are there theories that he will bend to daenerys? i haven't heard them. i only asked because stannis seems to be motivated many times by the right thing to do. nobody goes looking for a king/queen. well, most people don't so i never expected him to. as robert's brother, i understand why he feels he's next. i was curious to hear what you thought about it.

my take is if dany arrives with an army, i'm not sure if a man motivated by the right thing to do would attack. but i'm not convinced that stannis is solely motivated by duty and conscious and his attacking dany would feel like a logical step in grrm's story. however it would also prove that he is indeed after the throne because he wants it if he fights the rightful heir for it.

so i don't have a particular theory but i will admit i see stannis bending the knee as highly unlikely. he is human, at the end of the day. and humans want power.

as for cliche endings, i an not convinced dany will actually sit on the iron throne, even if she fights for it.

did tyrion's story really feel complete at the end of asos? he'd just won a major battle and saved king's landing. what reward would he get for that? he'd married sansa but hadn't slept with her. that needed to be resolved. he still has enormous guilt about his first wife. that needed to be resolved. would he be cleared of joff's death? what price would he have to pay for tyrion's death? and that's just off the top of my head. if i looked, i'm sure there's more.