James Fenimore Cooper XXII

Bran experienced a flashback from the time Winterfell was newly built.  He saw his ancestors murdering a prisoner and feeding the blood to the white tree.  Bran tasted the blood of the poor dying man as he is going through his death spasm.  Bran can feed through his dreams.  He has fed on human blood thrice.  This time, through his direwolf, and perhaps through the bloody soup which may be Jojen Reed's flesh.  But who is the lady with the bronze sickle? 

We should be careful to avoid making definitive conclusions.  Even the dark haired First Men grow old and lose their hair color in old age.  Simply said, perhaps the woman had dark hair and slowly lost the color as she aged.  The use of a primitive weak metal tells us this woman comes from a people lacking the knowledge of working with iron.  She is not Valyrian else she would have at least a quality iron sickle.  But maybe she had to make do with the tools available to the First Men.

Compare this woman to the old kings in Daenerys' vision of her family's past.  The men wore fancy clothing and had glowing weapons.  The difference is rather stark.  However, all of this does not mean there could not be a people so lost in history that they have been forgotten.  An elder specimen of humans who had knowledge of magic and practiced experiments that are unknown today.  Not everybody is of royal status.  While Daenerys' ancestors were clearly important people in their time there must have been commoners.  Commoners always make up the majority of a population. 

The woman in Winterfell was someone with authority over the barbarians of the north.  She was leading the ceremonial killing of the captive.  We already know the power of blood sacrifices to buy peace with the Others.  Craster, who is likely a man kin by blood to the Starks, kept the Others satisfied with blood offerings.  Literally offering his own blood, Stark blood, to the Others in trade for his freedom to live where he was.  The woman, I will call her a dark priestess, was showing the First Men how to give offerings to the Others.  The ritual killings had multiple purposes.  The Others get what they need, the Weirwood is fertilized, and the Greenseers get their blood meal.  The Starks of Winterfell kept up the practice and the Weirwood grew strong over the thousands of years since. 

The woman could have been part of an elder race which existed at the same time as the Great Empire of the Dawn and a few survived to the building of Winterfell.  Daenerys, on the other hand, has knowledge which is even older than Asshai.  This is impossible unless genetic memory exists.  We have always known that Daenerys is very special.  I think Daenerys in her previous life lived before the events in Bran's vision.  Daenerys is a member of the ruling line who are endowed with superhuman abilities.  The Stark line also have superhuman abilities which I believe they got from interbreeding with the Others.  The rulers of Daenerys' line must have had an opposing force and that is the Others.  We know the silver haired Gods were not in control of the whole world during their entire dynasty.  One branch, the reds of the Bloodstone emperor, tried to usurp the throne but he must have been defeated after a time and either killed or banished to the North.  I think his people became the Others.  The priestess in Winterfell came from a line of followers of the reds.  The black meteorite is either hidden deep within Asshai, which is not likely.  More likely it is hidden somewhere in the North.  Either somewhere on the other side of the Wall or guarded by the Kings of Winter in their stronghold.  The pale corpse queen was of the defeated royal line of the Bloodstone emperor.  The Warg king, where the Starks supposedly got their inherited power of wolf bonding, was also descended from emperor Bloodstone.  The white haired woman carried out hybridization experiments with the Others and the ancestors of the Warg king and the Starks.  The Others from the prologue seemed to behave like they feel entitled.  Craster's relations with them also seems to paint the Others as feeling entitled of worship and servitude.  The punishment for the crime of betraying the Amethyst Empress was the removal of the Bloodstone line's ability to reproduce.  Loyal followers like the white haired priestess used ancient knowledge and magic to get around this through advanced hybridization.  One unusually successful hybrid, the corpse queen found a biologically compatible mate in the Nights' King. The Night's King was a Stark. 

Eye color is indicative of lineage and affinity.  The Weirwoods have red sap, red leaves, and when carved, red eyes.  The purest form of a Northern creature, Ghost, has red eyes.  Genetic material from the Bloodstone line spread in the North through genetic experiments. 

The weaker emperors of the East later had to build the Five Forts to protect themselves from outside threats.  Threats which happened to be on the north side of the fortifications.  This can mean the Bloodstone's clan was banished to the north and a land bridge, perhaps made of perpetually frozen water, connected the continents.  The strange creatures today are the results of hybridization experiments carried out by his followers. 

On 2/10/2024 at 10:14 AM, The Commentator said:

With Arya, it’s her sanity and humanity that dies with each murder she committed.  

Arya is losing her sanity and morality because her mental illness is getting worse.  Carrying out the murders is the symptom of the illness.  The crime is the effect not the cause.  Her inherited gene from the Tullys plus the horrific experiences are the contributing elements to the illness.

On 3/6/2024 at 9:21 AM, Kierria said:

A Game of Thrones began with a Bran chapter and ended with Daenerys and the birth of her Dragons.  I think it is also the way the story will end. 

The story began on a very, very dark note.  Ned Stark, spouting silly nonsense like the man passing the sentence should do the actual killing, forces his children to watch him murder a sick man who has loyally protected the realm for forty years.  Theon, the a$$, kicks the man's severed head around is our introduction to how the bodies of the dead are violated. It seems not even death earns dignity in the North.  Arya would later apprentice to the Faceless Men and she also violates the bodies of the dead.  The execution party happens upon a disturbing scene where a Stag and a Direwolf had killed each other.  The Starks take the wolf cubs in and begins their mental and emotional descent into savages.  Winter has begun.  The rise of Bran Stark is the beginning of the Darkness and the harbinger of death in Westeros.  Bran and the Starks will bring a world of hurt to the people of Westeros.  Supernatural pestilence, unclean creatures like Direwolves, ice spiders, and such as what nightmares are made of. 

In the last chapter, we are given hope. The beautiful music of the dragons heard in the dark of night for the first time in a very long time.  Daenerys, Azor Ahai, brought dragons back from a long extinction.  She and her dragons will defeat Bran and end his cold grip on Westeros.  The land should bloom again and the plans for reconstruction can begin. 

Bran is the lord of the dark.  He will be more harmful to Westeros than Jon is now. 

Two books left only.  I don't think there is time for Arya to die like Catelyn and then get the kiss of life to come back.  Arya will die and second-life her direwolf.  How insane she is when it happens will be interesting to witness. 

Jon died in his last chapter.  The Others can bring the dead back to some sick imitation of life and that will be good enough for Jon to find his sister and take her away from her many enemies.  Like the ice dragon.  He gets to rescue a girl, he thinks is his sister, and lives just long enough to do it and then finally melts away forever.  He is a man guilty of treason and he is not going to have a place anywhere among the living. 

On 2/28/2024 at 10:42 PM, Roswell said:

Rhaenys, Rhaenyra, Rhaella, Rhaegar, Rhaego.  All of them died before their time while they were still young.  Jon Snow could be a bastard son of Rhaeger and Lyanna.  Lyanna was crazy enough to dare name her bastard Rhaegar after his royal father.  Jon was killed for betraying the Night's Watch.  That puts him in the pattern of the Rhaes.  I am actually happy about his death.  But I am worried about Dany's dragon, Rhaegal. 

Rhaegal and his rider will probably bite the dust.  That is probably Fake Aegon.

Jon already bit the dust, or the snow rather and he is not coming back as a warm-blooded human.  He will come back as the personification of the ice dragon to take Arya away from, I would guess the Boltons or the Freys.  He gets a little bit of time before he melts and fades away like the ice dragon.  He is not a Targaryen.

The Rhaes were broken potentials among the Targaryens.  They were not the real deal.  Daenerys is the real Azor Ahai and the promised one they have waited for so long.

We may soon and hopefully soon, see the beginnings of a new Great Empire Of The Dawn.  Somebody will have to pick up the pieces and rebuild at the end of the Long Night.  Daenerys Targaryen will be that person.  No other Targaryen in history has three dragons.  She has this great power for a reason.  To rebuild civilization after the Long Night. 

The Frey family has a much greater chance of surviving the rage of the Starks because of their numbers.  Location also make the Boltons vulnerable if the Starks were to come to power again.  It appears to me from an important scene in the Palace of Dust that it will be Her Majesty, Daenerys Targaryen, who will judge the Freys and that is good news for fairness and justice.  The Boltons will not be so lucky.  But there is still a glimmer of hope for at least one of them to survive the revenge of the Starks and that is Fat Walda Bolton.  She deserves to live and give birth to a Bolton baby who will inherit the Bolton holdings. 

Arya will be told of Jon's treasonous conduct and how he was killed by his own men.  She will make it her objective to murder the brothers of the watch.  Bran will see his bastard brother's death and that will push him over to the evil side.  The Others will resurrect Jon and I am assuming he will come back like a wight but with his mind still working because of the wolf bond.  His wight body will make him even harder to kill and so more dangerous.  Three Starks with abilities to carry out mass murders will bring chaos and death in the North.  Ramsay deserves punishment for his acts.  Roose is cruel but not more so compared to Stannis and Tywin.  Roose has done nothing illegal in recent time to earn punishment.  Robb Stark was the lawbreaker who was rebelling.  Anything Roose did against Robb is not considered illegal by their laws.  Roose was not only pardoned for the Robb Stark Rebellion in trade for his valuable assistance in putting down the same rebellion.  He was handsomely rewarded with the North which now belong to him.  Roose cannot be touched legally. 

I still do not hold much hope for Roose Bolton surviving.  I am hopeful and would like to have Lady Walda Bolton to survive and birth an heir to the Dreadfort.  I would even find it appealing if Fat Walda births a child who inherits Winterfell and the North as long as she gives her loyalty to Daenerys Targaryen.  Fat Walda has done no wrong and nothing that has broken the laws.  Her child will be an innocent who can be brought up properly.  The Frey family are not especially cruel.  They have not proven themselves  quarrelsome in their history.  The family leaders have operated the family business with competence and fairness over the generations and led the family to their present day prosperity.  Walda's baby can learn a lot of valuable skills from her side of the family to prepare to govern the North on behalf of the Targaryen. 

Jon unwittingly started the fall of the wall.  He was too attached to Arya to do his job properly.  The harm he caused and the damage they will do in the future happened because he was not a competent leader.  He had a lot of malice and misused his authority.  Bowen felled Jon but not before the latter had already began the decay of the Night's Watch and its ability to defend Westeros from the Others.  Jon's tragedy is one where an incompetent person who lacked the skills, discipline, and the intelligence to get the job done was given the lead position.

It is human nature to want revenge but some of the characters carry this too far.  Lady Dustin tells a chilling story to Reek.  She wants to feed Eddard's bones to her dogs.  The goal is sickening.  Barbrey is not alone, however.  Lady Catelyn, Arya Stark, and Doran Martell are just as motivated by that negative emotion driving them towards revenge.  Innocents like Dareon, Jingle Bells, and you could argue, Quentyn are the undeserving victims of their lust for revenge.  For the four, I do not see a happy ending. 

On 10/29/2023 at 10:27 PM, chrisdaw said:

When the series is finished you will still be able to argue who was AA, Jon or Dany (or Rhaego or Jon and Dany's bastard), such will be the shared and scattered manner in which the prophecies will play out.

I don't think so.  Daenerys has already fulfilled the requirements and became Azor Ahai after the funeral of Khal Drogo. 

If Jon is anything he is the return of the Night's King. 

Rhaego was the innocent life who was the partial payment for and the price for the dragons to return. 

Daenerys embarked on the most ambitious project ever conceived in a song of ice and fire.  The emancipation and liberation of an enslaved people numbering far greater than the population of Westeros.  No other monarch could have done any better.  The lack of advisers undertaking a huge project would hinder anybody.  But where do you find anybody with experience in such matters?  There are none.  Yet there is no doubt at all that the effort must be made.  No cause can be greater than that of helping the enslaved.  Slavery and dehumanization of people as well as the lack of respect for lives were the standard practice for Slaver's Bay.  Fighting the Ghis and the Harpy is the beneficial training Daenerys is receiving to better prepare her to fight the Starks and the Others later in the story. 

Arya is a cautionary tale for those obsessed with revenge.

9 hours ago, Lord of Raventree Hall said:

I see people defending the killing of Daeron, and I have an honest question for y'all : Would you turn in an escaped prisoner that was doing you no harm? Would you call the authorities on them? 

To give an example I can think of in real life : If you knew someone was an illegal alien (i.e. didn't have a visa), would you report them to ICE? 

I wouldn't. Just like I wouldn't kill Daeron. Do I think Daeron is a good person? Not really. Do I think he deserves to die? Also not really. 

Daeron was a poor boy who was repeatedly cheated out of justice.  By the lord who sent him to the Wall and by Arya Stark who, without mercy, took his life. 

The plot is not done with Jon Snow but he will have a different kind of existence from this point going forward.  He will still be able to act in the world of the living through Ghost and communicate to the rest of the pack through Bran. 

Jon died from loss of blood.  At least one of the daggers pierced an artery.  He lost consciousness immediately.  Reduction in body temperature would follow.  The latter is what Bran saw. 

On 10/12/2023 at 3:34 PM, BlackLightning said:

What made it really strange (and makes Hizdahr look complicit, if not outright guilty) is the fact that Hizdahr didn't have any locusts at all. All the more stranger when you remember that Hizdahr says that he likes them.

On 10/14/2023 at 6:09 AM, KingAerys_II said:

According to Fire and Blood the dragon is born in 7 AC, this is the official date.
Prince Aenys had a regression when the mother fell at Hellholt in 10 AC, it's confirmed the dragon played a role to improve the health of Aenys, Jaehaerys wished to heal Daenerys with a dragon when she fell ill, so I think bonding with the dragon was the method he overcame the regression.
The regression lasted for years, Visenya became pregnant because there was the need of an heir, Maegor is born in 12 AC, so she announced her pregnancy in 11 AC, Aenys started his regression in 10 AC, so it was not something he overcame in a short of time.
If the dragon was born in 7 AC and then it was given to Aenys after his regression, everything has sense, but a 3-4 year old dragon is not a young hatchling, the dragon pit was built by Maegor, Quicksilver never lived in captivity, so she should have grown up as fast as Daenerys dragons, and Daenerys dragons are burning the Meerenese fleet in the current history, Drogon is huge, maybe there was some dragon pit in Dragonstone or Quicksilver had the same grow problems of Aenys.

The three dragons we know and love were born on the Dothraki Sea from eggs of an unknown age and source.  Illyrio has no need to tell a lie.  I believe they came from Asshai and are very old.  They were reborn when Daenerys was reborn through the fire.  She became Azor Ahai and the dragons came back from extinction.  Quicksilver came from an egg laid and hatched on Dragonstone.  It's not the same thing.  The Targaryen dragons could have become weaker just as the Targaryens themselves were weaker.  In strength of mind and character.  Daenerys, the dragons, and the Targaryen line were all reborn on the Dothraki Sea. 

On 11/21/2022 at 4:25 PM, _Bittersteel_ said:

He totally slept with Jaeharys’ wife Alysanne. With the information we have, there is no other way Alysanne could’ve had that much sway over Alaric. He was described to be much like Stannis is. And it was known that he was cheap and he quite frankly didn’t like even Alysanne much at first. Plus she was up there without Jaeharys for like 6 months. In short, they banged. Or maybe he, for a lack of a better word, simped over her.

That would be stooping low for the queen.  That moment of indiscretion could end with the both of their heads rolling into a wicker basket.  She was not like that.  Alaric was an older man with all that lust behind him years ago.  Viagra would not come into the market for another 10K years.  

Hoster was a nasty lord.  Consider this could be karma.  He betrayed King Aerys to increase his status.  His house is paying the price if the Stark, Baratheon, and Tully families were conspiring against the Targaryens prior to Robert's rebellion.  This illness was then inherited by Catelyn and on down to her children.  

On 10/3/2023 at 11:40 AM, Alden Rothack said:

How wealthy would northern lords such as the Boltons, Dustins, Ryswells and Manderlys actually be

Manderly is wealthy by the standards of the North.  Boltons, Dustins, Ryswells, and Starks are much less so than their Southern counterparts.  The Starks would be poor compared to the Tyrells.

On 10/3/2023 at 10:21 AM, Darrow of Lykos said:

Thinking on it, anytime Casterly Rock is mentioned, it’s impregnability is always brought up. Much like Harrenhal pre conquest. It is also made of rock and stone. Should Cersei flee to Casterly Rock after fAegon takes King’s Landing as many think he will, could Daenerys use all 3 dragons to turn Casterly Rock into a giant oven. Sort of the opposite of what Tywin did to the Reynes? With Fire instead of Water?

The Lannisters deserve it.  Burn Casterly Rock, but not before taking the gold.  

On 6/5/2023 at 12:35 PM, Lady Stonehearts Simp said:

I think many Freys are going to die. Not all, but a lot. Those left will be destitute, they’ll lose the Twins. Hopefully Old Walder lives long enough to see his house’s ruin, then gets torn apart by Nymeria’s wolfpack

Or the Freys will find Nymeria and add another fur to Lord Walder's collection.  I expect he already has Greywind hanging among the tapestries.  They do not deserve to lose the Twins.  The Starks were destructive rebels who were causing too much loses of lives and property.  Robb was dirty from the very beginning even before he betrayed Lord Walder. 

Robert Baratheon should receive most of the "credit" for the most casualties.  His incompetence brought Westeros to its lowest point in history.  He inherited a very rich treasury from King Aerys Targaryen and squandered away.  Robert and his lackeys, Jon Arryn and Ned Stark squandered the Targaryen treasures.  The Baratheons quarreled among themselves over the right to rule. 

Jon Arryn and Ned Stark for enabling Robert to stay on the throne despite the damage the big boy was causing.

Stannis and Renly Baratheon

Jon Snow for destroying the ancient order which protected Westeros from the Others.  Jon will do much more harm when he helps the Others cross under the Wall to Westeros. 

Arya is slowly losing her sanity and maybe that is punishment enough for killing Daeron and the insurance agent.  Arya will be guilty of more murders in the coming books.  Not even insanity is adequate punishment for those crimes.