Northman256 Posted February 16, 2010 Share Posted February 16, 2010 Page 382 in Feast, US Bantam Dell:"Dragons," Aemon whispered. "The grief and glory of my House, they were.""I see them in my dreams, Sam. I see a red star bleeding in the sky. I still remember red. I see their shadows on the snow, hear the crack of leathern wings, feel their hot breath. My brothers dreamed of dragons too, and the dreams killed them, every one. Sam, we tremble on the cusp of half-remembered prophecies, of wonders and terrors that no man now living could hope to comprehend...or...""...or not." Aemon chuckled softly. "Or I am an old man, feverish and dying." He closed his white eyes wearily, then forced them open once again. "I should not have left the Wall. Lord Snow could not have known, but I should have seen it. Fire consumes, but cold preserves. The Wall...but it is too late to go running back. The Stranger waits outside my door and will not be denied. Steward, you have served me faithfully. Do this one last brave thing for me. Go down to the ships, Sam. Learn all you can about these dragons."What is Aemon referring to? "Fire consumes, but cold preserves." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
broken one Posted February 16, 2010 Share Posted February 16, 2010 to what melissandre (probably) wanted to do to him (give him to flames)? maybe he regrets not staying there, thinking that the travel is sure death for him while he stood some chances at the wall?I dont think there is any profound meaning in this Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scafloc Posted February 16, 2010 Share Posted February 16, 2010 "...or not." Aemon chuckled softly. "Or I am an old man, feverish and dying." He closed his white eyes wearily, then forced them open once again. "I should not have left the Wall. Lord Snow could not have known, but I should have seen it. Fire consumes, but cold preserves. The Wall...but it is too late to go running back. The Stranger waits outside my door and will not be denied. Steward, you have served me faithfully. Do this one last brave thing for me. Go down to the ships, Sam. Learn all you can about these dragons."What is Aemon referring to? "Fire consumes, but cold preserves."He himself was preserved by the cold despite his advanced age. Now that he has gone to a region with a warmer climate his age finally caught up with him and he dies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Octavian West Posted February 16, 2010 Share Posted February 16, 2010 I'm not exactly sure about the fire comment but I took the "cold perserves" one to mean that that is why he (Aemon) has lived so long. Because he was spent most of his life on the wall and now that he is no longer there and is in warmer climate his health is rapidly failing him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rumarumo Posted February 16, 2010 Share Posted February 16, 2010 I'd always assumed that the "cold preserves" part was some reference to something Aemon may have known about the Others/Long Night. As in, that people may have forgotten about them and think them long dead, but the cold beyond the Wall has preserved them?That said, the explanations upthread seem a little more logical. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
3idcrow Posted February 16, 2010 Share Posted February 16, 2010 I don't know, man, there might be something more then just "cold climate good for your health". He tells it just after describing dragons flying over a snow. Maybe he believes in the possibility of dragons preserved by cold hatched/awakened on the Wall. I'm telling you, there will be dragons other then Dany's up North. I'm not sure there was a dragon at Winterfell but the fact that it was mentioned multiple times just makes you think in this direction, doesn't it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northman256 Posted February 17, 2010 Author Share Posted February 17, 2010 I'm pretty sure he's not referring to his own health, but the greater picture of "Ice and Fire." I assumed he meant the coming battle with the Others and the involvement of the Targs and dragons. I'm just not sure how it fits together.Azor Ahai?Melisandre and R'hllor?Jon's ancestry?Dany and her dragons and the coming of magic back into the world?The idea of dragonglass and dragons as the bane of the Great Other?So what should Aemon have "seen?" How does this tidbit fit into the greater narrative? What is he speaking of?...or not. In the context of that paragraph it could be he's just talking about his ailing health. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Друг- Posted February 17, 2010 Share Posted February 17, 2010 In a more prosaic sense, it reads like a comment on the comparative effects of obscure exile and political intrigue on one's longevity. Aemon would not have survived so long had he stayed in KL. He lived to be 100+ because he was on the Wall where nobody powerful felt he was important or a threat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ser Silly Cat Posted February 17, 2010 Share Posted February 17, 2010 obviously he was telling sam that jam is best at lower tempuratures. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jurble Posted February 17, 2010 Share Posted February 17, 2010 I always took it as a life-span thing. They don't bacteria, viruses and fungi exist, as far as Aemon knows, the reason he's lived so long is the same reason you can keep refrigerated meat from going bad. OR PERHAPS MELISANDRE INTENDS TO MELT THE WALL! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ser Doctor Posted February 18, 2010 Share Posted February 18, 2010 I took Aemons description of dragons to be a metaphor for lust. Presumably towards Sam. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ser Doctor Posted February 18, 2010 Share Posted February 18, 2010 sorry double lag post.I will take this opportunity to tel you all that you smell bad, and that I find your elbows sexually appealing.Especially you northman256. You're dynamite.How long till this is erased by a mod. *shrugs* who knows. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northman256 Posted February 18, 2010 Author Share Posted February 18, 2010 sorry double lag post.I will take this opportunity to tel you all that you smell bad, and that I find your elbows sexually appealing.Especially you northman256. You're dynamite.How long till this is erased by a mod. *shrugs* who knows.You're sweet. :wub: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ser Doctor Posted February 18, 2010 Share Posted February 18, 2010 You're sweet. :wub:No Northman256. The day is yours.If it were valentines day, I would romance you some. But seeing as it isn't.I will instead just send you pornographic pictures of celebrities.The gift that keeps on giving. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Northman256 Posted February 19, 2010 Author Share Posted February 19, 2010 No Northman256. The day is yours.If it were valentines day, I would romance you some. But seeing as it isn't.I will instead just send you pornographic pictures of celebrities.The gift that keeps on giving.Waiting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The SmilingKnight Posted February 27, 2010 Share Posted February 27, 2010 He meant to say that rhlorr isnt a good guy fighting an evil wicked other. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Szar Posted February 28, 2010 Share Posted February 28, 2010 The simplest explanation is that he was referring to his own health. It is the most logical one as well -- he is dying, after all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ipsuel Posted July 8, 2011 Share Posted July 8, 2011 Since I just joined, this thread is new to me. Hope it's OK to reply (even if it is a year + too late -- if not, mods feel free to delete). I'd like some thoughts.“I should not have left the Wall. Lord Snow could not have known, but I should have seen it. Fire consumes, but cold preserves. The Wall... but it is too late to go running back."He just realized something that he should've seen earlier (and OMG! moment, if you will).... fire consumes (possibly referencing failed attempts to wake the dragon at dragonstone or w/e with fire)... stay with me here... but ice preserves....Cyogenic-style...ice preserved something up there at the wall... he realizes it, hence the reason he wishes he hadn't left. Dragon-stuffs possible at the wall? This is how I read it. He is too wise to just be talking about himself... there's something up there, and he realizes he left, and won't make it back, darnit! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steel_Wind Posted July 8, 2011 Share Posted July 8, 2011 It has nothing to do with the cold; it has to do with the spells which support and preserve the Wall. Even Aemon does not voice the whole truth -- but he hints at it. Simply put: George does not like to explain how magic really works in his world. He resists that look behind the curtain in most cases. Melisandre also hints at it in the Jon chapter that has been on George's website forever. She talks about the great power woven into the ice at the Wall. "We stand on one of the great hinges of the world".Samwell also notes the remarkable preservation effect of the Wall upon the books that are kept in the library dug into its base. This may or may not be an actual temperature effect. It all comes down to this: The Wall is not a natural structure and it is physically impossible to build or stand at the height that it does. The Wall is built on top of (and interwoven with) great spells of protection and preservation. These spells have an unintended consequence in how they preserve some common things (the books at the Wall, for example), but in particular, the spells interact with Aemon's Targaryen blood, granting to him, in particular, an extended life. When Aemon leaves the Wall, he moves beyond the range of those spells of preservation and his advanced age rapidly catches up with him and he dies.He does not reach the age of 102 because he is a Targaryen. He reaches the age of 102 because he is a Targaryen living in close proximity with the greatest spell of preservation in the entire world. Those preservation spell have pernicious effects which he is particularly sensitive to. His extended life is one of those "bonus" effects. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iheartseverus Posted July 8, 2011 Share Posted July 8, 2011 Excellent post, Steel Wind. Excellent. ETA: I'm forgetting my manners. Welcome to the board, ipsuel ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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