Phx-Suns.Net

Bran and Hodor have absolutely nothing interesting to do in this season, at least on screen. Nothing. Removing them to make more room for the other characters is the right choice.

And Arya's story is precisely in line with the books' chronology, with the only change being the identity of her new mentor. How is her story ahead? Because that was told in book 5? It doesn't take an entire season to sail to Braavos and enroll in Assassin Academy. I think we'll see plenty of her this season, because unlike Bran, her training IS rather interesting.

Run around blind for half the season.

cold hands

Coldhands is pretty fascinating. I don't really like any of the theories about who he is, either. Martin has explicitly said that he's not Benjen Stark, which would have been my first guess. I'm glad it's not him, though.

I like the theory that he's the Night King, but I am not buying that, either, as the Night King was supposed to be...well, not very humanitarian, and I don't see why he'd help Bran. Then again, we have no idea what's in store for Bran, even if the Night King really was a Stark, so it's possible.

I also really like the offshoot theory that he's the spawn of the Night King and his exceptionally pale, blue-eyed, icy-skinned paramour. That would make him an undead Stark, putting him in very uncertain ground in terms of what exactly he's doing. But, there's not really any evidence yet to support any of this, which is why it's so fun.

Edit: The other theories, where he's simply a Watcher who got killed by the Others and came back, isn't good enough for me. That doesn't seem to be how it works...you don't get killed by them and then come back as an undead version of yourself. So, that's why I favor the last theory.

Dammit, George...publish the freaking next book.

That it can be Benjen. It just doesn't make sense from a time standpoint. I think Cold Hands is much, much older. Benjen only went missing in the 1st book, though they did cast a fairly well known actor for such a small part that at the time I thought he must return eventually. I tend to agree that it has something to do with the Night's King though whether it's the king or a child I can't even guess.

The only reason I think Benjen would work is because he's been gone for so long, and then this guy shows up, so superficially, it could make sense. So, when I say he was my first guess...it's mostly because he's the only one who made even a lick of sense based on what we know (which is next to nothing). But, it's moot anyway since Martin said as much.

I am not sure how I feel about it, either. I have long since accepted that the books and shows would split. But this is really, really big. Jon Snow's commitment to his vows at the wall are one thing, but in the books he already crosses the line a lot in working with Stannis. He hates the Boltons but won't march south because of them...but with Sansa there? Carey, do you think show-Ramsey will be as harsh with brutal as we was with book-faux-Arya?

with Sansa being married to Bolton instead of "Arya". Is Tyrion kidnapped in the books, as well?