Ascension of the Crow's Eye

[WindBreaker]

PLEASE NOTE: The following essay contains many excerpts from Aeron's chapter in The Winds of Winter. In order to fully understand the point I'm trying to make, please make sure you have read this chapter before moving forward. My apologies if this was not clear from the beginning.

From what I've read so far, I've come to a conclusion that most of you will agree with: Euron Greyjoy is an EVIL motherfucker. There is no redeeming quality about him because even of his finest qualities go into doing some of the worst things imaginable. He uses his charm, wit, and intelligence to draw people in and when he has you, that's when he slices your tongue out, for The Silence must always be crewed. In this essay, I will attempt to shed light on the man, his motives, his mindset, and how those mechanisms are the catalyst for a future world changing event.

FALSE PROPHECIES

By now, we know the power of prophecies and they can be extremely fickle and not at all clear. A perfect example of a prophecy viewed wrong comes from Mother Mole who implored wildlings to gather and travel to Hardhome, insisting she had a vision where Hardhome would be their salvation.

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...she had a vision of a fleet of ships arriving to carry the free folk to safety across the narrow sea. Thousands of those who fled the battle were desperate enough to believe her. Mother Mole has led them all to Hardhome, there to pray and await salvation from across the sea. (Jon, ADWD)

Of course this vision turns out to be their misery rather than their salvation as we later learn that the wildlings who made it to Hardhome were enslaved by 2 Lyseni pirate ships and brought back to the Free Cities. This prophecy is proof that even when something is viewed in one light, it can turn dark without proper understanding. 

Another example of misunderstood prophecies is that of Rhaego which comes from the Dosh Khaleen after Daenerys consumes the stallion heart in Vaes Dothrak.

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"Fierce as a storm this prince will be. His enemies will tremble before him, and their wives will weep tears of blood and rend their flesh in grief. The bells in his hair will sing his coming, and the milk men in the stone tents will fear his name." The old woman trembled and looked at Dany almost as if she were afraid. "The prince is riding, and he shall be the stallion who mounts the world." (Daenerys, AGOT)

The above quote in its entirety speaks of someone (Rhaego) who has yet to be born and, as we find out near the end of A Game of Thrones, died at childbirth. Such is the way of prophecies in that even when they speak true, they may not always come to fruition.

And yet, when we look at the bold text, we may see the actual truth behind the prophecy. It is not the 'prince' who will have the fierce storm and enemies tremble before him, but the 'princess'. Much like the translation for the PtwP prophecy was inaccurate; I see the old woman shaking and looking at Dany afraid in a sense, that she knows its not her son who will be the Stallion but Dany herself, a woman. The Dosh Khaleen are afraid that a woman, a princess, would be able to lead all the khalasars of the Dothraki given they view women as inferior. They tremble at this fact and what would happen to them should they dare speak of this to anyone but themselves. We later get this same vision of how scared the Dosh Khaleen are of Dany when she sees this vision in the House of the Undying.

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Beneath the Mother of Mountains, a line of naked crones crept from a great lake and knelt shivering before her, their grey heads bowed. (Daenerys, ACOK)

 

AZOR AHAI, FRIEND OR FOE?

So now that I've established that prophecies are fickle little fuckers, let us look into the legend surrounding the character in the Far East and thousands of years past known as the Bloodstone Emperor. 

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When the daughter of the Opal Emperor succeeded him as the Amethyst Empress, her envious younger brother cast her down and slew her, proclaiming himself the Bloodstone Emperor and beginning a reign of terror. He practiced dark arts, torture, and necromancy, enslaved his people, took a tiger-woman for his bride, feasted on human flesh, and cast down the true gods to worship a black stone that had fallen from the sky. (Many scholars count the Bloodstone Emperor as the first High Priest of the sinister Church of Starry Wisdom, which persists to this day in many port cities throughout the known world.)

In the annals of the Further East, it was the Blood Betrayal, as his usurpation is named, that ushered in the age of darkness called the Long Night. Despairing of the evil that had been unleashed on earth, the Maiden-Made-of Light turned her back upon the world, and the Lion of Night came forth in all his wroth to punish the wickedness of men.

How long the darkness endured no man can say, but all agree that it was only when a great warrior—known variously as Hyrkoon the Hero, Azor Ahai, Yin Tar, Neferion, and Eldric Shadowchaser—arose to give courage to the race of men and lead the virtuous into battle with his blazing sword Lightbringer that the darkness was put to rout, and light and love returned once more to the world.

(Yi Ti, TWOIAF)

Let us explore his names and where they might be associated with.

He is referred to as Neferion. This name likely originates from the Jogos Nhai and their chief city, Nefer, which is described as 

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...hemmed in by towering chalk cliffs and perpetually shrouded by fog...For that reason, travelers call Nefer the Secret City. By any name, the city enjoys a sinister reputation as a haunt of necromancers and torturers.

The only port city of the once powerful kingdom, the Jogos Nhai now have but the one primary city, and its description is one that would be best left unexplored.

He is referred to as Hyrkoon the Hero. This name most likely originated from the former Patrimony of Hyrkoon, located east of the Bone Mountains. Here is a description of the Hyrkoon who fought border wars with the Jogos Nhai

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...the Jogos Nhai fought many a bloody border war against the Partrimony of Hyrkoon as well, posiing rivers and wells, burning towns and cities, and carrying off thousands into slavery on the plains, whilst the Hyrkoon for their part were sacrificing tens of thousands of the zorse-riders to their dark and hungry gods. (The Plains of the Jogos Nhai, TWOIAF)

What kind of god requires sacrifices in the tens of thousands? Not exactly the best place to visit.

He is referred to as Azor Ahai. We come upon the most sinister of places that associates with him, Asshai.

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It is also written that there are annals in Asshai of such a darkness, and of a hero who fought against it with a red sword.  His deeds are said to have been performed before the rise of Valyria, in the earliest ages when Old Ghis was first forming its empire.  This legend has spread west from Asshai, and the followers of R’hllor claim that this hero was named Azor Ahai, and prophesy his return.  (The Long NIght, TWOIAF)

The dark city by the shadow is a city steeped in sorcery.  Warlocks, wizards, alchemists, moonsingers, red priests, black alchemists, necromancers, aeromancers, pyromancers, blood mages, torturers, inquisitors, poisoners, godswives, night-walkers, shapechangers, worshippers of the Black Goat and the Pale Child and the Lion of Night, all find welcome in Asshai-by-the-Shadow, where nothing is forbidden.  Here they are free to practice their spells without restraint or censure, conduct their obscene rights, and fornicate with demons if that is their desire.

So we have a character who is known in the worst places possible and among the worst people; and these people refer to this character as a "hero". Azor Ahai is not the hero that the legends say he is but actually the villain who is responsible for bringing about the Long Night. This one thought by LmL is what destroyed everything I thought I know about ASOIAF and made me re-read and re-look into this legendary hero/villian. In order to have an understanding of the theory I propose, it is necessary to believe the wise wisdom of LmL It is, by far, one of the most well-researched essays I've ever had the opportunity to read. It is worth its weight in gold. (Lucifer Means Lightbringer).

MIND OF THE CROW'S EYE

He realized the truth long ago, that perhaps not everything they say about the Drowned God is true. If that were the case, maybe everything else he 'knew' wasn't always set in stone. He had contemplated this thought before; this idea that not everything we're told by others is necessarily true or even accurate. 

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"When I was a boy, I dreamt that I could fly, " he announced. "When I woke, I couldn't...or so the maester said. But what if he lied?" (The Reaver, AFFC)

The point Euron is trying to make is that he didn't necessarily not believe the maester in terms of human flying but simply challenging some of the world's most "known" facts. It was the first thought that questioned everything that is taught or known. Euron's mind seems to think in this manner:

• I was told I can't fly...but what if I could?
• Everyone knows that Valyria is a smoking, haunted ruin...but what if it isn't, what if it could be sailed to and perhaps, find a port?
• Any man foolish enough to even gaze upon Valyria's shores would be driven to madness and insanity...but what if he had protected himself with magic, say blood magic that required a sacrifice, an offering,...a Crow's Eye?
• Any man guilty of kinslaying is accursed by the Gods and all the Laws of Men...but what if he isn't and nothing falls upon him?
• No godless man may sit upon the Seastone Chair...but what if I sat upon the Iron Throne?

This is where he gets his determination from, his drive, his necessity to do things that "no man dare". Let us look at what else Euron Greyjoy, King of the Iron Islands, has dared to do.

THE REAVER'S MARK

Euron claims to have sailed the world, to have gone to ports no man dare go, to dare walk through the haunted, smoking ruins of Valyria. In his travels, he has likely come across this information regarding the Bloodstone Emperor and the age of darkness that he brought to the world. Such a man would be admired by a man as Euron, since it is not riches and gold he fights for, but absolute power. Not only does he want to be King, he wants the entire world to bow before him. Let us look at the similar characteristics between both of these monstrous personalities.

He is known to practice the dark arts. He is one of the very few people in the world (that we know of) that understands magic and the price that must be paid for it...and it is not the Iron Price. 

After reading (and re-reading) AFFC, I noticed a particular act that highlighted the power of his Crow's Eye, the eye he keeps hidden under an eyepatch. That is no ordinary eye. It is an evil thing that he can use to manipulate and bend others to his will. We see how he controls his crew of mutes after Euron returns for the Kingsmoot. 

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"On the we can agree." Euron lifted two fingers to the patch that covered his left eye, and took his leave. The others followed at his heels like mongrel dogs. (The Iron Captain, AFFC)

Euron's eye is capable of controlling those he enslaves, particularly the mutes who man The Silence. This could allow him to be served by his mutes at all times without ever having to utter a single command.

Regarding torture, Euron is quite efficient in a sense that, while he is known to rip tongues out, it is the psychological warfare that cripples those he torments. We see this explicitly in the veiled references Aeron gives about Euron; how he could always remember the sound of the screaming hinge on the door to his room, a room Euron would visit on nights he had drunk too much and heard Aeron praying. Aeron is clearly traumatized by this as a child and he tries to suppress this memory of Euron every time it surfaces and yet, when his resolve falters, Aeron always remembers the hinge.

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The sound came softly, the scream of a rusted hinge. "Urri," he muttered, and woke, fearful (The Prophet, AFFC)

Again, this time, tying it to Euron

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No mortal man could frighten him, no more than the darkness could...nor memories, the bones of the soul. The sound of a door opening, the scream of a rusted iron hinge. Euron has come again. (The Prophet, AFFC)

He remembers the hinge whenever he gets scared. This fear is paramount during the Kingsmoot as Aeron watches in shock as the lords proclaim Euron as their King

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Even a prophet may know terror. Aeron Damphair reached within himself for his god and discovered only silence. As a thousand voices shouted out his brother's name, all he could hear was the scream of a rusted iron hinge. (The Drowned Man, AFFC)

Spoiler

 

And again, whenever Aeron is at his lowest, he remembers the hinge

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When he slept, the darkness would rise up and swallow him and then the dream would come...and Urri and the scream of a rusted hinge (The Forsaken, TWOW)

And finally, we have Euron admit to raping/abusing his brother when they were younger

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"I would visit your bed chamber night when I had too much to drink. You shared a room with Urrigon high up in the seatower. I could hear you praying from outside the door." (The Forsaken, TWOW)

He told his men as well, as they mock Aeron to his face about it after being brought to them in chains

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“You know what it’s like to be caught in the rear, don’t you?” said the Red Oarsman, laughing. (The Forsaken, TWOW)

The legend states the Bloodstone Emperor killed his own sister for power. We see Euron mimic this very same act but on a much, much worse scale

Euron confessed his kinslaying to Aeron while on board The Silence. Not only did he kill Balon by hiring a Faceless Man to push him off the bridge, he admitted to killing Robin and Harlon (younger brothers) as well. But it isn't the kinslaying that stuck out to me, but what Euron did afterwards. After killing Robin and Harlon, he turns unholy

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"When the life went out of them, I went out and pissed into the sea, waiting for the god to strike me down. None did." (The Forsaken, TWOW)

CHRONOLOGY OF THE IRONBORN

In trying to piece together the chronological events, I found one piece of evidence that shows at one point, Euron, Aeron, and Victarion were all at Lord Hewett's castle before Euron and Victarion set out on their individuals quests. Victarion left the Iron Islands before anyone else, under command to harass the Shields long enough to have them send their longships after them. Euron would come after the raiding party with the primary Iron Fleet and crush whatever resistance was left in the Shields. To this plan, they achieved with surprising success and ease. Right before Euron left, however, he took Aeron with him and shackled him aboard The Silence. When he awoke, he was shackled in the dungeon of Lord Hewett's castle, likely the most bottom level, where the sea would come in and the salt would seep into his wounds and cause great pain. Observe the actions of one of Euron's men, Left-Hand Lucas Codd.

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Left-Hand Lucas Codd and Quellon Humble had torn tapestries off the walls to serve as cloaks. (The Reaver, AFFC)

It's of no importance really, just another fool making himself at home in someone else's...until I read this later on in TWOW

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A dozen of Euron's captains were gathered in the hall, drinking wine beneath the corpses. Left-Hand Lucas Codd sat in the place of honor, wearing a silken tapestry as a cloak. (The Forsaken, TWOW)

I conclude all 3 were at the same place at one point with this description of one of Euron's men after they had taken the Shields. Victarion would've likely killed Euron and all of his men had he known his brother was made prisoner right beneath him.

 

I AM THE STORM

By now, we've established that Euron is a man that is cruel, insane, is knowledgeable in magic and dark arts, and is not above to slaying his family for his own gain. Up until this moment, it could be inferred that Euron just wants to torment his brother for his own amusement. But Euron is not like the other sadistic killers the books have given us. He's not like Joffrey, who tortured and terrified simply because he was bored. He' not like Ramsay either, who tortured and wreaked havoc to have dominance over all.

Euron's cruelty is calculated. He is a seasoned killer and thinks only he knows why he is committing these vile atrocities. He is one of the few who stands true to their threats and statements. He sees himself as more than a man, but as a drive, a vessel moving ever onward towards a dark goal. 

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And if age and grief had turned Balon bitter with the years, they had also made him more determined than any man alive. He was born a lord's son and died a king, murdered by a jealous god, Aeron thought, and now the storm is coming, a storm such as these isles have never known. (The Prophet, AFFC)

Aeron believes a Iron Island's King can be killed only through divine intervention from the gods, as seen in the quote above. But we all now know that is was Euron who caused his death via The Faceless Men. It's to emphasize Aeron's belief that no man could ever have that power to cast down a true King and yet, we know a brother is all it takes to do it; and because of the King's death, more dark times are ahead. Euron embraces the darkness Aeron describes. 

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A smile played across Euron's blue lips. "I am the storm, my lord. The first storm, and the last..." (The Reaver, AFFC)

He is readying himself, to undertake the next change in his transformation, but Euron is not the only one who is known to this power. Something big and terrible is to happen. Indeed, a least one other person has seen a glimpse of what Euron is about to do; fulfilling his destiny of death and destruction.

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"Only their shadows," Moqorro said. "One most of all. A tall and twisted thing with one black eye and ten long arms, sailing on a sea of blood." (Tyrion, ADWD)

By chance, Moqorro is saved by Victarion's Iron Fleet as it sails for Meereen. And yet, why is that Moqorro envisions Euron, a man he, as far as we know, has never met? Also bizarre, is that he states it is Euron who is seeking Daenerys...but it is Victarion who is actually sailing there!

THE REAVER'S KRAKEN

It is likely Victarion is just a pawn in the grand scheme of things. There are various references to Victarion's role as simply a means to an end.

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"I have seen you in the nightfires, Victarion Greyjoy. You come striding through the flames stern and fierce, you great axe dripping blood, blind to the tentacles that grasp you at wrist and neck and ankle, the black strings that make you dance." (The Iron Suitor, ADWD)

Here, Moqorro references how Euron has made Victarion his bitch. Not only is Euron his king, but he then commands his brother to sail across the world to bring back Daenerys and her dragons so the Ironborn can claim Westeros. I don't know how oblivious these two are, for they think they can just sail right up to the Great Pyramid, take Daenerys without any resistance, and sail her back to Westeros, all while ensuring they aren't chased by the Dothraki, the Unsullied, the Second Sons, the Stalwart Shields, the Mother's Men, the Free Brothers, and 3 FUCKING DRAGONS. And lest not forget the Ghiscari, the Mantari, the Yunkish, the Qartheen, the Company of the Cat, and the Long Lances who have all laid siege to Meereen and want the Dragon Queen just as much.

But as we find out later, Victarion may not make it back to Westeros. Moqorro is a red priest of R'hollor who, like all that share his beliefs, offer their sacrifices to the fire. In more brutal terms, whoever they give as an offering, they burn them alive. It's viewed as a cleansing, the most beautiful cleansing, as fire can cleanse all the wickedness in a persons heart. It's viewed as a glorious way to die and the red priests go forth throughout the world trying to convince men that this is the best way to go and purify themselves. Perhaps this was again, the Reaver's calculated doing. For when Victarion assures Moqorro he will have his red god's due, Moqorro responds in a way to suggest benefit for Victarion but with greater knowledge and understanding of the followers of R'hollor, we can deduce Victarion will be offered to the fire, be it willingly or forced, and through dragonflame.

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The black priest bowed his head. "There is no need. The Lord of Light has shown me your worth, lord Captain. Every night in my fires I glimpse the glory that awaits you."

THE DOOM OF VALYRIA

Getting back to Moqorro's prophecy, what struck out in that chapter's reading is right before this vision is revealed, Tyrion and Moqorro are having a conversation about the Doom of Valyria.

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Lakes boiled or turned to acid, mountains burst, fiery fountains spewed molten rock a thousand feet into the air, red clouds rained down dragonglass and the black blood of demons, and to the north the ground splintered and collapses and fell in on itself and an angry sea came rushing in. (Tyrion, ADWD)

The red clouds and black blood of demons stood out to me when I read that. I pictured how it must've looked to be at Ground Zero for the Doom. I would imagine everything to be on fire, to be engulfed in a red, fiery hue to reflect the flames and molten lava being thrown and spewing everywhere. Dark, ominous red clouds invade the sky and cast down black rain. The very air itself is alight and filled with ash and smoke. Upon looking at the sea, it is boiling and thrashing, begging to be let in until finally the landmass calves and breaks and the tide comes rushing in. The ash, the smoke, the molten lava, and fire everywhere could cause the sea itself to turn to the color of red like everything else around it. Symbolically, it could also mean the sea turned red by the blood of all the slain men, women, children, and dragons. Every conversation in a book is structured so that ideas flow. The idea flowing here is the association between the Doom of Valyria and Moqorro seeing Euron preparing himself...as he sets sail for Oldtown.

ASCENSION

Oldtown is, dare I say it, a very old town. Maesters themselves cannot put a definitive date on its founding. Yet they know that men lived here since the Dawn Age as they left behind their runic records. And no tale of Oldtown can be complete without the mentioning of the Hightower, the great lighthouse that stands at the center on its own. But it is Battle Isle, its base, that is the source of the enigma. 

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Even more enigmatic to scholars and historians is the great square fortress of black stone that dominates that isle. For most of recorded history, this monumental edifice has served as the foundation and lowest level of the Hightower, yet we know for a certainty that it predates the upper levels of the tower by thousands of years. (Oldtown, TWOIAF)

The black stone theories are abundant for they are found elsewhere in the world and predate Valyrian dragon-fused stone. Similarly, the black stone is found in places we know for a fact to have never been settled by or founded by dragonlords. 

The Bloodstone Emperor cast down the true gods to worship a "black stone that had fallen from the sky." It's important to note the language here as it says the Emperor cast down the "true gods" but who exactly are the true gods? In the maester's sense, it would be the Seven. In the YiTish, the Maiden-Made-of-Light and the Lion of Night. In the Starks, the Old Gods. So who exactly are the true gods? Could it be that this black stone was magical in nature? So much so, that the Bloodstone Emperor realized that all the gods have no true power. True might rested in the power of this magical, black stone. I suspect he killed his sister, The Amethyst Empress, as a kind of blood sacrifice in order to release/control the magic of the black stone; thereafter granting him the power to enslave and torture on a much broader scale.

HOLY BLOOD

The Emperors and Empresses of the Great Empire of the Dawn were referred to as "god-emperors" in a sense they believe their rulers to be the embodiment or actual physical representation of the dominion of God. It can be said, with confidence, that to the small folk, their rulers were more godly in nature than man and their presence of that of the divine. So when the Bloodstone Emperor slayed his sister, he spilled the blood of the divine, of the holy, of...god.

Spoiler

 

I came to understand the importance of holy blood after Euron converses with Aeron in the dungeons. 

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"No, I'll not kill you tonight. A holy man with holy blood. I may have need of that blood...later..." (The Forsaken, TWOW)

And again right after their conversation, we see that Euron places great importance in holy blood

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It was in the second dungeon that the other holy men began to appear to share his torments. Three wore the robes of septons of the green lands, and one the red raiment of a priest of R’hllor...Last were two warlocks of the east. (The Forsaken, TWOW)

With this latest chapter from The Winds of Winter, Euron is going to sacrifice the holy men at the Battle Isle through blood magic in order to gain power/control which he will wield to sow chaos and destruction about the world while he rules as its godlike king. We find more evidence of this horrifying prophecy upon further reading TWOW.

A DREAM OF WINTER

The shade of the evening that Euron constantly sips on is likely a compass that allows him to see his destiny, but unlike the warlocks, he actually has the will, army, and power necessary to claim it. It is through this drink Aeron realizes Euron's plan for apotheosis. After being force fed the blue drink, Aeron sees his brother's destiny and literally pisses himself. The visions he sees are meant to utterly destroy his will and faith. There is no feasting in the Drowned God's watery halls. There are no watery halls. There is no Drowned God. There is Urri, the brother he killed by accident and there is death; nothing more.

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"You know what waits below the sea, brother?"

"The Drowned God," Aeron said, "the watery halls."

Urri shook his head. "Worms...worms await you, Aeron."

(The Forsaken, TWOW)

So not only has Urri returned to Aeron's nightmare to torment him about killing him, but he gives the most damning and conclusive evidence of what Euron is planning to do.

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"The bleeding star bespoke the end," he said to Aeron. "These are the last days, when the world shall be broken and remade. A new god shall be born from the graves and charnel pits." (The Forsaken, TWOW)

Euron is a cruel, torturous man with no love for family whose desire for power now has him sailing to Oldtown towards this black stone for...apotheosis.

THE FATE OF THE CROW'S EYE

He is trying to kill the man Euron

Euron Greyjoy is trying to become a God.

Everyone viewed the red comet differently when they saw it. To The Reaver and his men, it signals the end of the world and the dawn of a new age, an age of darkness, with Euron as king. The nightmare continues with Aeron envisioning his brother's destiny

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Clad head to heel in scale as dark as onyx...(The Forsaken, TWOW)

...Euron lifted a great horn to his lips and blew, and dragons and krakens and sphinxes came at his command and bowed before him. “Kneel, brother,” the Crow’s Eye commanded. “I am your king, I am your god. Worship me, and I will raise you up to be my priest.” (The Forsaken, TWOW)

The vision outright shows Aeron how powerful Euron truly is; he is no longer a man but a living, terror-inducing god. He wants to convince his brother that his Drowned God, who had never really "spoken" to Aeron was false and a lie and that he should worship Euron as he is an actual living being whose power can be seen by all. The fact that Euron is blowing the dragon horn, Dragonbinder, also speaks of his ascendance to godhood, for as we know from Moqorro:

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'No mortal man shall sound me and live.' (Victarion, ADWD)

If Euron is able to successfully blow the dragon horn without dying, then its implied that he is not a mortal man anymore, but something more; a god.

The armor described above that is 'as dark as onyx' is explained shortly after they ready themselves to leave the Shields. 

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Euron Crow’s Eye stood upon the deck of Silence, clad in a suit of black scale armor like nothing Aeron had ever seen before. Dark as smoke it was, but Euron wore it as easily as if it was the thinnest silk. The scales were edged in red gold, and gleamed and shimmered when they moved. Patterns could be seen within the metal, whorls and glyphs and arcane symbols folded into the steel. Valyrian steel, the Damphair knew. His armor is Valyrian steel. In all the Seven Kingdoms, no man owned a suit of Valyrian steel. Such things had been known 400 years ago, in the days before the Doom, but even then, they would’ve cost a kingdom. (The Forsaken, TWOW)

There are noble Houses throughout Westeros, founded centuries ago, that have never had the honor of having a Valyrian heirloom, much less a Valyrian sword. Euron has AN ENTIRE SUIT OF ARMOR made of Valyrian steel. It is priceless. No King in the history of the Seven Kingdoms ever had a full suit of Valyrian steel armor. Aegon the Conqueror might have had one when he landed on Westeros centuries ago but it is not definitive. This makes Euron practically invulnerable and one of the richest men alive. How he obtained such extremely rare armor convinces me that he has been to Valyria, that it's possible to sail to Valyria with proper understanding of blood magic, and that he can actually accomplish the things he wants done.

Finally, Euron is not without the theatrics. I'm not sure if this is part of some ritual, but it is worthy to note just how little he cares for his own kin, much less anyone but himself. 

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"Bind them to the prows," Euron commanded. "My brother on the Silence. Take one for yourself. let them dice for the others, one to a ship. Let them feel the spray, the kiss of the Drowned God, wet and salty." (The Forsaken, TWOW)

I don't think this was done unintentionally. I think binding the holy men to the prow does make sense for some sort of ritual to take place. Perhaps Euron will smash the ships into the black stone, allowing the blood of the holy men to be sacrificed and fulfilling its requirement.

 

The most shocking evidence I've found of my theory was after re-reading A Clash of Kings. We've been given a glimpse of this apotheosis and of Euron's grand plan back in the House of the Undying. At first, I thought the vision referred to Jon Connington as he suffered from greyscale. When I read the word 'prow', I didn't know what it meant until I googled it. It is the part of the ship that cuts through the water. There is no way anyone is capable of 'standing' on a prow, unless you are of course, tied to it. Now that this chapter from TWOW has come out, it gives conclusive evidence that the vision was speaking of Aeron, of Euron's attempt at apotheosis, of the darkness that is about to enter the world.

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A corpse stood at the prow of a ship, eyes bright in his dead face, grey lips smiling sadly. (Daenerys, ACOK)

 

Spoiler

This is my theory. Euron Greyjoy is attempting a great sacrifice of holy men through blood magic at the black stone at the base of the Hightower in order to release/control power and magic that will make him godlike. I have thought about this theory for quite some time and the more I thought, the more evidence I found in reading the main series and TWOIAF. Please let me know your thoughts and if you think this is believable or tinfoil.

 

Thank you!

[LynnS]

43 minutes ago, WindBreaker said:

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A corpse stood at the prow of a ship, eyes bright in his dead face, grey lips smiling sadly. (Daenerys, ACOK)

 

This is my theory. Euron Greyjoy is attempting a great sacrifice of holy men through blood magic at the black stone at the base of the Hightower in order to release/control power and magic that will make him godlike. I have thought about this theory for quite some time and the more I thought, the more evidence I found in reading the main series and TWOIAF. Please let me know your thoughts and if you think this is believable or tinfoil.

Nice interpretation of this vision and it makes complete sense in context with the Foresaken chapter.  Euron is a monster attempting to engineer his own rebirth as a god, Azor Ahai perhaps.  He is recreating the ritual from Dany's chapter with Mirri Maaz Duur.  Mirri is the holy blood sacrificed in the fire on Drogo's pier, a dragon bursting from her brow.  Mirri is a god's wife.  Dany has sacrificed her own unborn child and she herself is reborn in an attempt to bring Drogo back to life in a bath of water and blood.  Euron seems to be recreating aspects of this ritual on a far grander scale with Aeron, his pregnant salt-wife on a sea of blood.  Sacrificing his own unborn child. 

I will be curious to know what god-like powers he acquires and why a god would need a complete suit of valyrian steel armor if he is invulnerable.

    

[WindBreaker]

LynnS, 

WOW, the similarity between Dany's ritual and Euron's are practically the same! Did not even put that together and it's right there! Great insight.

[chrisdaw]

You're supposed to spoiler unreleased material.

Yes Euron is trying to become a god, specifically he is trying to skin change and/or second life a dragon. He will succeed, that's what his horn does, but his own kraken blood will turn the dragon he second lifes into a hybrid, a sphinx, dragon and kraken, Cthulhu.

He will also have greyscale and thus his godly sphinx form will be stone, he is the stone beast of Dany's vision. He will breathe contagious greyscale and enthral all those who become infected, they will be his army, and they will be immortal and immune from being turned to wights. Come the Long Night many people will join him by choice rather than be wighted. His army and himself will be another faction, a third faction to rival the Others for the souls of Westerosi humans. He will be like the Others, with stone in place of ice and green for blue.

He will be struck from the sky, banished to the narrow sea and dragged down to its bottom. There he will dwell in one of those ancient mazes, if he creates it or simply finds IT I'm not sure. At this stage it seems he will be humanoid again, though with the kraken face, and the dragon will be a condensed black oily stone. He will sacrifice to the stone, particularly the children of his subjects, and create sphinxes, beasts under his control.

The sea will empty and humanity will flee the Others there, they will throw a wall up between them and the direction of Westeros whence the Others should come. But unbeknownst to them will be Euron at their backs, and he will attack from his stronghold. The people of Westeros will be caught between the Others and Euron.

But then the great khalasar will arrive from Essos and smash Euron in the rear, and Dany will die and second life the black oily stone and become a massive dragon and melt Euron's stone lair. Possibly whoever wields Dawn kills humanoid Euron with it. When he dies all those who are under his command by way of having his greyscale will be cured of their affliction.

[Lyanna<3Rhaegar]

You've definitely done your homework & it fits together nicely. Well done. 

A couple questions though - why the Valayrian steel armor? Maybe that makes him impervious to dragon fire? Or at least shields him from it? 

Why would he want Aeron to lose his faith - essentially making him an unholy man when it is holy blood he needs?

Does he want Aeron to worship him & be his priest or does he want to kill him for his blood? 

[LynnS]

44 minutes ago, chrisdaw said:

You're supposed to spoiler unreleased material.

Is the Foresaken chapter unreleased?  I thought Martin had released a number of chapters from WoW to the public domain.

[chrisdaw]

Anything Winds is supposed to be spoiler tagged in General.

[LynnS]

14 minutes ago, chrisdaw said:

Anything Winds is supposed to be spoiler tagged in General.

There is a bunch of stuff on the pre-released chapters in the Winds of Winter forum that isn't spoiler tagged.  Maybe the OP can ask the mods to move the thread there or edit the thread title to add 'spoiler alert' if it's an issue.

[Clegane'sPup]

2 hours ago, LynnS said:

Is the Foresaken chapter unreleased?  I thought Martin had released a number of chapters from WoW to the public domain.

 

1 hour ago, chrisdaw said:

Anything Winds is supposed to be spoiler tagged in General.

 

My gripe is that these WoW chapters are chapters that were moved from DwD. These chapters have been read at conventions and some of them were posted on Martin's site. DwD was released in 2011. This is 2017.

Why are these preview chapters that were moved from DwD to WoW off limits in the general forum.?

I don't have the App but I have been told that some of the chapters are available on it. Is that true?

 

 

[Lyanna<3Rhaegar]

14 minutes ago, Clegane'sPup said:

 

 

My gripe is that these WoW chapters are chapters that were moved from DwD. These chapters have been read at conventions and some of them were posted on Martin's site. DwD was released in 2011. This is 2017.

Why are these preview chapters that were moved from DwD to WoW off limits in the general forum.?

I don't have the App but I have been told that some of the chapters are available on it. Is that true?

 

 

Yep. The app has all of the "officially" WoW chapters

[LynnS]

2 hours ago, Clegane'sPup said:

 

 

My gripe is that these WoW chapters are chapters that were moved from DwD. These chapters have been read at conventions and some of them were posted on Martin's site. DwD was released in 2011. This is 2017.

Why are these preview chapters that were moved from DwD to WoW off limits in the general forum.?

I don't have the App but I have been told that some of the chapters are available on it. Is that true?

 

 

I don't have the app, but I read some of them on Martin's website, so I don't understand the restriction either.  I don't know why Martin would release them if he didn't want people to discuss them.

[WindBreaker]

Hi everyone,

My apologies if you had not read that chapter from TWOW. I've gone ahead and added spoiler warnings throughout the essay although it kinda takes away from the overall point and you may not get all of it if you havent read the latest chapter. I highly encourage you do, its a great read and doesn't take away from anyone else's story. It just reveals more information about the Ironborn. 

@Lyanna<3Rhaegar, I don't think he's trying to get Aeron to lose his faith, I believe he's just testing him. He wants him to realize that even when a holy man of the Drowned God is suffering, the Drowned God cares little for his salvation. Right after Euron his crowned King, his faith is tested...and it fails him.

Quote

Even a priest may doubt. Even a prophet may know terror. Aeron Damphair reached within himself for his god and discovered only silence.

Throughout his whole life, Aeron BELIEVES that the Drowned God speaks to him but he's just being delusional. When Aeron needs the council of his god, when he's at his most vulnerable and truly in need of guidance, he abandons him. We get plenty of these references where Aeron is essentially talking to...himself.

And again, in the latest chapter when, after he leaves the Kingsmoot, he goes to the sea to pray so that the Drowned God may guide him and enforce the idea that Euron, a 'godless man', could never sit on the Seastone Chair. He believes it so much and yet, when he seeks an answer, he gets absolutely nothing

Quote

“Aeron, my good and faithful servant, you must tell the Ironborn that the Crow’s Eye is no true king, that the Seastone Chair by rights belonged to... to... to...” 

At that point, he starts rattling off names of people that couldnt be King because of what happened at the Kingsmoot so he just resolves to get Asha married to Victarion. Again, this was not the Drowned God's voice speaking to him. This is just an old man trying to hold onto what little faith he has for a god he's beginning to realize doesn't exist. 

But Euron doesn't know this, Euron STILL thinks Aeron is a holy man, with him mocking the Drowned God to his face and facing no retribution. Euron admires Aeron's devotion to his faith, so much so that he is trying to convince him to convert that faith and worship Euron and become his priest. Euron also knows that if he can get the Damphair to worship him, the rest of the Ironborn would likely lose their faith in the Drowned God as well.