winterfell crypt

[Ser Arthyr Dracenstein]

What do you think is in the Winterfell crypts?

A signed testament that Lyanna had married Rhaegar freely and Jon is legitimate king of Westeros?

I think not.

I think it would be something a bit more subtle.

I think it may be Rhaegar's ring on Lyanna's skeletal finger.

And Howland Reed comes out of the swamps to tell the story. Maybe. But I would prefer Jon to hear it via Bran and the weirwood network.

[thecryptile]

Magic Swords!

[Corvo Attano]

What is in there is statues of all the previous Kings of Winter & Lords of Winterfell. Lyanna shouldn't have a statue, but Ned was too selfish to follow the tradition. I don't think there's anything hidden on or around her statue, because the kids often played in the Crypts, so they would have found anything.

I'm thinking that the Crypts are endless, and they go down to the very center of the world.

[Gronzag]

Maybe the original 'Ice' (Lightbringer?) is hiding down there?

[thecryptile]

Leap- good theory on the slumbering dragon beneath Winterfell. Tolkien, Moorcock et. al. dragons spend most of their time sleeping (hibernating) and don't seem to need to eat very often.

I wonder how Martin's dragons stack up in comparison? Dany's dragons seem to be very active (in comparison) and need to eat frequently. Could this be because they are juveniles?

[Wynter Manderly]

i see dead people...

swords are interesting though. crackpot but maybe there's a "dragonsteel" somewhere there, since starks did fight in the long night.

[Ser Duncan of Flea Bottom]

I think it's just her body, maybe some clue about Jon Snow

he's supposed to be the Ice Dragon

[Golden&Crimson]

Starks.

Dead Starks.

A lot of dead Starks, with their, long and hieratic, features carved on stone, and rusting swords over their stone hands, and between them a tomb of a rash young man and of a tragic young woman.

[butterbumps!]

If there is anything about R=L at all, I think it's Torrhen's crown. One of Cat's chapters leaves the fate of this crown very open-ended: "The ancient crown of the Kings of Winter had been lost three centuries ago, yielded up to Aegon the Conqueror when Torrhen Stark knelt in submission. What Aegon had done with it no man could say."

Given all of the crown symbolism surrounding Lyanna, I think this really makes the most literary sense as an object, and would serve as a token at once proving Rhaegar's love (returning an item taken by his forebears), as well as a nod to Jon's royalty given their likely marriage. This bronze and iron crown in particular is more meaningful for Jon than a Targ relic, I think, because, while it hints about his parentage, that hint is about returning and restoring a Northern identity, something I don't believe Jon would give up even after learning about R+L. It would also add an interesting wrinkle to his vow to wear no crowns, given that a strong KitN/ King of Winter could be extremely useful as a power symbol behind which to rally.

[Corvo Attano]

If there is anything about R=L at all, I think it's Torrhen's crown. One of Cat's chapters leaves the fate of this crown very open-ended: "The ancient crown of the Kings of Winter had been lost three centuries ago, yielded up to Aegon the Conqueror when Torrhen Stark knelt in submission. What Aegon had done with it no man could say."

Given all of the crown symbolism surrounding Lyanna, I think this really makes the most literary sense as an object, and would serve as a token at once proving Rhaegar's love (returning an item taken by his forebears), as well as a nod to Jon's royalty given their likely marriage. This bronze and iron crown in particular is more meaningful for Jon than a Targ relic, I think, because, while it hints about his parentage, that hint is about returning and restoring a Northern identity, something I don't believe Jon would give up even after learning about R+L. It would also add an interesting wrinkle to his vow to wear no crowns, given that a strong KitN/ King of Winter could be extremely useful as a power symbol behind which to rally.

This.

[Beric Zoolander]

Magic Swords!

Something like this, to defend against Winter...which is coming.

[Ragnorak]

If there is anything about R=L at all, I think it's Torrhen's crown. One of Cat's chapters leaves the fate of this crown very open-ended: "The ancient crown of the Kings of Winter had been lost three centuries ago, yielded up to Aegon the Conqueror when Torrhen Stark knelt in submission. What Aegon had done with it no man could say."

Given all of the crown symbolism surrounding Lyanna, I think this really makes the most literary sense as an object, and would serve as a token at once proving Rhaegar's love (returning an item taken by his forebears), as well as a nod to Jon's royalty given their likely marriage. This bronze and iron crown in particular is more meaningful for Jon than a Targ relic, I think, because, while it hints about his parentage, that hint is about returning and restoring a Northern identity, something I don't believe Jon would give up even after learning about R+L. It would also add an interesting wrinkle to his vow to wear no crowns, given that a strong KitN/ King of Winter could be extremely useful as a power symbol behind which to rally.

This makes the most thematic sense of anything I've seen. Connected to this we also have Ned's dream in the crypts:

He was walking through the crypts beneath Winterfell, as he had walked a thousand times before. The Kings of Winter watched him pass with eyes of ice, and the direwolves at their feet turned their great stone heads and snarled. Last of all, he came to the tomb where his father slept, with Brandon and Lyanna beside him. “Promise me, Ned,” Lyanna’s statue whispered. She wore a garland of pale blue roses, and her eyes wept blood.

A garland can be a crown. The garland of roses connects back to Lyanna being crowned Queen of Love and Beauty where it was a literal garland crown. There's also an interesting Bible passage in Proverbs 4 which is about a father's advice to a son on walking the path of wisdom which also refers to a garland as a crown.

She will give you a garland to grace your head and present you with a glorious crown

[Jabronius Maximus]

I have a crackpot theory that Jon is a greenseer himself (weaker than Bran) and in the crypts, there are...weirwood thrones!

But butterbumps' explanation sounds the best. If there is a crown there, then what if it matches the description of the crown Dany saw in the HotU vision? I still think that vision is Robb and the RW, but Jon is another possibility.

[Gronzag]

If there is anything about R=L at all, I think it's Torrhen's crown. One of Cat's chapters leaves the fate of this crown very open-ended: "The ancient crown of the Kings of Winter had been lost three centuries ago, yielded up to Aegon the Conqueror when Torrhen Stark knelt in submission. What Aegon had done with it no man could say."

Given all of the crown symbolism surrounding Lyanna, I think this really makes the most literary sense as an object, and would serve as a token at once proving Rhaegar's love (returning an item taken by his forebears), as well as a nod to Jon's royalty given their likely marriage. This bronze and iron crown in particular is more meaningful for Jon than a Targ relic, I think, because, while it hints about his parentage, that hint is about returning and restoring a Northern identity, something I don't believe Jon would give up even after learning about R+L. It would also add an interesting wrinkle to his vow to wear no crowns, given that a strong KitN/ King of Winter could be extremely useful as a power symbol behind which to rally.

Wow, that is a brilliant idea! And original one too! You might be onto something

[modbelle]

Ghosts. Starting back in GOT, Ned believes the ghosts are judging Robert and find him wanting, and notes one of the swords are starting to rust and it needs to be replaced otherwise one of the ancestral Starks may start roaming the halls of Winterfall. He doesn't sound like he is joking, more like he actually believes in that the swords keep the dead Starks imprisoned. The children remember Jon becoming a "ghost" and scaring them along with Robb in the crypts. Then there is the reference to which swords were specifically taken from the crypt by Bran and company- Uncle Brandon, Grandfather Rickard, and Hodor's sword taken from a very ancient Stark (probably one of the First Men). If the the believe about ghostst are true and magic is coming back to the world, these three ghosts/men should be back to wreck havoc. Maybe it wasn't so much a what that someone was trying to get from the crypts, but a who, maybe they want to release someone specific.

[juanml82]

Chekhov's angry wights!

[~DarkHorse~]

Do people actually want Jon to see his mothers decayed body? :ack:

[Cauldhamer]

If there is anything about R=L at all, I think it's Torrhen's crown. One of Cat's chapters leaves the fate of this crown very open-ended: "The ancient crown of the Kings of Winter had been lost three centuries ago, yielded up to Aegon the Conqueror when Torrhen Stark knelt in submission. What Aegon had done with it no man could say."

Given all of the crown symbolism surrounding Lyanna, I think this really makes the most literary sense as an object, and would serve as a token at once proving Rhaegar's love (returning an item taken by his forebears), as well as a nod to Jon's royalty given their likely marriage. This bronze and iron crown in particular is more meaningful for Jon than a Targ relic, I think, because, while it hints about his parentage, that hint is about returning and restoring a Northern identity, something I don't believe Jon would give up even after learning about R+L. It would also add an interesting wrinkle to his vow to wear no crowns, given that a strong KitN/ King of Winter could be extremely useful as a power symbol behind which to rally.

I love this idea. Torrhen's crown and maybe an egg Rhaegar found/had? I would be happy if it was just the crown though.

[WildBlood]

I originally thought there was a dragon egg there, which would be fitting because - Rhaegar spent a long time at Summerhall (doing what, exactly?), then he gets on Lyanna trying to complete the whole PtwP thing, he gives her the egg because he loves her. Trident and ToJ goes down, Ned finds the egg and keeps it with Lyanna when they go North (perhaps one day to give to Jon).

I'm not sure now if:

- there is still an egg there

- the egg hatched, bringing forth the dragon that Summer saw

- there was never an egg, but there was a dragon.

I kind of lean towards the last one, because the dragon Summer sees can breath fire and is not mentioned as being small - unlike Daenery's newly hatched ones.

I really lean toward the last also... It makes no sense for the dragon Summer saw to be 'smoke' like some people and the Citadel says. There has to be something to it... But at the same time, now that that drogon left WF is Jon's proof gone now?

[Morienthar]

The Cold winds are rising and The Starks rise with them....

Crackpot....

We'll see more UnStarks by the end.