Trying to Explain the Weird Rewind at the Bridge of Dream

[James Arryn]

I have chosen to view the Bridge of Sorrows Rewind as a lovely and almost literal homage to the greatest Last Line ever:

See also:

Awesome Fitzreference.

[Lost Melnibonean]

I haven't read it in quite awhile, but is there a chance that it's two very similar bridges? With the greyscale afflicted looking similar, it being foggy, etc. I've always assumed it was a poorly mapped out area, with almost identical bridges, and populated entirely by similar looking stone men. Probably wrong, so please tear it to shreds :)

Too unlikely, especially since since they pass the same landmarks on the second go-round.

[Lost Melnibonean]

What if Bran is the cause of the theorized time issues? Interesting possibility.

How would that work? I think magic makes more sense in this world rather than some wormhole type thing.

[Magic 8 Ball]

I just perceive it as a weird, nightmare-like sequence. You think you're in the clear, then BANG! - magically and inexplicably you aren't.

I think it's a one-off event, related to this specific location.

"Mysteries of the Unknown", and whatnot. There is magic in GRRth.

[Lost Melnibonean]

I added the link to the extremely new excerpt from the WOIAF to the OP...

http://www.westeros.org/ASoWS/News/Entry/World_of_Ice_and_Fire_Excerpt_The_Rhoynar

[The Mother of The Others]

If time dilated there at that bridge, that opens up temporal mechanics as a story element, yes? And that clears the way for Bran to time travel and be the original Brandon the Builder, no? Good. Then it's settled.

[Hotpie Targaryen]

Maybe the river is a secret Targaryen.

Or maybe Bran warged into the river and caused it to run backward.

[Zebra of KotOR]

No need to over complicate things. It's a cursed river. Magic be there.

[Good Guy Garlan]

I think it's just the remnants of the Rhoynar magic. But the Stone Men going after a kid of possible Valyrian descent offers a neat historical irony. Garin lives on!

[kingCotton66]

if the river had started to flow backwards they ship would have had to pass under a third time to start heading back in the original direction they would have had to unwittingly( i know its unlikely) circled back to where tyrion saw the hand. That could have happened in the fog but i probably not. The other logical explanation is the unreliable narrator. Tyrion thought he was seeing the same land marks but he was seeing really similar ones in the fog on their way to passing under a similar bridge.

That passage has driven me nuts for a while and most people don't discuss it bc there isn't enough evidence given in the book to make heads or tails of what actually happened. The books are too low fantasy imo to allow for some weird magical reason but who knows the magic does seem to be ramping up to a high fantasy high magic climax

[Mrs.Grumpy]

"Mother Rhoyne runs how she will." Water magic.

[Mithras]

I sense a disturbance in the Force.

[oursisthefury69]

keep in mind nothing weird happens Until Tyrion identifies Aegon

[rondo has three heads]

The way magic has been handled even this far into the series, has been very careful. I find it hard to believe George would, without any explanation, introduce a river with the ability to send its travelers backward through time, or teleport them.

That said, his comments make me feel that, as others have said, it's just to add a sort of nightmare-quality to the ordeal. It works in tone for me, while reading, but as a plot device it really irks me. Why not restructure the scene just a little, and have there be two bridges? Or have the Griff reveal simply go down before the first bridge?

Makes me feel like there must be more to it, although I really doubt it.

[Ser Cory Trevor]

Ever been to Milton Keynes?

I think Milton Keynes caught greyscale.

Edit: I though of something funnier.

[Pod The Impaler]

Maybe Chroyane is Rhoynish for "Hobb's End".

[Kyll.Ing.]

I think the scene was added mostly for atmosphere. Magic is, by its very nature, inexplicable. The rewind may very well have been caused by Young Griff's reveal, but how it was done, and who did it, is likely to remain a mystery. I don't think it will be relevant to the story as a whole, it's just Martin reminding us that there are mysteries and magic going on in Essos. Essentially, it broadens the world a little, and makes Chroyane more than just any other ruined city. This might be "realistic" fantasy, but not so realistic that all its presented legends turn out to be just legends. A little bout of magic to spice up the atmosphere.

[The Poster Who Was Promisd]

if the river had started to flow backwards they ship would have had to pass under a third time to start heading back in the original direction they would have had to unwittingly( i know its unlikely) circled back to where tyrion saw the hand. That could have happened in the fog but i probably not. The other logical explanation is the unreliable narrator. Tyrion thought he was seeing the same land marks but he was seeing really similar ones in the fog on their way to passing under a similar bridge.

That passage has driven me nuts for a while and most people don't discuss it bc there isn't enough evidence given in the book to make heads or tails of what actually happened. The books are too low fantasy imo to allow for some weird magical reason but who knows the magic does seem to be ramping up to a high fantasy high magic climax

We know that the both course and the level of the river has changed in the last 2,000 years - how could it not? It is therefore not necessary that the boat pass under the bridge on the way "upstream" in order to pass under it downstream again, since the river may have cut the bridge off from the land. This is not at all unlikely, especially if there was a footing jutting out of the bank - in flood the water would back up at the footing, and could easily flood the bank and bifurcate the stream around the footing. If you add in a large submerged object in the main channel, you could get a pretty large eddy in a river of this size which could conceivably send water up the distributary and thus not pass under the bridge. Given that everyone was absorbed in a conversation of some significance, it is not unreasonable that they would not have noticed this occurring. However, the book seems to indicate that they pass through slowly the first time and much faster the second, and it seems to me that the naturalistic explanation would require the reverse, so maybe it is magic after all - either that, or GRRM didn't work out the fluid dynamics of it. On the other hand, yabdry says that "mother Rhoyne runs where she will," indicating that weird currents may be common on the river.

ETA: another thing that bothers me is the actions of the stone men. At first, I assumed they had been alerted by the first passage of the boat, which is why they were ready for the second. however, the statue's hand is to starboard on the first pass and to larboard on the second, indicating that they are passing under a different portion of the bridge. Why would the stone men have been alerted, then?

[Maid So Fair]

Is it possible there is a bend/loop in the river and they just don't notice they're passing everything from a different side because of the fog etc? i admit it's a flimsy explanation at best.

But reading TWOIAF and the section about the Rhoynar and their wars with Valyria, the scene in the Sorrows immediately came to mind.

Since the wars seem to have been EXTREMELY bloody and a lot of magic used on both sides and given what we now know about Garin and his curse (specifically aimed at Valyrians and especially dragonriders), the stonemen's interest in Aegon seems remarkable. They are not all that bothered about anybody else on that boat, so he has to have enough Targaryen blood to atract them. What's a bit strange is that Tyrion had to say it rather than them sensing it automatically. I wonder what this means in regards to Aegon's identity, if anything.

[aryagonnakill#2]

Its a very complicated scene and I personally think GRRM did not work out the details. It seems impossible to me that they would not have had to pass the bridge 3 times, if they didn't need to pass it 3 times then they didn't need to pass it once.

That said, I never noticed the bit and pointing out Aegon was valyrian, good catch.