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(Stag + Direwolf) = (War + Suffering)


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(Stag + Direwolf) = (War + Suffering)

In Bran I from A Game of Thrones, the Starks and their servants find a dead direwolf.  The direwolf was killed by a stag.  One popular theory presents that the direwolf was sent to awaken the warg ability in the Stark children.  I am not impressed.  My own interpretation of that event follows.

  1. The direwolf was a warning that the Starks failed to recognize.  The Stag and the Direwolf make a bad mix.  It was warning to keep the Starks from joining the Baratheon court in the south.  We know this eventually led to the War of the Five Kings.  (a) What if Rickard received a similar warning and either ignored or failed to understand the message.  He brokered the marriage between Lyanna and Robert.  This led to the rebellion, (b)  Ned accepted Robert's job offer.  This led to the War of the Five Kings, (c)  Jon joined Stannis' war to take the throne and it lead to treason and war with the Boltons. 
  2. The direwolf is a creature of the north and belonged in the north.  The Stark went south when even a wildling like Osha knew they should have stayed in the north. 
  3. The dead direwolf represent the death of the elder Starks and the cubs are the orphaned Stark children.

Each time the Starks and the Baratheons joined forces it resulted in tragedy for many people.  There are two ways to look at the joining.  There is the symbolic meaning.  The close friendship and the bond that exists between the stag and the direwolves.  No blood mixing but when they work together war will soon follow.  The other meaning has not taken place yet, at least not one that has been proven, but the actual act of making a baby.  We know the Starks are "ice" in the story.  What is it about the stag that when mixed with ice brings on tragedy?  It may not be the stag itself but the small amount of "fire" in the Baratheons.  The blood of the dragon.  The small amount of the dragon blood that flows through the veins of the stags.  If we take this idea up a notch to Dragon + Direwolf then we should get the same, war and suffering.  So there may be a good foundation for the idea that fire and ice must never mix.  Fire and ice must stay away from one another.  And if R+L=J, then we are already familiar with the problems that caused. 

My theory?  Fire and ice together lead to bad things.  If stag + direwolf is bad, then dragon + direwolf is very bad.  Like extinction level event bad for many people both noble and common.

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the direwolves hadn't been seen south of the wall in 200 years. The ones the starks found were the first so brandon could not have had the sign. Also I don't think jon "joined" stannis. He really had no choice for the most part. (emphasis on most). I think westero's is just a tinder box. I do agree they should stay seperated. But I think the baretheons as a whole are trouble. I think the dragon and the direwolf are good though.

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On 5/19/2017 at 8:58 PM, Damsel in Distress said:

My theory?  Fire and ice together lead to bad things.  If stag + direwolf is bad, then dragon + direwolf is very bad.  Like extinction level event bad for many people both noble and common.

This may be an important paradigm shift in our understanding of ice and fire.  Whatever and whoever came about as the result of fire (R) and ice (L) together brings nothing but grief.

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Interesting interpretation.  While I personally think Bobby B's reign is supremely underrated, and I enjoy his friendship with Ned, you make compelling arguments for Baratheons and Starks staying seperate.  I wouldn't use the dead direwolf killed by a stag to pin it on the Targaryens though - Baratheons barely have any dragon blood.  Assuming R+L=J, that's all the evidence you need that Targs and Starks shouldn't mix.  All of the events in the books are set in motion because Rhaegar had to have her (for love, lust, or to have another baby because of his quest to fufill a prophecy), including Robert's Rebellion, Robert being king and in a position to offer Ned the handship, Stannis becoming king and having the duty to go north.  I don't think we need to prove Stag + Direwolf = Bad to know Dragon + Direwolf = Really Bad.  I do believe Dany and Jon will somehow overcome that and set things well, but who knows.

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