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There must always be a Stark in Winterfell.


RileyJones

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On 3/24/2016 at 9:38 AM, aryagonnakill#2 said:

I agree with this.  Old Nan says that the power of the wall only holds so long as the men of the watch hold true to their vows.  So the magic of the wall is conditional.  This same type of condition could apply to there needing to be a Stark in Winterfell for its magic to work.

I'm on board with this, too.

Some readers take the unusual weather seeming to emanate from WF as a sign that there is no Stark in WF (the magic somehow recoiling against the Boltons).. I take it as a sign that there is a Stark.(Benjen)

On 1/6/2016 at 0:02 PM, cutuphalfdead said:

Yeah but the first prologue has the others coming back before robert even gets to winterfell and the whole thing starts.

 

25 minutes ago, JonisHenryTudor said:

Awesome idea. I figured that he may be inside, but never really considered to what capacity. 

Hmm here is an off-handed idea. Could it be that the Others discovered Ned's secret? Could they fear Jon? Just an idea. 

I think there might be something to this. They may not know about Jon, specifically (because the Othor wight was after Mormont, not Jon) .. but they could well have sensed some change in the state of magic at his birth, with the two magical bloodlines coming together.. to fulfil whatever the prophecy of TPtwP predicts.

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On 7/5/2015 at 4:50 AM, RileyJones said:

This idea came to me after a spliff so don't take it too seriously. It's more of a "oh man wouldn't that be cool" than a serious theory.

 

Okay, so, the idea - there must always be a Stark in Winterfell because when the Long Night falls upon Westeros a Stark must enter the crypts/godswood to summon the spirits of their fallen ancestors to come forth and help battle the Others. Fight Ice with Ice. Then return to their slumber once all is fine and dandy.

This idea of course is heavily influence by the Dead Men of Dunharrow from the Lotr. But hey, I'm all for Ned and Robb rising to do battle as ghostly spirits. Maybe we'd get a glimpse of Bran the Builder too.

 

Unlikely to happen, sure, but hey it's fun to fantasize about fantasy!

I love this idea and wish it would happen. best ideas come after spliffs. 

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On 7/5/2015 at 4:50 AM, RileyJones said:

This idea came to me after a spliff so don't take it too seriously. It's more of a "oh man wouldn't that be cool" than a serious theory.

 

Okay, so, the idea - there must always be a Stark in Winterfell because when the Long Night falls upon Westeros a Stark must enter the crypts/godswood to summon the spirits of their fallen ancestors to come forth and help battle the Others. Fight Ice with Ice. Then return to their slumber once all is fine and dandy.

This idea of course is heavily influence by the Dead Men of Dunharrow from the Lotr. But hey, I'm all for Ned and Robb rising to do battle as ghostly spirits. Maybe we'd get a glimpse of Bran the Builder too.

 

Unlikely to happen, sure, but hey it's fun to fantasize about fantasy!

Ever since Jon has a dream of Robb and Ned at a feast that he can't attend yet, I was hoping there would be some kind of scene where we would get some closure with the dead starks like they have in LoR back in Rivendale etc. 

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On 3/26/2016 at 11:48 AM, bemused said:

 

I think there might be something to this. They may not know about Jon, specifically (because the Othor wight was after Mormont, not Jon) .. but they could well have sensed some change in the state of magic at his birth, with the two magical bloodlines coming together.. to fulfil whatever the prophecy of TPtwP predicts.

This is one of those times where I really want a pov from the Other's camp. I don't mean to go here, but perhaps this explains a specific scene in the show last season (end of Hardhome)? 

Speaking of magic... Mel notices her powers increase at the wall, but that is in DwD. Is it possible that Jon's "magical" bloodline increased the Wall's power or stimulated it somehow? 

 

One issue that I have found a little odd is how Martin introduced us to the Others immediately, but by the 5th book we have seen little or nothing about them. Is it possible that the prologue hinted of an eminent attack, but Jon's arrival has somehow disrupted that? If that is the case, it would explain why Martin is generally silent regarding the Others. Why else would they show their faces after so many years, but not attack? 

 

 

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13 hours ago, JonisHenryTudor said:

This is one of those times where I really want a pov from the Other's camp. I don't mean to go here, but perhaps this explains a specific scene in the show last season (end of Hardhome)? 

Speaking of magic... Mel notices her powers increase at the wall, but that is in DwD. Is it possible that Jon's "magical" bloodline increased the Wall's power or stimulated it somehow? 

 

One issue that I have found a little odd is how Martin introduced us to the Others immediately, but by the 5th book we have seen little or nothing about them. Is it possible that the prologue hinted of an eminent attack, but Jon's arrival has somehow disrupted that? If that is the case, it would explain why Martin is generally silent regarding the Others. Why else would they show their faces after so many years, but not attack? 

 

 

It seems like at the end of Dance the Others are/have really struck fully.  Hardhome is clearly under attack, and Jon also had his vision of all the fires going out by the bridge of skulls.  Tactically it seems like the Others have played it very smart.  Pick off as many of the wildlings as you can without sustaining any casualties, and herd them towards the NW so the two sides kill each other.  Jon definitely effected that plan by allowing many through that would otherwise have been killed, but it seems like fairly soon there will be no more wildlings north of the wall and the stage will really be set.

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I still believe that Bran is the Stark in Winterfell.  In my following long essay, I dare to suggest how his presence manifests itself in numerous ways.

How Bran May Display his Growing Powers in “A Ghost in Winterfell”

Lord Eddard Stark speaks with his son Bran on a day forever marked in his young mind as the one in which Bran witnesses an execution for the first time with his father performing “the king’s justice”.  Bran’s first narrative point-of-view in A Game of Thrones features the father who wears a symbolic “lord’s mask” when his office demands, and Bran separates the father he knows at home from the role of executioner he plays as Lord of Winterfell.

Aside from impressing upon his son the Stark traditions and the paradoxical nature of a man knowing fear in order to be brave, Ned gives Bran advice that speaks to his future:

Original

“One day Bran, you will be Robb’s bannerman, holding a keep of your own for your brother and your king, and justice will belong to you.  When this day comes, you must take no pleasure in the task, but neither must you look away.  A ruler who hides behind paid executioners soon forgets what death is” [16 AGoT].

·       I have taken the liberty of revising Ned’s advice to Bran, adjusting a word here and there to accommodate Bran’s appointment as a greenseer.

Revised

“One day, Bran, you will be a greenseer, sitting a weirwood throne of your own for the old gods of the north, and justice will belong to you.  When that day comes, you must take no vengeance for personal reasons, but neither must you shirk your duties as part of the godhood.  A god who hides behind  the face on a weirwood tree soon forgets what death is.”

Bran’s handicap and Robb’s death cancel out Bran’s role as his older brother’s  bannerman, and  Bran’s dream of knighthood  finally fizzles out when Lord Brynden confesses that he does not possess the magic to restore Bran’s legs. The revision of Ned’s advice addresses what may be Bran’s duties and responsibilities as a greenseer.  For instance, a greenseer may be called upon to dictate a judgment that best serves offenders’ crimes, those that violate the sacred laws that the old gods hold dear.  If this is indeed the case, then Bran seemingly fulfills his obligations, exposing his far reaching powers in the “A Ghost in Winterfell” narrative from A Dance with Dragons Martin may silence Bran’s “narrative” voice, but the author replaces Bran’s POVs with his presence, which manifests in ways that are observable to Reek/Theon, the character who honestly reports his personal perspective on the events that transpire in the narrative prose.

Bran masquerades as a ghost, along with Reek and the other ghosts haunting him. Through Reek’s recounting of events, he reveals an awareness of a supernatural presence, making him mindful of the old gods and fearful of their disapproval. When members of the northern faction tempt fate by mocking the gods, Reek grows nervous, sensing that within and without the grey stones of Winterfell, another-worldly entity sees, hears, and feels what happens in the Great Hall and elsewhere.

Martin foreshadows Bran’s eventual relationship with ghosts early in the first novel of the series A Game of Thrones. Bran demonstrates his partiality for ghosts in the following AGoT passages:

·       Bran envies the call name his bastard brother Jon Snow bestows upon his direwolf “Ghost”:  Jon's wolf, the white one, was Ghost. Bran wished he had thought of that first, even though his wolf wasn't white” [AGoT].  Bran does acknowledge that the appellation of “Ghost” is more fitting for Jon’s white direwolf, more so because Bran’s own pup does not share his littermate’s white coat

·       Bran likes being invisible “None of the guards could climb half so well as Bran . . .   Most of the time they never saw him anyway.  People never looked up. That was another thing he liked about climbing; it was almost like being invisible”.  Bran enjoys being unseen by others while he watches and listens to those unsuspecting people who never “look up”.  As a greenseer, Bran sits a weirwood throne, a seat of great power, magic, and accountability.   His greensight supports platforms that extend beyond the heart tree in the godswood.  Bran is ghostlike – invisible to all but Theon, yet he merges with the living magic that Bran the Builder and the Children of the Forest spun into the grey bricks of Winterfell’s grey walls, outbuildings, even the crypts. Hence, Bran infiltrates the enemy camp, spying on the Boltons and their loyal northern followers.

·       Martin aptly uses the noun “haunt” as the subject of the sentence to follow “His [Bran’s] favorite haunt was the broken tower. Once it had been a watchtower, the tallest in Winterfell.  A long time ago, a hundred years before even his father had been born, a lightning strike had set it afire” [AGoT]. Bran’s presence haunts Winterfell, and through Reek’s narrative, Martin hides clues of Bran’s influence that are nearly as invisible to readers as Bran the ghost is to the northmen.

 “A Ghost in Winterfell” and “a Stark in Winterfell” are epithets that define Bran who is metaphorically one with Winterfell.  Maester Luwin likens Winterfell to a tree, linking the ancient weirwood to the aged castle:

“The place had grown over the centuries like some monstrous stone tree . . . and its branches were gnarled and thick and twisted, its roots sunk deep within the earth” [79 AGoT].

Maester Luwin compares Winterfell’s expansion to “some monstrous stone tree”. “Monstrous” is not a flattering descriptor for Winterfell.  Even though it can mean atrocious, horrific, and immoral, “monstrous” may also mean enormous, colossal, and prodigious.  Since monstrous modifies “stone tree”, Winterfell is similarly massive, a fortress of stone, which reinforces its permanence, much like the weirwood that will live forever if men allow it.  

The branches of the tree correspond to the generations of Starks, past and present.  “Gnarled and thick and twisted” all describe the tree’s boughs; consequently, gnarled, thick, and twisted modify generations of House Stark. These adjectives do not distinguish honorable characteristic as representative of the Stark line. 

For instance, gnarled suggests that the Starks are bent, crooked, distorted, and difficult.  Thick means dense, impenetrable, slow-witted, and substantial, and lastly, twisted indicates perverse, abnormal, misshapen, and deformed.

The deep roots of the tree are indicative of Winterfell’s strong foundation, which is grounded by the crypts “sunk deep within the earth”, spreading out beneath the fortress and beyond

Above ground and below does Reek go, and no matter where he travels, Reek seems to be guided by a force emanating from the godswood. Reek’s feet take him to places of which his mind does not conceive.  At times, ideas come to Reek unannounced, inspiring his innermost thoughts and feelings.  Furthermore, Reek documents the weather conditions: 

“Endless, ceaseless, merciless, the snow had fallen day and night” [605 ADwD]. 

Despite the punishing snowfall, when Reek walks outside “the snow was swirling, dancing” [608 ADwD] and “the snowflakes brushed his cheeks like cold soft kisses” [610 ADwD].  The veil of snow treats Reek gently, a sign that Bran the greenseer has some influence over this icy elemental.  Snowfall loves the Starks as well, kissing their cheeks and dancing around them.  Sansa sculpts Winterfell in the snow while at the Eyrie.

Additionally, the walls of snow metaphorically surround Theon, embrace him, concealing him and protecting him. Martin writes:

“He [Theon] found himself alone in a white wilderness, walls of snow looming up to either side of him chest high . . . He could hear the sound of music . . . A soft song now, and sad. For a moment he felt almost at peace” [611 ADwD].

Enclosed in a snowy cocoon, Theon feels safe and secure; hence, he feels at peace. The music and song that reach his ears evocate a calming mood; moreover, the music and song are part of Bran’s environment, as he daily listens to the beautiful yet sad voices of those who sing the song of earth.  The all-encompassing cocoon of snow is symbolic as the step prior to Reek reborn as Theon.

Martin frequently mentions that Theon cannot and does not sleep, rising nightly to repeat his daily laps about the walls of Winterfell.  Some benevolent force chaperones this poor, maimed soul who walks with a limp and is missing toes on both feet.  Yet Reek manages without benefit of a torch to light his way, and he is remarkably sure-footed on treacherous icy pathways.  Without toes, Reek’s sense of balance should work to his detriment, yet somehow he does not slip, fall, and break a bone, even while suffering sleep deprivation.  Without sleep, Reek is easier to inspire mentally, which may be why Reek is kept awake.  Further, Bran, as part of the living magic of Winterfell, may be capable of impacting the pass ability of its snow covered walkways.

But Bran as an element of nature does not bless the undeserving with a favorable climate. On the contrary, Bran marks certain Bolton allies as unfortunate victims of the cold and snow.

For example, Hosteen Frey, who boasts “that he did not fear a little snow, loses an ear to frostbite” [606 ADwD].  For underestimating the dangers of winter and for giving a voice to his lack of fear, the disrespectful Hosteen Frey fittingly suffers winter’s deadly bite, as in “frostbite”.  The Frey camp need to remember that their “words are wind”, and a greenseer listens to those who speak. Hosteen’s hubris warrants his losing an ear, a just dessert the Frey, who chooses not to hear the warnings of the northmen.  “Winter is Coming” are the Stark words for a reason, not for a jape.

At least Lord Locke is ancient enough to remember winters past, and he is seemingly aware of the disapproval of the old gods:

“The gods have turned against us,” old Lord Locke was heard to say in the Great Hall.  “This is their wroth.  A wind as cold as hell and a snow that never ends.  We are cursed” [606 ADwD].

Lord Locke and Theon are of one mind concerning the wrath of the gods, which suggests Bran’s ability to telepathically and empathically connect with weaker minded individuals.  Lord Locke is a senior with slower wits and superstitions. Theon also has been physically and mentally broken by Ramsay’s torture and brain-washing.   Bran has compassion for broken people as he thinks of himself as broken.

That Bran succeeds in influencing others mentally seems to be an extension of his budding greenseeing magic, which encompasses his skinchanging and warging skills. With time and lessons, Bran may progress to a grander scale of reaching out to others from his weirwood throne beyond the Wall.

Winterfell and Bran remember the events that transpire before the sack of Winterfell, which is why Theon feels the mummer’s farce of murders mirror the murders of Theon’s allies then.  According to Theon, a familiar pattern repeats itself:

“It all seemed so familiar, like a mummer show that he had seen played out before.  Only the mummers had changed. Roose Bolton was playing the part that Theon had played the last time around, and the dead men were playing the parts of Aggar, Gynir Rednose, and Gelmarr the Grim.  Reek was there too, he remembered, but he was a different Reek, a Reek with bloody hands and lies dripping from his lips . . .” [609 ADwD].

Theon also takes responsibility for many deaths, and he feels his fate is to be trapped in Winterfell so as to be haunted by the ghosts that are part of his handiwork:

“He was trapped here, with the ghosts.  The old ghosts from the crypts and the younger ones that he had made himself, Mikken and Farlen, Gynir Rednose, Aggar, Gelmarr the Grim, the miller’s wife from Acorn Water and her two young sons, and all the rest.  My work. My ghosts.  They are all here, and they are angry He thought of the crypts and those missing swords” [612 ADwD].

Theon, moreover, perceives the anger of the dead Starks and the dead he wasted.  He fears the missing swords in the crypts have somehow unleashed a vengeful spirit that may be causing the havoc in Winterfell.  He ponders the missing swords yet again on another occasion, when Roose Bolton and others question him about his regular walks about the castle walls:

Roger Ryswell dismisses the turncloak as the killer, fearing instead that “Stannis has some man inside the castle, that’s plain” [613 ADwD].

“He wondered if Lady Dustin had told them about the crypts, the missing swords” [613 ADwD].

That Theon conceives of a freed Stark spirit causing mischief also speaks to Bran’s presence, and the mysterious murders serve yet another purpose:

“The deaths set Roose Bolton’s lords to quarreling openly in the Great Hall.  Some were running short of patience” [609ADwD].

Death and destruction preside over “A Ghost in Winterfell” and may be inspired by the living magic attributable to Bran. Bran remembers Ramsay’s sack of Winterfell, and he remembers his promise to Lady Hornwood: “Winterfell remembers!”

Bran’s sympathy for those people Ramsay Snow has broken, such as Reek and Jeyne Poole, may stem from feeling guilty and responsible for not doing more to assist Lady Donella Hornwood when she pleaded for protection against the bastard of Bolton at the harvest feast.  Bran remembers:

“Bran wanted to give the lady [Lady Hornwood] a hundred men to defend her rights” but Ser Rodrik makes the final decision and rules Bran out, even though Bran observes, “She [Lady Hornwood] was very sad” [251 ACoK].

 Bran may not wield a dagger or a sword, but Bran has powers to manipulate and/or inspire the actions of others.  Bran’s power embodies and/or compels - elements of nature, such as the grey mists, the howling winds, and the escalating snowfall.

What follows are speculations proposing that Bran involves himself in the mysterious deaths of several members of the northern contingency.  A few of the fallen are blamed for their own demise by the lords that they serve.  Others who die are beloved by their lords yet not as much by the readers, many of whom are cognizant of their vile deeds deserving of punishment.

Bran’s intentions demonstrate his powers to influence the human forces at work to bring about the deaths of several northern allies.

The Ryswell Man-at-Arms

The man-at-arms who falls to his death marched north with Roger Ryswell, and Ramsay’s bitches find him at the base of the inner wall, buried beneath the snow.  Ryswell calls him a “drunk”, blaming his broken neck on his folly for pissing off the wall.

Theon is doubtful, especially since the Ryswell man-at-arms climbs the icy, slick steps of the battlement in the black night during unending snowfall just for the purpose of relieving himself.  A man needs a better reason to risk breaking his neck.  Theon’s suspicions intimate that the man-at-arms climbs the battlements to tryst with one of Abel’s women.

Bran cannot condone the conduct of a man who defiles the bricks of Winterfell by openly engaging in sexual acts. Equally disturbing is that the man-at-arms urinates from the top of a structure, guaranteeing that the walls of Winterfell are soiled with human waste. If indeed Bran’s powers permit him to embody the grey brick that built his home as part of its living magic, then the Ryswell man literally pees on “The Stark in Winterfell”, an effrontery that displeases the greenseer who perceives such a deed as contemptuous and worthy of punishment.

Whoever pushes this man-at-arms from the battlements, Bran helps to guide her hand.  Furthermore, Bran’s passive-aggressive retribution mirrors that of the Kingslayer who pushes Bran from the window of the broken tower to what the Kingslayer hopes will be Bran’s death.  The Ryswell man’s fall ends in his death, yet the old gods do not seem to be done with him.

Ramsay’s bitch Grey Jeyne eats most of the Ryswell man’s face, defiling the corpse, and this dead man-at-arms coincidentally shares a fate with Weese after Jaqen, a spiritual guide likely sent by the forces that are the old gods with the intent to direct Arya towards Braavos, delivers a gift to Arya at HarrenHell in ACoK.

The ugly dog devours Weese’s face – an abuse that intimates Arya’s future relationship with the Faceless Men of Braavos.  But the irony is that Weese threatened to remove Arya’s eyes and her tongue in order to feed his bitch.  Weese’s comeuppance is poetic justice since his loyal bitch turns against her master, serving him the punishments with which Weese threatened  Arya.

Two canine bitches, Weese’s “ugly dog” in ACoK and Ramsay’s Grey Jeyne in ADwD, are responsible for destroying the features of a man.  In each incident, the forces that are the old gods and their godhood are seemingly involved “somehow” in delivering death to a deserving victim.

The Frey Squire

Ser Aenys Frey’s squire is found naked,  dead from exposure in the old castle’s lichyard, his face so obscured by hoarfrost that it looks like a mask.  The squire’s death is blamed upon too much drink, which causes him to become lost and disoriented in the snow storm. 

Reek doubts that the man had drunk too much because no one explains why the squire takes off his clothes to go outside. Reek keenly perceives, “Wine could drown a host of suspicions” [ADwD].  Blaming the squire for drunkenness excuses a possible murderer’s actions.

Ironically, before the squire’s body is found, Lady Dustin says that “Lord Stannis is lost in the storm” [607ADwD].  The very fate that Lady Dustin wishes upon Stannis instead befalls an unfortunate Frey. Perhaps Reek’s worry that “The old gods might be listening” [607ADwD] has merit, only the forces that are the old gods turn around Lady Dustin’s entreaty: instead of Stannis getting lost in the snow storm, the Frey squire loses his way and becomes a victim of the elements.

Bran does not pity the Frey camp for their many transgressions against the Starks; however, Bran may take particular offense to the squire’s behavior, as he disrespects Winterfell and the Stark within its walls as well. Because the squire serves a knight and likely aspires to knighthood himself, Bran resents the Frey squire for abusing his position and demonstrating a disregard for honor and chivalry. Because Bran has dreamed of being a knight, he finds the squire’s poor showing an insult to the profession.  If not for his fall from the broken tower, Bran may be serving a knight as his squire, in training to be a knight.

Secretly meeting a spearwife in the lichyard to receive sexual favors is possibly why the squire is naked.  The squire “making time” with a spearwife in the lichyard, the place where Sansa’s direwolf Lady was most recently buried, irks Bran’s sensibilities.

Even more troubling is the likelihood that Bran is reminded of another occasion when he happened upon a couple engaging in sex:  the Kingslayer and Kingsguard Jamie Lannister fornicated with his own sister Cersei the Queen in the broken tower.  It’s easy to imagine a motivating force behind Bran’s anger, especially since it is a Frey who casts further blemish upon the walls of Winterfell.

The heavy snow nearly conceals the corpse.  The squire’s face masked with hoarfrost parallels another’s face masked with the white-bone of a weirwood: Bran watches through the eyes carved into the Winterfell heart tree, his identity concealed by the weirwood mask, one of Bran’s “disguises” – sometimes called “skins”.

Finally, the abused faces of the Ryswell man-at-arms and the Frey squire correlate somehow to those “faceless” old gods of the north.

Bran’s Relationship with the Sacred Laws of Hospitality and Guest Rite

Violations of the sacred laws of hospitality are believed to be so egregious and so blasphemous that the gods themselves punish the offender.  The old gods’ assignation of punishment to the violator is a careful balance to ensure that the penance “fits” the crime.

 While a guest of Lord Eddard Stark and a knight in King Robert’s kingsguard, Ser Jaime Lannister secretly meets with his sister Cersei in an abandoned tower, where they make love.  In the throes of passion, Cersei catches sight of a child hanging outside the tower window. Bran’s fingers slip, and Jaime rescues Bran, ordering him to “TAKE MY HAND!” Bran desperately latches onto Jaime’s forearm and presses down so hard that he leaves welts.  Bran’s fear  is palpable. Regardless, a moment later, Jaime shoves Bran off the window sill, saying, “The things I do for love” (85).

It is karmic, ironic, and a matter of “poetic justice” that Jaime forfeits the very thing he orders Bran Stark to TAKE, his hand, his “sword” hand, the symbol of a knight’s power, the deliverer of death to a Targaryen king, the means by which Bran falls.  “Taking” Jaime’s hand is a fate worse than death because without his sword hand, Jaime is a “cripple”.  When Tyrion tells Jaime that Bran is going to live even with a broken neck and shattered legs, Jaime says,  “. . .he will be a cripple.  Worse than a cripple.  A grotesque.  Give me a good, clean death” (91). 

It is unlikely the gods will oblige Jaime’s wishes; after all, dying is easy – “living” is hard.  Since Jaime robs Bran of his future dreams, the forces that are the old gods, or that serve as agents of the old gods, will make sure that Jaime’s fate matches or  exceeds the intensity of Bran’s suffering. 

Yellow Dick, A Bastard’s Boy

Martin details the fate of Yellow Dick:  “The dead man was one of Ramsay’s favorites, the squat, scrofulous, ill-favored man-at-arms called Yellow Dick. Whether his dick had actually been yellow was hard to determine, as someone had sliced it off and stuffed it into his mouth so forcefully they had broken three of his teeth. When the cooks found him outside the kitchens, buried up to his neck in a snowdrift, both dick and man were blue from cold” [608 ADwD].

It appears that the northmen need to choose the words they speak with great care.  What a few vocalize in jest comes back to haunt one of their own instead of the intended victim.  Yellow Dick is the recipient of what others wish upon the freerider and Stannis.

For example, Whoresbane Umber and Rickard Ryswell, while in Winterfell’s great hall and in the presence of others [maybe even a greenseer ghost listening, invisible] give voice to cruelties that they hope will befall the freerider and Stannis:

 “. . . he’ll be sucking Lord Stannis’s cock before the sun goes down. . . ”. Whoresbane Umber threw back.

“He best take care it don’t break off,” laughed Rickard Ryswell. “Any man out there in this, his cock is frozen hard” [607DwD].

Yellow Dick with his cock in his mouth fulfills Whoresbane Umber’s talk of the freerider sucking Stannis’ cock, only Yellow Dick is forced to “suck” [or eat] his own manhood.   Next, Yellow Dick’s cock is sliced off, and presents as “blue from cold”.  Rickard Ryswell’s wishes for Stannis’ cock freezing and breaking off coincidentally befall Ramsay’s boy Yellow Dick.   Lastly, Yellow Dick’s corpse is buried up to his neck in a snowdrift. Lady Dustin predicts similar fates for Stannis and his men: “. . . the snows will bury him and his army both”.

Whatever magic forces are alive in Winterfell, they appear to answer what others recklessly say aloud by turning their words against their own northern retainers.

As one of the Bastard’s Boys, Yellow Dick is singled out to suffer abuses that Lord Ramsay visits upon his Reek.  Yellow Dick’s manhood is sliced off, a cruelty Reek suffers at Ramsay’s hands, and Yellow Dick’s teeth are broken when his penis is shoved forcefully into his mouth.  Similarly, Lord Ramsay takes a hammer to Reek’s teeth because the Bastard does not like Theon’s smile.

Forcing Yellow Dick’s penis into his mouth brings to mind poor Lady Hornwood, whom Ramsay marries, after which he locks her away without food or drink.  Consequently, Lady Hornwood becomes so hungry that she attempts to eat her own fingers.

The Flint Crossbowman

A victim of a horse’s kick, the Flint crossbowman suffers a broken skull while in the newly constructed stables.  Although Ramsay blames a horse for the crossbowman’s death, Reek decides, “A club, more like” [608 ADwD].

Although Reek speculates to himself that someone – maybe Lord Ramsay himself – uses a club to kill the crossbowman, his death is a prelude to the new stables collapsing from the weight of the snow, killing twenty-six horses and two grooms.  Ramsay replaces those stables he burns during his sack of Winterfell with much larger stables.  However, the living magic within Winterfell does not approve of Ramsay’s additions and likely curses his efforts.

Besides, the greenseer Bran remembers that “. . . the [Winterfell] stables, made of wood and thatch, nothing remained but ashes, embers, and dead horses.  Bran thought of his Dancer, and wanted to weep” [965 ACoK].

Bran witnesses the damage and death Ramsay brings to Winterfell.  The fall of Ramsay’s stables and the dead horses and men are fitting paybacks for the Bastard’s crimes against humanity.  What Ramsay destroys with fire and rebuilds with slave labor, the magic of Winterfell and the forces of nature, symbolically represented by Bran and the snowfall, respectively, seemingly answer Ramsay’s bloody acts by paying back corpse for corpse.

Before the crossbowman’s death and the stables’ collapse, Lady Dustin invites the hostile weather to visit them when she says, “Let Winter do its worse” [607 ADwD].  She predicts the fate of Stannis as well, “A few more days and the snows will bury him and his army both”.

Reek marvels at Lady Dustin’s “folly”, fearing that the snows may bury them as easily as Stannis and his army.  Reek thinks to himself:  “Lady Barbrey was of the north and should have known better. The old gods might be listening”.

Reek expects that the Barrowton widow who has experienced winter herself and who has grown up hearing about past merciless winters, should know better than to call upon winter’s worst.  Moreover, by giving voice to such foolish words makes them a possibility; since “words are wind”, the old gods and the prodigy greenseer are within hearing distance, either present in the godswood and its heart tree or within the walls of Winterfell’s Great Hall.

 Little Walder Frey, the Lord of the Crossing

Although Martin provides plenty of documentation of Bran’s animosity for the Walders Frey in A Clash of Kings, in the case of “little” Walder Frey’s murder in A Dance with Dragons, the author strongly insinuates that “little” Walder Frey is the victim of his own cousin “big” Walder Frey.

Little Walder’s body is allegedly found at the base of the broken tower which is littered with pieces of stone gargoyles. Bran falls from this tower in AGoT; moreover, the location of his fall is near to the entrance to the Winterfell crypts. Because the broken tower is Bran’s favorite and because Bran is possessive about the Winterfell crypts, a place for only Starks, Bran may divinely influence a battle to the death between Frey and Frey.

It is poetic justice that the fallen Frey rests in death at the tower’s bottom, maybe even at the spot where Bran landed after being pushed.  The three-eyed-crow buffers Bran’s fall so that he lives, albeit as a cripple.  Little Walder’s corpse at the tower’s base is symbolic of Bran’s dominion over the arrogant boy who called himself “Lord of the Crossing”, much to Bran’s irritation.  Bran may be lording himself over Little Walder for threatening Bran’s authority as the prince, lord, and the Stark in Winterfell.  This brings home Bran’s bitter thoughts from an earlier novel, “If I had my legs, I’d throw all of them into the water . . . No one would ever be lord of the crossing but me” [78 ACoK].

Before the “game”, Bran welcomed the Frey wards, and he even soothed Rickon’s resentment over their presence and bid him to welcome the Freys.  Likewise, Bran extends his hospitality to the Walders, offering them “meat and mead and a seat by the fire, and even Maester Luwin had said afterward that he had done well” [76 ACoK].  “Only that was before the game” [76 ACoK]. 

Of all the mysterious deaths, little Walder Frey’s death, if the result of Bran’s green magic, is the most troubling because it divulges that Bran harbors grudges, that he is vengeful, and that he abuses his powers.  Participating in an obscure way to exact little Walder’s death, Bran is guilty of killing a boy “almost a man grown” of an age with himself.  Consequently, Bran as a representation of the godhood is no better than those mortal men his father Ned despises for killing innocent children.  He is no better than Stark ward Theon who murders the Miller’s sons.

Bran says, “Winterfell remembers”, and as the Stark in Winterfell, Bran has a long memory.   First, Bran recalls Ser Rodrick’s decree that the Walder wards will share Jon Snow’s old bedchamber.  Bran hates this arrangement because “it made um feel as if the Freys were trying to steal Jon’s place” [77 ACoK].

Second, because of the Walders, Maester Luwin orders the direwolves Summer and Shaggy to be locked in the godswood. Third, Bran despises that his younger brother Rickon decides that he likes the Walders.  He grudgingly tolerates Rickon playing games with the Freys, Rickon and his pals plunder pies from the kitchen, and Rickon and the Walders toss bones to the dogs in the kennels.  Fourth, however, Bran loses his temper and screams at Rickon for taking the Freys into the Winterfell crypts:  “You had no right! . . . That was our place, a Stark place” [78 ACoK].

Finally, little Walder calls Hodor Bran’s horse because Hodor carries the crippled boy on his back.  The Walders Frey do not miss an opportunity to poke fun at the dim-witted stable boy Hodor, and their cruelty toward an innocent sparks Bran’s loathing.  Bran may recall what Osha told him what those in the kitchen had to say about the “little” Walder: “That it’s a fool boy who mocks a giant and a mad world when a cripple has to defend him” [254 ACoK].

Osha advises Bran to watch his back around little Walder:  “The big one they call little, it comes to me he’s well named. Big on the outside and little on the inside, and mean down to the bone [254-255 ACoK].

Of course, Martin supplies even more evidence of the mean-spirited little Walder and big Walder, although the latter is guilty by association and not because he conceives the mischief that entices them to cause trouble.  As a matter-of-fact, little Walder dominates the twosome, and he owns the voice that guides them. 

It is not surprising that big Walder’s clothes are stained with his cousin’s blood.  Little Walder presents himself as the force to be reckoned with between them.  Something changes in their relationship, and readers may speculate on how this role-reversal comes about.  Big Walder may have tired of following in his cousin’s shadow.  Serving as the submissive to the dominant over time causes big Walder to suppress his own growing anger and rage.  Little Walder may have flaunted his superiority and control over big Walder for the last time.  Finally, big Walder snaps, asserting himself over his cousin in a permanent way.

Whatever prompts little Walder’s death, it is unlikely that Bran’s green magic is needed to fan the flames of hatred between the Freys.  Furthermore, little Walder’s death occurs in the POV entitled “Theon” and not in the POV called “A Ghost in Winterfell”.  If Bran indeed inspires the murders of various northmen, Martin limits Bran’s course of conduct to “A Ghost in Winterfell”. 

In conclusion, whether or not Bran is able to extend his powers in such far-reaching ways as to influence the murderous actions of others, Bran does so in order to disrupt the complacency of the northmen, giving them reasons to distrust one another; their suspicions lead to their fighting among themselves. 

If these men cannot join together for a common cause and if they continue warring with one another, their showing on the battlefield will be as disorganized as the undisciplined armies of the wildlings.

Bran’s Ghost in the Winterfell Godswood

Martin associates Bran with a ghost near the end of “A Ghost in Winterfell” by placing Reek in the godswood where he has a mystical communication with a supernatural entity who Reek distinguishes is Bran. 

Unable to sleep, Reek instead walks the walls at the hour of the wolf, hoping to exhaust himself so that he can sleep restfully.  Exposed to the falling snow, Theon is quickly shrouded in a white cloak, which transforms him into a “living” ghostly specter that becomes invisible against the curtain of white surrounding him. 

Martin depicts the snow melting upon Theon’s face “like icy tears”; consequently, the veil of tears symbolically washes away the visage of Reek in preparation to receive his former identity as Theon.  For performing his part in Ramsay’s wedding, Theon feels he has earned a merciful end. “Death is the sweetest deliverance he could hope for” [615 ADwD]. It is ironic that “Reek” will symbolically die to restore his former self as “Theon of House Greyjoy.  . . a ward of Eddard Stark, a friend and brother to his children” [616 ADwD].

Theon can hardly anticipate that in the godswood Bran’s ghost awaits his arrival.  Martin sets the stage with steam rising from the hot pools, with the smell of decay permeating the air, and with the warm fog shrouding the sentinel trees in cloaks of gloom.  At the center of the performance area is the lead actor whose costume is a weirwood tree:

“And in the heart of the wood the weirwood waited with its knowing red eyes” [616 ADwD].

Reek attaches a human presence to the tree, and out of respect for a power he does not understand, Reek respectfully honors the heart tree, bowing his head “before the carved red face”.  To further impact the ambience and to introduce the featured performer, a distant drumming comes “from everywhere at once” [616 ADwD].

Despite the windless night, Reek hears the red leaves of the heart tree rustling his name:  “Theon,” they seemed to whisper, “Theon” [616 ADwD].

Reek has an epiphany as he realizes that the old gods know him not as Reek  but as “Theon”.  “They know me.  They know my name” [616 ADwD] As a result of this revelation, Reek drops to his knees in prayer, asking to die as Theon, not as Reek.

The heart tree answers Theon’s prayer with a gesture, a very human gesture, only Bran the greenseer employs a falling leaf, “red, five-fingered, like a bloody hand”, using it to brush against Reek’s brow before landing in the black pool. Bran uses a leaf as he might use his human hand to open Theon’s third-eye for a moment.  Bran’s gentle “touch” grants Theon a visionary perspective, and he discerns Bran’s visage in the tree and he hears the tree speak Bran’s name.

When Theon hears the tree whisper “Bran”, he concludes that the old gods know of his past transgressions:  They saw what I did” [616 ADwD].  To emphasize the wisdom of the godhood, Theon sees “Bran’s face carved into the pale trunk . . . staring down at him with eyes red and wise and sad.  Bran’s ghost, he thought . . .” [616 ADwD].  Theon wonders why Bran haunts him, especially because Theon always liked Bran and never intended to harm him.

Still on his knees, Theon confesses to the heart tree, justifying his murder of the Miller’s boys with an excuse that discloses his hubris:  Theon did not want his men to laugh at him and to mock him; therefore, he needed “two heads” for the sake of appearances.  Theon may not have the blood of Bran and Rickon on his hands, but he is still guilty of the deaths of two innocent children, sacrificial lambs meant to disguise Theon’s ineptitude as a leader.

Theon’s time with Bran’s ghost in the heart tree is interrupted by three eavesdropping spearwives who ask him to whom he is talking.  “The ghosts . . . they whisper to me.  They . . . they know my name” [616 ADwD].  Abel’s women mock Theon, and Holly flashes a knife to threaten Theon so that he will do their bidding.

Theon envisions “his blood soaking into the ground to feed the heart tree.  And what would be so wrong with that?” [617ADwD]. With bravery uncharacteristic of Reek, Theon welcomes death, if only because his blood will nourish the forces of the old gods within the heart tree. Moreover, Theon wishes to honor the Starks, especially Bran.  Says Theon, “Kill me . . . Go on.  Do me . . .” [617 ADwD].

But it is not Theon’s day to die.  Instead, the spearwives escort him to Abel, where Theon will learn that the gods are not yet done with him.  Theon has duties to perform that will demand strength and courage.

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On 8/6/2015 at 0:20 AM, A Ghost of Someone said:

I think there is a correlated warding effect on the Wall with house Stark in Winterfell. The key is the crypts i think. The ancient, collapsed part has some secrets regarding the victory of Dawn over the Others. Now, the name itself, in the really far north, The Land of Always Winter seems to be where the Other's base is and they are the power of Winter. Winterfell must be built where they were defeated the first time which caused them to retreat back to where they came from. As long as a Stark is there in Winterfell and there is members of the Night's Watch on the wall and being faithful to their vows (hard to do even for the most honorable of them and most of them are murderers and rapists to begin with), a Stark from Winterfell ruling then the warding effect is in place. There is no Stark there so that must mean that the Night's Watch must hold the wall, they are depleted in numbers and all 3 strongholds are in danger. The Weeper has hundreds that may very well overrun the Shadow Tower to the West. Eastwatch just sent ships to evacuate Hardhome and that seems to be a dissaster per the letter Jon received  with things there unresolved and the wildings are not happy I am sure regarding what just happened to Jon. If the Night's watch is wiped out and no Stark in Winterfell, the Wall just might collapse and or the Others and wyte walkers could climb it or punch through it

Where you say it could be the place where the Others were defeated it might explain why it's called Winterfell. The place Winter Fell. Seems to be too simple and obvious but who knows what goes on in that great bearded mind

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I posted this in an other thread, but since this is relevant here as well, I post it again:

There is an ice dragon called Winter. The original theory is poseted here: http://endgameofthrones.com/theory-links/ by Daendrew, I don’t wish to take credit for, I just want to think through the implications.

1, The seemingly boring Stark motto “Winter is coming!” refers to the ice dragon and not to the whether! It is a warning about Winter the ice dragon and not a memo about putting more wood on the fireplace. It has a different ring to it, right? Kind of jawdropping idea, et least for me when I first realized it.

2, The name winterfell refers to the place where Winter the ice dragon fell from the sky, and probably still trapped in the hot pools of Winterfell.

3, There is some magic keeping these pools warm (that is my idea) to trap Winter, this magic is probably related to the Starks, hence the “there always must be a Stark at Winterfell” condition.

4, The current snowstorm around Winterfell is not a strange coincidence. A Stark is missing, the ponds are cooling, WINTER is coming!

5, “The Winds of Winter” refers to the ice dragon and not to the whether! As pointed out by by Daendrew  “the” refers to a definite noun, the winds of winter refers to Winter taking wings: Winter is flying!

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Question, in the first book in the first Catelyn POV, she feels the walls of Winterfell and thinks that thanks to warm springs, its walls pulse with warmth. Afterwards, after the WF is burned, other than being perpetually cold and chilly, there is no mention of warm walls of Winterfell, as if warm springs stopped working or the magic that kep Winterfell perpetually warm in the winter is gone.

Perhaps, with no Stark in the castle, Wintefell is just like another castle, its magic that kept it safe and winter at bay gone.

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On 7/9/2015 at 7:46 PM, Harry the Hair said:

If that's the case, then why just their ancestors? Why not bring back every dead First Man that is buried nearby?

 

 

 

 

My personal theory was that the Stark Kings' spirits are imprisoned in their graves with iron swords so that they couldn't be summoned by the Night's King. The Wall was built by magic (or so the story goes) maybe some blood magic was involved and the only people who could undo it are the direct descendants of Bran the Builder, so it would be crucial to make sure the old Kings remain at peace or they could be used to bring down the last line of defense the North has.

 

But the Iron swords have all rusted away

 

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On ‎3‎/‎29‎/‎2016 at 11:54 AM, evita mgfs said:

I still believe that Bran is the Stark in Winterfell.  In my following long essay, I dare to suggest how his presence manifests itself in numerous ways.

 

How Bran May Display his Growing Powers in “A Ghost in Winterfell”

 

This is absolutely lovely.  Truly.  You have such a way with words. 

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 “One day, Bran, you will be a greenseer, sitting a weirwood throne of your own for the old gods of the north, and justice will belong to you.  When that day comes, you must take no vengeance for personal reasons, but neither must you shirk your duties as part of the godhood.  A god who hides behind  the face on a weirwood tree soon forgets what death is.”

Very nice!  I always think of the line "with great power comes great responsibility" and here is the best example of that. 

Quote

Bran likes being invisible:  “None of the guards could climb half so well as Bran . . .   Most of the time they never saw him anyway.  People never looked up. That was another thing he liked about climbing; it was almost like being invisible”.  Bran enjoys being unseen by others while he watches and listens to those unsuspecting people who never “look up”.  As a greenseer, Bran sits a weirwood throne, a seat of great power, magic, and accountability.   His greensight supports platforms that extend beyond the heart tree in the godswood.  Bran is ghostlike – invisible to all but Theon, yet he merges with the living magic that Bran the Builder and the Children of the Forest spun into the grey bricks of Winterfell’s grey walls, outbuildings, even the crypts. Hence, Bran infiltrates the enemy camp, spying on the Boltons and their loyal northern followers.

I always suspected that Bran's unparalleled knowledge of WF learned through his climbing and adventures would help him eventually rebuild WF, Bran the Broken becomes Bran the Rebuilder.  I like what you propose here - it doesn't mean that he can't help rebuild it, in the future, but it allows him to use his knowledge for multiple purposes.

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   Martin aptly uses the noun “haunt” as the subject of the sentence to follow:  “His [Bran’s] favorite haunt was the broken tower. Once it had been a watchtower, the tallest in Winterfell.  A long time ago, a hundred years before even his father had been born, a lightning strike had set it afire” [AGoT]. Bran’s presence haunts Winterfell, and through Reek’s narrative, Martin hides clues of Bran’s influence that are nearly as invisible to readers as Bran the ghost is to the northmen.

Nice catch! 

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But Bran as an element of nature does not bless the undeserving with a favorable climate. On the contrary, Bran marks certain Bolton allies as unfortunate victims of the cold and snow.

I fricking love the connection you made in this section.  There isn't anything I could add or ask. 

Quote

Bran’s sympathy for those people Ramsay Snow has broken, such as Reek and Jeyne Poole, may stem from feeling guilty and responsible for not doing more to assist Lady Donella Hornwood when she pleaded for protection against the bastard of Bolton at the harvest feast.  Bran remembers:

 

“Bran wanted to give the lady [Lady Hornwood] a hundred men to defend her rights” but Ser Rodrik makes the final decision and rules Bran out, even though Bran observes, “She [Lady Hornwood] was very sad” [251 ACoK].

I think part of this has to do with knighthood, something Bran always wanted.  A proper knight defends women and children.  Luwin tells him he could perhaps become a "knight of the mind" and perhaps that's what he was doing, minus the Citadel. 

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On 4/7/2016 at 5:09 PM, DarkSister1001 said:

This is absolutely lovely.  Truly.  You have such a way with words. 

Very nice!  I always think of the line "with great power comes great responsibility" and here is the best example of that. 

I always suspected that Bran's unparalleled knowledge of WF learned through his climbing and adventures would help him eventually rebuild WF, Bran the Broken becomes Bran the Rebuilder.  I like what you propose here - it doesn't mean that he can't help rebuild it, in the future, but it allows him to use his knowledge for multiple purposes.

Nice catch! 

I fricking love the connection you made in this section.  There isn't anything I could add or ask. 

I think part of this has to do with knighthood, something Bran always wanted.  A proper knight defends women and children.  Luwin tells him he could perhaps become a "knight of the mind" and perhaps that's what he was doing, minus the Citadel. 

DARK SISTER:  :wub:THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH FOR YOUR KIND WORDS AND SUPPORT. :D This means a great deal to me - this essay was one I worked on for two months - it was a lot to put together - and I am a slow writer.  I never think I have a final draft good enough, so I do lots and lots of revision work.

Please join our PACK :grouphug:at "Bran's Growing Powers" in the reread.  We all would love to have your insight and scholarly contributions.  WE even have a good deal of fun, and everyone is nice, positive, and inspirational.

Thanks for the lovely PM as well.  I will get back to you this weekend - I needed to take a little break to regroup, but all is good now, and you and so many others pulled me through!:love:

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9 hours ago, evita mgfs said:

DARK SISTER:  :wub:THANK YOU SO VERY MUCH FOR YOUR KIND WORDS AND SUPPORT. :D This means a great deal to me - this essay was one I worked on for two months - it was a lot to put together - and I am a slow writer.  I never think I have a final draft good enough, so I do lots and lots of revision work.

Please join our PACK :grouphug:at "Bran's Growing Powers" in the reread.  We all would love to have your insight and scholarly contributions.  WE even have a good deal of fun, and everyone is nice, positive, and inspirational.

Thanks for the lovely PM as well.  I will get back to you this weekend - I needed to take a little break to regroup, but all is good now, and you and so many others pulled me through!:love:

My pleasure, we're a pack.  :)  I'll pop on over there, thanks for the invite!

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On 4/2/2016 at 6:07 AM, watcher of the night said:

I posted this in an other thread, but since this is relevant here as well, I post it again:

There is an ice dragon called Winter. The original theory is poseted here: http://endgameofthrones.com/theory-links/ by Daendrew, I don’t wish to take credit for, I just want to think through the implications.

1, The seemingly boring Stark motto “Winter is coming!” refers to the ice dragon and not to the whether! It is a warning about Winter the ice dragon and not a memo about putting more wood on the fireplace. It has a different ring to it, right? Kind of jawdropping idea, et least for me when I first realized it.

2, The name winterfell refers to the place where Winter the ice dragon fell from the sky, and probably still trapped in the hot pools of Winterfell.

3, There is some magic keeping these pools warm (that is my idea) to trap Winter, this magic is probably related to the Starks, hence the “there always must be a Stark at Winterfell” condition.

4, The current snowstorm around Winterfell is not a strange coincidence. A Stark is missing, the ponds are cooling, WINTER is coming!

5, “The Winds of Winter” refers to the ice dragon and not to the whether! As pointed out by by Daendrew  “the” refers to a definite noun, the winds of winter refers to Winter taking wings: Winter is flying!

Interesting theory.  I have had one similar about a dragon in the north.  The other aspects I want to point out is some of Martin's influence has been from Tolkien.

What if the theory of "there must always be a stark in winterfeld" is more of a curse than anything.  In a similar manner to then Men from the Mountain.  They bowed to no king and thusly were cursed during the reign of Isildor to never die.  The way is shut it was built by those who are dead.  The way is shut.

Therefore I believe the Wall is the symbol of that curse.  They are cursed to protect the realm from the long night.  Only in the last moment a light shall sine through and end the long night and bring with it Dawn.  I believe this "hero" to be a Stark and with him he will command an army of the dead.  An army not of this world.  That is why I think that Tohrren was the king who knelt.  He wanted to protect the secrets of Winterfeld from the Targs.  That secret is some type of "blood magic" and shadow dragon's that will only come during the long night to cleanse the land.

Therefore the Starks are cursed to the North and there must be a Stark in the North.  If not then the dead (Others) will cleanse the lands with Winter.

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