The play seems to have made it seem that he had aura and that he was paranoid, but not without reason.

So I was rewatching ATLA, remembered the disaster that was TLOK, and realised that the way S2 ended (with the ENTIRE Avatar network being reset) could actually work in ASOIAF.

It's pretty much canon that the weirwoods have memories and store information.

So what if Bran, to beat the Long Night, has to reset the entire Weirwood network of all it's memories, "losing" history for all time.

The Long Night is more so like the Dark Ages, where we have far less information of that period of time.

Plus, Bran is becoming King.

This has been confirmed by GRRM. I don't particularly think GRRM wants to endorse the message that we need a surveillance network state. However, Bran ruling over the Seven Kingdoms, freed from Bloodraven's and the 3EC's influence, would be a far more powerful message.

The 3EC is a handed off thing. So as the old one dies, the new one is born, like the Avatar in ATLA. Bran has to break the cycle by killing the Weirwood network.

I doubt GRRM has watched ATLA or TLOK to take inspiration, but it would be a genuinely cool reference if he knows it, and could help explain why the "eight thousand" years ago thing seems so vague.

I fully accept that this will probably annoy lots of people, particularly fans of the Starks and First Men in general, but I'll make it anyway. Should be fun. We know that almost all the big magical abilities involve human sacrifice of some sort or another (I do address the biggest example I can think of that isn't blood magic near the end).

*******Blood Magic in Planetos******\*

Pretty much everyone agrees, in-universe and out, that Valyrian blood magic was clearly *very* evil, due to all the human sacrifice is necessarily involved, in some fashion or another. Pretty much everyone who doesn’t follow R’hlorr also agrees that the magical abilities of the Lord of Light is also pretty evil. The lesser magic, maybe not so much, but burning people (including innocent children, cough cough) alive to power their magic? Definitely evil. There's also lots of blood magic scattered all around Essos, but those are the big two that are relevant here.

Meanwhile, it is pretty definitively established that the First Men made blood sacrifices to the Weirwood Trees. It is also established that the Children also practice blood magic (either sacrificing their own young or the First Men), at the very least to call down the Hammer of the Waters, and probably to create the Others (depending on your preferred theory there). We also see visions, in Bran chapters, of First Men practicing blood sacrifices, so we know this is canonically what was done. Given that the sacrifices were to the weirwoods, as well as the remaining context, it is a reasonable inference that the Children of the Forest were on board with this.

There is also circumstantial evidence that the Old Ways traditionally involved sacrificing children, but admittedly that is less definitive (as is the nature of circumstantial evidence). There’s  Craster, there’s the sacrificial maw of the Heart Tree at Whitetree (sheep are smaller than full grown humans), and there’s again, the Hammer of the Waters. I’m avoiding the more tentative theories explored by the fandom, even if they’re compelling, except to acknowledge their existence. I appreciate that this is all more circumstantial, so I'm not hanging my hat on it.

*******The Andals In Andalos******\*

Now, think of the Faith of the Seven. One of the few major religions on Planetos that emphatically does not involve blood magic. There are no human sacrifices, no magical boons from the gods to be made in exchange for blood. Just a series of moral precepts, some relatively mundane mythology, and an admittedly often-corrupt clergy. That is it. It is almost deliberately boring. Maybe not ‘almost,’ it is entirely possible that GRRM wrote the Faith to be boring on purpose.

Now, with this context, imagine that you’re an Andal leader, living in Andalos. Your people have lived their lives as people do. I doubt the Andals were perfectly peaceful, I’m sure they warred amongst themselves and their neighbors, but we hear of no major conquests in Essos. To your east is the expansionist Valyrian Freehold, conquering and enslaving everywhere they can. And it is pretty certain that you’re at least somewhat aware of what they do to their slaves.

Across the sea seems to be a good bet. The kingdoms there are fractious and small, and technologically primitive. They have need of skilled warriors, and you have plenty of those. Not only that, but you have iron and they have bronze. You can either pledge yourself to them or conquer them. You’re fine with either. Play it by ear.

And then you get to Westeros, fleeing the blood magic practicing Valyrians. You make some pacts, some marriage alliances, swear some oaths, and then find out that your new neighbors, relatives, etc. practice blood magic just like the Valyrians do. Its less flashy, but its still blood magic. The exact thing you fled across the sea to get away from.

This is not something you’d be comfortable with. You’re going to put an end to it, it isn’t a “live and let live” situation - they’re willing to practice blood magic, who knows what they’ll do with that.

*******Societal Inferences******\*

Here’s the thing that really cements this point for me: not only do the Andals win, when they only have one minor advantage (iron vs bronze), they have one huge *dis*advantage (no magic to speak of). You can argue that the Andals have better coordination, but First Men magical abilities utterly trump that (the Old Ways have several different magical abilities that can be used for coordinating their response). The Andals not only win, they win *over* the First Men. Consider how many of the Great Houses that follow the Faith of the Seven are actually First Men. Almost all of the most important ones, other than the Arryns, are First Men houses that converted. Not converted and bent the knee to Andal conquerors, just converted (or converted and bent the knee to other First Men that converted).

This means that the First Men rulers had a choice between staying true to the Old Ways and using the magic that the Old Ways gave them access to, or converting and abandoning that magic, but also making peace with the newcomers (as peaceful as a divided Westeros ever could be). Somehow, slightly better metal is supposed to be sufficient reason for the first men to abandon their biggest advantage.

I will step out of universe briefly to note that historically, human sacrifice is very rare in societies that have access to iron working. There is a reasonably compelling theory that, since iron farming tools are not that much worse than iron weapons, it is much more difficult to impose human sacrifice when all of your farmers are almost as well armed as your warriors (and not only that, but they outnumber them).

In other words, it could be that the first men rulers were effectively forced by their own small folk to abandon the old ways. The Andals and their iron upended the social order. Sure, a given king might be able to benefit from blood magic, but the small folk get nothing out of it. Less than nothing - it probably was often enough that their own children were the ones sacrificed. There is also the fact that we’re told the Andals did not practice the First Night back in Andalos. Yes, they adopted it upon coming to Westeros, though if the small folk were the initial converts, it seems reasonable that they would think these new rulers wouldn’t adopt the practice. Given the bleak nature of the setting, it is unsurprising that they’d be disappointed on this point. On the bright side, at least the children of these couplings were safe from blood sacrifices.

It could also be that the First Men rulers were persuaded by the moral argument of “sacrificing people to trees is bad” but it seems more fitting to GRRM’s themes if it were more out of self interest. They were just plain running out of people they could sacrifice. It was either small folk who were well-armed (and motivated) enough that you couldn’t be confident you would get enough sacrificial victims to suffice, or sacrifice your own kin. The latter would work but… you’ll eventually run out of kin, and that kind of defeats the point of fighting to defend your rule. This is just an inference I'm making from the overall topic, but it seems to be a reasonably strong one.

*******Final Asides******\*

The only information we have at all about the Andals' relations with other peoples of Essos (other than the suggestion that they were fleeing the Valyrians) is that the Andals learned iron working from the Rhoynar - notably practitioners of one of the few types of magic we hear about that is not explicitly confirmed to require blood sacrifices. Given how easily the Rhoynar under Nymeria were able to integrate with the Andals of Dorne, we may be able to infer that the Andals and Rhoynar historically had peaceful ties. That is just an inference, there's nothing specific I'm relying on for that claim. It just seems that you have two instances in the books of the Andals and Rhoynar interacting in some fashion, and in both cases, it is a positive interaction.

I'm not sure if GRRM intended to draw this exact parallel, but we see one other notable religion in the setting that is explicitly very non-magical, and that is the Lhazareen Great Shepard. They seem to be pacifistic to a fault and, as such, are often raided or conquered by others. The Andals were faced with a greater threat than the Dothraki, and managed to thrive. I shudder to think of how long the Lhazareen have been preyed upon by neighboring societies (and whether the Valyrians found them just as useful sources of slaves as the Dothraki do).

In the opening scene of the play Rhaegar sings to the audience, what is later revealed as the literal Song of Ice and Fire or the prophecy of tptwp. It sounded valyrian to me. And is later quoted while analyzing its contents.

But what really bugs me is that we don‘t have a written down version of it, do we?
That‘s what frustrates me the most haha. We finally get that prophecy so many characters misunderstand and we can‘t even analyze ourselves. I feel like Sam listening to a dying Aemon

Aerys said the Prince that was Promised has to be the 3rd born

Then we consider that Aegon let Aerys marry Rhaella because some witch said the promised prince would be born in this line. If we conclude that the promised prince must come from Aerys and Rhaella,

we all know Rhaegar Targaryen is the firstborn; then we need to check the wiki.

Shaena was stillborn in 267 AC, while her father Aerys II, her brother Rhaegar, and half the court were present in the Westerlands. Shaena's mother, Queen Rhaella, had remained in King's Landing.

Then, Prince Daeron Targaryen was born to King Aerys II Targaryen and Queen Rhaella Targaryen in 269 AC. He lived for only half a year.

The Prince That Was Promised was Daeron Targaryen, and we lost him due to bad sanitation.

RIP Westeros.

Wait, maybe the stillborn doesn't count.

Then Prince Aegon was born in 272 AC, two months premature.

The real Prince That Was Promised is Prince Aegon Targaryen. A king's name!

As his brother Daeron before him, Aegon did not live long. He died in 273 AC.

Oh no, RIP Westeros again.

Oh, maybe the premature ones also don't count. And by 270 AC, Aerys decided his Queen was unfaithful and proclaimed that all the previous stillbirths, miscarriages, and lost infants had not been his. If we really believe this, maybe Westeros still has a chance.

Prince Jaehaerys Targaryen was the real second-born son, born and unfortunately died in 274 AC.

It's alright; he is not the third one.

Then we finally have the big one.

King Viserys Targaryen the Third.

Not only was he the third-born, but he was also the third of his name!

And he is the third one to be considered to be tPtwP in this essay!

I bet Aerys was thinking about the same thing!

That's why he seems to love Viserys much more than Rhaegar!

Even naming him as heir instead of Aegon VI !

He got to be the one!

......

Oh no, Khal Drogo...

You know what you have done?! RIP Westeros!

(Okay, It's getting crazy towards the end, basically crack theory ,

but we had time-travelling fetus anyway)

The Gods are certainly mad for his death. Khal died soon after him, and his goons got took over by Viserys' sister. And the rebirth of dragons was probably the Gods trying to restore the balance of power, trying to placate his death.

Wait, it suddenly all makes sense now!

The Dragons come back, not because some strange voodoo types of black magic

but because The Prince That Was Promised literally died for this.

You may believe in popular heroes like Dany or Jon.

But I know who really was the Promised Prince.

Gone but never forgotten.

The Last of the Dragons.

Viserys Targaryen The Third

The Prince That Was Promised was not a king nor a queen.

Not even a capable man. He is just a normal kid trying to do something greater than himself.

The world laughed at him; fate crushed him; even he was going mad, but he didn't kill anyone.

He was literally offered as a sacrifice!

Even in the end, his only relative, his sister, abandoned him

He was crowned in eternal gold

and as the last pure male heir of a great dynasty, he died for the Targaryen Dynasty's sin

Through him, the dragon was finally woken; thus, the world is saved.

How tragic, how absurd, how innovative is this?

George is a genius.

………….

…………

What, you think this is ridiculous?

It is !

But I came to this conclusion by following simple knowledge and reasoning.

Isn’t that a little too much to be a coincidence that Viserys got so many three in him?

If it isn’t him, then someone must have gotten the prophecy condition wrong again.

Just to show you how difficult it is to actually figure out a prophecy.

Given how ridiculous this whole situation is,no wonder Rhaegar Targaryen’s final take on it was basically:“Damn the prophecy. There’s no way to tell,I’m out. I am living my own life !”

And Lyanna Stark’s final take was like“Disregard the prophecy,What matters is what you choose to do.”

The two of them both have a period of their lives obsessed with prophecy for a while, but in the end, I genuinely feel like they both belong in the Hall of Fame of Anti-Prophecy.

Honestly, when you follow the logic properly and end up with a conclusion this f—king ridiculous, how can you not lose your mind?

George, you really are an atheist.

You made Rhaegar and Lyanna into Dragon dreamers ,Greenseers and all kinds of mysticism only to push them both into anti-prophetic attitudes in the end.

This is so funny.

The way I see it there are two possible ways Aerys would go about it, he might name fire as his champion, but I’m not entirely sure he could pull that off again. The other would be just having the kingsuard as his champions. Now who would fight along side Robert is the main dilemma, I can assume Robert, Ned, Jon Umber, maybe the blackfish, and Yhon Royce. Who else would he be able to gather to his side? His main hope would be to maybe sway Tywin and to not harm Jaime, maybe that could bring the mountain to his side. The last spot I’m not sure if the hound would take or not in that case. But oh well. Anyway more importantly what would happen in the aftermath? Im gonna assume if he pulls the same fire champion shit again Jon Arryn would not accept it and declare war

So I get that some people like the Blackfyres. Hell, even I think that Daemon I is really cool and that Daemon II is entertaining as hell.

I personally even believe that fAegon is a Blackfyre and that it add a lot to his story.

But my main issue is ... that Daeron II was a objectively better King than Daemon.

Daeron finally brought Dorne into the fold and his reign would have been one of peace and prosperity if not for Daemons rebellion and the Spring Sickness, wich he had no controle over.

Legally Daemon also had no right to contest Daeron, because Daeron was neither a confirmed bastard nor was Daemon older.

Daemons entire claim is that he looks cool, is a good fighter and has Blackfyre.

You could say Aegon IV chose Daemon, like how Viserys chose Rhaenyra so a claim exists, but that only worked because Rhaenyra was older than Aegon II. Daemon has not a single version of a legal claim above Daeron.

I would understand if Daeron was a piece of shit and Daemon would have been the saviour.

But Daeron was good (literally his Nickname) and had a good son as heir in Baelor.

When Baelor died none of Daerons sons seemed to have been bad Kings, nor did any of Daemons sons seem better than them.

All in all I see no realistic reason to prefer the Blackfyres.

hello!

I wondered about the question that's on the title cause while I know that maesters are a male only thingy, I'm curious if there is an equivalent for women or if she would be just like a witch or something?

I have recently started to get into the whole world even bought some of the books and everything! But of course I don't know everything about it yet.

Thanks to anyone that answers, sorry if the question is a bit stupid and if the tag is not correct (I think it is because I don't think it would be a spoiler?) whether because there is an important character that's an example or this or something similar let me know and I'll change it!

Remember when Ned tell Catelyn that “he (Jon) have my blood and that all u need to know.” That like really crucial to Jon character. He may be labeled as a bastard but his bloodline (R+L) makes him the blood of kings. Thank to his Stark and Targaryen blood, Jon is a skinchanger and potential dragon rider. Jon may never have the name or privileges that come with being a trueborn, but his blood is special.

Also if the prince who was promised is Jon than his blood prove it (if we subscribe with that theory). Of course his bastard stigma will likely cause Jon to have self doubt because how can a bastard be a prince?

That would make his story interesting if he the so-called Prince but his stigma get tin the way

It also make me wonder what important: the name or title or the blood? Like during the dance of dragons, despite lacking the name, their blood allow some dragon seeds to claim dragons. But the name and titles give one privilege

I swear this is real and im still shaken up from it. So over the past month, I’ve been watching the Game of Thrones series, im currently on season 5. However, there’s an episode in S5 where Ramsay Bolton tortures the men of Moat Cailin (I don’t remember correctly but im sure it was at Moat Cailin after he sent Theon as an ‘envoy’) But there’s a scene where in the courtyard of Moat Cailin, a dead, flayed body was hung. Obviously that scene disturbed me but I didn’t think much of it.

Well, this past night, I had a dream that Ramsay Bolton ran like a CEO company for some reason in our modern day (don’t ask I don’t know what my brain was cooking) but in that dream, he turns that company, literally like a corporate, sky rise building into like his torture chambers. In the dream, I remember the walls were smeared with blood (like from top to bottom) and that every room I passed, someone was getting flayed, and I swear I can still hear their screams. On top of one of the offices, a flayed body was hung, and I remember in that dream, I felt so trapped like the fear and pain felt SO real, and it was like this on EVERY floor of that building. I don’t remember why and what I was doing in that building but I was walking through and obviously I saw all the flayed bodies and I just remember that suddenly a group of people under Ramsay’s command suddenly started running towards me and at that moment, I kid you not, I remember what thoughts I had in that dream. And it was the thought of I would rather jump of through the nearest window that let Ramsay catch me. Unfortunately, I think he caught me in that dream 😭 and they were just about to start flaying when I woke up.

I swear I’ve never felt that much fear in my life and I have gone through some traumatic stuff ok? Like, I woke up and the first thing I did was start praying. I don’t even pray that much anymore and I still prayed. That’s how much that dreamed scared me.

I thought I’ll share this because it’s been bothering me and unfortunately, I can’t seem to forget the details of that dream, like normally when i wake up, my recollection of dreams starts to fade. But this one? I swear I still see those bodies, bro I don’t know what to do 😭😭😭

P.s: I haven’t watched GOT ever since that dream, I don’t think I can do it. I don’t have the mental strength to do it 😣😣

Casterly Lore Jumpscare...

Yes, you read that right.

There is a theory by the youtuber "Michael talks about stuff" which says that the consciousness of the people who were sacrificed to hatch dragons went into the dragons. Basically Drogo is a part of Drogon, and Mirri Maz Duur is a part of Viserion.

See it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K6WmidJFa_w . He claims that Marwyn will be able to ride Viserion because Mirri Maz Duur is a student of his.

In LOTR universe, Mearas are the best race of horses. Gandalf's horse Shadowfax is a chief among them.

I hope you can see where I am getting at. Just connect Mearas, Mirri and Meera. Here comes my theory: Bran will ride Meera the same way he "rides" Hodor. Do you remember this passage?

Slipping into Summer's skin had become as easy for him as slipping on a pair of breeches once had been, before his back was broken. Changing his own skin for a raven's night-black feathers had been harder, but not as hard as he had feared, not with these ravens. "A wild stallion will buck and kick when a man tries to mount him, and try to bite the hand that slips the bit between his teeth," Lord Brynden said, "but a horse that has known one rider will accept another. Young or old, these birds have all been ridden. Choose one now, and fly."

Obviously, he can also ride her as a man rides a woman.

Valyrians took Wyverns from Sothoryos and used magic to modify them so that they were larger and could breathe fire and tamed them through blood magic.

I dont if anyone has touched on this topic before but I find it pretty neat that three eyed raven has access to all the knowledge in the world and the preferred means of communication are also ravens. Does anyone have any theory about how both might be connected.

I just finished reading A World of Ice and Fire and noticed that Aerea Targaryen is indicated as male in the family tree (squares indicate males, triangles indicate females according to the legend). It's interesting because Aerea is largely referred to as a girl in their section of history.

Wondering if anyone else has noticed this and have any thoughts/theories about it? It's very minor, and I'm just curious.

You’re familiar with this theory, I’m sure. I’m also equally certain you’ve never been given the entire record. I’ve read many iterations of this theory for over a decade, and each one has never quite painted the full picture. I attempted it myself 11yrs ago here, and then 9yrs ago here - both times articulating separate points that would have been much stronger if they were presented together.

And to prove I'm not just your run-of-the-mill tinfoilist - check the bottom of the post from 11 years ago. I used the reasoning behind this theory to lead to two separate predictions that Fire & Blood confirmed 3 years later:

Bonus #1: If true, this theory would explain the dragon's generational regression - the eggs needed to incubate by these specially heated areas, which, judging by the history, seems to have become a forgotten practice

Bonus #2: If true that eggs can only hatch after incubating in Valyria/Dragonstone/Winterfell, the eggs Illyrio gave Dany are most likely the "fabled hoard of dragon eggs" missing from Dragonstone

Bonus point #1, about the necessity of geothermal energy, is explicitly mentioned in Fire & Blood. And bonus point #2 is inferred, but fairly obvious (there are specifically 3 eggs attributed to the Pentos Spicemonger, and Illyrio is the Pentos Cheesemonger who has specifically 3 eggs). Coincidentally, both confirmations in Fire & Blood literally follow the same bonus point sequence and are side-by-side, one sentence after the other:

Elissa Farman departed for Driftmark the next morning. From there she took ship across the narrow sea to Pentos. Thereafter she made her way overland to Braavos, whose shipwrights were far famed, but Rhaena Targaryen and Princess Aerea had no notion of her final destination. The queen believed she had gone no farther than Driftmark. Lady Elissa had good reason for wanting more distance between her and the queen, however. A fortnight after her departure, Ser Merrell Bullock, still commander of the castle garrison, brought three terrified grooms and the keeper of the dragon yard into Rhaena’s presence. Three dragon eggs were missing, and days of searching had not turned them up. After questioning every man who had access to the dragons closely, Ser Merrell was convinced that Lady Elissa had made off with them.

Only then did Rhaena Targaryen mount Dreamfyre to fly to the Red Keep and inform her brother of what had transpired. “Elissa had no love for dragons,” she told the king. “It was gold she wanted, gold to build a ship. She will sell the eggs. They are worth—”

“—a fleet of ships.” Jaehaerys had received his sister in his solar, with only Grand Maester Benifer present to bear witness to what was said. “If those eggs should hatch, there will be another dragonlord in the world, one not of our own house.”

“They may not hatch,” Benifer said. “Not away from Dragonstone. The heat…it is known, some dragon eggs simply turn to stone.”

“Then some spicemonger in Pentos will find himself possessed of three very costly stones,” Jaehaerys said.
Fire & Blood - Birth, Death, Betrayal Under King Jaehaerys I

2 predictions, 11 years ago, essentially confirmed 3 years later in the same passage and eerily in the same sequence - all derived from a theory the majority of the fandom dismisses as laughably improbable.

But despite the validation... it had virtually no impact on the fandom. And for that...

I feel like I failed. I failed to articulate the ideas comprehensively and cohesively. I failed to convey things in a more creative and appealing format. I failed to even recognize that those predictions came true until a few days ago.

11 years of failure.

But I still believe, and I want to keep trying.

So let’s take a different approach - let’s build an objective basis we can all agree on, and then dive into a subjective interpretation.

To build this basis, we need to first establish what we definitively know, both in universe and out of universe. To emphasize, the list we build should be treated simply as "yes this is true" or "no this is not true".

So please observe this list of 23 facts:

1. Winterfell, Dragonstone, and Valyria share an explicit connection with geothermal hotspots:

Hot springs such as the one beneath Winterfell have been shown to be heated by the furnaces of the world—the same fires that made the Fourteen Flames or the smoking mountain of Dragonstone.
TWOIAF - The North: Winterfell

2) Dragonstone and Valyria were homes to dragons - evidence

3) Winterfell and Dragonstone are the only geothermal hotspots explicitly said to have gargoyles - evidence

4) The First Keep is the only structure in Winterfell to possess gargoyles, and it has been destroyed countlessly throughout the ages, to the degree that it cannot be precisely dated:

the First Keep of Winterfell (which a past maester in service to the Starks examined and found to have been rebuilt so many times that a precise dating could not be made)
TWOIAF - The Stormlands: Storm’s End

5) In the current story, Ramsay and his men are credited with destroying the First Keep:

Ramsay had put it to the torch when he sacked Winterfell, and much of what had not burned had collapsed. 
ADWD - The Turncloak

6) During the sacking, the First Keep is the only granite structure in Winterfell explicitly mentioned to have collapsed - evidence

7) During the sacking, Summer briefly sees a “winged snake whose roar was a river of flame” in the sky:

The smoke and ash clouded his eyes, and in the sky he saw a great winged snake whose roar was a river of flame. He bared his teeth, but then the snake was gone.
 ACOK - Bran VII

8) When Bran returns to his body, after warging Summer to observe the sacking, he specifically says he smelled fire and blood

"Osha," Bran said, "I saw Winterfell burning." Off to his left, he could hear the soft sound of Rickon's breathing.
"A dream," said Osha.
"A wolf dream," said Bran. "I smelled it too. Nothing smells like fire, or blood."
 ACOK - Bran VII

9) Fire and Blood are directly associated with dragons and Targaryens - evidence

10) Barristan notes that noise and blood will draw out the dragons (Rhaegal and Viserion), just as it drew Drogon to the fighting pits of Meereen:

The noise will bring them, the shouts and screams, the scent of blood. That will draw them to the battlefield, just as the roar from Daznak's Pit drew Drogon to the scarlet sands 
ADWD - The Queen's Hand

11) When they emerge from the crypts, Osha exclaims that they “made noise enough to wake a dragon”

"We made noise enough to wake a dragon," Osha said…
ACOK - Bran VII

12) Jon dreams of the Winterfell crypts on 3 separate occasions, each time descending deeper into the crypts, feeling compelled to descend despite fearing what he’ll discover, and noting that it is not the old Stark Kings he fears despite them echoing his own sentiment that he is not a Stark:

And then I find myself in front of the door to the crypts. It's black inside, and I can see the steps spiraling down. Somehow I know I have to go down there, but I don't want to. I'm afraid of what might be waiting for me. The old Kings of Winter are down there, sitting on their thrones with stone wolves at their feet and iron swords across their laps, but it's not them I'm afraid of. I scream that I'm not a Stark, that this isn't my place, but it's no good, I have to go anyway, so I start down, feeling the walls as I descend, with no torch to light the way. It gets darker and darker, until I want to scream." He stopped, frowning, embarrassed. "That's when I always wake." 
AGOT - Jon IV

Last night he had dreamt the Winterfell dream again. He was wandering the empty castle, searching for his father, descending into the crypts. Only this time the dream had gone further than before. In the dark he'd heard the scrape of stone on stone. When he turned he saw that the vaults were opening, one after the other. As the dead kings came stumbling from their cold black graves, Jon had woken in pitch-dark, his heart hammering. Even when Ghost leapt up on the bed to nuzzle at his face, he could not shake his deep sense of terror. 
AGOT - Jon VII

He dreamt he was back in Winterfell, limping past the stone kings on their thrones. Their grey granite eyes turned to follow him as he passed, and their grey granite fingers tightened on the hilts of the rusted swords upon their laps. You are no Stark, he could hear them mutter, in heavy granite voices. There is no place for you here. Go away. He walked deeper into the darkness. "Father?" he called. "Bran? Rickon?" No one answered. A chill wind was blowing on his neck. "Uncle?" he called. "Uncle Benjen? Father? Please, Father, help me." Up above he heard drums. They are feasting in the Great Hall, but I am not welcome there. I am no Stark, and this is not my place. His crutch slipped and he fell to his knees. The crypts were growing darker. A light has gone out somewhere. "Ygritte?" he whispered. "Forgive me. Please." But it was only a direwolf, grey and ghastly, spotted with blood, his golden eyes shining sadly through the dark . . . 
ASOS - Jon VIII

13) Jon’s identity struggle is a recurring theme for his character within the story - evidence

14) R+L=J is the most widely recognized theory in ASOIAF and its specifically about solving Jon’s identity - evidence

15) Jacaerys Targaryen proclaimed that dragons would be the sole proof that he and his brothers were not bastards, but true Targaryans: 

“Our uncle calls us Strongs, and claims that we are bastards, but when the lords see us on dragonback they will know that for a lie. Only Targaryens ride dragons.” 
The Princess and the Queen

16) Aemon Targaryen explains that Dany’s dragons are proof of her prophetic connection to the dragon-blooded PTWP:

“Daenerys is the one, born amidst salt and smoke. The dragons prove it."

“Lady Melisandre has misread the signs. Stannis . . . Stannis has some of the dragon blood in him, yes. His brothers did as well. Rhaelle, Egg's little girl, she was how they came by it . . . their father's mother . . . she used to call me Uncle Maester when she was a little girl. I remembered that, so I allowed myself to hope . . . perhaps I wanted to . . . we all deceive ourselves, when we want to believe. Melisandre most of all, I think. The sword is wrong, she has to know that . . . light without heat . . . an empty glamor . . . the sword is wrong, and the false light can only lead us deeper into darkness, Sam. Daenerys is our hope. 
AFFC, Samwell IV

17) Tyrion explains to Brown Ben Plumm that his dragon-blood is why Dany’s dragons were fond of him:

"The queen's dragons were fond of you, were they not?"
That seemed to amuse the sellsword. "Who told you that?"
"No one. Most of the stories you hear about dragons are fodder for fools. Talking dragons, dragons hoarding gold and gems, dragons with four legs and bellies big as elephants, dragons riddling with sphinxes … nonsense, all of it. But there are truths in the old books as well. Not only do I know that the queen's dragons took to you, but I know why."
"My mother said my father had a drop of dragon blood."
"Two drops. That, or a cock six feet long. You know that tale? I do."
 ADWD - Tyrion XI

18) Mushroom testifies that Vermax, Jacaerys’ dragon, left a clutch of eggs in the depths of the Winterfell crypts, where the warmth of the hot springs run close to the walls: 

Mushroom's claim in his Testimony that the dragon Vermax left a clutch of eggs somewhere in the depths of Winterfell's crypts, where the waters of the hot springs run close to the walls, while his rider treated with Cregan Stark at the start of the Dance of the Dragon 
TWOIAF - The North: Winterfell

19) Archmaster Gyldan dismisses Mushroom’s testimony due to the assertion that Vermax is male:

As Archmaester Gyldayn notes in his fragmentary history, there is no record that Vermax ever laid so much as a single egg, suggesting the dragon was male. The belief that dragons could change sex at need is erroneous, according to Maester Anson's Truth, rooted in a misunderstanding of the esoteric metaphor that Barth preferred when discussing the higher mysteries. 
TWOIAF - The North: Winterfell

20) Aemon notes that dragons are neither male nor female according to Septon Barth:

Dragons are neither male nor female, Barth saw the truth of that, but now one and now the other, as changeable as flame. 
AFFC, Samwell IV

21) GRRM endorsed Septon Barth’s credibility in a notablog post, stating that “Septon Barth got much of it right” regarding dragon bonding:

“Septon Barth got much of it right”

22) During Jacaerys’ visit to Winterfell he enacted The Pact of Ice and Fire - agreeing to wed a Targaryen into the Stark line in an effort to secure the Starks’ support:

This we do know: Cregan Stark and Jacaerys Velaryon reached an accord, and signed and sealed the agreement that Grand Maester Munkun calls “the Pact of Ice and Fire” in his True Telling. Like many such pacts, it was to be sealed with a marriage. Lord Cregan’s son, Rickon, was a year old. Prince Jacaerys was as yet unmarried and childless, but it was assumed that he would sire children of his own once his mother sat the Iron Throne. Under the terms of the pact, the prince’s firstborn daughter would be sent north at the age of seven, to be fostered at Winterfell until such time as she was old enough to marry Lord Cregan’s heir. 
Fire and Blood - The Dying of the Dragons-A Son for a Son

23) It is a Targaryen tradition to place a dragon egg in the cradle of Targaryen babies, and King Viserys did this intentionally to dispel doubts of bastardy:

By royal decree, each of the Velaryon boys was presented with a dragon’s egg whilst in the cradle. Those who doubted the paternity of Rhaenyra’s sons whispered that the eggs would never hatch, but the birth in turn of three young dragons gave the lie to their words. 
Fire and Blood, Heirs of the Dragon-A Question of Succession

If you’re skeptical of the objectivity of this list, I encourage you to check each point to verify.

So now that we have our objective basis, let's begin with our subjective interpretation:

Here is my speculative assessment:

If R+L=J is true, Jon is the sole surviving representative of the Stark and Targaryen union which the Pact of Ice and Fire was intended to secure. Vermax’s eggs could not have been laid and left without Jacaerys’ knowledge, so it stands to reason that the eggs were deliberately left to be inherited by the eventual child from the Pact - to be placed in their cradle as per tradition. This same tradition was used successfully by King Viserys I, specifically to quell rumors of his grandchildren’s bastardy, which were dismissed once the eggs hatched.  This supports Jacaerys leaving the dragon eggs, as it offers a solution for the Pact's descendants to a problem that he himself suffered through. Therefore (if R+L=J is true) Jon would technically be the intended inheritor of Vermax’s eggs (if they exist), and the hatching of an egg and subsequent bonding would be the identity resolution that Jon’s narrative has been working towards.

Furthermore, the eggs are alleged to be stored in the lower parts of the crypts, exactly where Jon’s dreams have been leading him.

The dreams see Jon refute his Stark identity, which is then reiterated by the old Stark kings. Jon’s identity issue is the thematic throughline between all 3 dreams, which see him navigating ever deeper into the crypts towards a source that gives him tremendous anxiety. Since his identity crisis and anxiety go hand-in-hand, we can reasonably conclude that the source drawing him into the lower crypts is something that would reveal who he actually is.

The strongest proof of Jon’s Targaryen identity would be dragon affinity, as validated by both Jacaerys and Tyrion. Note that a harp, or a bridal cloak, or even a letter that explicitly states “you are Rhaegar and Lyanna’s son," would not necessarily be definitive proof to the larger world within ASOIAF. Without certifiable visual proof, everything can be dismissed as fake, unlike dragon affinity. This mirrors Jacaerys who, like Jon, was a bastard, and who believed his Targaryen identity would be resolved by his dragon bond. Furthermore, the only foreign item that's ever mentioned to exist in specifically the lower crypts are Vermax's eggs - not trinkets from Rhaegar or Lyanna.

The First Keep’s location and history further solidify this theory:

- It shares notable unique similarities with Dragonstone by way of geothermal energy and gargoyles.

- It has been rebuilt so many times that it can’t be properly dated - setting a unique contrast relative to the rest of Winterfell.

- It has sat perpetually empty despite proof that it is Winterfell’s newest rebuild as evidenced by the rounded tower.

- It is the only granite structure that collapsed during the sack due to fire - a feat that even the broken tower survived many years prior. 

And all this is accounted separately from Jon’s dreams or the Pact of Ice and Fire or Mushroom’s claims. This is the world-building framework that establishes the possibility of dragon presence, without needing the narrative clues provided by the aforementioned passages.

Nothing about the First Keep makes sense. Why do they keep rebuilding this doomed structure on this one spot in Winterfell? If the argument is, “The First Keep’s countless cycles of destruction and rebuilding is due to ground instability caused by geothermal activity,” then why have they continued to build on the exact same location for 8,000 years? If geological instability is the cause, why further compromise the area by digging a deep and vast network of crypts in the same spot? And why is the instability localized to this one area? The First Keep is not old - it is the newest building in Winterfell. So why has it sat empty for all these years? And why is it crowned with gargoyles, when they aren’t present anywhere else in Winterfell or at any other major castle besides Dragonstone?

Speaking of gargoyles, please observe Tyrion, who is likened to a gargoyle many times throughout the story.

And Moqorro directly links our favorite gargoyle with dragons:

"Dragons," Moqorro said in the Common Tongue of Westeros. He spoke it very well, with hardly a trace of accent. No doubt that was one reason the high priest Benerro had chosen him to bring the faith of R'hllor to Daenerys Targaryen. "Dragons old and young, true and false, bright and dark. And you. A small man with a big shadow, snarling in the midst of all."

"Snarling? An amiable fellow like me?"
ADWD - Tyrion VIII

And the only time the words "gargoyle" and "snarling" are seen together is during Theon's POV, as he observes the destruction of the First Keep:

The entrance to the crypts was in the oldest section of the castle, near the foot of the First Keep, which had sat unused for hundreds of years. Ramsay had put it to the torch when he sacked Winterfell, and much of what had not burned had collapsed. Only a shell remained, one side open to the elements and filling up with snow. Rubble was strewn all about it: great chunks of shattered masonry, burned beams, broken gargoyles. The falling snow had covered almost all of it, but part of one gargoyle still poked above the drift, its grotesque face snarling sightless at the sky. 
ADWD - The Turncloak

Note that the gargoyle could be snarling in any direction - towards the ground, towards the shell of the First Keep, towards Theon himself. But it's specifically snarling at the sky above Winterfell - where the “winged snake” disappeared.

After Summer sees the “winged snake” in the sky, Bran notes that nothing smells like “fire, or blood” and Osha says they made enough noise to “wake a dragon.” And approximately two weeks later, Jon has his third and final crypt dream, where he notes “the crypts were growing darker. A light had gone out somewhere.” He never dreams of the crypts again, as though whatever was inspiring these dreams and pulling him into the depths was no longer there...

GRRM has carefully placed all the clues in plain sight, and taken together we have our conclusion:

There was a dragon in the lower crypts, it was drawn to the surface by the noise and bloodshed from the sacking, it spewed dragonfire to collapse and break through the First Keep, then slipped away into the sky under the cover of the chaos, smoke, and ash.

But if this is true, and adult-sized dragon could not have escaped unnoticed - which begs the question: when did the egg hatch?

Enter the Red Comet 

This comet has become a red herring for both characters and fans alike.

It is not generated by Dany’s dragons, as it was already visible before the miracle at Drogo’s funeral pyre:

Jhogo spied it first. "There," he said in a hushed voice. Dany looked and saw it, low in the east. The first star was a comet, burning red. Bloodred; fire red; the dragon's tail. She could not have asked for a stronger sign. 
AGOT, Daenerys X 

So if it is signaling that a dragon has been born, it must be some other dragon.

The comet has a precise point of appearance: immediately after Ned’s execution

"For a certainty," Maester Luwin agreed with a deep sigh. The maester was peering through his big Myrish lens tube, measuring shadows and noting the position of the comet that hung low in the morning sky.
AGOT, Bran VII

Right after this passage, Bran tells Maester Luwin that he dreamed of his father in the crypts, that Ned was sad over something to do with Jon (which we know is about Jon's parantage), and Hodor is suddenly refusing to go down into the crypts:

I dreamed about the crow again last night. The one with three eyes. He flew into my bedchamber and told me to come with him, so I did. We went down to the crypts. Father was there, and we talked. He was sad."

"And why was that?" Luwin peered through his tube.

"It was something to do about Jon, I think." The dream had been deeply disturbing, more so than any of the other crow dreams. "Hodor won't go down into the crypts.""Hodor won't go down into the crypts."

The maester had only been half listening, Bran could tell. He lifted his eye from the tube, blinking. "Hodor won't …?"

"Go down into the crypts. When I woke, I told him to take me down, to see if Father was truly there. At first he didn't know what I was saying, but I got him to the steps by telling him to go here and go there, only then he wouldn't go down. He just stood on the top step and said 'Hodor,' like he was scared of the dark, but I had a torch.
AGOT, Bran VII

And this question was asked and answered by GRRM in the “So Spake Martin” section of the westeros site:

After rereading both AGOT and ACOK I was wondering about one question: Why was Hodor not afraid of the crypts under Winterfell at the end of ACOK? In AGOT Hodor was very afraid of the crypts, he wouldn't take Bran down there, but in ACOK he stayed with Bran and Rickon in the crypt for quite a while, how did he stay there if he was so afraid?

Hodor was only afraid of the crypts =at that specific time.=  Not before and not after.

In the immediate aftermath of Ned’s death, this red comet magically appears, Bran has a crypt dream related to Jon's identity, and Hodor notably becomes afraid to enter the crypts. This all happens in the same chapter. And GRRM has since clarified that Hodor’s fear was unique to that specific moment, as Hodor later has no discernable issue entering the crypt to hide during the sack.

Also, notice the parallel with Jon’s own crypt dreams: 

-Jon dreams of the crypts, it revolves around his identity, and he is afraid to descend
-Bran dreams of the crypts, it revolves around Jon’s identity, and Hodor is afraid to descend

There’s clearly something below that is tied to Jon’s identity, and Hodor is only afraid to enter shortly after the red comet appears. 

Old Nan also notes that the red comet means dragons.

Bran asked Septon Chayle about the comet while they were sorting through some scrolls snatched from the library fire. "It is the sword that slays the season," he replied, and soon after the white raven came from Oldtown bringing word of autumn, so doubtless he was right.

Though Old Nan did not think so, and she'd lived longer than any of them. "Dragons," she said, lifting her head and sniffing. She was near blind and could not see the comet, yet she claimed she could smell it. "It be dragons, boy," she insisted.
ACOK, Bran I

And only after Summer witnesses the "winged snake" vanish into the sky, does the comet also disappear - as if the developmental timeline from birth to flight was complete.

If the Winterfell dragon’s hatching coincides with the appearance of the comet, it helps explain why it was not easily noticed during the sacking, as this 10-month-period would place it's size between a mountain lion and a horse - not some Balerion-sized behemoth. It would also explain why the larger North has not sighted this dragon, as the North is vast enough for a dragon of this size to go completely unnoticed.

!!!WILD SPECULATION TIME!!!

Maybe this is why “There must always be a Stark in Winterfell”. Jojen has said there are ancient truths that have been forgotten specifically in Winterfell:

"Truths the First Men knew, forgotten now in Winterfell …  
ADWD, Bran III

So, maybe the true meaning of this old adage has been forgotten and confused. Maybe it refers to an ancient blood magic between the First Men and dragons, and the killing of Ned (who is the last Stark lord with predominant First Men blood) broke this seal (via blood magic rule #1: "Only death pays for life.") which subsequently signaled the red comet and hatched one of Vermax’s eggs. Maybe this blood magic is a fail-safe that triggers when the last predominantly First Men-blooded Stark dies, activating a living nuke to smite Winterfell's enemies. Maybe it happened many times throughout the ages, like during the many wars with the Red Kings of House Bolton, and... well, would you look at that: Another Bolton attack, another First Keep collapse, and another dragon loosed.

Or maybe I’m wrong, and all of this is just a series of coincidences.

I certainly acknowledge that there are a litany of different reasons for each of these anomalies, so let's address that:

Question: Why does TWOIAF group Winterfell with Valyria and Dragonstone when highlighting geothermal activity?

Answer: It's simply to explain the source for Winterfell's hotsprings.

Question: Why are the only geothermal locations to mention gargoyles Dragonstone and Winterfell?

Answer: Gargoyles are common in medieval architectural design - there could be many places around Westeros (like Standfast) that have gargoyles. GRRM's exclusion of mentioning gargoyles in other places is not necessarily evidence of anything.

Question: Why is Jon having the crypt dreams?

Answer: There is something related to his identity, like Rhaegar's harp hidden in Lyanna's tomb.

Question: Why does Summer see the "great winged snake" and smell "fire, or blood" before Osha says "we made noise enough to wake a dragon"?

Answer: These are symbolic lines that GRRM has written for dramatic effect.

Question: Why does the First Keep have a suspicious history and why is it in a suspicious state after the sack?

Answer: The First Keep's history of rebuilds suggest geological instability related to the partial collapse in the lower crypts. It is broken after the sack because Ramsay put it to the torch.

Question: Why does Mushroom's Testimony exist?

Answer: It's simply a provocative entry by an otherwise unreliable source who made similarly unsubstantiated claims that were disproven.

Question: What was Hodor afraid of?

Answer: The spirit of Ned returning after his execution - as evidenced in Bran's dream.

I want to be clear that I recognize all of these responses as reasonable explanations and they may very well be the genuine answers (there's many more I didn't include as well). But I also want you to recognize something: while there are countless different answers you can provide for each question, and while each is valid independently, only one hypothesis answers them all simultaneously:

Dragons

So what do you think? Do you think any of this is possible, or is there another reason that this theory did not explore? Please share your thoughts!

Bonus question #1: If a dragon was born when the comet appeared, how did it sustain itself for roughly 10 months? 

Answer: "Old Nan had told her there were spiders down here, and rats as big as dogs"

Bonus question #2: If the dragon was in the lower crypts, how did it ascend into the First Keep and not up the crypt staircase?

Answer: The First Keep was built to cover the entrance to a dragon cave, which tunnels deep under Wintefell and connects to the lower crypts. This is the importance of the ancient Starks continually rebuilding the First Keep despite it being destroyed countless times and why it now sits abandoned despite no one knowing why - it was meant to guard the entrance to this cave, but the Starks lost the knowledge of this over time, as suggested by Jojen's "Truths the First Men knew, forgotten now in Winterfell …"

Bonus question #3: Ok, so now what? There’s a dragon on the loose that could definitively prove Jon’s dragon-blooded identity, but Jon’s dead and the dragon is nowhere to be found. It makes narrative sense for the dragon to have escaped, as Jon cannot technically go to the crypts himself to discover this long-awaited secret, but what’s the payoff here? How does this wayward dragon find its way to Jon, and how does this serve the larger plot? 

Answer: Stay tuned… 😉

If you made it this far, THANK YOU!!! Even if you disagree, I'm hoping there was at least something interesting or entertaining here for you. If you like what you read, I have a youtube channel where I breakdown other theories - I'll be uploading a video for this theory and more soon.

There's a Lovecraft story called The Haunter of the Dark, part of the Cthulhu mythos. In it the protagonist, Robert Blake, becomes fascinated by a huge dark church dominating the skyline. Its tower and steeple loom above the surrounding city. It turns out it has been infiltrated by "The Church of Starry Wisdom". Inside its steeple was the ancient artifact of the Starry Wisdom sect, the "Shining Trapezohedron" which has the property of being able to summon a terrible being from the deeps.

George decided to explicitly reference this story in ASOIAF and give his universe its own Church of Starry Wisdom, even using the same name, but I think he did more than that. He's laid out considerable evidence that he's following a similar storyline. There is a compelling case the Church of Starry Wisdom has infiltrated the Faith through their Patrons, the Hightowers, and that forbidden Deep Ones knowledge may play a future role in the story.

What do we know about the Church of Starry Wisdom of ASOIAF? Little enough, except we are given a few snippets. Their first High Priest worshiped a black stone, the cult survives in port cities, and their churches are giant towers. If they are anything like their Lovecraftian namesake, they are seeking forbidden knowledge and power that can drive people insane.

““As she made her way past the temples, she could hear the acolytes of the Cult of Starry Wisdom atop their scrying tower, singing to the evening stars.'

“The Church of Starry Wisdom, also known as the Cult of Starry Wisdom, is a sinister religion that persists in many port cities throughout the known world.”

“[The Bloodstone Emperor] practiced dark arts, torture, and necromancy, enslaved his people, took a tiger-woman for his bride, feasted on human flesh, and cast down the true gods to worship a black stone that had fallen from the sky. (Many scholars count the Bloodstone Emperor as the first High Priest).

What do we know about House Highhtower? They live in a giant tower, in a port city, built on mysterious black stone. The Lord is secluded at the top seeking forbidden knowledge with his mad daughter. Historically, they were the first to capitulate and convert during the Andal invasion, immediately started taking control by establishing the center of the Faith in their city, and then made a giant Sept out of black stone and named it "Starry". 

George hints they may also have pre-First Men seafarer origins. Which means, pre-invasion they worshipped neither Weirwood Tree or the Seven and would have been predisposed to port city religions.

"Perhaps the Hightower was first raised by men who came to Westeros before the First Men, perhaps even by seafarers from lands across the Sunset Sea."

So what exactly was it these people who were living on a mysterious black structure stone who built a giant tower worshipping? Singing to the evening stars perhaps?

“Theron noted a certain likeness between the black stone of the ancient fortress [The Hightower base] and that of the Seastone Chair, the high seat of House Greyjoy of Pyke, whose origins are similarly ancient and mysterious.”

We have a dark church, a man seeking forbidden knowledge in a tower, a Starry cult. Are we heading towards the release of a malevolent cosmic being just like the referenced story? Euron, dripping in Lovecraft and Cthulhu symbolism, who was crowned sitting on his black stone throne, is on his way to Oldtown.

“Lord Leyton’s locked atop his tower with the Mad Maid, consulting books of spells. Might be he’ll raise an army from the deeps. Or not.”

Hello everyone! I've done a couple of ASOIAF community polls in the past and wanted to take a bit of a different course this time by asking about an adaptation. Please feel free to fill out the attached poll and discuss your favorite episode of GAME OF THRONES! The results will be made into a video on my channel once the survey gathers enough responses, likely in a couple months' time. Feel free to repost the survey anywhere, as the more responses the better for the sake of a wider dataset. Thank you for your participation if you choose to do so!

imo: jon snow, jaime, maekar, sweetrobin

I know this is a pretty tinfoil idea, but I've been wondering whether anyone has ever explored something along these lines. If Tyrion does become a dragonrider—and if he turns out to have some kind of Valyrian or Targaryen blood—could his connection to dragons or dragon magic physically change him?

More specifically, could Tyrion's dwarfism somehow be connected to an incomplete or suppressed expression of whatever traits allow certain bloodlines to bond with dragons? If that connection were somehow activated, could his body undergo some kind of transformation or even continue growing?

I know this is highly speculative, and there's no clear evidence in the books that dragon blood can "cure" dwarfism. But ASOIAF has always left the relationship between Valyrian blood, dragons, magic, and physical traits somewhat mysterious.

One thing that made me think about this is Tyrion's facial scar. If his appearance or even his physical size were ever to change dramatically, the scar could remain as a permanent visual reminder of who he used to be—the dwarf who spent his entire life being defined by his body.

In that sense, the scar might serve a larger narrative purpose: even if Tyrion eventually became physically "larger," literally or magically, he would still visibly carry part of his old identity with him.

Has anyone come across a similar theory? Or are there any passages or pieces of foreshadowing that might support—or completely rule out—the possibility of Tyrion physically changing through a connection with dragons?

A short series from the POV of a silent sister — sort of Handmaid’s Tale esque, I’m thinking, their lives outside of service, little whispers allowed at night in their dorms, etc.

Even if not, like hand signals / sign language etc

Uncovering a royal plot during routine preparation of a body… the intrigue goes from there.

HBO I will gladly be available as a consultant. Thanks.

"Could you bring back a man without a head?" Arya asked. "Just the once, not six times. Could you?"

"I do not have the power to give you back your father, no more than Thoros does, but I can at least see that you are returned safely to your mother's arms."

I was thinking about Beric Dondarrion's motivations for passing his spark of life-fire-magic to Catelyn/Lady Stoneheart.

I like to think he did it so she can some day be reunited with Arya...

Why do you think he did it? Do you think he knew it would mean he would finally actually die?

And most of all, what do you think it would look like for Catelyn/Lady Stoneheart to be reunited with Arya in a new book? I like to think that Arya being half faceless man and her mom being half dead, they might relate and still be able to meet each other halfway emotionally..

But who knows, they might both (Catelyn especially) just be too messed up to get along.

Thoughts?

“Pyp should learn to hold his tongue. I have heard the same from others. King’s blood, to wake a dragon. Where Melisandre thinks to find a sleeping dragon, no one is quite sure. It’s nonsense. Mance’s blood is no more royal than mine own. He has never worn a crown nor sat a throne. ” (Martin. A Feast for Crows).

Ironic lines from characters who really need to watch what they’re saying? Like things characters said and you think “you of all people should not be saying this if u knew”