'Winds of Winter' spoilers: Asha's chapter teases death; Photo manipulation reveals details

An old picture of George R.R. Martin writing “Winds of Winter” has resurfaced online, with one of the fans manipulating the picture to see what the author was writing. The picture, which was previously unreadable, has now revealed parts of Asha’s chapter.

[Spoiler alert]

Martin appeared on “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver” two years ago to give the fans an update on the progress of his book. The author joked that he had just killed three of Oliver’s favourite characters. When asked if it was Arya Stark, the author simply raised his hands. The TV show host, who was fishing for clues, was left disappointed.

What was obviously a humorous exchange has suddenly become important after a Reddit user BryndenBFish decided to dig up the old photo and do some manipulation to try and figure out what Martin was writing. The author had joined the interview on the TV show via Skype and was seen in front of his computer screen.

It turns out that Martin was indeed writing a chapter for “Winds of Winter.” The pictures that the Reddit user shared online show that the author was writing a chapter from Asha Greyjoy’s point of view. It is not clear where the character is located in the chapter.

The words “Lord Reaper of Pyke” and “sellsword” appear in the page, along with the words “fashioned in the shape of the Twin Tower of House of Frey” and “standard of King Tommen.” Will Asha meet with a bunch of mercenaries in the next book?

The chapter also teases a death in “Winds of Winter.” Asha observes the head of an “old man” impaled on a spear. The dead man possibly has a white beard. It should be noted that Davos has a white beard, but Asha also refers to the dead character as a “northman,” so it isn’t clear who the dead man is.