u/ASOIAF-Peel

I grew up with gen 3 and gen 4, and stopped playing the mainline games with X and Y for how much the game disappointed me - the story was weak, the villainous team didn't really do anything and there was no real post game epilogue.

So I stopped playing and bothering when Sun and Moon came out, then saw the bad reviews for Sword and Shield, and then Let's Go Pikachu and Eevee and stopped playing the main line pokemon games for a good decade or so.

I got an Nintendo Switch and Pokemon Scarlet for my birthday, and I wasn't sure whether I'd enjoy it or not after X and Y, but I gave it a shot and went on a nuzlocke.

Its the most emotionally engaging and fulfilling pokemon game I've played since Explorers of Time and Darkness (I spent so long grieving for Grovyle until that promo pic of him and Dusknoir came out for Sky). Its so utterly, utterly good.

It isn't perfect - I miss being able to rebattle the Elite 4 like in previous games and having a little new area to explore, but I'll have to wait until I buy the DLC to get that stuff.

But man is the story good, and the three friend characters - Nemona, Arven and Penny - are so utterly wonderful and wholesome to be around.

Nemona is the best rival since Blue and Silver. There have been so many bland rivals since then that I just didn't care about - Wally was meh, Cheren was a bit too headstrong and the Kalos rivals were just...There.

But the writers were so clever with Nemona - she is the subversion of the typical rival. The rivals in the games are supposed to help us get stronger, give us someone we want to beat and see taken down, someone to push us to get to the position of champion in the end.

Blue did that by being a jerk, and Silver did it by being so misguided and condescending to Gold, and all the rivals since then were just there for the player to beat with no real input in the story.

Then there's Nemona, oh Nemona.

I felt so bad for her at the end of the game, learning how lonely she is with a family that are so selfish, and all the kids at the academy think she's too full on because she's desperate to keep battling, desperate to find someone as strong as her so she can go all out on. And that's why she keeps battling the player, why she keeps pushing them to get stronger and why she's always there at every gym battle cheering you on and praising you.

Normally I get annoyed at this kind of hand holding from games, but genuinely seeing her face and how impressed she was with me, it was heartwarming.

And the cinematic cutscenes! Never seen them in a pokemon game before, but they were so moving. Seeing Nemona hold back tears cause she finally had a real rival she didn't have to hold back with anymore, its so liberating for her and its so great to see.

The cinematic cutscenes are the highlight of the game for me, especially at the end in Area Zero.

Arven, my man I owe him an apology. I thought he was a jerk at that lighthouse and I put off his whole storyline of wanting to make sandwiches cause I just wanted to battle gyms cause duh.

But then when he showed us his Mabosstiff and how sad he was, man he got me, he got me real good.

And the cinematic cutscenes again, with his Mabosstiff picking up the ball in its mouth and barking to him, and cutting to the player petting K0raidon while Arven lets it out, my god the writers really cared.

And Penny's story was nice too, I just wish we got to know her better before it ended.

But everything about the Way Home storyline was the best part of the game, watching the gang talk and get along while running deeper into the crater was so fulfilling, Penny calling Arven a "big lunk" while Nemona in her own world goes "That's the spirit you guys!" was so funny to me man.

And Sada, that twist got me good, I thought the whole AI thing and a time machine was a bit far fetched at first but after that final battle, and with K0raidon...Saying goodbye to her/the AI thing/I dunno hurt the most.

That last scene of taking the long way home, knowing they all did it just to cheer Arven up got me good, its like K0raidon even knew he needed it by nudging him.

And then...That song. Celestial. I actually cried a little hearing it. I didn't think I'd ever hear a pop song in a pokemon game credits and I normally skip them, and I couldn't this time but I'm glad I couldn't anyway.

I feel like that song was Arven's song, and he was singing it about the player.

"You make me feel" "Like my troubled heart is a million miles away"

That's definitely Arven telling the player we help him forget about his grief.

"When I get lost, will you come back around?" "Things don't look up when you're goin' down"

That's him talking about going deeper into Area Zero and depending on you to lead him the way through, and him having a feeling his mother died and knowing things are gonna get worse the further they go down into Area Zero.

"I know your arms, they are reachin' out" "From somewhere beyond the clouds"

That was the part of the song that hit me the hardest, and I instantly remembered the cutscene of flying down to Area Zero, and the player just catching Arven by his hand while they flew in the air, before he pulled him onto K0raidon. That was the part where I cried the most and was so moved. You really do get caught up in the escapism of pokemon and forget how much an adventure, however small, can stay with someone for so long.

Its like Arven was all of us when we were kids, and he was gonna have to grow up whether he liked or not like we all had to, but he had us and pokemon to help him through it and keep it still fun.

Maybe its just a song, maybe Ed Sheeran wasn't filled in with the plot of the game and its just a song about pokemon in general, and that's okay.

But hearing that song at the end of the game after all the revelations and emotional rollercoaster that the Way Home took me on...I'm grateful man, I'm so grateful I played this game.

When Black Friday comes, I'll buy the DLC and hope its as good of a ride as I've seen people say it is, honestly I don't wanna say goodbye to my friends Nemona Arven and Penny, genuinely I've never cared about pokemon characters this much since Goh reuniting with his boyfriend (I knew what they meant with the two Celebis and it meant the absolute world).

Sorry for the long post, but it feels good to reflect. I'm annoyed at myself for being taken with surprise at the gang selfie at the end and not capturing a picture in time, but got it just as the screen started turning to dark. At least I've got that forever now.

25 years of Pokemon and it really hasn't lost its magic. I thought it did a decade ago when I was becoming an adult, now I know I was wrong and I'm grateful for another memorable journey.

Nemona, Arven, Penny, just amazing characters that I'm glad to have gotten to know. Paldea, what an amazing ride.

In the sample chapters for The Winds of Winter, Arianne Martell is planning to sail to Storm's End to meet with Jon Connington and fAegon;

>“We have rooms prepared for you and yours, princess,” this Halden said, when the introductions finally ran their course. “I trust that they will suit. I know you seek Lord Connington, and he desires words with you as well, most urgently. If it please you, on the morrow there will be a ship to take you to him.” - TWOW - ARIANNE II

But it is repeatedly stated in this same sample chapter that it is dangerous to sail across the eastern coast of Westeros, initially due to risk of shipwreck like what happened to Steffon Baratheon;

>“Has no one told you?” Halden Halfmaester favored her with a smile thin and hard as a dagger cut. “Storm’s End is ours. The Hand awaits you there.” Daemon Sand stepped up beside her. “Shipbreaker Bay can be perilous even on a fair summer’s day. The safer way to Storm’s End is overland.” “These rains have turned the roads to mud. The journey would take two days, perhaps three,” said Halden Halfmaester. A ship will have the princess there in half a day or less. There is an army descending on Storm’s End from King’s Landing. You will want to be safe inside the walls before the battle.” - TWOW - ARIANNE II

And the sample chapter ends with ominous foreshadowing for a dreadful fate to befall Arianne - that something bad will happen to her if she goes to meet fAegon by ship;

>What makes you believe they will allow me that choice? She had had the uneasy feeling that Haldon Halfmaester and Lysono Maar were going to put her on that ship come morning whether she willed it or no. Better not to test them. “Ser Daemon, you squired for my uncle Oberyn,” she said. “If you were with him now, would you be counseling him to refuse as well?” She did not wait for him to respond. “I know the answer. And if you are about to remind me that I am no Red Viper, I know that too. But Prince Oberyn is dead, Prince Doran is old and ill, and I am the heir to Dorne.” “And that is why you should not put yourself at risk.” Daemon Sand went to one knee. “Send me to Storm’s End in your stead. Then if the griffin’s plans should go awry and Mace Tyrell takes the castle back, I will be just another landless knight who swore his sword to this pretender in hopes of gain and glory.” Whereas if I am taken, the Iron Throne will take that for proof that Dorne conspired with these sellswords, and lent aid to their invasion. “It is brave for you to seek to shield me, ser. I thank you for that.” She took his hands and drew him back to his feet. “But my father entrusted this task to me, not you. Come the morrow, I sail to beard the dragon in its den.” - TWOW - ARIANNE II

There are multiple instances in ASOIAF of characters laying out their plans before having them dashed or unable to do so; Robb planning to retake Moat Cailin, Tywin planning to teach Joffrey a lesson, Oberyn planning to take Tyrion to Dorne and so on. George uses this tactic to build up a character's ambitions and take readers by surprise when he reminds us that life is not a song.

Daemon Sand is right to be concerned for Arianne's wellbeing in that she is unwillingly surrendering herself as a hostage to fAegon, but the greater concern is that in journeying to meet fAegon by ship, she risks being kidnapped by pirates or slavers.

Ironically, this is a risk that Doran is made aware of, but chooses not to warn his daughter about;

>"As for the other matter that Queen Cersei raises," Prince Doran was saying, "it is true, Dorne's seat upon the small council has been vacant since my brother's death, and it is past time that it was filled again. I am flattered that Her Grace feels my counsel might be of use to her, though I wonder if I have the strength for such a journey. Perhaps if we went by sea?" "By ship?" Ser Balon seemed taken aback. "That … would that be safe, my prince? Autumn is a bad season for storms, or so I've heard, and … the pirates in the Stepstones, they …" "The pirates. To be sure. You may be right, ser. Safer to return the way you came." Prince Doran smiled pleasantly. "Let us talk again on the morrow. When we reach the Water Gardens, we can tell Myrcella. I know how excited she will be. She misses her brother too, I do not doubt." - ADWD - THE WATCHER

Doran pledges for one princess to travel by land while another princess is pledged to travel by sea, and the latter faces more danger.

It is an ironic theme of Doran's arc that in his pursuit to gain power and prestige for his family through using his children as chess pawns, he puts each of them in danger and in the case of Quentyn, death.

Thus, there is an established probability of Arianne encountering pirates on her way to Storm's End by ship, foreshadowed by her sample chapters for Winds and foreshadowed by Doran himself.

And the pirate who shall capture her is Red Ralf Stonehouse.

The last time we hear about Red Ralf, he had set sail with Victarion and the Iron Fleet for Slaver's Bay, and planned to meet up with Victarion on the way there at the Basilisk Isles;

>Instead he had broken the great fleet into squadrons, and sent each by a different route to Slaver's Bay. The swiftest ships he gave to Red Ralf Stonehouse to sail the corsair's road along the northern coast of Sothoryos. The dead cities rotting on that fervid, sweltering shore were best avoided, every seamen knew, but in the mud-and-blood towns of the Basilisks Isles, teeming with escaped slaves, slavers, skinners, whores, hunters, brindled men, and worse, there were always provisions to be had for men who were not afraid to pay the iron price. - ADWD - THE IRON SUITOR

But Red Ralf never reunited with Victarion when the latter reached the Basilisk Isles, and Victarion moved on to Slaver's Bay without him.

As of the end of ADWD, his whereabouts are currently unknown, but there is good reason to doubt that Red Ralf intended on actually sailing to Meereen with Victarion and instead double backed to Westeros, to plunder along the vulnerable eastern coast.

The most prominent trait of Red Ralf's character is that he is a coward who does not seek out battle;

>His words drew mutters of assent. "Slaver's Bay is too far," called out Ralf the Limper. "And too close to Valyria," shouted Quellon Humble. Fralegg the Strong said, "Highgarden's close. I say, look for dragons there. The golden kind!" Alvyn Sharp said, "Why sail the world, when the Mander lies before us?" Red Ralf Stonehouse bounded to his feet. "Oldtown is richer, and the Arbor richer still. Redwyne's fleet is off away. We need only reach out our hand to pluck the ripest fruit in Westeros." "Fruit?" The king's eye looked more black than blue. "Only a craven would steal a fruit when he could take the orchard." - AFFC - THE REAVER

Its unlikely that Red Ralf would therefore willingly go off to the Basilisk Isles, and face the kind of threats Victarion described above earlier;

>but in the mud-and-blood towns of the Basilisks Isles, teeming with escaped slaves, slavers, skinners, whores, hunters, brindled men, and worse - ADWD - THE IRON SUITOR

But it is more likely that Red Ralf sailed for the Stepstones, and has been reaving on the coastlines of the Stormlands;

>Since the Redwyne fleet passed through the Stepstones, those waters are crawling with strange sails, all the way north to the Straights of Tarth and Shipbreaker’s Bay. Myrmen, Volantenes, Lyseni, even reavers from the Iron Islands. Some have entered the Sea of Dorne to land men on the south shore of Cape Wrath. We found a good fast ship for you, as your father commanded, but even so… be careful.” - TWOW - ARIANNE I

We have confirmation of Ironborn ships sailing in this area and landing their men in the Stormlands.

It is also mentioned in this excerpt that they arrived after the Redwyne fleet passed through, meaning that these Ironborn didn't have to suffer a confrontation of conflict.

Recall Red Ralf's proposal for attacking Oldtown;

>Red Ralf Stonehouse bounded to his feet. "Oldtown is richer, and the Arbor richer still. Redwyne's fleet is off away. We need only reach out our hand to pluck the ripest fruit in Westeros." AFFC - THE REAVER

Red Ralf only wanted to attack Oldtown and the Arbor while the Redwyne fleet is away.

But the Iron Throne is aware of Euron attacking the Reach, and the Redwyne fleet had set sail to defeat them.

So would Red Ralf really turn away from Slaver's Bay and set sail for Oldtown, when he knows by the time he gets there the Redwyne Fleet will be there too? No.

Instead, it makes more sense for Red Ralf to attack the Stormlands after the Redwyne Fleet have sailed through, and aren't likely to return any time soon.

Now it is possible that the ships which attacked the coastal lands of the Stormlands aren't the Ironborn, and are any other kind of pirates - Sallador Saan, Aurane Waters, the mysterious Corsair King, it could be anyone.

But there is one glaring, and heinous, detail that points to the Ironborn's involvement;

>The town was large enough to support three inns, and all their common rooms were rife with rumors. Arianne sent her men into each of them, to hear what they might hear. In the Broken Shield, Daemon Sand was told that the great septry on the Holf of Men had been burned and looted by raiders from the sea, and a hundred young novices from the motherhouse on Maiden Isle carried off into slavery. In the Loon, Joss Hood learned that half a hundred men and boys from the Weeping Town had set off north to join Jon Connington at Griffin’s Roost, including young Ser Addam, old Lord Whitehead’s son and heir. But in the aptly named Drunken Dornishman, Feathers heard men muttering that the griffin had put Red Ronnet’s brother to death and raped his maiden sister. Ronnet himself was said to be rushing south to avenge his brother’s death and his sister’s dishonor. - TWOW - ARIANNE II

Holy sites were targeted by these pirates and their young occupants were taken into slavery. This fits the MO of the Ironborn under Euron, who seeks to destroy religious sites and "collect" religious people that Euron can then sacrifice for whatever blood magic sacrifice rituals he has in mind.

It also fits Red Ralf as a character for him, a cowardly villain, to target the vulnerable and unsuspecting holy sites to pillage and enslave than say someone like Sallador Saan or Aurane Waters who George has not written in such a way, the latter characters being more opportunists rather than sadistic slavers of religious novices like the Ironborn.

It is likely then that Red Ralf and his ships are the ones attacking the coast of the Stormlands and enslaving people.

Recall that Red Ralf said he wanted to pluck "the ripest fruit in Westeros" - where have we heard such similar phrasing before in ASOIAF?

>"The blood oranges are well past ripe,” the prince observed in a weary voice, when the captain rolled him onto the terrace. - AFFC - THE CAPTAIN OF THE GUARDS

The Dornish connection is too ominous to discount.

Rather than have Arianne sail to meet fAegon and have two POV characters in the same place heading on the same plot trajectory, it makes more sense for George to derail Arianne and Connington's plans and put Arianne in a more difficult place and situation that doesn't have a POV (Recall too that Connington says "We must have Dorne" to win the Iron Throne, so not "having" the heir to Dorne really derails his plans).

And by removing Arianne from that plotline, it allows for chaos to ensue when the Dornish fail to understand the meaning of Arianne's letters saying "war" instead of "dragon" if Doran is too ill or dead to read them.

Removing a key POV character from an area with a fragile peace so that the peace can descend into chaos is a tactic George has used many times in the last two books - Jon Snow at the Wall, Jaime in the Riverlands, Cersei in King's Landing, Daenerys in Meereen - and it is a tactic George intends to use with Arianne in the Stormlands and Dorne.

After all, how awkward would it be for fAegon and Jon Connington to have lost a Dornish princess that they so needed to impress in order to gain the support of the Dornish army, which Connington considered vital to winning the Iron Throne?

That provides a more interesting story than Arianne simply meeting fAegon and becoming a secondary POV to the fAegon plot.

TLDR:

Arianne Martell is going to be captured by Red Ralf Stonehouse and the Ironborn while en-route to Storm's End by ship.

To ensure they "do not lose Dorne", Jon Connington and the Golden Company will pretend that Elia Sand is the real Arianne Martell and pressure her into gaining Dorne's military support. Given her behaviour in Arianne's sample chapters for Winds, Elia Sand will likely seduce fAegon and become his Queen, and go on to be the catalyst for Jon Connington realising that fAegon is a fraud.

>The scent of it set the horses to screaming. Dogs slid out from under the tables, sniffing. Men rose from the benches. The body in Ser Hosteen's arms sparkled in the torchlight, armored in pink frost. The cold outside had frozen his blood. "My brother Merrett's son." Hosteen Frey lowered the body to the floor before the dais. "Butchered like a hog and shoved beneath a snowbank. A boy." Little Walder, thought Theon. The big one. He glanced at Rowan. There are six of them, he remembered. Any of them could have done this. But the washerwoman felt his eyes. "This was no work of ours," she said. - ADWD - THEON I

In the words of Hosteen Frey, Little Walder was "butchered like a hog".

Earlier in the same book, we are told through the same POV of a character who wields a sword like a butcher cutting up meat;

>"He fights for you," Reek blurted out. "He's strong." "Bulls are strong. Bears. I have seen my bastard fight. He is not entirely to blame. Reek was his tutor, the first Reek, and Reek was never trained at arms. Ramsay is ferocious, I will grant you, but he swings that sword like a butcher hacking meat." ADWD - REEK III

Little Walder is described as having been "butchered like a hog", and Ramsay's sword fighting style is described "like a butcher hacking meat."

It feels too on the nose to overlook such similarly worded descriptions.

The only character in Winterfell who benefits the most from the ensuing conflict between the Freys and Manderlys is Ramsay himself, as it removes the Freys from Winterfell and makes Fat Walda more vulnerable to be killed, protecting Ramsay's inheritance and claim to the Dreadfort.

Big Walder killing his brother is quite extreme even if it is advance his position as heir to the Twins when he is so far down in the line of inheritance, and Ramsay as the killer helps to build up his character as both a central antagonist in Winds and as more cunning than both Stannis and Roose give him credit for.

Ramsay being the killer offers more narrative payoff.

With the way that the show is right now under Ben Wadey and news about what's to come in the future for certain characters, I feel one of the only ways to fix things (Aside from axing Wadey ASAP) is by bringing back some big characters to get people talking.

Previously, that was the likes of Kathy Beale coming back from the dead and more recently Zoe Slater coming back after 20 years.

Which past character do you think could have a similarly strong impact if they returned and could help boost ratings?

The only characters I can think of are Ronnie and Roxy (Which I know is a controversial topic about whether they can be resurrected or not) or maybe Kheerat but that's too recent.

If Aunt Babe's actress was willing to return, I could see the Carters being rebuilt with her as the matriarch and Lee Nancy and Johnny keeping the family going.