The Winds of Winter Prologue Theory: The Heir to the North

Hello everyone! I've been getting quite excited for the Winds of Winter lately, and wanted to discuss my theory as to what will happen in its prologue chapter. What do you think? Is there anything I missed? What do you think of #houseofthedragon so far? Be sure to leave a comment, as well as like the video and subscribe if you enjoy.

00:00 Introduction
00:20 Patterns in Previous Prologues
04:06 What We Know for Certain
05:04 An Upcoming Twist
06:27 Who Will Be Our Point of View?
06:47 Jeyne Westerling's Recent History
07:39 The Twist
08:27 Jaime's Perspective in AFFC
09:13 The Timing of Robb's Death
10:09 Jaime's Departing Thoughts
10:49 The Location and Circumstances
11:55 What Magic Will Appear?
12:12 Magic Option 1: Nymeria
13:12 Magic Option 2: Stoneheart
13:53 Lady Stoneheart's Motivations
14:58 Magic and the Narrative
15:22 Jaime's Path Forward
16:12 A Summation of the Theory
16:52 A Historical Coda

[davidlouis]

You forgot a potentially more likely magical element: Jeyne is the great-granddaughter of Maggy the Frog, so it's possible she inherited some of her powers to see the future.

[chrisrubin]

Jeyne is more dangerous than Edmure because even if she wasnt pregnant with Robbs child, she could just have a kid, say it was Robbs, and potentially rally a northern army to restart the war. Great video btw.

[johndorazio]

I love the idea that there will be a Stark succession crisis between Jon (backed by Robb's will/age/resume), Rickon (backed by the Manderlys), Sansa (backed by Little Finger and the Vale) and Robb's child (backed by standard succession rules)

[CristinaGarcia-xxgy]

If this chapter really is from the prespective of a maester, we'll likely see him planning to arrange for a convenient "craddle death", before being twarthed. We already know maesters are not above such things

[countravid]

If Jamie does give an oath to see Robs son on the throne, Jamie the king maker sounds much better than golden hand.

[siobhandolores]

Quinn that image you evoke of Lady Stoneheart holding her grandchild is extraordinary--tragic and chilling. Subscribed.

[mothturtle]

I like the idea of Jaime finding new purpose in protecting Robb's heir since he failed in his first vow to Catelyn. It would also give him a plausible reason to end up in the North when the Others move south (in the show he was just sort of there because Cersei pissed him off, it seemed a bit random). Although I think first he's going to be reluctantly involved in Catelyn's revenge against the Freys (Red Wedding 2.0 - probably at the wedding of Daven Lannister with a Frey girl).

[gerardmonsen]

I appreciate the theory. It's a nice one!

My only comment refers to an aside you made about "John Snow's impending resurrection." I think most YouTubers are expecting a resurrection of John Snow far too soon in the book - kind of like how it happened almost instantaneously in the show. I think John will stay in Ghost for a healthy chunk of the book before someone realizes that John is in Ghost and knows how to connect him to his body in the icy cells.

[mylittlethoughttree]

I really liked this one, and the idea of Jaime renewing his oath in order to protect Robb's heir? That would be amazing. Don't know if that would actually but I now hope it does

[tyrson]

I believe the Jayne Jamie saw was actually her sister, and they kept hidden the real Jayne because she is in fact pregnant. We are told there are two Westerling girls, we see them in book 3, but in book 4 we only see one

[ImReverseGiraffe]

Melisandre really did drink the poison Maester Cressen put in the wine. She was protected by R'hllor and so she didn't die. It was a show of power and she knew that magic was back in the world even if she didn't know how.

[Methuslah]

You mentioned that AFFC is your favorite book in the series, and I can honestly say that I agree. It feels like the book that GRRM wanted to write all along, with the previous books just being context

[ThePooper]

Here's a random theory: What if Jeyne Westerling's child comes out stillborn, and is resurrected by Lady Stoneheart, the same way that she was resurrected by Beric Dondarrion?

[musculusiv]

Hearing how George already had all the sample chapters in 2012 - 2014 really makes one wonder what on earth he has been doing since then

[emilyglass]

This video was really fun. Just what I needed today! Just one question: if Lady Stoneheart is desperate for an alternative heir to Robb's legacy, wouldn't she want to keep the Maester/Midwife alive as a witness? Without him, isn't the baby just a baby, with only the mother and grandmother's word that he/she is a highly convenient heir to the North?

[thefinalstair]

Why I like this theory is that it gives Lady Stoneheart a reason to go north (she’d want the heir to return to be raised in the safer North). That way when the Others come we can see her pair up against them 😉 And some resolution with Jon.

[scottmcarthur]

Fun idea. Love the video.

Love the Stoneheart idea, but for her motivation to name a new heir.

If time hasn’t progressed long enough from the Red Wedding & Robb’s death, it sure hasn’t progressed from the Pink Letter & Jon’s death. Who would send the news out, and why would the news of the death of the Commander of the Night Watch matter to anyone in the south?

It could be coincidence that they meet, but that doesn’t seem like George’s vibe.

Keep them coming

[merlon]

you could see the heir as a parallel to danys story. It was clear that Dany would have to fight for the iron throne. But then we learned that she will have to fight her nephew Aegon too. Jon will likely have to fight the Boltons for Winterfell. And the heir will be his nephew, his Aegon. Stoneheart would use him to attack Jon's claim. So Jon like Dany would have to face of his nephew

[pc]

Little late to the party but I could see this going in an even darker direction. I can see the ambush by lady stoneheart happening, but instead of the child being born, I believe it will be still born due to the stress and effects of moontea. However what if they create a fire wright out of the child, like stoneheart herself. Then you have the zombie stark line happening which echos mythology at the wall.

[TRDPaul]

Slight correction; in the prologue to book 2 Maester Cressen doesn't "die due to strange magic or slight of hand or whatever it is Mellisandre does." He dies because he poisoned a cup of wine which he offers to Melisandre, he drinks from it first to "prove" it's safe, she also drinks but doesn't die because her magic nullifies the poison.