Let me warn you that a lot of information written in this article can be considered to be spoilers. Read at your own discretion. George R.R Martin, the writer of ‘A Song of Ice and Fire’ is hard at work on his upcoming book ‘Winds of Winter’. However, he hasn’t mentioned a release date for his upcoming book and at the same time, HBO’s hit TV Series ‘Game of Thrones’ is scheduled to begin on April 2016.
As a result, fans are presently desperate for some information and a lot of them are resorting to spoilers. The main question regarding the plot is the validity of the ‘Pink Letter’ that was sent by Ramsay Bolton to John Snow. Through this letter, Stannis Baratheon’s death was announced along with the future of various other characters.
Well get ready, we warned you! The author was asked whether Stannis Baratheon is dead or alive to which George R.R Martin replied, “In my books? Alive, beyond a doubt.” Fans have been discussing about a certain focused mystery ever since ‘A Dance With Dragons’ was published in 2011.
According to the books, the pink letter informs Jon Snow that Stannis’ rebellion failed and he along with his troops died in the hands Ramsay and the vicious Bolton force of Winterfell. Furthermore, Ramsay added that he has captured Melisandre and Mance Rayder and wishes that Snow should return his wife and Reek, previously known as Theon Greyjoy.
We saw that Ramsay married Sansa in HBO’s TV series ‘Game of Thrones’ but in the books, it is written that he actually marries a girl who poses as Arya Stark in order to further strengthen their hold in the north. However, there is one moment which is same in both the books and the TV Series. This is when Theon rescues the bride by leaping from the walls of Winterfell but he never met up with Snow.
Meanwhile, as a result of the letter, Jon seeks action against the Boltons and ends up getting betrayed and stabbed by the sworn brothers of the Night’s Watch. However, keep in mind that the Night’s Watch brothers are sworn to never interfere or get them be affected by the political affairs of Westeros.
Sadly, this was the final straw in a major list of issues, starting from bringing in the Wildlings that Jon’s men had with his leadership. If you believe Martin, then the pink letter is nothing but fake.
There was a sample chapter from Martin’s ‘Winds of Winter’ posted on his website and it clearly shows that Stannis and his army are alive and well. However, keep in mind that there are several scenes which take place during or before the storyline in the fifth book.
Meanwhile, D.B. Weiss and Dan Benioff, the makers of HBO’s Game of Thrones declared that Stannis did not survive the justice that imparted was on him by Brienne of Tarth and Jon Snow is also dead. Funnily enough, most of us now believe that Jon Snow will return so let’s just wait and see if Stannis returns in Season 6 of Game of Thrones.
Right now, the filming and development for Game of Thrones Season 6 is going in full-speed even though the TV show is not scheduled to return any time before April 2016. There’s been a lot of action on the sets and this has paved the way for many rumors and speculations surfacing on the internet.