#don't worry guys George is going to release the books so we won't have to speculate 🤪

[fromtheseventhhell]

The more I think on it I think the lack of the time skip may have affected how GRRM wanted to have the dynamic between Littlefinger and Sansa to play out. With the time skip we'd be coming back to an 18 year old Sansa who's had 5 years of either learning to be his protege, being under his manipulations, or secretly plotting against him. Without it we're coming back to a 13 year old Sansa newly traumatized by her aunt trying to kill her who's still figuring out how much she can and should trust the him. An 18 year old Sansa probably would've been in on the plan to resolve to be Sansa Stark and take North but now he has to restructure the plan for a younger Sansa, who ends up being a more passive party going along with what Littlefinger wants than a more active participant.

It actually does help a lot that we have access to a couple of different AFFC drafts. Sansa's the only character to have all her chapters in that book accounted for as early as October 2003 but the talk with Littlefinger at the end of Alayne II was still missing as of the June 2004 version. His dialogue about Cersei in GRRM's other note isn't an exact match to the published version either, he sounds more amused by how quickly she fucked things up for herself than saying she's overreached and will soon be done. GRRM hadn't even written the part where he explains Harry the Heir's role as her betrothed, but her next planned chapter is all about her needing to seduce him.

What actually seems to be new material is what he crossed out involving Sweetrobin and news from W(hite) H(arbor), along with killing the Mad Mouse (but were those two points crossed out because he pushed them out of the book or scrapped them in favor of focusing on Shadrich?) I definitely think GRRM is setting Sansa up as one of the driving conflicts involving the Stark succession crisis in TWOW with Littlefinger whispering in her ear about her deserving Winterfell and possible news of her siblings being fakes. Definitely the basis of the season 7 fight between Sansa and Arya came from GRRM, no matter how painfully poorly written it was. The question of who ends up ruling the North isn't compelling if it simply involves them all saying they don't want it and another sibling can have it, you need to have a least one who truly wants it and believes it's their right.

I wholeheartedly agree that the lack of a time skip changed the dynamic between LF and Sansa. If we'd had the time skip it would've allowed time for Sansa to grow + learn from her time with LF and we likely would've come back to her being more politically savvy and confident, which would've set the stage for her doing her own scheming. Instead, like you said, we have a Sansa who is (currently) going to be more passive in his plans. It's a little disappointing because that growth would've been interesting, but it seems like her development has taken a backseat to LF's planning. She could still have that development but it won't be anywhere as dramatic as it would've been because that's not how George develops his characters. With her TWOW sample chapter, it seems that her development will be dependent on when George wants to reveal LF's plan. When that comes out, we'll likely start to see Sansa becoming more active.

As for the other plot points in the outline, the crossed-out ones could still be on the table. Arya has a crossed-out point of "mercy at the gate" and "Mercy" is her opening in TWOW. SW "woos/weds" is very interesting to me and could signify a change in LF's plans. I don't believe that they're going to be a "driving force" for the Northern plot, I believe their actions will be reactionary, but I do think that whatever happens North will have an impact. LF believes that Sansa is the only Stark left to claim the Winterfell so that meant he could take his time (with the time skip he would've been waiting years); the exposure of Robb's will + four other Starks coming back into play will significantly change things and his timeline. We don't know what LF's real plans are but getting this news (from white harbor?) will affect what he's told Sansa and her feelings on the matter. She's going along with his plans because the idea of retaking Winterfell has been presented to her, and I can see her latching onto that. If Jon becomes King, which is very likely, it could lay the ground for conflict between them. While Sansa has been pretending to be a bastard she hasn't really confronted her classism or behavior towards him. We know that Arya and Sansa are going to have issues to work out, to whatever level, so I don't think it's impossible that other sibling conflicts will exist.

There are also the developments with the KL (southern?) plot to consider. With JonCon making trouble for the Lannister's + Tommen's reign facing problems he could try, or be forced, to interact with that plot. The Northern plot won't be the only thing to influence what's happening in the Vale, or LF's actions. His main goal probably wasn't ever to claim Winterfell, it was just a bonus to him having Sansa in his grasp. If things become too "active" there he might readjust his attention. There are a lot of different things that could impact the plot, some things that will only be introduced in TWOW, and ways the plot could play out so it's hard to say anything concrete about it.

#ask #anon #outline discussions #it's hard to have any concrete theories because there's just so much up in the air #love that people send me asks discussing book content like this though cause I love to talk about it #don't worry guys George is going to release the books so we won't have to speculate 🤪