This post was in response to another thread about GRRM never finishing an arc. It could be argued that he did finish the major arc of the first three books. That is, the Great Northern Rebellion and Stark vs Lannister:

If you switch your perspective and stop yourself from choosing a favorite family, it could be argued that GRRM could’ve ended the books (at least the Westeros non-Dany, non-Others portion) with Book 3.

He introduces a conflict (Stark vs Lannister), gives us three great books detailing that controversy, and gives us an ending - the Lannisters win the war.

From a Lannister perspective, their family - a scion of the seven kingdoms that’s played a huge ruling role in a prosperous time - finally has a king on the throne. Yet, just as this loyal, hardworking, generous family sits a king, a conniving lord from the far north tries to usurp it from them. Luckily, he was injured by the family’s best warrior in a skirmish and imprisoned, before obviously being given the traitor’s death.

However, the usurper’s family declares war. Their rebellion costs thousands of the realm’s lives and takes years to put down. Finally, with the help of a loyal house of the riverlands, the usurper’s heir is captured and killed, along with his army and pretender queen.

Finally, with the realm at peace at last after the Great Northern Rebellion, the Lannister king gets to commemorate his achievement and cement his legacy by marriage to another great house. Hopefully he has many boys, sires a worthy heir, and he and Queen Maergery live a long life in service to the kingdom they saved.

Long live King Joff!

(As an aside, I read a massive amount of history, and I constantly think about the fact that most of these kings and emperors who we now call “the Great” probably did terrible, evil things. But, they won. And in the pages of history, that’s almost always all that matters.)