daccu65 Posted March 17, 2016 Share Posted March 17, 2016 1 hour ago, sarah.jenice said: I also believe there are no real gods but only those who know how to use magic. I take a somewhat different attitude, mainly because of Thoros. While a red priest, he was introduced as a charlatan, who used wildfire to make his swords burn (damaging the weapons) and only going through the motions of being a priest. After spending time with the BWB, he gains the blood and fire ability to make his sword burn (without damaging the weapon), he gains the ability to get very clear visions in flame, and he is able to resurrect Beric, repeatedly. In my mind, something was approving of his new outlook on life and was rewarding him with more power. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sarah.jenice Posted March 17, 2016 Share Posted March 17, 2016 5 minutes ago, daccu65 said: I take a somewhat different attitude, mainly because of Thoros. While a red priest, he was introduced as a charlatan, who used wildfire to make his swords burn (damaging the weapons) and only going through the motions of being a priest. After spending time with the BWB, he gains the blood and fire ability to make his sword burn (without damaging the weapon), he gains the ability to get very clear visions in flame, and he is able to resurrect Beric, repeatedly. In my mind, something was approving of his new outlook on life and was rewarding him with more power. Good points about Thoros; however, IMHO Thoros wasn't able to access the magic before because there were no living dragons before. From what Dany learns in Qarth, it seems like the birth of the dragons has reawakened fire magic and made it more powerful than it has been in a long time. I think Thoros just did the same thing he always had except for this time it worked. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daccu65 Posted March 17, 2016 Share Posted March 17, 2016 37 minutes ago, sarah.jenice said: Good points about Thoros; however, IMHO Thoros wasn't able to access the magic before because there were no living dragons before. From what Dany learns in Qarth, it seems like the birth of the dragons has reawakened fire magic and made it more powerful than it has been in a long time. I think Thoros just did the same thing he always had except for this time it worked. I will admit to having a biased opinion, based upon role-playing games I played in my teens (the teenage years, so long ago but still embarrassing!) Anyway, I tend to think that there are two "types" of magic in the typical fantasy setting. The first is a "priestly" sort, where the practitioner serves some sort of unworldly power. If he faithfully serves this power and obeys its rules, he is granted power. This is what I believe Thoros is doing, serving a power he calls R'hllor. I also noted that in AFFC, he told Brienne that 'the fires have not shown me where it ends', which suggested to me that R'hllor didn't approve of his new service to LSH and had taken away his ability to see visions in flame. I also consider greenseer magic to be priestly magic, tapping into a combined consciousness that men call the old gods. The second magic I consider to be "arcane" or wizard magic, which is similar to a science that we simply don't understand. The glass candles, the use of a king's blood, etc. Again, who is correct? We'll have to wait for GRRM to publish the next two books and even then, he might not delve into it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sarah.jenice Posted March 17, 2016 Share Posted March 17, 2016 2 hours ago, daccu65 said: <snip> Well, we can all hope the next book will come out at some point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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