Daenerys is the Amethyst Empress Reborn

[Nozlym]

I agree except for this part. There are places who are much below Starfall. Unless you mean at the time they were there. I don't rememeber now but I think thye are one of the oldest houses, and they are First Men.

ok if u want to get technical then yes its obviously not as far south as u can go

but its still far south, u have travelled a long way and u run into water as far as u can see, u might get the idea that this is as far as u can go

[Durran Durrandon]

When you say that Jon is going to restore Dany as the Amethyst Empress, you mean helping her with his sacrifice to defeat the Others, end the second Long Night and then become Queen (Empress) of Westeros or just the first part ?

I mean, her becoming the Amethyst Empress is going to be solely a "spiritual" thing or is she going to actually ruling Westeros or both?

Either way, I like it! A lot! It's way better than having them killing each other or being killed by the Others or Dany being The Mad Queen! :uhoh:

But I assumed that before he becomes good again, Jon will have to become bad? And maybe Dany too (it seems she is going Fire and Blood all the way in Mereen)?

Definitely spiritual. I am not sure if she will be the actual empress, but I suspect she will be. Everyone she truly loved will likely be dead, but her people will be happy and better off than they have ever been, and she will rule over her empire with a furrowed brow.

I don't know how bad they will become first.Both are currently in situations where normal people loose it and go over to the dark side, however, both of these characters have been exceptionally ethical, if occasionally critically naive. Jon is subtly even more ethical than Ned. Daenerys does not have the same advantages as Jon in terms of an ethical education, but she consistently shows more moral judgement than her advisers.

Maybe the Cubic Zirconia Empress?

I believe that would be Margaery Tyrell.

I'm actually really liking this theory. Would you think then that when/if Danaerys kills Aegon for his blood betrayal that the seasons will be restored?

I mean the Blackfyres trying to usurp the rightful Targ line seemingly mirrors the younger brother trying to usurp the Amethyst empress.

True, but they failed. The Targaryens were usurped by the Baratheons, who usurped by the Lannisters, who are being usurped by the Tyrells. Maybe if Aegon overthrows the Tyrells first and members of the Cult of Starry Wisdom show up to help him forge a flaming sword, but I think Jon is AAR and BER (the Bloodstone Emperor Reformed) and it will be his sacrifice that restores the seasons.

[Nozlym]

sorry but what are the sacrifices needed to restore the season?

[Durran Durrandon]

sorry but what are the sacrifices needed to restore the season?

Admittedly , I am not sure. It just seems proper that when one overthrow one's sister, enslaves one's people, and forces everyone to worship an evil space rock, causing the gods to curse humanity with inclement weather for ten thousand years, that making amends involves freeing the people, restoring the ancient rights, and setting one's sister back on the throne, even if it leads to one's own death.

[Durran Durrandon]

I think those "ancestor" or Dany aren't exactly Valyrian but those from the Valyrian came from, the ancestors they and the Dayns share in common. I'm very certain they were involved in the events of the Long Night and related, also was Dawn.

Precisely, they are proto-Valyrians. I call them the Dawns.

[JonCon's Red Beard]

ok if u want to get technical then yes its obviously not as far south as u can go

but its still far south, u have travelled a long way and u run into water as far as u can see, u might get the idea that this is as far as u can go

Whatsoever, if you come from the North, it is the first place you get that is close to a river. At least in Dorne.

[Aslerys]

Definitely spiritual. I am not sure if she will be the actual empress, but I suspect she will be. Everyone she truly loved will likely be dead, but her people will be happy and better off than they have ever been, and she will rule over her empire with a furrowed brow.

I don't know how bad they will become first.Both are currently in situations where normal people loose it and go over to the dark side, however, both of these characters have been exceptionally ethical, if occasionally critically naive. Jon is subtly even more ethical than Ned. Daenerys does not have the same advantages as Jon in terms of an ethical education, but she consistently shows more moral judgement than her advisers.

That's what I thought you meant. Actually I always believed that the series was going to end kind of like this but Jon would be the sad, reluctant king haunted by survivor's guilt.

I admit I like your version of the end better than mine, I didn't find a way of making Dany live (regardless she becomes queen or not) without it being predictable or lame but you did so kudos to you! :thumbsup:

And yeah, I have faith that they are going to be able to overcome their " dark phase" asap.

[Avlonnic]

Really fascinating. Sacrifice and redemption feature prominently among the themes in these books so this is an interesting take on the "bittersweet" ending. We have seen some examples of self-sacrifice (Qhorin Halfhand, Squire Dalbridge.) But we have seen situations where people are forced to choose which person/people should be sacrificed and cannot choose themselves. A mother is asked which of her children will die; she offers herself but is refused and must speak the name. Horrible. Imagine if Jon is faced with choosing between Arya's life or Bran's life, unable to sacrifice himself; if he does not choose, they both die. What could he do? We see hints of this choice throughout these books with Edric Storm and Mance's baby and others. What is the life of one child against the lives of many?

You and Lucifer Means Lightbringer have crafted some very intriguing topics. Kudos on the thought-provoking posts.

[LmL]

My personal take on Dany's future arc is that she will embrace fire and blood for a time, as Quaithe wants her to do (the wrong decision imo), but then 'pull back from the brink,' much like Darth Vader did, actually, although I don't think she will ever go as far to the 'dark side' as he. Dany has consistently shown traits of a good ruler - appreciation for complexity, a willingness to listen to contradictory advise, ability to compromise, a clear and strong sense of ethics... And then there's her dragon side. I don't think anyone should be rooting for her to embrace it, but I could be wrong - maybe she needs to be the Dragons destroyer to "fight the Others," but I just don't think that's where this is going. I think this pulling back from the brink may mean sacrificing her dragons in some way. I also have a hunch that there will be no magic at the end of the story, and in such a situation I can see a more mature Daenerys as making a good ruler. That would be a continuation of the Amethyst Empress interrupted legacy.

[Butterfly Fever]

This is fascinating... is it a little too obvious to say that Viserys has already proven happy to sacrifice Dany (ie. I'd let all of Team Drogo f**k you if it meant being king - paraphrased but I think it's in the first Dany chapter)? That would make Azor Ahai somebody else ... if it is another close relative as it potentially was back in the day, then Jon would fit the Azor Ahai role under that scenario as well.

[Nozlym]

Butterfly Fever welcome to the forums

judging by ur first post may u have a long and wonderous time learning new things on this faboulous website

[Durran Durrandon]

That's what I thought you meant. Actually I always believed that the series was going to end kind of like this but Jon would be the sad, reluctant king haunted by survivor's guilt.

I admit I like your version of the end better than mine, I didn't find a way of making Dany live (regardless she becomes queen or not) without it being predictable or lame but you did so kudos to you! :thumbsup:

And yeah, I have faith that they are going to be able to overcome their " dark phase" asap.

Thanks, and if you had asked me a month ago, I would have said the same thing about Jon ruling sad and alone. (Except, I deeply believe Sam and Gilley will somehow live happily ever after.)

You and Lucifer Means Lightbringer have crafted some very intriguing topics. Kudos on the thought-provoking posts.

Thanks.

This is fascinating... is it a little too obvious to say that Viserys has already proven happy to sacrifice Dany (ie. I'd let all of Team Drogo f**k you if it meant being king - paraphrased but I think it's in the first Dany chapter)? That would make Azor Ahai somebody else ... if it is another close relative as it potentially was back in the day, then Jon would fit the Azor Ahai role under that scenario as well.

I think the repetition of betrayal is a constant theme through out the series. It is interesting that the world book seems to set it up as the original sin. Jon certainly fits the Azor Ahai role and given R+L=J is most likely her nephew, but I think the twist is that he breaks the cycle and end 10,000 years of bad karma.

[Durran Durrandon]

My personal take on Dany's future arc is that she will embrace fire and blood for a time, as Quaithe wants her to do (the wrong decision imo), but then 'pull back from the brink,' much like Darth Vader did, actually, although I don't think she will ever go as far to the 'dark side' as he. Dany has consistently shown traits of a good ruler - appreciation for complexity, a willingness to listen to contradictory advise, ability to compromise, a clear and strong sense of ethics... And then there's her dragon side. I don't think anyone should be rooting for her to embrace it, but I could be wrong - maybe she needs to be the Dragons destroyer to "fight the Others," but I just don't think that's where this is going. I think this pulling back from the brink may mean sacrificing her dragons in some way. I also have a hunch that there will be no magic at the end of the story, and in such a situation I can see a more mature Daenerys as making a good ruler. That would be a continuation of the Amethyst Empress interrupted legacy.

Well, I imagine she may string up some Kahls and familiarize the Dothraki horse warriors with the deep and intimate connection between gelding and proper treatment of civilians during warfare. I imagine that there will be more dead slavers, and the Greyjoy brothers may be kicking it with the Drowned God earlier than they expect, but is that really dark. Okay, maybe.

[khal drogon]

My personal take on Dany's future arc is that she will embrace fire and blood for a time, as Quaithe wants her to do (the wrong decision imo), but then 'pull back from the brink,' much like Darth Vader did, actually, although I don't think she will ever go as far to the 'dark side' as he. Dany has consistently shown traits of a good ruler - appreciation for complexity, a willingness to listen to contradictory advise, ability to compromise, a clear and strong sense of ethics... And then there's her dragon side. I don't think anyone should be rooting for her to embrace it, but I could be wrong - maybe she needs to be the Dragons destroyer to "fight the Others," but I just don't think that's where this is going. I think this pulling back from the brink may mean sacrificing her dragons in some way. I also have a hunch that there will be no magic at the end of the story, and in such a situation I can see a more mature Daenerys as making a good ruler. That would be a continuation of the Amethyst Empress interrupted legacy.

I completely agree. My own head canon theory is Dany will sacrifice her own dragons at the end and also Jon would be forced to do a similiar sacrifice.

[khal drogon]

This is very interesting. In fact it is the best Dany related theory I have ever read. Thanks to the OP.

[LmL]

This is very interesting. In fact it is the best Dany related theory I have ever read. Thanks to the OP.

Three cheers!!!

[Han Snow]

The short answer is yes. The Day(nes)are descendants of the Dawns. I mean, they have a sword called Dawn and purple eyes. No one has purple eyes unless they are descendants of the Valyrian diaspora, and the Daynes have been in Westeros for far too long to be part of the diaspora.

The long answer is a question. Who? Azor Ahai? The Bloodstone Emperor? Someone else? If Azor Ahai, regardless of whether or not he is the former Bloodstone Emperor or a descendant of the Amethyst Empress, becomes the Last Hero, then it stands to reason that he founds the Night's Watch up north. There is plenty of speculation about the Last Hero being Bran the Builder and the founder of the Stark family, which is problematic, if the last hero also must be the founder of the Daynes. I think this is the area where we still have many questions.

My thoughts on the subject from almost a year ago:

Revisited Addendum (I removed the fan fictiony dialogue and stuff, though all fan theories on a discussion board about a series of books that are not even finished yet are fan fiction in and of themselves, so I don’t see what harm can a little dialogue and more vivid descriptions do, except to better the immersion for other users, but, yeah, ok, rules are rules.)

THE LAST HERO/AZOR AHAI

Well, I also have a theory about who was the Last Hero that started the House Stark.

Tummm tumm tum! Here it goes: He was a Dayne. House Dayne is supposedly ancient, and older then Starks and the rest of the great houses. They have distinctively Valyrian features without those features being inherited by marrying with Targs. So my take is this:

They were the proto Valyrians that settled in Westeros before the rise of the great Valyrian freehold in Essos and the discovery of dragons in the Fourteen Fires, but after the Arm of Dorne was shattered. They kept contact with Essos and some of their Valyrian customs, but most importantly, they had the knowledge of making steel. Which they guarded for themselves, of course. So when the Long Night came... Concerning the Long Night, I don't believe it was a literal night that lasted for 100 years, but it's more likely that it was the harshest Winter that Planetos had ever known, magical in nature, which completely froze the North, so days were just a couple of hours long there and not much could be grown and WW's were having their picnic, slaughtering where they could. Eventually winter reached Dorne and the dead rose even there. Heck, even Essos had their climate changed. So the Long Night fell and engulfed Westeros and after a while even Daynes in Dorne felt its dire consequences. So they acted, some escaped back to Essos where the people of their ancient motherland had just found mighty beast lizards sleeping, buried deep in the pits. Interesting times those were. And yes, with ones who survived the trip back to Essos came the stories of dead men coming back to life and Ice Demons with blue eyes killing everyone that had warm blood. Those who heard them were willing to believe, considering that winters were never strong in Essos until recently.

But not all fled to Essos. The best and bravest of the Daynes took a host of men and ventured into the North. His goal: to find the home of those Ice demons and end their

reign of terror. He was armed with the milky pale sword forged from the meteor that caused the shattering of two continents at the Arm of Dorne, which fragments could still be found around the place where they settled at, so they named it Starfall. The sword would later be named Dawn and its wielder The Sword of the Morning. Rest of his men had regular steel (weaving spells while forging steel would become practice later, after Valyria rose to power, so Dayne's men had regular steel but still better then plain iron and more effective against WWs).

“I found one account of the Long Night that spoke of the last hero slaying Others with a blade of dragonsteel. Supposedly they could not stand against it.”

“Dragonsteel?” Jon frowned. “Valyrian steel?” AFFC, chaper 5, Samwell

Armed with his special sword and brave men wielding steel, the Dayne hero managed to win some victories against the wights and their cold masters. So north he went, freeing holdfasts and castles, losing more and more men and their steel, but all the while learning more and more about the history of the First Men and their pact with the humanoid creatures who they called the Children.

So his companions died, his horse died and he was left alone with the wolf put that he found at the beginning of the journey, except wolf wasn’t a pup anymore. At the end of his strengths he found the place where winter fell. A sacred weirwood grove with hot springs. There the Children revealed themselves to him. In order to gain their support against the WWs, he had to agree to their demands. So the new pact was made. After consuming the blood paste he managed to communicate with them. And he accepted their demands. He took one of the female COTF as his wife and soon she bore him a son. She died birthing the child because her body wasn’t made to deliver a human/COTF hybrid. He named the son Brandon. Conditions of the new pact were that his son and all his descendants will rule from this sacred place of theirs (where Winter Fell because men had done something horrible, like killing COTF or trying to desecrate the weirwoods or something so COTF changed their song and their pain and anguish woke the WWs in the far North and even stirred the dragons in their sleep all the way in Essos) and they’ll worship the Old Gods and respect the old ways and so long as there is a descendant of their blood here, the pact will hold.

In the meantime his deeds and valor in combat against the WWs had spread among the people of the North. The Last Hero to save them all had come to take the stand against the forces of the Night. People started coming to the sacred place. The Hero took the name Stark and gave people the obsidian weapons left by the Children. After some years the foundations of Winterfell were built. His son, though very young, showed extreme intelligence and something more. The boy was naturally in tune with the weirwood network and he communicated with the Children often. Soon he started teaching the old ways to the common folk, who loved him. But the Hero knew that his mission was not finished. White Walkers were not defeated, they still had their picnic harvests where ever they went, raising the dead to go with them. So he rallied all the men he could find. Promising to other lords of the land that the Long Night will not end until men take their stand together, united against the Ice Gods. So began the last battle of the war, battle for the Dawn.

The Hero and his new army pressed North. Aided by his son Bran communicating with the Children through weirwoods, he found the White Walkers and engaged them. The battle was won and the enemy retreated to the lands of the far north from which they came from. The cost of the victory was great. The army of men prevailed, but they were nearly exterminated themselves. ¾ of the men died, including the Hero himself. Brandon grieved, but knew that it had to be like this. He burned his father’s body and took the milky pale greatsword that he wielded on a journey to the place where it was once forged, to Starfall of Dorne.

The journey was long and eventful. He stopped at many places, teaching and helping in any way he could. He helped even when stubborn kings decided to defy nature and build a castle on a cliff often plagued by heavy storms (Storm’s End). The men knew who he was and offered him hospitality and respect. He shared his wisdom and brought enlightenment wherever he went. After reaching Starfall and giving the greatsword to the one he found the most worthy of his cousins from House Dayne, reports had reached him from where he came from. People were again going missing in the North. This troubled him so he hurried back to Winterfell. There he gave instructions how to build the rest of the major structures and managed to fall in love with a Reed/Marsh girl which he promptly married after learning that she was pregnant. After his son was born and the construction of Winterfell was nearly finished, he went with a host of men to the place where his father had won the battle for the Dawn. There the Children were waiting. They revealed that the WWs can not be completely subdued and that the best thing for the kingdoms of men would be to built a fortification on this place, a magical Wall, powerful enough to ward them from the Cold Lords if they ever grow in strength again to attack. But the Children will be in possession of a safety key, a Horn that can tear the Wall down if men ever stray from the pact again. The ones that will guard the Wall had to make an oath to abide the old ways and Old Gods and the proto Night’s Watch was founded.

With time, the legend of the Last Hero spread even through the vast continent of Essos, where the Dragons and their masters grew in power after the WWS were defeated. Different religions made their own versions of the events, but one especially, where the Last Hero became Azor Ahai and the legend of his pale milky sword mixed with the birth of his son turned into forging of a magical fiery sword called Lightbringer…

Thanks for the kind words. :)

The name of House Dayne's ancestral sword (Dawn), that is curiously made from the fallen star, and the title that its wielder takes on (Sword of the Morning) are too much to just be coincidences and not be in some direct relation with the Long Night and the actual Battle for The Dawn. So yeah... It my be that the COTF even showed a way to the Last Hero on how to use blood to light the sword on fire. So the sword may have indeed burned when he fought with it, but thanks to the material from which it was made the metal never decayed.

On the religion subject; yes my take is that some of the proto Valyrian people had fled back to Essos during the LN, but still kept communication and heard news when more people came running across the Narrow Sea. So after the war against the WWs was won and Brandon "the Builder" Stark returned his father's sword to the Dayne's in Starfall (kind of like Ned does after RR :)), all the stories surrounding the event crossed the continent and turned into the basis for the religion of the Red God that will later emerge. It could even be that those proto Valyrians in Starfall actually changed their name to Day-ne after Bran returned the sword and told his father's tale to them.

It's kind of a circle, everything is connected, folding back upon itself, devouring its tail like Ouroboros.

So WW's are defeated, the legend of TLH grows, spreads all the way to Essos. Where, caused indirectly by the events in Westeros, the dragons have woken and Valryians are learning to control them... House Targaryen may even be descended from those people that fled back from Westeros during the LN, etc. All my speculation though, who knows how GRRM has envisioned it (well, we may actually find it out in the WOIAF) but the bolded part should be true enough regardless.

This is my view also, but considering the Night's King tale it may not be true. (His relations with the WW female and his seed coming from that union would suggest some kind of a biological mechanism in WW's similar to human). But my view on that is that it was just propaganda to slander and discredit the Stark on the Wall that didn't have similar ideas to the Stark in Winterfell of the time. Those ideas being: to make peace with the Andal invaders and allow their burning of the Weirwoods and abandoning of the old ways everywhere except in the North. So the Stark on the Wall rebelled against his cousin in Winterfell accusing him of betraying the pact made with the COTF.

Anyway, I think that the Children are extremely important. Their powers, their song, their blood magic and blood sacrifice... They are somehow connected with everything. Maybe TLH had to give them a blood sacrifice (his last 12 companion friends?) before they helped him, and later made an actual blood pact through his son Brandon (man/COTF offspring). Though I wonder about Asshai and how that far, far east relates to everything. If there is only a vast ocean between that far east and not another continent...hmmm... maybe the song that Children sang after the First Men violated the pact for the first time, the song which woke the White Walkers and stirred the Dragons of Valyria from their slumber, maybe it stirred something in that far east of Essos. There is that legend of Nagga the sea dragon in Iron Islands. Maybe it heard the song in Asshai and tried to reach Westeros but made a stop at Iron Islands... Just thinking here. :P

http://asoiaf.westeros.org/index.php/topic/104303-blood-and-origin-of-house-stark/

Basically, the LH is a Dayne who has a child with COTF. The first Hybrid (Sphinx of Westeros) (hybrids seem to be a fixation of the Vylrians so I'd assume also of the Amyethyst kings) called Bran, who is the founder of house Stark.

[Aslerys]

My personal take on Dany's future arc is that she will embrace fire and blood for a time, as Quaithe wants her to do (the wrong decision imo), but then 'pull back from the brink,' much like Darth Vader did, actually, although I don't think she will ever go as far to the 'dark side' as he. Dany has consistently shown traits of a good ruler - appreciation for complexity, a willingness to listen to contradictory advise, ability to compromise, a clear and strong sense of ethics... And then there's her dragon side. I don't think anyone should be rooting for her to embrace it, but I could be wrong - maybe she needs to be the Dragons destroyer to "fight the Others," but I just don't think that's where this is going. I think this pulling back from the brink may mean sacrificing her dragons in some way. I also have a hunch that there will be no magic at the end of the story, and in such a situation I can see a more mature Daenerys as making a good ruler. That would be a continuation of the Amethyst Empress interrupted legacy.

That would make a lot of sense! I've always thought that the dragons and magic were doomed but I was assuming that Dany would have to die with them.

And I also belive that Dany and Jon would have to get worse before getting better, I don't know why but it seems to me that they can only be truly good when they know what is truly evil? :dunno:

[BalerionTheCat]

I'm very careful now of all that is Valyrian. I believe both the Great Other and R’hllor are intruders gods, not good for the living. They fight their own war and use humans as their little pawns.

"On one side is R’hllor, the Lord of Light, the Heart of Fire, the God of Flame and Shadow. Against him stands the Great Other whose name may not be spoken, the Lord of Darkness, the Soul of Ice, the God of Night and Terror."

I think R'hllor is responsible for the Shadow Land and the ghost grass. I believe it is the place where the stone fell from the sky and is corrupting everything. The stone corrupted the brother of the Amethyst Empress and he murdered her. I would believe the stone was used to create the dragons. Or anyway before the stone, there was no dragons. So the Amethyst had no dragons. In fact, I would rather see Daenerys as the Bloodstone Emperor reborn. I would see him as the Father of the Dragons.

Did not Quaithe wanted Dany to go east and south? Euron visited all the places of evil similar to Ashai. The places where evil built up during the centuries before the fall of the Stone and the Great Empire, where R’hllor was probably already worshiped, was called upon. And it seems Daenerys will associate with him and the Red priests of R'hllor, with his fires. She will be the captain of the evil team, after all her deceptions and angers with Essos and Westeros.

Either the GO had also his worshippers, or he came anyway, because the two gods cannot be separated, like the charges in an atom. And their war disrupted the climate. And it will end everything if nothing is done:

The Dothraki claim that someday ghost grass will cover the entire world, and then all life will end.

I think the heroes will have to expel both gods. I think they need something from both gods, like in the voodoo magic. I think R'hllor gave some of himself to the Valyrian, to breed and control the dragons. And the Great Other may also have given something to his thralls. Maybe the Night Kings fans have some truth when they think the Starks are his descendants. I think that is where the Ice and Fire heritage of Jon has to come into play.

It is said the BE cast down the true gods. This true gods were the Maiden-Made-of-Light and the Lion of Night. I would believe they are also the Old Gods of the children, the only real power which could expel the Stone and fix the climate. That would be the play of the Children and BR. Create TPTWP (he is their prophecy), the hybrid of Ice and Fire that would give the Old Gods the anchor to expel both evils together.

Whatever the role and end story of each character, I believe ASoIaF must end with R'hllor and the GO out.

[Durran Durrandon]

My thoughts on the subject from almost a year ago:

Revisited Addendum (I removed the fan fictiony dialogue and stuff, though all fan theories on a discussion board about a series of books that are not even finished yet are fan fiction in and of themselves, so I don’t see what harm can a little dialogue and more vivid descriptions do, except to better the immersion for other users, but, yeah, ok, rules are rules.)

http://asoiaf.westeros.org/index.php/topic/104303-blood-and-origin-of-house-stark/

Basically, the LH is a Dayne who has a child with COTF. The first Hybrid (Sphinx of Westeros) (hybrids seem to be a fixation of the Vylrians so I'd assume also of the Amyethyst kings) called Bran, who is the founder of house Stark.

So, since you wrote all this the World Book has added a few details, that I think only mess with your initial sequence. It is stated that the Daynes followed the falling star to the mouth of the river where the found a magic stone and founded Starfall. Starfall is pretty clearly on the opposite side of Dorne as the Broken Arm, o I don't think that that particular fallen star could be the Hammer of the Waters.

Generally I like the Daynes for founding House Stark. I am not a big fan of hybrid theories, though I think a may a bit of a loner on that one. I would be more inclined to the the founder of House Dayne followed the falling star, found a magic stone, founded House Dayne, and maybe as you said it is a son, likely a second or third son though, that founds House Stark after becoming the Last Hero and forging Dawn. Dawn was then given to the Dayhes for safe keeping, but everyone has forgotten about this. (Sigh, if only they had given it to House Royce for safe keeping.)

I'm just thinking out loud here. Thanks for you input.