Purpose of Asshai

[Teo9]

Very intrigued by this theory. Don't think we'll never see Asshai tough, since it represents part of that 'uncharted territory' which is a major asset in a fantasy book's success.

But indeed I can't stop thinking about the fact that the Wall and Asshai lies in the opposite corner of the known world.

[Endymion I Targaryen]

On 27 Ιανουαρίου 2016 at 11:32 AM, Teo9 said:

Very intrigued by this theory. Don't think we'll never see Asshai tough, since it represents part of that 'uncharted territory' which is a major asset in a fantasy book's success.

Totally agree.I believe the best case is that when the war ends, somebody decides to travel around the world and sets sail to the east.

[Chicxulub]

I think that many people aren't seeing Asshai in a big enough picture.  

Yes, Asshai is in the story to provide an element of mystery and vastness to Planetos.  But, in traditional GRRM fashion, he didn't leave his smoking gun unloaded.

Asshai by the Shadow, and its less often mentioned, but far more corrupt, sister city Stygai in the Shadow (among many other things in the world) are ruins from an earlier time and an earlier civilization.  I don't think that the author would give us two ruined cities at the heart of a fallen legendary empire only to have it have no meaning.  We're talking the Great Empire of the Dawn, and the calamity that brought it low.   The GEotD existed before the Long Night.  Legends from the East hold that it was the actions of the last Emperor who caused the Long Night, or at least did things most nefarious immediately before the Long Night.  Lucifer Means Lightbringer has done a fantastic series of essays on this.

While Asshai does serve to expand the world and add an element of mystery, it also serves a greater purpose: to provide depth to the prophesies of Azor Ahai and the Prince That Was Promised.  The Great Empire of the Dawn was that father of Valyria: an ancient civilization of dragon riders with platinum hair and gemstone eyes.  If the legends are true, it would appear as though the GEotD was by all accounts far greater than Valyria ever was.  The Doom destroyed Valyria.  The end of the GEotD resulted in no less than the complete destruction of all the civilizations of the world, through a magical version of a nuclear winter that was the Long Night.

Asshai will provide us answers, and already has.  Dany is the Princess who was Promised.  She is not going to restore Valyria, she is going to restore the Great Empire. She will correct the Blood Betrayal, she is the Amethyst Empress reborn.  Her answers will come from Asshai, even if she never goes there herself.

EDIT-  Throw in a "the night is dark and full of terrors" and I sound oddly like Mel...  Lol

[WELSH DR46ON]

She also has to pass beneath the shadow to reach the light 

"To go north, you must go south. To reach the west, you must go east. To go forward you must go back, and to touch the light you must pass beneath the shadow." 
Asshai, Dany thought. She would have me go to Asshai."Will the Asshai'i give me an army?" she demanded. "Will there be gold for me in Asshai? Will there be ships? What is there in Asshai that I will not find in Qarth?" 
"Truth," said the woman in the mask. And bowing, she faded back into the crowd

Of course that doesnt necessarily mean literally