Euron is the great stone beast taking wing from a smoking tower and breathing shadow fire

[Lost Melnibonean]

1) Glowing like sunset, a red sword was raised in the hand of a blue-eyed king who cast no shadow. 2) A cloth dragon swayed on poles amidst a cheering crowd. 3) From a smoking tower, a great stone beast took wing, breathing shadow fire. . . . mother of dragons, slayer of lies . . . Daenerys, IV, Clash

Premise: The first vision in this slayer of lies little triplet of visions in the House of the Undying is very clearly an allusion to Stannis. The second is less clearly an allusion to Aegon. Both of these characters are claimants to the Iron Throne, so the third vision in the slayer of lies triplet of visions must allude to a third and final claimant to the Iron Throne.

The only other current claimant is Euron...

I say we take it all! I say, we take Westeros!

Aeron II, Feast

The little bastard lion born of incest is not really a claimant since he's currently sitting on the Iron Throne, and Daenerys has not yet asserted her claim. Many believe that Jon will assert, or be compelled into asserting, a claim, and if he is, he could satisfy the third vision in the slayer of lies triplet. His claim could be true if he is not a bastard, in which case the lie to slay would be his false identity as Jon Snow, natural son of Eddard Stark and Wylla/Ashara/Fishwife from the Sisters. I had believed that Jon was the strongest candidate to be the stone beast based on the overall structure of all the visions presented in the House of the Undying, but I'm beginning to believe that the vision alludes to Euron.

The stone beast vision has three metaphorical elements: 1) a smoking tower, 2) a great stone beast taking wing, and 3) breathing shadow fire.

The smoking tower could be the sigil of House Hightower. Consider the description of Ser Abelar of House Hightower at the Ashford Tourney...

Ser Abelar in silver and smoke colors, a stone watchtower on his shield, crowned with fire; ...

The Hedge Knight

Next consider the Hightower itself...

The Hightowers can be legitimately referred to as being "of Hightower" or of "Oldtown," either one. Hightower is their castle/keep, the tallest structure in the Seven Kingdoms, and one of the oldest, a massive stepped tower with a great beacon on top, to show ships the way to port... kind of like the Pharos of Alexandria, but larger, an inhabited castle as well as a lighthouse. It stands in the center of Oldtown; the city grew up around it.

SSM, The Arryns and the Hightower

Apparently, Euron intends to sack Oldtown...

...As the Cinnamon Wind was creeping past another plundered fishing village, a war galley came sliding from the fog, stroking slowly toward them. Huntress was the name she bore, To Sam's relief, they flew King Tommen's stag-and-lion banner above the stepped white tower of Oldtown, with its crown of flame.

The captain of the Huntress was a tall man in a smoke-grey cloak with a border of red satin flames. ...

My apologies, the captain said when his inspection was complete. "It grieves me that honest men must suffer such discourtesy, but sooner that than ironmen in Oldtown. Only a fortnight ago some of those bloody bastards captured a Tyroshi merchantman in the straits. They killed her crew, donned their clothes, and used the dyes they found to color their whiskers half a hundred colors. Once inside the walls they meant to set the port ablaze and open a gate from within whilst we fought the fire. Might have worked, but they ran afoul of the Lady of the Tower, and her oarsmaster has a Tyroshi wife. When he saw all the green and purple beards he hailed them in the tongue of Tyrosh, and not one of them had the words to hail him back."

...

If King's Landing loses Oldtown and the Arbor, the whole realm will fall to pieces, he thought as he watched the Huntress and her sisters moving off.

Samwell V, Feast

Sacking Oldtown and the Hightower would satisfy the smoking tower element.

What about the great stone beast taking wing? Euron himself could be described as a beast. Just ask Aeron (The sound of a door opening, the scream of a rusted iron hinge.) or Lord Osbert Serry. Also note the Hightower colors: grey and orange, with a stone watchtower. Euron is of House Greyjoy of the Iron Islands. And Euron claims, "I am the storm, my lord. The first storm and the last." --Victarion II, Feast. Stone, iron, storm--all three of those are typically grey. (Admittedly, though, the stone tower on the grey background of the Hightower sigil is white). Now consider Euron's discussion with Victarion when he sends Victarion to Slavers Bay...

"Perhaps we can fly. All of us. How will we ever know unless we leap from some tall tower?"

Euron to Victarion in Victarion II, Feast

And Euron is the Crow's Eye. In my mind that satisfies: from a smoking tower, a great stone beast took wing. As I speculate below, we may have more...

But first lets tackle the third element: breathing shadow fire, shadow and fire...

"IRONMEN, said Euron Greyjoy, you have heard my horn. Now hear my words. I am Balon's brother, Quellon's eldest living son. Lord Vickon's blood is in my veins, and the blood of the Old Kraken. Yet I have sailed farther than any of them. Only one living kraken has never known defeat. Only one has never bent his knee. Only one has sailed to Asshai by the Shadow, and seen wonders and terrors beyond imagining . . ."

...

"That horn you heard I found amongst the smoking ruins that were Valyria, where no man has dared to walk but me. ..."

Aeron II, Feast

So, Euron claimed at the kingsmoot that he had traveled to Asshai by the Shadow and the ruins of Valyria, which, apparently, was destroyed by the Fourteen Flames. During that speech he did not claim to have visited any other lands. Thus, I would say that the breathing shadow fire element is satisfied.

Now, we could see a little more fulfillment of this vision...

"I once held a dragons egg in this hand, brother. This Myrish wizard swore he could hatch it if I gave him a year and all the gold that he required. When I grew bored with his excuses, I slew him. As he watched his entrails sliding through his fingers he said, 'But it has not been a year.'"He laughed.

...

"Show me this dragons egg."

"I threw it in the sea during one of my dark moods." Euron gave a shrug.

Victarion II, Feast

It seems many of us believe that Euron did not throw the dragon's egg into the sea but sacrificed it to Him of Many Faces and prayed for a Faceless Man to give the gift to Balon. I have no doubt that Euron prayed for a Faceless Man to give the gift to his brother and that his prayer was answered. But I don't believe that he needed to sacrifice a dragon's egg. Presumably, the riches he accumulated while reaving around the known and unknown world would have left him with sufficient wealth to have his prayer answered without the dragon's egg. Perhaps he still has the dragon's egg. Perhaps his principal objective in Oldtown is the Citadel...

Tyrion had read much and more of dragons through the years. The greater part of those accounts were idle tales and could not be relied on, and the books that Illyrio had provided them were not the ones he might have wished for. What he really wanted was the complete text of The Fires of the Freehold, Galendro's history of Valyria. No complete copy was known to Westeros, however; even the Citadel's lacked twenty-seven scrolls. ... He was less hopeful concerning Septon Barth's Dragons, Wyrms, and Wyverns: Their Unnatural History. Barth had been a blacksmith's son who rose to be Kings Hand during the reign of Jaehaerys the Conciliator. His enemies always claimed he was more sorcerer than septon. Baelor the Blessed had ordered all Barth's writings destroyed when he came to the Iron Throne. Ten years ago, Tyrion had read a fragment of Unnatural History that had eluded the Blessed Baelor, ... . And of course there was even less chance of his coming on the fragmentary, anonymous, blood-soaked tome sometimes called Blood and Fire and sometimes The Death of Dragons, the only surviving copy of which was supposedly hidden away in a locked vault beneath the Citadel.

Tyrion IV, Dance

Assuming he did not toss his dragon's egg into the sea, perhaps Euron wants the same books Tyrion wants to learn if he can hatch a dragon. Euron hatching a dragon in Oldtown would satisfy all of three of the metaphorical elements, without question.

ETA:

If the captain of the Myraham's story is true..it was a violent storm from the west ( the drection Euron was coming from ) That blew the whole bridge apart ... and if the FM was waiting on the bridge , he likely wouldn't have survived either.

Good point. I have to admit I hadn't considered that before. And notice that the story came from the captain of the Myraham...

The Crow's Eye sipped from his silver cup. "I once held a dragon's egg in this hand, brother. This Myrish wizard swore he could hatch it if I gave him a year and all the gold that he required. When I grew bored with his excuses, I slew him. As he watched his entrails sliding through his fingers he said, But it has not been a year.'" He laughed.

Victarion II, Feast

Perhaps one or more of Euron's creatures had worked elemental sorcery to kill Balon. The woods witch's prophecy is still fulfilled and Euron either really did toss the egg into the sea or he still has it. Or maybe, just maybe, there is a fourth dragon out there growing and waiting for Euron to fetch him...

[Donnelly]

More likely, the Smoking Tower was the House of the Undying, which could explain his lips. I think its entirely possible that Euron is a faceless man who wants to kill Dany and her dragons

[Not Dead Just Broken]

1) Glowing like sunset, a red sword was raised in the hand of a blue-eyed king who cast no shadow. 2) A cloth dragon swayed on poles amidst a cheering crowd. 3) From a smoking tower, a great stone beast took wing, breathing shadow fire. . . . mother of dragons, slayer of lies . . . Daenerys, IV, Clash

Premise: The first vision in this slayer of lies little triplet of visions in the House of the Undying is very clearly an allusion to Stannis. The second is less clearly an allusion to Aegon. Both of these characters are claimants to the Iron Throne, so the third vision in the slayer of lies triplet of visions must allude to a third and final claimant to the Iron Throne.

The only other current claimant is Euron

Aeron II, Feast

The little bastard lion born of incest is not really a claimant since hes currently sitting on the Iron Throne, and Daenerys has not yet asserted her claim. Many believe that Jon will assert, or be compelled into asserting, a claim, and if he is, he could satisfy the third vision in the slayer of lies triplet. His claim could be true if he is not a bastard, in which case the lie to slay would be his false identity as Jon Snow, natural son of Eddard Stark and Wylla/Ashara/Fishwife from the Sisters. I had believed that Jon was the strongest candidate to be the stone beast based on the overall structure of all the visions presented in the House of the Undying, but Im beginning to believe that the vision alludes to Euron.

The stone beast vision has three metaphorical elements: 1) a smoking tower, 2) a great stone beast taking wing, and 3) breathing shadow fire.

The smoking tower could be the sigil of House Hightower. Consider the description of Ser Abelar of House Hightower at the Ashford Tourney...

The Hedge Knight

Next consider the Hightower itself...

SSM, The Arryns and the Hightower

Apparently, Euron intends to sack Oldtown...

Samwell V, Feast

Sacking Oldtown and the Hightower would satisfy the smoking tower element.

What about the great stone beast taking wing? Euron himself could be described as a beast. Just ask Aeron (The sound of a door opening, the scream of a rusted iron hinge.) or Lord Osbert Serry. Also note the Hightower colors: grey and orange, with a stone watchtower. Euron is of House Greyjoy of the Iron Islands. And Euron claims, bI am the storm, my lord. The first storm and the last." --Victarion II, Feast. Stone, iron, storm--all three of those are typically grey. (Admittedly, though, the stone tower on the grey background of the Hightower sigil is white). Now consider Euron's discussion with Victarion when he sends Victarion to Slavers Bay...

Euron to Victarion in Victarion II, Feast

And Euron is the Crow's Eye. In my mind that satisfies: from a smoking tower, a great stone beast took wing. As I speculate below, we may have more...

But first lets tackle the third element: breathing shadow fire, shadow and fire...

Aeron II, Feast

So, Euron claimed at the kingsmoot that he had traveled to Asshai by the Shadow and the ruins of Valyria, which, apparently, was destroyed by the Fourteen Flames. During that speech he did not claim to have visited any other lands. Thus, I would say that the breathing shadow fire element is satisfied.

Now, we could see a little more fulfillment of this vision...

Victarion II, Feast

It seems many of us believe that Euron did not throw the dragon's egg into the sea but sacrificed it to Him of Many Faces and prayed for a Faceless Man to give the gift to Balon. I have no doubt that Euron prayed for a Faceless Man to give the gift to his brother and that his prayer was answered. But I don't believe that he needed to sacrifice a dragon's egg. Presumably, the riches he accumulated while reaving around the known and unknown world would have left him with sufficient wealth to have his prayer answered without the dragon's egg. Perhaps he still has the dragon's egg. Perhaps his principal objective in Oldtown is the Citadel...

Tyrion IV, Dance

Assuming he did not toss his dragon's egg into the sea, perhaps Euron wants the same books Tyrion wants to learn if he can hatch a dragon. Euron hatching a dragon in Oldtown would satisfy all of three of the metaphorical elements, without question.

The Oldtown connection is interesting but I don't really get Euron as the great stone beast. He's not all that great and he's not really stone. Euron did employ the Faceless Men to kill Balon, I think that's pretty established at this point. However, he would have had to pay the dragon egg to do that. The Faceless Men fee schedule is not based on who you are killing but rather what you have. So, if you have a dragon's egg that's what they're going to ask for as the price.

[The Mother of The Others]

!

Uh, how far back in time did he pay for the hit on Balon would you say? Long enough that, if, say, the Faceless instantly knew how to hatch it and have been raising their own dragon in secret, could it have already grown big enough for someone Arya's size to ride? Not that they'd willingly hand her that prize. She might have to snatch it as her early graduation present to herself.

Uh, Sam brought that maybe-magical horn of his far away from the wall to the Citadel where he thought it'd be safe, too. Ironic if he's hand delivered the Horn of Winter to Euron who knows his horns and has a will to use them, no matter the disastrous cost.

Uh, the fire shadow breathing stone beast is Euron's dragon. Armored in greyscale to toughen it up using Hightower spell lore so that it has the competitive edge over the other dragons. It wrecks Oldtown, then looks outward from its perch on the hightower.

I like the 3 lies being the 3 claimants, because that's suddenly a lot tighter as a vision and a lot more relevant. And Danny's delay in the East is to give these 3 a chance to shine first and state their case for being Westeros' biggest dip. Then once they've each had their turn on the catwalk Daenerys is lowered onto stage, riding in on her sun chariot Drogon.

[Lady Blizzardborn]

Uh, how far back in time did he pay for the hit on Balon would you say? Long enough that, if, say, the Faceless instantly knew how to hatch it and have been raising their own dragon in secret, could it have already grown big enough for someone Arya's size to ride? Not that they'd willingly hand her that prize. She might have to snatch it as her early graduation present to herself.

<snip

I like the way you think.

[chrisdaw]

I'm with you, but don't think the stone reference is well enough accounted for. I have no better idea though.

[Osha13]

I like this idea. I can't think of anyone better at the moment to fulfill the last part of that prophecy. Is it possible, like Mel uses contact with those with kings blood to make shadow babies, Euron can use a Dragons Egg to make a Shadow Dragon?? They have both been to Asshai. Maybe you kill a Dragon by making a Shadow Dragon.

[The Fresh PtwP]

Krakens don't fly. But maybe Sphinxes can...

[jentario]

Eh. I think the stone beast taking wing is Jon Connington- his sigil is a griffon and he has greyscale. Breathing "shadow fire" is like breathing black fire which means Blackfyre, since he's supporting Aegon.

[The Fresh PtwP]

Eh. I think the stone beast taking wing is Jon Connington- his sigil is a griffon and he has greyscale. Breathing "shadow fire" is like breathing black fire which means Blackfyre, since he's supporting Aegon.

I've never understood why so many people think Aegon is going to travel miles and miles to save Oldtown...

[Legendary]

More likely, the Smoking Tower was the House of the Undying, which could explain his lips. I think its entirely possible that Euron is a faceless man who wants to kill Dany and her dragons

The House of the Undying isn't a tower though; not in the books at least. It's "long and low", and I believe that Dany is confused by there being stairs on the inside (or at least, by how many she climbs).

[jentario]

I've never understood why so many people think Aegon is going to travel miles and miles to save Oldtown...

I never said that. I've never even considered that possibility.

[Lost Melnibonean]

Eh. I think the stone beast taking wing is Jon Connington- his sigil is a griffon and he has greyscale. Breathing "shadow fire" is like breathing black fire which means Blackfyre, since he's supporting Aegon.

And the smoking tower? And if Connington and Aegon are both seen in this triplet with the other being Stannis the sequence is less elegant.

[LaughingTreeMaiden]

Alternate theory: the stone beast taking wing could be Sansa. She's been connected with birds (little bird / wolf with big leather wings like a bat - this has been analysed in depth on these forums) and the smoking tower could refer to her escaping her future husband Littlefinger, the lord of Harrenhal castle which smoked when dragons destroyed it. Maybe it means Sansa will discover her warging abilities and become a significant player. Can't think how the shadow fire might fit into this though

[Sullen]

Eh. I think the stone beast taking wing is Jon Connington- his sigil is a griffon and he has greyscale. Breathing "shadow fire" is like breathing black fire which means Blackfyre, since he's supporting Aegon.

The makes the stone beast and the mummer's dragon quite redundant then, no? Also, in what way is Jon a lie to be slain?

(For the record, I think the Stone Beast is Connington as well, but eh)

[BRANDON GREYSTARK]

great stone beast(JonCon) shadow of fire(blackfyre) or (the Gold Company, ghost ,liars revenants from forgotten wars...,).

[Nozlym]

Also, in what way is Jon a lie to be slain?

The lie being about who he actually is and the slain meaning it being revealed

[The Mother of The Others]

Krakens don't fly. But maybe Sphinxes can...

That's it. The Sphinx taking wing would mean the Hightower forces joining the war. Simple, realistic, the kind of non-fantasmagorical event that'd actually happen. The lie for Danny to fight would be the huge lie the maesters have been telling about how magic isn't a real thing---this Citadel policy is now an irresponsible travesty that's keeping the realm from being fully prepared to defend itself against ice snarks that are all too real. And the shadow fire could be a reference to the apparent hypocrisy of Hightower casting spells in the middle of this anti-magic organization. As if it's really been a scheme to have the maesters disarm the other castles of any spellcasting ability so when the Hightowers decide to strike they're the only magic users on the field, unopposed by their own kind ???

[JonCon's Red Beard]

Krakens don't fly. But maybe Sphinxes can...

Really? Let's push Euron out the Moon Door.

I've never understood why so many people think Aegon is going to travel miles and miles to save Oldtown...

To win over the Reach.

But I doubt it.

The lie being about who he actually is and the slain meaning it being revealed

There is a chance Jon is been lied about who Aegon really is, but he's not lying. He is who he claims to be. In that case, he would be slaying the lies.

[Nozlym]

There is a chance Jon is been lied about who Aegon really is, but he's not lying. He is who he claims to be. In that case, he would be slaying the lies.

yes that could be another way to interpret it.