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Whatever happened to Stonesnake?


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I suspect Stonesnake's function in Jon's arc, guiding him up the mountain, was similar to the function played by either Mya Stone or Myranda Royce in Sansa's descent from the Eyrie. Probably closer to Mya. That doesn't mean that the two of them (Stonesnake and Mya) will have the same fate, but sometimes it helps to give you a sense whether a character's job is done or whether we might see him again.

Jon goes through a number of Night's Watch brothers who seem to have a temporary role and are then displaced by new Night's Watch brothers who represent a new symbol. Grenn, Pyp and Todder are his early foes but soon become great friends, but only Grenn seems to stick around and interact with Jon on an ongoing basis. Squire Dalbridge and Ebben appear only briefly in that ranging party with Qhorin. Satin and Leathers show up after Jon returns from the Wildlings. So it wouldn't surprise me if Stonesnake is simply gone - his purpose and symbolism are completed.

The name Stonesnake is obviously intriguing. I am still obsessed with the obsidian bundle that Jon found (with Ghost's help) at the Fist. It was buried in sand, and I can't help thinking that this was an allusion to the Sandsnakes or to Dorne. What does it mean that Jon teams up with Stonesnake right after finding "treasures" buried in sand? The Stone part of Stonesnake's name also could be another link to Mya, whose surname is Stone.

Stonesnake is also part of the eating of horse meat that marks the beginning of a quest: Bran wargs into Summer, who eats horse flesh in the burned Winterfell just before Bran and his travel companions emerge from the crypt; Dany eats the stallion heart at Vaes Dothrak as part of the Stallion that Mounts the World ritual; and Jon, Qhorin and the rangers eat the meat and blood of a garron that had a broken leg and had to be killed. In addition to the Mya Stone parallel, Stonesnake might be comparable to one of Bran's traveling companions or to someone in Dany's inner circle among the Dothraki.

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I think he's dead, and Wighted.

The only thing we actually know about him is that he can climb things that other men would find impossible. I'm guessing we'll see him again at a point where a main character (probably Bran and co) believe that they are somewhere safe because "nothing can reach us up here".

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16 hours ago, Lady Blizzardborn said:

Yeah, that's one of the mysteries. Every once in a while someone brings up Stonesnake. We figure either he's alive, dead, or somewhere in between like Coldhands is. I think the latter is the most likely possibility. 

I suppose he could be chilling with Benjen somewhere.

I see what you did there... ;)

I suspect we will find out in due time what happened to both of them. Tyrek too. 

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21 minutes ago, King Merrett I Frey said:

My guess is that George had a further plot for him but then felt that leaving that cliffhanger (so many puns possibilities for him) was right.

So, it’s either a cliffhanger or he's chillin'. Anymore... anyone? 

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  • 4 weeks later...

I really hope we'll never learn what happened to him. He isn't important, and people have better things to do than to think or look for him. Sometimes people just disappear. It happens in the real world, and it should also happen in (realistic) fiction occasionally.

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4 hours ago, Lord Varys said:

I really hope we'll never learn what happened to him. He isn't important, and people have better things to do than to think or look for him. Sometimes people just disappear. It happens in the real world, and it should also happen in (realistic) fiction occasionally.

Agreed. Some people just get killed randomly and without consequence, never to be missed. I think the same is true of Tyrek. RIP 

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4 hours ago, Lord Varys said:

I really hope we'll never learn what happened to him. He isn't important, and people have better things to do than to think or look for him. Sometimes people just disappear. It happens in the real world, and it should also happen in (realistic) fiction occasionally.

This I agree with. I think George has even said that mysteries similar to this, and oily black stone, will always remain a mystery. This works for me. 

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4 hours ago, Lord Varys said:

I really hope we'll never learn what happened to him. He isn't important, and people have better things to do than to think or look for him. Sometimes people just disappear. It happens in the real world, and it should also happen in (realistic) fiction occasionally.

I never even imagine it should be a mystery until I came to these forums. When reading the implications are clear - Stonesnake is making a last desperate attempt to escape across perilous terrain crawling with enemies while Jon and Qhorin continue on. There is a very slim chance he achieves what he sets out to do. But when we rejoin the Old Bear, there is no Stonesnake, so the logical conclusion is that he died. It's not as though Stonesnake was assigned any real importance by GRRM, he was just a very minor character with some useful skills to distinguish him from generic NW ranger #7

3 minutes ago, ChuckPunch said:

Agreed. Some people just get killed randomly and without consequence, never to be missed. I think the same is true of Tyrek. RIP 

Tyrek is slightly different I think because he has been brought up by other characters subsequent to his disappearance and there is a legitimate sense of mystery to the whole thing. It's possible he was just killed and his body disposed of in a bowl of brown, but the way his name is brought up by other characters makes me think GRRM actually intends something with this. But, no big deal if not, I can accept he was just murdered and disposed of off page

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1 hour ago, HelenaExMachina said:

Tyrek is slightly different I think because he has been brought up by other characters subsequent to his disappearance and there is a legitimate sense of mystery to the whole thing. It's possible he was just killed and his body disposed of in a bowl of brown, but the way his name is brought up by other characters makes me think GRRM actually intends something with this. But, no big deal if not, I can accept he was just murdered and disposed of off page

I'd go with you there as well. Tyrek comes back way too often in later chapters to be just dead. The same should be true for Benjen Stark, although he doesn't come up as often as Tyrek, does he? But he is a Stark and Ned's younger brother. That makes it very likely it will come up.

However, I'd not be pissed or irritated if we just met some wight with Benjen's face. That is not exactly an unlikely scenario.

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On ‎9‎/‎19‎/‎2017 at 11:29 PM, Seams said:

I suspect Stonesnake's function in Jon's arc, guiding him up the mountain, was similar to the function played by either Mya Stone or Myranda Royce in Sansa's descent from the Eyrie. Probably closer to Mya. That doesn't mean that the two of them (Stonesnake and Mya) will have the same fate, but sometimes it helps to give you a sense whether a character's job is done or whether we might see him again.

I too have long seen the correlation between Mya Stone and Stonesnake. Funny, most of our core characters have someone like this...Arya has Yoren, In Tyrion II we see

"Yoren was stooped and sinister, his features hidden behind a beard as black as his clothing, but he seemed as tough as an old root and as hard as stone."

Jamie had Arthur Dayne who was a stony dornishman

Ned and Robert had Jon Arryn who fostered them at the Eyrie

 

Mentors seem almost always associated with stone in some ways.

Quote

Jon goes through a number of Night's Watch brothers who seem to have a temporary role and are then displaced by new Night's Watch brothers who represent a new symbol. Grenn, Pyp and Todder are his early foes but soon become great friends, but only Grenn seems to stick around and interact with Jon on an ongoing basis. Squire Dalbridge and Ebben appear only briefly in that ranging party with Qhorin. Satin and Leathers show up after Jon returns from the Wildlings. So it wouldn't surprise me if Stonesnake is simply gone - his purpose and symbolism are completed.

The name Stonesnake is obviously intriguing. I am still obsessed with the obsidian bundle that Jon found (with Ghost's help) at the Fist. It was buried in sand, and I can't help thinking that this was an allusion to the Sandsnakes or to Dorne. What does it mean that Jon teams up with Stonesnake right after finding "treasures" buried in sand? The Stone part of Stonesnake's name also could be another link to Mya, whose surname is Stone.

I too have thought of the sandy nature of the obsidian burial spot. Remember, it isn't sand per se it is "loose, sandy soil" and I think Loose is at least as important as sand here.

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Stonesnake is also part of the eating of horse meat that marks the beginning of a quest: Bran wargs into Summer, who eats horse flesh in the burned Winterfell just before Bran and his travel companions emerge from the crypt; Dany eats the stallion heart at Vaes Dothrak as part of the Stallion that Mounts the World ritual; and Jon, Qhorin and the rangers eat the meat and blood of a garron that had a broken leg and had to be killed. In addition to the Mya Stone parallel, Stonesnake might be comparable to one of Bran's traveling companions or to someone in Dany's inner circle among the Dothraki.

The eating of horsemeat is interesting. I think for this it is important to note that eating horse meat is actually part of many pagan religious ceremonies particularly in worship of Odin. Odin, of course, is connected to "healing, death, royalty, the gallows, knowledge, battle, sorcery, poetry, frenzy" and with this and the myths of Odin a lot of "meat" (harhar) is on the bones of the horse eating.

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