"Burn Them All"

[[Deleted]]

I know this topic has been discussed on here quite a bit, but I recently have begun watching the entire series over again from the beginning. In the third episode, there is a scene where Robert and Barristan are discussing their first kills. Robert calls Jaime in and asks him what the Mad King said when Jaime stabbed him in the back. Jaime responds by saying "He said the same thing he'd been saying for hours: 'Burn them all.'"

The camera then cuts to Robert, who just stares at Jaime with something that was approaching fear.  The reason I mention this is because this phrase pops up several other times over the course of the series, and I was wondering if people think there's more to it.

You could say the whol purpose of continuing to mention this was to keep reminding us that there is a stash of wild fire under King's Landing. Now that Cersei has set off a decent portion of it, it would seem that Chekhov's Gun has been fired (har!). But could there be even more to this?

I've heard theories about Bran meddling in the past and causing the Aerys to go mad, much like what he did with Hodor. But of course, this probably can't work because Bran has no means to warg into Aerys. But there are reports that Aerys would talk to people who weren't there... Could he somehow be talking to Bran?

What I'm getting at, what if the Others make it to Winterfell where Bran is, and they attack while Bran is looking into the past where Aerys is, and someone is shouting out to Dany to use her dragons to "Burn them all." Bran somehow hears/transmits this to Aerys, who keeps repeating this phrase since he got it from his trusted "ghost" hand of the king. Or something.

I don't know, this theory is a little half-baked, but I'm curious to hear what others think. Was "Burn them all" just there to remind us about the wildfire, or is there more to it?

(As an aside, I think "Burn Them All" would be great House words for House Targaryen. It evokes that kind of uneasiness when you hear it, almost like a veiled threat, much the same as "Winter Is Coming" for the Starks.)

 

[Bear Claw]

I think your theory is really good. It might be the  third shocking thing the D's found out about (Hodor- Hold the door being one of them). 

[Onion Hound]

Honestly it makes sense, but I hope they don't go back to that well. It could be he's just a crazy targaryan that doesn't have dragons and thinks he could escape the city unburnt. It could be him talking to the Lord of light and the sacrifice of the city would help him win the war. (Like Stannis thought)..could have been bloodraven warning him of the white walkers (and why he told bran not to mess around with it)...or it could just be preparing us for cersei's plot, as you said. I would just hope someone with as much power as Bran wouldn't make the same mistake twice.

[A Ghost of Someone]

Aerys had caches of Wildfire strategically placed all under in areas of King's Landing with the purpose of lighting it all up.  It had been planned, kind of like a "scorched earth" or mass murder like one of those "cults" we hear about from time to time. It was not just a spontaneous decree. He was bat shit crazy, obsessed with fire and like Aerion "Brightflame" Targaryen, he felt that he would somehow transform through fire - bonding act of some kind into a Dragon. However, the show may have that happen for a few reasons but who knows if they will go there or not.

[RhaenysBee]

Sorry but no, it doesn't work for me. 

First of all, burn them all is a cool phrase indeed, but it has been common knowledge (to whoever paid minimum attention to the show they were watching) that there are huge stashes of wildfire under KL since the middle of season 2. This was sort of a plot hole in season 6, why is it a rumor as Qyburn said when Cersei already knows it having commissioned the the wisemaster(?) from season 2 to make more for her before Tyrion found out and rehired the guy to make wildfire for him. In any case, it is common knowledge (I think Jaime talks about this too when he explains why he killed aerys) so why remind us with such a vague and subtle hint as using the phrase "burn them all"? 

Also, subtlety, consistency and the conscious build up of vague hints are not something D&D practice (as they are also not things that work particularly well on a television that stretches for 8 years). 

Furthermore, white walker attack on winterfell and flashbacking Bran who happens to be in an Aerys flashback and cries out for help to Daenerys who happens to be around with her dragons to burn the walkers and Aerys happens to highjack the cry in the past without being warged into and this one instance of Bran's interference with Aerys is enough that he wants to burn everybody? I don't think even D&D would expect us to swallow something absurdly coincidental like that. 

And lastly, the entire story cannot be the result of a time loop recklessly initiated by a stupid kid. That is crap writing. If it's GRRM's idea that D&D have been keeping a secret, it's even crapper writing. 

That's just my opinion of course.