The Winds of Winter still isn’t out, but you CAN read 11 advance chapters, which is a lot. What happens in them and how good are they?
George R.R. Martin has been optimistic lately about his progress on The Winds of Winter, the long-awaited sixth book in his A Song of Ice and Fire series, giving fans more updates than usual. That said, it’s been a while since he’s released a full sample chapter from the book, although there are plenty already out there if you want to track them down. These chapters catch us up with favorite characters like Theon and Arya and Tyrion while revealing plot details that are still fueling speculation among fans.
Most of these chapters will probably have been edited by now and may not appear unchanged in the final version of The Winds of Winter. It’s been almost 10 years since some of them were released, in fact, and other were transcribed by fans at conventions and may not be a completely accurate depiction of what’s to come.
Still, what’s there is tantalizing. Let’s go through every sample Winds of Winter chapter yet released, ranking them from least to most exciting…
11. “Tyrion I”
Tyrion Lannister’s first sample chapter from The Winds of Winter begins with a game of cyvasse, a Chess-like game unique to the World of Ice and Fire. At this point, Tyrion already missed his first chance to meet the Dragon Queen at Daznak’s Pit, and now finds himself embroiled in the battle for the city of Meereen in her absence.
He’s playing cyvasse against Brown Ben Plumm, the leader of the Second Sons mercenary company, while they wait for “Ser Grandfather’s” (Barristan Selmy) army to try to break the siege of Meereen. As the chapters moves along, Tyrion notes the sound of the trebuchets as they fling more plagued corpses over the walls.
Brown Ben muses about the two dragons loose in the city, which could attack anything on either side during the coming battle, and assume that Dany will return on Drogon soon. Tyrion wonders on how the Dragon Queen will receive him, hoping she will disregard any skepticism and be grateful that he killed Dany’s most dangerous enemy, Tywin Lannister. As Tyrion nears victory in the cyvasse game, Jorah Mormont announces the news of black sails in the bay flying dragon banners. The Ironborn have arrived.
10. “Barristan II”
In a reading at a convention in 2013, Martin delivered the second part of Barristan Selmy’s sample chapter. While the first excerpt follows the planning and preparation before the Battle of Fire (or so it’s named by fans) over Meereen, this reading covers events during the battle.
From what fans have gathered, this chapter involves Barristan riding out of the gates of Meereen and leading a cavalry charge at one of the trebuchets. He notices the unpreparedness of the Yunkish slave soldiers and the valor of the sellsword Stormcrows. The chapter is intense, as horses charge and arrows fill the air. Barristan also notices the charging pit fighters in ridiculous armor shouting, “Loraq” and “Daenerys.”
Barristan and his forces easily break the ranks of slave legions. Before the Yunkai’i can launch a successful counterattack, Barristan sees the Unsullied begin to march out of the city and into battle, and notes that the Second Sons — which had turned their cloaks on Daenerys — are nowhere to be found.
Tumco, a former slave that Barristan’s is training to become a knight, draws Barristan’s attention to the bay, where ships are arriving. Barristan at first believes they are from Volantis, but then sees that some of the ships are crashing together. Tumco notices a certain sigil:
"Tumco: “Squids, big squids. Like in the Basilisk Isles, where sometimes they drag whole ships down.” Barristan: ‘Where I’m from, we call them krakens.”"
Realizing that the Ironborn are coming ashore and fighting the Yunkish, the chapters ends with Barristan’s surprise that they are on his side, and believes the battle won. According to an attendee at the convention, GRRM pointed out that those ships were “Victarion’s men” and made a comment about Tyrion currently being quite miserable, which aligns with his mission in the following sample chapter.
9. “Victarion I”
Following the theme of sample chapters preceding the siege of Meereen, Victarion’s chapter provides some insight into the red priest Moqorro, whom Victarion fished out of the ocean on his way to Meereen, and the dragon horn Euron brought to the moot on Great Pyke. According to Valyrian legend, the hellhorns brought death and destruction down on all those who heard their sound. The dragonlords of old sounded such horns, presumably to control dragons, before the Doom of Valyria devoured them. There’s a particularly interesting revelation about the horn around the middle of the chapter:
"“My brother found this thing on Valyria,” Victarion told the thralls. “Think how big the dragon must’ve been to bear two of these upon his head. Bigger than Vhagar or Meraxes, bigger than Balerion the Black Dread.” He took the horn from Moqorro and ran his palm along its curves. “At the Kingsmoot on Old Wyk, one of Euron’s mutes blew upon this horn. Some of you will remember. It was not a sound that any man who heard it will ever forget.” “They say he died,” the Boy said, “him who blew the horn.” “Aye. The horn was smoking after. The mute had blisters on his lips, and the bird inked across his chest was bleeding. He died the next day. When they cut him open his lungs were black.”"
Victarion plans to have his thralls blow the horn when he arrives in Meereen on his ship Iron Victory. “Let the freedmen hear you in Meereen, the slavers in Yunkai, the ghosts in Astapor,” he says. Victarion may have come intending to help Daenerys, but who knows what that horn will do?
The sample chapter ends with Moqorro and Victarion speaking together: “Go pray to your Red God. Light your fire, and tell me what you see,” Victarion says. “Moqorro’s dark eyes seemed to shine. ‘I see dragons.'”
8. “Alayne I”
Posing as Alayne Stone, Sansa’s sample chapter from The Winds of Winter is the first time we’ve returned to her point of view since A Feast for Crows. Aligned with Petyr Baelish, she has the power of the Lady of the Eyrie and is preparing to marry a suitor to solidify their control over the Vale.
To create an excuse to meet her betrothed, Sansa and Littlefinger cook up a scheme to hold a tourney to determine who will serve in Lord Robert Arryn’s personal guard, named the Brotherhood of Winged Knights. At the tourney, she meets the newly-knighted Harrold Hardyng, who has powerful connections. Although he treats Alayne poorly for her bastard name, Sansa knows she must win him over. At the behest of Lord Petyr Baelish, she attempts to charm Harrold, known also as Harry the Heir, during a feast held that evening, and he begins to fall for her.
This exciting development is the beginnings of the plan Baelish laid out earlier in A Feast for Crows, when Sansa first embraces her role as “Alayne Stone:”
"When Robert dies, Harry the Heir becomes Lord Harrold, Defender of the Vale and Lord of the Eyrie. Jon Arryn’s bannermen will never love me, nor our silly, shaking Robert, but they will love their Young Falcon… and when they come together for his wedding, and you come out… clad in a maiden’s cloak of white and grey with a direwolf emblazoned on the back… why, every knight in the Vale will pledge his sword to win you back your birthright. So those are your gifts from me, my sweet Sansa… Harry, the Eyrie, and Winterfell."
Sansa is in the great game now.
7. “Barristan I”
At the beginning of The Winds of Winter, Barristan Selmy is overseeing the final preparations before the upcoming battle of Meereen. This chapter mostly concerns the battle plans more than the fighting itself.
For this chapter, Martin takes inspiration from one of the first recorded uses of biological warfare in history, when Mongol forces reportedly catapulted plague-infested bodies over the enemy lines in 1347. The Yunkish troops are shooting dead men into Meereen with six trebuchets as the pale mare (dysentery) wreaks havoc within the walls of the city.
In the chapter, Barristan rides Daenerys’ silver to inspire the warriors of Meereen to be brave, while the dragoons fly loose above the city. The mercenary Stormcrows, five thousand Unsullied, the remaining Dothraki, pit fighters, and Brazen Beasts have gathered to fight enemy forces made up of two sellsword companies — the Seconds Sons and the Windblown — and the alliance of slavers.
Barristan mentally prepares for the coming battle and notes that his plans hinge upon the greed of the Tattered Prince, commander of the Windblown. The chapter ends as Barristan gives a speech to an assembly of his knights-in-training but is interrupted when the harpy on top of Meereen’s Great Pyramid takes fire, a signal. As the portcullis is lifted, Barristan dons his helm and readies for battle. “May the warrior protect us all. Sound the attack!”
6. “Arianne I”
This chapter follows Arianne Martell as she travels towards Ghost Hill, the seat of House Toland in Dorne. With her go her new companions, including her new sworn sword Daemon Sand and her bastard cousin Elia Sand. The Sandsnakes seem to have a larger role to play in the upcoming book than they did in A Dance with Dragons. Oberyn’s widow Ellaria Sand has retreated from Sunspear, while her daughters Dorea Sand and Obella Sand are in hiding. The Sand Snakes have scattered “as to better to survive the coming carnage.”
Along the way, readers learn Jon Connington sent a letter to Prince Doran Martell, informing him that Aegon Targaryen, Elia Martell’s son by Rhaegar Targaryen, is still alive, and asking for Dorne’s help. But Arianne knows Prince Doran has his doubts. He still expects Quentyn Martell to return to Westeros with a different dragon, Daenerys. Two Dornish armies have amassed, and “one word from Arianne will make them march.”
Once they reach Ghost Hill, Arianne learns a great deal of information about the new Aegon and his conquest. The Golden Company has taken Griffin’s Roost, Rain House, Crow’s Nest, Mistwood, and Greenstone, and there are rumors about Tarth, Cape Wrath and half the Stepstones falling to them as well.
An interesting note: Lady Nymella Toland’s youngest daughter Teora has dreamt of dragons, and “everywhere the dragons danced, people died.” In ASOIAF, dreamers are very prophetic, so we would do well to heed this.
The chapters ends as Arianne wonders if Daenerys is truly the Mad King’s daughter. If she were not, why would she allow Viserys to be killed by her own husband, Khal Drogo? “We cannot know,” Ser Daemon says. “We can only hope.’
5. “Tyrion II”
Tyrion’s journey in Essos could go longer than he’d originally planned. Lately enslaved by the Wise Masters of Yunkai, he’s encamped outside of the walls of Meereen before a great battle. Meanwhile, Daenerys remains lost in the Dothraki Sea and her enemies lurk both within and outside the walls of the city.
In this sample chapter, officially included in The World of Ice and Fire app in 2014, Tyrion and Jorah Mormont are in the midst of a maelstrom, as Rhaegal and Viserion rage overhead and Tyrion hears the clash of warships in the distance. Tyrion has ingratiated himself with Brown Ben Plumm, the leader of the Second Sons mercenary company. In exchange for membership, Tyrion has promised Ben and his men large sums of money. The Second Sons get orders to defend the slaver’s ships, but Brown Ben Plumm reveals that they have always been Queen’s men, and joined with the Yunkai’i as a ploy. That means Tyrion and Jorah will soon be fighting for the Dragon Queen.
Things look messy in Slaver’s Bay, and things are just getting more complicated as Victarion Greyjoy’s Ironborn fleet join the fray and the slavers lose soldiers fast. It may not be a particularly exciting chapter, but it shows how the plot will be moving forward in Meereen.
4. “Mercy” (Arya I)
Remember that troupe of actors from the sixth season of Game of Thrones? As it turns out, the idea comes from this sample chapter from The Winds of Winter, which is told from the perspective of “Mercy,” Arya’s stage name. As in the show, she’s continuing her training with the Faceless Men and trying to become “no one.”
Intriguingly, the excerpt begins after Arya’s possibly prophetic dream. It looks like Mercy is having a hard time letting go of her past as Arya Stark:
"The smell of blood was heavy in her nostrils… or was that her nightmare, lingering? She had dreamed of wolves again, of running through some dark pine forest with a great pack at her hells, hard on the scent of prey."
In Braavos, Mercy prepares for the a performance of “The Bloody Hand,” a play featuring characters like the fat king, the boy king and the demonic dwarf. Mercy’s character is a young maiden who will be raped and murdered by the dwarf; essentially, she’s playing a distorted version of her own sister Sansa. Before it can begin, however, Mercy sneaks off set after seeing a familiar face in the crowd.
The face belongs to Raff the Sweetling, one of the Mountain’s men who killed Lommy Greenhands back in A Clash of Kings. The chapter ends as she seduces and then kills him, whispering, “Valar morghulis” and parroting back his earlier line:
"Raff: Can you walk? Lommy: No, you got to carry me. Raff: Think so? – A Clash of Kings, Arya V"
And then in this chapter:
"Raff: You’ll need to carry me. Arya: Think so? – The Winds of Winter, Mercy"
Arya knows that this is the end of Mercy. Between the possible Nymeria-warging, Arya choosing violence, and a fun callback to A Clash of Kings, Mercy ranks high on the list of sample chapters worth reading.
3. “Arianne II”
Martin posted this sample onto his website in 2016, and it finally gave fans another glimpse into the situation with Aegon Targaryen, a new player in the game of thrones. It’s a short sample chapter, but even so, it progresses the story in a meaningful way.
Arianne Martell — the daughter of the Prince of Dorne, Doran Martell — travels to Grffin’s Roost in the Stormlands to show Dorne’s support for Aegon, who is purportedly a lost son of Rhaegar Targaryen and Elia Martell hidden away and trained on Essos for years. Aegon has brought the Golden Company with him to Essos.
We saw a scaled-down version of the mercenary group on Game of Thrones, where it was also led by Harry Strickland. When Arianne’s company arrives at Griffin’s Roost, she learns that the would-be Targaryen prince has captured Storm’s End, and resolves to head there herself.
This plot is pretty much nowhere to be seen on Game of Thrones — both Arianne and Aegon V were cut entirely — so it’ll be interesting to find out how it develops on the page. There are signs that Arianne may pursue Aegon romantically and propose a marriage alliance.
2. “Theon I”
In 2011, Martin released the first Winds of Winter sample chapter on his NotABlog. It follows Theon after it is revealed in A Dance with Dragons that he survived his escape from Winterfell alongside Lady Jeyne Poole and found his way into Stannis’ encampment in a blizzard. Theon’s chapters throughout Dance were haunting, adding a complex mystique to the struggle in the North. His redemption arc may very well end on the chopping block.
The Boltons and their allies deal with the constant barrage of heavy snow within Winterfell. Outside it, Stannis and his freezing forces, made up of various northern clans, prepare for an assault. As a prisoner, Theon witnesses what’s happening within the camp:
- Stannis prepares to battle Hosteen Frey’s approaching vanguard.
- Braavosi banker Tycho Nestoris and Stannis sign a contract.
- Justin Massey, “Arya Stark” (Jeyne Poole) and Tycho Nestoris are sent to the Wall.
- Stannis plans to have Arnolf Karstark and his son executed for their planned treachery.
- Stannis plans to hire 20,000 mercenaries, and if he dies, the army will be ordered to place Shireen on the Iron Throne.
- Stannis says he’ll execute Theon Greyjoy to gain favor with the North by avenging the murders of Bran and Rickon Stark.
Interestingly enough, Asha Greyjoy tries to convince Stannis to execute Theon before a weirwood heart tree. There’s a hint of some other presence there. Could it be the “Three-Eyed Crow-in-training” beyond the Wall? Whatever happens, Theon’s life hangs in the balance.
1. “The Forsaken”
The chapter follows Aeron “Damphair” as he awakes in a grim dungeon. He dreamt of his brother Euron Greyjoy on a throne of skulls, of gods impaled on the Iron Throne, and a kraken-like figure sitting upon it, accompanied by a shadow in a woman’s form. Euron is busy harrowing the Reach with his fleet, and is preparing for the arrival of the Redwyne fleet and ships of House Hightower. Aeron sees Euron armored in Valyrian steel and believes Euron’s claim that he visited Valyria. Euron orders they depart by sea, and the chapter ends as Aeron tastes salt on his lips. His own brother has bound him to the prow of his ship, the Silence.
The Forsaken is a very dark and revealing chapter. Martin read it at Balticon in 2016. This is the last chapter he read, and he saved the best for last. This excerpt contains lots of little details that hungry A Song of Ice and Fire fans love to pore over. Euron Greyjoy has always been this evil, looming character, but “The Forsaken” sets him up as some kind of dark messiah here to bring Westeros to its knees.
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