The end of Game of Thrones season five was, as you’d expect, a bloody affair with several gruesome deaths. Some were very explicit (suck it, Meryn Trant), but others were left to the imagination – did Theon and Sansa survive their leap of faith off the walls of Winterfell? Did Brienne of Tarth really cleave Stannis from neck to nipple with Oathkeeper? And was Jon Snow just napping with his eyes open after a stressful day on the Wall?
A new Game of Thrones book may shed some answers to these questions. No, not The Winds of Winter, George R.R. Martin’s long-awaited sixth book in the Song of Ice and Fire series. Still no release date on that one, folks. But HBO is putting out a companion book specifically for fans of the television show entitled “Game of Thrones: The Noble Houses of Westeros: Seasons 1-5.” It’s set to come out on December 8, but advanced copies have already made it into the hands of reviewers, who have noted some important details in character biographies:
https://twitter.com/Thrones_Fury/status/657240209533218816
Key passage there: “Stannis was killed outside of Winterfell by Brienne of Tarth, who wished to avenge Renly’s death.”
The book also claims that Jon Snow was “murdered at Castle Black by his own men, including Alliser Thorne and Olly.” Probably true; everyone generally agrees Jon is dead. The internet just assumes he’ll come back to life, too. But this book is specifically a guide for seasons one through five of the show, so why would it venture into those waters?
Unless your grandmother is getting into Game of Thrones and having a hard time keeping characters straight, I’d pass on picking this book up. There are much better options for hardcore Game of Thrones fans, including the World of Ice and Fire book and the George R.R. Martin’s A World of Ice and Fire app, both of which don’t hold back on the history and backstory of every character and region in his books.
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