Peeling Another Egg

[Georginette RR Martine]

Deleting double post

[Georginette RR Martine]

Wow, I really do wonder how many reread it takes to start spotting this kind of things, what made you go eggs hunting seriously ? And your theory IS interesting and fun ! I'll keep the eggs in mind to check it from now on !

[Bendubz]

How amusing to use eggs as an easter egg!!! There are some great points on this thread, especially the work of the OP, but I think you might be missing something.

If you presume that each of Jeor's eggs represents a head of the dragon, it could be as suggested by Lord_Pepsi_Cupps, pointing to Jon being all three heads, but have you considered the possibility it is still three people and their identity is revealed by how the egg is eaten.

Egg #1 = Eaten very basically, no dilly dallying about, identity is obvious, so has to be a known targ (ie Dany or rAegon). Dany is currently 16, whilst Aegon is 18/19 (bear this in mind for the other two)

Egg #2 = As has been pointed out, a mystery, and the grumkin connection may be key. I think that for the second head LPC is bang on saying it is Jon, a secret targ, who has always wanted to fit in and hated his bastard title, and would wish for legitimacy. Jon is currently 17

Egg #3 = Mormont was frowning at it, which leads me to believe it will not be a targ. The crushing also suggests great strength, and I reckon it might be Gendry. Gendry is currently 16

Now that I've identified it as Dany/rAegon, Jon and Gendry, And I can see that there is a clear timeline of birth from Aegon to gendry I would now say Egg #1 is Aegon

[Suzanna Stormborn]

cool, I read the whole thing and I agree with the first 2 egg situations, but the third is, IMO, about Tyrion, not Aegon.

[Lost Melnibonean]

cool, I read the whole thing and I agree with the first 2 egg situations, but the third is, IMO, about Tyrion, not Aegon.

I know. But Tyrion's egg wanted salt. :)

[JonisHenryTudor]

I like it. ( I tend to see the three heads of the dragon as metaphorical though).

Otherwise it is an interesting catch.

[PyroclasticFlow]

Ghost is white like an egg, the BOY (Jon Snow) will die, the MAN (JonTarg) will be born

Don't see Ghost surviving Winds but Jon will

Get over it, c'mon Nighteyes died also

[JonisHenryTudor]

Ghost is white like an egg, the BOY (Jon Snow) will die, the MAN (JonTarg) will be born

Don't see Ghost surviving Winds but Jon will

Get over it, c'mon Nighteyes died also

Thanks ass, I haven't read the TM......

All is good. :cheers:

[Lost Melnibonean]

And what does Dunk find when he peels his egg? A dragon...

"My uncle says I must humbly beg your forgiveness for deceiving you."

"Your uncle," said Dunk. "That would be Prince Baelor."

The boy looked miserable. "I never meant to lie."

"But you did. About everything. Starting with your name. I never heard of a Prince Egg."

"It's short for Aegon. My brother Aemon named me Egg. Hes off at the Citadel now, learning to be a maester. And Daeron sometimes calls me Egg as well, and so do my sisters."

Dunk lifted the skewer and bit into a chunk of meat. Goat, flavored with some lordly spice hed never tasted before. Grease ran down his chin. "Aegon," he repeated. "Of course it would be Aegon. Like Aegon the Dragon. How many Aegons have been king?"

"Four," the boy said. "Four Aegons."

The Hedge Knight

[ShadowCat Rivers]

Ha, how about the Kindly Old Man, who likes his eggs well salted? An amusing reference to Euron's egg, or something more?

[Avlonnic]

If we peel the eggs, we'll find the three heads of Rhaegar's dragon . . .
 
(Quotes are in spoiler tags for length.)

There are four scenes in the first five ASOIAF novels where boiled eggs are served for breakfast, and where The George weaves the character's eating of the eggs into the narrative. But before looking at each of those instances, note that the first time we read about any eggs in ASOIAF is early in Game, during Daenerys's wedding . . .
 
Daenerys Mother of Dragons
 
[spoiler]
Magister Illyrio murmured a command, and four burly slaves hurried forward, bearing between them a great cedar chest bound in bronze. When she opened it, she found piles of the finest velvets and damasks the Free Cities could produce . . . and resting on top, nestled in the soft cloth, three huge eggs.[/spoiler] Daenerys II, Game 11

And of course, we find out what happens with those three eggs at the end of Game.
 
Later, we get a foreshadowing of this in the legend of the two moons . . .
 
[spoiler]
"He told me the moon was an egg, Khaleesi," the Lysene girl said. "Once there were two moons in the sky, but one wandered too close to the sun and cracked from the heat. A thousand thousand dragons poured forth, and drank the fire of the sun. That is why dragons breathe flame. One day the other moon will kiss the sun too, and then it will crack and the dragons will return."[/spoiler] Daenerys III, Game 23

So now, we can begin looking for Targaryens and dragons whenever we read about an egg. However, not every egg we read about appears to refer to a hidden Targaryen or to dragons, or even to a mystery. Some eggs are just eggs. But, when they get cracked and peeled and eaten during breakfast, we seem to have something special.
 
Jon and the Three Heads of the Dragon
 
These three eggs after Jon's moonlight ride at the end of Game really stand out . . .
 
[spoiler]
When day broke, Jon walked to the kitchens as he did every dawn. Three-Finger Hobb said nothing as he gave him the Old Bear's breakfast. Today it was three brown eggs boiled hard, with fried bread and ham steak and a bowl of wrinkled plums. . . .
 
. . .
 
"Doubtless you loved your father," Mormont said when Jon brought him his horn. "The things we love destroy us every time, lad. Remember when I told you that?"
 
. . .
 
Jon stood tall. He told himself that he would die well; that much he could do, at the least. "I know the penalty for desertion, my lord. I'm not afraid to die."
 
"Die!" the raven cried.
 
"Nor live, I hope," Mormont said, cutting his ham with a dagger and feeding a bite to the bird. "You have not deserted yet. Here you stand. If we beheaded every boy who rode to Moles Town in the night, only ghosts would guard the Wall. Yet maybe you mean to flee again on the morrow, or a fortnight from now. Is that it? Is that your hope, boy?"
 
Jon kept silent.
 
"I thought so." Mormont peeled the shell off a boiled egg. "Your father is dead, lad. Do you think you can bring him back?"
 
"No," he answered, sullen.
 
"Good," Mormont said. "We've seen the dead come back, you and me, and it's not something I care to see again." He ate the egg in two bites and flicked a bit of shell out from between his teeth. "Your brother is in the field with all the power of the north behind him. Any one of his lords bannermen commands more swords than you'll find in all the Night's Watch. Why do you imagine that they need your help? Are you such a mighty warrior, or do you carry a grumkin in your pocket to magic up your sword?"
 
Jon had no answer for him. The raven was pecking at an egg, breaking the shell. Pushing his beak through the hole, he pulled out morsels of white and yoke.
 
The Old Bear sighed. "You are not the only one touched by this war. Like as not, my sister is marching in your brother's host, her and those daughters of hers, dressed in men's mail. Maege is a hoary old snark, stubborn, short-tempered, and willful. Truth be told, I can hardly stand to be around the wretched woman, but that does not mean my love for her is any less than the love you bear your half sisters." Frowning, Mormont took his last egg and squeezed it in his fist until the shell crunched. "Or perhaps it does. Be that as it may, I'd still grieve if she were slain, yet you don't see me running off. I said the words, just as you did. My place is here . . . where is yours, boy?"
 
I have no place, Jon wanted to say, I'm a bastard, I have no rights, no name, no mother, and now not even a father. The words would not come. "I don't know."
 
"I do," said Lord Commander Mormont. "The cold winds are rising, Snow. Beyond the Wall, the shadows lengthen. Cotter Pyke writes of vast herds of elk, streaming south and east toward the sea, and mammoths as well. He says one of his men discovered huge, misshapen footprints not three leagues from Eastwatch. Rangers from the Shadow Tower have found whole villages abandoned, and at night Ser Denys says they see fires in the mountains, huge blazes that burn from dusk till dawn. Qhorin Halfhand took a captive in the depths of the Gorge, and the man swears that Mance Rayder is massing all his people in some new, secret stronghold he's found, to what end the gods only know. Do you think your uncle Benjen was the only ranger weve lost this past year?"
 
"Ben Jen," the raven squawked, bobbing its head, bits of egg dribbling from its beak. "Ben Jen. Ben Jen."
 
"No," Jon said. There had been others. Too many.
 
"Do you think your brother's war is more important than ours?" the old man barked.
 
Jon chewed his lip. The raven flapped its wings at him. "War, war, war, war," it sang.
 
"It's not," Mormont told him. "Gods save us, boy, you're not blind and you're not stupid. When dead men come hunting in the night, do you think it matters who sits the Iron Throne?"
 
"No." Jon had not thought of it that way.
 
"Your lord father sent you to us, Jon. Why, who can say?"
 
"Why? Why? Why?" the raven called.
 
"All I know is that the blood of the First Men flows in the veins of the Starks. The First Men built the Wall, and its said they remember things otherwise forgotten. And that beast of yours . . . he led us to the wights, warned you of the dead man on the steps. Ser Jaremy would doubtless call that happenstance, yet Ser Jaremy is dead and I'm not." Lord Mormont stabbed a chunk of ham with the point of his dagger. "I think you were meant to be here, and I want you and that wolf of yours with us when we go beyond the Wall."
 
His words sent a chill of excitement down Jon's back. "Beyond the Wall?"
 
"You heard me. I mean to find Ben Stark, alive or dead." He chewed and swallowed. "I will not sit here meekly and wait for the snows and the ice winds. We must know what is happening. This time the Night's Watch will ride in force, against the King-beyond-the-Wall, the Others, and anything else that may be out there. I mean to command them myself." He pointed his dagger at Jon's chest. "By custom, the Lord Commander's steward is his squire as well . . . but I do not care to wake every dawn wondering if you've run off again. So I will have an answer from you, Lord Snow, and I will have it now. Are you a brother of the Night's Watch . . . or only a bastard boy who wants to play at war?"
 
Jon Snow straightened himself and took a long deep breath. Forgive me, Father. Robb, Arya, Bran . . . forgive me, I cannot help you. He has the truth of it. This is my place. "I am . . . yours, my lord. Your man. I swear it. I will not run again."
 
The Old Bear snorted. "Good. Now go put on your sword."[/spoiler]Jon IX, Game 70

We find out how significant it might be that Jeor's breakfast consists of three eggs when we read Daenerys's vision of Rhaegar in the House of the Undying Ones in Clash. Notice that Jeor eats two of the eggs . . . "He ate the egg in two bites and flicked a bit of shell out from between his teeth," and "Frowning, Mormont took his last egg and squeezed it in his fist until the shell crunched." Compare that imagery to the description of Trios, particularly the third head . . .
 
[spoiler]
Three-headed Trios has the tower with the three turrets. The first head devours the dying, and the reborn emerge from the third. I don't know what the middle head's supposed to do.[/spoiler] The Ugly Little Girl, Dance 64

The reborn emerge from the third head. But to be reborn, you have to die. "Die! the raven cried." . . . "Kill the boy, Jon Snow. Winter is almost upon us. Kill the boy and let the man be born."
 
Jeor did not eat the third egg. Bloodraven's bird claimed it.
 
Also, notice that Jeor asked Jon if he had a grumpkin to magic up his sword. We learn about Lightbringer in Clash. Jeor tells us that the cold winds are rising, which turns out to be one of the elements of the prince that was promised prophecy. He also tells us that Jon's father (Jeor may not know who that is, but we do) sent Jon to the Night's Watch, and suggests that Jon's father had some purpose for doing so. Bloodraven's bird asks why, and Jeor notes that Jon is a Stark with the blood of the First Men, and he tells us that Jon is meant to be there. Then Jeor tells him to bring his sword, the Valyrian steel blade that Jon won after he burned his hand setting a wight on fire, in a sense, pulling the sword from the fire. Beyond the Wall, Jon would meet the love of his life, and then he would betray her, causing her death.
 
Tyrion and Brown Ben
 
In Clash, we see another breakfast of boiled eggs . . .
 
[spoiler]
In the airy chambers beneath the rookery, his girl served them boiled eggs, stewed plums, and porridge, while Pycelle served the pontifications. "In these sad times, when so many hunger, I think it only fitting to keep my table spare."

"Commendable," Tyrion admitted, breaking a large brown egg that reminded him unduly of the Grand Maester's bald spotted head. "I take a different view. If there is food I eat it, in case there is none on the morrow." He smiled.

. . .
 
Tyrion laid the letters on the table beside his porridge, twin parchments tightly rolled and sealed with wax at both ends.
 
. . .
 
"These letters, now . . ."
 
"For the eyes of Doran Martell, Prince of Dorne." Tyrion peeled the cracked shell away from his egg and took a bite. It wanted salt. "One letter, in two copies. Send your swiftest birds. The matter is of great import."
 
"I shall dispatch them as soon as we have broken our fast."
 
"Dispatch them now. Stewed plums will keep. The realm may not. Lord Renly is leading his host up the roseroad, and no one can say when Lord Stannis will sail from Dragonstone."
 
. . .
 
Pycelle moved so slowly that Tyrion had time to finish his egg and taste the plums--overcooked and watery, to his taste--before the sound of wings prompted him to rise.
 
. . .
 
He was back at the table peeling another egg when Grand Maester Pycelle came creeping down the stairs. "It is done, my lord." . . .[/spoiler] Tyrion IV, Clash 17

Notice that Pycelle's eggs, like Jeor's, were served with plums. Of course, Tyrion and Brown Ben Plumm, with his salt and pepper beard, would meet much later outside the gates of Meereen. We know that Ben has at least a couple of drops of dragon blood. We know that Viserion likes him, and we recall that Nettles, a foul-mouth girl with brown skin, managed to tame a dragon during the Dance of the Dragons.
 
Notice here that Tyrion's egg was not satisfactory, it wanted salt. If Tyrion has a drop of dragon blood, he is the bastard son of Aerys and Johanna Lannister, so this could be a hint at that relationship. It also might suggest that while Tyrion might be a dragon, he might not be one of the three heads that Rhaegar told us about in Daenerys's vision. And the plums are overcooked and watery. One or both of these two will tame a dragon, but I don't think either is one of the three heads of Rhaegar's dragon.
 
Jon and the Prince that was Promised
 
Jon sits in on another breakfast of hardboiled eggs with Qhorin . . .
 
[spoiler]
They found Dolorous Edd frying a rasher of bacon and boiling a dozen eggs in a kettle over the Old Bear's cookfire.

. . .

"Best talk of this inside. Jon will fetch you a horn of ale. Or would you prefer hot spiced wine?"
 
"Boiled water will suffice. An egg and a bite of bacon."
 
"As you wish." Mormont lifted the flap of the tent and Qhorin Halfhand stooped and stepped through.
 
Edd stood over the kettle swishing the eggs about with a spoon. "I envy those eggs," he said. "I could do with a bit of boiling about now. If the kettle were larger, I might jump in. Though I would sooner it were wine than water. There are worse ways to die than warm and drunk. I knew a brother drowned himself in wine once. It was a poor vintage, though, and his corpse did not improve it."
 
"You drank the wine?"
 
"It's an awful thing to find a brother dead. Youd have need of a drink as well, Lord Snow." Edd stirred the kettle and added a pinch more nutmeg.
 
. . .
 
Edd cut three thick slices off a stale round of oat bread, stacked them on a wooden platter, covered them with bacon and bacon drippings, and filled a bowl with hard-cooked eggs. Jon took the bowl in one hand and the platter in the other and backed into the Lord Commander's tent.
 
Qhorin was seated cross-legged on the floor, his spine as straight as a spear. Candlelight flickered against the hard flat planes of his cheeks as he spoke. " . . . Rattleshirt, the Weeping Man, and every other chief great and small," he was saying. "They have wargs as well, and mammoths, and more strength than we would have dreamed. Or so he claimed. I will not swear as to the truth of it. Ebben believes the man was telling us tales to make his life last a little longer."
 
"True or false, the Wall must be warned," the Old Bear said as Jon placed the platter between them. "And the king."
 
"Which king?"
 
"All of them. The true and the false alike. If they would claim the realm, let them defend it."
 
The Halfhand helped himself to an egg and cracked it on the edge of the bowl. "These kings will do what they will," he said, peeling away the shell. "Likely it will be little enough. The best hope is Winterfell. The Starks must rally the north."
 
. . .
 
"They do not plan to climb the Wall nor to burrow beneath it, my lord. They plan to break it."
 
. . .
 
Mormont plucked at his beard, frowning. "How?"
 
"How else? Sorcery." Qhorin bit the egg in half. "Why else would Mance choose to gather his strength in the Frostfangs? Bleak and hard they are, and a long weary march from the Wall."
 
"I'd hoped he chose the mountains to hide his muster from the eyes of my rangers."
 
"Perhaps," said Qhorin, finishing the egg, "but there is more, I think. He is seeking something in the high cold places. He is searching for something he needs."
 
. . .
 
"We can only die. Why else do we don these black cloaks, but to die in defense of the realm? I would send fifteen men, in three parties of five. One to probe the Milkwater, one the Skirling Pass, one to climb the Giant's Stair. Jarman Buckwell, Thoren Smallwood, and myself to command. To learn what waits in those mountains."
 
. . .
 
"May the gods forgive me. Choose your men."
 
Qhorin Halfhand turned his head. His eyes met Jons, and held them for a long moment. "Very well. I choose Jon Snow."
 
Mormont blinked. "He is hardly more than a boy. And my steward besides. Not even a ranger."
 
"Tollett can care for you as well, my lord." Qhorin lifted his maimed, two-fingered hand. "The old gods are still strong beyond the Wall. The gods of the First Men . . . and the Starks."
 
. . .
 
Dawn had broken when Jon stepped from the tent beside Qhorin Halfhand. The wind swirled around them, stirring their black cloaks and sending a scatter of red cinders flying from the fire.[/spoiler]Jon V, Clash 43

First, we have Edd comparing the preparation of the eggs to drowning in water that he turned to wine in his little tale. And then Edd admits to drinking the wine after he found his brother dead. Does that remind you of a famous last supper? After that little echo of the Savior began the scene, the scene ended as Jon stepped out into the dawn, with an image of red cinders on black cloaks, the colors of the true dragon. "Why else do we don these black cloaks, but to die in defense of the realm?"
 
The talk between Qhorin and Mormont turns to what the king−the true and the false−must do for the "realm," that is, to defend it at the Wall. And then Qhorin helps himself to an egg and peels it, noting that their best hope is Winterfell. And after the decision is made for Qhorin to scout the Skirling Pass, he chooses Jon to go with him, noting that Jon's heritage will help.
 
Aegon
 
Then we finally get to Dance, when Illyrio tells Tyrion about his mission with Griff . . .
 
[spoiler]
. . . Something was awry here. Even with half a nose, he could smell it. "It's said there are five slaves for every free man in Volantis. Why would the triarchs assist a queen who smashed the slave trade?" He pointed at Illyrio. "For that matter, why would you? Slavery may be forbidden by the laws of Pentos, yet you have a finger in that trade as well, and maybe a whole hand. And yet you conspire for the dragon queen, and not against her. Why? What do you hope to gain from Queen Daenerys?"

"Are we back to that again? You are a persistent little man." Illyrio gave a laugh and slapped his belly. "As you will. The Beggar King swore that I should be his master of coin, and a lordly lord as well. Once he wore his golden crown, I should have my choice of castles . . . even Casterly Rock, if I desired."
 
Tyrion snorted wine back up the scarred stump that had been his nose.
 
"My father would have loved to hear that."
 
"Your lord father had no cause for concern. Why would I want a rock? My manse is large enough for any man, and more comfortable than your drafty Westerosi castles. Master of coin, though . . ." The fat man peeled another egg. "I am fond of coins. Is there any sound as sweet as the clink of gold on gold?"
 
A sisters screams. "Are you quite certain that Daenerys will make good her brothers promises?"
 
"She will, or she will not." Illyrio bit the egg in half. "I told you, my little friend, not all that a man does is done for gain. Believe as you wish, but even fat old fools like me have friends, and debts of affection to repay."
 
Liar, thought Tyrion. There is something in this venture worth more to you than coin or castles. "You meet so few men who value friendship over gold these days."
 
"Too true," the fat man said, deaf to the irony.[/spoiler] Tyrion II, Dance V
 
The fat man peeled another egg. We knew they had boiled eggs among other foods for the meal, but we never saw Illyrio or Tyrion peel the first or successive eggs, just this egg, another egg, as Tyrion questioned Illyrio about his very suspicious motives in helping Daenerys.
 
This was a signal to the reader that we would be meeting a secret Targaryen, or at least another dragon. And black or red, a dragon is still a dragon.

I am delighted this thread was revived.  I tried to comment when you first posted but the board was problematic at the time.  Your post provides terrific insights (great research) and stimulates intriguing comments by others.  Also, Dunk 'peels Egg' to discover a dragon - just excellent. 

[Isobel Harper]

I credit purple-eyes for giving me this idea, although I don't think he/she is theorizing the same that I do in this thread.  I theorize that's there's a hint about Aegon towards the end of the chapter.

 

The breakfest scene with Pycelle takes place in ACoK, Tyrion IV.  In this scene, Tyrion eats two eggs.  At this point of the story, we know who the first dragonrider will be: Daenerys.  Since Tyrion is only shown to eat two eggs, I think this chapter hints at who might become the second.  I agree with Lost Melnibonean in that Brown Ben Plumm will eventually become a dragonrider.  Besides the breakfast scene with Pycelle, there is another subtle reference to Plumm in the next scene with Littlefinger. 

"Is the doublet new?"

"It is. You're most observant."

"Plum and yellow. Are those the colors of your House?"

"No. But a man gets bored wearing the same colors day in and day out, or so I've found."

 

No, those aren't the colors of House Baelish, but they are of House Plumm. 

 

In yet the next scene, there is (perhaps) a subtle reference to Aegon.

 

"A council seat is not to be despised," Varys admitted, "yet will it be enough to make a proud man forget his sister's murder?"

"Why forget?" Tyrion smiled. "I've promised to deliver his sister's killers, alive or dead, as he prefers. After the war is done, to be sure."

Varys gave him a shrewd look. "My little birds tell me that Princess Elia cried a . . . certain name . . . when they came for her."

"Is a secret still a secret if everyone knows it?" In Casterly Rock, it was common knowledge that Gregor Clegane had killed Elia and her babe. They said he had raped the princess with her son's blood and brains still on his hands.

"This secret is your lord father's sworn man."

 

I think, in this above scene, Varys is subtley trying to hint towards the "Pisswater Prince swap."  Tyrion, however, is oblivious and think Varys is referring to Gregor Clegane.  Why would Elia call out the name of her killer when the Lannisters came for her?  The name Elia called out was "Aegon," to parallel (in some way) this scene from the Princess and the Queen.

 

Blind to her danger, the queen appeared as dusk was settling over the castle, accompanied by her three children. Jaehaerys and Jaehaera were six, Maelor two. As they entered the apartments, Helaena was holding his little hand and calling out her mother’s name. Blood barred the door and slew the queen’s guardsman, whilst Cheese appeared to snatch up Maelor. “Scream and you all die,” Blood told Her Grace. Queen Helaena kept her calm, it is said. “Who are you?” she demanded of the two. “Debt collectors,” said Cheese. “An eye for an eye, a son for a son. We only want the one, t’ square things. Won’t hurt the rest o’ you fine folks, not one lil’ hair. Which one you want t’ lose, Your Grace?”

 

Once she realized what he meant, Queen Helaena pleaded with the men to kill her instead. “A wife’s not a son,” said Blood. “It has to be a boy.” Cheese warned the queen to make a choice soon, before Blood grew bored and raped her little girl. “Pick,” he said, “or we kill them all.” On her knees, weeping, Helaena named her youngest, Maelor. Perhaps she thought the boy was too young to understand, or perhaps it was because the older boy, Jaehaerys, was King Aegon’s firstborn son and heir, next in line to the Iron Throne. “You hear that, little boy?” Cheese whispered to Maelor. “Your momma wants you dead.” Then he gave Blood a grin, and the hulking swordsman slew Prince Jaehaerys, striking off the boy’s head with a single blow. The queen began to scream.

 

Instead of picking which child to kill, Elia had to pick which child to save.  However, unlike Helaena, Elia's choice would have likely been "Aegon" or "neither," as Rhaenys would have been to old to be able to disguise with another child.  (Unless there was Rhaenys look alike too, although I doubt it.)

 

[Grayce Hornwood]

When Winds finally comes out, all I'm gonna be looking for is freaking eggs. :lol:

[The Fattest Leech]

One word... Total Recall 

[Isobel Harper]

There's a scene in Brienne III that I'd like to analyze, which involves eggs, and Brienne "protecting" them.

At the portcullis (of Maidenpool) they came upon a dozen guards armed with halberds. Their badges marked them for soldiers of Lord Tarly's host, though none was Tarly's own. She saw two centaurs, a thunderbolt, a blue beetle and a green arrow, but not the striding huntsman of Horn Hill. Their serjeant had a peacock on his breast, its bright tail faded by the sun. When the farmers drew their cart up he gave a whistle. "What's this now? Eggs?" He tossed one up, caught it, and grinned. "We'll take them."

The old man squawked. "Our eggs is for Lord Mooton. For the wedding cakes and such."

"Have your hens lay more. I haven't had an egg in half a year. Here, don't say you weren't paid." He flung a handful of pennies at the old man's feet.

The farmer's wife spoke up. "That's not enough," she said. "Not near enough."

"I say it is," said the serjeant. "For them eggs, and you as well. Bring her here, boys. She's too young for that old man." Two of the guards leaned their halberds against the wall and pulled the woman away from the cart, struggling. The farmer watched grey-faced, but dared not move.

Brienne spurred her mare forward. "Release her."

Her voice made the guards hesitate long enough for the farmer's wife to wrench free of their grasp. "This is none of your concern," one man said. "You mind your mouth, wench."

Brienne drew her sword instead.

"Well now," the serjeant said, "naked steel. Seems to me I smell an outlaw. You know what Lord Tarly does with outlaws?" He still held the egg he'd taken from the cart. His hand closed, and the yolk oozed through his fingers.

"I know what Lord Randyll does with outlaws," Brienne said. "I know what he does with rapers too."

She had hoped the name might cow them, but the serjeant only flicked egg off his fingers and signaled to his men to spread out. Brienne found herself surrounded by steel points. "What was it you was saying, wench? What is it that Lord Tarly does to . . ."

". . . rapers," a deeper voice finished. "He gelds them or sends them to the Wall. Sometimes both. And he cuts fingers off thieves." A languid young man stepped from the gatehouse, a swordbelt buckled at his waist. The surcoat he wore above his steel had once been white, and here and there still was, beneath the grass stains and dried blood. His sigil was displayed across his chest: a brown deer, dead and bound and slung beneath a pole.

What could these eggs represent?  Given the farmer and his wife, and the eggs needed for the wedding, could the eggs represent children?  Perhaps the scene is just imagery connected with her quest to protect the Stark girls.  Or perhaps there's a touch of foreshadowing that I'm missing? 

[hiemal]

An interesting line of reasoning, and one with a lot of promise. Given the archetypal dragonrider's dimunitive, given to us by Dunk and Egg, it seems obvious in hindsight but gobsmacked me coming on. Great catch.

[Seams]

The scene in which Mormont cracks the hard-boiled egg in his fist is probably intended to be linked to the scene at the feast during Tyrion's visit to the Wall, in which Mormont cracks a crab claw in his fist:

 

Quote

"My brother Jaime will be wondering what has become of me. He may decide that you have convinced me to take the black."

"Would that I could." Mormont picked up a crab claw and cracked it in his fist. Old as he was, the Lord Commander still had the strength of a bear. "You're a cunning man, Tyrion. We have need of men of your sort on the Wall."

Tyrion grinned. "Then shall I scour the Seven Kingdoms for dwarfs and ship them all to you, Lord Mormont." As they laughed, he sucked the meat from a crab leg and reached for another. The crabs had arrived from Eastwatch only this morning, packed in a barrel of snow, and they were succulent.

 

Much later in the story, Tyrion travels from Westeros to Essos and "hatches" from a wine barrel - an event I have assumed symbolizes his rebirth as (possibly) a dragon hatching from an egg. The crabs in this scene travel from Eastwatch westward and also emerge from a barrel, but it is a barrel packed with snow. Is the snow-packed barrel a sort of symbolic cold egg, the opposite of a hard-boiled egg?

I realize you are focused here on the hard-boiled eggs, but I wonder whether I can mention a different scene featuring an egg that might be related. Gregor Clegane is reputed to have killed the infant prince Aegon by smashing his head, sort of like an egg. Years later, he uses his fist to smash Oberyn Martell's head. Perhaps this is comparable to Lord Commander Mormont crushing an egg and/or a crab claw with his fist? When Oberyn is killed during Tyrion's POV, GRRM underscores the egg symbolism by telling the reader that Tyrion's

...breakfast came boiling back up. He found himself on his knees retching bacon and sausage and applecakes, and that double helping of fried eggs cooked up with onions and fiery Dornish peppers.

 

Cracked eggs, cracked heads.

 

[Neds Secret]

On 26 April 2015 at 11:55 AM, Lost Melnibonean said:

On 26 April 2015 at 11:37 AM, Ramsay said:

Ah well, there is plenty of views, so I don't think I am

Theories do tend to disappear in this place, we have so many of them!

Mine seem to disappear faster than the others

Please don't give up but, I find them fascinating in complexity

[TheSnowInWinterfell]

Read this OP on recommendation from another thread. Awesome! I think you've found something here.

[Seams]

On 4/25/2015 at 11:41 PM, Lost Melnibonean said:

Jon had no answer for him. The raven was pecking at an egg, breaking the shell. Pushing his beak through the hole, he pulled out morsels of white and yoke.

 

On 4/25/2015 at 11:41 PM, Lost Melnibonean said:

Jon and the Three Heads of the Dragon

These three eggs after Jon's moonlight ride at the end of Game really stand out . . .

Notice that Jeor eats two of the eggs . . . "He ate the egg in two bites and flicked a bit of shell out from between his teeth," and "Frowning, Mormont took his last egg and squeezed it in his fist until the shell crunched."

Jeor did not eat the third egg. Bloodraven's bird claimed it.

After thinking about this for a little while, I make a different connection to the second egg in Mormont's breakfast. As you point out, I think GRRM is comparing these hard-boiled eggs to heads. The raven pecks at the second egg, which reminds me of the raven in Bran's fever dream pecking at his forehead as a way of urging him to open his third eye. (It seem likely this also ties into Mors "Crowfood" Umber, whose eye was pecked out by a crow while he was sleeping and who then woke up and bit the head off the offending crow.)

I am guessing that the second egg represents a new way of seeing that will begin for Jon Snow, just as the raven pecking Bran's head represented the opening of his third eye.

I think the third egg, crushed in Mormont's fist, ties into another scene where Lord Commander Mormont is eating, when he uses his fist to crush a crab claw. I don't know if the crushed shell foreshadows the future attack by members of the Night's Watch on Lord Commander Snow, or some other hardship he will endure.

Haven't figured out the meaning of the first egg. What would two bites represent?