Jon and the sigils at the Tower of Joy.

[three-eyed monkey]

This is not a theory of any sort, just some observations for discussion, (assuming that Jon was born at the Tower of Joy and is the PtwP of course).

Ned's wraiths moved up beside him, with shadow swords in hand. They were seven against three.

Shadow swords in hand, and no doubt shadow shields emblazoned with shadow sigils. Ten in all, and each one symbolic of something significant to Jon.

1/ Ser Arthur Dayne, Sword of the Morning: A white sword and a falling star. The sword is called Dawn and the imagery evokes the red comet or bleeding star as well as the tale of Lightbringer.

"A hundred days and a hundred nights he labored on the third blade, and as it glowed white-hot in the sacred fires, he summoned his wife. 'Nissa Nissa,' he said to her, for that was her name, 'bare your breast, and know that I love you best of all that is in this world.'

2/ Ser Gerold “the white bull” Hightower: A white tower crowned with flames. The words of House Hightower are “We light the way”. A lighthouse stands against the darkness, a beacon of hope in the night, not unlike Azor Ahai. But the tall white tower is also reminiscent of the sword Dawn, and the crown of flames suggestive of Lightbringer once more.

In battle the blade burned fiery hot.

3/ Ser Oswell Whent: Nine black bats.

From Symbolism Wiki - Bats symbolize death and rebirth. Sometimes, they are known as the "Guardian of the Night." It is largely misunderstood and so therefore many of its symbolic meanings are inappropriately fear-based. The bat is a symbol of rebirth and death because it is a creature that lives in the belly of the Mother (Earth). From the womb-like caves it emerges every evening at dusk. And so - from the womb it is reborn every evening.

Death and rebirth has an obvious parallel to Jon’s current situation, rebirth recalls Azor Ahai reborn, and interestingly the bat emerges from the womb-like cave at dusk, as night gathers.

Night gathers, and now my watch begins.

When the red star bleeds and the darkness gathers, Azor Ahai shall be born again...

4/ Lord Eddard Stark of House Stark: A direwolf. This one is pretty straight forward.

Now he was a man, now a wolf, now a man again.

5/ Howland Reed: A lizard-lion. Unfortunately we only have a semi-canon source for House Reed’s sigil. It is still worth mentioning that a lizard is synonymous with a dragon and a lion is symbolic of kingship, hence a lizard-lion could be symbolic of a dragon-king.

6/ Lord Willam Dustin: Two crossed longaxes with a rusted crown between them. The crown is connected to a curse that would allow no “living” man to rival the first king.

The rusted crown upon the arms of House Dustin derives from their claim that they are themselves descended from the First King and the Barrow Kings who ruled after him. The old tales recorded in Kennet's Passages of the Dead claim that a curse was placed on the Great Barrow that would allow no living man to rival the First King. This curse made these pretenders to the title grow corpselike in their appearance as it sucked away their vitality and life.

7/ Ser Mark Ryswell: A black horse’s head with red eyes and mane. Ghost and weirwood trees have red eyes, but I think a horse best represents a mount, and some men have what it takes to mount a dragon.

Above them all the dragon turned, dark against the sun. His scales were black, his eyes and horns and spinal plates blood red. Ever the largest of her three, in the wild Drogon had grown larger still.

Melisandre also has red eyes, but that would be a mount of a different kind.

8/ Ethan Glover: A mailed fist.

From Wikipedia - The raised fist, or the clenched fist, is a symbol of solidarity and support. It is also used as a salute to express unity, strength, defiance, or resistance.

"It means that the battle is begun," said Melisandre. "The sand is running through the glass more quickly now, and man's hour on earth is almost done. We must act boldly, or all hope is lost. Westeros must unite beneath her one true king, the prince that was promised...”

9/ Theo “buckets” Wull: Three wooden buckets.

I’m unsure what to make of this one. A bucket filled with water can symbolize a lifesaving gift while an empty wooden pail can represent an unsaved person in spiritual terms. A bucket of water can also symbolize the womb, and given that there are three, then perhaps they symbolizes three wombs as the dragon has three heads, and all from different mothers it would seem. Perhaps someone can make better sense of it.

10/ Martyn Cassel: Ten white wolves heads, arranged 4-3-2-1. Unfortunately, the Cassel arms are only semi-canon. Ghost is obviously a white wolf but why ten? Why the Pythagorean formation? I don’t know.

Thanks for reading.  

[Marcelowww]

Very interesting post. 

The rusted crown upon the arms of House Dustin derives from their claim that they are themselves descended from the First Kingand the Barrow Kings who ruled after him. The old tales recorded in Kennet's Passages of the Dead claim that a curse was placed on the Great Barrow that would allow no living man to rival the First King. This curse made these pretenders to the title grow corpselike in their appearance as it sucked away their vitality and life.

Well, If Jon (going from the assumption that Aegon is false) is the true heir of the Iron Throne that makes sense. Robb is dead, Balon is dead, Joffrey is dead, Renly is dead, Robert Baratheon had grown fat and Stannis is in the North with his men starving and some dying (cursed). And that makes even more sense if Aegon (or Daenerys) is the true heir, given the fact that Jon is dead.

7/ Ser Mark Ryswell: A black horse’s head with red eyes and mane. Ghost and weirwood trees have red eyes, but I think a horse best represents a mount, and some men have what it takes to mount a dragon

Black horse's head with red eyes and mane = Jon = Drogon

Above them all the dragon turned, dark against the sun. His scales were black, his eyes and horns and spinal plates blood red. Ever the largest of her three, in the wild Drogon had grown larger still.

Drogon = Jon 

10/ Martyn Cassel: Ten white wolves heads, arranged 4-3-2-1. Unfortunately, the Cassel arms are only semi-canon. Ghost is obviously a white wolf but why ten? Why the Pythagorean formation? I don’t know.

4 wolves = Benjen, Bran, Rickon and Sansa-3 wolves = Eddard, Catelyn and Robb are dead-2 wolves = Arya and Jon

Benjen, Bran, Rickon and Sansa are disappeared-Eddard, Catelyn and Robb are dead-Arya and Jon are both in the North (The Wall and Braavos)

Jon's still dead, so the only wolf left is Arya.

1 wolf-Arya

[The Map Guy]

Cool read. I always thought the sigils have hidden messages to the story past and present, even predicting the future. The symbols, symbol colors, background colors, the quantities all have meanings. I feel like anything white & grey is Stark related, anything gold & scarlet is Lannister related.

3 hours ago, three-eyed monkey said:

2/ Ser Gerold “the white bull” Hightower: A white tower crowned with flames. The words of House Hightower are “We light the way”. A lighthouse stands against the darkness, a beacon of hope in the night, not unlike Azor Ahai. But the tall white tower is also reminiscent of the sword Dawn, and the crown of flames suggestive of Lightbringer once more.

Stark colors with a fire burning up top. https://www.westeros.org/Citadel/Heraldry/Entry/House_Hightower/

3 hours ago, three-eyed monkey said:

9/ Theo “buckets” Wull: Three wooden buckets.

Perhaps 3 wooden buckets filled with water to put out the 3 fires of the 3 headed dragon? https://www.westeros.org/Citadel/Heraldry/Entry/House_Wull/

3 hours ago, three-eyed monkey said:

8/ Ethan Glover: A mailed fist.

Could this be about Jaime? https://www.westeros.org/Citadel/Heraldry/Entry/House_Glover/

3 hours ago, three-eyed monkey said:

7/ Ser Mark Ryswell: A black horse’s head with red eyes and mane. Ghost and weirwood trees have red eyes, but I think a horse best represents a mount, and some men have what it takes to mount a dragon.

Drogon = Daenerys? https://www.westeros.org/Citadel/Heraldry/Entry/House_Ryswell/

 

But seriously thank you for this post. I have been working on an ADOS endgame theory for a few weeks for now (for fun of course) and all these TOJ sigils are pointing in the same direction.

[The Map Guy]

three-eyed monkey ... you brilliant bastard. I think you found the Easter Eggs of how ASOIAF ends.

My original draft involves 9 out of the 10 TOJ hidden message sigils.

I just solved the missing 10th one ... MARTYN Cassel. The 10 white wolves are not the regular Starks, its not Jon Snow, its not Ghost ...  it is Longclaw.

Longclaw will be the final weapon used in ending (well in my fan fic). I originally had Widow's Wail to end it in my draft, but Longclaw makes much more sense now!

 

Also lizard-lion = dragon-lion.

I never understood why GRRM called alligators lizard-lions until now. Real life alligators do not look like lions.

 

And every Targaryen dies in my ending....all of them, known or secret. Which is represented by Theo Wull's three buckets of water.

 

And damn 7 vs 3 ... GRRM is brilliant.

[J. Stargaryen]

I did a post years ago, probably in the RLJ thread, about the symbolism of the KG at the ToJ. Bulls represent virility and sacrifice, bats darkness, night, mother earth. So the bull and the bat can represent male and female. Ser Arthur Dayne with Dawn representing the magic sword that was forged by the white and black, male and female, sacrifice etc. Obviously, I don't recall every detail, but that was the gist of it.

Another thing I noticed was the prevalence of white and grey in the dream. Those are Stark colors, but they're also the colors of salt and smoke. That's outside. Once you get inside Ned says that the room smelled of blood and roses, and then later notes the rose petals fell to the floor dead and black. Which means the "blood and roses" are red and black, Targaryen colors. Interesting, right? Stark colors outside, Targaryen colors inside.

I wonder if the idea of Azor Ahai being reborn amidst smoke and salt isn't a hint that he's part Stark, but also that he was born (again) during the battle at the ToJ. Jon could certainly be the stone dragon, btw, since there are so many stone-Stark connections. Sansa-Alayne Stone; Arya-hides the last link to her true identity, Needle, in stone steps; Rickon is in Skagos, which means "stone" in the old tongue; Bran is in a cave. One way or another, these Stark kids are all hiding (their identities) in stone somehow. Well, Jon's true identity is being hidden by pretending to be a Stark bastard. Oh, and the crypts beneath Winterfell strengthen the stone-Stark connection since all of the Stark lords eventually turn into stone, in a manner of speaking. Maybe something to do with Jon's identity is hidden down there.

 

[Alexis-something-Rose]

If you wanna go with the idea of stone, Lyanna is one of the stone statues, so waking dragons from stone could be something that refers to her directly. She is "stone" now and she gave birth to him. (There's also Stannis whom Jon refers to as stone).

[The Map Guy]

5 hours ago, J. Stargaryen said:

Bulls represent virility and sacrifice

House Hightower's sigil is a white tower with a grey background - Stark bastard colors

The fire up top is Targaryen fire

The sigil's banner also says "We light the way"

 

In my fan fic version before discovering the 10 TOJ sigils, by the time of ADOS, this was all a lie ... a twist that GRRM naturally employs.

Gerold Hightower is The White Bull ... in American English, Bull = Bullshit.

The White Bull = The White Bullshit = The White Lie

"We light the way" was a white lie.

[Alexis-something-Rose]

The Hightowers have been present in some important Stark moments. So we have Maester Walys who was a Hightower bastard. We don't know how long he was at Winterfell, but he could easily have been there for the births of all the children. Then we have Gerold Hightower who was present when both Brandon and his father were killed by Aerys. And Rhaegar left him behind with Lyanna, making him present for the birth of Jon Snow. And we have a 3rd Hightower in Lynesse who makes her way north after she marries Jorah. 

This is something I don't really like doing, because I find it sends me down a rabbit hole, but Gerold Hightower may have been present at Summerhall when it went up in flames. So perhaps there's more smoke association here. But he was also named Lord Commander of the Kingsguard after Duncan the Tall died at Summerhall. Duncan the Tall's chosen sigil was the shooting star above an elm. So he will have served with two men who had stars as their personal sigils, Arthur and Duncan and took over for the one who died.

There is this sort of repetition happening with him especially if he was there at Summerhall.  

[sweetsunray]

I get into the symbolism of the Hightower bull and beacon on a tower, the bat and Dawn into my first two chthonic essays:

https://sweeticeandfiresunray.com/2015/10/07/persephone-of-the-winterfell-crypts/

https://sweeticeandfiresunray.com/2015/10/30/the-cursed-souls-of-eddard-and-robert/

Much of elements regarding Lyanna make her a type of Persephone. The first essay goes over the evidence for that, such as the rape-stealing part of the tale, her ending up as a type of queen of the Underwold (the sole female statue inside the crypts), the flower wraith, false spring with Lyanna's first public appearance at Harrenhal, etc... It stands to reason that much of Persephone related symbolism reappears at the ToJ. A bat was the animal symbol for Persephone, quite obviously since Bats live in caves, which are traditionally seen as entrances into the underworld. Torches symbolize Demeter's search for her abducted daughter Persephone.

If a Persephone-Lyanna died at the ToJ by birthing a child, then we'd also have symbolism related to children linked to Persephone. I go over this in the second essay. George seems to have been inspired by Orpheus' hymn of Melinoe for Ned's dreamof the ToJ. Melinoe was an underworld moon daughter of Persephone who gave people nightmares.

Quote

She drives mortals to madness with her airy phantoms,
As she appears in weird shapes and forms,
Now plain to the eye, now shadowy, now shining in the darkness,
And all this in hostile encounters in the gloom of night. (fragment of Orphic Hymn of Melinoe)

Compare this to the structure of Ned's dream:

• His own bannermen appear as shadows, grey wraiths on misty horses with shadow swords  = weird shapes, forms, now shadowy
• But the three Kingsguard’s faces burn clear = now plain to the eye
• Arthur Dayne’s Dawn is pale as milkglass, alive with light = now shining in the darkness
• Ned and his men come together with the three Kingsguard in a rush of steel and shadow, Lyanna screaming his name, and a storm of rose petals blowing = hostile encounter
• He wakes to moonlight = gloom of night
• 3 x “now” appears in the dream: “Then or now“, “Now it begins,” and “Now it ends.”

The Melinoe nightmare pattern continues when Ned wakes from the dream, as if George is underlining a progressive RL nightmare for Ned, and indeed it's in this chapter that Ned is made Hand again and Robert decides to go off on his hunt.

The more important child of Persephone in Greek myth is her son: Dyonisus. He was twice born. He's born, dies and then reborn. One of the forms that Dyonisus took to escape Hera's wrath was that of a Bull (Hightower's moniker). House Hightower’s sigil is that of a torch or beacon upon a tower and their words are, “We Light the Way”. The torch is a symbol for Demeter’s search for her daughter, but also for the third epiteth of Dionysus – Iacchus, the torch bearing, divine child, a star to bring light to the night. The Hightower sigil basically says, “The torch bearer, the divine child,” is up there on the Tower of Joy, and the House’s words reaffirm this interpretation.

Arthur Dayne is twice referred to as the Sword of the Morning who wields the pale greatsword Dawn, which is alive with light in the darkness. Like, dusk, dawn is the moment that does not belong to either night and day. It heralds the end of the night and the start of the day, and yet belongs to neither – an in between moment. Again this would fit the scheme of Dionysus as Iacchus, who brings light in the night, but belongs to the ‘in between’ world, who can go to and fro. A light in the darkness mostly calls forth the image of moon- and starlight, with the moon and stars being the lanterns that “light the way”. And Dawn’s light is pale, miky white, like a moon or star.

[The Map Guy]

Quote

 

Ned's wraiths moved up beside him, with shadow swords in hand. They were SEVEN AGAINST THREE.

"AND NOW IT BEGINS," said Ser Arthur Dayne, the Sword of the Morning. He unsheathed Dawn and held it with both hands. The blade was pale as milkglass, alive with light.

"No," Ned said with sadness in his voice. "NOW IT ENDS." 

 

 

The true meaning of Now It Ends: The TOJ 7 vs 3 sigils ARE part of the finale battle!!! This is the ASOIAF ending, I know it!

[three-eyed monkey]

"And now it begins," in my opinion Arthur Dayne is talking about the song of ice and fire, (starting with the 7v3 song of steel, or perhaps baby Jon's cry).

Ned was talking about the war, as in Robert's rebellion, which would end with the death of the three Kingsguard.

[The Map Guy]

Its a double meaning.

The fate of the seven kingdoms pitted against the three heads of the dragon ... the finale battle over King's Landing.

[SirArthur]

23 hours ago, The Map Guy said:

 

The true meaning of Now It Ends: The TOJ 7 vs 3 sigils ARE part of the finale battle!!! This is the ASOIAF ending, I know it!

They were seven, facing three. In the dream as it had been in life. Yet these were no ordinary three. They waited before the round tower, the red mountains of Dorne at their backs, their white cloaks blowing in the wind. And these were no shadows; their faces burned clear, even now. Ser Arthur Dayne, the Sword of the Morning, had a sad smile on his lips. The hilt of the greatsword Dawn poked up over his right shoulder. Ser Oswell Whent was on one knee, sharpening his blade with a whetstone. Across his white-enameled helm, the black bat of his House spread its wings. Between them stood fierce old Ser Gerold Hightower, the White Bull, Lord Commander of the Kingsguard.

[...]

"And now it begins," said Ser Arthur Dayne, the Sword of the Morning. He unsheathed Dawn and held it with both hands. The blade was pale as milkglass, alive with light.

"No," Ned said with sadness in his voice. "Now it ends." As they came together in a rush of steel and shadow, he could hear Lyanna screaming. "Eddard!" she called. A storm of rose petals blew across a blood-streaked sky, as blue as the eyes of death.

[J. Stargaryen]

On 1/4/2019 at 6:58 PM, The Map Guy said:

Its a double meaning.

The fate of the seven kingdoms pitted against the three heads of the dragon ... the finale battle over King's Landing.

1

That's definitely part of it, IMO. I'd also point out that there are now three Daeneryses in the story and a fair chance we end up with seven (VII) King Aegons.

[Frey family reunion]

Heh, the symbols of the three kingsguards at the tower of joy, is far darker than anyone has guessed.  Look up the following:

Bat:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minyades

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camazotz

Man with the head of a bull:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minotaur

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moloch

Dawn, The Morning Star:

https://nativeamericannetroots.net/diary/1994

And see what common threads runs between all of these

ETA: thanks (?) to Tucu for bringing the Pawnee Evening Star to Morning Star ritual to my attention.

[The Map Guy]

On 1/5/2019 at 6:54 PM, SirArthur said:

They were seven, facing three. In the dream as it had been in life. Yet these were no ordinary three. They waited before the round tower, the red mountains of Dorne at their backs, their white cloaks blowing in the wind. And these were no shadows; their faces burned clear, even now. Ser Arthur Dayne, the Sword of the Morning, had a sad smile on his lips. The hilt of the greatsword Dawn poked up over his right shoulder. Ser Oswell Whent was on one knee, sharpening his blade with a whetstone. Across his white-enameled helm, the black bat of his House spread its wings. Between them stood fierce old Ser Gerold Hightower, the White Bull, Lord Commander of the Kingsguard.

[...]

"And now it begins," said Ser Arthur Dayne, the Sword of the Morning. He unsheathed Dawn and held it with both hands. The blade was pale as milkglass, alive with light.

"No," Ned said with sadness in his voice. "Now it ends." As they came together in a rush of steel and shadow, he could hear Lyanna screaming. "Eddard!" she called. A storm of rose petals blew across a blood-streaked sky, as blue as the eyes of death.

The events of TOJ was sad. The ending of ASOIAF will be sad too.

 

On 1/5/2019 at 10:38 PM, J. Stargaryen said:

seven (VII) King Aegons

fAegon, or Jon's real name thread = Aegon? Doesn't matter to me, I have them all dead by the middle of ADOS

 

2 hours ago, Frey family reunion said:

Heh, the symbols of the three kingsguards at the tower of joy, is far darker than anyone has guessed.  Look up the following:

Bat:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minyades

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camazotz

Man with the head of a bull:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minotaur

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moloch

Dawn, The Morning Star:

https://nativeamericannetroots.net/diary/1994

And see what common threads runs between all of these

ETA: thanks (?) to Tucu for bringing the Pawnee Evening Star to Morning Star ritual to my attention.

Whent's sigil - That a lot of thought and research, but sometimes the answer is pretty simple. You need to look at the background color of the bat sigil too...and it is the color yellow, the color of sunlight. Bats with sunlight = "blindness"

...or Batman

 

Hightower's sigil - In regards of to the White Bull = White Bullshit...

Quote

"As for Lord Rickard, the steel of his breastplate turned cherry-red before the end, and his gold melted off his spurs and dripped down into the fire. I stood at the foot of the Iron Throne in my white armor and white cloak, filling my head with thoughts of Cersei. After, Gerold Hightower himself took me aside and said to me, 'You swore a vow to guard the king, not to judge him.' That was the White Bull(shit), loyal to the end and a better man than me, all agree."

Catelyn VII ACOK

Fire lit top on the white tower with the grey background = the Targaryen & Stark bastard of TOJ
"We light the way" = R+L=J is the light against the Long Night
But "the White Bull" means this was all bullshit. We will have a major twist in ADOS.

Dayne's sigil - A shooting star in the sky, with a sword. A sword in the sky means a fight in the sky.

[J. Stargaryen]

45 minutes ago, The Map Guy said:

fAegon, or Jon's real name thread = Aegon? Doesn't matter to me, I have them all dead by the middle of ADOS

Young Griff/fAegon = Aegon VI, Jon = Aegon VII.