In the first three parts of the series, the cruel king of the Iron Throne was seen fighting for his dominance in the land. He wanted to make everyone kneel before him so that he would be able to get a firm grip on the seven kingdoms. The attempt failed and it started a war among the seven kingdoms because of which everyone has now lost in one way or the other.
There are some who have lost in competition and there are those kingdoms that have lost their warriors and fire power. In a nutshell the seven kingdoms have become weak and any enemy from the outside world can get advantage of the current situation. George R. R. Martin starts painting the presence of rebels very soon in the novel, later these rebels form strong groups and they are ready to loot and plunder the people of the seven kingdoms
Old faces and powers go down in this fourth part and a wind of change is seen which might sweep everything away. Intensity reaches to the level of A Game of Thrones and A Storm of Swords but at a later stage. This novel narrated by Roy Dotrice i.e a genius in the field is actually the story of a rebuilt where new alliances are forged and new heroes are born.
Change does not reach to the full completion stage and it will take one more book to depict the full change that has approached the land after the end of the trilogy. Heroic figures were faint because they were in the initial stages and would get polished later.
