In last week’s episode of Game of Thrones season 6, the Blackfish died a brave and noble death, fighting Lannister men in his ancestral home, which was betrayed and given away by his own kin. The events at Riverrun transpired much like they did in A Dance With Dragons, with one major difference and one minor difference. Minor first: Brienne and Podrick weren’t at Riverrun in the books. But here’s the big one: The Blackfish didn’t die. He lives into Winds of Winter, as he should.

The Blackfish Shouldn’t Have Died In Game Of Thrones

The Blackfish is a real tough customer in both Game of Thrones and the Song of Ice and Fire books. He has survived countless conflicts, and doesn’t give up easily. That’s why he chose to hold Riverrun for so long in the first place. He didn’t give up or relent in the face of losing his ancestral home. He fights against adversity.

That’s why, in the books, the Blackfish doesn’t just give up when Riverrun falls to the Lannisters. He understands that the siege and the battle may be lost, the whole war may be lost, but the next war is just around the corner. In A Dance With Dragons, the Blackfish escapes much like Brienne and Pod do in the show. He escapes down the river. He does that by swimming beneath a portcullis in the river and disappearing into the night. Jaime was far from happy about this news; getting his hands on the Blackfish was one of his conditions for Riverrun’s surrender. But he got the castle, and that was enough.

We don’t know whether the Blackfish will have any further role to play in A Song of Ice and Fire. We just know that he’s alive, which makes it seem likely that he’ll show up again—perhaps at Jon and Sansa’s side, sooner or later. He is no friend to the Lannisters, and he’s cunning and resourceful. He wouldn’t throw away his life, like he did in the show. He’d hold out for another chance at revenge, and with Lannister power crumbling, he’d probably get it.