Based on what we’ve seen thus far and the way this season mostly has been about A Feast for Crows and A Dance with Dragons, I want to venture some guesses on what the end of this season might entail. Part of my speculations are also based upon the brief description from imdb and the people credited over at imdb. In short, there will be potential spoilers.

First, let’s look at the plot summary. “Stannis marches. Dany is surrounded by strangers. Cersei seeks forgiveness. Jon is challenged.” I think with regards to the books, the main storylines will be as follows:

• Stannis will continue to head towards Winterfell. He may encounter Ramsay Bolton as Ramsay sounds like he’s preparing to ambush them and/or set a trap. However, I seriously doubt we’ll see the highly anticipated battle this year. That more than likely will occur in Season 6. If anything, Ramsay will probably enact a few ruthless murders to send a message to Stannis in attempt to dissuade him. However, Stannis will continue his relentless mission while Melisandre and Seleyse will attempt to convince him to use his daughter to gain victory in a near hopeless situation. Originally, Seleyse and Shireen were supposed to stay at Castle Black so it’s possible that Stannis may send Shireen back for her own safety along with Davos, which may eventually lead Davos into pursuing Rickon. Because the storyline has changed significantly for Sansa, it’s possible that she and Theon/Reek will escape with Davos (in lieu of Mance Rayder) to locate Rickon.
• I think Ramsay doing his little plot against Stannis will result in Reek and Sansa being left unguarded at Winterfell. It’s highly likely that Reek finally (through Bran) will become Theon once again and aid Sansa in escaping. Instead of Mance and his spearwives, Brienne and Podrick will be the ones to come to her aid. On a side note, for those thinking that Sansa will enact the whole stew thing this season against the Boltons, think again. I believe many people thought she would become this horrible person based on some hints about what happens with her character. However, I think the horrible things that become of her character isn’t her transforming into a ruthless manipulator. Instead, that character development mostly was in the rape scene that makes her go into a darker place (for instance, desiring the horrors that Theon was exposed to at the hands of Ramsay).
• Cersei seeking forgiveness most likely means that by episode 10 she will be completely broken in spirit, emotion and psychology. While she will beg for forgiveness from the High Sparrow, she still will undergo her walk of punishment that will eradicate her cruel streak as she now (like many others in the story) will be broken to the point of changing herself as a person. Of course, that will lead to the introduction of Ser Robert Strong (aka The Mountain, aka Ser Gregor Clegane, aka the new Frankenstein) with the aid of the Maester Qyburn (although that might not exactly happen because Qyburn isn’t listed in the credits). In short, I doubt that her story up until that portion will vary that drastically from the books.
• Jon Snow being challenged is pretty vague. I don’t think we’ll see him at this stage get assaulted by the Men of the Night’s Watch, unless they decide to cut the whole arc of the integration of the Wildlings into the Night’s Watch very short (very possible). There’s been a lot of indicators that Olly, among others, will make a move against Jon Snow. Another major hint is that in a separate interview, Kit Harrington almost accidentally admitted to “desiring to worg into a wolf.” During that interview, Dan and David (the producers) said it will happen in season 6. Considering that Jon Snow’s story arc at the end of A Dance with Dragons becomes a major cliff hanger, it’s very likely that they’ll cut to the chase. Also, recently in an interview, Kit Harrington has warned audiences that Jon Snow isn’t necessarily safe. There’s been a lot of foreshadowing that something will happen to him this season so this might be the moment.
• Dany is surrounded by strangers sounds like her encounter with the Dothraki. My guess is that in episode 9 during the chaos that erupts from the Fighting Pit situation, Dany’s dragon, Drogon, will come to save her and lead her to his secret nest. However, she still has not mastered Drogon and he will leave her. In turn, that makes her vulnerable and the Dothraki that abandoned her and Khal Drogo will capture her.

For the other storylines, I’m going to guess based on the cast listing (as well as a few who are not mentioned).

• For Samwell and Gilly, they will be sent by Jon Snow to the Citadel so that Samwell can become a Maester. Jon Snow will detect that he has more enemies within the Night’s Watch and requires Sam to learn more about the White Walkers, dragonglass and Valyrian Steel. Since Maester Aemon has died, Jon Snow will require a new Maester. In turn, that will allow Samwell to keep Gilly and baby Sam safe (not to mention start a new adventure for them).
• Just like in the books, Varys will assassinate Kevan Lannister and Grand Maester Pycelle, which will lead to Tommen regaining the crown. However, there will be no Hand of the King, leaving Tommen vulnerable since Cersei still is around. The big question, of course, is whether Cersei has truly changed or if she’ll revert to her old wicked ways (or worse), especially because the Sparrows more than likely still will be empowered in the city.
• Balon Greyjoy is noted to appear in this episode. More than likely, he’ll fall to his death similar to in the books, leading to the calling of the Greyjoy Moot to select a new leader. Since rumors are afloat about a major casting call for a pirate-like figure, most people are speculating that we will see hints of Euron Greyjoy. Since the casting call hasn’t been finalized, what we might see instead is his instrument that can take control over dragons since they obviously will be a key against the fight with the White Walkers.
• The Sand Snakes along with Ellaria Sand and Doran Martell will show up. I do not see Jamie Lannister nor Bronn. I think Bronn will die in episode 9 when Tyene attempts to manipulate him to try and help break the Sand Snakes out along with capturing Myrcella (similar to Arianne’s plot in the books). That attempt will fail, resulting in a very gruesome death for Bronn (which will suck). Also, Jamie Lannister will somehow return to the capital to work with Doran in securing peace with the Martells in episode 9 since his mission is an utter failure at this point. With Jamie returning to the capital and Bronn dead, Doran will unveil his master plot to the Sands and a frustrated Ellaria where he will send the Sands as Dorne’s new ambassadors, especially since Tommen now is vulnerable with the Small Council demolished and Cersei weakened from her incompetence and humiliation at the hands of the Sparrows. Since the Quentyn story looks completely hosed, I’m going to venture to say we won’t even have to worry about that, unless Trystane is sent to marry Dany instead (highly unlikely given the events). The big thing will be Ellaria becoming part of the Small Council, which will probably lead to a conflict either between her and Cersei and/or Margaery and the Tyrells.
• Arya will continue her training but we’ll see her drink the milk and wake up  blind similar to the end of A Feast for Crows. It seems like her story will be one of the slower ones that won’t catch up until season 6.
• The White Walkers is also mentioned as part of the credits. Not sure if it’ll be the Night King, but it’s possible that they’ll invade Westeros or at least send a massive blizzard over Castle Black right as Jon Snow gets assaulted by his so-called brothers. If they don’t attack Castle Black, they might try to attack another unprotected outpost. But the key thing here is that mythical horn that can bring down the Wall still has not been revealed and most likely won’t be seen this season. So as long as the Wall stays up, there will be enough magic to prevent the White Walkers from a full invasion.
• I do believe Bran Stark will make a small cameo. It could possibly just be a voice over to awaken Reek into Theon similar to the books. I don’t see Theon and Sophia in Episode 9, so if Bran does anything this season just to remind us that he’s alive some place, it’ll be at this juncture. I do believe that the producers hinted that Bran would show up for a very tiny part and my guess is that it’ll be for this.
• Lastly, I’m going to go out on a limb and say that the climax of the show will be the highly anticipated return of Catelyn Stark, or as book readers will recognize her as Lady Stoneheart. A while back, fans claimed that for a very brief period they spotted Michelle Fairley’s name appeared as a hooded woman or something obscure like that. Thereafter, her name was quickly taken down and her agency denied any affiliation with the show. Still, considering the title of this episode and the bad need of some form of hope, it’s one of the few things that makes sense. This season needs to conclude really big and Michelle was such a strong actress and Catelyn was a highly remembered character that it’s only fitting to see her return. Of course, if she is Lady Stoneheart, the audience might be horrified to see what she has become. Considering that Brienne’s story and Jamie’s story arcs have diverged so much from the books, there’s a good chance that season 6 will end up returning to the original story with Jamie in the Riverlands for the fateful meetup.

Overall, I’m sure most of these predictions ought to come true. If they don’t, more than likely it’s because of lack of time. One thing I feel with this season is that the story has diverged to the point where the pacing is definitely off from the books. Some stories have caught up too much or even exceeded in some cases while others are still behind. But I think that part of this is intentional since it might be the producers’ way of giving George RR Martin some time to finish The Winds of Winter. I’m guessing that A Dream of Spring won’t finish before the end of the TV series though at this rate, unless George RR Martin goes into isolation and uber writing mode. It’ll be fun to see how many of my predictions are accurate.

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