AlaskanSandman Posted February 28, 2018 Share Posted February 28, 2018 Sworn Brothers Quote A Game of Thrones - Prologue . Ser Waymar had been a Sworn Brother of the Night's Watch for less than half a year, but no one could say he had not prepared for his vocation. At least insofar as his wardrobe was concerned. Quote A Game of Thrones - Eddard II "Can you trust Jaime Lannister?" "He is my wife's twin, a Sworn Brother of the Kingsguard, his life and fortune and honor all bound to mine." Quote A Feast for Crows - Samwell IV Sam donned his blacks to say the words, though the afternoon was warm and muggy, with nary a breath of wind. "He was a good man," he began . . . but as soon as he had said the words he knew that they were wrong. "No. He was a great man. A maester of the Citadel, chained and sworn, and Sworn Brother of the Night's Watch, ever faithful. Quote A Feast for Crows - Brienne V Meribald was a septon without a sept, only one step up from a begging brother in the hierarchy of the Faith. Black brothers ------------------------------------->Maesters------------à King’s Guard No kids check Check No lands check Check No wives check Check Live and die at post check Check Protect realms of Men check Check Light (Knowledge) in the dark (Ignorance) check Check Weirwood on or near grounds check Check Serve wall/castle/king and no other check Check These are the known vows of the Night’s Watch. Quote Night gathers, and now my watch begins. It shall not end until my death. I shall take no wife, hold no lands, father no children. I shall wear no crowns and win no glory. I shall live and die at my post. I am the sword in the darkness. I am the watcher on the walls. I am the fire that burns against the cold, the light that brings the dawn, the horn that wakes the sleepers, the shield that guards the realms of men. I pledge my life and honor to the Night's Watch, for this night and all the nights to come This is spoken by Jon Snow and Sam to the Weirwood Grove of nine near Castle Black as believers in the Old Gods. Since the Wall predates the Andals we are told, then all original Watch members must have sworn before a hearts tree. The Black Brothers - Weirwood Grove with Heart tree that followers of the Old Gods swear too. Or the Black Gate at the Night Fort. The Grey Rats – Weirwood in oldest part of Citadel. Isle of Ravens The Isle of Ravens is linked to the eastern bank of the Honeywine by a weathered wooden drawbridge. On the island is located the Ravenry, the oldest building of the Citadel. The walls of the Ravenry are covered in moss and vines and within its yard sits a weirwood tree on which the ravens like to perch. The white raven rookery is located in the west tower.[1] The White Cloaks – A giant Weirwood Table carved into a shield. “The shield that guards the realms of men” The meeting table of the Kingsguard in the Red Keep is made of white weirwood fashioned into the shape of a shield and supported by three white stallions. I am the watcher on the walls. The Black Brothers The Grey Rats The White Cloaks/Kings Guard The Wall The Wall of the Ravenry The Wall of Old Town Now the Kings Guard was formed by Visenya Targaryen after Aegon and her destroyed the Order of the Green Hand which sounds like the original King’s Guard of Old that Serwyn of the Mirror Shield served in to a Gardener King. Quote A Dance with Dragons - Davos III None chose to honor Davos with a name. The maester was the first to speak. "You stand before Wyman Manderly, Lord of White Harbor and Warden of the White Knife, Shield of the Faith, Defender of the Dispossessed, Lord Marshal of the Mander, a Knight of the Order of the Green Hand," he said. Quote The World of Ice and Fire - The Reach: Highgarden Legend has it these trees, known in the Reach as the Three Singers, were planted by Garth Greenhand himself. No seat in the Seven Kingdoms has been more celebrated in song than Highgarden, and small wonder, for the Tyrells and the Gardeners before them have made their court a place of culture and music and high art. In the days before the Conquest, the Kings of the Reach and their queens presided over tourneys of love and beauty, where the greatest knights of the Reach competed for the love of the fairest maids not only with feats of arms, but with song, poetry, and demonstrations of virtue, piety, and chaste devotion. The greatest champions, men as pure and honorable and virtuous as they were skilled at arms, were honored with invitations to join the Order of the Green Hand. Though the last members of that noble order perished beside their king on the Field of Fire (save in White Harbor, where the knights of House Manderly still profess membership), their traditions are still remembered in the Reach, where the Tyrells continue to uphold all that is best in knighthood and chivalry. Their Tourney of the Field of Roses in the reign of Jaehaerys I, the Old King, was famed far and wide as the greatest tourney in a generation, and many other great tourneys have been held in the Reach in more recent days. Quote The Kingsguard was founded during the reign of the first Targaryen king on the Iron Throne, Aegon the Conqueror. The first Kingsguard was created at the suggestion of Visenya Targaryen, after a Dornish assassination attempt on Aegon and herself in the streets of King's Landing in 10 AC. She self-consciously modeled the Kingsguard vows of holding no lands or title on the ancient vows of the Night's Watch “self-consciously” huh? Surrrrreee. Quote Tobho Mott's shop in King's Landing has doors carved out of weirwood and ebony showing a hunting scene. This same hunting scene may be on the tapestries of Robert Baratheon and on the Walls of Qaarth. Quote The World of Ice and Fire - The Reign of the Dragons: The Conquest In the days of the Hundred Kingdoms, many petty kings had claimed dominion over the river mouth, amongst them the Darklyn kings of Duskendale, the Masseys of Stonedance, and the river kings of old, be they Mudds, Fishers, Brackens, Blackwoods, or Hooks. Towers and forts had crowned the three hills at various times, only to be thrown down in one war or another. Now only broken stones and overgrown ruins remained to welcome the Targaryens. Tobho Mott’s Shop may predate the Targaryens as King’s Landing has been a settlement for many long years before Aegon. So we have three sworn brothers, one of which can be found with the other two. As a Maester serves both at the wall and at castles in the south including the King(s). All three possibly swearing their vows before the weirwoods. One Guarding the Realm, one guarding the king, one guarding knowledge? But what of the Green King of the God’s Eye and the Green Men? The Green Men which sound like Garth the Green, of which the founders of the Citadel descend from through Maris the Maid. Garth the Green who may have been the first human greenseerer. One descendant builds the wall (Brandon) while another (Urrigon and Peremore) form the Citadel and instate a Maester at the Wall even though the wall keeps out of affairs of the south. And the Maesters claim the Others don’t exist. All at a time when the Black Brothers L.C. served from the Night Fort with the Black Gate. Is this who they serve? Garth? Ygg? The BlackGate? Or do they serve whoever the current greenseerer is? The Night’s King himself being a Lord Commander of the Watch who betrayed his brothers and may have had a Maester of his own. He may even have once been a member of the Order of the Green hand. House Of Black And White and Bloodraven’s Cave. So there seems to be a connection between the Black Brothers, Grey Brothers, and White Brothers which brings me to the next odd connection. Black, and White make Grey. Grey is the Balance between the two. The Balance between light and dark, life and death, good and bad. The Grey Brothers sound almost similar to the House of Black and White…… Quote One of the main doors of the House of Black and White in Braavos is made of weirwood, with the the other made of ebony. Its chairs are also made of the two materials. The House of B&W that has a man with a white worm coming out of his face like Bloordraven with his white weirwood worm root coming out of his eye. Quote A Feast for Crows - Arya I "Let us see." The priest lowered his cowl. Beneath he had no face; only a yellowed skull with a few scraps of skin still clinging to the cheeks, and a white worm wriggling from one empty eye socket. "Kiss me, child," he croaked, in a voice as dry and husky as a death rattle. Quote A Dance with Dragons - Bran III Seated on his throne of roots in the great cavern, half-corpse and half-tree, Lord Brynden seemed less a man than some ghastly statue made of twisted wood, old bone, and rotted wool. The only thing that looked alive in the pale ruin that was his face was his one red eye, burning like the last coal in a dead fire, surrounded by twisted roots and tatters of leathery white skin hanging off a yellowed skull. Quote A Dance with Dragons - Bran II "Are you the three-eyed crow?" Bran heard himself say. A three-eyed crow should have three eyes. He has only one, and that one red. Bran could feel the eye staring at him, shining like a pool of blood in the torchlight. Where his other eye should have been, a thin white root grew from an empty socket, down his cheek, and into his neck. "A … crow?" The pale lord's voice was dry. His lips moved slowly, as if they had forgotten how to form words. Arya seems to learn another aspect of skin changing that applies to humans. Quote A Dance with Dragons - The Blind Girl The kindly man had told her that they would have taken her eyes from her anyway, to help her to learn to use her other senses, but not for half a year Quote A Dance with Dragons - The Ugly Little Girl "Why are you here, liar?" "To serve. To learn. To change my face." "First change your heart. The gift of the Many-Faced God is not a child's plaything. You would kill for your own purposes, for your own pleasures. Do you deny it?" Which is technically against the rule of skin changing possibly per Varamyr. Quote A Dance with Dragons - Prologue Abomination. That had always been Haggon's favorite word. Abomination, abomination, abomination. To eat of human meat was abomination, to mate as wolf with wolf was abomination, and to seize the body of another man was the worst abomination of all. They have a hall of faces like the Cave of Bloodravens with its skulls in notches. Quote A Dance with Dragons - The Ugly Little Girl . Light washed over the walls around them. A thousand faces were gazing down on her. They hung upon the walls, before her and behind her, high and low, everywhere she looked, everywhere she turned. She saw old faces and young faces, pale faces and dark faces, smooth faces and wrinkled faces, freckled faces and scarred faces, handsome faces and homely faces, men and women, boys and girls, even babes, smiling faces, frowning faces, faces full of greed and rage and lust, bald faces and faces bristling with hair. Masks, she told herself, it's only masks, but even as she thought the thought, she knew it wasn't so. They were skins. Quote A Dance with Dragons - Bran II "Bones," said Bran. "It's bones." The floor of the passage was littered with the bones of birds and beasts. But there were other bones as well, big ones that must have come from giants and small ones that could have been from children. On either side of them, in niches carved from the stone, skulls looked down on them. Bran saw a bear skull and a wolf skull, half a dozen human skulls and near as many giants. All the rest were small, queerly formed. Children of the forest. The roots had grown in and around and through them, every one. A few had ravens perched atop them, watching them pass with bright black eyes. They have a candle that Arya smells that smells like the Weirwood Paste taste. Quote A Feast for Crows - Arya I She could smell the candles. The scent was unfamiliar, and she put it down to some queer incense, but as she got deeper into the temple, they seemed to smell of snow and pine needles and hot stew. Good smells, Arya told herself, and felt a little braver. Brave enough to slip Needle back into its sheath. Quote A Dance with Dragons - Bran III "A paste of weirwood seeds." Something about the look of it made Bran feel ill. The red veins were only weirwood sap, he supposed, but in the torchlight they looked remarkably like blood. He dipped the spoon into the paste, then hesitated. "Will this make me a greenseer?" "Your blood makes you a greenseer," said Lord Brynden. "This will help awaken your gifts and wed you to the trees." He ate. It had a bitter taste, though not so bitter as acorn paste. The first spoonful was the hardest to get down. He almost retched it right back up. The second tasted better. The third was almost sweet. The rest he spooned up eagerly. Why had he thought that it was bitter? It tasted of honey, of new-fallen snow, of pepper and cinnamon and the last kiss his mother ever gave him. The empty bowl slipped from his fingers and clattered on the cavern floor. "I don't feel any different. What happens next?" The House of the Undying. Quote In the House of the Undying, the doors of the room with the "splendor of wizards"—a mirage depicting the Undying Ones in their prime—are made of weirwood and ebony. Quote A Clash of Kings - Daenerys IV In this city of splendors, Dany had expected the House of the Undying Ones to be the most splendid of all, but she emerged from her palanquin to behold a grey and ancient ruin. Long and low, without towers or windows, it coiled like a stone serpent through a grove of black-barked trees whose inky blue leaves made the stuff of the sorcerous drink the Qartheen called shade of the evening. No other buildings stood near. Black tiles covered the palace roof, many fallen or broken; the mortar between the stones was dry and crumbling. She understood now why Xaro Xhoan Daxos called it the Palace of Dust. Even Drogon seemed disquieted by the sight of it. The black dragon hissed, smoke seeping out between his sharp teeth. Is this the poisoned Weirwood Grove of legend? Or is there many? Or is this just a brother to the red trees and its opposite? Quote A Clash of Kings - Daenerys IV "When you come to the chamber of the Undying, be patient. Our little lives are no more than a flicker of a moth's wing to them. Listen well, and write each word upon your heart." When they reached the door—a tall oval mouth, set in a wall fashioned in the likeness of a human face—the smallest dwarf Dany had ever seen was waiting on the threshold. He stood no higher than her knee, his faced pinched and pointed, snoutish, but he was dressed in delicate livery of purple and blue, and his tiny pink hands held a silver tray. Upon it rested a slender crystal glass filled with a thick blue liquid: shade of the evening, the wine of warlocks. "Take and drink," urged Pyat Pree. "Will it turn my lips blue?" "One flute will serve only to unstop your ears and dissolve the caul from off your eyes, so that you may hear and see the truths that will be laid before you." Dany raised the glass to her lips. The first sip tasted like ink and spoiled meat, foul, but when she swallowed it seemed to come to life within her. She could feel tendrils spreading through her chest, like fingers of fire coiling around her heart, and on her tongue was a taste like honey and anise and cream, like mother's milk and Drogo's seed, like red meat and hot blood and molten gold. It was all the tastes she had ever known, and none of them . . . and then the glass was empty. And just like Arya with the candles in the House of Black and White, and Bran with the Weirwood Paste in Bloodraven’s cave, Daenerys has a similar experience with Shade of the Evening. The Many Faces of the One God. Old Gods Quote A Game of Thrones - Catelyn I It was said that the children of the forest had carved the faces in the trees during the dawn centuries before the coming of the First Men across the narrow sea. Quote A Game of Thrones - Jon VII "If you want to go out to the weirwoods and pray to the old gods, I'll go with you." Quote A Game of Thrones - Catelyn I A face had been carved in the trunk of the great tree, its features long and melancholy, the deep-cut eyes red with dried sap and strangely watchful. Quote A Clash of Kings - Arya IX The light of the moon painted the limbs of the weirwood silvery white as she made her way toward it, but the five-pointed red leaves turned black by night. Arya stared at the face carved into its trunk. It was a terrible face, its mouth twisted, its eyes flaring and full of hate. Is that what a god looked like? Could gods be hurt, the same as people? I should pray, she thought suddenly. Quote A Storm of Swords - Davos I At Melisandre's urging, he had dragged the Seven from their sept at Dragonstone and burned them before the castle gates, and later he had burned the godswood at Storm's End as well, even the heart tree, a huge white weirwood with a solemn face. Quote A Game of Thrones - Jon VI The sun was sinking below the trees when they reached their destination, a small clearing in the deep of the wood where nine weirwoods grew in a rough circle. Jon drew in a breath, and he saw Sam Tarly staring. Even in the wolfswood, you never found more than two or three of the white trees growing together; a grove of nine was unheard of. The forest floor was carpeted with fallen leaves, bloodred on top, black rot beneath. The wide smooth trunks were bone pale, and nine faces stared inward. The dried sap that crusted in the eyes was red and hard as ruby. Bowen Marsh commanded them to leave their horses outside the circle. "This is a sacred place, we will not defile it." When they entered the grove, Samwell Tarly turned slowly looking at each face in turn. No two were quite alike. "They're watching us," he whispered. "The old gods." The Many-Faced God Quote A Feast for Crows - Arya II Worshipers came to the House of Black and White every day. Most came alone and sat alone; they lit candles at one altar or another, prayed beside the pool, and sometimes wept. A few drank from the black cup and went to sleep; more did not drink. There were no services, no songs, no paeans of praise to please the god. The temple was never full. From time to time, a worshiper would ask to see a priest, and the kindly man or the waif would take him down into the sanctum, but that did not happen often. Thirty different gods stood along the walls, surrounded by their little lights. The Weeping Woman was the favorite of old women, Arya saw; rich men preferred the Lion of Night, poor men the Hooded Wayfarer. Soldiers lit candles to Bakkalon, the Pale Child, sailors to the Moon-Pale Maiden and the Merling King. The Stranger had his shrine as well, though hardly anyone ever came to him. Most of the time only a single candle stood flickering at his feet. The kindly man said it did not matter. "He has many faces, and many ears to hear." Quote A Feast for Crows - Arya I The rest of the gods dwell together on an isle in the center of the city. That is where you will find the . . . the Many-Faced God." The Seven Quote A Feast for Crows - Brienne V "There is no cobbler above," Podrick protested. "There is, lad . . . though you may call him by another name. Tell me, which of the seven gods do you love best?" "The Warrior," said Podrick without a moment's hesitation. Brienne cleared her throat. "At Evenfall my father's septon always said that there was but one god." "One god with seven aspects. That's so, my lady, and you are right to point it out, but the mystery of the Seven Who Are One is not easy for simple folk to grasp, and I am nothing if not simple, so I speak of seven gods." Meribald turned back to Podrick Quote A Feast for Crows - Arya II "I only just came from Westeros." Sometimes it seemed a thousand years since she had fled King's Landing, and sometimes it seemed like only yesterday, but she knew she could not go back. "I'll go if you don't want me, but I won't go there." "My wants do not matter," said the kindly man. "It may be that the Many-Faced God has led you here to be His instrument, but when I look at you I see a child . . . and worse, a girl child. Many have served Him of Many Faces through the centuries, but only a few of His servants have been women. Women bring life into the world. We bring the gift of death. No one can do both." Daenerys the mother of Dragons. Arya, the mother of? Direwolves? And Bran the bringer of Death? Though the Undying seem to have wanted Daenerys to feed off of to give them life while drawing away hers. Is this what Bloodraven plans to do with Bran? To feed off of him? Is Bloodraven like the Undying? Or different? And there is this about those Candles in the House of Black and White. Quote A Feast for Crows - Arya II Those who come to drink from the black cup are looking for their angels. If they are afraid, the candles soothe them. When you smell our candles burning, what does it make you think of, my child?" The Candles, Weirwood Paste, and Shade of the Evening as a way to relax said person to be sacrificed for death? Green King of the God’s Eye and its many eyes/faces on the world. Quote A Storm of Swords - Bran II Bran closed his eyes to try and see the man in his little skin boat. In his head, the crannogman looked like Jojen, only older and stronger and dressed like Meera. "He passed beneath the Twins by night so the Freys would not attack him, and when he reached the Trident he climbed from the river and put his boat on his head and began to walk. It took him many a day, but finally he reached the Gods Eye, threw his boat in the lake, and paddled out to the Isle of Faces." Quote The World of Ice and Fire - The Riverlands During the long centuries when the First Men reigned supreme in Westeros, countless petty kingdoms rose and fell in the riverlands. Their histories, entwined and embroidered with myth and song, are largely forgotten, save for the names of a few legendary kings and heroes whose deeds are recorded on weathered stones in runes whose meanings are even now disputed at the Citadel. Thus, whilst singers and storytellers may regale us with colorful tales of Artos the Strong, Florian the Fool, Nine-Finger Jack, Sharra the Witch Queen, and the Green King of the Gods Eye, the very existence of such personages must be questioned by the serious scholar. So what is going on? Who do the Sworn Brothers Serve? The Green King of the God’s Eye? Who is this? Or do they serve Bloodraven? Or the Black Gate? And How does the Undying of Qaarth play into this all? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deepbollywood Motte Posted February 28, 2018 Share Posted February 28, 2018 I didn't read the whole thing but how does the kingsguard "protect the realms of men"? They protect the King and family, couldn't be bothered with other people. And how do they bring/are they "the light in the darkness"? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shouldve Taken The Black Posted February 28, 2018 Share Posted February 28, 2018 @AlaskanSandman another great post, keep them coming! It's interesting how all of these orders are also shown by the time of the books to be in various ways corrupted and/or in decline. The Kingsguard is recognised by anyone with half a brain as being a sham. The Nights Watch is visibly falling apart, and while we don't exactly know what the Grey Sheep are up to, we know we probably won't like it, and Pycelle is obviously a toad. A lot of the points you make in the post could be explained by the idea that all the religions have a common heritage, which is pretty much the point of the Many-Faced God of Bravos. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shouldve Taken The Black Posted February 28, 2018 Share Posted February 28, 2018 56 minutes ago, Deepbollywood Motte said: I didn't read the whole thing but how does the kingsguard "protect the realms of men"? I don't think the OP was suggesting that that was their role, but rather pointing out a link between the Kingsguard and the Nights Watch, as represented by the Weirwood shield-table, and the fact that the KG were consciously modelled on the NW. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deepbollywood Motte Posted February 28, 2018 Share Posted February 28, 2018 7 minutes ago, Shouldve Taken The Black said: I don't think the OP was suggesting that that was their role, but rather pointing out a link between the Kingsguard and the Nights Watch, as represented by the Weirwood shield-table, and the fact that the KG were consciously modelled on the NW. Well, in the beginning of the post he checks off precisely those two things for the kingsguard. I understand the check for the maesters but not for the KG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AlaskanSandman Posted February 28, 2018 Author Share Posted February 28, 2018 13 minutes ago, Shouldve Taken The Black said: I don't think the OP was suggesting that that was their role, but rather pointing out a link between the Kingsguard and the Nights Watch, as represented by the Weirwood shield-table, and the fact that the KG were consciously modelled on the NW. Exactly. Though you could argue they have a role in protecting the realms of men by serving their king. Also, we dont know the exact role of the Original Kings Guard that appears to have been the Order of the Green Hand. Hence why i mark them guarding the walls of Old Town. Maesters guarding the Wall of Ravenry, and Blackbrothers guarding the Ice Wall. "The watchers on the walls" I put forth subtly that the idea of Visenya regarding the Kings Guard is not just modeled off the Night's Watch, but also the Oder of the Green Hand of which they had just put down. 19 minutes ago, Shouldve Taken The Black said: @AlaskanSandman another great post, keep them coming! It's interesting how all of these orders are also shown by the time of the books to be in various ways corrupted and/or in decline. The Kingsguard is recognised by anyone with half a brain as being a sham. The Nights Watch is visibly falling apart, and while we don't exactly know what the Grey Sheep are up to, we know we probably won't like it, and Pycelle is obviously a toad. A lot of the points you make in the post could be explained by the idea that all the religions have a common heritage, which is pretty much the point of the Many-Faced God of Bravos. Thank you very much! I definitely think the Faceless God, The Seven, and the Old Gods are tied together. The exact details of which are still open for discussion though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shouldve Taken The Black Posted February 28, 2018 Share Posted February 28, 2018 1 minute ago, AlaskanSandman said: I put forth subtly that the idea of Visenya regarding the Kings Guard is not just modeled off the Night's Watch, but also the Oder of the Green Hand of which they had just put down. There's also a similarity between all these orders and the Faith Militant that might be worth diving into? It's might also be worth looking at Sweetrobin/Littlefinger's new order to see if there are any similarities between that and the Order of the Green Hand. It seems to be the first example since the Conquest of a lord setting up his own order of knights (other than Renly's Rainbow Brigade). It seems that every institution which is set up in this way has similar vows, particularly regarding holding lands and having children, and putting something "the realms of men", the king, the lord they are assigned to, the Faith, above petty concerns. This could simply be a throwback to when there were several competing kingdoms, and therefore where there were institutions that transcended those boundaries, there needed to be some sort of pact with regards to not taking sides in conflicts or keeping their roots in their respective families, otherwise the orders would be in danger of falling apart every thirty minutes. Given the propensity for the 7K even after the conquest to descend into civil war every generation or so, the vows continued to make sense. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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