Game of Thrones- Winds of Winter Chapter

George R.R. Martin made news over the Memorial Day weekend by reading a new chapter from The Winds of Winter at Balticon. New being a relative term as the chapter is not exactly "new" per se- but it's the first time he's read it at a convention. The chapter is from the Greyjoy perspective and to say it's interesting would be an understatement. With all the attention that Game of Thrones on HBO is getting, this chapter reminds us that the book version of this story is very different- and there is a lot of information in this new chapter that changes the way things may go down.

You can read the chapter report here. Also please be aware this post will have book spoilers. There is also a full transcript here which appears to be authentic. It's in some ways a very dark chapter and mainly concerns Euron Greyjoy, who is Theon's uncle. He was just introduced on the show a couple weeks ago although he's been around in the books for a while. Euron has returned to the Iron Islands and become king, and has sent his brother to Meereen with a fleet to woo Daenerys and win her to their side. He plans to marry Dany and use a great horn called Dragonbinder to win the dragons as well. None of this has happened on the show yet obviously.

The rest of this post will assume you've read the chapter or are familiar with what it contains. I guess the biggest takeaway for me is how unremittingly dark this is. Euron is raiding with impunity in the Reach and is collecting priests, cutting out their tongues and torturing them. What does he need the priests for? The other interesting thing is he is drinking nightshade... and he forces Aeron Greyjoy to drink as well, causing Aeron to have strange visions. These visions would seem to indicate that Euron sits the Iron Throne at some point, with a woman next to him with pale fire in her hands. Could this be an Other? Has Euron made alliance with them somehow? Or is he a pawn of some other power?

It's mentioned that the Redwyne fleet is coming to deal with them, and that the Hightowers hope to catch them from behind when battle is joined. It doesn't appear that Euron is too worried about this however, and one must assume he has a plan for dealing with them. The overall tone of this chapter suggests that Euron has become a player. All the talk of horns binding dragons and krakens, and the religious imagery Aeron sees in his visions, suggests that something big is happening with a character that only appeared in the fourth book, and in the show is an almost unknown quantity. It will be interesting to see where this goes.