Waking The Dragon

[Lost Melnibonean]

1. "You don't want to wake the dragon, do you?"

She was walking down a long hall beneath high stone arches. She could not look behind her, must not look behind her. There was a door ahead of her, tiny with distance, but even from afar, she saw that it was painted red. She walked faster, and her bare feet left bloody footprints on the stone.

--Where else do we see a long hall with high stone arches? She wants to go home. She thinks home is her childhood. But she cannot go back. Her bloody footprints on the stone recall the bloody footprints she left on the sand in the previous chapter, when Mirri Maz Duur practiced blood magic. It was the bloody footprints that caused Jorah to realize that she had done something terrible.

2. "You dont want to wake the dragon, do you?"

She saw sunlight on the Dothraki sea, the living plain, rich with the smells of earth and death. Wind stirred the grasses, and they rippled like water. Drogo held her in strong arms, and his hand stroked her sex and opened her and woke that sweet wetness that was his alone, and the stars smiled down on them, stars in a daylight sky. "Home," she whispered as he entered her and filled her with his seed, but suddenly the stars were gone, and across the blue sky swept the great wings, and the world took flame.

--Here is another vision of a home. A home she caused to be destroyed.

3. " . . . don't want to wake the dragon, do you?"

Ser Jorah's face was drawn and sorrowful. "Rhaegar was the last dragon," he told her. He warmed translucent hands over a glowing brazier where stone eggs smoldered red as coals. One moment he was there and the next he was fading, his flesh colorless, less substantial than the wind. "The last dragon," he whispered, thin as a wisp, and was gone. She felt the dark behind her, and the red door seemed farther away than ever.

--Does this foreshadow Daeneryss estrangement from Jorah? Does it foreshadow Jorahs death, perhaps before he can return to her side?

[Lost Melnibonean]

4. " . . . don't want to wake the dragon, do you?"

Viserys stood before her, screaming. "The dragon does not beg, slut. You do not command the dragon. I am the dragon, and I will be crowned." The molten gold trickled down his face like wax, burning deep channels in his flesh. "I am the dragon and I will be crowned!" he shrieked, and his fingers snapped like snakes, biting at her nipples, pinching, twisting, even as his eyes burst and ran like jelly down seared and blackened cheeks.

-- We already know that Viserys was just a fool. Is this The Dragon demanding that she wake him?

5. " . . . don't want to wake the dragon . . . "

The red door was so far ahead of her, and she could feel the icy breath behind, sweeping up on her. If it caught her she would die a death that was more than death, howling forever alone in the darkness. She began to run.

Is this the cold breath of darkness falling heavy on the world?

6. " . . . don't want to wake the dragon . . . "

She could feel the heat inside her, a terrible burning in her womb. Her son was tall and proud, with Drogo's copper skin and her own silver-gold hair, violet eyes shaped like almonds. And he smiled for her and began to lift his hand toward hers, but when he opened his mouth the fire poured out. She saw his heart burning through his chest, and in an instant he was gone, consumed like a moth by a candle, turned to ash. She wept for her child, the promise of a sweet mouth on her breast, but her tears turned to steam as they touched her skin.

--This would be The Dragon taking Rhaegos place.

[Lost Melnibonean]

7. " . . . want to wake the dragon . . . "

Ghosts lined the hallway, dressed in the faded raiment of kings. In their hands were swords of pale fire. They had hair of silver and hair of gold and hair of platinum white, and their eyes were opal and amethyst, tourmaline and jade. "Faster," they cried, "faster, faster." She raced, her feet melting the stone wherever they touched. "Faster!" the ghosts cried as one, and she screamed and threw herself forward. A great knife of pain ripped down her back, and she felt her skin tear open and smelled the stench of burning blood and saw the shadow of wings. And Daenerys Targaryen flew.

--These are the ghosts of the dragon lords. Why are their swords of pale fire? Does this tie in with Lightbringer? Or the dragon fire they command? This suggests that the fourth vision was of The Dragon commanding her to wake him. And then we have the birth, Rhaegos stillbirth and the birth of The Dragon.

8. " . . . wake the dragon . . . "

The door loomed before her, the red door, so close, so close, the hall was a blur around her, the cold receding behind. And now the stone was gone and she flew across the Dothraki sea, high and higher, the green rippling beneath, and all that lived and breathed fled in terror from the shadow of her wings. She could smell home, she could see it, there, just beyond that door, green fields and great stone houses and arms to keep her warm, there. She threw open the door.

--Waking the Dragon will get her home, the red door, the Dothraki Sea, and Westeros, but whose arms will keep her warm? She opens the door and sees

9. " . . . the dragon . . . "

And saw her brother Rhaegar, mounted on a stallion as black as his armor. Fire glimmered red through the narrow eye slit of his helm. "The last dragon," Ser Jorah's voice whispered faintly. "The last, the last." Dany lifted his polished black visor. The face within was her own.

--the last dragon. But she is the last dragon.

After that, for a long time, there was only the pain, the fire within her, and the whisperings of stars.

She woke to the taste of ashes.

[Mithras]

After that, for a long time, there was only the pain, the fire within her, and the whisperings of stars.

This points to Quaithe's presence in this dream.

She dreamed. All her cares fell away from her, and all her pains as well, and she seemed to float upward into the sky. She was flying once again, spinning, laughing, dancing, as the stars wheeled around her and whispered secrets in her ear. “To go north, you must journey south. To reach the west, you must go east. To go forward, you must go back. To touch the light you must pass beneath the shadow.”

“Quaithe?” Dany called. “Where are you, Quaithe?”

Then she saw. Her mask is made of starlight.

“Remember who you are, Daenerys,” the stars whispered in a woman’s voice. “The dragons know. Do you?”

So, all of Dany's dreams seem to be planted by Quaithe using her glass candle.

7. " . . . want to wake the dragon . . . "

--These are the ghosts of the dragon lords. Why are their swords of pale fire? Does this tie in with Lightbringer? Or the dragon fire they command? This suggests that the fourth vision was of The Dragon commanding her to wake him. And then we have the birth, Rhaegos stillbirth and the birth of The Dragon.

In the beginning , the priestly scribes of Yin declare, all the land between the Bones and the freezing desert called the Grey Waste, from the Shivering Sea to the Jade Sea (including even the great and holy isle of Leng), formed a single realm ruled by the God-on-Earth, the only begotten son of the Lion of Night and Maiden-Made-of-Light, who traveled about his domains in a palanquin carved from a single pearl and carried by a hundred queens, his wives. For ten thousand years the Great Empire of the Dawn flourished in peace and plenty under the God-on-Earth, until at last he ascended to the stars to join his forebears.

Dominion over mankind then passed to his eldest son, who was known as the Pearl Emperor and ruled for a thousand years. The Jade Emperor, the Tourmaline Emperor, the Onyx Emperor, the Topaz Emperor, and the Opal Emperor followed in turn, each reigning for centuries … yet every reign was shorter and more troubled than the one preceding it, for wild men and baleful beasts pressed at the borders of the Great Empire, lesser kings grew prideful and rebellious, and the common people gave themselves over to avarice, envy, lust, murder, incest, gluttony, and sloth.

When the daughter of the Opal Emperor succeeded him as the Amethyst Empress, her envious younger brother cast her down and slew her, proclaiming himself the Bloodstone Emperor and beginning a reign of terror. He practiced dark arts, torture, and necromancy, enslaved his people, took a tiger-woman for his bride, feasted on human flesh, and cast down the true gods to worship a black stone that had fallen from the sky. (Many scholars count the Bloodstone Emperor as the first High Priest of the sinister Church of Starry Wisdom, which persists to this day in many port cities throughout the known world).

Quaithe is as misguided and twice as dangerous than Mel.

[Mithras]

After that, for a long time, there was only the pain, the fire within her, and the whisperings of stars.

She woke to the taste of ashes.

This might foreshadow Dany giving birth and dying from fever at the end.

[Lost Melnibonean]

This points to Quaithe's presence in this dream.

She dreamed. All her cares fell away from her, and all her pains as well, and she seemed to float upward into the sky. She was flying once again, spinning, laughing, dancing, as the stars wheeled around her and whispered secrets in her ear. To go north, you must journey south. To reach the west, you must go east. To go forward, you must go back. To touch the light you must pass beneath the shadow.

Quaithe? Dany called. Where are you, Quaithe?

Then she saw. Her mask is made of starlight.

Remember who you are, Daenerys, the stars whispered in a womans voice. The dragons know. Do you?

So, all of Dany's dreams seem to be planted by Quaithe using her glass candle.

In the beginning , the priestly scribes of Yin declare, all the land between the Bones and the freezing desert called the Grey Waste, from the Shivering Sea to the Jade Sea (including even the great and holy isle of Leng), formed a single realm ruled by the God-on-Earth, the only begotten son of the Lion of Night and Maiden-Made-of-Light, who traveled about his domains in a palanquin carved from a single pearl and carried by a hundred queens, his wives. For ten thousand years the Great Empire of the Dawn flourished in peace and plenty under the God-on-Earth, until at last he ascended to the stars to join his forebears.

Dominion over mankind then passed to his eldest son, who was known as the Pearl Emperor and ruled for a thousand years. The Jade Emperor, the Tourmaline Emperor, the Onyx Emperor, the Topaz Emperor, and the Opal Emperor followed in turn, each reigning for centuries yet every reign was shorter and more troubled than the one preceding it, for wild men and baleful beasts pressed at the borders of the Great Empire, lesser kings grew prideful and rebellious, and the common people gave themselves over to avarice, envy, lust, murder, incest, gluttony, and sloth.

When the daughter of the Opal Emperor succeeded him as the Amethyst Empress, her envious younger brother cast her down and slew her, proclaiming himself the Bloodstone Emperor and beginning a reign of terror. He practiced dark arts, torture, and necromancy, enslaved his people, took a tiger-woman for his bride, feasted on human flesh, and cast down the true gods to worship a black stone that had fallen from the sky. (Many scholars count the Bloodstone Emperor as the first High Priest of the sinister Church of Starry Wisdom, which persists to this day in many port cities throughout the known world).

Quaithe is as misguided and twice as dangerous than Mel.

I don't think the glass candles were burning before the birth of Daenerys's dragons. I think the pre-dragon dreams were inspired by The Dragon.

But I do agree with the allusion to Quaithe.

[Mithras]

I don't think the glass candles were burning before the birth of Daenerys's dragons. I think the pre-dragon dreams were inspired by The Dragon.

I think the glass candles were indeed burning. Global magical activity was already rising and it has nothing to do with Dany or her pyre. Mel said that spells work better in Asshai. I think Quaithe lit a glass candle in Asshai where the rest of the world was not magical enough to do that. She watched and watched and found Dany to mess with her head.

[Lost Melnibonean]

I think the glass candles were indeed burning. Global magical activity was already rising and it has nothing to do with Dany or her pyre. Mel said that spells work better in Asshai. I think Quaithe lit a glass candle in Asshai where the rest of the world was not magical enough to do that. She watched and watched and found Dany to mess with her head.

And she took it with her to Qarth and the Red Waste?

[LmL]

Quaithe was originally in Quarth, and we don't see her in person after that. I agree with Mithras that Quaithe is planting dreams in Dany's mind, but I do not think this dream which you have broken down in excellent detail, Lost Melnibonean, is one of them. Quaithe was still Quarth at that time. It's possible - we don't know exactly when magic stated getting stronger again - but it's interesting she appears to Dany in person until she leaves Quarth, at which time she uses the candle.

Interesting note: Quaithe speaks to Dany in the common tongue of Westeros. The other two speak in Dothraki and common Valyrian, but Quaithe knows Westerosi... Interesting.

As for the gemstone emperors in Dany's dream, Mithras is right that these are the Great Empire of the Dawn folks, the original dragonlords. The shining swords are indeed indicitve. Dany and the dragons are deeply connected to the Azor Ahai mythos.

I for agree that Quaithe is bad business. She can't show her face in the sun - just like an Other. She's a 'shadow binder' - emphasis on shadow, not fire. Shadow is an aspect of fire, but I think Quaithe is more shadow and less fire.

I think the people she needs to listen to are actually those gemstone emperors, if she can figure out how. I think the splendor of wizards and people with gemstone-bedazzled armor in the house of the undying were the same people - they offer to teach Dany dragonspeech.

[LmL]

Quaithe was originally in Quarth, and we don't see her in person after that. I agree with Mithras that Quaithe is planting dreams in Dany's mind, but I do not think this dream which you have broken down in excellent detail, Lost Melnibonean, is one of them. Quaithe was still Quarth at that time. It's possible - we don't know exactly when magic stated getting stronger again - but it's interesting she appears to Dany in person until she leaves Quarth, at which time she uses the candle.

Interesting note: Quaithe speaks to Dany in the common tongue of Westeros. The other two speak in Dothraki and common Valyrian, but Quaithe knows Westerosi... Interesting.

As for the gemstone emperors in Dany's dream, Mithras is right that these are the Great Empire of the Dawn folks, the original dragonlords. The shining swords are indeed indicitve. Dany and the dragons are deeply connected to the Azor Ahai mythos.

I for agree that Quaithe is bad business. She can't show her face in the sun - just like an Other. She's a 'shadow binder' - emphasis on shadow, not fire. Shadow is an aspect of fire, but I think Quaithe is more shadow and less fire.

I think the people she needs to listen to are actually those gemstone emperors, if she can figure out how. I think the splendor of wizards and people with gemstone-bedazzled armor in the house of the undying were the same people - they offer to teach Dany dragonspeech.

The fact that it was the Amethyst Empress who was betrayed kind of hints that Dany may be the fulfillment or return of the Amethyst Empress. That's an interesting notion which I am looking in to.

[LmL]

By the way great post, I really like you analysis of what waking the dragon actually costs. I think George is subtly planting the idea throughout the text that the dragons are bad news - "death and devastation" as Xaro puts it. A lot of people are rooting for Dany to embrace the dragon nature, fire and blood, "might makes right" - basically, violent authoritarianism. I don't think this is a good thing. I don't think the morale of the story will be "well Dany just had to become a violent psycho-killer and then everything was ok." The morale of the story is that the smallfolk pay the price when the high lords play ther game of thrones (that's courtesy of Septon Maribald, the conscience of Westeros). Thus I think Dany's arc will end in redemption, but only when she steps back from the abyss, from becoming a violent conqueror. She's actually got what it takes to be a good ruler when she tries. To be a good ruler, you have to embrace nuance and complexity. You have to compromise. You can't see things in black and white and simply burn everyone who disagrees - that's not a good ruler, that's a violent psychopath. I truly believe this is Dany's "conflict of the heart" which George gives all his characters, and Quaithe's advice is BAD BAD BAD.

[Lady Blizzardborn]

Quaithe wearing a traditional shadow-binder's mask does not make her anything like an Other. She first met Dany during daylight in the middle of a desert. If any of the theories about Quaithe's identity are correct, she needs that mask because sunblock hasn't been invented and she's a pale-skinned Westerosi, possibly of Valyrian descent.

Quaithe can go out in daylight. A certain ice race, on the Other hand, only ever show up at night.

[Lost Melnibonean]

Quaithe wearing a traditional shadow-binder's mask does not make her anything like an Other. She first met Dany during daylight in the middle of a desert. If any of the theories about Quaithe's identity are correct, she needs that mask because sunblock hasn't been invented and she's a pale-skinned Westerosi, possibly of Valyrian descent.

Quaithe can go out in daylight. A certain ice race, on the Other hand, only ever show up at night.

Aren't the masks an Asshai'i custom?

[Lady Blizzardborn]

Aren't the masks an Asshai'i custom?

A shadowbinder custom. Not all Asshai'i wear them. And I have this idea that Mel did badly in her prophecy courses at the Asshai'i Holistic Technical Institute so she wasn't able to graduate. No diploma = no mask.

But my point about the sunblock still stands. ;)

[chrisdaw]

Are you alleging something with all this? It seems you're hinting towards Jon being the dragon, and Dany meant to wake him.

Dany is the dragon that will wake, in the manner meant when Viserys said it.

[Lost Melnibonean]

Are you alleging something with all this? It seems you're hinting towards Jon being the dragon, and Dany meant to wake him.

Dany is the dragon that will wake, in the manner meant when Viserys said it.

If I had a really sharp point, I would have stated it at the top. Honestly, I was hoping to see what others had to say about some of the finer details. I can say this, though. I believe there is some power we can refer to as The Dragon. It takes physical form on Planetos as dragons. For some reason the dragons went away, but when it was time for them to come back, presumably to fight the Others, The Dragon needed to be awakened, and Daenerys was key. Waking the drgaon meant Rhaego had no chance.