Bastards, Cripples, and Broken Things—A look ahead at the season finale 

Warning: This is an article written from the perspective of a book reader. There will be spoilers from the end of A Dance With Dragons. Unsullied, considered yourself warned.

Season 5 finale, and not since the penultimate episode of Season 3 have I been so anxious about an episode’s outcome. There are so many loose threads that need to be tied up that I simply cannot imagine how David Benioff and Dan Weiss will be able to do it all in an hour and three minutes. With that in mind, I’ve decided to focus on just three subplots to be featured in the finale, “Mother’s Mercy,” and to use the title of the fourth episode of Season 1, “

Beginning with the Bastard aspect of the episode: just how will Jon Snow’s story-arc conclude in Season 5? Have the showrunners sufficiently set us up for his big moment? I think the answer is an overwhelming yes. All season long, we’ve had to endure the withering scowl of everyone’s favorite orphan, Olly. Now, I’ve made my feelings about Olly quite clear, and I am fairly confident he will be either the first or the last one to plunge the dagger into Jon’s stomach.

At this point, it would almost be an insult to viewers to have a twist like Olly actually intervening on Jon’s behalf…they’ve practically bludgeoned us to death with hints that’s he’s going to be a part of the assassination plot. Although this is

, and I wouldn’t put it the past the show to feature that kind of dumbed-down writing.

Regardless of whether or not Olly partakes in the Jon’s stabbing, we can be relatively sure of one thing: Jon will be stabbed. This is the huge cliffhanger in 

, and since this season is drawing almost entirely from that source material, it would make sense to end on that cliffhanger. Now I know that there are many fun theories on Jon Snow’s assumed death and possible resurrection, but in my mind there is only one possibility, the one that George R.R. Martin laid out so perfectly in

…Jon has to warg into Ghost. And, if the leaked photos of the season finale are to be believed, that is exactly what will happen.

So that’s how I see Jon’s story coming to a close in “Mother’s Mercy.” Jon will be stabbed, chaos will erupt all around him as his newfound wildling friends fight the brothers of the Night’s Watch, Jon’s blood will pool on the muddied ground, and his eyes will suddenly go white, the telltale sign of a skin changer inhabiting the body of another living being.

If Jon is the Bastard in my equation, then the Cripple has to be Arya. If we subscribe to the theory that Arya will don a new face and attempt to kill that disgusting pedophile Meryn Trant, then we also must understand the consequences of that decision. If you think for one second that Jaqen H’ghar can’t tell when a novice like Arya is lying, then you are sadly mistaken. And, if you think the Waif isn’t waiting to pounce on the very first mistake Arya makes, then you are delusional.

So what would be the appropriate punishment for Arya’s diverging from her first mission to kill the Thin Man? Well, I would hope the writers of the show would not have her expelled from the House of Black and White, as that would render Arya’s story this year completely useless. I think that, just like in the books, Arya will be blinded…and that is the last we will see of her in Season 5…just a fade to black as her vision goes.

Or, the show could demonstrate some continuity, and show Arya going blind, only to fade to a bird’s eye view of Arya lying in her bed. The camera pans around to look at the eyes of a cat sitting in the rafters of her room. That would go along perfectly with Jon potentially warging into Ghost, and show that three of the Stark children (this includes Bran, who has been secretly training as a Greenseer all season), have the ability to warg. I don’t see this happening, but it would be an amazing ending to Arya’s arc in Season 5, and it would be a nice nod to book readers.

Finally, going with Jon as the Bastard and Arya as the Cripple, then we must conclude with the most Broken Thing this season, Sansa. There has been a lot of controversy over our Little Dove this year, and I am hoping that she will finally rise above it all in the finale. In my mind, and I am sure in the mind of most viewers, there is really only one way for Sansa to take her agency back, and that is by having a predominate hand in the downfall of House Bolton.

Ramsay is only the latest villain that has made a victim of the eldest daughter of Eddard Stark, and for her to possibly be the one to drive the barrel auger into the base of Ramsay’s skull would be a way for

to redeem itself in the eyes of a subset of viewers that are still angry over her controversial wedding night scene from “Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken.” The question(s) then becomes: Will she need Reek’s help in this, and if so, can she really trust him? And what will Brienne and Pod’s role be?

I think one only needs to look at Theon’s chapters in

, Theon…or Reek, chooses to save Jeyne Poole, who has been posing as Arya Stark, and who has been suffering unspeakable atrocities at the hands of Ramsay. On the show, Sansa has taken on this role. During Theon’s rescue attempt, he and Jeyne jump from the battlements of Winterfell into a deep snow drift below. Will this happen in the show? I don’t think so, not exactly, and I’ll answer that later.

Brienne’s story has been completely different than her arc in

, so I’m less sure about her role in all of this. However, I doubt she’s going to try and kill Stannis, despite reminding us of her vendetta against him earlier in the year. I believe the answer to her plot lies in Theon’s familiarity with Winterfell. Who else knows the ins and outs better than an actual Stark? How about the former ward of Ned Stark?

It is my firm belief that Theon will try and help Sansa by sneaking her through the Hunter’s Gate (basically the lesser known and unlocked sliding glass door of Winterfell), and from there, the two of them will run into Brienne and Pod, who are trying to find their way into the castle without being noticed by the two armies fighting outside the walls. Once out the door, they will run into Ramsay, awash in his foe’s blood, ready to thwart their escape. This is where Brienne will finally fulfill her oath to Lady Catelyn by slaying the

recently legitimized heir of House Bolton. Then Lady Stoneheart will show up and the four new best friends will ride off into the sunset (I’m only half kidding).

So, will Jon die by Olly’s heavily foreshadowed hand? Will Arya be blinded by Jaqen? Will Theon or Brienne’s intervention on Sansa’s behalf be enough to reverse her fortunes? I think the answer is a resounding – Maybe? If there’s one thing we know from the past four seasons of Game of Thrones, nothing is written in stone…or snow.

Hi, my name is Razor, and I’m an anxious Book Purist.

Next: The Small Council: A look back at “The Dance of Dragons”

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Interesting thoughts! I actually agree with your ideas 100% and I hope to see some, if not all, of these on Sunday!

Thanks! And yes, I hope they all come true! =)

your reference to the leaked images was horrible!!! i mean i was reading your note expecting theories about the ending of the season based on the events on the book but writting “Jon has to warg into Ghost. And, if the leaked photos of the season finale are to be believed, that is exactly what will happen”

i was trying to get to sunday’s episode without seeibg the leaked images but now I’m ruined :(

anyway, your theories are great but again, that reference to the images was horrible :/

I’m sorry that was spoiled for you. That was not my intention.

I know people are not happy with Dorne (me included) but I think it will have major screen time on Sunday.

bronn dies, Myrcella loses an ear, Trystene is revealed as fAegon It’s going to be a good episode! I hope…

Bronn dying would make me very sad, but I have a nervous feeling that will happen.

They scared us a little bit with the poison just so we could remember how much we love him… Bastards! I can feel it coming

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