Heresy 83

[The Snowfyre Chorus]

...MMD was not speaking literally and that Mormont has no idea what the baby really looked like.

Babies simply do not gestate for years... and any dead fetus full of graveworms (how did that happen?!) would dramatically have compromised Dany's health long before.

So MMD's statement is BS from a factual perspective. This is likely a metaphor about corruption, such as the corruption of House Targaryen, and MMD's clear disinterest in perpetuating it.

Dany's pregnancy, beyond any possible argument, did not take place over multiple years.

Ergo, MMD's statement -- that Dany's baby had been dead for years -- cannot possibly be literally accurate.

Now, sir, I'll place a wager with you. I'll bet you can't find an instance of any human baby taking years to gestate... anywhere in these books.

Care to take that wager?

I'm not arguing with you... I don't think. Given how much I respect your posts in general, I'm just not quite sure you're being serious. If it's subtle trolling you're going for, then I say bravo - nicely done. This response to the text is nonsensical enough to be funny. Now if you dig in and hammer this argument repeatedly for half a dozen threads or so, you'll be well on your way to AtS level troll-dom! ;)

Ah... but now I see you've posted about this again, and it seems you really might actually be making this argument. In which case, I think you should reread the chapters in question. MMD doesn't say that Dany was pregnant for years, nor that her child had been gestating for years. What she says is that "the creature that came forth from [her] womb..." had been "dead for years."

So I'll echo Urrax's post above, and refer to the suggestion I made earlier today (ETA: post #70), that there is a transformational fetus-exchange taking place - child for dragon.

This is a fantasy narrative, and magic exists in Martin's fictional universe. "Literal" is not the same thing as "factual," or even "possible in the real world"... we assume you suspended your disbelief at the door, and all that matters is whether an event is possible in Martin's constructed setting. That, and a certain degree of internal consistency.

I'll go ahead and say that I do think Martin distracts the reader here (as he does elsewhere) with some great dialogue - to the point that it's easy not to notice that we don't actually get an answer to Dany's question. Dany asks: "Hey, so how did my child die? He was alive and kicking when I entered the tent." And MMD says "Welp. I just pulled an ancient, rotted demon from your womb. Deal."

For my money, Dany's child still lives. In her dragons. And she knows it instinctively - that's why the first thing she asks for upon waking is not "the baby," but a dragon egg.

Anyway, for reference, here's a fuller excerpt of the passage that set this off:

“...Tell me how my child died."

"He never lived, my princess. The women say ..." [Jorah] faltered, and Dany saw how the flesh hung loose on him, and the way he limped when he moved.

"Tell me. Tell me what the women say."

He turned his face away. His eyes were haunted. "They say the child was ..."

She waited, but Ser Jorah could not say it. His face grew dark with shame. He looked half a corpse himself.

"Monstrous," Mirri Maz Duur finished for him. The knight was a powerful man, yet Dany understood in that moment that the maegi was stronger, and crueler, and infinitely more dangerous. "Twisted. I drew him forth myself. He was scaled like a lizard, blind, with the stub of a tail and small leather wings like the wings of a bat. When I touched him, the flesh sloughed off the bone, and inside he was full of graveworms and the stink of corruption. He had been dead for years."

Darkness, Dany thought. The terrible darkness sweeping up behind to devour her. If she looked back she was lost. "My son was alive and strong when Ser Jorah carried me into this tent," she said. "I could feel him kicking, fighting to be born."

"That may be as it may be," answered Mirri Maz Duur, "yet the creature that came forth from your womb was as I said. Death was in that tent, Khaleesi."

[The Snowfyre Chorus]

Hmmm. Maybe the monster, if there was one, was in fact the dragon fetus in one of the eggs, grown old and rotten? Not that I have any idea how it would have gotten into Dany's womb (while presumably the child in her womb got into the dragon egg and hatched as one of her three, I forget which one).

Yes. :agree:

I think this is the explanation that makes sense. See post #70 in this thread for discussion on one way this could play out. And I'm sure there are other factors I didn't consider...

(Damn this thread is moving fast. I almost missed one of my own posts...)

[evita mgfs]

Yes. :agree:

I think this is the explanation that makes sense. See post #70 in this thread for discussion on one way this could play out. And I'm sure there are other factors I didn't consider...

(Damn this thread is moving fast. I almost missed one of my own posts...)

yes - I said the same thing - only I referenced Black Crow's CHANGLING myth.

I feel quite certain that the "kicking babe" exchanged - or skinchanged - with the contents of one egg, thereby becoming a dragon born in fire and blood.

There was no doubt more magic involved in the exchange as well. Since this is my first fantasy series and since I am new to the genre, I try not to overthink the magic.

[evita mgfs]

REGARDING THE "FOES" FROM CRASTER'S KEEP:

Coldhand's affirms that the NW men who die are FOES, excluding Bran's assertion that they are BROTHERS. These NW brothers are "kinslayers" having murdered their own LC under Craster's roof. The foes killed their host Craster, they raped Craster's wives and daughters, and they depleted the winter stores.

For their grievous acts, they are punished in a way that fits their crimes - they are disemboweled, displayed, and cannibalized.

Also, please validate the "talking" raven?

IMPORTANT: It is very likely the raven that sits on CH’s shoulder is actually Mormont’s raven. The bird stayed with Mormont’s corpse, and later it is reported that the bird ate the LC’s face – and the raven likely has something to do with the NW violators meeting an ugly fate.

Ok - I am done, I hope.

[wolfmaid7]

Dido :agree:

[Eira Seren]

ETA: nevermind, deleted.

[addicted to snow]

I'm not arguing with you... I don't think. Given how much I respect your posts in general, I'm just not quite sure you're being serious. If it's subtle trolling you're going for, then I say bravo - nicely done. This response to the text is nonsensical enough to be funny. Now if you dig in and hammer this argument repeatedly for half a dozen threads or so, you'll be well on your way to AtS level troll-dom! ;)

Ah... but now I see you've posted about this again, and it seems you really might actually be making this argument. In which case, I think you should reread the chapters in question. MMD doesn't say that Dany was pregnant for years, nor that her child had been gestating for years. What she says is that "the creature that came forth from [her] womb..." had been "dead for years."

So I'll echo Urrax's post above, and refer to the suggestion I made earlier today (ETA: post #70), that there is a transformational fetus-exchange taking place - child for dragon.

This is a fantasy narrative, and magic exists in Martin's fictional universe. "Literal" is not the same thing as "factual," or even "possible in the real world"... we assume you suspended your disbelief at the door, and all that matters is whether an event is possible in Martin's constructed setting. That, and a certain degree of internal consistency.

I'll go ahead and say that I do think Martin distracts the reader here (as he does elsewhere) with some great dialogue - to the point that it's easy not to notice that we don't actually get an answer to Dany's question. Dany asks: "Hey, so how did my child die? He was alive and kicking when I entered the tent." And MMD says "Welp. I just pulled an ancient, rotted demon from your womb. Deal."

For my money, Dany's child still lives. In her dragons. And she knows it instinctively - that's why the first thing she asks for upon waking is not "the baby," but a dragon egg.

Anyway, for reference, here's a fuller excerpt of the passage that set this off:

I don't think he was trying to be funny… He was simply stating that MMD was not telling the truth in much of what she told Dany (because it is not possible), therefore the the reader must also call into question her other statements about the deformities, and ask whether or not the child was deformed at all.

[Black Crow]

Whilst I have no strong views on what happened in the tent I do have to say in general terms both here and elsewhere that denying the truth of what the author has written simply because it could not possibly have happened thus is not a sufficient argument in itself, given that said author is writing a story set in a world where dragons fly and dead men walk.

[alienarea]

Whilst I have no strong views on what happened in the tent I do have to say in general terms both here and elsewhere that denying the truth of what the author has written simply because it could not possibly have happened thus is not a sufficient argument in itself, given that said author is writing a story set in a world where dragons fly and dead men walk.

Agreed, but still a year is a year. Daenerys wasn't pregnant for even half a year, so her unborn cannot be dead for years.

[Black Crow]

True, but the theory as I understand it in this case is that Dany, being a dragon and sleeping with dragon eggs had a changeling inside her, not a human child. What then happened with the fire thing was effectively a re-booting of a failed process. Arguably the importance of what is said to have happened in the tent, the point of the dead dragon chick (?) is a pointer to her own nature as a dragon.

[Black Crow]

The appendix lists nine mutineers at Craster's. Ollo Lophand, Dirk, Garth of Greenway, Mawney, Grubbs, Allan of Rosby, Clubfoot Karl, Orphan Oss and Muttering Bill.

The direwolf's pale yellow eyes drank in the sights around them. A nest of entrails coiled through a bush, entangled with the branches. Steam rising from an open belly, rich with the smells of blood and meat. A head staring sightlessly up at a horned moon, cheeks ripped and torn down to bloody bone, pits for eyes, neck ending in a ragged stump. A pool of frozen blood glistening red and black.

Men. The stink of them filled the world. Alive, they had been as many as the fingers on a man's paw, but now they were none.

So that leaves at least four of them unaccounted for. Also any of the wives they kept alive.

Also it's interesting that the entrails are coiled and woven through the branches of the trees. Immediately brings to mind the old First Men sacrifice ritual, like what Brandon Ice Eyes Stark did to the Slavers he drove out of White Harbour. Varamyr/One Eye's pack is certainly responsible for a lot of the carnage, but they couldn't have coiled the entrails into the tree branches, Coldhands must have done it.

True, I think the entrails in the trees certainly references Brandon Ice Eyes. Not that I'd be inclined to suggest he and Coldhands are one and the same, but that the significance may go beyond the First Men to his icy eyes and his attacking in a notably cold winter.

As to Craster's place; as I said before their continued presence doesn't rule out the boys having turned up like the Devil at prayers in the meantime. They may be pretty deadly but they don't hang around, and having survived by doing a runner, Ollo and his mates have nowhere else to go and no food or horses to get them there. They wouldn't have much choice but to return to the keep once the sons had gone.

[evita mgfs]

True, but the theory as I understand it in this case is that Dany, being a dragon and sleeping with dragon eggs had a changeling inside her, not a human child. What then happened with the fire thing was effectively a re-booting of a failed process. Arguably the importance of what is said to have happened in the tent, the point of the dead dragon chick (?) is a pointer to her own nature as a dragon.rea

:bowdown: :bowdown: Ha! I am a true student of heresy, and on the previous page 7, #140, I quote Black Crow and his changeling theory - and I employ similar evidence! My previous post demonstrates my acquisition of knowledge since my few weeks miraculously "keeping up" with the thread. Thus, I think I am officially a "heretic", and I hope there is a prize involved. It is no easy task keeping up with you heretics - you all move fast.

Black Crow, you deserve the prize for your patience.

[Eira Seren]

ADDENDUM TO “THE BLOOD MOTIF”:

THE CATHOLIC MASS AND THE TRANSUBSTANTIATION OF CHRIST IN HOLY COMMUNION OR RECEIVING THE EUCHARIST

CONTINUED: “THE BLOOD MOTIF”

THE UNITY OF BLOOD: WINTERFELL, THE CRYPTS, AND THE WEIRWOOD TREE

His final vision depicts a beheading beneath a young heart tree in Winterfell. The executioner takes off a man’s head in one sweep of the blade, his blood spraying onto the earth. Somehow, through the magic of the CotF and Bran’s own powers, when the hot blood seeps into the ground, Bran tastes it – and Bran’s reaction is not revulsion.

Martin’s conscientious construction and organization of his novels offer invaluable information and are resources where the visionary Martin has conveniently stored much and more. Martin leads by example, guiding his readers and fans to return to the beginning- his first novel of the series A Game of Thrones.

Each Prologue up to this point has alternated between Ice and Fire, starting with AGoT (certainly North of the Wall and pertaining to Ice). The only possible exception would be AFfC, with the alchemist (Pate) @ the Citadel. But I think once we all get a little more information the "key" will be directed towards the Fire side of the song.

Whichever side of the Wall the Prologue is; safe bet that someone is going to die or has died. My wish...would be that we get a 101 course on the dragonbinding sort of like what happened with Varamry and his warging 101 in ADwD. GRRM could well go back to the funeral pyre and give us MMD's POV; unless she is still existing in one off Dany's other two "children".

Evita, I'm really glad to see you're still working on this, it's got so many terrific pieces. The part of the blood sacrifice with the Starks, (and Bran, particularly) makes me think of Theon's sample chapter in TWOW. Wonder how that will play out? The idea that they are ingesting the blood kind of gives me the chills, but I'm with you. No wonder Mel wants to sacrifice someone with King's blood?

Mace, what if we get Stannis as the Prologue POV? I doubt it'd be Mel, since we've already had one from her in ADWD, and Prologue POV's are so terribly expendable.

[redriver]

Evita, I'm really glad to see you're still working on this, it's got so many terrific pieces. The part of the blood sacrifice with the Starks, (and Bran, particularly) makes me think of Theon's sample chapter in TWOW. Wonder how that will play out? The idea that they are ingesting the blood kind of gives me the chills, but I'm with you. No wonder Mel wants to sacrifice someone with King's blood?

Mace, what if we get Stannis as the Prologue POV? I doubt it'd be Mel, since we've already had one from her in ADWD, and Prologue POV's are so terribly expendable.

Careful Eira,we'll get a mob of disgruntled StanFans moving Heresy at one every 24 hours....

[evita mgfs]

Evita, I'm really glad to see you're still working on this, it's got so many terrific pieces. The part of the blood sacrifice with the Starks, (and Bran, particularly) makes me think of Theon's sample chapter in TWOW. Wonder how that will play out? The idea that they are ingesting the blood kind of gives me the chills, but I'm with you. No wonder Mel wants to sacrifice someone with King's blood?

snip

EIRA SEREN: THANK YOU. I sometimes dare to speculate - but each novel is filled with such gems that continue building the blood motif, so it is wrong of me to jump ahead.

I have read many, many threads detailing the Theon-as-Sacrifice beneath the weirwood - that Theon will shed his blood to allow Jon Snow to be reborn. Only death pays for life.

I thought Theon may feed the weirwood as a sacrifice as well - now, not so much. A few "blood" signs in AGoT and other novels in the series point to only a Stark can execute Theon for the "magic" to occur - and Starks are in short supply. Truly, Theon is the closest "thing" to a Stark, and Theon's presence in WF is especially valuable to the northmen, some of whom "may" remember the knowledge the First Men knew now forgotten in WF. [Hint: Lady Dustin opens the crypts with a purpose, in part to "remove" the sword from Lord Brandon's lap.]

Bran is so powerful that he creates "monsters" of his own - Coldhands - and with Bran's powers increasing in each Theon POV at WF in ADwD, Bran appears adept at skinchanging multiples - not one body at a time. Moreover, Bran skinchanges - or embodies - "things" or forces, like the wind, the grey mists, the grey stone bricks of WF - along with ravens, Summer, Hodor, and Bran somehow "makes" monsters!]

In addition, Bran "may" forgive Theon after hearing his confession in the godswood. Bran touches Theon's forehead, a red leaf from the heart tree falls, brushes Theon's brow, and lands in the black pool. Bran's communication with Theon is not vengeful. However, I fear Bran will initially misuse his powers. Bran is very young to wield these magical forces. I often think of Ned's advice to Bran in AGoT:

One day Bran, you will be Robb’s bannerman, holding a keep of your own for your brother and your king, and justice will belong to you.When this day comes, you must take no pleasure in the task, but neither must you look away.A ruler who hides behind paid executioners soon forgets what death is” (16).

NOW, I will ADJUST Ned’s wording to fit Bran’s situation “presently” as we know it:

“One day, Bran, you will be a greenseer, sitting a weirwood throne of your own for the old gods of the North, and justice will belong to you.When that day comes, you must take no vengeance for personal reasons, but neither must you shirk your duties as part of the godhood.A god who hides behind the face of a weirwood tree soon forgets what death is.”

Those are a few hints for now! More details later.

Thanks again!

[addicted to snow]

Evita, I'm really glad to see you're still working on this, it's got so many terrific pieces. The part of the blood sacrifice with the Starks, (and Bran, particularly) makes me think of Theon's sample chapter in TWOW. Wonder how that will play out? The idea that they are ingesting the blood kind of gives me the chills, but I'm with you. No wonder Mel wants to sacrifice someone with King's blood?

Mace, what if we get Stannis as the Prologue POV? I doubt it'd be Mel, since we've already had one from her in ADWD, and Prologue POV's are so terribly expendable.

Stannis has suggested that he will faking his own death, so a Stannis Prologue would be interesting… It would make readers that much more certain of his (fake) death considering the ultimate demise all previous Prologue characters, save one...

[evita mgfs]

AN: Advancing my blood motif analysis is the first part of Bran, with evidences from AGoT that parallel or suggest future events mentioned in later novels. The “Bran” aspect of my thesis consists of three separate parts, and this is Part I. The “Bran” section is nearly complete. I know I am wordy, and I know I repeat information, often to emphasize something important. I sincerely appreciate any feedback – let me know if I err in any part of presenting my information. I want my evidences to be correctly reproduced and followed up by analytical commentary. Thanks!

PART I: HOW SUMMER and BLOOD EMPOWER BRAN THE GREENSEER in AGoT:

“Bran could not take his eyes off the blood” (150).

1. INTRODUCTION: HBO’S SERIES BASED on MARTIN’S NOVELS
   

Fantasy fiction readers and A Game of Thrones television viewers quickly and effortlessly grasp Bran’s superior intuitive abilities and look to the novels and/or episodes that follow to attend to Bran discovering, then mastering, his powers. Season 3 of the HBO series A Game of Thrones based on the novels reveals additional information to tease the fans and readers. To illustrate, when thunder and lightning frighten Hodor, he cries out, drawing unwanted attention to Bran and his companions, Rickon, Osha, Jojen, and Meera, all of whom are hiding in an abandoned tower where a gang of wildlings have gathered beneath their window, among them Bran’s bastard brother Jon Snow and a “skinchanger” named Orell.

The viewing audience knows of Orell’s “skinchanging” abilities from an earlier scene, but the readers of the series ASoIaF know that a “practicing” skinchanger can “sense” the presence of another skinchanger. Orell’s facial expressions indicate that he intuits Bran’s company , but between timely pauses in the thunder audio-track, Hodor’s cries are discernable. As a result, readers and viewers garner some satisfaction in continuity from the page to the screen. Orell voices his suspicions to Tormund Giantsbane, who dismisses Orell’s concerns, blaming the thunder for what Orell believes that he hears.

Meanwhile, above in the tower, no one can quiet Hodor, and the fear of discovery has their group panicking. Bran’s terror brings on a visible response: his eyes seemingly roll back into his head to be replaced by white lenses. Suddenly, Hodor ceases “hodoring”, and his eyes mirror Bran’s. But Hodor totally disengages from his environment and those in it. His knees fold under him, and the stifled giant slumps to the floor.

The HBO audience has witnessed the visual manifestation of skinchanging in Orell, so that when Bran skinchanges for the first time, the nature of Bran’s magic has already been introduced. This physical aspect of warging and skinchanging is an inclusion to the television show and not a symptom entertained in the novels.

Jojen expresses amazement and awe, realizing that Bran calms Hodor by entering his mind. Jojen divulges meaningful information to Bran and to the HBO audience: Jojen explains that no one has ever demonstrated magical powers as great as Bran’s. Jojen Reed validates what Martin only insinuates in A Dance with Dragons through Varamyr Sixskin’s “Prologue”. When Varamyr fails to “skinchange” Thistle, a wildling spearwife, he is met with disappointment that suggests even after a lifetime of managing control over six creatures, Varamyr’s magic is limited to animals only. Bran, on the contrary, skinchanges with Hodor rather easily.

Martin’s POV narration through Varamyr Sixskins reveals a sacred code of morality among skinchangers. Haggon teaches his student V6S that to seize the body of another is an abomination. Considering Jojen’s reaction to Bran’s means of “calming” Hodor, the greendreamer does not express horror at Bran committing an “abomination”. Furthermore, with the threat of the wildlings outside the tower, Jojen urges Bran to engage his powers to enter the mind of his direwolf Summer, a skill that Jojen assures Bran is far easier than possessing and manipulating a human mind.

Jojen convinces Bran that he can consciously choose to “slip his skin” and reside in a prospective “host”, which Bran does. Outside, Summer, flanked by his litter-mate Shaggydog, is already alert to the presence of the recent arrivals, watching them while remaining safely concealed from detection. When Summer leaps into attack mode, it is a clue that Bran is exercising his will on his direwolf.

During this surprise ambush, Bran is rewarded with a glance of his bastard brother Jon Snow, whom he observes escaping on horseback. Bran “sees” through Summer’s eyes. In both the HBO television series AGoT and the novels in the ASoIaF, Bran’s potential is foreshadowed to exceed all expectations, which promises more first time events in the future.

B. THE FALL: BRAN’S VIOLENT PATH TO KNOWLEDGE

Bran’s acquisition of knowledge regarding his gifts of warging, skinchanging, and greenseeing begins in AGoT and then continues in the following novels in the series ASoIaF. Martin identifies Bran as the first of the Stark siblings to experience supernatural powers with his 3EC dream, his wolf dreams, and his tree dreams, all prefaces to Bran opening his third eye. Moreover, Bran’s experiences are a gauge by which readers may judge the progress the other Stark siblings are making as they follow suit, discovering their “wolf” spirits.

A “push” from a tower window causes Bran who never “falls” while climbing to FALL. Bran is the son his father once nicknamed “squirrel”, a tribute to Bran’s love of climbing trees, castle walls, and towers. Martin describes Bran joining the brooding gargoyles once atop the tower, and from a good vantage point, “Bran could see all of Winterfell in a glance. . . It made him feel like he was lord of the castle, in a way even Robb would never know”. Ironically, the 3EC plants a seed that will take root and blossom into what Bran will learn are his greenseeing powers.

Bran’s POV narratives in AGoT reveal that he devotes time studying the transformation of his oldest brother Robb into “Robb the Lord” as he accepts the responsibilities vacated by his father Eddard. Watching Robb achieve his designated role as the eldest of the Stark sons reminds Bran of the dreams he once had for his future, which he now has to abandon because he is crippled. However, Bran does not have the advantage of reading all the novels thus far completed in the series, so he is unaware of the far-reaching potential of his greenseeing magic.

It is likely that Bran will experience the dominion of a “lord” through his command of his powers. Through Bran’s sitting the weirwood throne, he may learn of a way to achieve those boyhood dreams he mourns losing. Yet after witnessing Robb suffer the demands of leadership and discovering the circumstances surrounding Robb’s fate, Bran may not be as eager as he once was to deal with the struggles of making decisions that will affect the fates of so many.

C. BRAN’S ASSOCIATION with the VIOLATIONS of the LAWS OF HOSPITALITY

The forces that are the old gods may appear to be more impotent than omnipotent, but gods work in mysterious ways, especially the old gods of the north. Represented as watching through the eyes of the weirwoods, the old gods appear related to elements in nature, such as stone, earth, tree, wind, and water. The revelation in the Cave of Skulls that Bran is a greenseer explains Bran’s “wolf” and “tree” dreams. Now that Bran is part of the godhood, sitting a weirwood throne of his own next to Lord Brynden, he will assert his powers, but how awaits to be seen.

Even though the old gods send the Stark siblings direwolf puppies to assist the awakening of their wolf spirits, the Starks need to be receptive and heed the alerts of their pups Otherwise, a Stark exercising “free will” often undermines the preventative measures the old gods established. For instance, Bran chooses to climb even though his direwolf pup’s “howling chased him all the way up the tree” (78-79). Moreover, when Bran turns to look down, Summer quiets, looking at Bran with “slitted yellow eyes” and warning him telepathically of the danger above. Bran feels a “strange chill” pass through him. Apparently, Bran’s pup is minding Bran, but Bran is not minding his pup.

Violations of the sacred laws of hospitality are believed to be so egregious and so blasphemous that the gods themselves punish the offender. The old gods’ assignation of punishment to the violator is a careful balance to ensure that the penance “fits” the crime.

While a guest of Lord Eddard Stark and a knight in King Robert’s kingsguard, Ser Jaime Lannister secretly meets with his sister Cersei in an abandoned tower, where they make love. In the throes of passion, Cersei catches sight of a child hanging outside the tower window. Bran’s fingers slip, and Jaime rescues Bran, ordering him to “TAKE MY HAND!” Bran desperately latches onto Jaime’s forearm and presses down so hard that he leaves welts. Bran’s fear is palpable. Regardless, a moment later, Jaime shoves Bran off the window sill, saying, “The things I do for love” (85).

It is karmic, ironic, and a matter of “poetic justice” that Jaime forfeits the very thing he orders Bran Stark to TAKE, his hand, his “sword” hand, the symbol of a knight’s power, the deliverer of death to a Targaryen king, the means by which Bran falls. “Taking” Jaime’s hand is a fate worse than death because without his sword hand, Jaime is a “cripple”. When Tyrion tells Jaime that Bran is going to live even with a broken neck and shattered legs, Jaime says, “. . .he will be a cripple. Worse than a cripple. A grotesque. Give me a good, clean death” (91).

It is unlikely the gods will oblige Jaime’s wishes; after all, dying is easy – “living” is hard. Since Jaime robs Bran of his future dreams, the forces that are the old gods, or that serve as agents of the old gods, will make sure that Jaime’s fate matches or exceeds the intensity of Bran’s suffering.

Jaime’s “violations” are threefold:

Jaime attempts to kill the son of his host.

Jaime fornicates with his own twin sister in an abandoned tower of his host’s castle.

Jaime commits treason when he and the queen have sexual relations while guests of Winterfell.

Bran is the Stark that Martin most associates with the sacred laws of hospitality. After his older brother Robb departs from Winterfell, Bran assumes the role of host to the Stark bannermen visiting Winterfell to pledge their fealty for another term. Bran must serve as his brother Robb and father Eddard do before him, so Bran models his hosting behavior on the two best men he knew.

Furthermore, through Old Nan’s story of the “Rat Cook”, Bran hears a cautionary tale that warns of harsh punishment for those who violate the laws of hospitality. Bran repeats this story for Jojen and Meera Reed when they take a break on their journey, and before they cross under the Wall to continue their odyssey to the Cave of Skulls.

The legend of the “Rat Cook” tells of a brother of the Night’s Watch who prepares a delicious pie to serve the visiting king. The king praises the culinary skills of the cook, after which the king learns that mixed in with the bacon filling is a secret ingredient: the King’s own son. The Nightfort cook avenges some wrong the King had visited upon him. Consequently, the old gods punish the cook for killing a guest under his own roof, and the penalty is extremely harsher than the laws of men: the cook is transformed into a giant rat destined to feed on his own young to nourish himself. The cook’s misery is a fate worse than a merciful death, and this legend exemplifies how the magical forces work. In the case of the cook, his punishment fits his crime: a rat is a fitting creature to house the Nightfort cook’s black soul. Rats are loathsome symbols of disease, waste, and deadliness. The moral of the story is to respect the sacred laws governing hospitality.

The Stark ancestry is clearly enmeshed in the sacred laws of hospitality and the guest right. The stone statues of the Lords of Winterfell and the Kings of Winter that uniformly line each level of the crypts best illustrates an association with refusing hospitality. The stone masons repeat the same “sitting” posture for all the dead, one that suggests the Starks “do not rest” in peace. With “stone eyes” open yet blind, the “dead of Winterfell seemed to watch with cold and disapproving eyes” (48). Even more telling is the unsheathed iron sword that rests across their knees, a symbol that a lord or king is refusing his hospitality. This unspoken threat is meant to discourage unwelcome guests. Furthermore, curled at the feet of the stone Starks is a stone direwolf, another warning that the Starks are not alone as enforcers of these sacred laws.

Martin emphasizes the significance of the unsheathed sword in AGoT through Bran’s narrative. Sitting on a cold stone “high seat” of House Stark, Robb receives guest Tyrion Lannister by striking a familiar pose:

“His sword was across his knees, the steel bare for all the world to see. Even Bran knew what it meant to greet a guest with an unsheathed sword” (242).

Compare Robb’s pose with the stone statues described in an early Eddard POV:

“By ancient custom an iron longsword had been laid across the lap of each who had been Lord of Winterfell, to keep the vengeful spirits in their crypts” and “great stone direwolves curled around their feet” (42).

Robb and Bran mirror the stone statues of the dead Lords of Winterfell, although the brothers sit on the antique seats of House Stark: “where the Lords of Winterfell had sat since the days when they called themselves Kings of the North. The seat was cold stone, polished smooth by countless bottoms; the carved heads of the direwolves snarled on the ends of the massive arms. Bran clasped them as he sat, his useless legs dangling” (243).

Bran orders Summer to heel when his direwolf “smells” Lannister, which Summer remembers from the day Bran was pushed from the broken tower. As a result, Summer prepares to attack Tyrion Lannister, and Summer’s pack mates feed off their brother’s signals. Summer hesitates only a moment before “He crept backward, away from the little man, and settled down below Bran’s dangling feet” (245). After snagging a scrap of Tyrion’s clothing, Grey Wind obeys Robb’s command, resting at Robb’s feet, completing the composition of the statues in the crypts.

So, the BIG question is “WHY” do the Starks sit at the ready instead of reclining on their tombs with their eyes closed? Could the answer be as simple as “Winter is coming”?

Martin teases by revealing too little to develop a theory with concrete, undeniable evidences from the text. After all, Lord Brynden succinctly tells Bran and the readers that “Men forget. Only trees remember” (ADwD 449).

Jojen offers more explanation: “The secrets of the old gods . . . Truths the First Men knew now forgotten in Winterfell. . . but not in the wet wild. We live closer to the green in our bogs and crannogs, and we remember. Earth and water, soil and stone, oaks and elms and willows, they were here before us all and will still remain when we are gone” (449).

Readers enjoy speculating about the nature of this forgotten knowledge. Martin implies that Bran will acquire this forgotten knowledge as a greenseer. However, Jojen indicates that the Reeds “remember” since they are closer to nature. The Reeds have told Bran about their home, Grey Water Watch, a castle that dwells beneath or on top of the waters, and one that moves regularly so that its location is never known for a certainty.

With the stone Starks and their stone direwolves symbolically guarding the WF crypts against unwelcome guests, Martin may insinuate events to come, especially with Bran as a greenseer and as a victim of violations against the laws of hospitality. Maybe Bran will use his magic to call forth the spirits of the dead Starks to a purpose – with the blood that unites the earliest Starks with the most recent Starks, there certainly exists the potential for magical spells involving “blood” and maybe even “fire”.

D. CATELYN’S FEAR OF THE DIREWOLVES

Bran’s coma confines him to bed in an appointed sick room, where his mother tends to his needs even though “sleep deprivation” seriously impairs Catelyn’s judgment. To illustrate, Maester Luwin orders that Bran’s window be kept open so that the child can hear his direwolf “sing”. Catelyn defies the maester, closing the window to keep Bran warm, which is how Catelyn justifies her disobedience to Robb when he confronts her.

Robb is unconvinced by his mother’s excuses, opening the window to “a cold and lonely sound, full of melancholy and despair” (150). Robb is better informed as to what measures will ensure Bran’s recovery, asserting that Bran needs to hear the wolves howl in a chorus.

Catelyn covers her ears, sobbing – “Make them stop! . . . I can’t stand it. Make them stop . . . kill them all if you must, just make them stop!” (150).

Catelyn fears the direwolves, her unreasonable suspicions borne from the circumstances surrounding their discovery. Catelyn’s superstitious nature influences her belief that the mother direwolf with the stag’s antler impaled in her throat invites ominous interpretations, especially since the Stark sigil is the direwolf and the Baratheon sigil is the stag.

By Catelyn’s children adopting the pups, they also “adopt” the premonition of death, a threat symbolized by the stag’s antler.

Catelyn realizes that the genders of the five direwolf puppies, three males and two females, “match” those of her five trueborn children, an unfortunate coincidence, especially since the pups are orphaned as a result of their mother’s fatality.

The materialization of the sixth direwolf with coloring distinctive of the weirwood trees is also by far a mystical enigma. Catelyn processes the appearance of the direwolves is negatively; hence, Catelyn’s actions and reactions to Bran’s tragic fall and to his determined direwolf all speak to her fears.

Now, Catelyn will change her mind completely about the direwolves, but her change of heart involves lots of blood and mouths filled with blood. But that is a bit later . . . .

Because of Catelyn’s distrust, Martin exercises a Lannister POV to divulge the healing powers of Bran’s wolf for the reader’s consideration. Moreover, Tyrion shares Maester Luwin’s wisdom with his sister and his brother, which is Tyrion’s clever stratagem to evoke unease in the Queen and the Kingslayer, both of whom Tyrion has deduced are responsible for Bran’s uncharacteristic tumble.

E. TYRION KNOWS MUCH AND MORE . . .

The Queen and her two of her three children, Prince Tommen and Princess Myrcella, are breaking their fasts in the Morning Room of the Guest House with Ser Jamie Lannister.

The Lannisters and the Baratheon’s, along with their loyal retainers, are still guests of Lord Eddard Stark, their host until their departure. The Lord of Winterfell provides the necessities associated with conventional hospitality: shelter, food and drink, and protection. In return, the guests are bound to honor and respect their host, his family and retainers, and to abide by what is accepted as appropriate behavior in Westeros during an extended visit.

Tyrion joins the group “uninvited”, but he earns his keep answering questions about Maester Luwin’s prognosis for Bran Stark. Besides, Tyrion suspects that Bran’s fall is not accidental, so Tyrion plans his remarks to illicit the best possible responses and reactions from the suspects.

Tyrion says, “The maester thinks that the boy may yet live” (90). Assessing Jaime and Cersei’s momentary exchange of meaningful glances, Tyrion satisfies Jaimie’s query concerning the maester’s exact words: “He thinks that if the boy were going to die, he would have done so already” (90). Tyrion reports on the preternatural aspects of Bran’s wolf , which Tyrion credits with “keeping the boy [bran] alive”.

Tyrion also shares Maester Luwin’s observations of Bran’s direwolf “outside his [bran’s] window day and night, howling. Every time they chase it away, it returns. The maester said they closed the window once, to shut out the noise, and Bran seemed to weaken. When they opened it again, his [bran’s] heart beat stronger" .

The operative root-word is “STRONG”, a “go-to” modifier that Martin uses in conjunction with the awakening of the “wolf spirit” in a Stark. Thus, Martin repeats “strong”, in its comparative [stronger] and superlative [strongest] forms, to emphasize a shared commonality among the Starks.

Although the status of each Stark progeny changes with each novel in the series, Martin’s familiar language patterns offer transitions passing over POV’s within the same novel and offer parallels extending over the novels in sequential order. Tyrion is an early source of details contributing to Martin’s characterizations.

F. BLOOD NOURISHES SUMMER / CATELYN LEARNS TO TRUST

“His blood felt like warm rain as it sprayed across her [Catelyn’s] face” (AGoT 133).

While Bran is comatose, a would-be-assassin targeting helpless Bran, sets a fire in Winterfell’s library to lure Lady Catelyn away from her son’s side in order to permit him an uncomplicated opportunity to commit a “mercy killing”. However, Catelyn remains with Bran as Robb rushes to subdue the flames. When the “would-be-assassin” slips into the sick room, Catelyn’s presence momentarily confuses him, and Catelyn’s “mother instinct” drives her to risk her own life in an attempt to thwart the would-be-assassin’s plans.

Catelyn gives the “good fight”, grabbing the assailant’s blade with both hands and forcing it away from her throat. Her blood-soaked hands impede her resolve to maneuver the weapon, which he makes more difficult with his hand clasped over her mouth, cutting off her air supply. Consequently, the “beast” inside Catelyn is aroused, and she bites down on the man’s palm, grinding her teeth together and tearing at his flesh until he lets her go: “The taste of his blood filled her mouth” (133). Catelyn gives as good as she gets when her teeth draw blood, leaving a gash just as the attacker’s blade slices open her hand.

But when he grabs her hair to force her away from him, Catelyn stumbles and falls, giving him the advantage as he looms over her, the dagger still clutched in his hand. Through her peripheral vision she detects a “shadow” slipping through the open door into Bran’s sickroom – a welcome ally fortuitously arriving to relieve Catelyn from her losing battle with the dagger-wielding intruder.

A low rumble, the slight “whisper” of a snarl, makes the man turn just in time to face “death” leaping toward him. The wolf takes him down, clamping him under the jaw:

“The man's shriek lasted less than a second before the beast wrenched back its head, taking out half his throat. . . His blood felt like warm rain as it sprayed across her face” (133).

The southron Lady, a former Tully from Riverrun, is symbolically baptized in the blood of her first “kill”, albeit with an assist from a direwolf. Moreover, Catelyn addresses Bran’s wolf, a surprising event that marks her transformed suspicions:

“The wolf was looking at her. Its jaws were red and wet and its eyes glowed golden in the dark room. It was Bran’s wolf, she realized. Of course it was.

‘Thank you,’ Catelyn whispered, her voice faint and tiny” (133).

Blood unites Catelyn and Summer as both woman and wolf have their mouths filled with the warm blood of their “kill”, which will endow both with strength and purpose evident soon after their shared attack. Catelyn also thanks the heroic direwolf for saving Bran’s life and her own, a gesture that suggests Catelyn believes the direwolf comprehends her words. Martin captures the moment their bond is realized in prose:

“She [Catelyn] lifted her hand, trembling. The wolf padded closer, sniffed at her fingers, and then licked at the blood with a wet rough tongue. When it had cleaned all the blood off her hand, it turned away silently and jumped up on Bran's bed and lay down beside him” (133).

Summer gently tends to Catelyn’s hand, a remarkable turn of events considering Catelyn’s fear of the beast she assumed meant her child harm. Summer licks Catelyn’s fingers, cleansing them with his saliva to remove the dead man’s blood and Catelyn’s blood. Even though Catelyn’s defensive wounds will leave a permanent scar, Summer’s healing powers stay excessive bleeding and sterilize the deep cut to prevent infection.

Because of Catelyn and Summer’s mystical communication, Catelyn’s suspicions and fears are symbolically “licked away” along with the blood. Summer uses his tongue and not his teeth on Catelyn’s “trembling” hand, which enables her to perceive Summer as Bran’s savior and protector. Subsequently, she permits the “outside” wolf to dwell “inside” Bran’s once forbidden sickroom, where Summer exercises his victory by jumping atop Bran’s bed, resting close to the yet unconscious Bran. Summer boldly situates himself as a new but equal occupant of the room where once Bran slept alone.

The far-reaching consequence of Catelyn accepting the direwolves as divinely sent protectors of the Starks is that she finally leaves Bran’s side for the first time in weeks. Catelyn’s relief is palpable. She is able to have restive nights of sleep, and when she awakens, her perspective is new and a marked reversal to her former guilt-ridden, fearful self.

Finally, Catelyn restores the respect of others who witnessed the noble wife of Lord Eddard so weighed down with guilt and fear that she became hysterical, uncharacteristic in Catelyn’s nature. She replaces the negatives with a determination to restore her dignity and make all those who bore witness to her mental decline admit that Catelyn’s good sense and sound judgment are returned.

As evidence of Catelyn’s transformed feelings about the direwolves, she tells her husband Ned the details of the attack on Bran, which prompts Ned to chastise his own failings in regards to the wolves:

“Bran’s wolf had saved the boy’s life, he thought dully. What was it that Jon had said when they found the pups in the snow? Your children were meant to have these pups, my lord. And he had killed Sansa’s, for what? Was it guilt he was feeling, or fear? If the gods had sent these wolves, what folly had he done?” (198)

G. SUMMER SENDS CATELYN AWAY & BRINGS THE 3EC DREAM TO BRAN

Catelyn benefits from Summer “symbolically” endowing her with strength and a purpose: Catelyn seeks the identity of the person who arranged for the “would-be-assassin” to murder Bran. Catelyn will deliver the physical evidence, a steel blade forged in Valyria with a dragon-bone hilt, to the Hand of the King, whose responsibilities include administering the “King’s justice.

Only “after” Bran’s direwolf tastes the blood from his victim, only after Summer sleeps at Bran’s side, and only after Catelyn departs for King’s Landing, does the Three-Eyed Crow visit Bran’s dream. Summer as an agent of the forces that are the old gods is apparent; the direwolf “makes” events happen for Bran. Bran also becomes aware of the prophetic nature of dreams. For this reason, Bran seriously analyzes his dream, hoping that the 3EC is the answer to restoring his legs. Bran trusts the 3EC’s promise that he will “fly”. Not until Bran meets Lord Brynden in the Cave of Skulls does he suffer the hard facts: his wizard does not possess the powerful magic necessary to cure Bran’s paralysis.

Because Bran has his first “3EC” dream after his fall, readers have speculated that Bran’s paralysis is a contributor to the awakening of his “greensight”, which encompasses skinchanging and warging. Consequently, each Stark sibling will learn of his/her warg nature only after experiencing a dramatic event that causes deep-seated emotional responses and a life-altering outcome.

Problematic with authenticating theories with textual references is that readers are only invited into the minds of the Starks with point-of-views, and two of those Stark narrators have been separated from their direwolves, a loss thats severity retards the advent of their supernatural abilities.

Moreover, even with his direwolf conduit Ghost, Jon Snow is a reluctant learner, which Varamyr Sixskins reveals in the Prologue of A Dance with Dragons: “The gift was strong in Snow, but the youth was untaught, still fighting his nature when he should have gloried in it” (12).

So, each Stark’s awareness of his/her gifts is unique to the individual, and blood figures strongly in his/her ultimate realization.

[The Snowfyre Chorus]

yes - I said the same thing - only I referenced Black Crow's CHANGLING myth.

I feel quite certain that the "kicking babe" exchanged - or skinchanged - with the contents of one egg, thereby becoming a dragon born in fire and blood.

There was no doubt more magic involved in the exchange as well. Since this is my first fantasy series and since I am new to the genre, I try not to overthink the magic.

Agreed - overthinking the magic is a bad idea. Explanations do risk "explaining away." But magic and mystery are a part of this story. So dismissing it as "impossible" will be self-defeating for anyone interested in understanding the tale.

Not sure I'm clear on all the shapes the classic "changeling myth" can take, but to me the switching of babies at Castle Black is more to form. The dragon/baby fetus-swapping does look like a Martin twist. Though to be fair, the whole "death pays for life" bloodmagic mantra is certainly in line with some of other the changeling stories I've read. Miss Wintertowne comes to mind...

As Mr. Norrell says, "I never thought to find magic so little regarded here."

[Black Crow]

Yes, I fear Mr Norrell would be shocked at some of the rationalist arguments occasionally offered here. :cool4:

[Black Crow]

As to changelings, I've always held that the baby-swapping at Castle Black was not an end in itself as Jon appeared to believe but a plot device to ensure that the changeling child was in the right place.