A Fangirl's Exploration of a Game of Thrones Sequel

Many times it is good to delve deeply into a piece of fiction. This can be done to critique the work in question or to come up with theories for future installments in a series. In all cases if you're exploring a work in your free time, it should be done for fun.

Every now and again you need to think about a work of fiction just for fun. You don't need to worry about impressing other people. They will either like what you have to say or not. You just need to accept whatever turns out to be the case.

In this post I will talk about what a Game of Thrones sequel could entail. To make sure this fangirl rambling doesn't go on forever, I'll only focus on four characters.

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Daenerys Targaryen

There were a few things I didn't like about Daenerys' death scene in the final episode of Game of Thrones. The first was that we did not get enough time with Daenerys being mad. We only got a Hitler Speech and then she did nothing else of worth. Well, she did finally get to touch the Iron Throne after all this time. But after touching the Iron Throne she got killed by Jon Snow. Her reign had hardly begun before she died.

The second was that Drogon did not kill Jon for murdering his mother. After the episode aired many fans theorized that it was either Jon's Targaryen blood and/or Drogon realizing it was actually the lust for power that killed his mother. Once "The Iron Throne" was nominated for an Emmy, the script leaked. It was revealed in the script that Drogon burned the Iron Throne and not Jon just because.

In my revised version of the final episode, Daenerys warged into Drogon once her body died. I know in canon she is not a warg, but I warned you about having a good time in this post.

To some it might be clear how Daenerys Targaryen warging into Drogon solves the problem of Jon Snow not dying. But consider that the Mad Queen is furious that she died and wants Jon to suffer. She wants him to know his tormentor and scream her name as he dies. She knows well that if she is stuck in a body that can't talk he will be ignorant of her identity.

So she decides to wait until a later time to come after him. She decides to burn the Iron Throne so no one else can sit in the seat that her ancestors built. When that is done she picks up her body and flies away. She knows from conversations with Jon that the Red Priestesses can bring people back to life. While Daenerys is able to enter the mind of Drogon, she can't make a body become alive again.

So she flies to Essos where the Red Priestesses reside.

Daenerys Targaryen was the strongest when she was in Essos. This was most likely due to the fact that the continent thrives on strength, unlike Westeros which thrives on political maneuvering. Someone whose first response is to think about burning things, a longing Tyrion Lannister briefly stopped which saved the city of Meereen, would do well in a place where such strength was rewarded.

With that strength she impressed the Dothraki. While burning the Khals was something that could have been avoided, it was also the action that earned her the devotion of an entire people. Thus she was able to use their power to conquer Westeros and get the Iron Throne.
With that strength she was able to free the Unsullied who then devoted themselves to her. Their leader, Grey Worm, become utterly enchanted by the Targaryen Queen. Though that did not stop him from promising Missandei to go with her back to Naath if both survived.

It stands to reason, therefore, that once Daenerys was resurrected she would work on gathering both forces to her side again. Proving that she came back from the dead would, again, earn her the faith of the Dothraki. Grey Worm, of course, would flock to her side upon hearing about her resurrection. And, with him, the entire Unsullied army.

We're just going to pretend the butterflies don't exist.

Daenerys Targaryen would only be thinking of one thing this entire time: to kill Jon Snow in payment for killing her.

She would have no one to hold back her darker side this time. She would have no one warning her of poor strategies. And why should she fear anything? She came back from the dead once.

Fire and Blood would come to Westeros. And the continent would turn to ash.

Jorah Mormont

For everyone who hasn't read my Game of Thrones fic The Last Mormont, this probably seems wildly out of place. I ran a Twitter poll and most people haven't read my fic. I had three people respond and only one person had read it. Don't worry, I won't go over all of that fic and a lot does not have any importance here. I will only recount what has any relevance to this post.

In that fic Jon Snow told Jorah Mormont he could escape into Ghost's body if the old man's body died. This ended up working but the Mormont was stuck in that body and couldn't communicate with most people. Those he could, he communicated via telepathy. This had the drawback of people not simply hearing what he wanted them to, but also hearing thoughts he would have preferred to keep hidden.

Later on he discovers that he can go into different bodies and uses that ability for different purposes.

While he initially loathes the thought of spending his life in Ghost's body, he grows so found of it that the idea of becoming human forever doesn't seem that appealing to him.

Like in The Last Mormont, Jorah Mormont is able to get into Ghost's body. Unlike that fic, he does not have the telepathy ability. So while he and Jon both tried to convince Daenerys Targaryen it was him she did not believe them.

This hurt Jorah deeply as he had believed surviving the battle meant he would be free to serve the queen he had died for. That he had served for many years and done his best to make sure she grew into her full potential. Yet now she wouldn't believe he was him. This meant he would have to help her from afar.

Jorah Mormont accepts that he and Jon Snow can't convince Daenerys Targaryen who is really in Ghost's body. He resigns himself to this fate of being without a destiny, at least for a time. He plans to try and convince his queen who he is after the war. He figures that right now there are more important things than trying to convince her who he is. It hurts him to not be by her side as she heads to King's Landing, but he feels his place is in the North for now.
Tormund Giantsbane, who trusts Jon about Jorah's identity, is tasked with taking care of Jorah until the war is won. The unsaid fear among the two is that Daenerys will turn. The Mormont can't say anything but his reactions clearly indicate he believes the fear is unfounded.

This solves a big problem in Game of Thrones Season 8: Jon didn't pet Ghost because the direwolf is actually Jorah.

The reason Jon embraces Ghost in the finale is because both him and Jorah have endured so much with Daenerys Targaryen's death. In his own way, the Stark had loved Daenerys and circumstances had forced him to kill her. King's Landing had been burned and everyone there had been killed. After she had burned the city, the queen had threatened to do the same all over the world. The Targaryen had also threatened the lives of Jon's own family so killing her was the only way for Jon to ensure their safety.

To everyone who calls the Starks Jon's 'fake family': Family doesn't begin or end in blood. He was raised with them and they formed deep connections with each other over the years. Whereas he just recently met Daenerys Targaryen.

As for Jorah Mormont...he did not have to personally see the burning of King's Landing nor have to kill his love, but he had to endure the news. He had to endure the woman he had fought and died for didn't fulfill the destiny he had seen for her. He knew she had darkness inside, but he was always of the belief her kind heart would always win out. He also had to endure the fact that Daenerys was dead. He does not blame Jon for doing what needed to be done.

Jorah Mormont knows there is nothing left for him in Westeros. No one will believe he is who he says. And with an inability to speak, he would be a poor Lord of Bear Island. So he decides to leave with Jon Snow and live the rest of his days beyond the Wall.

He becomes the constant companion of Jon and protector of the Wildlings, the people he has decided to live with.

Jon Snow

One thing in the series finale of Game of Thrones that bothered me and a bunch of other fans was that Jon Snow was banished to the Night's Watch. This didn't make sense for a number of reasons.

First was that his heritage of being a Targaryen was built up to be important, but meant nothing in the end of things. You could easily replace his heritage with something else and the story would still play out the same.

Second was the fact that the Night's Watch shouldn't exist. The whole reason it was started was to protect Westeros from the Wildlings and the White Walkers. The White Walkers are all dead and the Wildlings are allies which means there is no reason for anyone to take the black ever again.
Third was that agreeing to Grey Worm's demands when he was leaving Westeros doesn't make sense. The Lords and Ladies of Westeros could just lie their butts off about Jon being banished. Yet they don't.

So in this revised ending the Westerosi people lie about exiling Jon. After Grey Worm, the Unsullied, and the Dothraki leave for Essos they give the Stark a choice of where to go. He can live in the South, North, or go beyond the Wall. Due to all the torment he endured, he decides to live his life in peace with the Wildlings beyond the Wall.

Jon Snow is able to become the ruler of the Wildlings aka the King Beyond the Wall. This would be done in a relatively short time as he had hardly earned respect about the people that lived beyond the Wall. He had paid with his life to give them a life in Westeros, a thing they had decided on against once the White Walker threat was gone.

Jon ends up forming a deep friendship with Jorah Mormont. They are eventually able to communicate well with each other even though the older man is unable to speak. Besides Tormund, Jorah is Jon's most trusted friend and protector.

Ygritte had died in Jon Snow's arms. Daenerys Targaryen had chosen violence and, by doing so, forced Jon to kill her. The Stark has therefore decided not to pursue anyone else romantically. He would only have his heart broken again and there is not that much left to break. While he does occasionally have sex, he never forms emotional bonds with his lovers.

Bran Stark

Bran Stark started off life as a regular boy. While there would be a good future for him, as he was a Stark, it wouldn't be a remarkable one. He would just be another Stark in a long line of Starks. Yet that all changed when Ser Jaime Lannister pushed him out of the tower and he became broken. Visions lead him beyond the Wall to where the Three-Eyed Raven lived. By the time he left that place, he was no longer Bran Stark and instead was the Three-Eyed Raven.

The Three-Eyed Raven was related to the Children of the Forest. Those people loathed the first men and wanted to see them all killed. It stands to reason that the collective that is currently in Bran's body also shares that animosity to humans. And this enemy of humanity is now King of the Six Kingdoms.

Again borrowing a plot point from my fic The Last Mormont, the Night King was created by the Children of the Forest to end the reign of man. Instead of following their orders, he resisted their magic and did everything in his power to kill the Children of the Forest. The moment they deemed the Night King and his growing army as a threat, they called on the First Men for help and pretended to have nothing to do with this new threat.

Bran knew that the Night King could kill him and set up events so he would have protection. He gave his enemy the ability to get to the rest of Westeros so Jon Snow would lead an attack against the man. Bran's brother was so obsessed with the Night King he would not stop to question what was going on, hence the importance of Jon leading.

Bran also set up Arya Stark to be able to kill the Night King by possessing a Valyrian dagger. With things set in motion, the Night King was killed mere moments before he could end the greatest threat Westeros would ever know.

Bran Stark lied every time he said he didn't want power. The truth was that with his greensight, he knew all he had to do was wait and the Iron Throne would be his. He knew that eventually Daenerys Targaryen would go mad, burn down King's Landing, Jon Snow would kill her, and then the Iron Throne would be Bran's for the taking.

He also lied to Jaime Lannister and Theon Greyjoy when he said he forgave them. He didn't warn Theon, in some manner, that all he had to do was wait and the Night King would die. Instead the Stark allowed the Greyjoy to die a needless death. Bran also knew of Jaime's fate and so allowed him to go to King's Landing without saying anything. I'm really sure it's just coincidence that two people who wronged him just happened to die.
While the Three-Eyed Raven's powers make him a god, he still needs weirwood trees to use greensight. In the Game of Thrones series finale, there was no mention of how Bran was supposed to function without that specific kind of tree. Him without those trees means he is just like any other human.

So after he has claimed the position of King, Bran orders weirwood trees to be moved from the North and for others to be planted everywhere in the South. He doesn't want to be limited to only one location. Sansa Stark accepts his demands as he is her brother.

Another reason besides retaining his power he does this is because he knows he could die in the future. If he is powerless then it'd give his enemies even more power.

Possible Outcomes

It would be more than easy to end this post after pointing out the main players in my imagined Game of Thrones sequel. It would provide you, loyal readers, with enough to start to imagine fanfictions while not being too self-indulgent.

But if I'm going to do a fangirl post, I better go all the way. So here is an extremely rough outline of how Daenerys Targaryen, Jon Snow, Jorah Mormont, and Bran Stark could cause heartache in a Game of Thrones sequel.

After being resurrected Daenerys Targaryen inquires to Grey Worm about where Jon Snow is. She wants to bring fire and blood to the man who murdered her. In her mind she was always in the right and King's Landing was just a mere roadblock in the way for Westeros' salvation.

The Unsullied leader points her to Castle Black. Daenerys then takes her Unsullied and Dothraki forces to the North. Unfortunately she does not find the bastard there and attacks it in a fit of rage. She decides to leave her forces in the remnants of her latest conquest as she flies Drogon to the far North.

Bran Stark had seen enough of the future to know about Daenerys Targaryen's arrival far in advance. The man is well aware that waiting is hard but has more rewards than attacking quickly. He could have easily had armies in place for when the resurrected queen arrived. So he decides to wait as Daenerys, Jorah Mormont, and Jon Snow waste their energies against each other before heading South.

He is aware of the vast web of connections between the three. He knows their personalities will clash and blood will be spilled. Bran is a little more uncertain of which of the three will survive to attempt to fight him.

Daenerys Targaryen finally figures out that Ser Jorah Mormont is in Ghost's body. Because her love for the man still remains, she gives him the choice to join her or die. He shakes his head to indicate that he is refusing to join her in her manic need to control everything. He hoped that his refusal would mean she started to become the woman he knows her to be.

With some remorse, Daenerys orders Drogon to burn her former advisor. In a fit of fear he goes into Drogon's body and is surprised once he achieved such a feat. Jorah manages to signal to Jon that he is alive and the bastard informs him to just wait until the best moment to strike.

Daenerys easily captures Jon Snow and reunites with her forces. She then moves to Winterfell and lays waste to the home of House Stark. Jorah is unable to stop the devastation as he doesn't want to reveal to his former queen who he actually is.

Bran Stark sends his forces to go against Daenerys Targaryen. To the people he pretends to be doing this merely to keep Westeros safe and to avenge the death of House Stark. In truth he cares nothing about the safety of the people he rules, but everything about his own life before he finds another greenseer to take his place.
Jon Snow is put in a position where he can end Daenerys' reign of terror for good. The plan is to kill her and since Jorah Mormont is in Drogon, she will have nowhere to flee. The plan goes down as planned and her soul screams in rage when she realizes she can't escape into her dragon. For some time afterwards Jorah is in mourning as he still loved her, no matter what she had become.

Jon Snow reluctantly realizes Bran Stark is the biggest enemy Westeros has ever encountered. He realizes that Bran is more dangerous than the White Walkers and Daenerys Targaryen combined. To curb his brother's powers, he uses Jorah Mormont to burn down all the weirwood trees in Westeros.

After that task is complete Jon, Jorah, and the others head to King's Landing to face Bran.

There are two main outcomes to the fight between Jon, Jorah, and Jon.

The first outcome is that Bran is killed and the bastard becomes King of the Seven Kingdoms. This would mean Jon's parentage is integral to choosing the eventual ruler. In this sequel the conflict between him and Daenerys was born out of revenge which was separate from his heritage. Jorah would continue to serve Jon, though he would live many centuries after his friend's passing.

The second outcome is that Jon and Jorah aren't successful in their fight. It could be that the Stark wins the battle by pushing the Mormont out of Drogon. Thus letting the man spend eternity floating in the void between life and death. Bran would continue his plans for Westeros in the knowledge that anyone who can hurt him is now dead. This would be a good idea as it wouldn't be happy for any of the survivors, minus Bran. Unlike Game of Thrones that had a happy ending for all the Starks.

Those are some of my opinions on what a sequel to Game of Thrones could be like. Comment below with your opinions on what you'd like to see in a Game of Thrones sequel.

Remember you can submit ideas for future posts HERE. I also talk about other fandoms, so don't feel that you have to only submit ideas for Game of Thrones posts.