Fans of George R.R.Martin's 'A Song of Ice and Fire' series have been waiting a very, very long time for the next installment, 'The Winds of Winter,' to hit stores and they're coming up with plenty of plot theories to bide their time.
One Reddit user has shared some intriguing thoughts on where Martin might take the plot in the next book in the series.
The theory revolves around King's Landing and the fate of the Lannisters, and fans are figuring out a possible scenario if fans presume that Harys Swyft doesn't make it back to King's Landing alive.
With Kevan Lannister and Grane Maester Pycelle killed off in the last installment, that leaves Swyft as the only Lannister loyalist, but he's been perpetually incompetent and the Reddit thread theorizes that he might end up being killed through his own folly in Braavos before he is able to make it back to King's Landing - a recent snippet of 'The Winds of Winter' released by Martin did reveal that Swyft would be in Braavos for a while and might not even return.
There will be an important power struggle going on to claim the throne between the Lannisters and the Tyrells, and the Reddit thread speculates that there will be a Tyrell takeover of the Small Council, which has two vacant seats - the Grand Maester and the Master of Coin.
At least in the beginning, Mace Tyrell will be running the show with Kevan no longer in the picture and it is speculated that the vacant seats will go to Gormon and Garth Tyrell.
The Reddit thread also guesses that Tyene Sand will manage to penetrate the Faith disguised as Septa in order to assassinate Cersei, but may end up killing Cersei's son, Tommen, instead, after which she may seek revenge on the Faith and the Tyrells.
This is where the books differ from the current HBO hit adaptation Game of Thrones, as in the books Cersei remains a prisoner of the Faith.
For Martin's part, he has been very quiet on the plot since releasing the spoiler chapter last year. In January, he admitted on his Live Journal blog that the new book was nowhere near ready, although a release this year may still be possible.
According to some speculations, the book may be released in 2018 in time for Martin's 70th birthday.
