Game Of Thrones: Why THAT Death Was A Mistake (& How It'll Be Different In The Books)
1. Learning To Rule
Lord of the Rings is an important touchstone for another aspect of how things might end in Martin's story too, since he's long discussed his interest in what comes after the victory. Aragorn wins the Throne, and that's more or less where Return of the King ends for him - but what comes after that? Speaking in 2014, Martin told Rolling Stone:
"Ruling is hard. This was maybe my answer to Tolkien, whom, as much as I admire him, I do quibble with. Lord of the Rings had a very medieval philosophy: that if the king was a good man, the land would prosper. We look at real history and it’s not that simple. Tolkien can say that Aragorn became king and reigned for a hundred years, and he was wise and good. But Tolkien doesn’t ask the question: What was Aragorn’s tax policy? Did he maintain a standing army? What did he do in times of flood and famine? And what about all these orcs? By the end of the war, Sauron is gone but all of the orcs aren’t gone – they’re in the mountains. Did Aragorn pursue a policy of systematic genocide and kill them? Even the little baby orcs, in their little orc cradles?"
That doesn't necessarily HAVE to apply to the finale of his story, because parts of it are something he's shown all along: through the various people to have held the Iron Throne, or power of any kind for that matter, in his main books, along with recent deep dives in Targaryen history, he's long shown an interest in the struggle to rule, but not quite so with an Aragorn-esque figure, because there's yet to be a truly 'good man' sit on the Throne in A Song of Ice and Fire. Will there be a good man at the end? Maybe, if someone like Jon Snow does end up ruling (and that's if there's even an Iron Throne to speak of at the end of the story), but it's another hint at what comes after the defeat of the Others: the picking up of the pieces, figuring out how to rule, a look at what comes nex, which is going to be hard, there'll be sadness and death, and it will be bittersweet.
What did you think of the Night King's death? How will the Others be defeated in the books? Let us know down in the comments.