#slight TWOW speculation

[elegantwoes]

For a while now I have been wondering what the overall point was of characters like Sandor Clegane and Dontos Hollard being in Sansa’s story and I think I finally figured it out. While it’s true that both of them are false Florians and have betrayed Sansa in different ways, it should be noted that Sansa’s morals and ideals has sparked something in them to help her in some capacity (i.e Sandor saving her in the bread riot & Dontos helping her escape). Both of them are there to establish Sansa has the ability to inspire knightly valor in others. And if Sansa’s ability to inspire that is strong enough to get two alcoholic, disillusioned, broken men to fight for her, then imagine what Sansa can do with it when she inspires the Knights of the Vale to fight for her cause.

[jackoshadows]

There's a reason ADwD is seen as the Jonrya bible and, if anything, looking at the changes from original drafts of AFfC/ADwD it almost feels like GRRM doubled down on the Jon/Arya relationship in the published book.

The leaked drafts have given us a glimpse into how some of the stories for characters have changed from early versions.

Notably, Davos was always involved in the retrieval of a Stark. While it was Arya in the early drafts, in the book it is Rickon Stark. I had written earlier on how Rickon was always meant to be with House Manderly and with Davos' story changing that meant Rickon's story also changed.

The Arya/Ramsay wedding also takes place at Barrowton. While it would have been super fun to see Theon and Davos from each other's POV, I like the changed version with the wedding at Winterfell and reading that entire story from Theon's POV is some of the best writing in ADwD. And with Davos and Theon's story changing, the North plot has clearly evolved from what it was originally.

Which brings me to these farcical Jonsa theories which are always based off of the Jon/Arya relationship - from Jon's thoughts of Arya being subconsciously about Sansa to Jon is actually referring to Sansa when he talks of Arya to Jon is pretending to admire and love girls like Arya when he is really attracted to girls like Sansa etc.

One of the most egregious of these theories is when they use the OG leaked outline to argue that GRRM replaced one Stark sister with the other (since apparently these two very different characters are so interchangeable!) because he was supposedly so 'charmed' by the character of Sansa.

Contrary to this nonsense theory, what the draft changes actually tells me is that not only has GRRM not given OG outline's Arya to Sansa - which most sensible readers have already known - but he has in fact changed the story to strengthen the Jon/Arya bond in ADwD!

Jonsas keep pointing to the Sansa/Tyrion marriage for their theory that GRRM replaced Arya with Sansa in the OG outline. Except, if GRRM was interested in building up any kind of love triangle between Tyrion/Sansa/Jon then ADwD would be where he would have written Jon Snow show some emotion after being made aware of the marriage.

What we did end up getting, however, is Jon's utter anger and desperation on hearing about Arya's marriage contrasted with the utter nonchalance and indifference towards the Sansa/Tyrion marriage. Forget heavy emotion and passionate anger, GRRM couldn't even be bothered to write a few lines where Jon Snow shows some slight brotherly concern for a sister forcefully married off and her current whereabouts.

We got nothing, nada, zilch. Even Brienne, who has never even met Sansa, has showed more concern and worry for Sansa than Jon Snow has done. There's no outrage or emotion when Stannis tells him that Sansa will never get Winterfell on account of this marriage and instead Jon even suggests Mors Crowfood as a possible alternate as Lord of Winterfell.

Given all the changes in these early 2003/2004 drafts for AFfC/ADwD/TWoW and given ADwD was finished in 2011, if GRRM had indeed decided to switch Jonrya with Jonsa, surely we would have seen the hints and the difference in Jon's thoughts wrt Sansa? We get none of that. Indeed, Sansa is a complete non factor in Jon Snow's story, his arc from the start to the end of ADwD, his theme of Love Vs Duty and the human heart in conflict with itself.

There's also been some speculation that, in the early draft, Jon Snow actually does end up leaving for Hardhome and this is where the assassination/mutiny happens.

Several other clues in these early drafts point to this conclusion. For ex. Melisandre's visions point to Jon Snow being stabbed to death - 'daggers in the dark' - while on a ranging.

It feels like the original assassination happens because of Jon's helping the Freefolk and the fear of him being a warg - there are references to Jon being referred to as a beastling by Slynt.

So it looks like in the early drafts Jon Snow leads a mission to Hardhome and that's where his story ends with assassination and death.

Also interesting in the bits that were cut out is Ghost sensing Summer beyond the Wall and wanting to go North. In the published book, Ghost cannot sense Summer anymore because of the Wall.

Deleted para:

On the other side the wind was colder still, the wolf sensed. That was where his brother had gone, the grey brother who smelled of summer. With the cliff between them, he could not sense his brother, but sometimes when he padded down the long cold burrow under the ice and poked his nose through the hard black bars, he could feel him. The snow was falling where his brother was, covering all the woods in white. And there were hunters near, living men and dead men, and the ones who wore the shapes of men but smelled only of cold.

And another deleted paragraph when Edd wakes up Jon.

He glanced to the foot of the bed. The rug where Ghost slept was empty. The big white direwolf came and went as he would, often for days at a time. He is looking for some way through the wall, he thought, uneasily, and somehow he knows that Grey Wind is gone, and Robb as well.

Three things stand out in the early draft.

Ghost can sense Summer beyond the Wall through areas where the Wall seems broken.

Ghost wants to go North beyond the Wall

Ghost can sense Bran being hunted by the dead

If Jon had been killed in Hardhome then I think Jon warged into Ghost would have gone towards Bran and saves Summer/Bran from the dead hunters hunting them in a reversal of when Summer saved Jon. We also would have possibly got an exploration of the Lands of Always Winter through Ghost!Jon's POV. [No idea how Jon gets resurrected in this version though. Maybe Bran is involved and they return to Hardhome and Jon's body? Maybe they all return to the Wall together...]

However, I think the changes in the published book means we are not getting all this. Jon never ends up going to Hardhome in ADwD. Why? The Pink Letter.

In the published book, it's the King Beyond the Wall - not Davos - who goes disguised as Abel the Bard (A play on Bael the Bard regarding whom Mance and Jon have a conversation) with a mission to steal a Stark girl out of Winterfell for Jon Snow. This leads to a set of circumstances where Theon escapes with Jeyne Poole, which in turn leads to the Pink Letter.

The Letter accuses Jon Snow of 'stealing' Ramsay's Bride. In Freefolk culture, one has to steal one's future bride or lover. Ygritte informs Jon that he has stolen her and Ser Patrek ends up dying - killed by Wun Weg Wun Dar Wun - when he tries to 'steal' Val.

Additionally, in ADwD, the straw that breaks the camel's back for the assassins is not Jon Snow helping the Freefolk or being a warg, but his breaking of sworn oaths, him choosing love over duty, Arya over the Night's Watch.

It feels to me that, far from moving away from the Jon/Arya relationship in the OG outline, GRRM has infact changed early drafts to focus back on the Jon/Arya bond in ADwD, changing Jon's story at the Wall to heavily include Arya. From Abel the Bard to 'I want my Bride back, I want my Bride back, I want my Bride back' to 'We had best change the plans' the published book now sets up a Jon Vs Ramsay conflict over Arya Stark, pivoting Jon's story towards the south and Arya rather than towards the North and Bran.

It is still possible that we get Ghost!Jon leaving for beyond the Wall and exploring the Lands of Always Winter etc. However I no longer think this is happening given time constraints. With two books left and so much story still pending there is just not enough time for Ghost!Jon to do all that and get resurrected and then participate in what's happening in Winterfell. Bran will have to deal with that part of the story by himself.

So, coming back to my point. I do think it's hilarious how Jonsa shippers keep insisting that GRRM just suddenly decided that Sansa will get all of Arya's OG plots, relationships and narrative importance, and replace Jonrya with Jonsa. When, looking at his early AFfC/ADwD/TWoW drafts, it feels more like he actually changed the story to have Jon's assassination revolve around his presumed 'stealing' of Arya and oathbreaking to go save her.