The Winds Of Winter’s Best Chapter So Far Fixes A Big Game Of Thrones Villain Problem

The wait for The Winds of Winter stretches on, but author George R.R. Martin has already revealed one chapter that elevates a character far beyond their Game of Thrones counterpart. The Winds of Winter‘s release has been eagerly anticipated since 2011, the year that Game of Thrones started and when the most recent A Song of Ice and Fire novel, A Dance with Dragons, was released. Due to various commitments – not least of which was the books spawning one of the biggest TV shows ever – and the sheer scope of the narrative, Martin has, by his own admission, struggled with writing the sixth installment.

What has been revealed of the book, though, has largely been excellent. Over the years, Martin has read or released various preview chapters for The Winds of Winter, including POV characters such as Arya Stark, Tyrion Lannister, Sansa Stark, Theon Greyjoy, and Arianne Martell. Some of them, such as the Theon chapter and Arya’s “Mercy,” which follows her in Braavos, are extremely tantalizing teases of what’s to come. The very best of them, though, is not only some incredible writing, but shows a book-to-screen problem that happened long before Game of Thrones‘ controversial ending.

The Winds Of Winter’s The Forsaken Chapter Explained

The Chapter Is Told From The POV Of Aeron Greyjoy

“The Forsaken,” first read by Martin back in 2016 (and available to read on The Hawke), is from the point-of-view of Aeron Greyjoy, aka the Damphair, one of the uncles of Theon Greyjoy. He was last seen in A Feast for Crows when, despite his protestations, Euron Greyjoy was crowned King of the Iron Islands. It was unclear what happened to Aeron after that, but The Winds of Winter reveals he has been taken by Euron, and is being kept captive on his ship, Silence.

What follows is Aeron wrestling with his faith – his belief in the Drowned God being tested by grim torture inflicted upon him by Euron. The Damphair is forced to drink shade of the evening – typically consumed by the warlocks of Qarth – and then suffers a variety of visions, portending everything from Euron’s rise to power to terrifying monsters and the death of the gods themselves.

“Aeron Damphair looked. The mound of skulls was gone. Now it was metal underneath the Crow’s Eye: a great, tall, twisted seat of razor sharp iron, barbs and blades and broken swords, all dripping blood.

“Impaled upon the longer spikes were the bodies of the gods. The Maiden was there and the Father and the Mother, the Warrior and Crone and Smith … even the Stranger. They hung side by side with all manner of queer foreign gods: the Great Shepherd and the Black Goat, three-headed Trios and the Pale Child Bakkalon, the Lord of Light and the butterfly god of Naath.”

Intermingled with this, when it snaps back to reality, are updates on Euron’s plans, which range from facing the Redwyne fleet, to marrying Daenerys Targaryen and ruling the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros alongside her, as well as taking a woman named Falia Flowers as another wife. There are also reveals about the Greyjoys’ past, with Euron confirming he murdered three of his brothers, alongside seeming confirmation that he sexually abused Aeron when he was younger.

The chapter ends with Aeron strapped to the front of Euron’s ship, and learning that he has priests tied to many others too, ready to make some kind of sacrifice. Alongside Aeron on the brow of the Silence is Falia, the girl doomed to a fate she did not expect, her tongue having been cut out.

The Winds Of Winter Shows How Terrifying Euron Greyjoy Really Is

Game Of Thrones Failed With The Character

“The Forsaken” is truly brilliant writing by Martin: it is dark, haunting, atmospheric, and has an ending that’ll chill you to the bone more than the waters the Silence sails upon. I’ve personally never been too invested in the Ironborn (besides Theon), but the nightmarish odyssey it takes Aeron on is absolutely fascinating and promises that things are going to get even weirder in The Winds of Winter. I also love it when Martin’s writing leans into prophecy and visions (Daenerys’ House of the Undying being a perfect example), and this a great showcase of that.

What really stands out revisiting the chapter now, though, is how much better this version of Euron is compared to his Game of Thrones counterpart. The character did show some promise when first introduced (and I like Pilou Asbæk), but the show’s writing took him in the direction of being an R-Rated Jack Sparrow that’d been ordered from Wish, relying too much on crude humor rather than showing just how dark and terrifying he could truly be. Thankfully, the same cannot be said for The Winds of Winter.

While it remains to be seen just how big a player Euron will be in the endgame, this highlights how far his plans extend: it isn’t simply about wanting the Iron Throne, but a much greater power. He appears to be dabbling in some incredibly dark arts, looking to bring forth Eldritch terrors the likes of which we haven’t seen before in A Song of Ice and Fire.

“The dreams were even worse the second time. He saw the longships of the Ironborn adrift and burning on a boiling blood-red sea. He saw his brother on the Iron Throne again, but Euron was no longer human. He seemed more squid than man, a monster fathered by a kraken of the deep, his face a mass of writhing tentacles. Beside him stood a shadow in woman’s form, long and tall and terrible, her hands alive with pale white fire. Dwarves capered for their amusement, male and female, naked and misshapen, locked in carnal embrace, biting and tearing at each other as Euron and his mate laughed and laughed and laughed…”

It’s not just that he’s incredibly cruel and sadistic, but that he’s after an apocalyptic-level of power to serve his own ends. It’s hard to believe the two characters are the same, really, and after this chapter I can’t wait to see where The Winds of Winter blows the sails of the Silence next.