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There are many still unanswered questions in A Song of Ice and Fire. Here we try to piece together answers from what we already know.
Parentage
[edit]Is Young Griff really Aegon Targaryen, son of Rhaegar, heir apparent to the Iron Throne?
Does Ben Plumm have Targaryen blood?
Does Brienne of Tarth have a claim (albeit distant) to the Iron Throne of the Targaryen dynasty?
Donnel Hill and Marei
[edit]Are Donnel Hill and Marei, or one of them, bastard children of Tywin Lannister?
Is Hodor descended from giants, Ser Duncan the Tall, or the Freys? Why does he keep saying 'Hodor'?
It remains unclear who Jon Snow's mother is, and possibly even if Eddard Stark is in fact his father.
Walgrave and Walys Flowers
[edit]Are Archmaester Walgrave and Maester Walys father and son?
True Identities
[edit]It seems very likely that the novice Alleras is actually Sarella Sand, one of Oberyn Martell's illegitimate daughters.
Melisandre claims Stannis Baratheon with his magic sword is Azor Ahai come again, the prince who was promised. Maester Aemon remarks that his magic sword bears no heat though Lightbringer is supposed to be warm to behold and so believes someone else to be the prince who was promised.
While it seems clear Coldhands was, in life, a member of the Night's Watch, it's unclear who exactly he was.
It is very possible that the novice gravedigger that Brienne encounters at the Monastery on the Quiet Isle is in fact Sandor Clegane.
The Harpy is the alleged leader of the Sons of the Harpy, a resistance group of Ghiscari noblemen from the city of Meereen who defy the reign of Queen Daenerys Targaryen. However, the Harpy's existence has of yet been unproven. Under the assumption that the Harpy indeed exists, both characters in the books and readers of A Song of Ice and Fire have speculated about the Harpy's identity.
During the events of A Dance with Dragons, Theon Greyjoy encounters a nameless hooded man at Winterfell, who recognizes him and is hostile towards him. Readers have long speculated about the identity of this mysterious character.
A mystery knight named The Knight of the Laughing Tree fought at the Tourney at Harrenhal and defended the honor of Howland Reed. His true identity remains unknown, but he could have been played by Lyanna Stark, Howland Reed, or one of the younger Stark brothers.
Septa Lemore's belly shows stretch marks suggesting she has given birth before, which is in stark contrast to the celibacy of septas. This gives to rise to theories about her former identity as well as that of her possible offspring.
It has been widely speculated that Ser Maynard Plumm, a character in The Mystery Knight, is really Brynden Rivers wearing a glamor.
It has been speculated that Nettles, the rider of the dragon Sheepstealer and alleged Daemon Targaryen's paramour during the Dance of the Dragons, was actually a secret bastard daughter of Daemon instead of his lover.
It has been theorized that the Night's King was an avatar of the Great Other, analogous to Azor Ahai/the prince that was promised being an avatar or champion of R'hllor.
It has been theorized that Olyvar Frey might be the unnamed ward of Lord Gyles Rosby.
Patchface has a remarkable if largely unnoticed prophetic capability. His past and Lord Steffon Baratheon's reasons for bringing him to Westeros are known only in very broad strokes. Could there be more to him than meets the eye? What is the origin and nature of his predictions?
Quaithe warns Daenerys Targaryen about the "perfumed seneschal", but who or what is it?
Who is the prince?
Little is known of Robert Strong, but evidence suggests he is either Ser Gregor Clegane, or a kind of Frankenstein's Monster created from Clegane's corpse.
Is Roose Bolton an immortal?
It's possible the Sailor's Wife is actually Tysha, Tyrion Lannister's first wife.
It has been theorized that Urrathon Night-Walker, a character supposedly living in Qarth mentioned in A Clash of Kings, is actually Euron Greyjoy using an alias.
Who is the 'valonqar' destined to kill Cersei?
Is Yoren the member of the Night's Watch present at the Tourney at Harrenhal in 281 AC?
Unexplained Imaginings
[edit]Why does Sansa think the Hound kissed her in her bedroom during the Battle of the Blackwater?
Unexplained Murders
[edit]The people of Westeros are willing to believe Balon Greyjoy was simply swept off a bridge into the sea, but this may not be what truly happened.
Big Walder Frey is theorized to have murdered his cousin, Little Walder Frey, during the string of murders at Winterfell following the marriage of Ramsay Bolton and "Arya Stark". Black Walder Frey is theorized to have murdered his grandfather, Ser Stevron Frey following the Battle of Oxcross; during the battle, Ser Stevron took a minor wound, said to be nothing serious, but is found dead on his tent three days later.
It seems likely that Lord Manderly murdered three Freys and had them baked into the pies he presented at Ramsay Bolton's wedding feast.
The main historical sources for these events differ in their suspicions on who may have been responsible—or if the two events were even directly related at all. A major linking thread is that Daemon Targaryen was suspected of murdering both of them. No single account suspected Daemon of both murders, however, but of one or the other (though the possibility remains he was responsible for both, or neither).
Readers have widely speculated about the possible reasons and instigators that pushed Ser Mandon Moore to attempt to kill Tyrion Lannister.
Due to his manner of death, some readers have come to suspect that Yoren did not die at the hands of Ser Amory Lorch's men, but rather at the hands of the criminal Rorge, who Yoren had been bringing to the Wall.
Whereabouts
[edit]Benjen Stark has been missing for some time. In A Clash of Kings the Old Bear and Jon Snow discuss the empty wildling villages, realising that if Benjen found the villages empty, he would search for the reason.
Where is the true Horn of Winter?
Is House Marsh a noble house from the Neck?
Howland Reed has also been missing for some time. In A Clash of Kings, he sent his teenaged children, Jojen and Meera, to pledge the Reeds to Robb Stark and defended the Neck against invaders from House Lannister to Ironmen. Despite being the Stark family's most loyal friend and the sole remaining survivor of the Tower of Joy, he has been notably absent. Given the Crannogmen's small stature, could Jojen actually be Howland? Is Howland a warg operating through animals/people to aid the Starks behind the scenes?
Tracking a man who can change his identity at will is a bit difficult, but not impossible.
Loras Tyrell may not have been grievously injured at Dragonstone, and may either be there for different reasons or elsewhere entirely.
Stonesnake has been missing since Qhorin Halfhand's group was sent to scout the Skirling Pass prior to the Battle of the Fist of the First Men and may or may not be alive.
After Eddard Stark's execution in King's Landing, Ser Cleos Frey brings his bones to Riverrun. Catelyn Tully asks Hallis Mollen to carry them north to be buried at the Stark crypt at Winterfell, not knowing that Moat Cailin has fallen to the ironborn, blocking the only viable road. Since that time, Mollen's whereabouts, and Ned's bones, are unknown. When Barbrey Dustin and Theon Greyjoy investigate the crypt in A Dance with Dragons, no evidence of them is found, implying that Mollen has not yet made it to Winterfell.
Davos Seaworth lost his bag of fingerbones after the Battle of the Blackwater, making frequent reference to this afterwards, as his lost luck. In ADWD, when explaining the glamour used on Mance Rayder, Melisandre makes specific mention of a bag of fingerbones as the sort of trinket that might strengthen an illusion. Could she have somehow acquired them after Davos lost them, and be planning to create a false Davos?
Future events
[edit]The "Red Wedding 2.0" theory states that the Brotherhood without banners will carry out a massacre of Freys and Lannisters during the wedding of Daven Lannister to his Frey bride.
Randyll Tarly and Mathis Rowan might go over to Aegon VI Targaryen.
- Randyll's insistently denies the identities of Jon Connington and Aegon.
- Resentment over Brightwater Keep being awarded to House Tyrell instead of House Tarly, to which his wife, Melessa Florent, has a claim.
- Mathis Rowan appers upset when Tywin Lannister talks about conceding justice to Doran Martell over the deaths of Elia Martell and her children during the Sack of King's Landing.
Other
[edit]Are its contents true, or was the letter even written by Ramsay?
Were the dragon eggs that Elissa Farman stole from Rhaena Targaryen those of Drogon, Viserion, and Rhaegal?
Who are the three potential minor claimants to the Iron Throne not directly specified?
Is House Cassel related to the Starks of Winterfell, more particularly to Lonnel Snow?
Where is Lightbringer? Does it still exist? Is the account of its creation precise or metaphorical?
Does Qhorin Halfhand hail from the Iron Islands?
Is Tywin Lannister the Hand of the King "whose honor would not allow him to enter [a brothel] openly" who made dug a tunnel for him to enter Chataya's brothel in secret?
Which prince was the original owner of Archmaester Walgrave's gauntlet?
And since Walgrave often calls the novice Pate by the name Cressen, did he work with Cressen, the maester at Dragonstone, in the past?
See Also
[edit]While not actually theories, the following pages provide additional information concerning the following topics:
- House Estermont/Family Trees: Discrepancies on the information of House Estermont exists, causing confusion as to whether Eldon Estermont is a brother or the uncle of Cassana Estermont (the mother of Robert, Stannis and Renly). The linked page contains all possible family trees and the information they are based on.
- Years of Birth and Death: Containing calculations of the years of birth and death of various characters, with as much detail as they can possibly be given in.