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daenerysies · 4 months

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Rhaenyra's Usurpation and the Dying of the Dragons

There is nothing that Rhaenyra Targaryen could have done to prevent the Dance of Dragons from happening.

Let me repeat; There is nothing that Rhaenyra Targaryen could have done to prevent the Dance of Dragons from happening.

It was set in stone the minute that Jaehaerys heeded the words of his son Vaegon and held the Great Council of 101. It was set in stone when Viserys was named heir over Rhaenys and Laenor. It was set in stone when Viserys decided to name Rhaenyra as his heir, marry Alicent, and have more children, specifically sons. It was set in stone when Viserys allowed the children of his second wife to claim dragons. It was set in stone when Viserys kept Rhaenyra as his heir and failed to prepare her and the realm properly for her rule. It was set in stone when Viserys allowed the seeds of discourse to run among the children due to his wife and her faction. It was set in stone when Aegon usurped the throne. It was set in stone when Aemond murdered Lucerys despite guest rights and terms of peace.

Rhaenyra could have been the picture-perfect heir, ‘Jaehaerys himself come again’, and still would have been usurped. Rhaenyra could have not had ‘bastards’ as her heirs, and she still would have been usurped. Rhaenyra could have remained at the Red Keep, rather than the heir’s seat on Dragonstone, and she still would have been usurped. Rhaenyra could have been at the Red Keep when Viserys died, and she still would have been usurped.

There are many themes in this book series that GRRM has chosen to bring to light and criticize, but the Dance of Dragons' main theme is that Rhaenyra was usurped because of her gender. Had she been born a man, there would have been no basis for any of Alicent’s children to have a claim to the throne, beyond being spares. They would have garnered no support, and Team Green as a whole would not exist. The excuse that it is because of her ‘bastard’ children, which, legally, they aren’t, is just that: an excuse. In GRRM’s original draft about the Dance of Dragons, Rhaenyra was married to Harwin from the get-go, and all of her children were undeniably legitimate, yet the war still took place.

A gender-based succession crisis was inevitable, so it is no small wonder that it did occur under one of the weakest Kings’ in the Targaryen’s rule. Jaehaerys set the wheels in motion, and Viserys drove full-speed past the stop sign. He almost single-handedly led his daughter, and their dynasty, straight to their deaths. Otto and Alicent wanted power, and the only way they were going to continue to have any was if Aegon was on the throne. Their scheming began when Rhaenyra was 9-10 years old, what could she have possibly done at that age to prove she wasn’t worthy of the Iron Throne?

Rhaenyra’s biggest crime in Westeros was that she dared to be a woman; a woman who wanted her inheritance. There are no ifs, ands, or buts about it. If the war didn’t happen then, it was going to happen at some point, further generations down. It is no coincidence that after Rhaenyra’s death dragons ceased hatching, save for small, weak creatures that would not last long. The magic died with her. Her story’s resemblance to the Amethyst Empress all but confirms that. The equilibrium of Ice and Fire is put into shambles once again upon her and the dragons' deaths; the Long Night is now inevitable.

Rhaenyra was damned if she did and damned if she didn’t. Her story is meant to be a tragedy. A tragedy whose meaning seems to be getting lost along the way in this fandom.

#asoiaf #fire and blood #bookverse #rhaenyra targaryen #daemon targaryen #jacaerys velaryon #lucerys velaryon #queen rhaenyra #pro rhaenyra #pro team black #anti team green #hotd #anti aegon ii targaryen #anti viserys i targaryen #anti jaehaerys i targaryen #dance of the dragons #the amethyst empress #the bloodstone emperor #the long night

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ilovemesomevincentprice · 6 months

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Vincent Price as a magician /// appreciation post

The Long Night (1947)

The Mad Magician (1954)

House of 1000 Dolls (1967)

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souredfigs · 14 days

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A lot of people are fascinated by Harrenhal and its ghosts and I get that but bro WINTERFELL AND THE EGGS IN THE CRYPTS??

Winterfell and how it was constructed in general is so fascinating , like its always described in chapters as a living organism , that deep hot springs run through the castle like blood through a person's body , then there is the weirwood tree and the immense magical power it itself holds as a sort of root of the castle and the point upon which Bran can see through the past , the present and the future .

Then the crypts , the freaking crypts which are larger than Winterfell itself and as you descend into the lower levels they become increasingly dark and old and a giant portion of it which hasn't seen the light of the day in thousands of years is collapsed and totally inaccessible , there are swords of the Kings of Winter which are there in order to keep something contained like the souls of the deceased ,not to mention the fact that Bran and his clique actually took some of them on their way ? The giant spiders and rats the size of dogs old nan talked about and how the crypts go from bottom up , with the recent burials at top and the oldest at the bottom which has kind of never been explained ?

But perhaps the most exciting thing about the crypts is Mushroom's account about Jacaerys Targaryen's Vermax laying a clutch of eggs in the crypts near the supposed hot springs , and the immense significance that has to the story of ice and fire itself

Like the Starks and Targaryens give us many of our main characters in the books , they are the two oldest families in Westeros , so old that their origins are intertwined with legends and myths, and magic is heavily involved in their families . We saw in Hotd the state secret info Viserys gives to Rhaenyra about the Song of ice and fire and Aegons dream about the long night and theres this implication that Torrhen Stark bent the knee becuase Aegon told him about this dream , that to defend the living there must always be a Stark in Winterfell and a Targaryen in the South, becuase winter is coming and without these two houses Westeros and probably the rest of the world are cooked? Then during the reign of Jaehaerys I Queen Alysanne goes to Winterfell and gives support to the nights watch and befriends Alaric Stark .

And then decades later her descendant Jace goes to Winterfell (and as the hotd trailer shows , also goes to the Wall!!!) and he forms such a great bond with Cregan Stark that they make a pact of ice and fire sealed in blood , likely before the weirwood tree in mix of both Valyrian and Northern tradition , with Jace agreeing to marry his firstborn daughter to Cregan's heir , then Jace later dies in the gullet but Cregan honours their pact by carrying out Justice in the hour of the wolf and making sure Jace's little brother ascends the throne .

AND THEN A CENTURY AND A HALF LATER RHAEGAR AND LYANNA GET TOGETHER AND KNOWINGLY OR UNKNOWINGLY FULFILL THAT PACT , AND NED KNOWINGLY OR UNKNOWINGLY HONOURS THIS PACT BY TAKING IN THEIR SON JON SNOW, THE LITERAL EMBODIMENT OF ICE AND FIRE , AND MOST LIKELY THE PRINCE THAT WAS PROMISED TO LEAD THE BATTLE FOR THE DAWN .

AND HOW JON CONSISTENTLY DREAMS ABOUT THE CRYPTS MORE THAN ANY OTHER STARK CHILD? AND HIS MOST LIKELY RESURRECTION IN TWOW WILL HAPPEN IN THE WALL , WHICH, APART FROM THE CRYPTS IS THE MOST MAGICAL PLACE IN THE NORTH IN A WESTEROS WHERE MAGIC HAS AWAKENED WITH WITH A FORCE NOT SEEN SINCE THE DAYS OF OLD VALYRIA ? RIGHT AT THE TIME WHERE THE OTHERS ARE AT THE DOOR ?

DO YOU SEE HOW DEEP THIS SHIT GOES?!

#this is literally the tip of the iceberg theres soooo much #LIKE WTH DAWG #LOSINGD THE MINF #Im so ready to see jace and cregan and brokeback winterfell #and winds of winter and how the crypts will come into play becuase they have a tON of importance in the books #brans pov chapters are going to be so good i just know it #im so ready #house of the dragon #cregan stark #jacaerys targaryen #winterfell crypts #the long night #winds of winter #I fucking love the starks if you couldnt tell #when winds of winter comes out you best believe I will sleep with it under my pillow #like Alexander the Great with his favourite copy of the Iliad #jacegan #hotd season 2 pls do not be bad #im literally yapping im sorry lol

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thesilvertargaryens · 2 years

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"Aegon foresaw the end of the world of men. ‘Tis to begin with a terrible winter gusting out of the distant north. And whatever dwells within will destroy the world of the living. Aegon saw absolute darkness riding on those winds. When this Great winter comes, Rhaenyra, all of Westeros must stand against it. And if the world of men is to survive a Targaryen must be seated on the Iron Throne. A king or queen strong enough to unite the realm against the cold and the dark. Aegon called his dream ‘The Song of Ice and Fire’."

The night king was supposed to be killed by Daenerys or Jon. The Prince(ss) who was Promised would bring the dawn and the new Targaryen age.

Arya killing the Night King opened up a multiverse, which caused everything to go to shit- efficiently destroying the Targaryen restoration and a united Westeros.

That's why the "losing" main characters regressed and became the person they didn't want to be.

Thanks D&D.

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laurellerual · 1 year

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Arya Lady of Harrenhal during the Long Night

At the bottom of my inbox there's an anonymous message from months ago that says “could you do Arya with Nymeria during the long night? Fighting together?”. I haven't replied yet and the reason is that when I think about this scene, the image of GOT 8x03 pops up in my mind. Will Arya fight through the Long Night, sword in hand? I'm not that sure.

Then the other day I came up with this idea that I proposed to you in a survey: “Winterfell falls, the northeners have to escape South, Harrenhal is the main citadel, Arya as lady of Harrenhal during the Long Night”. And I must say I'm surprised with the result. It won "I see where you are coming from, and I like it" with 33% of the votes.

But many, rightly so, have chosen "I'll wait for you to elaborate", so here we are.

A role

So Jon and Dany are the ones with the army and the dragons, Tyrion is the smart one with the experience and Bran is the one with the magical powers (sorry I'm simplifying, just to summarize). It's not hard to imagine that they'll find their place in the White Walkers storyline.

And Arya? Use the valyrian steel sword she doesn't have to slay the undead? Will Jon allow her to be on the front lines? Is Arya really stupid enough to think she can do it?

She will be at most 12/13 years old and the only sword lessons she has received are those of Syrio, she is not a great swordswoman, especially if she has to face adults on a battlefield. The things that the FMs are teaching her don't seem suitable for this kind of situations. I guess she could contribute by warging Nymeria and leading her pack, but if that is the case it wouldn't be necessary for her to be physically there.

Whatever this role is it must be relevant 'cause Martin counted her among the five key characters, one of the first to be created and then decided to waste a lot of ink by telling us about her.

Harrenhal

I start with the assumtion that the Battle for the Dawn will take place in the Riverlands, that it will not be possible to stop the White Walkers at Winterfell and consequently there will be an exodus of people from the North to the South. If you don't agree or you want an explanation about it, you can read my last post: Harrenhal during the Long Night.

And which of the main characters has a strong relationship with Harrenhal?

Thematic connections

The girl has a long and complex relationship with her mother's native land and a strong thematic connection with water that you surely have read about in other metas. Most of the major events in Arya's life take place here.

Not only the Red wedding, meeting Jaqen, the Weasel soup, the separation from Nymeria, but also Mycah's death in which she realizes for the first time that her father is not as powerful as she thinks, that the injustice of the world is deeper than she thought and that especially for the nobles the suffering of the smallfolk is totally irrelevant.

Harrenhal is the castle of which she becomes the ghost. And she really is the ghost of Harrenhal, standing in front of that Heart tree, probably like her late aunt years before, as she hears a voice from the trees reminding her of her real name.

Useful knowledge

Arya knows these lands directly, crosses them, lives them, knows their inhabitants, their opinions and sides in the war. It isn't a theoretical knowledge but a practical one. As Jon Snow recalls "The map is not the land, my father often said".

But it's even more intimate than that because Arya dreams of those lands every night, she sees them through Nymeria's eyes. The wolf is currently the only undisputed ruler in that lawless place. Do you remember the image of Harrenhal tormented by the tremendous howl of the wind and wolves outside the walls?

Arya also knows Harrenhal on all its levels. She physically scrubbed the floors of every floor of every tower and she scoured all the walls in search of an unguarded gate.

She has experienced the classes and roles that exist within the castle and its management. She had to deal with armigers, cooks and blacksmiths. She has worked her way up the chain of command from the humblest of servants to cupbearer and lord's messenger.

Skills and leadership

In the books we see her many times in positions where she is the person who has to make decisions, lead a group, organize little plans.

One of the main themes of her journey is justice, mercy, power and its abuse.

Then there are more or less direct parallels such as the one between Arya and Aegon the unlikely or the list of things that would make Aegon/young Griff a good ruler according to Varys.

Let's see some quotes in the books that tell us about these aspects of the character:

The one thing Arya could do better than her sister was ride a horse. Well, that and manage a household.

His father used to say that a lord needed to eat with his men, if he hoped to keep them. “Know t

he men who follow you,” she heard him tell Robb once, “and let them know you. Don't ask your men to die for a stranger."

Arya had loved nothing better than to sit at her father's table and listen to them talk. She had loved listening to the men on the benches too; to freeriders tough as leather, courtly knights and bold young squires, grizzled old men-at-arms.

Whenever her father had condemned a man to death, he did the deed himself with Ice, his great sword. “If you would take a man 's life, you owe it to him go look him in the face and hear his last words di lui,” she 'd heard him tell Robb and Jon once.

Can I be lord of a holdfast?

And here I stop because there are many others. If you are interested in this, there are meta only on this topic around tumblr.

An interesting that that connects Ned's teachings and those of the FMs is the concept that power and service are closely related.

Now let's see what FM training consists of: the ability to blend in with people, listen, gather information, learn many languages. We can add her natural ability to make friends and allies of all kinds.

This seems like the perfect package to manage a castle full of frightened people from all over the world (there will be people arriving with Dany as well), from every social class, every side of the war, who have nothing in common but the hope to survive.

Disconnected thoughts and possible parallels

This would be a very poetic situation that completes the parallel with historical Nymeria by placing Arya at the head of a group of refugees fleeing their destroyed home. In addition to giving her the possibility and the power to carry out the reflection on justice in a place that has seen so much injustice.

It's also funny how Lady Whent is introduced with great expectation right into Arya's chapters, where she thinks she can ask for her help. Yet she will never meet the Lady of Harrenhal.

And isn't it funny how she decided to name her direwolf after "some old witch queen in the songs"?

From the Alys Rivers wiki page: In 132 AC during the regency of Aegon III, a number of broken men and predatory outlaws began to gather at Harrenhal under the rule of a sorcerous witch queen. Mmmh interesting… this sound familiar, the Brotherhood without banners?

There is also Sharra, another witch queen of the Riverlands from the Age of Heroes.

Conclusions

In this place where Shagwell the Fool sang about Weasel soup maybe in the future there will be songs about Arya and the ten thousand wolves.

Thanks for reading. Mine doesn't want to be a theory that speaks of the character's endgame, but of its role during the Long Night. Let me know if I've given you something to think about, if I've convinced you, if you have other ideas on what this role might be. Or if you want to write a fanfiction with this plot.

Edit: I just discovered an old thread with a similar topic. I haven't read it yet, but I'll leave it here for the record.

#asoiaf #asoiaf meta #arya stark #harrenhal #the long night #arya meta

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nemainofthewater · 2 months

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Best character surnamed : Yan

Come and vote for the best characters with the same surname!*

What does best mean? It's up to you! Whether you love them, are intrigued by their characters, love to hate them, or they're your '2 second blorbos whose personality you made up wholesale', these are all reasons for you to vote for your favs!

*note, the surnames are not exactly the same in all the cases, as often there will be a different character. I am, however, grouping them all together otherwise things got more complicated.

Propaganda is very welcome! If I’ve forgot anyone, let me know in the notes.

This is part of a larger series of ‘best character with X surname’ polls’. The overview with ongoing polls, winners, and future polls can be found here

#poll #nirvana in fire #joy of life #thousand autumns #couple of mirrors #the king's avatar #rise of the phoenixes #the blood of youth #sendoff #story of kunning palace #the long night

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brienneoftarth1989 · 1 year

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hi, how are you? can i request a fluff with a little hint of hurt/comfort brienne x reader? The reader is like training for a war or smth (maybe for the war in the long night episode) and the reader fainted while training. Brienne sees the reader full of cuts and she takes care of her (reader). If you can't write it, it's fine! And no pressure, take your time! 😚✨️

(sorry about my sh***y grammar btw 😅)

- 🦢

Thanks for the request. Hope this is ok!

The Long Night

Brienne of Tarth x fem reader

Summary: read request

Warnings: fighting

Requests open

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The White Walkers are fast approaching. You have been at Winterfell for the last couple of months after travelling down from the wall. You were the only female at the wall so you were glad you were now surrounded by some other women. There was one woman who could fight better than most men here. Her name is Brienne and you were making it your mission to get as good as her in the time you had.

You have been training every day since you arrived and you still seemed to be struggling. Even the weakest of men seem to be defeating you. You stood no chance against the White Walkers when they eventually arrive. There was also no saying when they would turn up. They could show up tomorrow or they could show up in the next couple of months.

That's why you needed to make sure your training was the best it could be because who knew when the war would start. Your day started like most others waking up in a freezing cold room. The only downside to fires is that if you don’t keep feeding them they eventually die out.

Reluctantly you pulled yourself out of your bed and plodded over to the fireplace placing some more wood and restarting the fire. At least if you started a fire now your room would be warmer when you returned to it later. You got dressed into some more suitable clothing. A basic long sleeve top and trousers were fine in your room but out there in the cold you would likely get frostbite.

Once you were dressed in a couple layers of trousers and tops plus your winter coat you were ready to venture outside so you could head to the great hall to have breakfast. Breakfast was the same everyday. A chunk of bread and a mug of watered down wine. It wasn’t exactly filling but it was better than nothing.

You sat by yourself quite happy munching on your bread and drinking your wine just watching everything that was going on around you. Then you heard a chair next to you move. You looked up to see it was one of your only friends Yorick. “Hey Yorick, how are you this morning?” you asked him as he sat down with his bread and wine.

“I’m doing good. Looking forward to training later?” he asked you. “Absolutely not. I just can’t seem to get the hang of it. I’ve been training for months and I just don’t seem to be getting much better. I can tell you I’m going to be one of the first to die” you laughed to yourself but deep down you were petrified. “Oh don’t be so hard on yourself y/n. We have time to get your training up to speed. Come on, the sooner we finish eating the sooner we can start training again” Yorick said to you.

“Thanks Yorick you always know how to make me feel better” you smiled at him as you finished eating your food. Once you had finished eating you made your way back to your room so you could get changed into your armour so you could safely train. The room was much warmer when you arrived which made your whole body relax.

Once you were changed into something more suitable you headed outside where everyone was currently waiting for training to begin. You sighed to yourself because deep down you knew how today would end up, being humiliated by everyone else.

When you did finally make it down with everyone else you just stood with Yorick waiting for the better trained men to come down and teach you the basics. “I really don’t know why you bother showing up y/n, you never seem to pick anything up from training” one of the men said while laughing at you.

“Well at least she is trying,” Yorick said, piping up coming to your defence. “Yeah but we all know that she won’t last five minutes on that battlefield, the White Walkers are coming and we need good men and women to fight in this army. If she doesn’t buck her ideas up she may as well not fight” another man laughed.

Yorick was about to say something but you grabbed his hand and pulled him away. “Hey, what's up?” he asked. “They’re right, if I don’t get better at this training then there is a high chance I’m going to die when this war officially begins.” you sighed “Come on let's start training” you said, picking up a wooden sword and carrying it over to where everyone was practising.

You are Yorick trained for a couple of hours before having a rest to have something to eat. Lunch was rabbit pottage mixed with vegetables. This you could eat every day. It was nice and filled you up. After having something to eat you, Yorick and the rest of the men and women who had been training went back outside to continue.

However when you went out you noticed a tall armoured woman standing on one of the balconies. Oh please don’t say she is going to be in charge of training this afternoon. Don’t get me wrong you like Brienne but you always managed to make yourself look like a fool in front of her and she knows it too.

“Y/n a moment of your time” Brienne called down to you. Sighing you made your way up to Brienne to listen to what she had to say. “I’m going to be observing you in training today. If I don’t see any kind of improvement we are going to have to remove you from training and assign you some place else. You have a place in this war, fighting it upfront just may not be it” she said with a gentle look on her face.

“I won’t disappoint you Brienne” you said to her making eye contact the whole time. “I hope you’re not wrong. Now off you go” she said as you then turned on your feet making your way back down to where everyone was training. Knowing that Brienne was watching makes you really put in more effort not to mess up.

All was going smoothly until they asked you to switch sparring partners. You got partnered with one of the men that was making fun of you earlier. This was just typical but you sucked it up and got on with it. You were both fighting and for once you managed to disarm your sparring partner. You smiled to yourself before looking up to Brienne who was now smiling back at you.

However with your back turned you didn’t see how annoyed your sparring partner was and he managed to grab hold of a sword that would actually do some damage to you but you didn’t notice. You started sparing again but Brienne noticed something different about your partner's sword. Just as she was about to call everyone to a halt the worst happened.

“You don’t belong here” your partner yelled before taking his sword and running the blade along your face. You don’t remember much from then on. Everything became a blur really quickly. You could feel the blood running down your face, before seeing Brienne running towards you. You felt your body become off balance and before your body even hit the floor everything had gone black.

When you finally awoke all you could feel was pain. Your hand immediately went to your face hoping it was all a dream however when you felt the gash and immediate pain following you realised this was no dream. You naturally let out a groan due to the pain and that’s when you heard someone move in the corner.

You watched as the person stood tall and you immediately knew it was Brienne. “What happened?” you groaned. “The man you were training for whatever reason decided to attack you. I thought his sword looked different but just as I was about to call everyone to a stop it was too late” she sighed looking at the nasty gash you now had over your face.

“Is it bad?” you asked Brienne sitting up slightly in your bed. “Yes y/n it is. When you passed out I took you straight to your room. I stopped the bleeding, cleaned out your wound, stitched it up and covered it the best I could to stop it from getting infected. I’ve given you milk of the poppy as well to help with the pain so if you feel sleepy that's why” she said to you standing up to leave.

“I also noticed you have quite a lot of small cuts on your body from training. I would really like you to take care of yourself. Those other cuts may be small but they too can lead to infection. Now I’m going to let you rest. I will see you tomorrow” she said but just as she was about to open the door to leave you grabbed her attention.

“Wait! I don’t want to be alone, Brienne. Can you please stay with me tonight? I’m scared that guy is going to come back and finish me off” you said, starting to sob quietly. “Oh y/n, I wouldn’t normally but considering your hurt I will tonight. As for that so-called man he is being punished for what he did to you. We need all the men and women we need right now so fuck knows why he was trying to kill you” she sighed getting fustrated.

You watched as Brienne took off her armour making herself more comfortable but still kept, oathkeeper nearby just in case anything were to happen. “I’m going to train you” Brienne blurted out. You looked up shocked.

“Really! You’re going to train me?” you asked, getting all excited. “Yes but once you have healed enough. We are limited on time but we will train one on one every morning and evening and I expect you to attend mandatory training as well” Brienne said sitting on the bed next to you.

You couldn’t help but smile “Thank you Brienne” you said as you finally felt the effects of the medication that Brienne had given you. Once Brienne knew you were asleep she tucked you in making sure you were comfortable.

But she didn’t leave. She stayed the whole night making sure the fire had wood on it and that you and your wounds were ok. She truly did care for you.

#gwendoline christie #gwendolineuniverse #fanfics #brienne of tarth #brienne x reader #caring #comfort #fighting #winterfell #the wall #castle black #brienne of tarth x reader #brienne x y/n #the long night #brienneoftarth1989

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derangedthots · 1 year

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ASOIAF/GOT/HOTD theory that just hit me like lightning

the maesters were sexist westerosi outsiders who mistitled the three conquerors: aegon was the dreamer, visenya the conqueror, and rhaenys the ruler.

aegon brought the seven kingdoms together bc of his dream of the long night but visenya was the one with the conqueror's temperament. the line of targaryens descends from rhaenys bc aenys was a velaryon-sired bastard(in order to maintain the valyrian beauty and divert suspicion from aegon being impotent) and "aegon's dagger" was actually hers originally.

even though all three targaryen heirlooms are equally important - THE DRAGON HAS THREE HEADS - the average westerosi citizen/noble regards them as unequal. blackfyre is considered the king's weapon bc aegon wielded it, visenya was a woman, and a dagger is just a dagger. but the truth of it is, blackfyre(aegon's myth) protects the order amongst the kingdoms, dark sister(visenya's will) protects loyalty to their family, and catspaw(rhaenys's blood & subsequent children, "of my blood will come the prince that was promised") protects the realm/life.

the loss of blackfyre thematically parallels how the seven kingdoms have been growing more separate/unbalanced. the loss of dark sister signifies how the targaryens are eating themselves alive with each generation rather than protecting one another. finally, rhaenys' dagger is the only heirloom still in circulation bc even despite these things, at least two targaryens yet live that could protect the realm from the cold and the dark-

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catofadifferentcolor · 6 months

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Terrible Fic Idea #71: The Night's Watch, but make it found family

Maester Aemon is perhaps my favorite character in ASOIAF. He could have been king. He could have lived a life of luxury as a prince in the south. He could easily have forsaken all his vows and risen to the most dizzying heights - and chose to remain sworn to guard the realm of men twice over as a maester of the Night's Watch.

So I thought: What would it take to give Maester Aemon the best possible ending?

Aka: The Maekar the Maester Fic

Just imagine it:

Everything follows canon - until the Greyjoy Rebellion, where Ned falls to a lucky crossbow bolt during the Siege of Pyke.

King Robert razes the castle in his fury, not bothering to evacuate the remaining Greyjoys or the common folk who took refuge in the castle. It is a massacre - but it puts the fear of god in the surviving Ironborn. The new Lord Reaper Rodrik Harlaw remains a faithful servant for all his days.

Back in Winterfell, 6-year-old Robb Stark is the new Lord Paramount of the North. His mother, Lady Catelyn, is his regent. And one of her first acts is to send her husband's bastard to the Wall. Which endears her to very few, as first graders have no place in a military organization even in Medieval times.

Benjen is away on a ranging at the time, so the Lord Commander entrusts young Jon's care to the only other man he can trust: Maester Aemon.

This works out better than anyone might have expected, because although Aemon is nearly 90 years old and has limited experience with children, the pair get on in a way that they really shouldn't given their vast difference in age and experience. But young Jon is bright and lively and curious, and Aemon has been lonely and lacking mental stimuli for most of his time at the Wall.

By the time Benjen returns from his ranging, the maester has already been dubbed Uncle Aemon and Benjen has to navigate co-parenting with a man who thinks teaching a young boy to stitch sword wounds is an appropriate learning activity.

(Benjen also has to navigate the urge to ride down to Winterfell and murder his brother's widow, and doesn't for the sole reason his nieces and nephews are too young to be orphaned.)

Jon grows up in the Night's Watch. He absorbs everything that there is to learn with the bright-eyed eagerness of a child - and though Jeor would hate to admit it, makes Castle Black a more enjoyable place to live. By age fourteen he can swing a sword, plan a ranging, sew a wound, cook a meal, repair a sword, patch a castle wall, chart the stars; track an animal, skin and butcher it, and name its bones afterwards; mix wildfire, and recite every piece of dragonlore he's ever learned - including a few slivers of knowledge that were normally only saved for dragonlords.

At fourteen he's allowed to make his Night's Watch vows.

The night before, Maester Aemon calls Jon into his chambers and tells him that could not be prouder of Jon if he were his own son.

Jon admits that he's wished many times over the years that Aemon was his father and considers him the father of his heart - more than Ned Stark, who he hardly remembers; more than Benjen, whose duties often keep him away; more than Jeor, who is kind but distant.

There are many tears and much hugging and more confessions, but at the end of it Aemon adopts Jon - perhaps through some Valeryian blood ritual - and gifts him the name Maeker, after his own father.

Canon proceeds apace elsewhere, save that when Jon Arryn dies, Robert rides to Highgarden at Renly's urging to name Mace Tyrell Hand of the King - and sends a raven in the opposite direction to summon Sansa as a bride for Joffrey.

Mace, through an almost comical series of events, comes to the same realization that Ned did in canon: that Cersei's children are not Robert's. Rather than try to have her step aside gracefully, he attempts to blackmail the queen into retiring to a motherhouse so that Margery can take her place... This does not go well.

Westeros erupts into war. It follows canon very closely - save that Cersei tries to use Sansa's presence in King's Landing to blackmail the North into fighting on Joffrey's side. Robb still ends up being named King in the North, this time more out of the urging of bannermen angry at how much the Southron wars have cost the North instead of revenge.

All this largely passes Maekar by on the Wall. He remains behind during the Great Ranging, serving at Aemon's assistant and apprentice. When the survivors return with news of the Others, he's skeptical but willing to hear the evidence - and wins the election for 998th Lord Commander of the Night's Watch.

As the War for the Dawn looms, Maekar sends messengers to each of the remaining kings for aide. Only Daenerys Targaryen responds, intrigued by everything she's been told by the messenger of the man they call Maekar the Maester, the adopted son of her Great-Uncle.

While Daenerys journeys north, Maester Aemon dies in his bed with Maekar at his side. With his last breaths, he gifts Maekar his maester's chain, saying that he has more than earned it - and that Maekar shall go down in history as the greatest of all Targaryens.

Daenerys grows even more intrigued by Maekar when she arrives at the Wall, but respects his desire to honor his vows. They remain great friends for the rest of their lives, sending entire flocks of ravens back and forth. Together they lead their forces against the Night's King-

-a task made easier when Bran and Meera Reed show up on the wrong side of the Wall, having slain the Three-Eyed Raven and raided his hoard. Amongst which are Blackfyre and Dark Sister.

Blackfyre is truly a massive sword and with dragonsteel in such short supply Daenerys allows Maekar to wield the Conqueror's blade in battle, as she cannot.

The War for the Dawn continues for another year - just long enough for the other kingdoms to realize what's happening and send a handful of reinforcements - before Maekar manages to slay the Night's King. Daenerys is able to destroy the last of the Others with her dragons...

...and when she lands, Maekar wastes no time in returning Blackfyre to her keeping.

A Great Council is held in the south. Though they try to offer the crown to Maekar, the hero of the War for the Dawn and (now wildly known thanks to Bran) rightful heir to the Iron Throne, Maekar refuses. They eventually grant the crown to Daenerys, who rules fairly and well for sixty years. She names her eldest son Maekar after her dearest friend.

Bonuses include: 1) Dozens of small character moments between Aemon and Maekar, showing the development of their relationship and depth of the feeling they share over the years; 2) Maekar inadvertently playing matchmaker more times than you'd expect of a man in a celibate organization. This should include hitting Bran and Meera over the head until they realize they've been crushing on each other for years, and getting Dany to give the minor lord she ends up marrying a chance; and 3) Young Jon breathing so much life into Castle Black that it's nearly unrecognizable from canon by the time Sam joins up. It's still cold, but it's not so miserable. It is, in fact, a home.

This is actually an idea I've had kicking around for a while and have only finally managed to put down. As always, feel free to adopt this most beloved of buns, just link back if you do anything with it.

More Terrible Fic Ideas

#plot bunny #fic ideas #game of thrones #a song of ice and fire #got #asoiaf #jon snow #jon snow is a targaryen #aemon targaryen #maester aemon #house targaryen #night's watch #found family #found father #jeor mormont #benjen stark #daenerys targeryan #the long night

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stormcloudrising · 10 months

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Why are the Others Back?

What is everyone’s thoughts on the Others? Why are they back? How are they connected to the Starks?

The Others are the ice to the dragon’s fire, and the two are the great existential threats looming over Planetos. Yet, we know more about the dragons and dragon lords than we do the Others. They and their connection to the Starks, the core family of the story, is at the heart of the great mystery of the books.

They are presented as a great threat that needs to be contained, but there are also a lot of obvious contradictions in what we’ve been told about them…starting with the Night’s King and Corpse Queen. What do I mean by contradictions?

Well, if the NK and CQ were the leaders of the Others and they are a destructive force, why is the Hades/Pluto and Persephone/Kore myth so baked into their legends? At its heart, the legend of two Greek/Roman gods is a fertility myth.

Hades, the chthonic ruler of the underworld was a fertility god. The planted seeds were his bounty which he stored and nourished in the earth until they bloomed in the spring and were harvested in the fall to feed the populace before the process started over again with the planting season. His abduction of Persephone ties into this myth with her descent for three months representing winter and her yearly return to be with her mother Demeter a signal of the start of the spring and harvest seasons.

Hades/Pluto was the Lord of the Underworld, but he was also the god of the hidden wealth of the earth, from the fertile soil, which nourished the seed-grain, to the mined wealth of precious metals. Also, he is the god who welcomes all, whose realm is full of guests. He does not cause the death that brings men to his realm, because death comes to everyone, and all are welcome in his realm.

So, my question is why George has so closely associated a renewal myth with the legend of the leaders and likely progenitors of the Others. Another contradiction has to do with what is implied in the Qarthian myth about two moons in the sky.

"He told me the moon was an egg, Khaleesi," the Lysene girl said. "Once there were two moons in the sky, but one wandered too close to the sun and cracked from the heat. A thousand thousand dragons poured forth and drank the fire of the sun. That is why dragons breathe flame. One day the other moon will kiss the sun too, and then it will crack and the dragons will return." —AGOT Daenerys III

The name of the series is A Song of Ice and Fire. By the way, I think it’s interesting that George reversed the order of things in his series name. Instead of Fire and Ice as in the Frost poem, he went with Ice and Fire, which I think was a deliberate choice with meaning behind it on his part, but that a discussion for another day.

My point is that the two moons in the sky represent the two factions in the story…ice and fire. The fire moon cracked and symbolic fire dragons likely black meteors were born into the world. The destruction of the fire moon likely was the main reason for the Long Night and the great floods legend tells us about. That left one moon in the sky…the icy one. We know this because George drops one of his plays on words with “one day the other moon will kiss the sun too, and then it will crack and dragons will return.”

These dragons that will return aren’t the fire breathing ones, but the icy Others as they represent the ice moon. They are not the animalistic type of dragons like the fire breathing ones, but they are George’s version of ice dragons.

However, here is where the contradiction comes in. What saved Planetos from destruction previously is that only one moon was destroyed. The ice moon remained in the sky. If the ice moon were to be destroyed as well, it would spell the end of Planetos.

That ice moon in the sky is a type of balance. It can possibly survive a slight cracking, but it can’t and shouldn’t be destroyed or else, that’s the end of all life on the planet. Thus, maybe part of the reason the Others have returned is to prevent the destruction of the ice moon, maybe by the actions of the fire faction whether knowing or unknowingly…especially Euron whose goal is to reshape all life in his image.

So that’s a second contradiction in the legend of the Others. A potential third one is not about them specifically, but it could tie into their myth. This third possibility has to do with the confusing myth of old northern warriors going out into the frozen cold to hunt, but basically it was to commit suicide.

Legend tells us that this was done because of the scarcity of food. Leaving their families and going out into the cold meant there was one less mouth to feed, their families could survive on rations a bit longer.

Now this story seems a bit off for a couple of reasons. First, legend also tells us that the White Walkers were roaming the land, hunting maids and everything with hot blood. They were also known necromancers who brought back the dead to be their armies. So why would warriors leave their families to go out and basically become a weapon of the White Walkers to be used against their loved ones. They had to know that’s what it meant when they went out into the cold.

However, there is possibly another explanation that may make more sense and the legend of old warriors going out into the cold may just have been put out to cover up the actual truth.

With a winter lasting several years…if I had to guess, I would say about 13, there would have been an extreme shortage of food. Cannibalism is hinted at throughout the text, and it’s likely something that will be practice throughout Westeros when the Long Night falls again. The old warriors may have simply volunteered to be food for their family or forcibly used in this manner. The legend of them going out to hunt could have arisen to hide this truth.

If this was not the case, and the old warriors did indeed go out “hunting” as the legend states with the implication being they knew they wouldn’t return, one can argue that they knowingly went out to join with the Others. The question then becomes why.

EDITED SECTION BEGINS.

It is popularly believed that Dawn, the famous sword wielded by Arthur Dayne and other past Daynes as “Sword of the Morning,” is in fact the ancient house sword of House Stark that Catelyn mentions in her first chapter of A Game of Thrones.

"I am always proud of Bran," Catelyn replied, watching the sword as he stroked it. She could see the rippling deep within the steel, where the metal had been folded back on itself a hundred times in the forging. Catelyn had no love for swords, but she could not deny that Ice had its own beauty. It had been forged in Valyria, before the Doom had come to the old Freehold, when the ironsmiths had worked their metal with spells as well as hammers. Four hundred years old it was, and as sharp as the day it was forged. The name it bore was older still, a legacy from the age of heroes, when the Starks were Kings in the North. —AGOT, Catelyn I

The current familial sword of House Stark is just about 400 years old and is not the original. It is instead named after a sword from the Age of Heroes. Now what sword in the story could that be? Possibly one forged from the heart of a fallen star that landed at Starfall.

House Dayne, or more specifically their house sword will be central to the final events of the story. However, they are as mysterious as the Others. Not much is known about them as George says it would spoilery to reveal more. Nonetheless, we do know some things, like they are a First Men house.

At the mouth of the Torrentine, House Dayne raised its castle on an island where that roaring, tumultuous river broadens to meet the sea. Legend says the first Dayne was led to the site when he followed the track of a falling star and there found a stone of magical powers. His descendants ruled over the western mountains for centuries thereafter as Kings of the Torrentine and Lords of Starfall. —The World of Ice and Fire-Dawn: Kingdom of the First Men

We also know a little about their famous sword. It’s very similar to Valyrian steel except for one aspect.

The Daynes of Starfall are one of the most ancient houses in the Seven Kingdoms, though their fame largely rests on their ancestral sword, called Dawn, and the men who wielded it. Its origins are lost to legend, but it seems likely that the Daynes have carried it for thousands of years. Those who have had the honor of examining it say it looks like no Valyrian steel they know, being pale as milk glass but in all other respects it seems to share the properties of Valyrian blades, being incredibly strong and sharp. —The World of Ice and Fire – Dorne: The Andals Arrive

We have a sword made from the heart of a fallen star and that is described as pale as milk glass unlike Valyrian steel, which is described as almost black, but is also made from a mysterious metal.

Tyrion wondered where the metal for this one had come from. A few master armorers could rework old Valyrian steel, but the secrets of its making had been lost when the Doom came to old Valyria. "The colors are strange," he commented as he turned the blade in the sunlight. Most Valyrian steel was a grey so dark it looked almost black, as was true here as well. But blended into the folds was a red as deep as the grey. The two colors lapped over one another without ever touching, each ripple distinct, like waves of night and blood upon some steely shore. "How did you get this patterning? I've never seen anything like it." A Storm of Swords, Tyrion IV

When you consider the two opposing factions of the story symbolized by the two moons in the sky, one ice, and the other fire, it makes sense to assume that the fallen star Dawn is said to be forged from was likely a piece of the icy moon that fell to earth in Dorne. On the other hand, Valyrian steel blades, including the first ever blade, which was likely the one used to kill Nissa Nissa, and which I believe to have been Blackfyre, are made from shards of the fire moon.

The Qarthian myth tells us that many pieces of meteors from the fire moon fell to Planetos, which makes sense if that moon was destroyed or thrown out of orbit. Thus, it also makes sense that there are many more Valyrian steel blades around and likely hundreds more lost during the Doom of Valyria. However, the only meteor from the ice moon we’ve told fell to Planetos is the piece at Starfall.

As the quote up thread shows, Dawn is described as pale as milk glass several times in the text, one famous instance being the mysterious battle at the Tower of Joy that Ned remembers in his dreams.

"And now it begins," said Ser Arthur Dayne, the Sword of the Morning. He unsheathed Dawn and held it with both hands. The blade was pale as milk glass, alive with light. A Game of Thrones, Eddard X

Do you know what else in the text is described as pale as milk glass and or alive with light? You guess it…the Others and the swords they carry. Here is the description of the one killed by Sam.

Sam rolled onto his side, eyes wide as the Other shrank and puddled, dissolving away. In twenty heartbeats its flesh was gone, swirling away in a fine white mist. Beneath were bones like milk glass, pale and shiny, and they were melting too. Finally, only the dragonglass dagger remained, wreathed in steam as if it were alive and sweating. Grenn bent to scoop it up and flung it down again at once. "Mother, that's cold." A Storm of Swords, Sam I

And here is the description of the sword wielded by the one who attacks Waymar.

A shadow emerged from the dark of the wood. It stood in front of Royce. Tall, it was, and gaunt and hard as old bones, with flesh pale as milk. Its armor seemed to change color as it moved; here it was white as new-fallen snow, there black as shadow, everywhere dappled with the deep grey-green of the trees. The patterns ran like moonlight on water with every step it took. Will heard the breath go out of Ser Waymar Royce in a long hiss. "Come no farther," the lordling warned. His voice cracked like a boy's. He threw the long sable cloak back over his shoulders, to free his arms for battle, and took his sword in both hands. The wind had stopped. It was very cold. The Other slid forward on silent feet. In its hand was a longsword like none that Will had ever seen. No human metal had gone into the forging of that blade. It was alive with moonlight, translucent, a shard of crystal so thin that it seemed almost to vanish when seen edge-on. There was a faint blue shimmer to the thing, a ghost-light that played around its edges, and somehow Will knew it was sharper than any razor. A Game of Thrones – Prologue.

Like Dawn, the Others are described as pale as milk glass and their swords are alive with light. What does all this information have to do with Dawn and the contradiction I mentioned about the Others?

Well, if Dawn was made from a piece of the ice moon, and is indeed the ancient familial sword of House Stark, who wielded it in the ancient past?

The Starks have a mysterious connection to the Others in their ancient past. Now we see the sword that potentially is the ancient blade of their house, might have been made from a piece of the ice moon, and has icy connotations in that it is described exactly as the Others are in the text.

So again, who wielded the sword in the ancient past? Might it have been the Night’s King, and leader of the Others, who I’ve argued is the male progenitor of House Stark? I think the answer is quite likely yes…especially as it’s foreshadowed in the text that Jon will bear the sword in the future.

Now here is where the contradiction comes into play. The Others are said to come during the night. Some have even argued that they bring the night, but I don’t think that’s the case. But what happens to milk glass in the dark? If it was not clear to you in the alive with light references, George spells it out for you with Jorah’s words to Dany while they are in the Dothraki Sea.

"Here and now," Ser Jorah agreed. "You ought to see it when it blooms, all dark red flowers from horizon to horizon, like a sea of blood. Come the dry season, and the world turns the color of old bronze. And this is only hranna, child. There are a hundred kinds of grass out there, grasses as yellow as lemon and as dark as indigo, blue grasses and orange grasses and grasses like rainbows. Down in the Shadow Lands beyond Asshai, they say there are oceans of ghost grass, taller than a man on horseback with stalks as pale as milk glass. It murders all other grass and glows in the dark with the spirits of the damned. The Dothraki claim that someday ghost grass will cover the entire world, and then all life will end." That thought gave Dany the shivers. A Game of Thrones, Daenerys III

Now there is a lot of symbolism at play in that passage such as who are the spirits of the damned, that I will be exploring in a future essay. For now, I just want you to see how with Dany’s shiver, and description of the ghost grass, George wants pale as milk glass to be associated with the Others. And what does milk glass do in the dark, it glows.

This raises the question of why, if the Others are this destructive force to be overcome, George is positioning them, and their Night King leader, and the sword he quite likely bore as what one could call, beacons in the dark.

Because that’s what Dawn is. It’s a herald in the dark. So why was a sword that heralds the end of the Long Night and the start of a new day wielded by the Night’s King, and leader of the icy Others? And why is it called Dawn and not say, Night, or maybe even Blackfyre? See what I mean about contradictions in the legend of the Others.

Why was Dawn, the sword foreshadowed to be wielded by the leader of the battle for the dawn previously wielded by the Night’s King, because that’s what’s implied in George’s description of the sword and him comparing it to the Others.

So, what are your thoughts about the Others? Why do you think they are back and what is their role in the story…especially if they end up being led by Jon as I’ve proposed.

#asoiaf #thoughts on this and that #the others #white walkers #the long night #northern legends #the starks #house stark #scr meta

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nightswatchdisbandmentera · 1 year

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I have a couple of jumbled thoughts about how King Arthur’s legend connects to ASOIAF, mainly in relation to the three children of destiny in the story. I’m talking about Daenerys Targaryen, Bran Stark, and Jon Snow. I was mainly thinking about how each of them would fit into the concept of a “once and future king” - really the idea of the return of the true king - and the concept of “pulling a sword out of a stone” as a miracle that proves the true king’s identity (i.e., Arthur pulling a sword out of a stone to signify that he is the true king of the Britons).

Daenerys

So right off the bat, Dany is a very obvious Arthurian parallel. She’s already got the prophesied savior thing down but what’s most interesting is that she’s already had her pulling a sword out of a stone moment; hers happens at the beginning of her story/hero’s journey. At the end of AGOT, she birthed dragons from stone, an act that cemented her status as Azor Ahai and also the true Targaryen heir. It’s interesting to think about how Azor Ahai and King Arthur intersect because part of the Arthurian legend (that makes him the once and future king) is that when Britain is covered in darkness and needs him most, then Arthur shall be reborn. Dany’s dragons are born at the tail end of AGOT to parallel the return of the Others in the beginning of the book. So Dany takes on the role of King Arthur in that way. Darkness has returned to Westeros and as the legend of Azor Ahai goes, the king must return (with his mythical sword) to lead/save his people.

Dany birthing the dragons from stone essentially signifies her rising as the true king to save her people from the darkness. Dragons have been likened to swords in ASOIAF so Dany, the king who is risen again, pulls three metaphoric swords out of stones. No one can deny that she is the true king either because she is the only one to have woken dragons in centuries. And thinking about Arthur and his sword in the stone, he pulled his out publicly; there were witnesses who could attest to the miracle. That’s the same thing with Dany. The birth of the dragons (the metaphoric swords) was done publicly - that’s why she is hailed as “the Unburnt”. Her miracle being a public spectacle is very important.

Another thing about Dany being a very public (and undeniable) true king is that she is set to contrast Stannis Baratheon. Stannis is introduced in ACOK as Azor Ahai but almost immediately, it’s clear that he is not the prophesied hero. He does not check any elements of the prophecy; in fact his wizard tries to shoehorn him into the prophecy instead of having him be a more organic hero. And Stannis supposedly pulls a sword out of a stone, by forging Lightbringer, but his is fake. Stannis’ Lightbringer is not the real deal. Its fire does not give off any heat (as noted by Maester Aemon) and he has woken no dragons from stone. Melisandre is trying to create an opportunity for that to happen though, which might be how Shireen dies (as Stannis tries to recreate Azor Ahai’s Nissa Nissa).

But then Dany has woken dragons from stone. Dany’s Lightbringer is literally fire made flesh. So while Stannis is not Azor Ahai, Daenerys is. And it’s also interesting that both Dany and Stannis claim to be the true king of the seven kingdoms. So GRRM gives us two versions of the true king, but one seems to be more aligned with fantasy conventions than the other. Note that Melisandre refers to Azor Ahai as the king in her ADWD chapter. So if Azor Ahai is the true king and if Dany is Azor Ahai, then Dany is the true king (I’m talking about this from a purely fantasy perspective).

So yeah, Dany is pretty close to King Arthur in how she fulfills the role of the prophesied savior. And as the sword in the stone proved that Arthur was the true king, then the dragons prove that Dany is the true savior (as noted by Maester Aemon).

Bran Stark

Bran, on the other hand, is a little trickier to pinpoint. He doesn’t have anything that outwardly (and obviously) marks him as the prophesied savior; contrast this to Dany who has her three dragons and is Azor Ahai Reborn. It even seems like his story is moving him further and further away from the Arthurian framework. We all know that quote from GRRM about how Bran appears to be a young King Arthur in the beginning of AGOT, that is until he gets defenestrated by Jaime Lannister. Bran can’t follow in King Arthur’s footsteps to become a knight, but he does gain magical powers and becomes the closest thing to a wizard boy in ASOIAF.

But I don’t think that Bran’s connections to the mythical king are severed. That’s because he’s still connected to the Fisher King myth (which is an Arthurian myth). Bran’s story seems to be a reconstructed version of young King Arthur’s; the fantasy version. In a way, I’d argue that Bran is a weird blending of the knight, the wizard, and the king. That’s because as Bran builds his magical powers, he sits on a weirwood throne; this weirwood throne connects him to his regal lineage. He’s the (soon to be) last greenseer all while being the reigning (though exiled) Prince of the North and of Winterfell. The two destinies (wizard and king) are not separated imo, but rather combined. He’s got elements of both Arthur and Merlin. He’s the Fisher King and he is also Sir Percival; instead of waiting for someone to heal him and the land, he will do it himself. Like Daenerys, Bran is a magical child of destiny. He seems to be following the last hero’s footsteps and will definitely be one of the saviors of the world. So his weirwood throne is quite indicative of the blending of the wizard and the king.

One of my favorite quotes about Bran is how he thinks that Old Nan is conflating him with the previous Brandon Starks who lived before him. To Old Nan, he is Brandon the Shipwright and Brandon the Burner; he’s Brandon the daughterless and Brandon the Breaker; and he is Brandon the Builder come again. In the same way that Daenerys is the accumulation of House Targaryen’s legacy, Bran Stark is the physical manifestation of House Stark and its history and magical calling. So in a sense, Bran is the ‘once and future king’. Like his ancestors, he is and will be the King of Winter. So then I have to wonder what his ‘pulling a sword out of a stone’ moment will be. I don’t think it’s happened yet actually. I think it’s something that might happen much later in the story.

First, we have to identify what Bran’s sword will be. Dany has her dragons (figurative swords) so I think it’s also possible for Bran’s to be non-literal. I think it will be his magic, whatever powers he manages to gain as he trains under Bloodraven (who imo, is the twisted Merlin to Bran’s Arthur). Since Bran is connected to the myth of the Fisher King, I think his story is more about healing. This already seems to be the case as he’s connected to Brandon the Builder who arose during the age of heroes. Brandon the Builder is credited with having crafted (or having helped to craft) several magical structures all over Westeros; he presumably built these after the Long Night. So I think that’s going to be the same for Bran the Rebuilder. Once the wars are fought and the dawn has come again, Bran Stark will follow his ancestor’s footsteps to help the land heal by building new structures all over Westeros.

Like Dany, I think Bran’s miracle has to be a public spectacle so that it can serve justification for him rising to kingship. The true king is the one who heals the land after all. So I’m thinking of his sword in the stone moment being more akin to Aragorn in LOTR. In Return of the King, Aragorn is hailed as king because he’s a healer. The people hear stories of a healer and this serves as the signal that their true king has returned to them. If Bran is to follow the Fisher King/Arthurian framework, I can see this being his ending. He will be shown to have healing abilities, and this causes the people to rally behind him and proclaim him king. There’s even real world basis for this since there was the belief, in medieval times, that the king’s hands had healing powers.

Perhaps for Bran the Rebuilder, healing = building. And building will require magic. Perhaps he will start to build things slowly throughout ADOS until after the Others are finally defeated and his work is presented to the world. What that looks like though, I’m not entirely sure. But if it’s a physical structure that represents the return of light and life (and healing) to the land, I’m thinking that it could be similar to the Hightower which is said to have been built by Bran the Builder (or his son). The Hightower has a beacon of fire at its top which provides light for incoming ships. Also note that the Hightower is likened to a sword in the books so it’s essentially a sword (made) out of stone; that it’s a fiery sword gives Lightbringer vibes. But building a physical structure takes years and we may not have time for that, so perhaps Bran may raise a magical structure that will serve as the foundation for something much bigger. He could even enlist the help of the children of the forest (and giants lent by Jon Snow) before they die completely.

A few other closing thoughts about Bran, I’ve said before that Bran is a reconstructed version of young King Arthur. I plan to do a deeper dive of this later on but there are times where Bran seems to be following some of Arthur’s footsteps. If anyone has read The Once and Future King by T. H. White, Bran (imo) seems to be a reconstructed Wart. Like Wart, Bran’s journey is kickstarted by the arrival of the king. There’s hunting, knights, and monsters involved in both stories. Wart also meets a wizard, Merlin, who introduces him to a world of magic. Merlin teaches young Wart how to become different animals at one point in The Sword in the Stone. That sounds an awful lot like what Bran Stark is currently doing. Bran is going to Merlin’s Bloodraven’s school of magic, and is learning to assume the conscious of different beings (ravens, weirwoods, his direwolf, even poor Hodor). So I expect Bran’s sword out of a stone moment, like Wart’s, to happen towards the end of the story; except Bran’s sword won’t be literal but figurative.

Jon Snow

If there’s a character who will probably follow the Arthurian framework to a tee in ASOIAF, I bet that it’s Jon Snow. Jon is King Arthur, down to his very conception and birth; Rhaegar and Lyanna seem to be GRRM’s version of Uther and Igraine, but some would argue that they also parallel Lancelot and Guinevere and/or Elaine and Lancelot. In this way, Jon has connections to the Fisher King myth, and he could also be a blend of Arthur and Galahad. Jon is the prince in hiding (like Wart was in The Sword in the Stone), and he might even be the true king; remember that the black bastard is the real king of the castle. And along with Daenerys, Jon is the other half of the Azor Ahai/prince that was promised legend.

Many readers have noted that Jon’s story parallels Dany’s, but few recognize that his story and Bran’s are also linked. Where Jon shares Valyrian legends with Dany, he also shares some of the northern legends (e.g., the last hero) with Bran; so the legends of ice and fire converge and blend into Jon Snow. I believe that Jon and Bran are two separate versions of Wart from TOAFK. But where Bran’s story is an upended version where a few detours lead to the boy-wizard and the boy-king blending into one, Jon’s story follows the narrative beats of an archetypal hidden prince who is destined to be king; so really Wart’s story without the many diversions which is the more archetypal blend of the knight/warrior and the king. Just like Bran’s story, there are knights, monsters, wizards, and kings in Jon’s; though Bran’s story is a great deal more fantastical. What’s interesting is that Merlin is a little more hands off in Jon’s story than in Bran’s. Bran is eager to learn magic from his wizard mentor but Jon is not. So Bran gets the full experience of being tutored by a wise wizard mentor whereas his brother is left to his own devices; imo I think this is because Bran is Arthur as the wizard whereas Jon is Arthur as the knight. Jon has Bloodraven (arguably one of ASOIAF’s Merlin figures) who takes a more hands off approach with how he offers guidance; Bloodraven gives him cryptic advice in the form of Mormont’s raven. But Jon also has Melisandre, who is Merlin if the wisened old wizard mistook Arthur for someone else; this is how Stannis gets to the Wall to be directly contrasted with Jon Snow. One wizard knows Jon is the true king but the other doesn’t (or rather, chooses to ignore all the signs that point to his special status).

But what Jon has over Bran (and Dany) is that he has a very literal sword - Longclaw. So again, he is the typical fantasy blend of the king and the knight/warrior - as we would expect of the hidden prince. Because Jon has a literal sword, I’d expect his sword out of a stone moment to be less figurative and closer to the Arthurian framework. I don’t mean that Jon will literally find a rock and pull a sword from of it, but that he will wield a literal sword that will be representative of his identity as the true king. More specifically, I think Jon will at some point in the story wield Lightbringer, the flaming sword of heroes. There’s a bit of seeding for this in ADWD, where Jon dreams of himself armored in black ice and wielding a sword that burns red. Here, Jon is very obviously being marked as the legendary hero (further confirmed by Mel’s numerous visions).

So if Jon will wield a literal sword but if he won’t pull it out of a literal stone, what will be the miraculous moment for him? It could be that his literal death and rebirth will be the public spectacle needed to cement him as the hero reborn, but it could be something else that marks him as Azor Ahai. Jon has to actively “pull the sword” so his Lightbringer can’t be something that comes by accident/passively. Imo Jon has to actively forge/create Lightbringer for it to count as a sword out of a stone moment. Since Dany is our blueprint for fulfilling the Azor Ahai miracle, I have to note that multiple things happened in her last AGOT chapter. The first was the birth of the dragons and the second was her surviving the fire. So Jon’s “sword out of a stone” miracle will have to be separate from him surviving/rising from death. And Dany’s miracle signifies her role as Azor Ahai: she is the mother of dragons, the fire to the Others’ ice. So what’s Jon’s Azor Ahai role?

I think GRRM has already given us a peak of what Jon’s role as Azor Ahai will be. In ASOS, Jon has one of his recurring Winterfell crypt dreams and at some point, he sees that the world is plunged into darkness. Once that happens, he remarks that “a light had gone out somewhere”. Well earlier in the book, Jaime Lannister had a seemingly prophetic dream where he was in the bowels of Casterly Rock holding a flaming sword. At some point, the flames of Jaime’s sword go out and death rushes in. I mean to do a much deeper analysis of how these dreams are connected but to keep things short for now, I think Jon saw the light of Jamie’s sword going out.

Why do I mention this? Well I think this will be Jon’s pulling a sword out of a stone moment. Jon sees the light go out and darkness setting in. So I think that his role in the upcoming war for the dawn will be to restore the light which has gone out from the world. As it was said that Arthur would restore Britain after a period of darkness, Jon will restore light to Westeros after the Long Night; since he was the one to see the light go out, then he must be the one to bring it back. And restoration is pretty recurrent in Jon’s story. Part of his arc as the leader of the Night’s Watch is that he is trying to restore the order back to its true purpose; I think this is represented in his ASOS and ADWD dreams, where we see light going out of a sword (ASOS dream) and light coming back and being wielded as a sword by Jon (ADWD dream). Another act of restoration - specifically the restoration of light - happens when Jon lets the wildlings through the Wall. He remarks that light comes to Castle Black in places where darkness had settled long ago.

So it might be that Jon’s Lightbringer, a flaming sword, will serve in part as a symbol of light returning to Westeros. We have Lightbringer as a sword, but we also have Jon as the one to literally bring the light; what is Lightbringer - the sword or Jon? It could be a bit of both. Jon is the sword in the darkness and he is the fire the burns against the cold, as stated by his Night’s Watch vows. And if he is reborn in a funeral pyre (as some readers believe) then he would be a dragon woken from stone. There’s a lot of potential for different things to serve as Jon’s public miracle. He could be the sword to be lit up or it could be that a different (literal) sword has to be obtained.

But since Jon is very closely following Arthur’s story, I expect that it will be an actual sword that will herald him as the true king risen. We have a lot of foreshadowing of Jon ending up as some sort of king and given that he is a deconstruction (not subversion) of the fantasy hidden prince-to-king archetype, I expect this rise to kingship to happen at the end of his story (as it happened for Aragorn, Cor, Seoman Snowlock, etc.); of course, GRRM will put his own spin on it. I’ve actually started to come around to the idea that Jon won’t be king in Winds but in Dream. I think that might be more aligned with some of the themes presented in the story. Because Stannis says that the correct order is to save the kingdom to win it. Given that this is said in a Jon chapter, I think it’s meant to serve as the blueprint/foreshadowing for the true Azor Ahai’s (Jon Snow) journey. Jon will save the kingdom, which will then lead to him to winning it. And if we go back to Jon being one of GRRM’s deconstructed/reconstructed Warts, then Arthur became king at the end of The Sword in the Stone. Which might mean that Jon’s flaming sword of light might be forged toward the end of ADOS to signify his rise to kingship; and to parallel Dany’s sword in the stone appearing in book one.

#asoiaf #valyrianscrolls #jon snow #bran stark #daenerys targaryen #azor ahai #the prince that was promised #the last hero #the long night #king arthur #asoiaf speculation #my stuff

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ilovemesomevincentprice · 1 year

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Aww ❤️

Vincent Price - The Long Night

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thesims4asoiaf · 11 months

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~Ts4 Game of Thrones/House of the Dragon/ ASOIAF Lookbook +CC Links~ Blood Betrayal/The Long Night

•YITISH MYTHOLOGY•

As always, they are both available in the gallery! EA ID: FaePorcelain

skin

Amethyst Empress

Hair/headdress, dress, nails, hand tattoos, fingertips, eyelids, eyeliner, eyeshadow, cheeks, pores, blush, eyebrows, eyelashes, eyes 2, lipstick, rings, necklace, nosemask 1 2, earrings, teeth, boots

Bloodstone Emperor

Hair, floating acc, eyes, eyebrow, eyeliner, under eyebags, pores, cheeks, eyelids, mask, crown, outfit, boots, fingertips, rings, blush, necklace, lipstick, nosemask, ears, eyeshadow, face tattoo, teeth, skintone

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the-wanderer · 26 days

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Wonder when Aegon the Conqueror had his dream about the long night & the great war, if he ever considered it would be his dagger that killed the night king

#house of the dragon #game of thrones #aegon the conqueror #house targaryen #the prince that was promised #the night king #the long night

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laurellerual · 1 year

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Harrenhal during the Long Night

A few days ago I did this survey where I asked you "Where will the great battle against the White Walkers take place?". 56% of voters chose "In the North, the Wall, Winterfell", but I disagree. Here I explain why I am part of the 41% who voted "In the Riverlands, Harrenal, the Gods eye, the Trident".

Why in the Riverlands?

Let's start with: I think Winterfell will be destroyed, and definitively rebuilt only at the end of the books. So the place where the victory against the White Walkers will take place will be the Riverlands.

The Gods eye is one of the most important places for the Old Gods and the Children of the forest, we know Howland has been there I think Bran will have to go, it's a place that will become relevant to the White Walkers storyline. And it's not the only place in the Riverlands closely connected with the faith of the Old Gods - indeed, we have seen more of them here than in the North. There are: High heart with its circle of weirwood and its woods witch, the Hollow Hill where one-eyed Beric sits surrounded by weirwood roots, Raventree Hall, and Harrenhal whose building seems cursed by the gods and has a godswood big like a forest.

The conflict against the White Walkers will have to be a major event, relevant in the history of the Seven Kingdoms, so there is no way it will only involve the first northernmost castles. What repercussions would such an event have on the plot? No one would believe that the North has been attacked by creatures that everyone thinks don't exist: it would be as if it hadn't happened. The undead army must reach to at least the center of Westeros. An interesting foreshadowing is found in Daenerys III ASOS:

That night she dreamt that she was Rhaegar, riding to the Trident. But she was mounted on a dragon, not a horse. When she saw the Usurper's rebel host across the river they were armored all in ice, but she bathed them in dragonfire and they melted away like dew and turned the Trident into a torrent. Some small part of her knew that she was dreaming, but another part exulted. This is how it was meant to be.

Why will Harrenhal be important?

If the above turns out to be true, this means that a significant part of the people who inhabit the North and the Riverlands will find themselves fleeing to take refuge behind the first available walls. And as it happens, in the Riverlands there is a castle of immense proportions, mostly abandoned.

If you haven't read the chapters in which Harrenhal appears in a while, I recommend you review its architecture on the wiki (read the sections 'Walls and Towers' and 'Misc'). And then you come here and tell me that an immense place, with walls that cannot be passed through, a big pit, a great hall with more than thirty hearth, hot baths, kitchens as big as the great hall of Winterfell, and many acres of wood within the walls doesn't seem like the perfect description of a place where hundreds of people can take refuge to survive the apocalypse.

Harrenhal has impassable walls unless you have a dragon. The reason it fell so many times is that it was abandoned. Until now, fighting for the castle has been a waste of money for all the lords who have passed it. No one had enough people to guard all the gates, run all the fires, etc… not even using prisoners of war as slaves would have been enough.

But if refugees from half of the Seven Kingdoms were to occupy it, we would see those huge empty halls fill with life for the first time in centuries. Finally this cyclopean construction would make sense: it would become one of the main citadels of humanity.

Thanks for reading. If you want to find out why the other day while brushing my teeth I was struck by the brilliant intuition that Arya Stark might be the Lady of Harrenhal during the Long Night keep following me.

#asoiaf #asoiaf meta #harrenhal #riverlands #the long night #the battle for the dawn #arya stark #daenerys targaryen #bran stark

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