It’s pretty obvious GRRM regrets killing Janos Slynt. Why? Because Janos Slynt had friends at court. POWERFUL FRIENDS!

My thought is that it has to be Aemon. He could be the point of connection between Jon and Dany, or at least serve as a way of alerting the latter to the former's presence. Plus he's got knowledge of SO much history, including whatever prophecy stuff Rhaegar might've been up to.

Killing Kevan essentially makes the next two weeks extremely hard for Cersei to survive with any power intact, and would require a level of manipulation to maintain that she simply does not have. For me I imagine most paths lead to either ‘exile to a convent’ or ‘exile back to Casterly Rock’, *at best*. They could also just kill her; it depends on how quickly the religious zealotry is kicking in in the city.

I believe GRRM said in an update from last year that he had finally finished a clutch of Cersei chapters that was giving him trouble, so that might give credence to the character being related to the Cersei story

In the interest of fairness it should be noted that the big knock against it being Kevan is that causing political chaos in King's Landing was the literal reason Varys killed him. It would be mad if George was like "I'm gonna kill Kevan to create political chaos in KL" then a couple years later he's like "oh no !! I created political chaos in KL by killing Kevan Lannister".

Checked his notes and realised Pycelle was supposed to be Azor Ahai

I was really shocked by Kevan’s death, and actually saddened. He was one of my favourite tertiary characters in the books because he has the Lannister name, the intelligence, but is also kind and sensitive.

Kevan is easy to write around. Do a 2 week time skip for Gemma to arrive and say that the High Sparrow granted Tommen’s request to delay the trial 7 days after the funeral and the funeral is delayed for Gemma and other Lannisters to arrive.

Chad Summerchild regrets nothing

If I had to guess it would be Oberyn Martell. He seems to be connected to every major story plot (from Dani, to Jon Con, to Kings landing, to Old Town to the Riverlands to the Wall) but he died without connecting a single dot or resolving a single plot point. Which means George now has to introduce another character who can connect all those dots for him without it feeling forced or opening plot holes.

GRRM REGRETS IT ALL

I think it has to be a recent death to be able to delay winds. If it's a character who died in the earlier books , George would have had 20 years to find a solution. And IMHO it's the most recent major death in the story:Kevan. He was the last person able to hold Cersei back from going full Mad Queen. The cross bow is an easy way to frame Tyrion, confirming Cersei's paranoia and sending her down the path of madness too early in the story. Perhaps George may have meant for Cersei to have a slower descent in Winds Edit: I also remember a few Blog posts where George talked about Cersei chapters giving him headaches. So it seems to line up pretty well.

To be fair, killing Kevan was one of the most unexpected things to happen at the end of book 5. George wanted to shock us and he succeeded big time. I remember reading it in 2013 and being like nice the next book will be coming soon. Oh wait...

Genna has that feeling because she's the one Lannister who doesn't have some ulterior motive and isn't always plotting or planning. She's the ONE fully open & truthful Lannister that just says what it is, period. That's why you have that feeling about her.

On my recent reread, I was surprised how much I liked Genna. She's so funny, and also no nonsense. And she's only in like two chapters. Would love to see her play a bigger role in the last books. Now I'm looking forward even more to your fanfic.

I always thought it was Arys Oakheart, since he said he regretted writing that chapter as well 9:22 you could make the argument for Lancel Lannishter. He is Kevan's direct heir and he is in KL. Having someone who is a Lannister but tied to the HS and the Warriors Sons as regent would be interesting

I saw someone else mention Beric Dondarrion in this comment section, and I think that is a very interesting take. Having someone capable of the kiss, and with the knowledge and experience of being undead, would be invaluable to several main characters, e.g. Jon and Mel at the Wall, Dany, or maybe even Bran/Bloodraven. Edit: I see some people mentioning Stoneheart as a possible replacement for Beric, but Stoneheart is completely enmeshed in the Riverlands, Frey, and Red Wedding 2.0 storylines. There is almost no way that she would be able to serve any significant role in the story at the Wall unless she borrowed Littlefinger's jetpack.

With Kevan dead, Cersei basically is going to go nuts trying to gain control while Tyrells and the Faith battle for power. Tommen will choose Mace as hand and it won't be that hard for GRRM. If Genna shows up it will be fascinating, because despite having some Lannister fire, she's a grieving mother with honest ambitions. I'd love to see Olenna and Genna meet.

The character almost has to be Aemon. He could easily have had some Summerhall knowledge that would be hard to give to other characters. He's also the last character that could bring forth any Targaryen secret knowledge passed down only to family members, since Viserys was orphaned so young (and would probably be reluctant to share anything with his sister anyways). His death is also quite random, not serving any grand purpose in the narrative, it would be quite easy to regret letting go of the character so soon, as his death could have been postponed without much of an issue.

I feel like it's Maester Aemon. I know his arc seems fairly complete but... His Death was awkwardly handled compared to most other characters. It's like he died cause he was old and that's what he's supposed to do? Like George didn't know what to do with him for a minute, and then later might have remembered things he could have done with him. I can't think of anyone else. Every other death seemed pretty deliberate. Aemon is the only one who seemed to have died from a lack of immediate narrative utility, that might have been a lapse. Aemon went to the Wall with Bloodraven. He might've been key to some things that only George could tie together. But it could just be Kevan.

If he’s really agonising about getting Genna or Daven to court to serve as regent, then I’d honestly just recommend him to let her borrow the jetpack for a while. It’d be strange if she turned up as early as Cersei III, but at this point, I’ll take a few inconsistencies over nothing lol.

I thought GRRM confirmed that Pycele's death was premature in an old So Spake Martin.

It's possible that there's a character in WINDS that George has been planning on killing for a while (maybe Victarion). But once that character is dead, it brings a lot of issues. So he doesn't want to undo that decision because the death serves a narrative purpose.

I like it how Varys uses "the evil voice", a common poirot troupe when the murderer have been found out and explains his motive.

Possible options for who he regrets killing: 1) the miller's boys 2) Quentyn Martell (idk if Grrm's smart enough to realise he's still alive) 3) Coldhands' elk (sweet fast travel for Bran) 4) Old Nan 5) Aron Santagar 6) Jon Arryn 7) Jon Snow 8) Lord Dustin 9) Lady Hornwood 10) Allar Deem

Little Walder, mayhaps.

Genna as the regent.... Much as I like this idea I had always had this impression that she would die pretty soon after she was introduced. I mean, she was so nice and interesting character, but off to be killed. I also had the impression that Jaime will die pretty soon. There is certain feeling of his path coming to an end, especially when he muses how he managed to end the conflict at Riverrun without fighting Tullys. He also goes to Harrenhal and hears all the stories and rumours that are being said about Brienne and him like you can see the tale of his life being told. I could totally see him dying in his next chapter.

First name that came to my mind was Lysa. No real reason why but it's one of the few that you definitely can't put back in the bottle. Cersei's trial won't end up happening imo The High Sparrow will instead attempt to install Lancel in the Rock, and won't want his name sullied as star witness against the queen

My tip is big - Jon Snow. Like in the show what was so awful is resurrected Jon was exactly the same as pre-dead Jon. Shouldn't he undergo a transformation more like Lady Stoneheart? That of course wouldn't work with his proposed character arc. For me, that's always been a HUGE problem for GRRM to resolve.

What about Jon Snow? Having him be secret royalty is hard when he's zombified

I think GRRM was talking about Jon Snow. I know not many people agree with my opinion but I think that Jons death means that he will no longer be a POV character (similar to Cat after she was resurrected).

Wouldnt Lancel taking his fathers place as Regent make more sense? Especially since the Faith have the power in KL and they would want the one Lannister involved in the Faith running things.

Genna better live by the end of the novels, she is such a great character.

Could it possibly be jamie? I just wonder if george feels like theres no way to logically write him out of lady stonehearts grip without killing him. In general Im wondering if he wrote a character into a corner so much that theres no other way but to kill them off.

What are the chances GRRM is talking about a character he killed off early in Winds of Winter and the reason he is having trouble is because he realized he will have to rewrite a good chunk of Winds of Winter?

It has to be someone who has not been needed much in other circumstances but needs to be here for a specific plot point. Arts Oakheart?

My immediate thought was some Frey. It can't be someone that's too important for the major plot, like Tywin or Ned. Their deaths have such an obvious effect on the story that it would be ridicolously stupid by George to not think it through. It has to be some character that at first doesn't seem very important so you can kill them without thinking too much about it, but they are part of some complex system where you realize they are necessary once you start digging in it. None of the Frey characters are really big parts of the plot, so I can see George killing them without thinking, but the Frey succession is really complicated and I believe Frey succession/civil war will be a big part of winds. I can't think of what dead Frey it would be though, Merret and Little Walder are too far down the list of succession to matter. Maybe Jinglebell?

I think it's definitely Maester Aemon, he's old enough and interested in prophecy enough to have a lot of knowledge and conclusions that are unknown to everyone else

Sitting here yelling Jon Snow at my phone

I think we should think about this less from a logistical standpoint like "there must be a Lannister in KL". I'd guess it it's rather someone who could have driven the story/motives of a pov character forward. That said I don't have a good idea who it could be yet...

So since she is this close to George it puts more validity behind what she said about the show ending: “What happened is that his show caught up with him, and he then met with the showrunners and he told them what he was planning to do in that book, so that they could then write accordingly,” Gabaldon explained. “Only they didn’t write accordingly, they took his stuff, and distorted it and wrote their own ending, which wasn’t at all what he had in mind but used all the elements that he told them.”

What about Berric Dondarrion? He died for real when he passed his spark into Lady Stoneheart.

One of the things I "love" about Cersei's as a character is that on the surface at first, we're sort of inclined to root for her in a weird way from a feminist angle. She's the overlooked daughter who wants to follow in her father's footsteps as a political player, but now she's taking control on her own. But, besides being an awful person, she's also, like, awful at politics. Tywin is a bad role model on many levels, even as a politician, but even then she took only the wrong lessons from him. She's a blunt instrument even when she thinks she's being subtle, and she gets outplayed by people like the Tyrells and her own father because she doesn't really know what she's doing. She's petty, spiteful, and impatient. She knows only how to win enemies and alienate friends. Her solution to everything is to kill people. She only "won" against Ned and Robert because Ned was even worse at politics and Robert was too soused. Even then, she just kind of got lucky. To see her interact with Genna, who in many ways has the exact same background, but who seems much, much smarter, frankly, would just be fascinating.

It could also be from a Feast for Crows, remember, because that book happens at the same time as Dance.

the guy that took davos' place above white harbor

The issue w/ Kevan's death from a political point of view I feel like is by design. I personally think the wildcard that's going to help out Cersei is actually Aegon. In his journey of wanting to become a righteous king, he might disagree with the way Cersei's being treated (potentially against JonCon's strategic wishes). Or he may announce his presence otherwise at Storm's End, drawing enough attention to delay Cersei's trial. Cersei on the other hand may warm up to new opportunities. Wasn't she drawn to Rhaegar's looks when she was younger, looking forward to potentially getting married to him? She also saw those similar features of physique in Auran Waters, right? Maybe the imagery of a younger version of Rhaegar will excite her enough to inspire new kinds of impulsivity for her character, potentially thinking she has a chance to be wed to Aegon. Maybe that's how the "Cersei x Golden Company" from the tv show happens. If the dead character really is someone George "needs", then it has to be exclusive to either a plot thread or the development of another character. If it's a main character, I was wondering if it's just Catelyn, & he doesn't like where he is with her now; frustrated with the limitations of her state. Could also be any of the other witnesses to Robb's will, & he doesn't like the state the remaining survivors are in. We need to bare in mind, there might be a difference between which deaths he left ambiguously, & which ones are just ambiguous to us, but irreversible to him. With that in mind, it could also be recent-historical characters, like Ashara Dayne.

One theory I saw on Reddit was that the character GRRM regretted killing was Pycelle, because he was present at the birth of Prince Aegon, and could thus be could be able to prove or disprove Young Griff’s identity via some sort of birthmark, or the lack of one. Not that I expect anyone would listen to him, but it could have been one of the little clues GRRM used to plant suspicion about Griff

could it of been a character he had killed at the very start of his winds of winter manuscript, and realised later that that character was essential. Sure its reversable as hes still writing it but perhaps it was so much of a problem to him because it was a major important death early on in the book so he was forced to go back rewriting not only that death, but also all of the POVs that that death would of effected.

The character is CLEARLY Allar Deem.

I heard in an interview long ago that George regretted killing Robb before giving him any POV chapters. I’m certain he intended for Robb to die, but apparently he wanted us to gain more insight into the character before that happened.

it's obviously ned, well gotta rewrite the series. the publisher will probably be on board because they can finally release something. a new (old) book that's a sweet win-win for them. right now remakes are the big thing anyway, right? finally the era of book remakes begins. no tbh i think it may very well be quentin or loras. not because they are dead but because george does not understand his own writting anymore. he has said a few times that often he can't remember he wrote something or why he wrote a certain plot. i have that myself sometimes and george is both old and has six billion plots so it's not easy to always remember what you wanted to do with them. another guess is shay, as he told sibel he wished he hadn't killed her and he might now feel like he owe's her something. and because of that feeling he does not know what to do.

Just have some sort of stipulation where the grand maester must be present for Cersei's trial. Then Genna has time to arrive while the citadel sends a new maester.

You're all wrong. It's Ser Twenty of House Goodmen.

Killing Aerys was a mistake

My guess is it’s Darean. I think there’s information that Darean was suppose to bring back to a resurrected John at the wall, but with Aemon dead and Sam in Oldtown, he doesn’t have a way to do that.

Are there any Lannister Bannermen in King's Landing that would be of a high enough status to act as regent until a member of the family arrives?

Maybe Ryman? He might have some specific idea in mind for how stuff plays out in the Riverlands, and Ryman's survival (at least for now) could've facilitated that? Or if its a character whose been dead a while, maybe Oberyn? The Dornish story makes very little sense, so Oberyn's survival could've influenced how things play out? idk...

Aemonn - needs to explain Dragon Dreams to the reader?

I think you're definitely right about Kevan being the one. As well as the fact that I don't think we'll ever get A Dream of Spring, but if George wrote Winds and Dream with the same pacing and density as A Storm of Swords I think you could end it in two. Seriously, Storm is one of the best books I've ever read. So much happens and it doesn't feel like you lose any of the details or world building the other books have. It's brilliantly paced. And if the last two books read like that it could definitely wrap things up in a satisfying way. But if they read like Feast or Dance there's no way.

Justice for Robb :(

What about Maester Pycelle? He probably has a lot of knowledge of Roberts Rebellion. I'm still betting we didn't learned everything about that. From the beginning on we were told that Ned and Robert were the good guys, and Aerys the bad one. But Lady Dustling storys of Brandon makes me think that we don't know the full story.

It’s got to be a PoV character in order for this to make sense. My money is on Kevan

Carmine with that flawless transition at the start of the video lol

HE REGRETS KILLING JON

Back are we and

I think it may be a Character related to danys half of the world. Like the poor Sea Captain. George has expressed difficulty with that area of the story before no?

I actually think it's possible for Kevan to be saved, however it requieres someone checking up on the grandmaester or some of Kevan's own loyalists to show up fast enough to save him from the little birds, which is somewhat unlikely since Varys would guard against that very option, or, even more intriguing, that there's a faceless man amongst the little birds, whose client benefits from Kevan being alive for the time being, and so would attack the others, saving Kevan. But all of that is fanfic work without much basis in the story as I recall it. Alternatively, instead of a Lannister in charge of Kings Landing as regent, it could be one of the Lannister Loyalists that are already well respected and competent, I'd wager Addam Marbrand, former member of the Gold cloaks, recognised knight and proven commander and leader. Also, as the heir to House Marbrand he is theoretically closely related to the Lannisters because Tytos Lannister's wife was a Marbrand, so he had some traction there too. Another option is Darlessa Lannister (nee Marbrand), who was married to Tygett, and is thus the aunt of Cersei, Jaime and Tyrion, which could bring her some seniority over them. A widower for several years, Darlessa would have taken charge of Tygett's possessions and holdings (which would be of unknown size, but since he partook in tourneys and was known for his martial prowess Tygett were likely loaded from that, Kevan said Tytos saw to all of his kid's inherritance, and Tygett "tried to be his own man, but couldn't compare to Tywin" which doesn't mean he's a failure, just not as succesful and likely had a minor lordship) which highlights her competence. Additionally, Darlessa would likely already be enroute to King's Landing to look for her missing son Tyrek, or voyaging to Hayford in the Crownlands, as the girl her son Tyrek was married to, Ermesande Hayford, is just a babe, and thus can't rule her own lands (which are likely quite rich, since Tyrek got married to her in the first place) aso Darlessa would rule them as regent in her place (This is not mentioned in the Jaime chapter where he visits Hayford, so it's a really flimsy reason). However, Darlessa hasn't appeared in the books at all, so would be an entirely new character to introduce as the regent. Aside from them there's a truckload of loyal lords to take up the reigns, Lord Brax, Lord Prester or Lord Crakehall would be top candidates in my mind.

Hey Preston I appreciate your content!

Aemon can be a force of unity/mutually beneficial communication between the 2 invading targaryens and with Jon

It makes sense that it's Kevin as he shows up at the trial in the show. Pycell(sp) is killed by the little birds instead.

This story is from a few years ago, and if I recall correctly, George gave an update at some point where he said he'd finished a cluster of Cersei chapters that had been troubling him. So he may have already solved this problem.

One does not simply have regrets...

Going back very very far, but could it be Viserys? Unambiguous death, and can speak of a lot of the past that others can't?

PJ IS BACK FOMOS

There are a few non-mains whose deaths {and lives} were pretty important. And difficult to rewrite any other way after getting so far in. For example- I can't help but to think of Franz Ferdinand when I think of Quentyn Martell's death. It was so quiet, so far away, so banal...to spark a hugeazz war. Oberyn's son's death changes EVERYTHING for the Martells. He kinda has to die.

Isn’t the whole point of the Lannister family that they are so fucked as a unit, mostly due to Tywin, that they’re incapable of treating each other as anything other than extensions of the concept of House Lannister that Tywin believed in more fervently than anything? Even then, I still do think the underlying reality that they are family shines through. I think to ACOK and how Cersei and Tyron started dancing with each other after hearing Stannis was sailing against Renly not them, or when he tried to comfort her in the same book, she just replies “not you.” Or Kevan extolling Tywin’s virtues to Tyrion in his prison cell because whatever else he was, he was still his big brother. Genna, and the two younger brothers, clearly didn’t believe in that concept as much as Tywin so they have much closer connections with Tyrion and Jaime than their father so that’s why Genna is much warmer with Jaime in their scene. I think if Tyg and Gerion were still around, we’d have even more of those scenes still.

It could absolutely be Quentyn - "The prince was three days dying" - and that is a Ser Barriston chapter so not likely to be mistaken, then add to that Selmy's internal debate between using fire or beetles to clean the bones before sending them back to Dorne and you pretty much confirm it's Quentyns corpse - so not sure how you can say it is reversible. Even his companions know he is dead and they would not abandon him unless they were sure. Stannis is also an unmentioned option, though his "death" was only conveyed in a letter from Ramsey so certainly no proof of verity there and it could be easily reversed by Martin later on explaining away the message as typical Ramsey lies. There is only one character who unquestionably perished but around whom the entire story hinged - Nimble Dick Crabb!

Ummm. GRRM NEVER wraps things up. I have read most of his written works and Preston has read them all. Not a single one has a clean ending. They are all unfinished.

Been a minute; love to see it.

I live in the delusion where Dance actually was the end of Ice and Fire. Jon dies, Dany is re-enslaved, Aegon lands/conquers, and everything else ends up not mattering.

Maybe Joffrey? Anyone at the red wedding? Beric Dondarrion? Robb? Grey wind or lady? Maester Luwin or Sir Roderic?

Ned Stark. He could have switched-off with Daario so that Daario could be Euron full-time.

He wrote himself into a corner with the frey pie that was promised prophecy

10:10 Little Walder Frey is the Prince That Was Promised.

He killed Jon, might regret that

Why would the Lannisters be able to get one of their own in there? Wouldn't the Tyrells have all the power with Kevan dead and Cersei locked up?

Maybe Jon Con? With the introduction of gray scale the Aegon conquest has a time frame now that can potentially put grrm in a corner

On George needing another book to wrap things up. I've considered this before and the books have been getting progressively longer. So I wondered will WOW be two books rather than one? A volume one of 500 or so pages and a volume two of similar length.

I feel like by the time Winds is released; Spring will already be mostly finished. I'm not sure he can write it any other way now. I was yelling Kevan at the screen until you guys finally said his name heh...there are 2 more who could be the oopsiedeath. Like Oberyn, for a "3". But as for Gemma-I think it more likely her husband will be named with open understanding that it is his wife who is the real voice there. If at all. I really want her to survive as her perspective is so much more interesting to me than almost any other. I think there's a good chance that someone religious/absurdish will be next up to die as Hand. I'm fronting a hopeful friendship between Gemma and Queen of Thorns, myself. There's just no real way those two won't feel like soul-sisters.

A lot of the comments down here seem to be about characters who have knowledge of the past, but I would guess Kevan Lannister, because that death to me feels like it forces the King's Landing plot into a corner, cause it seems increasingly like Cersei is screwed, and he may have needed her around for something with the Faegon and Daenerys plotlines?

WAIT, WAIT, I GOT THE SOLUTION. Kevan was killed late in the book and it was a Kevan point of view, so It Was All A Dream. He dreamed Varys killed him. He wakes up and Wow what a terrible dream.......That being said I think it is Maester Aemon .

I need all the song content i can get. Please continue

I might be off the track but my guess it could be Dareon the singer that Jon sends as a recruiter for the Night's Watch along with Sam. Now if you want to move some character to the Wall as a part of recruiting travel circle, you don't really have a guy that recruits men for the Night's Watch (like e.g. Yoren), it creates a problem if you want to have a smooth way to unite characters together on the Wall or even somewhere else, potentially moving Arya and Jon can't send any new recruiter because Jon is dead and Sam is still in the Citadel potentially for several more years.

I think Kevan is the most logical answer, but i think it'd also be really funny if it was like- idk Robar Royce or Jacelyn Bywater. these seemingly minor characters actually held the keys to the iron throne somehow

Leftfield option: Craster. There's knowledge of The Others and a relationship with them that has been lost. Equally Jeor Mormont, clearly had some deeper knowledge of The Others and of Crasters relationship that is lost.

You fools, it’s so obvious. After several rereads the answers is clearly Mycah the butcher’s boy. Read Haereg.

I would love for Jenna Lannister to take power. The Frey aspect alone would make it super interesting. It would have implications for the North as well. Roose would and Ramsey would have to be on their best behavior.

Didn't Kevan die in the winds sample chapter though?

The Knight of Flowers is NOT dead. He is just mostly dead.

I think it’s Robb Stark. GRRM has said before that he regrets not giving Robb his own POV chapters. And now GRRM is stuck trying to get North ruler fixed in a believable way. And the North needs to be fixed if Westros is to survive winter with Others, in a believable way.