Guessing Bran's Arc- A Hunt for Heart Trees

[jentario]

i was trying to remember who had the massive weirwood throne, its the eyrie i think, that plus the moon door would explain why there is no heart tree in their godswood.

but the throne is interesting if he can do just any old weirwood

I think it is implied that the trees only become "active" and wargable once a face is carved into them. But who knows...

[By the Old Gods Not theNew]

Bloodraven tells Bran that the carvings "awaken" the trees and that they are the first eyes a new greenseer uses but in time a greenseers sight exceeds even the trees:

Bran III ADwD:

“Once you have mastered your gifts, you may look where you will and see what the trees have seen, be it yesterday or last year or a thousand ages past. Men live their lives trapped in an eternal present, between the mists of memory and the sea of shadow that is all we know of the days to come. Certain moths live their whole lives in a day, yet to them that little span of time must seem as long as years and decades do to us. An oak may live three hundred years, a redwood tree three thousand. A weirwood will live forever if left undisturbed. To them seasons pass in the flutter of a moth’s wing, and past, present, and future are one. Nor will your sight be limited to your godswood. The singers carved eyes into their heart trees to awaken them, and those are the first eyes a new greenseer learns to use …but in time you will see well beyond the trees themselves.”

[jentario]

Bloodraven tells Bran that the carvings "awaken" the trees and that they are the first eyes a new greenseer uses but in time a greenseers sight exceeds even the trees:

Bran III ADwD:

I just reread Bran's coma chapter in AGOT. He is falling and the three eyed crow tells him to fly, or he'll die. When Bran finally looks down, he is able to see the whole realm spread before him: North, South, East, West- all of it. Even "the curtain of light at the edge of the world" and the "heart of winter" at the far North, whatever those things might be. Bran sees it all without a weirwood or a raven or a wolf as his "cameras". I think that was the first time he tapped into his true power, and definitely not the last. I wonder how this skill could be useful to him in his journeys.

Also, I would like to reinforce my suspicion that Bran is going to play a role in the War of the Dawn:

And he looked past the wall, past endless forests cloaked in snow, past the frozen shore and the great blue-white rivers of ice and the dead plains where nothing grew or lived. North and north and north he looked, to the curtain of light at the end of the world, and then beyond that curtain. He looked deep into the heart of winter, and then he cried out, afraid, and the heat of his tears burned on his cheeks.

"Now you know," the crow whispered as it sat on his shoulder. "Now you know why you must live."

"Why?" Bran said, not understanding, falling, falling.

"Because winter is coming."

[Mark Antony]

I agree. Love, love, love Bran and co. I can't fathom why some people think he's boring, he only really was in ASOS (and even that's debatable, I actually liked his chapters).

The knight of the laughing tree and nightfort chapters are both incredible

[jentario]

The knight of the laughing tree and nightfort chapters are both incredible

Exactly. As is Queenscrown. In fact, there are hardly any "boring" Bran chapters. I don't get people sometimes.

[The Weirwoods Eyes]

Well I think there is also a young sapling weirwood growing in the lich yard at Castle Black? yes or am I making that up, if a wildling carved a face into that Bran could see the nightswatch goings on. And in one of Jons chapters he did say the wildlings have been going around carving faces into tree's all over.

I think its safe to assume there is one at the Dreadfort, at Karhold, Last Hearth, Barrowtown, Thorrens Square, Deepwood Mott etc etc. So any northern stronghold is viewable.

[Stannis Eats No Peaches]

While I think Bran's visions into the past are restricted to what happened in front of heart trees, I think a powerful greenseer is basically omniscient in the present.

[History of Westeros]

Can't seem to multiquote, so please excuse me...

History of Westeros wrote:

Very nice list, I've been researching this myself lately (our next episode).

Cheers :) Episode of What? Id love to read, can you link please?

There is also a weirwood stump circle near Whitewalls that we see in The Mystery Knight! It's extra awesome because it just so happens to be the place we see Bloodraven for the "first" time, as this is where Dunk and Egg meet "Maynard Plumm" and others...

Oooh! Ill add to my list and reread TMK I forgot about Dunk and Egg

Whitewalls

Inside were floors and pillars of milky white marble veined with gold; the rafters overhead were carved from the bone-pale trunks of weirwoods.

Yes, could mean they were carved from the entire stumps, including the trunk.

Darry quote/entry doesn't belong I think, no mention of a weirwood.

You are technically right - no mention, but as its a Godswood I included it.

At Winterfell there is also a sentinel tree growing next to the armoury wall, inside the godswood. Branches overhang the armoury roof and (from memory), somebody uses it to get into or out of the Godswood at some point. Cant recall any other mentions of sentinel trees. Although not a weirwood either, it interests me too.

Things made from weirwood:

• Ygritte and Brynden Rivers had weirwood bows.
• The meeting table of the Kingsguard is white weirwood in the shape of a shield
• The throne of House Arryn in The Eyrie is also carved of weirwood.
• The House of Black and Whites main door is made of weirwood and ebony.
• The chairs in the room where the faceless men sit are weirwood with ebony faces and ebony with weirwood faces
• A door at KL is described by Ned as a hunting scene carved in ebony and weirwood (at the smiths where Gendry was an apprentice IIRC)
• Dany sees a weirwood/ebony door at the temple of the Undying
• One of the High Septons had a staff made of weirwood.
• The Moon Door at the Eyrie is made of weirwood, as is the throne.
• The three arrows cut from a weirwood in Brans weirwood vision (by Bloodraven IMO)

Another Harrenhall snippet I found:

Catelyn tells us that weirwoods that had stood for three thousand years were cut down to provide the beams and rafters of Harrenhal. Which helped me to vaguely remember something about Weirwoods never dying they live forever unless cut down or destroyed some other way. As we know, even the stumps still have some power to impart visions.

(edit for formatting)

History of Westeros Podcast, we do very detailed analysis of aSoIaF history, theories, new chapters, etc.

Here's a link to our YouTube page, but we are also on iTunes.

http://www.youtube.com/user/TheHistoryofwesteros?feature=g-subs-u

[Rose of Ice]

While I think Bran's visions into the past are restricted to what happened in front of heart trees, I think a powerful greenseer is basically omniscient in the present.

I agree with this. I don't see GRRM twisting the plot by influencing the past. Although, yes, he did whisper 'Father' to Ned. And we have seen Bran look at the edge of the world, up North. (Can't wait until GRRM elaborates on THAT!)

I think bran is potentially an 'uber-seer'. BR has been interested in him since he was born. I think Bran will somehow influence something major, plotwise, rather than just be a window to information for the reader. With no plot evidence at all, I feel he will eclipse BR in power and/or ability. Lately I've been thinking that Bran will assist/influence someone or thing, trying to do what he sees as a good/helpful action, but ultimately it has a negative consequence. For no other reason but that GRRM likes to twist things up. Or is that the cynic in me coming out a little early this morning?

[Rose of Ice]

History of Westeros Podcast, we do very detailed analysis of aSoIaF history, theories, new chapters, etc.

Here's a link to our YouTube page, but we are also on iTunes.

http://www.youtube.com/user/TheHistoryofwesteros?feature=g-subs-u

Oh fantastic - thanks!

I'll check that out tonight with a glass of Arbor Gold :cheers:

[RumHam]

Brandon Snow planned on using weirwood arrows to assassinate Aegon the Conquerers dragons (Grrm did a reading from the forthcoming Worlds of Ice and Fire book and revealed this info).

Do you have another report of that reading other than the one at http://www.westeros.org/Citadel/SSM/Month/2012/09/ ? This is the second time I've seen you make that claim, but to my knowledge nothing about him using weirwood arrows was reported. Here's the relevant part:

Torrhen's bastard brother, Brandon Snow, offered to sneak into the Targaryen camp and kill the three dragons. Instead, Torrhen sent three maesters to meet Aegon across the Trident.

i was trying to remember who had the massive weirwood throne, its the eyrie i think, that plus the moon door would explain why there is no heart tree in their godswood.

but the throne is interesting if he can do just any old weirwood

The reason there's no Weirwood is because one wouldn't grown in the thin soil up there. It's mentioned in one of Cat's chapters in the first book. I still think it's really interesting that the Andals who built The Eyrie even tried to plant a weirwood.

[By the Old Gods Not theNew]

Do you have another report of that reading other than the one at http://www.westeros.org/Citadel/SSM/Month/2012/09/ ? This is the second time I've seen you make that claim, but to my knowledge nothing about him using weirwood arrows was reported. Here's the relevant part:

my bad i'm misremembering the reading and the ensuing forum discussion. Brandon Snow.

[History of Westeros]

Oh fantastic - thanks!

I'll check that out tonight with a glass of Arbor Gold :cheers:

Perfect! Enjoy.

[Thucydides]

Interesting. So far we haven't seen any "cross-warging", have we? I mean someone taking over another skinchanger's animal while the other skinchanger is still alive (so Orell's eagle doesn't count since he was dead already). I'd feel more comfortable saying that Bran might attemp to influence Arya into opening her third eye properly, so she can wreak remote-controlled havoc in Westeros.

In A Storm of Swords, Varymar describes to Jon Snow how he now wargs the eagle into which Orell warged for his second life. He says, "Once a beast's been joined to a man, any skinchanger can slip inside and ride him... But joining works both ways, warg. Orell lives inside me now..."

Varymar's statement is categorical. In other words, he states it as something that is generally true, not as something that is true only in certain circumstances.

[History of Westeros]

my bad i'm misremembering the reading and the ensuing forum discussion. Brandon Snow.

I'm also not sure about the Raven's Teeth. Weirwood bows, yes no doubt. Interestingly, weirwood bows are not mentioned in this passage, and I'm curious how they stack up against other types of wood. But I guess we don't know:

A third of Balaq’s men used crossbows, another third the double-curved horn-and-sinew bows of the east. Better than these were the big yew longbows borne by the archers of Westerosi blood, and best of all were the great bows of goldenheart treasured by Black Balaq himself and his fifty Summer Islanders. Only a dragonbone bow could outrange one made of goldenheart.

Weirwood arrows, not so sure. I have every weirwood reference from all 5 books plus the 3 D&E novellas in a document and I just searched and found zero results excepting the one from Bran's vision. Of course I am not doubting that weirwood arrows are used, just that they might be rare or saved for special shots. Archers typically carry a variety of types of arrows, so maybe the Raven's Teeth each had a few. Or perhaps only the best of them. No idea, but it's fun to guess.

[The Mother of The Others]

Iona's passage page 1 made it sound as if the Weirwood network was like training wheels for a greenseer who eventually leaves the face trees behind and branches out into all the animals of nature like an Odin. The Others, to be consistent, will probably be unreachable by the greenseers (justifying their name as the Other), until someone pushes beyond the usual greensight barriers to understand the cold.

[By the Old Gods Not theNew]

TSS:

“The hammer and the anvil?” The old man’s mustache gave a twitch. “The singers leave out much and more. Daemon was the Warrior himself that day. No man could stand before him. He broke Lord Arryn’s van to pieces and slew the Knight of Ninestars and Wild Wyl Waynwood before coming up against Ser Gwayne Corbray of the Kingsguard. For near an hour they danced together on their horses, wheeling and circling and slashing as men died all around them. It’s said that whenever Blackfyre and Lady Forlorn clashed, you could hear the sound for a league around. It was half a song and half a scream, they say. But when at last the Lady faltered, Blackfyre clove through Ser Gwayne’s helm and left him blind and bleeding. Daemon dismounted to see that his fallen foe was not trampled, and commanded Redtusk to carry him back to the maesters in the rear. And there was his mortal error, for the Raven’s Teeth had gained the top of Weeping Ridge, and Bloodraven saw his half brother’s royal standard three hundred yards away, and Daemon and his sons beneath it. He slew Aegon first, the elder of the twins, for he knew that Daemon would never leave the boy whilst warmth lingered in his body, though white shafts fell like rain. Nor did he, though seven arrows pierced him,driven as much by sorcery as by Bloodraven’s bow. Young Aemon took up Blackfyre when the blade slipped from his dying father’s fingers, so Bloodraven slew him, too, the younger of the twins. Thus perished the black dragon and his sons.

I'm also not sure about the Raven's Teeth. Weirwood bows, yes no doubt. Interestingly, weirwood bows are not mentioned in this passage, and I'm curious how they stack up against other types of wood. But I guess we don't know:

A third of Balaq’s men used crossbows, another third the double-curved horn-and-sinew bows of the east. Better than these were the big yew longbows borne by the archers of Westerosi blood, and best of all were the great bows of goldenheart treasured by Black Balaq himself and his fifty Summer Islanders. Only a dragonbone bow could outrange one made of goldenheart.

Weirwood arrows, not so sure. I have every weirwood reference from all 5 books plus the 3 D&E novellas in a document and I just searched and found zero results excepting the one from Bran's vision. Of course I am not doubting that weirwood arrows are used, just that they might be rare or saved for special shots. Archers typically carry a variety of types of arrows, so maybe the Raven's Teeth each had a few. Or perhaps only the best of them. No idea, but it's fun to guess.

[History of Westeros]

TSS:

Ok cool, good catch. So my suggestion that they only had a few is probably wrong. it seems the Raven's Teeth had a good supply, perhaps a great supply. Though I suppose it remains possible that they saved the special arrows for special moments, and it seems like there could be no better moment than that. But setting that aside it begs the question, where are they getting all these arrows? Since they were used at Redgrass Field, it's safe to assume they were used in battles in later Blackfyre Rebellions, but it's interesting that we've seen none in the main series. If the arrows are being made in the south they can pretty much only come from stumps. It's a bit odd to think are being imported from the North but we have no strong reason to eliminate it. To be fair I suppose there's a small chance that the arrows are merely painted white.

As an aside, since dead weirwoods turn to stone, perhaps it's possible these arrows are sturdier and more re-usable. If this were true though, we might expect to see some in the main series, and we haven't.

If anyone else can find reference to weirwood arrows, please post it.

The "white shafts" escaped my notice because the word weirwood never appears anywhere near that sentence.

[jentario]

I wonder how weirwood arrows will fit in to TWOW and ADOS if they can indeed kill dragons. Maybe in the second Dance?

[RumHam]

I wonder how weirwood arrows will fit in to TWOW and ADOS if they can indeed kill dragons. Maybe in the second Dance?

Well from The Princess and The Queen we now know that any arrow can kill a dragon, properly aimed.