Grayish mist/fog in bravos (some tiny mercy spoilers)

[Mrmanakan]

"She had fastened the shutters back so the morning sun might wake her. But there was no sun outside the window of Mercys little room, only a wall of shifting grey fog"

"Braavos was lost in fog. She could see the green water of the little canal below, the cobbled stone street that ran beneath her building, two arches of the mossy bridge but the far end of the bridge vanished in greyness, and of the buildings across the canal only a few vague lights remained. "

There was something I found quite strange in the new mercy chapter, the fog.

Anyone else think this sounded a bit like the sorrows when Tyrion was there? Maybe an allusion to a soon to be greyscale epidemic.

Or maybe the shrouded lord coming to pay homage to the sealords court. Maybe it's nothing I don't know but in this whole chapter the most and fogged seemed prevalent and to mean something.

Yes I know it's an island community on the sea so maybe it's normally like this but in all of the other chapters in Bravos was fog like this even mentioned? I can't think of any but I may be misremembering. I think it means something whether foreshadowing a dire fate awaiting bravos or the shrouded lord moving west.

What do you guys think?

[Giorgio Corrado]

I am wondering if the Mercy Chapter is a symbalism of the Old and New Gods making their displeasure known and that Arya will become the symbal if not the tool of the Gods wrath.

[kiasyd]

"She had fastened the shutters back so the morning sun might wake her. But there was no sun outside the window of Mercys little room, only a wall of shifting grey fog"

"Braavos was lost in fog. She could see the green water of the little canal below, the cobbled stone street that ran beneath her building, two arches of the mossy bridge but the far end of the bridge vanished in greyness, and of the buildings across the canal only a few vague lights remained. "

There was something I found quite strange in the new mercy chapter, the fog.

Anyone else think this sounded a bit like the sorrows when Tyrion was there? Maybe an allusion to a soon to be greyscale epidemic.

Or maybe the shrouded lord coming to pay homage to the sealords court. Maybe it's nothing I don't know but in this whole chapter the most and fogged seemed prevalent and to mean something.

Yes I know it's an island community on the sea so maybe it's normally like this but in all of the other chapters in Bravos was fog like this even mentioned? I can't think of any but I may be misremembering. I think it means something whether foreshadowing a dire fate awaiting bravos or the shrouded lord moving west.

What do you guys think?

Winter is coming?

[Ice Turtle]

There was a similar fog during "Arya"s wedding to Ramsay.

[Queen Whore]

There was a similar fog during "Arya"s wedding to Ramsay.

Here's another instance of bizarre fog. This is when Catelyn is talking to Hoster Tully.

"Do you remember? That strange fog came up and we fell behind the rest of the party. Everything was grey, and I could not see past the nose of my horse. We lost the road. The branches of the trees were like long skinny arms reaching out to grab us as we passed. Lysa started to cry, and when I shouted the fog seemed to swallow the sound. But Petyr knew where we were, and he rode back and found us..." Loc 25981, Catelyn - I thought this one was particularly interesting, as it links the Titan/Giant imagery of Petyr Baelish again back to Braavos and the bizarre fog.

[chrisdaw]

I think it's simple symbolism for her being lost, her path is murky, dark and unclear. The old man is traveling in the opposite direction to the way she is, and she envies him his light.

[John Thompson]

Braavos was built on a lagoon by refugees from Valyria's wars of conquest. Thick, routine fog is a big plus if your enemies can fly, so I am guessing that the Moonsingers and their followers selected the lagoon for that reason. Otherwise it would make more sense to live further inland, closer to their water supply and further from disease-spreading parasites or coastal storms (which are bad enough that they forbid the harvest of pine trees on barrier islands because they are useful as windbreaks).

[The Human Abstract]

I think it just makes for a cool atmosphere.

[Mrmanakan]

Braavos was built on a lagoon by refugees from Valyria's wars of conquest. Thick, routine fog is a big plus if your enemies can fly, so I am guessing that the Moonsingers and their followers selected the lagoon for that reason. Otherwise it would make more sense to live further inland, closer to their water supply and further from disease-spreading parasites or coastal storms (which are bad enough that they forbid the harvest of pine trees on barrier islands because they are useful as windbreaks).

Yea that's what you would think. However in NONE of arya's chapters in bravos so far or in SAMs do we hear of most like this and that's why it seems out of place arya also says that she's basically never seen it like this

[The Human Abstract]

Anyone else think that Braavos may be based on a real-life city?

The similarities are uncanny.

Des Moines, Iowa, right?

[JonCon's Red Beard]

I live in a city next to the sea which is foggy all the time, even in summer. It has grey sky all the time... even in summer. So, I didn't notice anything odd :lol:

http://operationgroundswell.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/lima.jpg -> That's summer.

[A Bastard Snow]

Well the season is changing so the fog might be only during the Winter-y season and considering its been 10 years of summer (something like that) its not surprising Arya isn't used to it.

[Vegeta_Greyjoy]

Everything points to Mel Torme as Azor Ahai.

[Mayura]

I think you're all mistaking, guys.

From AFFC:

The sky was overcast, and fog covered the ground like a frayed grey blanket. Off to her right she heard paddling from the canal

Braavos is always described as misty in Arya's chapters, even in ADWD. Re-read the "the blind girl" chapter, Arya says she knows how thick the fog is because her clothes are clinging to her body. She then reflects on the foggy alleys of Braavos. And goes to the pub called Fog-something.

Also it is said there are 3 kinds of weather in Braavos: fog, rain and freezing rain.

So the fog in Braavos doesn't seem to be "mystical" at all or to appear with "Winter", it seems it is actually quite a well known feature of the city, to the point a harbor pub is named for this kind of weather.

[Lady Fevre Dream]

I've also had the fog from the Mercy chapter on my mind, but it is this sentence that stands out for me:

She had never seen a thicker fog than this one.

I do wonder if it means that this may be the most that Arya herself is clouded and lost in fog, perhaps soon her journey resumes, perhaps soon she will, at least on the inside, be more likely to pursue goals of Arya of House Stark as opposed to continuing marking time in Braavos in training?

I'm not sure of the meaning, but the above sentence is the one that stood out for me, and I've been wondering if Arya's thickest fog had meaning.

[ShadowCat Rivers]

Venice in fog:

http://digilander.libero.it/Calvin_e_Hobbes/Venice_in_Fog.jpg

http://www.marcosecchi.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/Fog.jpg

This is what it would look like...

[Crimson King]

It might be just atmosphere, but if we are to analyse it, I think the heavy fog might be symbolism/foreshadowing on how Arya is going to reaffirm herself over Mercy. Grey is the stark colour after all, and in fArya's wedding Theon made a direct connection between grey clouds and the Stark colours. That being said, white is the other Stark colour, and I can't recall there being any in the chapter.

Another angle to it would indeed be that it symbolizes that she is lost. In the chapter she envies the man with a light, which connects to the fact she doesn't truly see where she is going.

[mushroomshirt]

I live in a city next to the sea which is foggy all the time, even in summer. It has grey sky all the time... even in summer. So, I didn't notice anything odd :lol:

http://operationgroundswell.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/08/lima.jpg -> That's summer.

LOL I thought you were talking about San Francisco until I clicked that link. It's just like that in the summer (at least in the early summer). Around September it gets nice.

[Sandra Melis]

Fog is also needed for Arya to drag Raff's body from her room to the next canal, unseen!

[Ghost of Groat]

"Bravos only had three kinds of weather; fog was bad, rain was worse, and freezing rain was the worst." Cat of the Canals

It wasn't odd at all in the sample chapter that Bravos was experiencing one of its three weather modes.