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Direwolf symbolism/correlation


dmccoy

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Greetings, long time lurker, first time poster. I'm nearly finished with my second read of the series and wanted to get some of my thoughts in order. My analysis of the correlation between the fates of the Stark children and the fates of their respective direwolves is that each child/wolf combo shares the same fate. This strong correlation allows the reader to predict the final destiny of the character and possibly the entire saga. They are:


Lady/Sansa


Lady’s fate is that of an innocent murdered. Lady was killed by the cruelty and ruthlessness of Cersei’s vengeance, despite Lady’s innocence in the “attack” on Joffrey. While I do not believe that Sansa will necessarily be murdered in a literal sense, her innocence has already been destroyed. We have seen her character evolving (or rather, devolving) from an innocent child who dreams of songs and romance to a woman willing to do whatever is necessary to survive, including her complicity in the murder and cover-up of her deranged aunt, Lysa and the dangerous and reckless use of sweetsleep to calm “Sweetrobin,” despite it’s eventual lethal side effects to the innocent child. The reasonable assumption is that Sansa continues down a dark path, becoming more ruthless and manipulative, as her moral compass has been destroyed.


Nymeria/Arya


Both Arya and Nymeria have been cast out from their “packs” and have descended down a path of violence. While Nymeria and her pack has ravaged the riverlands, Arya had already left several bodies in her wake before departing for Braavos. Her journey towards becoming an assassin further cements her path of violence. Whether Arya will kill targets of her own choosing or as instructed by the Faceless Men, what is certain is there will be more bloodshed in her future, likely back in Westeros. So far she has not been able to forget her true identity. Because of this, I believe she will return to Westeros and act under her own agency, seeking vengeance on her enemies. If her path is anything like Nymeria's pack, there will likely be collateral damage to her actions.


Grey Wind/Robb


This may be the most straightforward comparison at first blush: both went to war, both were killed, both lost their heads in a tragically literal sense. Closer examination reinforces the correlation between the two. As Robb’s war continued, he and Grey Wind became more fierce, more warlike, and eventually fell due to deception; both dying in a trap at the Red Wedding despite never losing in battle. It will be interesting to see if any further part is to be played by this duo, as they are seen in a vision from Daenerys while in the House of the Undying. While this most likely was foreseeing the Red Wedding, could it forecast vengeance from the shades of Robb and the nearly extinguished House Stark? The vision Daenerys saw was not exactly like the Red Wedding, so this is possible, although I think it is equally likely that this story arc has concluded.


Shaggydog/Rickon


Of all the direwolf/Stark characters, perhaps the least amount of character development was spent on Shaggydog and Rickon. It would be unwise, however, to assume that the lack of focus on the characters is an indication of them being inconsequential. It stands to reason that Rickon will play a very important role in the coming books, as he is likely the only remaining candidate as heir to Winterfell. (He is ahead in succession to his sisters, both of whom are seemingly lost down their respective dark paths. His elder brothers are either dead [Robb], sworn from keeping lands and possibly dead [Jon Snow], or predisposed becoming a greenseer [bran]. Logic says that the Stark in Winterfell can only be Rickon.) If Rickon will be Lord of Winterfell, what sort of Lord will he be? All indications are: not good. Beginning with Bran’s fall and Eddard’s departure, Rickon was sadly unguided by his distracted eldest brother Robb and grief-stricken mother Catelyn, and became more and more uncontrollable as a result. He even refused to allow his hair to be cut, letting it grow out and become shaggy (pun intended). This coincides with Shaggydog’s change in temperament to a wild and often savage creature, attacking several people, including Maester Luwin. Only Summer, Bran’s wolf, has been able to bring Shaggydog to heel. It stands to reason that Bran and Summer may be the only ones able to keep Rickon in line if and when he returns from Skagos to claim his seat at Winterfell.


Summer/Bran


Like all the other direwolf/Stark tandems, Summer and Bran are inexorably linked. However, in this case I believe that the symbolism between the two is yet to be fully explored. The naming of Bran’s direwolf upon his awakening from a coma and the choice of the name Summer likely foreshadows some sort of awakening upon the end of winter and the coming war with the Others. Bran’s role in that war is yet to be determined. Melisandre has seen Bran and Bloodraven in her visions and considers the possibility that they are champions of the Great Other. Is Melisandre simply mistaken? The text indicates otherwise for reasons that are too broad to discuss here. However, if we accept the premise that Bloodraven serves the Great Other and has essentially recruited Bran, then perhaps the naming of Summer indicates that Bran will “awaken” and instead combat the Others, rather than championing them, and turn away from the path he appears to be on currently.


Ghost/Jon


Ghost and Jon have held a similar fate from birth. Both are outsiders from their pack, as Ghost was found apart from his siblings, in much the same way that Jon, as a bastard, is apart from his own. To this point in the text, the similarities are quite apparent and end there. While not revealed in the text, it is widely believed that Jon is actually the son of Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark. I believe this eventual revelation is critical to the as yet to be revealed symbolism of Ghost as he relates to Jon Snow. What cannot be ignored is the similarities between Bloodraven and Ghost. In addition to the obvious physical similarity (both being albino and possessing white skin/fur and red eyes), both are silent and stealthy. Indeed, it is mentioned frequently how Ghost moves without making a sound. While it is contrary to most theories about Jon Snow’s eventual role (one of the dragon’s three heads, Azor Ahai Reborn, etc), I believe the upcoming novels will somehow tie in Jon Snow to the Others, rather than with Daenerys and/or R’hllor. If indeed Bloodraven is a servant/champion of the Great Other, then in order for Jon Snow’s path to not eventually lead towards the Others some or all of the following assumptions must be made.


  1. The direwolves and their respective owners do not share a common fate. While it is possible I am mistaken or that Martin simply wrote Ghost and Jon differently than the rest of the direwolves, it would seem rather contrarian to do so.
  2. Melisandre would have to had misinterpreted her vision of Bran and Bloodraven as champions of the Great Other. This is not implausible, as she has been mistaken before and prophecies and visions are inherently difficult to understand.
  3. George Martin either intentionally or unintentionally made Ghost and Bloodraven strikingly similar in appearance without them having any connection. This is illogical to conclude, as any writer would not have two highly important characters share such highly distinguishing characteristics for no reason. Why conceive of two characters as being albino without a purpose?
  4. The most likely assumption to refute this theory is that this poster (myself) has either missed important details or simply lacks enough information to reach the correct conclusion. With the large amount of text already written, the ambiguity of much of the text, and the large amount of text remaining to be published, perhaps it is most likely that this is the correct conclusion.

Another train of thought that I do not want to delve into here is that Jon/Ghost might have dual or conflicting roles in the coming war between the Others and R’hllor. Without diving too deeply, I believe this would theoretically have to do with the Ice/Fire and Stark/Targaryen dichotomy. Given Martin’s writing style, this would not be all that unlikely but would require another 1000 words to adequately address.


If you’ve made it this far, please give me your thoughts on the subjects discussed above and thanks for reading.

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I think the direwolves do serve an important metaphorical purpose, though the difficulty with metaphor is that it leads to multiple possible readings (that being the whole point). I think the direwolf names are important, as well as other factors. Thus:



Summer suggests that Bran will be important in bringing the return of Summer; Ghost suggests that Jon will warg into his wolf as a result of the assasination attempt (I think Jon's not dead); Lady represented Sansa's goal of becoming a Lady; Grey Wind suggests the ephemeral nature of Robb's course; Nymeria suggests that some part of Arya's journey will relate to the story of the Rhoynish Queen (I see it as a Joan of Arc analogy, but others are possible); and Shaggydog suggests that Rickon's story is not very important.



The fate of the direwolves also seems to be connected to the Starks. The mother direwolf's death symbolized what happened to Ned. Grey Wind died when Robb did. As I suggested in the Sansa thread, the death of Lady leads me to believe that Sansa will never be a Lady and may have lost her connection to the Stark family.


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Firstly, welcome to the forum. Very good analysis and you make some good points. But I don't know that there's much evidence that Sansa's going to go down a dark path or that her moral compass has been destroyed. Lady's death certainly has some significance but that's been discussed in another thread recently.



Also, I don't know why you think that Rickon would be a bad lord. Different to Ned maybe and wild certainly but that doesn't necessarily mean bad. Perhaps he would be more like the old Kings of Winter.



As to the whole, Other/Rh'llor thing, I'm not going to comment on that because I don't see much point in discussing things that I really know little about - I'll leave that to others.


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Also, I don't know why you think that Rickon would be a bad lord. Different to Ned maybe and wild certainly but that doesn't necessarily mean bad. Perhaps he would be more like the old Kings of Winter.

To expand on why Rickon might be a "bad" lord, my impression is that he has grown wild and unruly and his behavior, left unchecked, could be hazardous to his subjects. If my premise of a shared fate between the direwolves and their owners is correct, Rickon may be prone to lashing out as Shaggydog is prone to do. Additionally, I don't think Rickon is inherently bad, as it seemed to be with Joffrey, for example. I do think he has been neglected to a point and lacks proper guidance and discipline, making his prospects as Lord dubious in my view.

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I don't know that there's much evidence that Sansa's going to go down a dark path or that her moral compass has been destroyed.

It is true that little evidence other than the circumstantial evidence mentioned in the original post exists. Like all the predictions, this could very well prove incorrect. I base my prediction on the premise that Lady represented her innocence, and that innocence has been taken away. In my view, that innocence is not coming back, just as Lady is not coming back either. If Sansa is indeed the one more beautiful than Cersei that takes down all she holds dear (could also be Daenerys), then Sansa would have to take what Cersei holds dear, which is, above all, her children. If this proves to be correct, this path could be very, very dark.

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The book ADWD actually introduces new aspects to the Direwolves that may have symbolic/metaphorical meaning behind them. Summer, Nymeria, and I think Ghost (perhaps not) all eat human flesh when they are being warged by their associated Stark. What this means could be layered, or it could simply point out that for all the positive traits we associate with wolves they will still consume the meat of the dead (weak) in order for the pack (group/family/culture unit) to survive and be strong.


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Welcome to the forum, and loving your theories. I have so many theories in my head and the Sansa / Lady thread has shown me just how varied opinions are on the symbolism/relationship between the direwolves and their owners are (chiefly Sansa). In think it's great that everyone has different ideas and am as keen as everyone else to see how the symbolism/foreshadowing/correlation of the direwolves impacts on the forthcoming books. :-) :-D Good luck with this thread and I hope it doesn't derail as the Sansa / Lady thread did. :-(

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I find your connection between ghost and Bloodraven interesting. I think that the way Melisandre is described with pale skin and red eyes also puts me in mind of Ghost and it could be that she dies her hair red, so maybe she is also albino? Other things Ghost puts me in mind of is heart trees - white skinned weir woods with blood red sap eyes. Also the association with Jon as 'Snow' (white) and his association with ice (white) and fire (red) as the son of R + L. Plus Targaryen's are associated with blood and fire and Ghosts eyes are described as looking like blood at times, and like fire at others. I like Sophist's ideas regarding the importance of the names of the dire wolves too. Especially considering how long it took Bran to think of Summer's name. :-) :-)

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Lady is described as "the gentlest, the most trusting" (can't remember the exact quote) among the direwolves. Maybe her death represents those qualities (i.e. innocence, trusting nature) in Sansa slowly dying, to the point that she arms herself in courtesy and lets nobody in.


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Dang; Nice post. Everything you list is spot-on. Definitely one of the better analysis' I've seen here so far.



I actually hadn't thought of the Arya/Nymeria parallel. They are both outcasted from their family, different, and violent. Bran and Jon are also aware they are warging when they do it. Arya, while she wargs (and apparently is REALLY good at it, doing it from a continent away), is not necessarily aware she's Nymeria, or that her "dreams" are real. She just thinks she's dreaming. I think she will realize she can warg into Nymeria, and then her prowling will be more focused and she will be able to take revenge on people. Maybe there is extra symbolic significance in that. She's often been around in the riverlands, it seems... With Jaime and Brienne meeting with Catelyn, I think Nymeria might kill Brienne and Jaime; she might recognize Catelyn, and defend her. Anyways, I'm getting crackpot and off-topic.



I think there is more to be said about the connection between Shaggydog and Rickon. You grazed over it, but I think Shaggydog is representative of Rickon's wild side, or perhaps in the bigger picture, the repressed but existing side of the Stark family. Rickon seems to be maybe a bit like Brandon Stark (his uncle), who was also pretty wild. Shaggydog is very violent as you noted; I think this is indicative of Rickon being different than the other Starks due to his unfortunate and isolated upbringing. I think he will become embittered when he learsn the reality of his family, and why he had to leave Winterfell, and maybe just go on a rampage, like Shaggydog.



Anyways, great post. Keep em coming!

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