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Biggest Mystery in the Entire Series is in chapter one.


Mdoggy

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Me too.



I really hope this will be explained in winds of winter or a dream of spring



It seems odd for GRRM to just write this major event off as a coincidence.



IIRC he said his first idea of the books was a young boy coming back from an execution and finding Direwolves in the snow.

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i do not think Georgie intended for this matter to be delved into so deeply...i think the big part with the direwolf scene that he wanted to get across was the foreshadowing of a stag aka baratheon killing a direwolf aka stark...and how everyone in the party knew it, but did not want to say it...


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i do not think Georgie intended for this matter to be delved into so deeply...i think the big part with the direwolf scene that he wanted to get across was the foreshadowing of a stag aka baratheon killing a direwolf aka stark...and how everyone in the party knew it, but did not want to say it...

Good point. I actually didn't get the "stag killing the wolf" foreshadowing on the first read.

But maybe the direwolf isn't such a mystery.

When Tyrion dines with Mormont at the Wall, Mormont begs him to tell KL the extent of the plight of the NW. He also stresses that there are signs that something is happening beyond the wall. One of those signs is that direwolves and other creatures are in the woods and that the Shadow Tower is reporting that mountain people are slipping past the Tower in greater numbers.

Its possible that if the mountain people can slip past so can a direwolf that wanders far enough.

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I think there has to be magic involved - 6 pups, matching the Stark/Snow children and the direwolf just happens to have been killed in their path and they just happen to be able to magically connect with these wolves... There just seems to be too much coincidence there.



However, I'm not sure it will ever be explained by GRRM; I believe it is primarily a plot device with all the foreshadowing and because the kids need the wolves for their warging.



Speculatively, I'm going with a powerful greenseer ensuring that the wolf gets there and births those pups for the Starks to find, but I'm not sure this will be confirmed. If it was, and if this theory is correct, it would require BR to have done it, and then tell Bran OR Bran to have done it via the time-span of a weirwood, which would then require direwolf-weirwood exchanges. I don't know, I think it's a bit too messy to include...



As for where she came from:


If she came from North of the Wall, then going around the Wall is probably the most viable option. Having said that, wouldn't there be an issue directing her across the Wall, because of its magical blocking of other magic? I know Bran can connect to the weirwoods, but Jon had difficulties contacting Ghost across the Wall? And the same problem would be encountered for contacting her if she was in the Wolfswood. In conclusion, I'm not sure.


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  • 4 weeks later...

"Come, let us see what mischief my sons have rooted out now " A Game of Thrones (Bran, Chapter I) by George R. R. Martin






Ned speaks with unconscious irony here. Ned uses the verb “rooted,” an apt word that will have much game play in the novels to come. As early as AGoT, Martin connects the direwolf pups with the forces of the old gods. Even his language choices, in hind sight, are more often than not significant. The roots of the Stark heart tree grow deep, and a future greenseer will use these roots to a purpose. Ned’s words “rooted out” are strong indicators (among others) that early in the first novel, Martin establishes that the direwolves are a gift sent by the old gods.





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I think GRRM made us aware from chapter 1 that direwolves were special to the Starks and a gift from the gods. It is re-inforced by Catelyn who more than Ned seems to understand their importance.



Now I think we CAN guess who the direwolf mother was - the direwolf warged by Lyarra Stark, the children's grandmother. I think we will find that Lyarra Stark-Stark Ned'd Mum never died but went beyond the wall -perhaps bonding too closely with her direwolf. I think we will find that Lyarra Stark guided the pregnant direwolf towards Winterfell.



Perhaps it was Lyarra's wildness that caused Rickard Stark to look South to breed OUT the wild wolf ways. I think it is probable that Brandon, Lyanna and possibly Benjen are also wargs. Ned grew up in a place without a weirwood tree - a place where none could grow. He never met a dire wolf while a child and never leaned to warg.



So now the question is who was the daddy direwolf.


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  • 2 weeks later...

GRRM has specifically said that none of Ned and his siblings were wargs. He's also said that it's very unusual that all of the young Starks in AGoT are.. And when we're told that no direwolves have been seen south of the wall in close to 200 yrs. , I don't see how any Starks could have been wargs in that time , since the ability only seems to develop with direwolves. ( At least we don't hear of Stark skinchanging beginning with any other creature.) ... It seems that once the ability has begun to develop ,then they can expand it to include other life forms , as we see with Bran and Arya .



Varamyr thinks he could have taken Ghost from Jon. I don't think he could have. I get the feeling that he would have met the same reaction ( or something more violent ) that he experienced with Thistle.. or he just might have found his attempt blocked in some way.



So far , we haven't met or heard of any of the wildlings having a bond with a direwolf , even at the meeting of skinchangers Varamyr remembers. Varamyr thinks ...



Mance should have let me take the direwolf. There would be a second life worthy of a king. He could have done it, he did not doubt.



As I say , Varamyr doesn't doubt it , but I do.. " a second life worthy of a king " implies to me that direwolves are magically tied to the Kings of Winter , Starks ... and only Starks.



ETA; Oops! meant to say, Lyarra Stark is an interesting notion ( except there were apparently no direwolves around at the time ) ... however, just because other men probably can't warg a direwolf , doesn't mean that the greenseers of the CoTF can't ( they're not men). Bran has seen a number of them while rambling the caves in Hodor .. and after all, if there's special magic at work here , they ( COTF) are the ones who designed it.



There are times when Ghost seems to act as if he's being directed or influenced by someone .. and we know it's not Jon. It's possible then, that the Mama and Papa direwolf were chosen from the general direwolf population.


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There is not much in AGOT that was not significant since GRRM had originally planned for the books to be a trilogy. The Direwolves was his first thought of the tale so IMO that says a lot about the importance of that scene. The wolf was sent to Winterfell by something or someone that knew how important the pups would become to the very survival of the Stark line. Magic was involved. Possibly Bloodraven had a part, TCOTF too. The Stag antler was an omen as we all know. It seems that everything that happened (Dead mom by Stag, six pups, one with red eyes set apart) exactly as it was supposed to. The Stark children had to learn to warg or possibly die?


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I've never understood how Gared came from beyond the wall, - might have missed it from the reading. But the least interesting answer is that he simply went to Castle Black and then left the NW. However, the direwolf would not have accompanied him through Castle Black so something else needs to explain that fact.

Two questions:

1. The direwolf in question died from a failed attempt at killing a Deer (right?) and upon them discovering the antle in its wound brought silence to the group, - is that a foreshadowing of Baratheons causing the death of a Stark? "A sudden silence descended over the party. The men looked at the antler uneasily, and no one dared to speak."

2. Ghost (white fur, red eyes AND open eyes) is said to be born from the dead: “Maybe she didn’t,” Jory said. “I’ve heard tales... maybe the bitch was already dead when the pups came.” “Born with the dead,” another man put in. “Worse luck.” Is this a reference to Jon's "birth" by a dead Lyanna?

Feel free to shoot this down.

1. Yeah, I definitely agree with this, iirc Cat thinks about "grim omens" just after this scene, and the implication seems heavy.

2. I've never heard or considered this, it's an interesting thought. I guess it would depend on Lyanna's wording when she of Ned The Promise, maybe we'll somehow learn the dialogue exchange, which would likely give us a clue as to whether or not Jon was already born when she asked Ned whatever she specifically asked. Til then, who knows? But I think it's an interesting thought. :)

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I recently started rereading the books and I just finished the first chapter of GOT and I just realized something huge:

WHERE DID THE DIREWOLF MOTHER COME FROM?

It never bothered me in my first read through but now it is driveing me crazy.

If a Direwolf hasn't been seen in 200 years how did one end up in the middle of the north without being seen?

There is also only the Direwolf Mother shown. If there is a mother who is the Father?

I thought maybe it came through the wall but that is highly unlikely because I dont think the Night Watch will just let a pregnant Direwolf through the wall.

So is there a secret bunch of Direwolves in the North?

To me it seems like the greatest mystery in the series because there is no mention or evidence or prophecy that sheds light on this conundrum.

Has this bothered anyone else?

Wow, nice spot! Very interesting question. Most probably know this, but iirc, and I believe I do, this scene was the actual genesis for the series, which is both interesting and telling, as he most likely refined it a great deal to suit his story's needs, IMO. But if this is true, you'd like to think that this crossed his mind at some point. Maybe someone will recall an SSM about it, I haven't made my way through many yet, nor have I heard this brought up before.

It would be a great question to have answered by the man himself! :thumbsup:

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  • 2 weeks later...

I think there has to be magic involved - 6 pups, matching the Stark/Snow children and the direwolf just happens to have been killed in their path and they just happen to be able to magically connect with these wolves... There just seems to be too much coincidence there.

However, I'm not sure it will ever be explained by GRRM; I believe it is primarily a plot device with all the foreshadowing and because the kids need the wolves for their warging.

Speculatively, I'm going with a powerful greenseer ensuring that the wolf gets there and births those pups for the Starks to find, but I'm not sure this will be confirmed. If it was, and if this theory is correct, it would require BR to have done it, and then tell Bran OR Bran to have done it via the time-span of a weirwood, which would then require direwolf-weirwood exchanges. I don't know, I think it's a bit too messy to include...

As for where she came from:

If she came from North of the Wall, then going around the Wall is probably the most viable option. Having said that, wouldn't there be an issue directing her across the Wall, because of its magical blocking of other magic? I know Bran can connect to the weirwoods, but Jon had difficulties contacting Ghost across the Wall? And the same problem would be encountered for contacting her if she was in the Wolfswood. In conclusion, I'm not sure.

I'm in general agreement with what you say here. The Heresy threads way back (Heresy 50, maybe?) debated this question quite extensively, and there was considerable disagreement around the questions under discussion here, who sent the direwolf mom but also how did she die; I'll try to reconstruct some of the memorable points from that discussion that haven't been raised here.

One is the fact that we see six White Walkers in the prologue, and six direwolf pups (with Gared being present in both cases). Some suggest that the WWs let Gared live in order to fulfill some task for them having to do with the direwolves. Some like to speculate that Gared led the direwolf mom through the Black Gate, though she could well have gone around the wall independently.

There's also been good discussion of direwolf mother's death. Yes, it's symbolically loaded, both in terms of Lyanna/Jon and the Baratheon/Stark symbolism, but if the pups were "sent," then the mother also "had" to die if the pups were to be raised by the Starks (though I suppose one could imagine a scenario where she just went and whelped the pups at the gate of Winterfell, were she just a free agent wanting to offer up her babies to the Starks). Uncanny that she dies right there beside the path on which the Starks will return from the execution. If she was killed by a stag, does that mean that someone was also skinchanging the stag to ensure this outcome? Some on the Heresy threads advocate the position that the "foot of shattered antler, tines snapped off" is a knife, used by a person (perhaps Gared) to kill the direwolf, noting that in the book, unlike in the show, there is no stag carcass nearby. Of course, it could just be that the stag won this fight and left the scene.

There seems to be some sort of connection between Gared's execution and the birth and finding of the direwolf pups, and we've been told "only death can pay for life." Is it Gared's death that makes possible the supernatural lives of the pups? The direwolf mom's death?

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  • 3 weeks later...

I believe BR has to be involved. I think he uses the direwolf pups both as means to keep an eye on things and protect the stark the children. Think about the way the dire wolves act particularly in the face of danger for their owners. Are they just that instinctive naturally or are they being controlled?

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My imagination has always leant towards Benjen on his Stag(later to become Coldhands and himself after death, instead of an Other controlled Wight) brought the mother as a gift from the OGs, and killed her on that spot where he knew the pups would be found after the execution.



I know many think Benjen is still alive and not CH-given leaf's dialogue, but his NW clothes aren't old and tattered, and he would have a much easier time to do whatever he's been doing the last three + years as a no-show, than starving in the cold all by himself.



Unless he went to WF and is the HM, hence a Stark is in WF. But it is a stretch given Benjen went far N to find out what's really going on and never would have found out WF-fell.



I don't know for sure that GRRM said Lyanna and Benjen weren't wargs, but in Bran's Weirnet sight of Lyanna and Benjen, it is said that they look as if they were born on their horses when riding them(pre-warg ability, mayhaps) or it might be Ned recollecting(sorry, not sure)



Bottom line is this will always be a mystery mostlikely.



Also I got the impression that there is only 1 WW in the Prologue.


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This is a good question, but the most likely explanation to me is that since there are Others North of the Wall for the first time in thousands of years, you've got wildlings fleeing the North, and it makes sense some animals would try to flee South if they had the ability to as well. Osha makes it south, (I don't remember if she ever states how she bypassed the Wall) so I'm assuming a direwolf could find a trail (as Grey Wind did before the Whispering Wood-or was that the Battle of the Camps?) around the Shadow Tower, or elsewhere. Seems possible, IMO.


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