Fanfic / An Empire of Ice and Fire

An Empire of Ice and Fire is a Game of Thrones fanfic. The Karstarks are facing famine, so Ned Stark and Jon Snow go to Pentos to buy grain, where they meet Daenerys and Viserys Targaryen. And in doing so, would turn the Game of Thrones on its ear.

Can also be read here.

Upon completion, it was followed by a oneshot called Something About Dragonstone, which shows the happy Targaryen family relaxing on Dragonstone. And later a multi-chapter sequel called The Mystery Knight, which is about Jon and Daenerys' firstborn twins coming of betrothal age and having to fight for the right to marry each other.

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Tropes that appear in this fanfic:

• Adaptational Badass:
  • Jon Snow and, later, Barristan Selmy teach Daenerys how to wield a sword.
  • Bran Stark a slight upgrade with his powers thanks to the Warlocks of Qarth.
  • Tywin Lannister, who has never been described as a great combatant, kills Obara and Nymeria Sand.
• Adaptation Expansion:
  • The Battle of the Bastards is even bigger than in the show. Apart from the forces present, the Blackfish brings his forces, the Freys support the Boltons, and Daenerys has a Big Damn Heroes moment with her dragons.
  • Littlefinger's plotting is taken to the next level, as he's revealed to have been the one who convinced the Mad King that Brandon and Rickard Stark were conspiring against him, instigating the events that led to Robert's Rebellion.
• Adaptational Heroism: Due to Ned and Jon's positive influence early on, Daenerys is much more stable and is generally more reasonable in rule over her subjects. While still able to be quite ruthless when need be, she never goes off the deep end sanity-wise like she did in the show as a result.
• Adaptational Jerkass:
  • Robert is much more unpleasant, and more of a Politically Incorrect Villain to boot, than he was in canon.
  • As Dany never married Drogo, he is much more like the other khals in disrespecting Dany.
• Adaptational Villainy:
  • The High Sparrow backs Joffrey, showing that he cares less about the people than he does about the Faith's supremacy.
  • Though shifty to begin with in canon, Daario Naharis betrays Daenerys due to her not reciprocating his affections to her, and joins up with Joffrey instead.
  • Joffrey (though, in this case, it is more like "Adaptational Insanity"). Just when you thought his canon version was bad, here, thanks to Littlefinger's manipulations, he declares himself a God-King, enslaves countless Westerosi smallfolk, and burns alive his own sister, Myrcella, for a blood sacrifice.
• Adaptation Name Change: Due to very different circumstances, Rhaegal is the only one of Daenerys' dragons to keep his canon name. Instead, Drogon becomes Balerion (due to Dany never loving Drogo) and Viserion becomes Eddarion (in honor of Ned Stark, whom Dany briefly meets and greatly admires).
• Adapted Out: Daenerys' Qarth storyline is skipped over, due to her taking control of the Dothraki sooner and never needing to go there.
• An Arm and a Leg: At the Battle of Highgarden, Tywin Lannister loses a leg in a fight with Jon.
• Ancestral Weapon: By the time of The Mystery Knight, the Targaryens have recovered Blackfyre and Dark Sister, with Jon and Dany passing them on to Rhaegar and Arya.
• And This Is for...:
  • When dueling Daario in King's Landing, Jon declares that each wound he lands on his opponent is for one of the people his treachery harmed.
  • "For Mance" and "For Grenn" are used by the Wildlings and Night's Watch, respectfully, as battle cries during the Battle of Last Hearth.
• Armor-Piercing Question: In Chapter 29, when one of her generals balks at the thought of the remaining Dornish rebels forming an alliance with the North due to how Rhaegar seemingly abandoned Elia for Lyanna Stark, Tyene asks if that's worse than letting the Lannisters, the ones directly responsible for murdering Elia and her children, win. She's met with silence and they agree to transport her to Dragonstone.
• Arranged Marriage: The main conflict in The Mystery Knight comes from the various lords of the Targaryen Empire trying to force betrothals for Prince Rhaegar and Princess Arya, who only want to marry each other.
• Artistic License – Economics: Played With. On one hand, after finding out that The Iron Bank had ties to The Faceless Men, Jon essentially threatens them into debt forgiveness for the Crown, which could be highly problematic for Essos now that their income from that is decreased. On the other hand, in the sequel, their master of coin talks about how paying for a road through minting has to be carefully controlled because otherwise inflation would take off.
• Ascended Extra:
  • Tyene Sand, later legitimized as Tyene Martell, becomes the main Dornish perspective.
  • Gendry accompanies Arya to Braavos. He even assists in her assassination of Walder Frey.
• Assassination Attempt: There are several made on the imperial family, first by order of the Lannisters and later by a scheming Littlefinger. When it's discovered that the Faceless Men are the agents responsible, Jon wipes them out with dragonfire.
• Asskicking Leads to Leadership: Much like in canon, Dany gains control of the Dothraki by killing the other khals by burning them alive in their tent.
• Attempted Rape: When Daenerys and Jon flee Pentos in Chapter 6, Viserys tries to rape her when he realizes that Jon and Daenerys had sex.
• Awesome Moment of Crowning: Jon and Daenerys are crowned Emperor and Empress respectively in chapter 41.
• Babies Ever After: In addition to the children already born or conceived during the course of story, the epilogue adds another child each for Robb/Margaery and Jon/Dany, and one for Sansa/Podrick.
• Back from the Dead: Like in canon, Jon is killed by the Night's Watch mutineers and then magically resurrected. He's killed again by the Night King at Last Hearth, and resurrected again, this time by Aemon sacrificing himself.
• Bad Boss:
  • Walder Frey kills one of his own soldiers when he refuses to show him Robb Stark's (non-existent) body.
  • Ramsay Bolton opens Chapter 25 by beating a lord to death.
• Balancing Death's Books:
  • Aemon allows himself to be ritualistically killed in exchange for Jon being resurrected.
  • How Bran justifies his own death at the hands of the Night King.
• Barehanded Blade Block: When The Mountain fights Ned, Stannis, and their guards, The Mountain grabs one of their swords, then snaps it like a twig.
• Bathroom Break-Out: Wendel Manderly helps Robb escape the Red Wedding by shoving him into the latrine.
• Battle Amongst the Flames: The final duel between Jon and the Night King takes place in the middle of an inferno created by dragon fire.
• Battle Couple: Dany and Jon. Also, Arya and Rhaegar.
• Be Careful What You Wish For: Viserys wanted to return to King's Landing. He does so...to be tried for his crimes and sentenced to death.
• Because You Were Nice to Me: Daenarys has this as an operating principle of her rule. Seeking promotion for the loyal and good, and justice for all in her reshaping of the realm.
• Best Served Cold: The Mountain gets his revenge on Loras Tyrell for beating him at the Tourney of the Hand.
  • Unlike in canon, Arya gets her chance to kill Joffrey for all the wrongs he did. And she did so by waiting several weeks, infiltrating the palace, and then gutting him when he least expected it.
• Big Badass Battle Sequence: Several over the course of the story, including expanded versions of the Battle of the Blackwater, the Battle of Hardhome, and the Battle of the Bastards, as well as the Battle of the Coastroad, the Battle of Riverrun, the Battle of Highgarden, the Battle of King's Landing, the Battle of Last Hearth, and the Battle of Winterfell (which is the biggest of all, lasting seven chapters).
• The Big Damn Kiss: Jon and Daenerys at the end of Chapter 26.
• Big "NO!": Jon, when the Night King fatally wounds Bran.
• Blatant Lies: Illyrio Mopatis says that the Northern houses secretly drink toasts to Viserys. It is common knowledge that the North greatly dislikes the Targaryens. Until eventually, Dragon Queen Daenerys changes this.
• Bond Villain Stupidity: After Arya is captured, Joffrey orders her sent to toil with the slaves instead of killing her - which ultimately allows her to get in position to kill Joffrey. Of course, Joffrey feared if he killed her, her spirit would kill him.
• Book Ends: The first and last victims of the Long Night are Starks. Marden Stark was the first victim and Bran Stark the last victim.
• Bring My Brown Pants: Joffrey soils himself when Jon’s forces bring the wight to King’s Landing.
• But Now I Must Go: After the Final Battle, Leaf leaves Winterfell for the Isle of Faces, in hopes of finding more of her people there.
• Chronic Backstabbing Disorder: Littlefinger pretends to help Ned Stark, subsequently summons the Mountain to King's Landing to free Joffrey, then double-crosses the Lannisters late in the story, and finally sends the Waif after Daenerys.
• The Clan: Thanks to Tywin and Joffrey's machinations in trying to destroy House Stark, they unintentionally created the new dominant clan over Planetos for the Targaryen Empire.
  • "Heads" of the clan are Cousin Jaehaerys Targaryen (Jon), married to Daenerys with six heirs to rebuild the dynasty off of.
  • Second is Robb, who married Margaery Tyrell, tying the Reach to the dynasty and preserving that bloodline.
  • Sansa is northern hand of the emperor, married to Podrick Payne thus ensuring the Westerlands have a token loyalty to the crown beyond the favors curried to the remaining House Lannister.
  • Arya is now Lady of Dragonstone alongside the the legitimized Genry Baratheon, giving the Stormlands a place in the Stark bloodlines.
  • Rickon ended up marrying House Mormont, giving another northern house with a strong symbolic presence.
  • Bran had a posthumous child with Meera Reed, giving that Northern house a stronger tie to the crown as well.
  • And of course, none of this mentions some of the cousins in the Vale, Found Family given titles and roles in the new order, or the general bonds formed with the War for the Dawn.
• Comet of Doom: The Great Fall, a magical comet that passes Planetos every 8000 years. Last time around, the Children of the Forest channeled its power to create the Night King, but in the process accidentally tore a chunk of the comet free and caused it to hit the planet, causing the Long Night. When it passes again in the present, the Night King intentionally tears off another piece, bringing about a second Long Night.
• The Comically Serious: Invoked Trope.
  Ned: For someone so emotionless, Stannis sometimes could deliver the best humor.
• Composite Character:
  • Tywin Lannister takes Stannis' place as the character who Melisandre sleeps with to create the shadow demon that kills Renly.
  • Since Stannis is dead, Renly Baratheon takes his place as the king besieging King's Landing at the Battle of the Blackwater.
  • Instead of The Mountain, Meryn Trant is responsible for the death of Oberyn Martell.
• Crazy-Prepared: Olenna has held a private port north of Oldtown just in case she and Margaery needed to escape the Reach.
• Crippling Overspecialization: Tyrion has a keen understanding of political actions. However, he's a true amateur when it comes to military action. Leading to near disaster for army in their 1st invasion of the south.
• Crouching Moron, Hidden Badass: Dontos Hollard spends most of his time as a jester, but saves Daenerys, Sansa, and Jaime's lives when he tackles Cersei when she's about to execute them, stole Daenerys' katana from another room and frees them.
• Cruel and Unusual Death:
  • Medger Cerwyn is burned alive on Viserys' orders.
  • Littlefinger doesn't get to go out with something as simple as a slit throat like in canon. Instead, he's mauled to death by Ghost.
• Cruel Mercy: After his failed alliance with the Boltons, Viserys is left in a cell at Winterfell to rot.
• Darkest Hour: While the story has plenty of low points for the heroes, the absolute lowest comes in Chapter 92, when the Night King transforms Daenerys into the Night Queen, and kills Jon.
• Dawn of an Era: The War of the Four Kings, The Emperor's War and the Second War for the Dawn shook up Planetos greatly, but it also opened the door to create a new era of unity and prosperity. With the return of Dragons, The reestablishment of House Targaryen, the ascendency of House Stark, the destruction of the Slave Masters, and the reorganization of the old great houses, a New Age of Freedom, Friendship, Peace, Love and Brotherhood is coming forth.
• Dead Guy Junior:
  • Daenerys names her twins by Jon after Arya and Rhaegar. They name their second son after Benjen.
  • Robb and Margaery name their first son after Jon, and the second after Eddard.
  • Arya names her first son after Sandor.
  • Meera names her and Bran's son after Bran in honor of his memory.
• Death by Adaptation:
  • Hoster Tully dies during early Season 3 of the show. Here he dies shortly before the first chapter coinciding with the pilot episode, as Edmure is mentioned to be Lord Paramount.
  • Stannis Baratheon is killed by The Mountain before Ned Stark.
  • Loras Tyrell is killed by The Mountain at the Battle of the Blackwater and Mace Tyrell is killed at Bitterbridge.
  • Daario is killed by Jon in King's Landing, after betraying the Targaryens to Joffrey.
  • Lord Glover falls during the Battle of Last Hearth.
  • Lord Royce, Tormund, and Bran fall during the Battle of Winterfell.
• Destination Defenestration: When Tywin returns to King's Landing following Joffrey's regime's disastrous loss at Riverrun, he expresses his displeasure by taking Joffrey's chief military advisor Amory Lorch and tossing him out a window to his death.
• Diabolus ex Machina: When it looks like Ned and Stannis managed to outsmart Cersei and confine Joffrey, Littlefinger summons The Mountain to King's Landing to free Joffrey, leading to Stannis's death and Ned's execution.
• Dies Differently in Adaptation:
  • Khal Drogo is killed along with the other Dothraki Khals in chapter 10, which not only allows Dany to gain control of the khalasar, but also hatch her dragon eggs.
  • Sort of. Oberyn Martell is killed by a horrible blow to the head, but is stabbed through the head instead of it being crushed.
  • Myranda isn't thrown off of Winterfell's walls by Theon. Instead, she lasts long enough to get incinerated by Daenerys and her dragons when they have their Big Damn Heroes moment.
  • Doreah dies loyal in the attack on Dragonstone by the Ironborn rather than being sealed in a vault for betraying Daenerys.
  • Myrcella isn't poisoned by the Sand Snakes here. Instead, she's burned alive with wildfire as a Human Sacrifice.
  • Pycelle isn't stabbed to death by "little birds" but is rather beheaded by Ilyn Payne for trying to help Jaime.
  • Instead of being crushed with bricks, Cersei is shot with a crossbow by Jaime.
  • Joffrey lives for years longer because Olenna is never in a position to poison him (and Littlefinger has no reason to double-cross him), but then he's gutted by Arya and eaten by Edderon.
  • Viserys isn't killed with molten gold. Instead, he's decapitated in the royal reparation trials.
  • Tywin survives several years longer because Tyrion flees King's Landing without killing him. Instead, he's executed by the restored Crown.
  • Varys isn't burned alive by Drogon here. Instead, he is attacked and killed by the Waif when he realizes that Littlefinger instigated Robert's Rebellion.
  • Maester Aemon is still alive well past the point of his death in canon. Until he eventually sacrifices himself to resurrect Jon.
  • Sandor Clegane dies in the Battle of Last Hearth taking down a White Walker rather than die fighting his brother. Until it turns out he's Not Quite Dead.
• Disc-One Final Boss: The Villain Team-Up of Ramsay and Viserys. They're the first major antagonists that Jon and Daenerys take on, but are defeated in Chapter 26 of what turns out to be an over 100-chapter story. For the rest, the plot is driven by the heroes' conflicts with Joffrey and the Night King.
• Disney Death: Sandor Clegane seemingly dies during the Battle of Last Hearth, but miraculously survives.
• Disney Villain Death: The Waif falls down a pit to her death in her final fight with Arya.
• Doomed by Canon: Ned Stark, Talisa, Ygritte, Oberyn Martell.
• Door Stopper: At final count, the story is 547,044 words long.
• The Dragon: The Waif to Littlefinger, as his personal assassin and instrument of sowing chaos.
• Dragon-in-Chief: Ramsay Bolton to Viserys Targaryen; Viserys has the name, Ramsay has the manpower. When Ramsay is defeated by Jon and Daenerys, Viserys is left in a cell to rot until he's eventually executed nonchalantly.
• Dragon Rider: Daenerys, of course, with Jon also starting to do it after Rhaegal is drawn to him, and with them later teaching their children to do it too. The Night King becomes one as well after he raises the dragon of Azor Ahai, Vhalthrax, who died during the Long Night.
• Dying Clue: Varys, bleeding out from a stab wound inflicted by the Waif, sees a raven nearby that Bran is using and says "The Mad King" to reveal a final piece of information: Littlefinger persuaded the Mad King to burn Rickard and Brandon Stark.
• Dying Moment of Awesome:
  • Theon stabs Euron, stopping him from killing Jon and giving Jon the opportunity to kill his enemy. But this left Theon open to Euron fatally wounding him.
  • Randyll Tarly has a Mutual Kill with a giant, stabbing him through the heart just before he manages to smack Randyll hard enough to rupture his organs and fatally wound him.
  • Barristan Selmy and Thoros go down side-by-side, holding the line against Joffrey's forces in order to buy time for Jon's team to begin their plan to incite an uprising in King's Landing.
  • Grenn and his squad get an even more awesome moment than in canon, as rather than holding Castle Black's tunnel against a single giant, they hold it against an entire swarm of wights (including a giant).
  • During the White Walkers' attack on Castle Black, a nameless soldier, already seriously wounded, tackles a group of wights, managing to stab one in the heart with dragonglass even as he and the whole group tumble off the top of the Wall.
  • During the Battle of Winterfell, Edd is mortally wounded by Grenn's wight while trying to ignite a trench full of wildfire. With the last of his strength, he grabs the wight and drags him into the trench with his torch, incinerating them both as the wildfire ignites.
  • Benjen sacrificing himself to fuel the spell that Bran uses to free Daenerys from the Night King's control.
  • As the defenders retreat into Winterfell castle, Mag Mar covers them, single-handedly holding the line and managing to kill both a giant wight and the White Walker controlling it before being overwhelmed.
  • Fatally stabbed by a wight as Winterfell's defenses are breached, Tormund still manages to fire a dragonglass cannon at a wight giant, and then uses the last of his energy to drop a torch into a chest of gunpowder, blowing up the wights who overrun him moments later.
  • Bran allows himself to be run through by the Night King, as it gets him close enough to reach in and rip out the Night King's dragonglass core, rendering him vulnerable to Jon's attacks and stripping him of his Resurrective Immortality.
  • Melisandre saves Dany from a White Walker's attack, getting impaled in her place. Then she triggers a magical Suicide Attack, incinerating the Walker and every wight for twenty feet.
• The Emperor / The High Queen: Jon and Daenerys are eventually declared Emperor and Empress of the Targaryen Empire, which claims all of Westeros and New Valyria (the former Slaver's Bay).
• Even Evil Has Standards: Sandor doesn't believe in cruelty for the sake of cruelty, and makes a point that whenever he kills someone, he makes sure to make it quick.
• Evil Uncle: Viserys tried to kill Daenerys' children while they were infants. Even when he's been rendered impotent in a cell, he still tries to hurt them.
• Face Death with Dignity:
  • Unlike her show version, Cersei merely remarks that she was wrong about the Valonqar prophecy and tells Jaime to kill her.
  "Do it."
  • Tywin simply tells Jon to execute him quickly.
• Face–Heel Turn: Daario turns on Daenerys and joins forces with Joffrey.
• Famous Ancestor: Soryn Targaryen, the first Dragon Rider, became Azor Ahai, while the first Stark lord, Marden, became the Night King.
• Fate Worse than Death: Bran describes Daenerys becoming the Night Queen as this.
• Fighting from the Inside: Daenerys is shown to be resisting the corruption of the Night Queen.
• Final Battle: There are several climatic battles, for each major storyline.
  • The Battle of the Coastroad is the final confrontation between the Targaryen Empire's forces in Essos and the Slavers Alliance.
  • The Battle of King's Landing ends the war between the Targaryen Empire and Joffrey's regime.
  • The Battle of Winterfell is the final showdown between the forces of the living and the White Walkers.
• Fingore: Ned cuts off two of Gregor's fingers during the attempted escape from King's Landing, but it does little to slow him down.
• Fix Fic: One of the goals later in the story is to rectify all the problems that the author had with Season 7 and especially Season 8 of the show.
• Flaming Sword:
  • Naturally, Lightbringer is repeatedly mentioned. Longclaw, which along with Saracen was reforged from it after the Long Night, becomes this as well after Jon's second resurrection (as it had been tempered in his blood by the Night King).
  • During the Battle of Winterfell, Melisandre causes the weapons wielded by the cavalry — both Westerosi and Dothraki — to ignite right before they charge.
  • The Night King is capable of igniting his glaive with blue ice flames.
• For Want Of A Nail:
  • The Karstarks encountered blight on their lands, resulting in a year's worth of crops being destroyed. Because it's too late in the season to grow more, Ned has to go to Pentos to negotiate for more grain, and he has Jon accompany him, where he meets Daenerys. Everything snowballs from this particular nail.
  • Daenerys ends up leaving Pentos with Ned and Jon, spending a month in Winterfell disguised as a servant. When Viserys tries to stop her from escaping, she ends up burning his hand with a hot coal.
  • As a result of the voyage to Pentos, Ned begins his plot to restore the Targaryens to power with Benjen's help, enlisting Jorah Mormont as his agent in the Dothraki camp and getting Barristan Selmy to serve as Dany's protector in Essos, as well as telling Catelyn the truth about Jon's parentage.
  • Because Daenerys is taught to wield a sword by Jon and Barristan, she is able to kill Khal Drogo and trap the Khals in their tent (as in canon), both hatching her dragons and taking full control of the Dothraki.
  • Ned summons Stannis to King's Landing to help with the incest situation. Because Stannis is killed by the Mountain, Renly leads the Battle of the Blackwater, where he is killed by a shadow.
  • Olly, who is part of the turncloak Watchmen who murder Jon Snow in the show, is not among them, as he was present at the Hardhome Massacre. He is now Jon's squire.
• Forgiveness:
  • Discussed between Dany and Jon, especially in regards to Catelyn. While they can never fully let go of what she did, they both admit that her contrition more than gives her leeway to be part of their conquest.
  • The same kind of honest realignment is why they decide to give Jaime a chance to fight on the wall and keep his titles.
• The Friend Nobody Likes:
  • None of the Bolton forces, including Ramsay himself, like Viserys at all. They only tolerate him because they can use him to claim the Iron Throne.
  • As a result of his House's actions, Tommen is not well-liked among the populace.
• A God Am I: Seven freaking Hells. Joffrey is even more insane than he was in canon.
• God-Emperor: Joffrey becomes God King after he helps prop up the Faith Militant.
• Godzilla Threshold: The fallout of the War of the Four Kings lead to this being crossed a couple times.
  • Tyene Sand, one of the last bastards of Oberyn, so hated what her cousin did for the Lannisters after the sack of Dorne, she decided to bend the knee to the reborn House Targaryen despite her house's motto.
  • During the battle with the Night's King, Jon at one point had his dragon pull a move to save its life though it threw him off its back.
• Green-Eyed Monster: Daario is jealous that Jon won over Dany, which plays a part in his betrayal.
• Hand Blast: Bran can do this when channeling his full magic power.
• Happily Married: Dany and Jon, oh so very much. Also Robb and Margaery, Arya and Gendry, Sansa and Podrick, and Rhaegar and Arya.
• Heel–Face Turn:
  • After ensuring Renly's demise, Melisandre (with some prompting from Davos) turns on Joffrey and helps Margaery and Olenna escape from the Reach before Joffrey has the Reach subjugated.
  • Jaime turns on Joffrey to protect Tommen later on in the story, and gets Bronn to defect to Jon and Daenerys as well.
• Hegemonic Empire: Jon and Daenerys eventually establish the Targaryen Empire, which lays claim to all of Westeros, the former Slaver's Bay (which is rechristened New Valyria), and the Dothraki Sea. During the epilogue, they reclaim the True North (thanks to the Free Folk returning to their lands and pledging loyalty) and then use a combination of negotiation and coercion to turn the Free Cities and Naath into vassal states/protectorates, spreading the empire's influence across much of the known world.
• Heroic Sacrifice:
  • Aemon lets himself be ritualistically killed by the Red Priests so that Jon can be resurrected after being killed by the Night King.
  • During the Battle of Winterfell, Benjen rips out the dragonglass core keeping him alive, sacrificing himself so that Bran can use its magic to free Daenerys from being the Night Queen.
  • Mag Mar singlehandedly holds the line as Winterfell's defenders retreat into the castle.
• Heroic Second Wind: Daenerys's arrival at the Battle of the Bastards revitalized Rhaegal and got him breathing fire again.
• High-Altitude Battle: The Battle of Winterfell features a dragon battle, with the Night King taking on Jon and Daenerys who are then joined by their children.
• History Repeats: 8000 years ago, the earliest Targaryens visited Westeros and met the first Starks, whom they intermarried with. They then allied to defeat a mad god-king in preparation for the Long Night. All of this eerily reflects what happens in the story's present day. Further, the male Stark, Marden, became the Night King, and the male Targaryen, Soryn, became Azor Ahai. And now Jon seem posed to repeat the latter's actions to defeat the former.
• Hoist by His Own Petard: During the Battle of Highgarden, the heavy fog that Tywin thought would mask the weakness of the Heights of Luthor instead masked the Imperial march on them, enabling Jon to take the Heights before Tywin can react, ultimately sealing the battle for the Imperial forces.
• Hope Bringer: Jon's arrival at Winterfell just before the Final Battle after previously being killed and resurrected fills the despairing defenders with hope and the Night King with dread and rage.
• Hope Spot: A villainous example. While Littlefinger is on trial, Daenerys thanks him for his help in taking King's Landing and pardons him...for the murder of Lysa Arryn. There is more than enough still for him to be found guilty and sentenced to death.
• Human Sacrifice: Joffrey has Myrcella burned alive in an attempt to curse Jon. Of course, this turns out to be a Senseless Sacrifice as it fails to kill Jon because Myrcella lacks any royal blood.
  • Soryn Targaryen extremely reluctantly sacrifices his wife Serena Stark at her insistence to forge the blade Lightbringer, the sword needed to kill the Night King, his brother-in-law, Marden Stark.
• I Did What I Had to Do: Melisandre is unapologetic about killing Renly, citing that it had to be done for the sake of justice.
• Ignored Expert: Tywin shuts down Jaime's advice about the Targaryen taking of Highgarden and gets caught in their trap in the process.
• I Have No Son!:
  • Viserys denounces Jon, Daenerys and their children as his kin before being executed. Of course, earlier in the story, as punishment for his crimes with Ramsay, Dany stripped him of his legitimacy, leaving him a bastard.
  • Tywin does the same when Tyrion makes one last plea to him to ask for mercy rather than going through a Trial by Combat.
• I Have Your Wife: The Night King takes Leaf prisoner and threatens to kill her in order to make her lover Zilas repeat the ceremony that created him on Daenerys, turning her into the Night Queen.
• In Spite of a Nail:
  • Jon is still killed by the Night's Watch mutineers, and then magically resurrected. Though the way it's done here also hatches three dragon eggs for him.
  • As in the show, Roose Bolton is killed by his own son Ramsay.
  • Ramsay meets the same fate he did in the show.
  • The Night King still gets a dragon wight. It is just not one of Daenerys' dragons.
  • Oberyn Martell is still killed, triggering Ellaria to launch a coup in Dorne. The Lannister forces end the coup, killing almost all but Tyene among the Sand Snakes.
  • Littlefinger is put on trial by Sansa and executed.
• Insult of Endearment: Arya likes to call Gendry an idiot. Later in The Mystery Knight, Princess Saera likes to call her cousin Jon Stark (whom she likes) an idiot as well.
• Internal Reveal: After he returns to the North from Pentos, Ned reveals to Catelyn that Jon is Rhaegar's son.
• Interrupted Intimacy: Jon does this to Robb and Margaery.
• Irony:
  • In canon, the High Sparrow was killed by a wildfire explosion. Here, he uses wildfire to sacrifice Myrcella.
  • Joffrey, while mortally wounded by Arya, is finished off by Eddarion, the dragon named after Ned Stark, whom he had executed.
• Katanas Are Just Better: For her wedding to Khal Drogo, Jon gives Daenerys a Valyrian Steel katana. Justified because Daenerys doesn't have the necessary musculature to wield a longsword.
• Kick the Dog: Tywin tells Jaime that Kevan has more initiative in his right hand than Jaime does in his entire body, which stings especially as Jaime lost his hand to a man loyal to Tywin.
• Laser Blade: Bran creates one from his magic during the Battle of Winterfell.
• Laser-Guided Karma: The Faith of the Seven supports Joffrey to spread their influence; but once Joffrey is overthrown, the Faith is permanently discredited and their followers convert either to the Lord of Light or the Old Gods.
• Last of His Kind: Arya becomes the last of the Faceless Men after Jon wipes out the rest in retaliation for the assassination attempt on his family.
• Last Stand: The defenders at the Battle of Winterfell acknowledge that win or lose, their war with the dead will end there.
• Living Relic: Olenna Tyrell becomes one for the older political order in the sequel story. She's well over 100 and, since her great-grandson hasn't come of age yet, she still runs the Reach since her daughter is now Lady of Winterfell.

• Luke, I Am Your Father:
  • "Jon, I am not your father" — Rhaegar Targaryen is your dad.
  • For a more villainous and more distantly related example, the Night King turns out to have been Marden Stark, the first lord of House Stark.
• Made a Slave: Joffrey, under Littlefinger's manipulations, enslaves thousands of smallfolk by inventing Westerosi serfdom.
• The Man Behind the Man: Ramsay is behind the Night's Watch mutiny where Jon is killed.
• Manipulative Bastard: Petyr Baelish, even more so than in canon (which is saying something). Late in the story, it's revealed that he persuaded King Aerys that Rickard and Brandon Stark were trying to kill him, which caused Robert's Rebellion.
• Maybe Magic, Maybe Mundane:
  • The Ned Stark that Dany sees in her dream drops hints about Jon being the son of Lyanna, something that Dany has no reason to even suspect at that point.
  • It's unclear if the ghostly Robert Baratheon that appears to Joffrey from time to time is a hallucination or Robert's actual ghost.
• Mercy Kill: Arya kills Jaqen H'Gar so he won't experience the "fire and blood" coming after the failed assassination attempt on Daenerys.
• Mythology Gag: The sequel The Mystery Knight shares a title with the third Tales of Dunk and Egg.
• Natural Spotlight: During Jon's Rousing Speech at the Final Battle, a beam of sunlight breaks through the gloom and storm clouds to dramatically highlight Longclaw which has become Lightbringer.
• Never Mess with Granny: Olenna Tyrell, as per canon, is a force to be reckoned with despite her age. By the time of The Mystery Knight she's pushing 100 and still sharp as ever.
• Never My Fault: After the Battle of the Bastards, Viserys and Ramsay are yelling at each other in their cells about whose fault it is.
• Nice Job Breaking It, Hero: Ned's notes are used to find and kill King Robert's bastards.
• Nice Job Fixing It, Villain:
  • Ramsay and Viserys trying to have Jon killed may have temporarily left him dead, but Melisandre's talents not only resurrect Jon, they give birth to more dragons and released Jon from the Watch, allowing him to go after the two, bringing their plans to an end.
  • Joffrey sacrificing Myrcella in an attempt to kill Jon leads Dany to fly beyond the wall to rescue Jon's group, ensuring the group's survival while also exposing her to the Others — something Dany previously did not believe existed.
  • The Night King stabbing Jon with Longclaw is actually what creates Lightbringer, enabling Jon to kill him.
• Nom de Mom: Robb and Margarey's second son, Eddard, is set to take the Tyrell name and control of Highgarden upon reaching his majority, in order to revitalize that House. Also Brandon Reed, the son of Brandon Stark and Meera Reed.
• Not His Sled: Arya's big moment from canon of killing the Night King is repeated in Chapter 92, except in this story, the Night King is immune to Valyrian steel and therefore does not die when stabbed.
• No-Holds-Barred Beatdown: Jon remembers that Robb beat Theon to a pulp two years before the story when he hit a woman.
• No-Sell: Valyrian steel has no effect on the Night King.
• Not-So-Harmless Villain: During the confrontation with the Mountain in Chapter 11, Joffrey stabs Stannis with a dagger, leaving him open to be killed by the Mountain.
• Offscreen Moment of Awesome: At some point prior to The Mystery Knight, Rhaegar and Arya led the Empire's forces in eliminating a Second Kingswood Brotherhood.
• Oh, Crap!: Ned when he sees Jon and Daenerys' relationship.
  • Prior to that, Ned has one the second he sees (and recognizes) Daenerys.
  • Rather like in the show, what turns out to be Littlefinger's trial quickly becomes an ever-increasing amount of this trope for the latter, particularly when Daenerys promises to pardon him, but then only does so for the death of Lysa Arryn.
• One-Steve Limit: Averted, as we have both Arya Stark and Arya Targaryen.
• The One Thing I Don't Hate About You: Viserys says that Jon did one thing right for Daenerys: improving her posture.
• O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Varys knows something is up when he sees Littlefinger speaking to an elderly washerwoman, since Littlefinger typically uses prostitutes as spies. It turns out that said washerwoman was Littlefinger's assassin The Waif, who fatally wounds Varys.
• Original Character: Ser Theodisyus Caryn, Barristan Selmy's nephew. Of course, when the author rewrote much of the story, he was phased out with Barristan taking over most of his part.
• Out-Gambitted: Like in canon, Sansa turns Littlefinger's sham trial of Arya on him, exposing all his crimes before all of Westeros' lords and sentencing him to death.
  • Seventeen chapters previously, Jon outwits the Lannisters at Highgarden when he deliberately leaves the strategically important Heights of Luthor unmanned, then takes out the green Lannister bannermen that hold the hill.
• Outliving One's Offspring:
  • Olenna Tyrell outlives her son Mace and grandson Loras.
  • Catelyn Stark outlives Bran due to his death in the Final Battle.
  • By the Final Battle, Tommen is the only one of Jaime's children still alive thanks to Myrcella being burned alive and Joffrey's death when Jon and Daenerys took King's Landing.
  • Tywin Lannister outlives Cersei, Myrcella, and Joffrey.
  • As in the show, Howland Reed outlives his son Jojen after his death in the Final Battle.
• Patchwork Kids: Jon and Daenerys' children Rhaegar and Arya are a mix of Northern and Valyrian traits; Rhaegar has dark hair and purple eyes and Arya is silver-haired with grey eyes.
• Politically Incorrect Villain: Viserys insults Jon over being a bastard several times. He also makes all kinds of disparaging remarks about women when degrading Daenerys for her gender.
  "You may kill me, but you will always be a bastard."
• Powder Keg Crowd: Exploited with how the Imperials take King's Landing - by cutting off food and other supplies, and with help from a number of Brotherhood Without Banners agents and Priests of R'hollor to preach to the slaves and smallfolk and Jon and several others disguising themselves as rebellious slaves, they spark up a massive riot in the city that overwhelms Joffrey's forces and allows them to take the city without getting the dragons involved.
• Precision F-Strike: After Ned and Stannis realize that Robert's children are actually bastards, all Stannis can muster in response is "Well fuck".
• Pregnant Badass:
  • Arya fights at Last Hearth and Winterfell, knowing she's pregnant at the time, and is just as fierce as always.
  • Meera Reed is pregnant by the time the Battle of Winterfell occurs.
• Profane Last Words: Stannis Baratheon says "Fucking bastard!" before The Mountain busts open his head.
• Prophecy Twist:
  • The prophecy Joffrey receives refers to the son of his predecessor, which he assumed was his predecessor as king, but actually referred to his predecessor as Crown Prince (Rhaegar).
  • Cersei always thought that Tyrion would kill her, and never imagined that Jaime would be the one to kill her. She lampshades it right when Jaime's about to kill her.
  • After being killed by the Night King, Jon learns that he was given an incorrect prophecy about Azor Ahai and the creation of Lightbringer.
• Public Secret Message: Sansa while interrogating her sister Arya is able to get a coded message to her that she does not believe the accusations she is leveling against her and is just putting on a show.
• Pursued Protagonist: Tyene Sand opens Chapter 27 being chased by Lannister soldiers.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Ned gives a short one to Viserys about what his father Aerys II did to the Starks.
  "My family, Prince Viserys, were loyal subjects of House Targaryen. However, when my brother and father pleaded with King Aerys about my sister, and he responded by burning one alive and strangling the other to death. My oath to him died on that day, and I can tell just by looking at you that you share his honor. More accurately the lack of it."
• Red Baron:
  • In Essos, Ned is apparently known as the "Wolf of the Trident".
  • Bran earns the nickname "The Raven".
  • Tywin gains the nickname "The Doom of Dorne" for his campaign through Dorne.
• Red Right Hand: One of Viserys' hands is burned by hot coals during Jon and Daenerys's escape from Illyrio's estate.
• Redeeming Replacement: Gendry becomes this for House Baratheon.
• Religion of Evil: The Faith Militant under Joffrey. Sacrificed an innocent child, his sister, by immolation.
• Resurrective Immortality: It turns out that this is how the Night King returned after being defeated 8000 years ago, as the magic which created him caused him to regenerate in the Land of Always Winter. Bran ripping out his dragonglass core during the Final Battle strips this magic from him, making it possible to permanently kill him.
• Retcon: Originally, Jon forged the Valyrian steel katana Saracen for Daenerys. Later, the author realized that there were several things about this which did not work, so it was rewritten that rather than forging the sword himself, Jon received it from Kinvara.
• Revenge by Proxy: When Tyene Sand is called to Trial by Combat against Gregor, Sandor admits he's okay with not being the one to do the job, so long as Tyene uses his knife to do the deed.
• Rousing Speech:
  • While most of the other defending commanders at the Battle of Last Hearth use simple battle cries, Jaime gives an actual, if brief, speech to the Westerlands forces under his command as they prepare to face the Army of the Dead.
  "See those, you cunts?! They think they can stop us. But they fucking won't! We are men of the Westerlands! We are Lions! We are Boars! We are Spears, and Firetrees, and the fucking Sun itself! When we roar, the very rocks tremble! So let the fucking dead in the Seven Hells themselves hear us roar!"
  • Jon gives an absolutely epic one just before the Battle of Winterfell:
  Jon: Men and Women of Westeros! Hear me! My name is Jaehearys Targaryen, Third of my Name, Emperor of the Targaryen Empire! But my name was not always this. I was once Jon Snow... the lowly and ashamed bastard of Winterfell. I came from nothing but shame and darkness, shunned by all as a stain on my great father’s name. I came from this nothing, arose from a baseborn bastard to find myself before you all. The United Men and Women of the North, South, East and West. Of Westeros, Essos, North of the Wall and from lands unseen by many that live. The greatest army in the history of the world! An Army that I am honored to fight alongside!

  Today, I stand before you not as a King or an Emperor, not as a bastard or a highborn. I stand before you as a son of these lands, both North and South. The brother of the finest family I could ever know. The father of three beautiful children! The husband of the greatest woman I have ever known! And a free Man!

  Look at it, men and women of the living! The King of Death and his undead monsters before you wish to make slaves of us all, to destroy our civilization and all we love and cherish. To extinguish all life upon this world... but you know what? FUCK THEM! We will hold this fucking ground before us! Channel the spirits of warriors long dead. Of the Age of Heroes. Of the Conquest! Of the Liberation!

  There may come a time. A time where all life in this world will lay dead. Where men betray their trust in their lands and the gods above, when laws and oaths meant nothing and the age of men comes crashing into dust. BUT IT IS NOT THIS DAY! This day I ask you all... My Brothers! My Sisters! To follow me into the Darkness, one last time! To fight the abominations that would erase all light and hope from this world! I bid you stand as Free Peoples. As proud warriors, as Fathers, as Mothers, as Sons and Daughters! Together, we will bring the dawn!
• Screw Destiny: Davos tells Jon as much, in much more crude language ("fuck prophecy", to be precise), regarding the prophecy which states that he'll have to kill Daenerys to defeat the Night King. Robb backs this, and Jon comes around to believing that he can defy the prophecy. It later turns out that the prophecy didn't involve Daenerys's death.
• Second Love: Margaery Tyrell to Robb Stark.
• Seduction-Proof Marriage: A Targaryen family tradition for both females and males to have lovers on the side is brought up independently to both Dany and Jon and both independently show utter disgust at being with someone besides each other.
• Shout-Out:
  • The opening of Chapter 25 features Ramsay Bolton at a feast talking about sports, then beating one of the guests to death with a stick. This scene was later written out.
  • The entire story arc of Joffrey becoming an insane God-Emperor, especially its climax, turns into a take on 10,000 BC.
  • The concept of the Long Night being caused by a magic comet was apparently based on Sozin's Comet.
  • Sandor's Pre-Mortem One-Liner to the White Walker he kills just before his own death is to call it "one ugly motherfucker".
  • A portion of Jon's Rousing Speech before the Battle of Winterfell is based on Aragorn's speech before the Black Gate. And the battle itself is inspired by the climax of Avengers: Endgame, with the Night King's mocking banter with Jon before their personal duel being heavily inspired by Thanos' towards the Avengers.
• Small Role, Big Impact: Kinvara has only a spattering of appearances, but in each one, she gives or does an important thing that will ensure growth and change in the world.
• Someone to Remember Him By: Bran dies during the Final Battle, but reveals that he knows Meera is pregnant with their child.
• Sorting Algorithm of Evil: Viserys and Ramsay—Joffrey—The Night King.
• Spared by the Adaptation:
  • Daenerys' children aren't stillborn, and all her dragons survive.
  • Catelyn and Robb survive the Red Wedding. Catelyn is captured, but Robb escapes northward.
  • Both Olenna and Margaery Tyrell are spared their fates (suicide by poison and death by wildfire respectively) because they don't go to King's Landing.
  • Shae avoids her canonical fate because Joffrey is not poisoned; therefore she is not called to testify and Tyrion escapes King's Landing with her.
  • Tyene Sand is the lead remaining Sand Snake, thanks to the Dornish rebellion against the Lannisters playing out differently.
  • Rickon is saved by Jon during the Battle of the Bastards.
  • Because he never succeeds Joffrey as king, Tommen never becomes such a political pawn that he commits suicide to escape it.
  • Because of her parents' earlier deaths, Shireen is still alive as they never sacrificed her.
  • As Olly never betrays Jon, he is still alive as well.
  • Thanks to Jon arriving on Rhaegal in time to rescue their group at the Three-Eyed Raven's cave, Leaf, Hodor and Jojen all survive. Though Jojen and Hodor eventually fall during the Battle of Winterfell.
  • Thanks to the wildlings not attacking Castle Black and the Battle of the Bastards happening differently, Mag Mar and Wun Wun are both still alive. Mag eventually dies at Winterfell.
  • The Waif managed to avoid getting killed by Arya in Braavos, and continues to hound her until she makes an attempt on Daenerys' life.
  • Dontos Hollard spends much more time as a jester, and eventually receives Duskendale after Daenerys and Jon take King's Landing.
  • Missandei is never captured and executed by the Lannisters.
  • Jorah and Lyanna Mormont survive the Battle of Winterfell.
  • Sandor Clegane never fights his brother, and thus lives on.
  • Dickon Tarly is never executed by Daenerys.
  • As Daenerys never went Mad Queen, she survives the story.
  • Robar Royce isn't killed by Brienne. Instead, he succeeds his father Bronze Yohn as Lord Royce, as shown in The Mystery Knight.
• Spirit Advisor: A ghostly Robert Baratheon appears to Joffrey from time to time. Whether it is real or a symptom of his madness is unclear.
• The Spymaster: Varys, as per canon. By the time of The Mystery Knight, Arya has succeeded him in the position.
• Stealth Hi/Bye: Happens to Arya twice in succession in chapter 106: first when Leaf departs for the Isle of Faces and second when Sandor Clegane shows up, wishing that Arya could disappear like that.
• Take That!:
  • When planning the defenses at Winterfell in chapter 97 against the White Walkers, it is suggested that the civilians take shelter in the crypts (as was done in canon). Bronn laughs this off, saying that only dumbasses would do this when facing off with an enemy that can raise the dead.
  • In Something About Dragonstone, Dany has dreams about succumbing to her father's madness and burning all before her (essentially, the end of Season 8). Missandei says that that is ridiculous, as only an idiot would believe that possible of her.
• Tantrum Throwing: When Viserys hears that Ned and Jon are in Pentos, he picks up a wooden object and throws it at the wall.
• The Dog Bites Back: The enslaved populace of King's Landing revolts against the oppressive regime of Joffrey.
• This Cannot Be!:
  • Viserys has a meltdown when his and Ramsay's forces lose the Battle of the Bastards, especially at the sight of Daenerys and her dragons pulling a Big Damn Heroes and helping the Starks reclaim Winterfell.
  • Joffrey has this reaction upon seeing the person who stabbed him is Arya, who he thought was dead.
  • The Night King gets this twice during the Battle of Winterfell, first when the previously dead Jon shows up, and then upon seeing that Daenerys has been freed from his control.
• Throw the Dog a Bone: After Jon and Daenerys take King's Landing, Dontos Hollard receives Duskendale.
• Together in Death: After the Night King is killed, the spirit of Marden Stark is reunited with his wife and other loved ones in the afterlife.
• Took a Level in Badass: Thanks to some training from the Warlock of Quarth, Bran the Broken goes from a simple repository of the Three-Eyed Raven's powers to a full-on Military Mage.
• Trauma Conga Line: Arya gets it bad, despite her own will. First, there's the regular stuff of having to escape from her father being executed, surviving with Gendry and The Hound, and thinking her family wiped out before long thanks to the Red Wedding and the bigger happenings in the world. Then when she returns to the family, she tries to turn things around, but she's then captured in a sneak attack on Dragonstone, spends months in a slave pit, has to fight off her old organization several times, gets wrongly accused of attempting the assassinations the faceless men tried, and ends up being the human who finds Jon dead.
• Trial by Combat: Tywin demands one after being captured by Jon and Daenerys, with the Mountain as his champion. The Imperials put forward Tyene Sand, who defeats him, with Tywin being executed immediately afterwards.
• Truer to the Text: In the books, Jeyne Poole, disguised as Arya, is given to the Boltons by the Lannisters to keep the Northern lords under control. In the show, Sansa is given to the Boltons by Littlefinger without input from the Lannisters. Here, the Lannisters give Sansa to the Boltons as part of a deal to keep the Northern lords under control.
• Try to Fit That on a Business Card: Daenerys racks up even more titles than in canon, and Jon gains plenty of his own after being anointed Emperor.
  • Daenerys' list of titles is: Daenerys Stormborn of House Targaryen-Stark, first of her name. Empress of the Targaryen Empire, Queen of the Andals, the Roynar, and First Men. Lady of Westeros and Queen in the North. Queen of New Valyria. Khaleesi of the Great Grass Sea. Mother of Dragons, Breaker of Chains, the Princess Who Was Promised. The Unburnt, Valyria Reborn. Joint Protector of the Pax Targaryana and Ruler of All She Surveys.
  • Jon's list of titles is: Jon Imperator of House Stark-Targaryen, first of his name. Emperor of the Targaryen Empire. King in the North, Riverlands, and Vale. Lord of Westeros and Defender of the Valyrian People. Father of Dragons and Prince who was Promised. The Unburnt, the Resurrected. The White Wolf, the Dragonwolf. Friend of the Free Folk and Joint Protector of the Pax Targaryana.
• Twincest: In addition to the canonical Jaime and Cersei, Something About Dragonstone confirms that Rhaegar and Arya end up in love with each other. Since they're Targaryens, everyone just shrugs it off and they end up marrying at the end of The Mystery Knight.
• Villainous Breakdown:
  • As his regime collapses around him, Joffrey loses his remaining sanity and is reduced to a crying man child.
  • Littlefinger has a magnificent one when Sansa outwits him and turns what he thinks is Arya's trial into HIS trial.
  • When the Night King sees Jon arrive at the Battle of Winterfell, despite having previously been killed, his rage and fear at the sight causes him to snap, and he throws out all tactics in favor of having his forces just Zerg Rush the defenders to wipe them out for good.
• Villainous BSoD: Cersei has a terrible one when Myrcella is sacrificed by Joffrey.
• Villainous Crush: The Night King becomes obsessed with Daenerys upon seeing her, as she looks just like his long-dead wife.
• Villain Team-Up: Ramsay and Viserys team up because they don't like the Starks; Ramsay will help Viserys get his throne and get revenge on Jon Snow while Viserys will have Ramsay as his Hand and marry Daenerys off to him. Walder Frey also gets in on the act, pledging his support in exchange for increased power in their regime.
• Voluntary Vassal: During the epilogue, Jon and Dany use a mix of negotiation and threats to turn the Free Cities and Naath into client states/protectorates of the Targaryen Empire.
• War Elephants: The Golden Company makes use of them, as per canon. During the Battle of Winterfell, they supplement their regular elephants with mammoths from North of the Wall.
• Wham Episode:
  • Chapter 74 ("He is Not a God") - The war is over with the Imperial forces taking King's Landing and discrediting Joffrey's divinity, with Pycelle, Daario, Ilyn Payne, Cersei, and Joffrey all meeting their ends.
  • Chapter 92 ("The Night Queen") - the Night King forces Zilas to transform Daenerys into the Night Queen, and then kills Jon.
• What Happened to the Mouse?:
  • The High Sparrow's fate following the Imperials' capture of King's Landing is not mentioned.
  • With Gendry being legitimized, Shireen's place in the new Empire isn't made clear. It is mentioned that she's largely under Davos' care and does appear to be helping Gendry out, as she is shown attending his wedding to Arya.
• What the Hell, Hero?: Daenerys tears Catelyn a new one for how she acted towards Jon.
• Would Hurt a Child: Meryn Trant is put in charge of massacring King Robert’s bastards.
• Wrecked Weapon: Arya's sword Needle is broken during the Battle of Last Hearth. It's reforged with a Valyrian Steel blade by the epilogue.
• You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: After Zilas performs the ritual to turn Daenerys into the Night Queen, he is beheaded by the Others.
• Young Future Famous People: In one of his visions while training with the Three-Eyed Raven, Bran sees his distant ancestor and namesake Brandon the Builder as an infant. He notes how surreal it is to see the legendary figure like this.

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