Wargs, Greenseers, Red priests, and the questionably hereditary nature of magic

[Archmaester_Aemma]

Ok so all we need to do to get more wargs, skinchangers, and greenseers is get more magical pets to Westeros. Dany's got three dragons. She can share. Rickon can bring the unicorns from Skagos.

Not really - it's the first time a direwolf has been seen south of the Wall for 200 years. One mother just happened to give birth to exactly the right number of pups, gender ratio and bastardy included. It just happened to die in the path of the Starks. And she suffered a terrible wound but still managed to birth the pups. But with her death, made the Starks have to feed and nurture the wolves like babes, creating an exceptionally close emotional bond.

That's a lot of happenstance/conditions to place on the creation of wards/skinchangers/greenseers.

Not that I'm particularly committed either way haha :)

[Lord Reaver]

Six events. Unless I missed them being sextuplets and Jon being Cat's son.

Nope, the fact they are all alive and all wargs is ONE incident. It's statistically ridiculously unlikely even assuming there's something "in the blood", since even then it's only 1/1000 chance. So, it's (1/1000)^6 which is 1 in the order of ten to minus 18, a fairly tiny number.

In light of that, I'll stick with it being magic, rather than attempt some quasi-genetical explanation.

[Lady Blizzardborn]

Nope, the fact they are all alive and all wargs is ONE incident. It's statistically ridiculously unlikely even assuming there's something "in the blood", since even then it's only 1/1000 chance. So, it's (1/1000)^6 which is 1 in the order of ten to minus 18, a fairly tiny number.

In light of that, I'll stick with it being magic, rather than attempt some quasi-genetical explanation.

I disagree with your counting, but I agree with it being more likely magic than genetics in their case. Either that or the ability skips several hundred generations.

[Ziriath]

It can be something with the 'chemistry' of weirwood trees. People who worship old gods, do it at the heart tree. Or they just like to sit there, contemplate and do whatever. Maybe the weirwood trees produce some magical pollen (or just emanate a magical essence), people inhalate it and after some trigger event (near death experience, sickness etc.) some of them can get the ability. Strength of that substance depends on the season- it gets much stronger when a particularly long winter is coming.

Worshippers of the 7 do not care about their weirwood much, or do not have any at all, that's why they are not likely to skinchange.

Maybe not only Stark kids can do it, but even many smallfolk children in last two years discovered what they can do or have weird dreams, but do not know what it is and we do not know much about northern commoners anyway. Bloodraven's statistic is not very accurate, as it does not say anything about years and seasons when there is more new skinchangers and wargs.

Blackwoods' heart tree is dead-but dead weirwood can have some remaining power though.

Farwynds (rumoured to skinchange) can have a weirwood tree- there could be weirwood trees on all the Iron islands, before FM (proto-Ironborn) cut them down all and kept their Drowned god. But on the westernmost and most isolated island there still can be some.

[Tywin Lannister_]

Lannisters don't really have any magical powers, do they? Besides some of them being extraordinarily clever like their House's founder.

[SacredOrderOfGreenMen]

First men mixed blood with CoTF. Looks like they gained some of their abilities.

"The same blood of the First Men flows through our veins....and at times, something more..."

It suggests some sort of intermixing of bloodlines, somehow, I believe.

[SacredOrderOfGreenMen]

Lannisters don't really have any magical powers, do they? Besides some of them being extraordinarily clever like their House's founder.

Tumblr user Joannalannister, based on some sneak peeks at the material, says that the World of Ice and Fire will bring some BIG surprises to what we know about the history of the Westerlands, so I wouldn't rule out never having possessed or been involved with magic.

[Tywin Lannister_]

Tumblr user Joannalannister, based on some sneak peeks at the material, says that the World of Ice and Fire will bring some BIG surprises to what we know about the history of the Westerlands, so I wouldn't rule out never having possessed or been involved with magic.

Well that's some pretty awesomesuace news. Especially the user's name >;D

Seriously though, I wonder how she got a hold of this info. Very, very interesting....

[SacredOrderOfGreenMen]

Well that's some pretty awesomesuace news. Especially the user's name >;D

Seriously though, I wonder how she got a hold of this info. Very, very interesting....

She's such a well known fan, she was invited attend some super-exclusive conference and was allowed to view, but not take home or reveal any of the material, but was apparently really excited about it and said that it was related Lann the Clever.

My guess is that some sort of magical elements were involved in the Lannisters taking Casterly Rock or in getting their famous golden manes.

[Tywin Lannister_]

She's such a well known fan, she was invited attend some super-exclusive conference and was allowed to view, but not take home or reveal any of the material, but was apparently really excited about it and said that it was related Lann the Clever.

My guess is that some sort of magical elements were involved in the Lannisters taking Casterly Rock or in getting their famous golden manes.

Huh. I've never heard of her. I can believe it being related to Lann, it brings us back to my first post.

Eh, it's already been said that Lann tricked people so that he could steal it, and the story for the gold is that Lann stole it from the sun. I'd prefer things that haven't been covered yet to be what is involved.

[Duke-of-Kaisa]

Tywin Lannister_ I actually do believe that the Lannister's may have been able to warg at some point in their history. I remember thinking that perhaps given the right circumstances, Cersei may have been able to warg (perhaps if she had raised a lion cub) "I will teach them what it means to put a lion in a cage." Cersei thinks in her last POV in AFFC. Then in her walk of shame chapter of ADWD she describes how she overcame her fear of the caged lions at Casterly Rock. "Cersei paced her cell, restless as the caged lions that had lived in the bowels of Casterly Rock when she was a girl, a legacy of her grandfather's time. She and Jaime used to dare each other to climb into their cage, and once she worked up enough courage to slip her hand between the bars and touch one of the tawny beasts. She was always bolder than her brother. The lion had turned his head to stare at her with his huge golden eyes. Then he licked her fingers. His tongue was as rough as a rasp, but even so she would not pull her hand back, not until Jaime took her by the shoulders and yanked her away from the cage." Why didn't the lion attack her as you would expect a relatively untamed lion to do when confronted with the grasping hand of a child? Especially the way it looks in her eyes before licking her hand... It sees something there that she is not aware of I think... Also why would she not pull her hand back? Surely she would fear the lick could turn into bite, but I think at that moment she felt a connection with the lion...Just my opinion. Need more time to collaborate all my other thoughts re: wargs, green seers, red priests and the questionably hereditary nature of magic. I want to dig up a few quotes I can think of to support my ideas. Love this topic! :-)

[Duke-of-Kaisa]

I wonder if Tommen might start warging his kittens. They are of mild, fun and loving natures as he is as well. Will he ever get in the head of the old cat Balerion and learn it's secrets? That would be a fun twist I think, if the innocent little Tommen was the one to reveal some truths of the Red Keep... But that's just crackpot, as there's no evidence to support this would be remotely part of the story. :-)