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The secret in the gems.


Sosa

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In AGOT,Daenerys has a fever dream after the maegi's ritual. In it, she is running after the red door. While running towards the door, many things appear in her way, and one of them caught my attention:



«Ghosts lined the hallway, dressed in the faded raiment of kings. In their hands were swords of pale fire. They had hair of silver and hair of gold and hair of platinum white, and their eyes were


opal and amethyst, tourmaline and jade. “Faster,” they cried, “faster, faster.” She raced, her feet melting the stone wherever they touched. “Faster!” the ghosts cried as one, and she screamed and threw herself forward.» AGOT.


These ghosts appear to be Valyrian dragonlords because of their hair and their swords of pale fire (valyrian steel(?)). However, that is not what this thread is about. All these gems appear in a few other places among the books.



«Did I not give you an army, sweetest of women? A thousand knights, each in shining armor.”

The armor had been made of silver and gold, the knights of jade and beryl and onyx and tourmaline, of amber and opal and amethyst, each as tall as her little finger. “A thousand lovely knights,” she said, “but not the sort my enemies need fear.» ACOK.



Here we see a conversation between Xaro and Dany. Again we see the silver and gold together, and the other gems, with a few others. This time it is not about valyrian dragonlords but about a gift from Xaro, toy soldiers made out of gems. There is one last chapter in ADWD where they also appear.



«Illyrio was reclining on a padded couch, gobbling hot peppers and pearl onions from a wooden

bowl. His brow was dotted with beads of sweat, his pig’s eyes shining above his fat cheeks. Jewels

danced when he moved his hands; onyx and opal, tiger’s eye and tourmaline, ruby, amethyst, sapphire,

emerald, jet and jade, a black diamond, and a green pearl.» ADWD.


Here appear all those gems except for the gold and the silver. However, we can find one of those in his description.



«“Regal,” Magister Illyrio said, stepping through an archway. He moved with surprising delicacy for such a massive man. Beneath loose garments of flame-colored silk, rolls of fat jiggled as he walked. Gemstones glittered on every finger, and his man had oiled his forked yellow beard until it shone like real gold.“May the Lord of Light shower you with blessings on this most fortunate day, Princess Daenerys,” the magister said as he took her hand.» AGOT.



Along with those gems (with the exception of silver) there are several others in the text.



Sapphires: All along the series, sapphires have been related to secrets (see this thread: http://asoiaf.westeros.org/index.php/topic/97218-sapphires-secrets/).



Rubys: They have been associated with many things, one of them being Targaryens and valyrian blood and also with Melissandre and R'hllor. In his description, we can see how Illyrio praises the Lord of Light.



Emerald, jet, jade, black diamond and green pearl: If you see the colours of each of these gems and place them in the same order it is: green, black, green, black, green. Any resemblance to some historical war in Westeros? Maybe one where the opposing factions were called the greens and the blacks?



Tourmaline: This is a very rare gem and it isn't named many times within the series, but there is this one faction in Qarth which is named the Tourmaline Brotherhood.



Tiger's eye: It is basically the same as the tourmaline. They represent the Tiger faction in Volantis.



From all these we can conclude many things.



- It is weird that Xaro is related to tourmaline since the 13 and the Brotherhood are enemies. Maybe these two factions have a secret alliance against the Pureborn and the Guild of Spicers?



- Illyrio is definitely holding many secrets, he is a follower of R'hllor and is closely related to valyrian blood (Blackfyre descendant(?)), along with being a supporter of the tiger faction.



- The greens and the blacks may be foreshadowing for DotD 2.0



I want to hear your opinions on what may be the relation between the fever dream, Xaro and Illyrio? What does that part of the fever dream mean? What do the other gems mean?


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  • 2 weeks later...

Swords of pale fire are not Valyrian Steel. Valyrian Steel is always described as very dark grey in color. When Ned's Ice is reforged, Tywin has some red put into the steel. The smith says these "old swords remember."



I'm still thinking about the gems you mention. Also, I just realized there were 13 Castles in the Night's Watch as well. 13 that were with the Night King.



The pale sword may be light bringer.



Green could be a dragon, as can onyx and jet and red. Rubies are also from Rhaegar's armor which is black. The Targ colors are black & red or the Blackfyres, red & black.


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Swords of pale fire are not Valyrian Steel. Valyrian Steel is always described as very dark grey in color. When Ned's Ice is reforged, Tywin has some red put into the steel. The smith says these "old swords remember."

I'm still thinking about the gems you mention. Also, I just realized there were 13 Castles in the Night's Watch as well. 13 that were with the Night King.

The pale sword may be light bringer.

Green could be a dragon, as can onyx and jet and red. Rubies are also from Rhaegar's armor which is black. The Targ colors are black & red or the Blackfyres, red & black.

I finished reading TWOIAF a few days ago and the sword of pale fire may be Dawn, House Dayne's ancient sword:

«Those who have had the honor of examining it say it looks like no Valyrian steel they know, being pale as milkglass but in all other respects it seems to share the properties of Valyrian blades, being incredibly strong and sharp.» TWOIAF.

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Nicely put together OP. I've spent some time thinking about the various combinations of gems and their significance for Xaro, Illyrio and Daenerys and I've come to the conclusion that we all desperately need TWOW to be published! i.e. that there might be nothing more to some of these gems than shiny stones...



I think you've identified the meanings for sapphires, rubies, tourmaline and tiger's eye.



I definitely associate Jade with Asshai - maybe it's just the reference to crossing the Jade Sea to get there, but maybe there's some stronger connection that I can't remember. Also, the Jade Gates are the straits connecting the Summer Sea with the Jade Sea; Qarth controls the Jade Gates.



The other gems are a bit more ambiguous. The simplest way to see meaning in gemstones and their combinations is in their colour. However, many of the gemstones listed can come in many colours (beryl, onyx, opal, etc.) - even Jade can be found in many colours. As no colour is specified in the quoted text for many of the gems, it's important not to jump to conclusions.



From the dream:


"opal and amethyst, tourmaline and jade"


multi-coloured and purple/violet, any-colour and green*



From Xaro's toy soldiers:


"of jade and beryl and onyx and tourmaline, of amber and opal and amethyst"


of green* and any-colour and any-colour and any-colour, of gold/yellow* and multi-coloured and purple/violet



From Illyrio's jewellery:


"onyx and opal, tiger’s eye and tourmaline, ruby, amethyst, sapphire, emerald, jet and jade, a black diamond, and a green pearl"


black* and multi-coloured, red-brown and any-colour, red, purple/violet, blue*, green, black and green*, black, grey/red and green.



*normally



The green-black combination does grab attention. I'm trying hard not to think of chocolate! I've searched through House colours on the wiki and can't find anything useful! Definitely something I'll look out for on a re-read.



Something to bear in mind in considering Illyrio: the wiki says that he's a dealer in gemstones. I can't remember this from the books, but it wasn't something overtly significant to the story. It would mean he has access to a LOT of gemstones. This might dilute the significance of the gems he wears. Alternatively, it means he has no restriction to what gems he wears, so he can very carefully pick the stones he wants to wear, adding significance.



One thing I'll give more thought to: some of the gems have connections with particular cities - tiger's eye, tourmaline, jade. Perhaps some of the references to gems foreshadows Dany's journey (I know, Volantis and Asshai are in opposite directions!). I'd need to identify the other gems with other locations for this to make sense.



So thanks for posting. I know I haven't answered your queries, but I think this is worth giving some more thought to.



:-)


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I finished reading TWOIAF a few days ago and the sword of pale fire may be Dawn, House Dayne's ancient sword:

«Those who have had the honor of examining it say it looks like no Valyrian steel they know, being pale as milkglass but in all other respects it seems to share the properties of Valyrian blades, being incredibly strong and sharp.» TWOIAF.

The Sword of House Dayne is made from the heart of a fallen star, hence the house name of Starfall. Arthur is called the Sword of the Morning, but anyone who they think has the character to wield that sword is called the Sword of the Morning. I haven't read TWOIAF just yet, though I do own it. I am on the last book of ADWD finishing up another re-read. After that I will start in on his honor's latest effort.

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Amethyst, purple, the color of kings. Well, that was the color of the gemstones Sansa wore in her hairnet that poisoned Joff. So maybe there are lethal secrets to the stones too. Robert crushed Rhaegar's chest and his rubies went flying down the Trident. So many rubies they call it the Ruby Ford now.



Black Pearl is one of the famous Courtesans of Braavos. Amethyst is the color of Dany's eyes & Rhaegars and Aurane Waters.


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Nice work gathering together these gemstone references and considering their significance. In addition to the Sapphires = Secrets thread which you've already linked, you might also be interested in these excellent threads:



Emeralds



The Ruby Pattern



There's also The Rhaegar Ruby Theory, though the theory isn't laid out in a systematic OP, but rather scattered throughout the thread.


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