Analysis / The Raven's Plan

The Remembering as a form of Divine Judgment

The Raven's Plan was conceived as a Peggy Sue fic of characters returning to the past with the intention to Set Right What Once Went Wrong, but in practice, serves as a kind of Final Judgment on what their characters were, and in the process, have man serve as the arbiters of what they do or don't deserve. After all, people can be Hell or Heaven, so with all their sins exposed, the different people of Westeros and Essos are forced to confront their lives and make changes.

Negative Judgment

For some, this is punishment for their actions in life:

• Tywin believed in gaining power above all, but with all that inward focus, the War for the Dawn exposed it all as hollow ambition. As a result, his least favorite child stages a bloodless coup on him, and his denials leave him a prisoner in his own home.
  • The same happens for Randall Tarly, seeing physical strength as the only thing that matters, only for emotional and mental strength to bring him down.
  • As it does for Balon Greyjoy, and his petty pride makes him unsuitable to lead The Ironborn in the coming war.
• The Tyrells thought themselves cunning schemers, only to find themselves trapped between greater players where their own acts of vengeance mean nothing facing the new rise of the Starks.
• Stannis' Jumping Off the Slippery Slope leads to his dark deeds being so reviled that he essentially loses all power in a week.
• Joffery, simply put, was so bad that he died in the first few minutes of Remembering by retributive justice at the hands of the Hound.
  • The same fate befell Petyr Baelish, whose schemes ruined not only the realm but countless people's lives, so not only does Bran make sure Baelish doesn't Remember anything, but Jaime also gets rid of him as soon as he sees him.
  • Similarly, Ramsay Bolton was also quickly killed off simply for being such a cruel and sadistic monster, and in a similar fashion as he'd died in the last timeline to boot.
• The Freys vicious power grabbing marked them for Revenge in no time flat, and thus, like in canon, the majority of the family is killed post-Remembering.
• Lysa Arryn (nee Tully) was possessed to keep her son close to her, manipulated by Littlefinger, and unhappy with her marriage in the Vale. But after the Remembering, she's forced to confront her status as a pawn who was killed when it was convenient and loses her power when the Vale realizes how her inaction and spite helped in the ruination of her son and her kingdom.
• Likewise, Roose Bolton, despite not Remembering, is forced to have his own ambitions and evils exposed, leading to his immediate execution by his liege lords.
• Robert's negligence means that while the rest of the realm begins mobilizing for war with The Others, he's left a weakened, ignorant pawn as House Targaryen takes the Seven Kingdoms out from under him.
• Renly believed he should get everything due to his natural charisma. And that eventually extended to the throne. Post-Remembering, he does get entitled to new positions, but not because of his ability, but just because Robert has nothing else to work with.
• Cersei became a monster when she took more power by increasingly evil means. Post remembering, everyone scorns and shoves aside her "borrowed" power. Even Jamie, who was forced to kill her in the previous timeline, spurns her, breaking the fragile mind of Cersei without the power to act on it.
• Euron was a monster who sided with The Others, becoming an infamous killer of the land. His fate is to be outmaneuvered by an ordinary ship and given an ignoble death by drowning as his reward for cruelty.
• Gregor "The Mountain" was a simple man who wanted power and freedom to act however he wished. But he also lacked the sense to understand where to temper this. Thus, when he went to Qyburn for his invulnerability back, he's promptly outmaneuvered and killed.
• The Maesters of the Citadel thought that they would be forever able to operate in secrecy, working to undermine the Targaryens, the lords, and magic in general. But unfortunately for them, when the dead came the first time, people like Samwell and Elissa found out. So that in a stroke of judgment, they brought in Lord Hightower to purge the conspiracy at its roots, and then bring to the great houses the proof of their duplicities so as to repair the realm.
• The High Sparrow used the Faith of the Seven to try and restart the Andal dominance in the faith as well as the blood. Unfortunately, their cruelty through humiliation first got him blown up, and then on his return, swept up in the chaos of the Remembering, and killed by a man who had no patience for a faith that would undermine secular authority.

Positive Judgment

On the positive side of things, with those who survived and acted in the better interest of the realm, things are moved in a very different direction.

• With the experience of being drawn into leadership, Jon Targaryen gets a bit of a boost in the new timeline to become King in record time with multiple houses pledging in rapid fire.
  • And indeed, his wisdom from being Lord Commander and the acting king also gives him the perspective to try and bring the North together.
• Due to the tragedies they faced, the innocents Shireen, Rickon, Tommen, and Myrcella are given a second chance to live the life they never got.
• Bran was an innocent forced to become a virtual god to protect the world. Though it's a terrible sacrifice to lose his humanity in order for this to succeed, he now looks at the world with the omnipotence of a god, but the quiet honesty of a child, thus becoming that which keeps everyone else honest. In short, he is an impartial judge who sees that in the face of Armageddon, the only logical choice is to band together, old history be damned.
• Having learned and grown at The Wall, Samwell Tarly applies the lessons he's learned to become the Warden of the South, secure a union between his family and the Tyrells, and ensure the Maester Conspiracy is put to an end.
• Daenarys' deeds in Essos are so widespread that after Remembering, she essentially begins a takeover of the whole land due to the loyalty of her former subjects.
  • As such, her many lieutenants begin their work right away to retake what they deserve, with Jorah, Missandei, Grey Worm, Daario, and the others all getting to work in making Essos the domain of dragons.
• Tyrion learned all he needed from getting thrust into power during the Wars, and thus begins the shrewd work of preparing the Westerlands for the war against the others in a bloodless coup.
• Sansa was buffeted by greater power players in the Game of Thrones, learning and growing over the course of the wars. Following the Remembering, she becomes The Kingmaker for Jon, preparing the North, and indeed the realm, for war.
• Talisa Maegyr saw herself as a bringer of doom to her beloved in her last moments and on her return to the past, goes into voluntary exile from Westeros. But on arriving in Pentos, she's given a new perspective from Daenarys, giving her a glimpse into a greater reality than what happened at the Red Wedding, seeing what she could've helped affect had her life not been cut short in war. And as such, she gets a second chance to do what she's always done: heal and help the innocent. Just this time under House Targaryen.
• House Tully was a sidekick in the greater war, with each member contributing in good and negative ways. But in their loyalty to House Stark and to their duties, the three men find a new purpose and joy in each other.
  • Hoster's own poor health in the past timeline means that with what little time he has now, he works overtime to get his house's future in order, including reconciling with his brother Brynden.
  • Brynden, despite not Remembering, gets to see his family remade in part thanks to his Undying Loyalty to his niece Catelyn.
  • Edmure, having made it all the way to the war with the Others, was forced to confront how foolish and stupid he was in the leadup to that catastrophe. So, with a second chance, he takes full charge of his responsibilities as heir to Riverrun by leading The Purge of the Freys, assuming greater strength of the bannermen, and preparing his forces for the inevitable clash with Robert.
• Yara Greyjoy had to do some serious growing up and growing independent in learning to think beyond the heritage of being an Ironborn. But, as the daughter on site, she was also perfectly positioned to stop Balon from making any mistakes and begin bringing the raiders together as the iron fleet for saving the world. A sharp kindness that will combine greenlander ethics with the strength of an Ironborn.

Mixed Judgment

There are other characters who have some good, but quite a bit to work off too, and thus are subjected to a purgatory of Be All My Sins Remembered in having to face and grow their life now that they've been given a second chance.

• The Iron Bank had... problematic evaluations of how they chose business, willing to take risks on ventures, but also wanting to ensure repayments. This sometimes would push them towards different political causes if they thought it would prove profitable in the long run, but also might've given them a greedy idea to keep immoral regimes in power if they were good with repayments. With the Remembering, Dany makes a point that one poor quirk of immoral regimes is that inevitably their own self-interest will interfere in the regular flow to the bank. So, they start planning loans for the returning House of the Dragon despite it being "just good business".
• Melisandre manipulated the War of the Five Kings for her own ends, thinking it the will of her red god to save the world. But she made mistakes and perhaps didn't give the wisest counsel in the process. As a result, when the living loses, she makes the choice alongside Bran to save the living. But due to the overcharge of old magic, she makes a Heroic Sacrifice, taking the brunt of the magical overload to preserve Bran's strength, destroying her in both the future and the past. She's lost forever, but did something good at the end of her existence.
• Qyburn didn't exactly give himself a good reputation in the last war. But for him, it was never personal. As such, he moves to throw in with a better horse by killing Gregor and moving to submit himself to Jon. As such, it remains to be seen if he can stay on his best behavior, but it's a step forward to have the rogue maester become an asset for the realms.
• Dickon Tarly didn't know the bigger picture and ended up following his father into evil several times. But on learning the truth of his brother Samwell's "exile", he affirms that his family comes first. While the shame won't be easily dealt with, he hits the Karmic Jackpot when his brother set him up with Margeary Tyrell as a way to create the power block necessary to bring the Reach into the war, and through their bonding over being burned to death in the original timeline (as well as some past history and interactions they'd had as children), perhaps even laying the groundwork for a happy future as Lord Paramount of the South.
• Theon was a decent ward whose longing to belong in his birth culture lead him to become The Oathbreaker. His mistakes then lead him into such depths of pain and suffering that all those who lived through it with him knew that he'd punished himself equally alongside his own suffering. While those from earlier in the war aren't as forgiving, for those who truly know him, they are more than happy to have him back. And if he can learn to forgive himself, he just might be that strong ally he was at the start of the first war.
• The Lannister uncles and aunts had their own strengths and weaknesses. So their "punishments" are to simply help fix the mess Tywin left their families.
• Shae was a pawn in a bigger game, and as such didn't understand all of Tyrion's motives, so in the rebirth, her main concerns were revenge. But at the same time, because she was a smaller part of his life, after the physical threat is handled, Tyrion has a tearful heart-to-heart with her, then sends her away. Because unfortunately, in the face of the undead, relationship issues have to be put aside.
• Ned did everything as "honorably" as he could in the first timeline, and indeed his death led to all the problems of people seeking to honor his legacy. But in the new timeline, he's forced to see how his mistakes and adherence to Honor Before Reason led to his death and his children being forced to become increasingly more ruthless to survive. He wasn't at total fault for this, but he is forced to confront his own secrecy and naivete and understand how the future has come to the past, and the best he can do now is make the most of this second chance.
• Catelyn believed she had honored the Tully vow of "Family, Duty, Honor" in her life. But her own impulsive vindictiveness and prejudice helped lead to war, and her foolish choices seeking to protect her family only led to ruin. Though she's not overtly punished for this, she does reap a fair amount of karma - her favorite daughter usurps her practical power, she has to see that her mistakes led to her children suffering all kinds of soul-shattering traumas to survive, and then there's her guilt and horror upon learning that Jon is actually her and Ned's nephew through Lyanna and Rhaegar, meaning she had mistreated him for nothing. So in her purgatory, she's forced to face her own mistakes and accept what her children are rather than what she wants them to be, but there's also space for her to grow into a better mother and lady, to reconnect with them properly, and help prepare for the Second War for the Dawn.
• Robb is haunted by the problems his time as King in the North had - the betrayals, the mistakes, and the loss of face he endured. In some ways, he's given new life in supporting his cousin as a Number Two on the battlefield. And in some other ways, he's hurt due to falling in the middle between ignorance and knowledge of how messy the War of the Five Kings became.
• Arya hardened herself in order to survive, and became a dark legend because of her thirst for vengeance. Now that the reason for her revenge lives again, she has to wrestle with what she's become - an independent woman but also a feared assassin who has to reconcile those two sides to be better adjusted in the world post-Remembering.
• Viserys was a Big Brother Bully to Daenarys and there's no excusing his abuse of her, but it's also made clear he was driven crazy by the despair, stress, and trauma of losing his whole family and way of life to a violent coup and having to raise his little sister in a foreign land by himself at a very young age. Though he doesn't Remember, he is given a chance to become a better person and even see his dream of the Targaryen dynasty being reinstated on the Iron Throne come true without having to take on the enormous responsibility that he clearly was not suited to take on.