn Snow is dead, of course. All we know is that he was stabbed a few times. It is quite far from saying he's dead, but for the sake of this post I'm going to assume that he is indeed.

I loved returning to the chapters which dealt with the wildlings and the situation on The Wall. The thick atmosphere, tension and general issues with Stannis, Melisandre, Tormund, White Walkers etc. were just interesting to read. Trying to predict what will happen, what will go wrong? Of course, there's been a lot of foreshadowing done concerning his death in the books already, still, does it mean it was a good decision? I'd LOVE to read about how Jonn deals with the current issues the Night Watch is facing. And I can't shake the feeling that killing Jonn Snow would currently be a terrible idea, since it would basically put an abrupt and pointless end to a very interesting and important arc of the books, simply for the sake for resetting the situation by using the shock values which, admittedly, have already worn off when it comes down to these series. We've somehow learned to expect people to die randomly, and I wouldn't have anything against Jonn Snow's potential death if not the fact that I believe that this decision is detrimental to the story. I honestly believe that mutiny which he actually DOES survive is much better option in this case.

 

 

And what are your thoughts on this case?