Peeling Another Egg

[Lost Melnibonean]

ETA

Damn it! I found another scene that I overlooked, and although it’s not fatal to the theory, it sure does weaken it. . .

She knew the way to the kitchens, but her nose would have led her there even if she hadn't. Hot peppers and fried fish, she decided, sniffing down the hall, and bread fresh from Umma' s oven. The smells made her belly rumble. The night wolf had feasted, but that would not fill the blind girl's belly. Dream meat could not nourish her, she had learned that early on.

She broke her fast on sardines, fried crisp in pepper oil and served so hot they burned her fingers. She mopped up the leftover oil with a chunk of bread torn off the end of Umma's morning loaf and washed it all down with a cup of watered wine, savoring the tastes and the smells, the rough feel of the crust beneath her fingers, the slickness of the oil, the sting of the hot pepper when it got into the half-healed scrape on the back of the hand. Hear, smell, taste, feel, she reminded herself. There are many ways to know the world for those who cannot see.

Someone had entered the room behind her, moving on soft padded slippers quiet as a mouse. Her nostrils flared. The kindly man. Men had a different smell than women, and there was a hint of orange in the air as well. The priest was fond of chewing orange rinds to sweeten his breath, whenever he could get them.

"And who are you this morning?" she heard him ask, as he took his seat at the head of the table. Tap, tap, she heard, then a tiny crackling sound. Breaking his first egg.

"No one," she replied. "A lie. I know you. You are that blind beggar girl."

"Beth." She had known a Beth once, back at Winterfell when she was Arya Stark. Maybe that was why she'd picked the name. Or maybe it was just because it went so well with blind.

"Poor child," said the kindly man. "Would you like to have your eyes back? Ask, and you shall see."

He asked the same question every morning. "I may want them on the morrow. Not today." Her face was still water, hiding all, revealing nothing.

"As you will." {b}She could hear him peeling the egg, then a faint silvery clink as he picked up the salt spoon. He liked his eggs well salted.

"Where did my poor blind girl go begging last night?"

"The Inn of the Green Eel."

"And what three new things do you know that you did not know when last you left us?"

"The Sealord is still sick."

"This is no new thing. The Sealord was sick yesterday, and he will still be sick upon the morrow."

"Or dead."

"When he is dead, that will be a new thing."

When he is dead, there will be a choosing, and the knives will come out. That was the way of it in Braavos. In Westeros, a dead king was followed by his eldest son, but the Braavosi had no kings. "Tormo Fregar will be the new sealord."

"Is that what they are saying at the Inn of the Green Eel?"

"Yes."

The kindly man took a bite of his egg. The girl heard him chewing. He never spoke with his mouth full. He swallowed, and said, "Some men say there is wisdom in wine. Such men are fools. At other inns other names are being bruited about, never doubt." He took another bite of egg, chewed, swallowed. "What three new things do you know, that you did not know before?"

"I know that some men are saying that Tormo Fregar will surely be the new sealord," she answered. "Some drunken men."

"Better. And what else do you know?"

It is snowing in the riverlands, in Westeros, she almost said. But he would have asked her how she knew that, and she did not think that he would like her answer. She chewed her lip, thinking back to last night. "The whore S'vrone is with child. She is not certain of the father, but thinks it might have been that Tyroshi sellsword that she killed."

"This is good to know. What else?"

"The Merling Queen has chosen a new Mermaid to take the place of the one that drowned. She is the daughter of a Prestayn serving maid, thirteen and penniless, but lovely."

"So are they all, at the beginning," said the priest, "but you cannot know that she is lovely unless you have seen her with your own eyes, and you have none. Who are you, child?"

"No one."

"Blind Beth the beggar girl is who I see. She is a wretched liar, that one. See to your duties. Valar morghulis. "

"Valar dohaeris. " She gathered up her bowl and cup, knife and spoon, and pushed to her feet. Last of all she grasped her stick. It was five feet long, slender and supple, thick as her thumb, with leather wrapped around the shaft a foot from the top. Better than eyes, once you learn how to use it, the waif had told her.

The Blind Girl, Dance 45

Well, at least the Kindly Man likes his eggs well salted, as does Tyrion. None of Jeor’s three eggs, nor Qhorin’s egg (Jon), nor Illyiro’s “another” egg (Aegon) needed any salt. But Tyrion’s egg (Brown Ben), and the Kindly Man’s egg (Arya) needed salt.

[Isobel Harper]

Perhaps the boiled eggs depict the people who will attempt to become riders?  That is, Arya will attempt to ride a dragon, and fail.  The hot pepper oil is described burning a wound on her hand.  Perhaps she gets burned in the attempt?

This scene from The Blind Girl reminded me of a scene in a Sansa POV from ASoS.  Unlike Arya who relishes the spiciness, Sansa finds peppers too hot for her taste.  Out of curiosity, I looked up the scene on asearchoficeandfire.  I forgot it also involved eggs!

In the Queen's Ballroom they broke their fast on honeycakes baked with blackberries and nuts, gammon steaks, bacon, fingerfish crisped in breadcrumbs, autumn pears, and a Dornish dish of onions, cheese, and chopped eggs cooked up with fiery peppers. ... Tyrion scarce touched his food, Sansa noticed, though he drank several cups of the wine. For herself, she tried a little of the Dornish eggs, but the peppers burned her mouth. ASoS, Sansa IV

Sansa's eggs are already peeled, and she does not add salt.  But it's just not "her taste."  Perhaps she can ride a dragon but doesn't want to or is too afraid to? 

[The Fattest Leech]

Ooopsy posty

[Isobel Harper]

23 hours ago, The Fattest Leech said:

I really need to catch up on this thread. 

Just a quick question though, does anyone else here link Sansa to birds rather than wolves or dragons? To me it goes back to the thought Jon or Ned had back in Game with the dire wolves. One apart but just like the rest. Sorry, on my phone so I can't find and paste the actual quote. Sansa can skinchange and always seems to be linked to birds in someway, but she takes a falcon instead of a wolf. Maybe the reason why she lost Lady so early? 

Sorry if you have already discussed this part. Like I said, I need to catch up. 

 

(And Falcons lay eggs ) I'll see myself out...

Did you mean to post this in the "Manimal" thread? 

[Isobel Harper]

On 3/24/2016 at 10:10 PM, Isobel Harper said:

Perhaps the boiled eggs depict the people who will attempt to become riders?  That is, Arya will attempt to ride a dragon, and fail.  The hot pepper oil is described burning a wound on her hand.  Perhaps she gets burned in the attempt?

This scene from The Blind Girl reminded me of a scene in a Sansa POV from ASoS.  Unlike Arya who relishes the spiciness, Sansa finds peppers too hot for her taste.  Out of curiosity, I looked up the scene on asearchoficeandfire.  I forgot it also involved eggs!

In the Queen's Ballroom they broke their fast on honeycakes baked with blackberries and nuts, gammon steaks, bacon, fingerfish crisped in breadcrumbs, autumn pears, and a Dornish dish of onions, cheese, and chopped eggs cooked up with fiery peppers. ... Tyrion scarce touched his food, Sansa noticed, though he drank several cups of the wine. For herself, she tried a little of the Dornish eggs, but the peppers burned her mouth. ASoS, Sansa IV

Sansa's eggs are already peeled, and she does not add salt.  But it's just not "her taste."  Perhaps she can ride a dragon but doesn't want to or is too afraid to? 

Here's some additional foreshadowing (perhaps):

Tyrion scarce touched his food, Sansa noticed, though he drank several cups of the wine. For herself, she tried a little of the Dornish eggs, but the peppers burned her mouth. Otherwise she only nibbled at the fruit and fish and honeycakes. Every time Joffrey looked at her, her tummy got so fluttery that she felt as though she'd swallowed a bat.

When the food had been cleared away, the queen solemnly presented Joff with the wife's cloak that he would drape over Margaery's shoulders. "It is the cloak I donned when Robert took me for his queen, the same cloak my mother Lady Joanna wore when wed to my lord father." Sansa thought it looked threadbare, if truth be told, but perhaps because it was so used.

In a scene that seems to foreshadow something about dragons, Sansa's stomach flutters like a bat and a wife's wedding cloak is presented.  Over on my Bat and Wolf thread, we've been discussing a connection between Viserion and Sansa in some sort of way.  In short, we brought up that Viserion is the most bat-like, and the Ashford Tourney Suitor theory might (at least what I proposed) have something to do with Viserion.

[The Fattest Leech]

52 minutes ago, Isobel Harper said:

Did you mean to post this in the "Manimal" thread? 

Ever since the site went down for almost 24 hours the other day my account has been screwy. I will fix this in the morning when I get to my computer as opposed to my phone. Sorry. 

[Isobel Harper]

1 minute ago, The Fattest Leech said:

Ever since the site went down for almost 24 hours the other day my account has been screwy. I will fix this in the morning when I get to my computer as opposed to my phone. Sorry. 

No biggy.  I actually wanted to reply to you, but don't really have time atm.  I'm following the warging thread, and I'll add a response later.

[Seams]

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

If we peel the eggs, we'll find the three heads of Rhaegar's dragon . . .

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 . . .

Later, we get a foreshadowing of this in the legend of the two moons . . .

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 Jeor Mormont (+ raven)

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." Compare that imagery to the description of Trios, particularly the third head . . .
 

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.

Tyrion and Pycelle

In Clash, we see another breakfast of boiled eggs . . .

Notice that Pycelle's eggs, like Jeor's, were served with plums.

Notice here that Tyrion's egg was not satisfactory, it wanted salt. ... And the plums are overcooked and watery.

Jon and Qhorin (+ Dolorous Edd & Mormont)

Jon sits in on another breakfast of hardboiled eggs with Qhorin . . .

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.

Illyrio and Tyrion

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.

The Blind Girl and The Kindly Man

Well, at least the Kindly Man likes his eggs well salted, as does Tyrion. None of Jeor’s three eggs, nor Qhorin’s egg (Jon), nor Illyiro’s “another” egg (Aegon) needed any salt. But Tyrion’s egg (Brown Ben), and the Kindly Man’s egg (Arya) needed salt.

In spite of the newly-discovered hard-boiled eggs in the Kindly Man's breakfast, I still think you've hit on about 90% of the meaning of these egg scenes. I don't think they represent hidden Targaryens, although some Targaryens and even hidden Targaryens may be represented by eggs. In the cases of Jon and Arya, I think these eggs represent mentors launching heroes on new and arduous phases of the archetypical "Hero's Journey." In the cases where Tyrion is eating the eggs, I think the egg represents the discovery of deception or false mentors. This may be a different kind of journey - Tyrion is a sort of anti-hero who uses books to sharpen his wits instead of whetstones to sharpen a sword; he is unattractive instead of handsome. He does not trust anyone to be his mentor so he is navigating his hero's journey largely with luck, his own wits and help from servant-characters (as opposed to highborn or wise patrons).

Consider some of the additional elements that accompany the eggs in these scenes:

- Ham. In addition to the plums you noted, Jeor and Qhorin's eggs are served with ham or bacon. There is also stale bread in the Qhorin scene and fresh bread in the Arya scene. Pigs and pork come up in interesting ways in ASOIAF: pigs are witnesses at Tyrion's wedding to Tysha; Cersei wants boar (associated with King Robert) for dinner but has to settle for pork (I think this is a detail before a feast with the Stokeworths); Tyrion rides a pig when he is "knighted" by Penny in the mummer's act that saves their lives in Essos. I may be wrong, but I think pork and slaughtered meat may represent the death inflicted on small folk by this horrific "game" of thrones engaged in by the high born of Westeros. Tyrion is a small man and is something of a champion of the small folk (although he may not be aware that he plays that role). The pork in the breakfast scenes with Mormont and Qhorin may represent their awareness that a major slaughter in the form of a clash with the Others and/or wildlings is coming to the Wall. I'm not certain of this, but I think the stale vs. fresh bread is a way to convey death (stale) and rebirth (fresh) - consistent with the wine symbolism you saw in Edd's preparation of the Qhorin breakfast. Or maybe it represents the attitude of the eater toward death: Dolorous Edd creates a layer of stale bread by putting slices on a plate and then covering them with bacon and drippings (bodies and blood?). Arya uses the fresh bread to sop up grease from the fish (not eggs) she has eaten for breakfast. In the House of Black & White, she is being taught that death can be a welcome gift. Maybe her enjoyment of the leftover grease and fresh bread is a sign that she is embracing this philosophy by becoming bloodthirsty?

- Fools. Tyrion is a fool figure throughout the books. I also believe that Mormont's raven and Dolorous Edd are symbolic or stand-in fools in GRRM's world. One of the functions of ravens and fools in these books is to navigate the "door" between death and life. Catelyn tells us in a POV: “the Crone… had let the first raven into the world when she peered through the door of death” (ASoS, Chap. 2). In the egg scenes you cite, we see Dolorous Edd preparing eggs and conveying the death/rebirth imagery you spelled out; Mormont's raven pecking at the egg the way that the three-eyed crow pecked at Bran's forehead in his dream, telling him to open his third eye; and Tyrion eating eggs that don't really taste good to him. In addition to the presence of fool-symbol Tyrion, Pycelle's breakfast is served below the raven rookery. Tyrion presents him with two identical letters bound for Dorne and instructs him to send the letters with his fastest birds right away, linking the urgency of the messages to the approaching threat of invasion, a life-and-death situation. (Later we learn that Pycelle did not send both letters at that moment, in keeping with the trap Tyrion was setting up to test the honesty of the grand maester.) In other words, egg-eating is done at moments of serious, life-threatening turning points, and ravens and fools see the crisis and play a role in bridging the transition.

- Different ways of eating, cracking, peeling, salting the eggs. We've already discussed the Mormont eats one egg in two bites (so quickly that he gets some shell caught in his teeth), lets the raven peck the second egg, and crushes the third egg in his fist. Tyrion peels his egg. Illyrio also peels his egg. Qhorin Halfhand cracks his egg on the edge of a bowl. The Kindly Man taps on his egg - with a spoon or other implement? Arya is blind, so the detail about the implement used may not be apparent to her. The Kindly Man soon bites the egg, so he is apparently not using a spoon to eat his breakfast. Both Mormont and the Kindly Man bite their eggs just after discussing the deaths of important leaders - Jon's father (ostensibly Ned Stark, although you pointed out the ambiguous nature of Mormont's references to Jon's father) and to the Sealord. Maybe the quick bites show these men taking a "what's done is done," matter-of-fact approach to the topic of leaders dying; let's not waste time grieving and get on to our next challenges. In addition to the scene where Mormont cracks a crab claw in his fist, the crushing of the egg shell in his fist has to tie into the Fist of the First Men. He and Qhorin discuss the importance of the Stark ties to the First Men in solving this threat to the Wall and the Night's Watch. We know that Jon will find a bundle of dragon glass and a horn at the Fist of the First Men and that Mormont and his ranging group will be attacked there. Maybe this fist approach to the third egg is a way of foreshadowing the importance of what will be found at the fist or the nature of the death waiting there. Qhorin cracking his egg on the edge of the bowl seems likely to refer to the Wall. Tyrion and Jon have a conversation where they stand on the Wall and refer to it as the edge of the world. Since Qhorin is about to lead Jon on a journey beyond the Wall (a threshold), the cracking of the egg may be a reference to Qhorin's death or Jon's eventual "death". Tyrion is not often a warrior, so his journey is not leading to battle at this point. He is a man who uses his wits instead of swords, and the peeling of the eggs may represent his search for truth in the presence of two men who he suspects of lying. The salt reference could be a sign that Tyrion is taking Pycelle's words "with a grain of salt" (for non-English speakers, this is an idiom used to express a listener's suspicion that someone is not telling the truth or not telling the full story). The Kindly Man also uses a lot of salt on this egg, and he comes right out and tells Arya that she is lying; he doesn't believe a lot of what she tells him. Finally, recall that Arya will eventually hit the Kindly Man on the head with her stick, much the way he cracks the egg with some kind of tapping implement. Her successful hit on his head may be the proof he seeks that she can see without using her eyes; that she has opened her third eye as Bran and Jon will do with the help of their wolves.

- Talk of dead kings, self-sacrifice and death in general, and rebirth. This is getting too long, but I think people can put together the references to death and rebirth: Arya talks about the death of the Sealord and then the birth of a baby and the selection of a new mermaid for a mummer's show; Mormont talks about the death of Jon's father and refers to dawn and not wanting to wonder whether Jon will run away; Tyrion's letter contains an offer for a betrothal of Princess Myrcella and Prince Trystane of Dorne, an alliance that alludes to past death (Elia Martell) and future death (Oberyn) as well as Tyrion's death sentence and rebirth in Essos. The breakfast with Pycelle certainly also foreshadow Tyrion's cutting of Pycelle's beard (references to beards symbolize disguising of dishonesty in ASOIAF, I suspect) and his throwing him in a black cell (symbolic of death). Eggs are symbols of rebirth, and the OP already ties these hard-boiled eggs into Dany receiving her dragon eggs in a trunk also filled with fine fabrics (a symbol of the realm, I believe).

- Fruit. Although I think Brown Ben Plumm is part of the plum motif, I don't think the plums in these breakfasts point directly to him. I think they are all part of the larger fruit motif in the books. Note that Arya associates the Kindly Man with the smell of oranges in this breakfast scene. (Is he her perfumed seneschal or stinky steward?) Arya threw a blood orange at Sansa in another important breakfast scene. GRRM avoids using the word "prune," but that's what dried plums are. I think the plum vs. prune imagery goes to the overall death/rebirth symbolism in these breakfasts.

There's actually more detail to analyze, if people can stand it: who serves the food, where it is prepared ("Mormont's fire"), who goes to the kitchen (Arya and Jon). Note also, that GRRM sometimes tells us about a character peeling or cracking an egg but does not follow up to tell us that the character has then eaten the egg. I think this could carry meaning, too, in this larger motif around death, the opening of the "inner eye" and rebirth.

I realize I am taking this in quite a different direction from your initial tying of hard-boiled eggs to Targaryens and the three heads of the dragon. I think you were right on the money to tie the eggs to the three heads of Trios, and maybe that connection will lead to a better understanding of the three "heads" of the dragon. These "heads" may not be humans of Targaryen descent, but may be a reference to the life (rebirth) and death and a third unknown force represented by a three-headed dragon. The third force could be magic or self-knowledge or something that will be spelled out differently for each of the heroes in the story.

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.

The Ugly Little Girl, Dance 64

[Lost Melnibonean]

42 minutes ago, Seams said:

In spite of the newly-discovered hard-boiled eggs in the Kindly Man's breakfast, I still think you've hit on about 90% of the meaning of these egg scenes. I don't think they represent hidden Targaryens, although some Targaryens and even hidden Targaryens may be represented by eggs. In the cases of Jon and Arya, I think these eggs represent mentors launching heroes on new and arduous phases of the archetypical "Hero's Journey." In the cases where Tyrion is eating the eggs, I think the egg represents the discovery of deception or false mentors. This may be a different kind of journey - Tyrion is a sort of anti-hero who uses books to sharpen his wits instead of whetstones to sharpen a sword; he is unattractive instead of handsome. He does not trust anyone to be his mentor so he is navigating his hero's journey largely with luck, his own wits and help from servant-characters (as opposed to highborn or wise patrons).

Consider some of the additional elements that accompany the eggs in these scenes:

- Ham. In addition to the plums you noted, Jeor and Qhorin's eggs are served with ham or bacon. There is also stale bread in the Qhorin scene and fresh bread in the Arya scene. Pigs and pork come up in interesting ways in ASOIAF: pigs are witnesses at Tyrion's wedding to Tysha; Cersei wants boar (associated with King Robert) for dinner but has to settle for pork (I think this is a detail before a feast with the Stokeworths); Tyrion rides a pig when he is "knighted" by Penny in the mummer's act that saves their lives in Essos. I may be wrong, but I think pork and slaughtered meat may represent the death inflicted on small folk by this horrific "game" of thrones engaged in by the high born of Westeros. Tyrion is a small man and is something of a champion of the small folk (although he may not be aware that he plays that role). The pork in the breakfast scenes with Mormont and Qhorin may represent their awareness that a major slaughter in the form of a clash with the Others and/or wildlings is coming to the Wall. I'm not certain of this, but I think the stale vs. fresh bread is a way to convey death (stale) and rebirth (fresh) - consistent with the wine symbolism you saw in Edd's preparation of the Qhorin breakfast. Or maybe it represents the attitude of the eater toward death: Dolorous Edd creates a layer of stale bread by putting slices on a plate and then covering them with bacon and drippings (bodies and blood?). Arya uses the fresh bread to sop up grease from the fish (not eggs) she has eaten for breakfast. In the House of Black & White, she is being taught that death can be a welcome gift. Maybe her enjoyment of the leftover grease and fresh bread is a sign that she is embracing this philosophy by becoming bloodthirsty?

- Fools. Tyrion is a fool figure throughout the books. I also believe that Mormont's raven and Dolorous Edd are symbolic or stand-in fools in GRRM's world. One of the functions of ravens and fools in these books is to navigate the "door" between death and life. Catelyn tells us in a POV: “the Crone… had let the first raven into the world when she peered through the door of death” (ASoS, Chap. 2). In the egg scenes you cite, we see Dolorous Edd preparing eggs and conveying the death/rebirth imagery you spelled out; Mormont's raven pecking at the egg the way that the three-eyed crow pecked at Bran's forehead in his dream, telling him to open his third eye; and Tyrion eating eggs that don't really taste good to him. In addition to the presence of fool-symbol Tyrion, Pycelle's breakfast is served below the raven rookery. Tyrion presents him with two identical letters bound for Dorne and instructs him to send the letters with his fastest birds right away, linking the urgency of the messages to the approaching threat of invasion, a life-and-death situation. (Later we learn that Pycelle did not send both letters at that moment, in keeping with the trap Tyrion was setting up to test the honesty of the grand maester.) In other words, egg-eating is done at moments of serious, life-threatening turning points, and ravens and fools see the crisis and play a role in bridging the transition.

- Different ways of eating, cracking, peeling, salting the eggs. We've already discussed the Mormont eats one egg in two bites (so quickly that he gets some shell caught in his teeth), lets the raven peck the second egg, and crushes the third egg in his fist. Tyrion peels his egg. Illyrio also peels his egg. Qhorin Halfhand cracks his egg on the edge of a bowl. The Kindly Man taps on his egg - with a spoon or other implement? Arya is blind, so the detail about the implement used may not be apparent to her. The Kindly Man soon bites the egg, so he is apparently not using a spoon to eat his breakfast. Both Mormont and the Kindly Man bite their eggs just after discussing the deaths of important leaders - Jon's father (ostensibly Ned Stark, although you pointed out the ambiguous nature of Mormont's references to Jon's father) and to the Sealord. Maybe the quick bites show these men taking a "what's done is done," matter-of-fact approach to the topic of leaders dying; let's not waste time grieving and get on to our next challenges. In addition to the scene where Mormont cracks a crab claw in his fist, the crushing of the egg shell in his fist has to tie into the Fist of the First Men. He and Qhorin discuss the importance of the Stark ties to the First Men in solving this threat to the Wall and the Night's Watch. We know that Jon will find a bundle of dragon glass and a horn at the Fist of the First Men and that Mormont and his ranging group will be attacked there. Maybe this fist approach to the third egg is a way of foreshadowing the importance of what will be found at the fist or the nature of the death waiting there. Qhorin cracking his egg on the edge of the bowl seems likely to refer to the Wall. Tyrion and Jon have a conversation where they stand on the Wall and refer to it as the edge of the world. Since Qhorin is about to lead Jon on a journey beyond the Wall (a threshold), the cracking of the egg may be a reference to Qhorin's death or Jon's eventual "death". Tyrion is not often a warrior, so his journey is not leading to battle at this point. He is a man who uses his wits instead of swords, and the peeling of the eggs may represent his search for truth in the presence of two men who he suspects of lying. The salt reference could be a sign that Tyrion is taking Pycelle's words "with a grain of salt" (for non-English speakers, this is an idiom used to express a listener's suspicion that someone is not telling the truth or not telling the full story). The Kindly Man also uses a lot of salt on this egg, and he comes right out and tells Arya that she is lying; he doesn't believe a lot of what she tells him. Finally, recall that Arya will eventually hit the Kindly Man on the head with her stick, much the way he cracks the egg with some kind of tapping implement. Her successful hit on his head may be the proof he seeks that she can see without using her eyes; that she has opened her third eye as Bran and Jon will do with the help of their wolves.

- Talk of dead kings, self-sacrifice and death in general, and rebirth. This is getting too long, but I think people can put together the references to death and rebirth: Arya talks about the death of the Sealord and then the birth of a baby and the selection of a new mermaid for a mummer's show; Mormont talks about the death of Jon's father and refers to dawn and not wanting to wonder whether Jon will run away; Tyrion's letter contains an offer for a betrothal of Princess Myrcella and Prince Trystane of Dorne, an alliance that alludes to past death (Elia Martell) and future death (Oberyn) as well as Tyrion's death sentence and rebirth in Essos. The breakfast with Pycelle certainly also foreshadow Tyrion's cutting of Pycelle's beard (references to beards symbolize disguising of dishonesty in ASOIAF, I suspect) and his throwing him in a black cell (symbolic of death). Eggs are symbols of rebirth, and the OP already ties these hard-boiled eggs into Dany receiving her dragon eggs in a trunk also filled with fine fabrics (a symbol of the realm, I believe).

- Fruit. Although I think Brown Ben Plumm is part of the plum motif, I don't think the plums in these breakfasts point directly to him. I think they are all part of the larger fruit motif in the books. Note that Arya associates the Kindly Man with the smell of oranges in this breakfast scene. (Is he her perfumed seneschal or stinky steward?) Arya threw a blood orange at Sansa in another important breakfast scene. GRRM avoids using the word "prune," but that's what dried plums are. I think the plum vs. prune imagery goes to the overall death/rebirth symbolism in these breakfasts.

There's actually more detail to analyze, if people can stand it: who serves the food, where it is prepared ("Mormont's fire"), who goes to the kitchen (Arya and Jon). Note also, that GRRM sometimes tells us about a character peeling or cracking an egg but does not follow up to tell us that the character has then eaten the egg. I think this could carry meaning, too, in this larger motif around death, the opening of the "inner eye" and rebirth.

I realize I am taking this in quite a different direction from your initial tying of hard-boiled eggs to Targaryens and the three heads of the dragon. I think you were right on the money to tie the eggs to the three heads of Trios, and maybe that connection will lead to a better understanding of the three "heads" of the dragon. These "heads" may not be humans of Targaryen descent, but may be a reference to the life (rebirth) and death and a third unknown force represented by a three-headed dragon. The third force could be magic or self-knowledge or something that will be spelled out differently for each of the heroes in the story.

Hidden Content

The Ugly Little Girl, Dance 64

Impressive.

[FrostyDornishman]

A few people have mentioned this already, in reference to the Kindly Man's egg scene...how strong is the theory that Euron gave the Faceless Men a dragon egg?

I know there are variations in the details of all these boiled egg meals, but maybe they generally hint at characters that are getting involved, or will get involved in this new generation of dragons.  The FM dragon egg theory would help explain how the Kindly Man scene still fits in with all the others.

[Lost Melnibonean]

22 minutes ago, FrostyDornishman said:

A few people have mentioned this already, in reference to the Kindly Man's egg scene...how strong is the theory that Euron gave the Faceless Men a dragon egg?

I know there are variations in the details of all these boiled egg meals, but maybe they generally hint at characters that are getting involved, or will get involved in this new generation of dragons.  The FM dragon egg theory would help explain how the Kindly Man scene still fits in with all the others.

How so? What do you see happening? The Faceless Men hatching a dragon of the own, or at least trying to?

[FrostyDornishman]

2 hours ago, Lost Melnibonean said:

How so? What do you see happening? The Faceless Men hatching a dragon of the own, or at least trying to?

Yep, something like that.  Though to what end, I have no idea.  I just think it happens to tie up some loose ends rather nicely.

[John Suburbs]

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

 

I dunno, Lost. This is starting to look like John's Nash's conspiracy board in A Beautiful Mind: eggs here connected to plums there, drowned in water, which is wine, and it all leads to dragons and the fulfilment of a prophecy that may or may not be real. 

I think GRRM just likes to screw with people's heads.

"Heads, heads, heads!" shrieked the Raven.

 

Also, what do you make of Cersei's egg, with the baby chicken in it?

[Lost Melnibonean]

30 minutes ago, John Suburbs said:

I dunno, Lost. This is starting to look like John's Nash's conspiracy board in A Beautiful Mind: eggs here connected to plums there, drowned in water, which is wine, and it all leads to dragons and the fulfilment of a prophecy that may or may not be real. 

I think GRRM just likes to screw with people's heads.

"Heads, heads, heads!" shrieked the Raven.

 

Also, what do you make of Cersei's egg, with the baby chicken in it?

Wait... You don't see those fairies over there? The ones with the boots on... They are dancing with a dwarf...

[Seams]

1 hour ago, John Suburbs said:

I dunno, Lost. This is starting to look like John's Nash's conspiracy board in A Beautiful Mind: eggs here connected to plums there, drowned in water, which is wine, and it all leads to dragons and the fulfilment of a prophecy that may or may not be real. 

I think GRRM just likes to screw with people's heads.

"Heads, heads, heads!" shrieked the Raven.

 

Also, what do you make of Cersei's egg, with the baby chicken in it?

Sorry, I know I have added a lot of the complications by trying to put the eggs into the larger context.

I had forgotten about Cersei and the egg. This is in AFfC, Chap. 12 and comes on the morning of Tommen's wedding to Margaery:

“To break her fast the queen sent to the kitchens for two boiled eggs, a loaf of bread, and a pot of honey. But when she cracked the first egg and found a bloody half-formed chick inside, her stomach roiled. ‘Take this away and bring me hot spiced wine,’ she told Senelle.”

Cersei is unhappy that she had to agree to allow Tommen and Margaery to sleep together on their wedding night, even though Tommen is too young to consummate the marriage. She tells Jaime:

 

“And Ossifer Plumm was much too dead, but that did not stop him fathering a child, did it?”

The wiki reminds us, "Ossifer was an aged man when he wed Elaena Targaryen in 176 AC. He is said to have died whilst consummating his new marriage, after seeing his wife naked for the first time. Elaena became pregnant, and gave birth to a child... Ossifer supposedly fathered the child after he was dead."

So you have "plums" again, a page after the hard-boiled eggs. You also have death and miraculous birth all at once. But there's also a vague something in between the death and rebirth, with rumors that Elaena's cousin, the king, fathered her child.

But back to the eggs.

Here again, hard-boiled eggs. In this scene, the egg is not an egg - it's an unappetizing fetal chick. Cersei asked for two eggs, but she doesn't eat either one. (In my opinion, this shows that she is not a hero, in case we were undecided before this scene. Cersei's only journey in the books was made inside of a moving room, basically, when she went to Winterfell with Robert's court. Maybe the moving room shows that she has never emerged from her own egg. She is not a Hero's Journey kind of gal. This egg failure also shows that Cersei is unable to uncover lies or truths, as Tyrion does when he peels the shells off of eggs.)

The dead chick could link this scene to the scene where Margaery, Olenna Tyrell and Sansa have supper together while Butterbumps entertains the group. When Butterbumps arrives, he has Sansa break open an egg that is filled with baby chicks. Butterbumps pretends (?) to eat one, upsetting a little girl (Lady Bulwer), but then produces the chick (or a chick) from her sleeve - more death and rebirth. Bird symbolism is vast in ASOIAF so the chick symbolism could be interpreted many ways. I suspected that Butterbumps' egg filled with chicks is intended to parallel the bird-filled pie at Joffrey and Margaery's wedding, so that brings the symbol full circle back to Cersei's nausea at finding the dead chick in her egg on the morning of Tommen's wedding to Margaery.

Cersei does order spiced wine to replace the unappetizing eggs, and this is an interesting link to the Dolorous Edd boiled eggs: Edd stirs the pot of boiling eggs, which is something you don't do when boiling eggs. The eggs should just sit in the boiling water; stirring might actually crack the shells. Edd also adds nutmeg to the pot in which the eggs are boiling, which makes no sense at all. Stirring and nutmeg would make sense if Edd were instead preparing a pot of hot spiced wine, however, which is what he tells Jon he wishes he were making. I haven't developed a theory (you'll be relieved to hear) about hard-boiled eggs that are pretending to be hot spiced wine or that are replaced with hot spiced wine. I know that others have put forward interpretations of the meaning of wine in the books.

Cersei is also concerned that Tommen might be poisoned at his wedding, as Joffrey was. She is also worried that Tyrion might be hiding in the walls of King's Landing and will sneak out to kill Tommen. She confirms to Jaime her plan to burn down the Tower of the Hand after the wedding feast because it is a sad reminder of Tywin's death and because she hopes the fire will flush out Varys, the missing jailer and/or Tyrion. (Jaime reassures her that his men have hollowed out the tower already, reducing it to a shell. Like an egg shell?) But Cersei has developed a hatred for King's Landing in general and tells Jaime:

"For half a groat I would move the court to Lannisport and rule the realm from Casterly Rock."

So this brings the symbol back to LM's original comparison of eggs and the three heads of the dragon. Penny's brother is called Groat, and his head (half a groat) is brought to Cersei as an attempt to collect the reward she offers for Tyrion's head. When Oppo/Groat dies, Tyrion is reborn as the missing half of Penny's comical jousting act. More death and rebirth.

I'll try to stop being a thread hog now. Maybe I'll go boil some eggs. No, instead I think I'll have a glass of wine. No nutmeg, though.

[Lost Melnibonean]

1 hour ago, Seams said:

Sorry, I know I have added a lot of the complications by trying to put the eggs into the larger context.

I had forgotten about Cersei and the egg. This is in AFfC, Chap. 12 and comes on the morning of Tommen's wedding to Margaery:

“To break her fast the queen sent to the kitchens for two boiled eggs, a loaf of bread, and a pot of honey. But when she cracked the first egg and found a bloody half-formed chick inside, her stomach roiled. ‘Take this away and bring me hot spiced wine,’ she told Senelle.”

Cersei is unhappy that she had to agree to allow Tommen and Margaery to sleep together on their wedding night, even though Tommen is too young to consummate the marriage. She tells Jaime:

 

 

“And Ossifer Plumm was much too dead, but that did not stop him fathering a child, did it?”

The wiki reminds us, "Ossifer was an aged man when he wed Elaena Targaryen in 176 AC. He is said to have died whilst consummating his new marriage, after seeing his wife naked for the first time. Elaena became pregnant, and gave birth to a child... Ossifer supposedly fathered the child after he was dead."

So you have "plums" again, a page after the hard-boiled eggs. You also have death and miraculous birth all at once. But there's also a vague something in between the death and rebirth, with rumors that Elaena's cousin, the king, fathered her child.

But back to the eggs.

Here again, hard-boiled eggs. In this scene, the egg is not an egg - it's an unappetizing fetal chick. Cersei asked for two eggs, but she doesn't eat either one. (In my opinion, this shows that she is not a hero, in case we were undecided before this scene. Cersei's only journey in the books was made inside of a moving room, basically, when she went to Winterfell with Robert's court. Maybe the moving room shows that she has never emerged from her own egg. She is not a Hero's Journey kind of gal. This egg failure also shows that Cersei is unable to uncover lies or truths, as Tyrion does when he peels the shells off of eggs.)

The dead chick could link this scene to the scene where Margaery, Olenna Tyrell and Sansa have supper together while Butterbumps entertains the group. When Butterbumps arrives, he has Sansa break open an egg that is filled with baby chicks. Butterbumps pretends (?) to eat one, upsetting a little girl (Lady Bulwer), but then produces the chick (or a chick) from her sleeve - more death and rebirth. Bird symbolism is vast in ASOIAF so the chick symbolism could be interpreted many ways. I suspected that Butterbumps' egg filled with chicks is intended to parallel the bird-filled pie at Joffrey and Margaery's wedding, so that brings the symbol full circle back to Cersei's nausea at finding the dead chick in her egg on the morning of Tommen's wedding to Margaery.

Cersei does order spiced wine to replace the unappetizing eggs, and this is an interesting link to the Dolorous Edd boiled eggs: Edd stirs the pot of boiling eggs, which is something you don't do when boiling eggs. The eggs should just sit in the boiling water; stirring might actually crack the shells. Edd also adds nutmeg to the pot in which the eggs are boiling, which makes no sense at all. Stirring and nutmeg would make sense if Edd were instead preparing a pot of hot spiced wine, however, which is what he tells Jon he wishes he were making. I haven't developed a theory (you'll be relieved to hear) about hard-boiled eggs that are pretending to be hot spiced wine or that are replaced with hot spiced wine. I know that others have put forward interpretations of the meaning of wine in the books.

Cersei is also concerned that Tommen might be poisoned at his wedding, as Joffrey was. She is also worried that Tyrion might be hiding in the walls of King's Landing and will sneak out to kill Tommen. She confirms to Jaime her plan to burn down the Tower of the Hand after the wedding feast because it is a sad reminder of Tywin's death and because she hopes the fire will flush out Varys, the missing jailer and/or Tyrion. (Jaime reassures her that his men have hollowed out the tower already, reducing it to a shell. Like an egg shell?) But Cersei has developed a hatred for King's Landing in general and tells Jaime:

"For half a groat I would move the court to Lannisport and rule the realm from Casterly Rock."

So this brings the symbol back to LM's original comparison of eggs and the three heads of the dragon. Penny's brother is called Groat, and his head (half a groat) is brought to Cersei as an attempt to collect the reward she offers for Tyrion's head. When Oppo/Groat dies, Tyrion is reborn as the missing half of Penny's comical jousting act. More death and rebirth.

I'll try to stop being a thread hog now. Maybe I'll go boil some eggs. No, instead I think I'll have a glass of wine. No nutmeg, though.

I'll pour. I'm glad I'm not the only one who's sees the fairies wearing boots and dancing with a dwarf. 

[Demonking1381]

I wonder what a dragon egg would taste like. I like to imagine it would be naturally spicy and would cook itself.

[finger]

13 hours ago, Lost Melnibonean said:

Wait... You don't see those fairies over there? The ones with the boots on... They are dancing with a dwarf...

Hmmm.. Traits of songs have been found before, like Led Zeppelin's In my time of dying (Lyanna) or Stone's Sympathy for the devil (who else?), but it's the first Black Sabbath I can recall.

[hiemal]

17 hours ago, Seams said:

 This is in AFfC, Chap. 12 and comes on the morning of Tommen's wedding to Margaery:

“To break her fast the queen sent to the kitchens for two boiled eggs, a loaf of bread, and a pot of honey. But when she cracked the first egg and found a bloody half-formed chick inside, her stomach roiled. ‘Take this away and bring me hot spiced wine,’ she told Senelle.”

 

My 2 coppers on the bloody eggs and the stewed plums:

Plots- one "aborted" that leads to death and one carried out that leads to... shit?

[The Fattest Leech]

1 hour ago, hiemal said:

My 2 coppers on the bloody eggs and the stewed plums:

Plots- one "aborted" that leads to death and one carried out that leads to... shit?

Oh Jeebus! I just spit coffee all over when I read that. And I'm not in the privacy of my own home with just my cats there to judge me