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Sandy Clegg

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Everything posted by Sandy Clegg

  1. Uh, I dunno. I'm one entity but if someone started hacking away my fingers and toes I'd kind of want them to desist!
  2. Do we think that Dany is here reenacting the 'original magic' that bonded Targaryens to dragons way back when, in Valyria? We have to assume that at one point Targs were just like anyone else, and that some magic event kickstarted their dragon-ness, right? Perhaps what was common knowledge among Valyrian noble families did become lost over time.
  3. You could see this as evidence of his Southern Ambitions, perhaps. Maybe he won them in a tourney?
  4. We should maybe look to Dragonstone as that seems to be Gargoyle Central, no?
  5. Arya sees Cerwyn leaving Harrenhall cocooned in a burial shroud ... Of course, axes to me conjure up bats rather than moths, but hey they both fly.
  6. Maybe the cookbook George has been plugging will contain some answers?
  7. Have you tried any wordplay on the word thirteen yet @Seams? Ultimate combo
  8. Have you tried any wordplay on the word thirteen yet @Seams? Ultimate combo
  9. I’m excited for an undead Jon storyline, it feels like the natural next step for his arc. He’s spent time with the wildlings and seen their ‘human side’. Maybe something similar will happen with the Others.
  10. I think this may have already been happening since book one. If they don’t have purely physical form then their influence may be more widespread than we have thought..
  11. It makes sense that world-shaking events occur by the end of the series, sure. I think the cyclical angle could still feature, though, maybe on a more cosmic scale perhaps. George likes his big sci-fi ideas.
  12. Wonder if Arya will ever add her own name to her list. That’s on my bingo card now
  13. Another theory video which might generate some interesting discussion on here. This one is about foreshadowing of Stark children skinchanging giants, and is quite intriguing. Let me know what you guys think! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=haTU17AKQBI
  14. The Shadrich/HR theory kind of assumes that he is playing a role, not acting strictly as himself. That’s kind of the point. His stature and seemingly above average cunning are the key here, not superficial looks that can be part of mummers gear. Also worthy of note is the fact that he makes it to Sansa where Brienne falls short. If he is a mere sellsword this feels a little odd, narratively. His success marks him out for scrutiny therefore. He tests Brienne out but ultimately decides her blunt bull-headed approach is counterproductive and might put Sansa in jeopardy even. It’s kind of important to this guy that he do this mission properly. As HR might feel about the safety of one of Ned’s children. As for seeing no narrative purpose? I think this is just called ‘not being GRRM’. A problem we must all face. If there’s a story to be told, George will tell it.
  15. That’s another good instance of boob shenanigans I hadn’t thought of. Aegon’s legitimacy is a huge question left hanging in the series. If George was sowing seeds this early on then wow.
  16. I like the Borroq connection and I do think Borroq being a form of hog-boy (i.e. a skin changer who wargs an actual hog) and his positioning at the lich-yard (a place of burial) are a deliberate GRRM clue to this Pate/Jon connection. If Borroq is antagonistic and tries to acquire Jon's direwolf, then perhaps this would force undead Jon into warging the boar's body rather than Ghost's, until he can somehow reclaim him.
  17. But equally, due to the theme of deception here, it may hint towards suspicions regarding Dany’s rebirth. I think there’s a lot to unpick here before settling on one reading. I think the connection if anything lies in the narrative form rather than content or lore. We aren’t shown Bran at Old Nan’s breast, we are shown the dragons at Dany’s, in the final sentence. These to me have resonance beyond in-world ideas of wet nurses.
  18. The fact that those are the two at Dany's breast, it would seem like that's a fair reading of the symbolism. I wonder if it was a seed that George had sown ... without thinking about where it would lead exactly. Perhaps the dragons themselves have something amiss with them. I wonder if there have been other threads on this?
  19. Shout-out to this blog: Bluetiger and The Tolkienic Song of Ice and Fire ... Some nice thoughts on where character names may have come from in ASOIAF. https://theambercompendium.wordpress.com/tag/norse-mythology/
  20. From the first page of Book 1. Then at the end of this book we get a callback: The placement of this idea of things being heard at a woman's breast, and their deceptiveness (never to be believed) ... does anyone else find this worth exploring further? It feels too neat and symmetrical to be meaningless, with the final line recalling the first page so aptly.
  21. GRRM writes a lot in ASOIAF about dragons, and about the undead. He also writes about drowned Gods, storm gods and icy climates. One ghostly figure from Norse mythology may combine all of these ideas in one: the Draugen. People who have played Skyrim will be familiar with the draugr - wighted creatures who inhabit tombs in the icy wastelands of that game. The term draugr is from Old Norse, and essentially is the same as a wight. An undead ghoul inhabiting a tomb or barrow. The word draug or draugr may refer to them in general, and the Draugen may have been the original inspiration for their name: Now the word draugen has no etymological connection with dragon. It's just a coincidence. But perhaps GRRM has latched onto this similarity and is using it to weave in some parallels between his ice and fire themes. Draugr are a huge topic worth exploring in relation to ASOIAF but I'd like to highlight one example of a 'draugen' which has some very interesting similarities to one particular character in the series. Pate: the hog boy? In the Orkney islands of Scotland there is a legend of a particular 'burial mound spirit' who is said to haunt the barrows of the dead in that region. His name is a derivation of the the Old Norse word for 'mound-dweller' - haug-bui - and so in modern English this entity has become popularly known as Hogboy, or sometimes Hog-boon: I've speculated before that Pate has some solid symbolic connections to Jon Snow, especially in the context of Jon becoming wighted (at least temporarily) in TWOW. With the connection between 'hog boy' wights and our unfortunate 'pig boy' then perhaps GRRM is leaning heavily into his fondness for Scandinavian folklore in his clues for Jon's foreshadowing ...
  22. Because in Bosnian and Croatian 'persimmon' is dragun. She has to remember who she is .... in Bosnian and Croatian I guess?
  23. I can never hear Al Pacino the same after learning this ...
  24. Doesn't being a godfather entail some kind of duty towards the godchild? Jojen and Meera are not at the Neck. They have chosen a fate that is tied up with looking after one of the younger children of Ned Stark. What looks to be a dangerous mission, perhaps. But Jojen having greensight may be an important part of this. If Howland respects the greensight, as he probably does, then he may have had to reluctantly let his children go off to serve Bran. How could he do no less with regards to Ned's girls? The Reeds' motives are extremely difficult to ascertain. We know HR was loyal to Ned, and would therefore be as loyal to his children. His own kids are older and seem far more capable, in their own way, so leaving them to go off North of the Wall is a different proposition. The Reeds - both generations - ought to get a little more credit for wanting to play an active role in supporting the Starks and the North. If Shadrich is HR then he is doing his part - through stealth tactics, subterfuge and possibly a touch of magic. Not out of character at all.
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