'The Winds of Winter' release date, plot news: book to have 2017 launch? Major character predicted to die

Co-executive producer George R.R. Martin arrives for the season premiere of HBO's ''Game of Thrones'' in San Francisco, California March 23, 2015.Reuters/Robert Galbraith/File Photo

"The Winds of Winter" has no release date yet, but prolific theorist BryndenBFish believes that the sixth volume of "A Song of Ice and Fire" series could be released next year.

Speaking to The Verge, the well-known theorist said that looking at the writing speed of George R. R. Martin for "Dance With Dragons," he sees 2017 as a "potential" launch date.

Martin is currently hard at work to complete "The Winds of Winter." The bestselling author is focused on the job and assured fans that the development of his anthology saga "Wild Cards" into a television series won't divert his attention.

It has long been rumored that "The Winds of Winter" might finally be out next year although even publishers are in the dark as to when the book will be out.

However, despite the questions about when "The Winds of Winter" will be released and how long fans will have to wait for it, BryndenBFish says that at the end of the day, it is the book's quality that matters.

"The greater issue for me is not necessarily when the book is going to come out, but whether the book is going to be good," the Redditor stated, despite his extensive work on discovering the "The Winds of Winter" release date.

"It's not talked about as much now, but five years ago when a Dance With Dragons came out, George was mostly satisfied but he had intended for the Battle of Winterfell and the Battle of Fire to end the book and that's where those two storylines would naturally conclude. He had to push those events back into The Winds of Winter, which led to a lot of fan disappointment," BryndenBFish said.

The theorist also shared his two cents on possible character deaths on "The Winds of Winter" and beyond. BryndenBFish believes that Daenerys might be killed by Jon Snow.

He explained that this could happen if Jon Snow is the reincarnation of Azor Ahai, who pierced his wife with a sword that in order "to forge this blade to defeat" the Others.