Winds of Winter Predictions: The Battle of Ice 

"More snowmen had risen in the yard by the time Theon made his way back. To command the snowy sentinels on the walls, the squires had erected a dozen snowy lords. One was plainly meant to be Lord Manderly...The one-armed lord could only be Harwood Stout, the snow lady Barbrey Dustin. And the one closest to the door with the beard made of icicles had to be old Whoresbane Umber". I always thought this was a message, alluding to the pro-Stannis alliance within Winterfell having been solidified. For what it's worth, Lord Wyman would be the ringleader of a northern conspiracy given the scheme w/Rickon, so it makes sense that he's depicted leading the snowmen on the wall. Also, Theon observed Whoresbane and Harwood Stout quietly speaking together during a breakfast. I wonder what they were discussing that they didn't want overheard? Not proof positive, but it's sure is interesting.

Wyman Manderly has the greatest quote in the series after Little Walder dies: "So young. Though mayhaps this was a blessing. Had he lived he would have grown up to be a Frey."

I wonder how Stannis would feel if he knew that he's a fan favourite, how everyone loves Stannis The Mannis, how people actually think he's pretty funny.

So, Stannis has been long-recognized as the top military strategist in Westeros. And he’s had weeks to do nothing but think. To me, it’s obvious the Stannis has a Plannis. Don’t worry guys, Stannis got this. I’m calling this for the stag before the third round.

Show: Ramsey flattens Stannis twice Kneelers: GRRM's broad strokes will be the same Books: Stannis schools Ramsey like a litle kid

Notice how Theon thinks of Stannis as "the king"... Kind of a holdover from Ned's upbringing. Ned viewed Stannis as the rightful king. That Stark education is still in Theon, for whatever it's worth.

I love how Manderly has mastered the customs and politics of both the north and the south. He runs his court like a southern lord, but knows the traditions of the north. Not only did he give the three Freys guest gifts, when he and his party arrived at Winterfell, they brought their own food and they never ate Roose’s food. He never accepted Roose’s bread and salt, therefore he and his soldiers never broke guest right when they did their little murder spree (minus the kill budding supervillain Big Walder did).

A character that seems to be spoke of little is Jeyne Poole. I have a theory that she embodies the soul of the North in a single character. She was there when the dire wolves came home, when Bran fell, when Lady was put down, When Eddard was attacked and killed. She witnesses first hand of Bolton cruelty. Every traumatic thing happening to the north she has experienced almost entirely first hand. She knows every Stark. She didn't just witness, but was the object of Theon's redemption. If she makes it to the Wall she'll know wildlings and white walkers and The lord of light. I believe ASOIAF parallels to the Age of Heroes, where shit got so bad data entry broke down thus history was lost and forgotten and is only remembered by songs and legends. If Mance survives Winterfell, there will be a song about Jeyne and Theon. If there was one character I could pull out of the books and talk to about the books its her. The only thing what would surprise her is Dragons.

i feel like Stephen dillane would have knocked the deadpan stannis humour out of the park so its a huge shame the show never gave him any of those lines. they're bias destroyed that character

Dammit, I don't know why it never clicked before. R'hllor is a fiery heart, Stannis is a stag. Hart is an archaic word for "stag". So combined they are the Fiery Hart.

I think the Battle on Ice will draw heavily on the historical Batte on Ice between the Teutonic Knights and the Grand Princedom of Novgorod. Alexander Nevskiy, the Rus Prince, had an army of around a thousand of his knights, along with around three thousand of local Finnish tribesmen he recruited against the Germans, while the German army of three thousand consisted mostly of mounted Knights. He lured them into a fight on a frozen lake, playing on the overconfidence of the Teutons, and met their attack with his army dismounted, just like Stannis planned. The Germans, unfamiliar with the terrain charged head on across the lake, only to be met with a stalwart shieldwall of the Rus Knights, who held long enough for Germans to accumulate in a single spot and then used his tribesmen reserves to strike them from the sides, Teutons panicked and ran right onto the weaker ice, to mostly drown in the cold waters of Chudskoe Lake.

Ice, Ice Baby!

I love the efforts Lord Manderly went to: guest gifts to the late Freys and bringing so much of his own food so as to avoid eating his hosts' food... he is in the clear as far as the Gods and Laws of Hospitality go, so he is under no obligation to the Boltons or anyone else there

Damn, you guys don't think Stannis' win over the Wildlings was impressive? He beat 100,000 wildlings with Giants and Wargs. Even without a ton of discipline and organization, some tribes were organized. That was the most impressive victory in the books so far to me.

Stannis has a plannis! My favourite Stannism is "Taking a page from my brother's book. Not that Robert ever read any." And I love Theon in Winterfell, too. Possibly my favourite part of the novel.

Stannis the Mannis for the win!

Whether or not hes "actually" a vampire, George has definitely associated him with the concept of "vampires". You could say the same for Starks and the idea of "werewolf"

You forgot the actual supposed reason behind Lady Dustin's hatred: her husband accompanied Ned and died, his bones left in Dorne

As long as Stannis lives the war is not over The fiery heart Stag will in Winterfell great hall

Ned Stark will always be missed, the Hero we deserved but not the one we needed.

Imagine a Hosteen Frey POV chapter as he advances on Stannis and ends up like Lester from Fargo

i think the fear of stannis more about his battlefield accumen than the magic thing. guy is a proven, brilliant battle tactician. just look at how he did the wildlings when he was 5 to 1 outnumbered, or how he took ashas stronghold using camouflage. hes no joke

All of this---¬^ makes me better realize that: ▪ GRR Martin is a truly amazing worldbuilder and storyteller ▪ Dumb & Dumber _should have_ had GOT _wrest_ from their incompetent(( yet also bafflingly arrogant ))hands by no-later-than Summer Solstice of 2016....

LET THERE BE ICE.... and blood...

YES. I've been waiting for this one. So much going on in and around Winterfell. IMO the Winterfell plot was a worse hack job by the show than the Dorne plot was. So much going on in the north that was NEVER depicted, and they instead replaced it with a straightforward Good Starks beat the Evil Boltons storyline.

6:53 The Rat Cook's crime wasn't feeding someone their own kin; it was killing someone sworn to his protection. Not sure if Wyman ever gave the Freys guest-right, but the pies were a clear slap in the face of the Freys and the Boltons and their betrayal of the Starks, although they seemed more worried about poison than why there were three missing Freys, three man-sized pies, and a song request for The Rat Cook's tale after the pies had been eaten.

The frozen lake cracking in the middle of a battle is similar to a scene from Memory Sorrow & Thorn that GRRM has mentioned as one of his inspirations. So I definitely can see this happening.

Ppl focus on Ned’s honor. I think it was his love. Aemon said love was the death of honor, and Ned tried to hold to both. He failed at KL bc he didn’t want to see Joffrey and Tommen and Myrcella harmed by Robert. His honor did play a part-Renly’s offer to take over was rejected. But the death of Elia’s children, bc Jon was also a Targaryen, had a big impact on his decisions going forward. That said, Stannis is better at surviving than Ned. Dude ate rats. That is a hard, hard man. Something the northmen should respect, even if he isn’t one of them

Secret tunnel 🎶 Secret tunnel 🎶 Through Winterfell, secret secret secret tunnnneeeellllll yeah 🎶

Mance Rayder says to Melisandre when planning to save fake Arya/Jeyne Poole at Winterfell that he has a ploy that he intends to try - I have never heard anyone talk about what this "ploy" may be, it could be related to knowledge of Winterfell, the passages, the cripts, hiding & sabotage, but my feeling is that Mance Rayder is using the glamour. That is how - in my view - he was able to write the Pink Letter - because he has observed Roose & Ramsay & he may well be glamouring one or both of them. He has Melisandre's ruby, she did not send him to Winterfell to save Arya, but to help Stannis win & to coax Jon Snow away from the Wall. Also, Mance, at Winterfell posing as Abel, in discussion with Theon comments on Ramsay coming after him & flaying him, nonchalantly dismisses this & reverses it saying if he's lucky he (Ramsay) won't fall in to his (Mance/Abel's) hands. Whoah! Where does this confidence come from? It is almost as if Mance Rayder knows that the Bolton's stand no chance whatsoever & that they will get off easy with a quick death. Bloody hell. When I read that, I was quite taken aback. Match that to Stannis' confidence & we have for quite a slaughter outside & in Winterfell I think. Theon could well be saved by Rickon actually turning up with Davos at an opportune moment, no doubt with an army of Skaggosi psychopaths, ready to kill all in their path.

In regards to the "Reek, Reek, it rhymes with leek [or weak, meek, etc]" thing; perhaps Ramsay repeatedly said that to Theon during his torture so that he would remember his name, and then it got burned into his memory. Because if memory serves, I'm fairly certain that whenever he says that chant it's after he says something like "You have to remember your name!" or something. Also maybe the reason Bran is gonna save Theon is so that he will go on to be King of the Iron Islands and stop Euron. Because I have a feeling that Euron is gonna be a big deal

I wonder why Roose even wanted the North? He can't hope to hold it because almost every house in the North despises him for the Red Wedding. What did he hope to accomplish?

About Theon making it to the end of the series, I think there's some foreshadowing about it. Tristifer Botley says to Asha that one of the old kings in the Iron Islands had won the crown in a Kingsmoot, but he fucked up so bad that the ironborn found a loophole to remove him, as one captain wasn't in the place when they voted for that king, so he was available for being elected king of the islands. Theon was a captive when the Kingsmoot happened, so they could use that same loophole to replace Euron as he'll probably sacrifice a lot of ironborn in his blood ritual in the South. Don't know if he'll survive until the end, but King Theon has been foreshadowed, IMO.

Theon is kind of the Sméagol/Gollum of ASOIAF, so I can’t help thinking he will be critical in a “sing, sorrow sorrow, but good win out in the end” kind of way, that may or may not have a lot to do with his personal struggle for his own identity leading him to a sacrifice that may not have been exactly what he meant to do, but which contributes significantly to saving the world from existential doom. If that makes any sense.

Hell yeah! All I'm doing during lockdown is smoking weed, reading the books again, playing video games and waiting for these videos to show up! Thanks for the top tier content, LmL & Quinn :)

Stannis the Mannis is definitely my favourite character, can't wait to see what George has laid out for him

I hope they reforge Oathkeeper and Widows Wail back into Ice. I really find it hard to take that Tywin has so little honor as to destroy Ice to begin with. Ice is not an ornamental sword.

In the quote where Theon describes Crowfood tricking the Freys he says, "more's the pity" which is a great pun for "Mors the pity." Also, more greaty symbolism/word play in the quote about the lake being like cheese. Ned Woods says they've been on it like "maggots on a corpse" implying that the ice is a decaying body---it's rotten. And several times we have "dancing/walking on rotten ice" as a metaphor akin to walking on thin ice. I like "dancing on thin ice" because dancing is fighting so they're going to be fighting on rotten ice...and fall through.

So, I was just rereading A Game of Thrones and when we're first introduced to the Twins, everyone starts talking about how to take the castles. I think it's going to fall to Littlefinger. Also, something that I noticed the other day, was family reputations are generally unchanging throughout the years, with few exceptions, the Starks are honourable, Brandon the bad is an exception, the Lannisters with green eyes and golden hair, Tyrion, the Iron Born are vikings, Euron , the Manderlies are fat, the Freys are chinless weasels. Some have longer necks. Whoever takes over the twins will probably be better than the Freys, and they'll probably stay that way. I don't think the Twins will ever fall, just the rulers.

I think Martin told the show runners about Stannis and his ice lake plan. I think the very awful Beyond The Wall episode of the show, and the scene where the wights fall through the ice is inspired by what he told them

One doesn't want to be greedy but........what are we going to do when this series is over LmL and Quinn? The series is so thrilling guys and the production value is off the charts. Time to go work for Disney. A BIG THANK YOU

Stannis! Stannis! Stannis!

Theon as Grey King. Brilliant. And gazing into the abyss is actually a Friedrich Nietzsche original. Lovecraft stole it from him.

My overarching belief is that the hooded man is Hallis Mollen. Even so, this video has me hoping that it could be Benjen Stark, and that Benjen will save/help Mance Rayder escape (through the crypts and wormways). Which is ironic given their historic enmity as First Ranger and King Beyond the Wall. I just love that prospect. Lastly, why doesn't Theon just ask to take the Black? A reunion with a resurrected Jon would be quite interesting.

I'm fascinated by Rickon's plot line i hope they call him the Black Wolf.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, the two of you are THE BEST content creators for absolutely anything related to ASOIAF

So many people have been complaining that GoT isn't worth rewatching...I just tell them to watch you guys.

the writer is either Mance or Stannis himself, who is planning to fake his death. I really don't think it was Ramsay. Which is funny. The least likely person to have written the letter is the one the letter is naming edit: clarification

Stannis with a plannis

The Manderly wave is totally going to press the Frey wave into the 'Swiss Cheese' icy lake.

Roose is straight up the scariest character in ASOIAF to me. Like, Euron is terrifying and unhinged but Roose with his silver eyes and vampire skin and his cold calculation, I would WITHER if he even laid eyes on me.

I really feel like there's an alternate SpongeBob theme with the Manderlies and the Frey Pies. 🎶 _Who lives at the bottom of the pie?_ _RHAEGAR FREY!_ _Something something about being a fat sponge._ _Uh, pine forest, apple cider, I'm out of ideas._ _WYMAN MANDERLY!_🎶

At first I thought Wyman Manderly was so boring and then I started to see him as this funny, smart, troll and came to love him. Also... very guilty of actually skipping some whole Reek passages because they made me so uncomfortable. Very different than the way it was portrayed in the show. Hard to watch, yes, but the book is disturbing on another level. A deeper level.

I can’t take him seriously when he’s got those antlers on

Does this mean Quinn is feeling better? Hope so. Thanks for keeping us so we'll entertained during this crazy time.

You're spoiling us with all this content !

prediction: At the tower of joy, howland reed is taken over by skinchanging time traveler Bran to do a dishonorable thing in order to kill Dayne thus saving Ned. explains more the estranged relationship between ned and howland since the war - and why/how he sent the kids to Bran when he heard chained wolf dream.

The Battle of Ice is probably the battle that I'm looking forward to most in the next book followed by the Battle of Blood. I can't wait to see what happens. Also want to know what happens to my main man Wyman Manderly after what happened to him last time we saw him.

10:38 “aunt Pol! Git ovah ‘ere and have a yahself a whiskey”

This is the video that introduced both of you guys to me and gosh darn it I haven’t slowed down since, thank you both so much for damn near endless entertaining/intelligent content

Come on guys they aren't gong to sacrifice Theon, they're going to do the old Mance/Rattleshirt switcheroo only this time they don't need a glamour, they have someone that looks like Theon, an old looking frail white haired man.. Arnolf Karstark, and doing it across from the island with lightbringer will mean it's impossible to pick out the face

Before when i found out that Mors had deagonglass in his head,i tought to myself that he could use it to headbutt an other to death.

Huge Stan fan. He is absolutely going to have to fake out Ramsay cause even if he does win the Battle of Ice (which seems probable) he will need to figure out a way to get Ramsay to open the gates. The Manderly's will be key to this.

The only time Roose Bolton was fooled was at Harrenhall when it came to Arya Stark. Roose Bolton was aware of Arya's gender but not to who she is. Roose in the books is far more dangerous. Roose is a strategist but he is nothing compared Stannis. Jeyne Poole will become the next Arya Stark or a new one. Of course it has to do that Jeyne Poole might suffer literal death not just a metaphorical one. Stannis will win but an empirical victory and he will lose bunch people. The Starks will return to Winterfell. Stannis will try to marry Shireen to Rickon uniting the North under the banner. Shireen will not survive because of Greyscale and her body will be burned.

Roose burning the book in Harrenhall is something I’d like to know more about

Great as always. In his voice you can hear how much Quinn is diggin this topic. Never saw the weirwood symbolism with Theon becoming an instrument for them...that's very interesting.

9:31 the way you read that is how I imagine roose, very calm and never raising his voice yet he is still assertive

It’s not a coincidence that Mors Umber is wearing a white bear pelt with dragon glass eye makes you think of blood raven (white dragon)

Mance Rayder likely wrote the letter, it spents way too much time talking about the wildlings and he has a motive to lure troops from the Wall to Winterfell, plus unlike with Ramsay we know that he knew the things mentioned in the letter

Manderly became one of my favourite secondary characters after his exploits in dance and his "summer's farce "speech sealed the deal, thank the gods for that 4th chin lol

I had a smile on my face the whole time watching you guys. You're excitement and passion for the story is so fun! Thank you! Another great vid!

There’s an episode of Vikings where Ragnar fakes his death and enters the city walls in a casket, only to burst out and take the city from within. I can kinda see Stannis doing something similar in Winterfell.

"We hold the ground" "Which ground?" "Exactly"

Stannis using the freezing hundreds of fighters to death to gain a military victory would be some serious symbolic Night King action too. However - fire (the lamp) is integral to his plan too... Symbolic balance, in that sense? The last time we saw Mance in a cage, most people who witnessed what happened were wrong - and Mance is in a cage again. Establishing Theon as this straddling the boundary type, torn figure is so great. I wonder - would acceptance in to the Weirwood network (and by extension, the reaching of a paramount goal of the culture of the North, which gave him a home) be Theon's ultimate peace? Seems like the best possible outcome for him.

I just noticed this - thank you for including credits for the artworks you use! Not many ppl do this. This series is also incredible and has gotten me hyped up again for twow. Even though i wasnt that invested in the tv show, it definitely soured me a bit. But there's so much left to learn in the books, it's time to get back into asoiaf!

This has quickly became one of my favorite series on RU-vid. Love the chemistry and how you have slightly different theories

Regarding the hidden passages in Winterfell don’t forget that Maester Luhan tells Theon that the Kings of Winter prepared ways to escape a siege, that there were hidden ways out of the castle. Remember he says this when he is trying to convince Theon to join the Knights Watch.

Everyone of these episodes becomes my new favorite. Now I need to read the whole thing again! If you guys had your own narrations I would buy them :). I am sure you know it by now but what an excellent service to others these briadcasts are. Thank you both.

This video series is awesome! Thanks guys!

Thank you so much. These are phenomenal.

Thank you for pointing out how Manderly's avoided the wrath of the gods. I didn't know about the gift thing.

Man I was waiting for this one, made my day !

Video definitely got me more pumped for theon's chapters. Thanks for the great video!

YES. this was wonderful to watch. being reminded of ALL that's yet to come in the books is really dope. thank you!

Reading Dance and suddenly realizing Reek was Theon, is one of the best moments i have had reading this or any series/book.

I strongly agree with not writing torture porn, or any porn. I get why Martin incorporates all things that happen in the span of a chapter, but he has the rare ability to put all the right other elements in place for that content not to come across as gratuitious. I think it's best for more authors to opt out of the details of the more graphic actions and instead focus on the emotional and psychological fallout, or impetus for extreme actions.

Yo you guys are killin it with these videos. Loving these deep dives!

As always, these take me forever to watch because I get so distracted gazing at the amazing art that I keep having to rewind all the time to make sure I hear all the great words as well. This series is top-notch, four-star entertainment. Thank you bunches!

Reek, Reek, it rhymes with leak. Apart from making Theon want to pee himself just by thinking about Ramsey, Ramsey has broken many walls in Winterfell, but there's one in particular that can be seen leaking hot springs water during the wedding of Ramsey and fArya. The heart of Winterfell is the holistic complex of the Stark in Winterfell, the heart tree, the bottomless pool, the godswood as a whole, the crypts, and the hot springs. Theon is lamenting the spilling of the very lifeblood of Winterfell, which is a part of his own heart, as he discovers to his great sorrow, but all too late.

Great stuff , this whole Battle of Ice is going to be some really good reading. So many moving parts , going to be interesting to see how everything fits together and plays out. With this impending battle , The Freys and Manderlys seem a powder keg ready to blow , a Manderly defection seems very likely in the near future which will likely be followed by other northern Houses who are likely already covertly plotting and moving against the Boltons. The actual semantics of the battle will be very interesting with ice lakes , nearly impassable terrain and potential decoys / traps as discussed. Mance surely has a part to play , I do not believe he is trapped or dead or that Ramsay wrote the pink letter , Mance's arc just seems to have more to run and he will likely employ further trickery in this conflict . Mance could yet fill a Joramun role against the Others , on top of the Bael the Bard vibes we are getting with his more recent narrative role , Mance's arc for me likely has further to go and does not end here imo. Of course I also do not believe Stannis is dead or defeated per the pink letter , so I look forward to likely seeing him in command in a very difficult situation or at least hatch some sort of plan which likely will include some type of deception. Overall , this is going to be some complex, intricate well thought out moving parts with this battle / the resolution & its aftermath of which will come from some equally excellent well thought out writing from GRRM. Eagerly anticipating to read exactly how this conflict / battle and all the goings on in and and around it play out.

The northern plot and the mereenese knot are my two most anticipated plot lines. Just so many possibilities it’s impossible to puzzle out for sure. I’ve been waiting for you guys to cover this. Great job as usual!

you guys are on fire, what a great video. Thanks

“We will march into the sea and out again. Under the waves we will ride seahorses, and mermaids will blow seashells to announce our coming, oh, oh, oh.” - Patchface

If you’re ever looking for a book recommendation the Perion chronicles is a very good book series that isn’t afraid to kill characters for the sake of the story and the ending to book three is extremely satisfying

You guys do such a great job! Love this channel it's exactly what us song of ice and fire fans needed.

Thanks for the this series needed something asoiaf to watch during the quarantine

Gotta say this is the best video u guys have done so far I know it's old bit goddamn listening to u guys read along and speak on this subject makes me itch even more for twow lol great video guys and the fall of the freys video don't know which one I like better

Thanks guys. I’m rooting for Stannis. I’m so ready for everything that’s going to happen in Winds. It’s going to be A LOT.

Shakespeare also wrote a play where the queens chi,Daren were cooked into a pie! Nom nom nom

Fantastic work gentlemen!