The Avatars of the Seven

[Batbob45]

non stark edition

Father-Davos(one of the best dads in westeros)

Mother-Brienne(she would protect the innocent like their her kids)

Warrior-Balon Swann(skilled warrior with honor)

Maiden-Shireen(on of the most innocent charactors)

Crone-Sam

Stranger-Patchface(we know very little about him)

smith-Gendry

[King Crow]

Brienne does a good job of representing both the maiden and the warrior

I believe Jon shows a progression of the Seven's feminie aspects(from maiden, to mother, to crone)

He starts off the series naive and almost immediately swears a vow of chasity. As the story progresses he loses his innocence and learns more about the world. Also, a lot of his greatests deeds are associated with mercy. When he first comes to the nightwatch it isn't his sword skill that makes him stand out. It is when he learns to be more compassionate towards his fellow recruits that he begins to earn respect. He is very nurturing to Sam when they first meet. Also, he allows the wildlings to pass and arranges the Hardehome expedition. If Jon goes on to couple his merciful nature with wisdom he will have hit all three aspects.

[LmL]

And he's probably going to meet with people who has been "lighting the way" since forever. The Hightowers.

Yep. I agree with Mithras analysis of Sam especially. That's devilshly clever, and it's consistent with Annara's Now's observation about Ned and Cat being reversed as far as justice and mercy.

If the Starks represent the Seven, then Ned and Cat are subversions rather than straight-up avatars.

Ned was very much a loving father and did everything to protect the children, his own but also other innocent children; but Father is supposed to represent Justice, and Ned failed to exert justice because of his feelings of mercy and compassion - committing such big mistakes as informing Cersei that he knew about incest so she could get away with her children, and not telling Robert on his deathbed, because he wanted to spare his feelings. His last act, falsely confessing treason, was an act of a father (trying to save his daughter), rather than the Father (it was not a "just" thing to do).

Catelyn was very much a loving mother and did everything to protect her children; but Mother is supposed to represent Mercy. While living, Catelyn was empathetic, but her arc was not about acts inspired by mercy than Ned's was. As Lady Stoneheart, however, she's Mother Merciless - the exact opposite of what the Mother is supposed to represent - and she's motivated by a desire for justice/revenge (however you see it) for the Red Wedding.

In terms of representing Justice and Mercy, their roles would work better if they were switched. Unless the point is their failure to live up to the ideals of Justice/Mercy, respectively, largely exactly because of their feelings as a father/mother.

Brilliant analysis. Bravo.

[LmL]

Brienne does a good job of representing both the maiden and the warrior

Yeah, I noticed this too. It's a nice dual-aspected archetype.

I believe Jon shows a progression of the Seven's feminie aspects(from maiden, to mother, to crone)

He starts off the series naive and almost immediately swears a vow of chasity. As the story progresses he loses his innocence and learns more about the world. Also, a lot of his greatests deeds are associated with mercy. When he first comes to the nightwatch it isn't his sword skill that makes him stand out. It is when he learns to be more compassionate towards his fellow recruits that he begins to earn respect. He is very nurturing to Sam when they first meet. Also, he allows the wildlings to pass and arranges the Hardehome expedition. If Jon goes on to couple his merciful nature with wisdom he will have hit all three aspects.

Interesting angle... I have always picked up mostly Stranger imagery around Jon, especially if you read Scmendrick's R+L=Lightbringer.

[three-eyed monkey]

I don't think that one character is an aspect of the 7. It's more like every character has the "leading" characteristic of the 7 to some degree. Remember, they aren't 7 gods--it's one god with 7 aspects as Meribald and Brienne discuss in AFFC.

So take any character and you can find instances of mothers love, fatherly justice, warrior strength, maiden innocence, crone like wisdom, skilled smith, and death within them.

Absolutely.

I remember a thread a bit back about Mel burning the Seven on Dragonstone, Davos I ACoK I think. The Father was the first of the statues to fall, calling back to Ned's execution. Seemed pretty simple. Flames licked the paint of the Mother's face, foreshadowing Lady Stoneheart perhaps, or was it Sandor? Then the Stranger's hand burned and fell off and that's where the fun began. Was it Jon, or was it Jaime? From there the thread morphed into a similar discussion as we're having here. A few pages of convincing parallels between the Seven and every major character in the series later, I was pretty convinced that each character had aspects of all seven in them as opposed to straight one-to-one correlations. I guess that's part of what makes them so interesting.

Edit: Great Op, regardless. Sam definitely has a very strong Crone aspect.

[Farwynds Oceanseer]

Am I the only one who sees Theon evolving into the Crone? He begins with a reckless pride that places him under the shadow of the stranger, which has always been hovering over him like the sword of Damocles because of his position as the North's Iron Islands hostage. He brings indescriminate death to Winterfell (like the Stranger) without being a true conqueror or protector (thus unlike the Warrior). Most of him dies away under Ramsey's torture, but he begins to find a certain wisdom in humility. Roose Bolton holds the Manderlies in contempt, for instance, but Theon remembers Manderly's sons acquitting themselves well in the Whispering Woods and doubts that Wyman is as stupid or cowardly as Bolton thinks. A perceptiveness seems to be stirring in him, beneath his tormented groveling, once he is brought to Winterfell. I also wonder if being close to death, or having the filters of his mind opened by madness, makes him more able to hear Bran at the Heart Tree. He reminds me of Oedipus after that prototypical tragic hero collapses in discovering the bleakness of his true identity--theon resembling a tragic hero (or at least a tragic protagonist) who gains a certain wisdom in self-knowlege after being humbled by his own downfall. When the Stranger, acting through Ramsey, flays his grandiose self-image away along with most of his old identity, a certain tortured wisdom remains, which might serve him if he can regain enough will to be something other than a sacrifice for Stannis.

ETA: of course, his castration also suggests both the sexless Stranger and Crone.

[LmL]

I've been ruminating on the fact that Azor Ahai seems to fit all four male roles. Smith, first off, heat hammer and fold. He's the "warrior of fire," so check there. He's the father who impregnated the Nissa Nissa moon with dragons - she's the original mother of dragons, he the father. Meanwhile, the Stranger is called the "Wanderer from far off places," which is a prefect description for a comet, which was what his sword represented, celestially speaking. So AA seems fill all the roles... plus throw in usurper, murderer, dark lord.