Sandy Clegg

The three comets theory is certainly one that can be inferred from the books, in particular the first three chapters of A Feast for Crows. Well, the prologue plus the first two chapters to be precise. The pages are dripping with symbolism once you start to look for it, as LmL has pointed out in his many excellent posts and videos. Apologies if these have already been mentioned by him or others, but here goes. So, the red comet as seen in A Clash of Kings has already come and gone by the time of the events of AFFC and there have been tales of moons cracking like an egg, etc etc. If you're reading this thread it's likely you know all about the sun/moon symbolism which plays out throughout the books. But with his fourth book, it's as if GRRM really wants to lay on the foreshadowing from the get-go, hence the first three chapters each get their own 'three comets' moment. 1. The Prologue. We start with Alleras (the Sphinx) shooting three apples with three arrows. "Far and fast the apple flew . . . . . . but not as fast as the arrow that whistled after it, a yard-long shaft of golden wood fletched with scarlet feathers. Pate did not see the arrow catch the apple, but he heard it. A soft chunk echoed back across the river, followed by a splash." Each arrow is gold, fletched with red. The red/goldmotif is a key part of the symbolism - the colours of a fiery comet, after all, with the tail in particular showing red. Note that the last arrow fails to meet its target - a sign of hope that a comet-collision disaster can be averted perhaps? LmL has gone into a lot of detail on this apple-shooting exercise, so I won't go into it further. We have our red x 3. 2. The Prophet The chapter has barely begun when Aeron Damphair is met on the beach by three men. These are not the comets - not yet. Eventually, though, the third of the group is described; and with somewhat more back-story than is necessary for such a minor character (he plays no further part in the book other than to let Aaron take his horse): "Aeron knew the Sparr, a hatchet-faced old man with watery eyes whose quavery voice was law on this part of Great Wyk. His son Steffarion accompanied him, with another youth whose dark red fur-lined cloak was pinned at the shoulder with an ornate brooch that showed the black-and-gold warhorn of the Goodbrothers. One of Gorold's sons, the priest decided at a glance. Three tall sons had been born to Goodbrother's wife late in life, after a dozen daughters, and it was said that no man could tell one son from the others. Aeron Damphair did not deign to try. Whether this be Greydon or Gormond or Gran, the priest had no time for him." Three sons, who presumably would dress in a similar vein to each other (family colours and all). Red cloaks are here being read as symbols for the tails of comets. I didn't find any mention of their hair colour - GRRM never makes these things too neat. But again, red x 3. (The final son eventually takes his leave of Aeron to deliver the message of Balon's death to his cousins in Downdelving, Crow Spike Keep and Corpse Lake. Those three names seem very foreboding to me, although I can't quite put my finger on why.) 3. The Captain of the Guards OK, so this one is short but sweet. GRRM isn't letting go of the theme, but still he keeps it subtle (-ish). Very first lines are: " The blood oranges are well past ripe," the prince observed in a weary voice, when the captain rolled him onto the terrace. After that he did not speak again for hours. It was true about the oranges. A few had fallen to burst open on the pale pink marble. The sharp sweet smell of them filled Hotah's nostrils each time he took a breath. No doubt the prince could smell them too, as he sat beneath the trees in the rolling chair Maester Caleotte had made for him, with its goose-down cushions and rumbling wheels of ebony and iron. For a long while the only sounds were the children splashing in the pools and fountains, and once a soft plop as another orange dropped onto the terrace to burst. Then, from the far side of the palace, the captain heard the faint drumbeat of boots on marble. Now, I'm no maths wizard but "a few" blood oranges + "another one" could conceivably be construed as three blood oranges. A fine symbol of spherical redness mixed with gold/yellow if ever I saw one. And for those CotF conspiracy fans out there, there is something for you, as we hear the sounds of children just before the last orange drops onto terra. I mean terrace. Then we hear a drumbeat. Now, regular customers of the tinfoil haberdashery might go so far as to see implications of a seismic nature here, but I certainly won't go that far ... Well, there they are. Three chapters. Three mentions of red x3. Far too close together to be a coincidence in my opinion. When exactly we can expect to see the next two comets is anybody's guess, but with a all the 'dragon has 3 heads' prophecy business, I'd say there's a good chance we'll see them in TWOW and ADOS. My longest post by far I think. I welcome the forum's thoughts. Have you seen any other trios of red in the books?

This kind of symbolism goes a long way to explaining why GRRM includes so much 'foody detail' in his books. Indeed, just as lemons are a water symbol (or ice symbol, for ASOIAF purposes), ginger - and cinnamon - are linked with fire. The etymology of ginger throw up this gem, too: "The English origin of the word, "ginger", is from the mid-14th century, from Old English gingifer, from Medieval Latin gingiber, from Greek zingiberis, from Prakrit (Middle Indic) singabera, from Sanskrit srngaveram, from srngam "horn" and vera- "body", from the shape of its root." (Wikipedia). And 'candied' is basically just a synonym for 'crystallised'. So in 'candied ginger' we potentially have crystallised fiery horn-bodies. Does this increase the chances of dragon eggs being in one of those chests?

Big fan of the Planet X theory, or anything related to the astronomy-related mythos of ASOIAF. Maester Luwin's Myrish lens is probably the biggest Chekov's gun in the whole series for me - and a sign that we might be in for a blend of fantasy and sci-fi before the end of the series. The Lovecraft allusions are also undeniable, I'm just wondering how much of this is just adding 'flavour' to the world of ASOIAF as opposed to plot points which have yet to be revealed. Hoping for the latter, obviously Regarding the Mother of Mountains, though: it's mentioned in AGOT that Khal Drogo and the other Khals spend some time up the mountain, so that would suggest it is a regular, albeit large, outcropping and not alien in nature. The name is intriguing though, as where there is a Mother, the implication would be that there is a also a Father - perhaps an even larger Mountain which has remained unmentioned in canon (thus far). This might be the "shadow planet" over Asshai that the OP is theorising?

I'd watch a Dunk & Egg series. Should be low-budget enough without CGI creatures that they can really just focus on the story. Not much material as yet with only three stories, but they might lend themselves to better to self-contained episodes written by other writers. Egg's actor would have to not age too much either, so maybe they have him be late teens at the start of the series.

I posted this elsewhere, but the character Shae may have been inspired by one of France's most infamous poisoners, Catherine Deshayes: http://murderpedia.org/female.D/d/deshayes-catherine.htm Catherine Deshayes, sometimes known as Catherine Monvoisin, or simply La Voisin was a French serial killer. She was born around 1640, and executed as a witch on 16 February 1680, in Paris; together with several others. She played an important role in the so-called Affair of the Poisons. She lived from charging high fees to make horosocopes. She celebrated black masses, practiced abortions, sold love potions and poisons. She is said to have sacrificed infants. Pronouned with the silent 'S' in French, so clear similarity there. It's also been speculated that Shae may have had a hand in one or two of the poison plots going on in Storm of Swords. There's admittedly a lot of Melisandre in her as well, though. I really love the idea that GRRM has been seeking inspiration from women in history who were instigators and masters of their own fate - even if Deshayes was on the shadier end of the scale. It makes the books that much more grounded in reality.

no. 6: GRRM will finish the series

Funnily enough, there was an infamous poisoner in French history called Catherine Deshayes - pronounced de-shae. She was actually involved in a plot to kill the king and was eventually burned as a sorceress for her crimes. https://h2g2.com/edited_entry/A4197585 GRRM is known for his love of history - could he be tipping a wink as to Shae's role in poisoning Joff? It also lends credence to the theory that she was sent by Varys (or Oberyn, or Ellaria, or Littlefinger for all we know) to poison Tywin.

Choose a character from ASOIAF / Dunk & Egg, etc. Write a Limerick featuring that character. The ruder the better, but that's just me. Retreat to the pub, have a pint and wait for all this to blow over.

OK, not related to this topic specifically but ... I was just looking at this and all the other thousand thread titles and thought to myself: Sheesh, no wonder it's taking GRRM a decade to write this book - he himself has to think about all this stuff. It must drive him absolutely bonkers!