Game of Thrones Season 4: Expectations

MAJOR SPOILERS! STOP NOW IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT S4!

Before I even begin, I was always more traumatized by the death of Ned, even though the Red Wedding was horrific. He is a POV in the book, so you get to know him much better, and he was my favorite character of that book. But, I am still devastated by his death. I hated how Tywin Lannister, took ICE, and split it in two: one of which will go to King Sociopath, and Jaime. Jaime calls it Oath Keeper, and gives it to Brienne.

It is Valyrian Steel, and it carries great honor, and is treasured by the Houses who receive it, as they are no longer able to be created. It may also be a weapon that can kill the White Walkers. The only one that remains with House Stark, is Longclaw, owned by Jon Snow.

We know that honor is not what King Tywin is about, he is about power. So, he essentially cheated to get the sword, and had to defile the House Stark even more, by splitting their great Valyrian sword, ICE. It still makes me sick, and yeah, Ned refused to play the game, as did Robb, but there was nothing worse than seeing good, honest men, worthy of ICE,  killed for being just that.

What needs to happen in Season 4
I know that ADWD, will be part of this season, but there are some events that need to take place. I have faith, and the trailers, lead me to believe that we should be fine. It has placed some events on a faster track than the books, so if you did not read them, you should not have a problem. Some events are being blended in ways that if you did not read the books, and then read them now, you will become really confused, as you won't see the bigger picture. So, just read them later, as Lord knows when we are getting the next book.

As mentioned there are changes, but these need to happen:

King Sociopath dies. Yeah!
Tyrion is blamed for it, by guess who? Cersei
She becomes the Regent for Tommen
Tyrion goes to trial, decides by combat, Red Viper decides to champion him
Jaime helps Tyrion escape w/help from Varys
Tyrion kills Tywin, on the golden throne so to speak, and Shae, who has been sleeping w/King Tywin

Arya
She's a bit harder: but she should be on her way to Braavos by the end of the season. I am fine w/how things are moving, as long as she ends up there at some point

Sansa
She will escape during the "PurpleWedding", and Dontos will help her do so
Petyr is the one who saves her....takes her to the Vale. Some trailers indicate that she will be there this season

Bran: He will continue his journey in looking for the three-eyed crow, and how to understand his visions.

Jaime
He will end up seeing Cersei for the selfish, horrible person that she is
He will realize that she is going insane....her paranoia in FOC is quite entertaining
He sends Brienne w/his sword to find Arya

Jon Snow
My favorite character, finally sounded like himself in this episode.
Plus we all know he's been working out, so he's much hotter than the actual Jon Snow
He will lead the battle for the wall
Sadly, he will kill Ygritte, and as in the book and in the show, she will die in his arms. In the book he thinks that he killed her, but he sees the arrow, and realizes that he did not do it.
He MUST become the 998th Lord of the NW at the end, as it is extremely important. Remember the White Walkers were said to return in 1,000 years? Coincidence? I think not.

Dany
Well she gets to Meereen near the end of the book, but who knows how that will play out.
That's about it, oh and she finds out that Jorah was the traitor. But I hope they don't do that, as I really love that she has too older men as her confidants.
The dragons get bigger and scarier and no longer listen to Mom
Oh, and big news: Daario is her new boyfriend.

My predictions on how they will play out in each episode: 

4.1: See 4.1 recap

4.2 King Sociopath will finally DIE. Yes, thank the gods, and he will die a horrible death, at his wedding. He will put on a show where he mercilessly tortures Tyrion, before being poisoned and turning purple. Cersei decides it is Tyrion who did it, and if you have been paying attention, all of those little threats from S3? They were foreshadowing, as fantastic as they were, they will come back to haunt him.

Sansa is taken away by Dontos, the Fool, and finds herself on a boat w/Petyr Belish. Why? Well he takes her to the Eyrie, and he has some sick thing for her, as she looks like a young Cat. As for Bran?
I have no idea how his journey will proceed, as it is already very different than the books. So, I'm excited to see how they will write his story.

4.3-4.5: There will be the big funeral, and it will be the last time Jaime, and Cersei, have sex, or sooner, because he's seeing her for the crazy, psycho she's becoming. As you can already see, he is starting to get sick of her already. Tyrion will be sentenced to death, and needs a champion. The Red Viper comes to visit him, and says that he will champion him, as guess what? The Mountain has been chosen to represent, the poor, dead King Sociopath. "The Lannisters aren't the only ones who pay their debts..." oh yeah! and there is an EPIC fight, which you have already seen parts of in the trailers.

Arya should be well on her way to Braavos, if not in 4.5, it will be in 4.6. I can't wait for her to be on her way to be one of the Faceless Men! Yeah!

4.6-4.8: We will see Jaime free Tyrion with the help of Varys, and well, they have a little spat that will be for those recaps. However on the way out Tyrion stops by King Tywin's bedroom, and kills him! and Shae, who we can already see is turning away from Tyrion.

4.9, and even part of 4.10: will be the battle for the wall against the Wildlings.  The battle lasts several days, and yes, Ghost should be at his side by the end of the season. Jon becomes a strong, leader, and most importantly he will be named, at the end of 4.10, and the end of ASOS, the 998th Lord Commander of the Nights Watch.

We will also see Stannis, and Mel, coming to their rescue against the Wildlings, setting up a lot of things that take place, for Season 5.  I am not sure how they are going to combine everything, but Stannis and Jon, develop a very interesting relationship. And even worse? Ghost likes Mel, who realizes her little lie about Stannis saving the world, might be the truth for Jon.

I don't think that I missed any of the highlights, oh, yeah, Dany. Well they are going to have to stretch Mereen out as she does not become Queen until the end of the book, and continues to be one in ADWD. As, I mentioned earlier, her dragons are out of control.

I don't think that I forgot anyone, so we'll see if I'm right in the end!

Recap for 4.1 is up next!