Daenerys is Azor Ahai Reborn

[James Fenimore Cooper XXII]

The ending is not going to be a pure apocalypse where everybody dies.  But it will be catastrophic enough to cut the population down to a percentage.  The humans will rebuild.  Another age will dawn.  Future historians will look back on this a great empire of the dawn.  History repeats in cycles if not exactly the same way. 

[BlackLightning]

11 hours ago, James Fenimore Cooper XXII said:

The ending is not going to be a pure apocalypse where everybody dies.  But it will be catastrophic enough to cut the population down to a percentage.  The humans will rebuild.  Another age will dawn.  Future historians will look back on this a great empire of the dawn.  History repeats in cycles if not exactly the same way. 

I don't know. I think the ending is going to be absolutely apocalyptic.

Think The Day After Tomorrow but with zombies, dragons, mad scientists, sorcerers, mass starvation, roving bloodthirsty bands of warriors and maybe a pandemic or two.

What percentage do you think the population is going to be cut?

From what I read, Westeros is home to ~40 million people. I'm thinking that the survivors in Westeros alone will number 4 million.

[Mordred]

On 6/4/2020 at 9:28 AM, James Fenimore Cooper XXII said:

The ending is not going to be a pure apocalypse where everybody dies.  But it will be catastrophic enough to cut the population down to a percentage.  The humans will rebuild.  Another age will dawn.  Future historians will look back on this a great empire of the dawn.  History repeats in cycles if not exactly the same way. 

The number of dawn empires correlate with the number of times this cycle has repeated.  A dawn empire is simply the very first united peoples of each cycle.  It is not necessarily always started by the same people.  The academics of the future may choose to refer to his seminal empire using another phrase. 

[Bowen 747]

On 5/30/2020 at 2:35 AM, BlackLightning said:

I agree. It's not just astronomy that they lack understanding of.

It's astrology too.

Astrology and astronomy are two sides of the same coin. The Dosh Khaleen study the stars and are able to preside over the khals because of their prediction and knowledge of current and future events. There's a good chance that when Dany hooks up with them, she'll slowly realize that the Long Night along with all magical activity are all results of extreme once-in-a-billion astronomical events. It's not even just the Dosh Khaleen. Archmaester Marwyn can offer lots of insight in that regard (maesters also seem to function as traditional astronomers as it is) but almost every single iteration of Quaithe has been tied to the stars and the planets. And then there is the matter of Shiera Seastar (I'm beginning to believe Quaithe is Shiera) whose name points in that direction.

It all makes sense.

The more educated people of Planetos are aware of the planets. In Westeros, Jupiter, Saturn, Mars, Venus and Mercury are all ascribed to the seven gods. Venus in particular is split between the Maiden and the Mother because the maester's mistakenly interpret Venus the Morning Star and Venus the Evening Star as two different planets instead of one planet (GRRM is telling us that science is just as vulnerable to gross misinterpretation as religion) that is just that visible. In any case, that only accounts for six of the seven gods. What about the seventh, the Stranger?

Methinks that the other comet you all are speaking of is actually the seventh "wanderer" that has such an erratic orbit that it actually passes through and interferes with the Earth's revolution around the Sun. Not only does it lend credence to the Dothraki story about how there were once two moons and one of them was much, much closer to Earth than the other, but the comet would actually have to be bigger or just as big as the planet Earth in order turn Earth into a frozen, sunless hellscape.

The interference of the Earth, the Sun and the Moon's gravitational relationship can also be attributed to the rise and fall of magic. And there is a lot to suggest that dragons, wyverns and the other monstrosities of Valyria and the Long Night (and maybe even the Valyrians and Others themselves) are aliens, extraterrestial creatures not native to Earth. Not only that but that Asshai and the Shadow Lands have a direct connection to the planet Stranger.

GRRM has made it a concentrated habit over the years to express his conviction that science fiction and fantasy are actually the same exact genre. He does that in almost all his other novels (for example, A Song for Lya) in many different ways and I think he's going for the big masterstroke with A Song of Ice and Fire. The work of HP Lovecraft (GRRM's idol) is rather fantastical but it blurs the lines between science fiction, fantasy and horror so much so that they became indistinguishable. No one has quite been able to follow Lovecraft's footsteps and do what he did so the things that Lovecraft did became its own genre. While sci-fi and horror became so popularly enmeshed that no one blinks an eye when they are fused (Alien, 28 Days Later) and sci-fi and fantasy have practically become one genre (Star Wars, Avatar), people seem to struggle with the concept of mixing horror and fantasy. It's something that no one wants to touch but when it works, it works and everyone is blown away (Pan's Labyrinth, Dracula, Coraline)

Not only is it rare to get a good fantasy/horror but no one has really seen fantasy/horror/sci-fi hybrid on a big level since Lovecraft.

Since GRRM originally wanted to create something unfilmable and is so deeply inspired by Pan's Labyrinth, I'm thinking that A Song of Ice and Fire is the lovechild of Tolkien's dungeons-and-dragons epics, Druon's medieval histories and Lovecraft's cautionary tales of reality-breaking cosmic horror.

It suddenly makes sense why Dany and only Dany was positioned and kept in the far east for so long. She is the one character who has the strongest ties to the Red Comet, other astronomical activity (everything done under the open sky...) and all the magica and prophecies that have their roots outside of Westeros.

If Dany learns the truth of the matter in The Winds of Winter or even A Dream of Spring, then it makes her fight against the establishment in Essos and Westeros that much more vital to the main thrust of the story.

Each people have a piece of the puzzle.  That could be the reason why everybody must cooperate in order to avoid the extinction of life on Planetos.  The Dosh Khaleen have theirs, the Maesters theirs, as well as the Asshai.  Bran is on a journey through the weirwood network.  Daenerys meanwhile takes a physical journey all over Essos and gets exposed to a lot of weird cultures.  Samwell will almost certainly learn something from the Citadel.  

 

[James Fenimore Cooper XXII]

On 6/4/2020 at 8:42 PM, BlackLightning said:

I don't know. I think the ending is going to be absolutely apocalyptic.

Think The Day After Tomorrow but with zombies, dragons, mad scientists, sorcerers, mass starvation, roving bloodthirsty bands of warriors and maybe a pandemic or two.

What percentage do you think the population is going to be cut?

From what I read, Westeros is home to ~40 million people. I'm thinking that the survivors in Westeros alone will number 4 million.

Less than half will survive.  Our author is very aware of the problems coming from overpopulation.  Nature needs a way to keep the numbers in check. 

[BlackLightning]

On 6/13/2020 at 12:15 PM, James Fenimore Cooper XXII said:

Less than half will survive.  Our author is very aware of the problems coming from overpopulation.  Nature needs a way to keep the numbers in check. 

You think it's an overpopulation thing that Martin is getting at? I don't think that has anything to do with it.

Why would he spend most of Clash, Storm and Feast decrying the massive loss of life and comfort due to the War of the Five Kings.

[The Commentator]

I might be thinking of Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skulls.  Bringing these candles together in one place may create the magic to call back the spring.

[Anck Su Namun]

On 5/31/2020 at 1:15 PM, BlackLightning said:

Good point.

Maybe it is the gods who are playing games of thrones with the humans.

 

[Anck Su Namun]

On 6/2/2020 at 4:57 PM, Son of Man said:

Probably not.  It could why he chose to write a medieval fantasy instead of science fiction.  But you can't take the science out of a writer who has been doing it for the better part of 30 years.  The weather pattern is surely affected by science.

He wrote for TV.  Beauty and the Beast.  He was successful in the fantasy genre.  I don't think his science fiction were big sellers though.  

[James Fenimore Cooper XXII]

On 6/17/2020 at 2:11 AM, BlackLightning said:

You think it's an overpopulation thing that Martin is getting at? I don't think that has anything to do with it.

Why would he spend most of Clash, Storm and Feast decrying the massive loss of life and comfort due to the War of the Five Kings.

Planetos will have the same environmental problems we have if some natural mechanism is not at work to keep population growth under control.  Their way of life is actually more sustainable than ours.  

[Darth Sidious]

On 5/31/2020 at 3:41 AM, LynnS said:

Yes, forged from a meteorite with magic possibly even the pre-curser to valyrian steel swords of another metal.  It's lore seems to be lost.

Sounds a lot like bitumen or asphalt, something that Planetos could produce on it's own.   Possibly used to make the stone roads of Valyria, the fourth wonder of the world. 

Good guess on the black stones.  Maybe it is a cast material like concrete.  

[James Fenimore Cooper XXII]

On 4/7/2020 at 4:17 PM, Narsil4 said:

It seems as if Dawn might be glowing with the Spirits of the Damned.

Which might also be related to why Glass Candles glow. 

Powered by the soul of the dead Lady Ashara.  Was it a pale tower she jumped from or was it the pale sword she impaled herself upon? 

I don't think so but it's a cute theory.

[BlackLightning]

On 7/3/2020 at 2:34 AM, James Fenimore Cooper XXII said:

Planetos will have the same environmental problems we have if some natural mechanism is not at work to keep population growth under control.  Their way of life is actually more sustainable than ours.  

Their way of life? Do you mean that their way of life is a subsistence lifestyle? Or are you saying that depopulation is not only good but one of GRRM's core message? Because the former I agree with (subsistence living > modern commercial living) but the latter I reject.

[wiwerse]

Just a few insights from me.

towns and cities are built for differing purposes, learning, housing, fabrication, farming, etc. etc. i propose that asshai was built, as a city/town for magic, and lost arts, as a haven to the condemned, similar to how braavos was a haven for the escaped slaves.

the discussion on dawn and other swords are interesting and remind me of an lder thread, of how ice became dawn, 

https://asoiaf.westeros.org/index.php?/topic/131027-how-ice-became-dawn/#comments

 

the discussion on paralells are also interesting, but as the world is curved, all lines meet sooner or later, at two different points in fact, even if they may seem as parallels, this is also shown in quotes such as "Nothing burns like the cold", from AGOT prologue

[U. B. Cool]

On 7/10/2020 at 2:23 PM, James Fenimore Cooper XXII said:

Powered by the soul of the dead Lady Ashara.  Was it a pale tower she jumped from or was it the pale sword she impaled herself upon? 

I don't think so but it's a cute theory.

Jumping from a tower allowed for the body to be lost.  Faking suicide is easier that way.  Such would not be possible if she had gutted herself with the sword.  The body must be shown. 

[James Fenimore Cooper XXII]

On 7/11/2020 at 3:27 PM, BlackLightning said:

Their way of life? Do you mean that their way of life is a subsistence lifestyle? Or are you saying that depopulation is not only good but one of GRRM's core message? Because the former I agree with (subsistence living > modern commercial living) but the latter I reject.

Population reduction happens in nature during winter.  But humans are persistent.  It takes a very long and dark winter to reduce the humans.  

[Moiraine Sedai]

On 7/17/2020 at 7:00 PM, U. B. Cool said:

Jumping from a tower allowed for the body to be lost.  Faking suicide is easier that way.  Such would not be possible if she had gutted herself with the sword.  The body must be shown. 

Dying by a method which allowed an explanation for a lost body would make it easier to fake her death.  

[BlackLightning]

14 hours ago, Moiraine Sedai said:

Dying by a method which allowed an explanation for a lost body would make it easier to fake her death.  

So you think she faked her death?

Why do you think she did it? And what does it have to do with Ned Stark or Jon Snow?

I suppose we'll find out something eventually. If we don't find out something through Areo or Bran, then it'd be Howland Reed, Ned Dayne or Ashara herself.

[BlackLightning]

21 hours ago, James Fenimore Cooper XXII said:

Population reduction happens in nature during winter.  But humans are persistent.  It takes a very long and dark winter to reduce the humans.  

Yeah I realize that. But I don't think that GRRM's core message or that he believes it's a good thing....

[corbon]

11 hours ago, BlackLightning said:

So you think she faked her death?

Yes, though I don't 'know' it. Its just the most likely scenario from what GRRM has given us at this stage.

11 hours ago, BlackLightning said:

Why do you think she did it? And what does it have to do with Ned Stark or Jon Snow?

I don't believe so. The data points connecting her to Ned and/or Jon are all clearly dubious and/or disconnected from any actual association from the people or events as they happened.

I think it likely she did it to cover going into voluntary exile to care for her friend Elia's child (which may be real or fake, but she believes to be real), Aegon.

I think Ned being there at the same time or very close time was a fortuitous coincidence for both of them, though its not entirely coincidental as both spring out of the situation and relationships she and her brother had with Rhaegar (and perhaps Elia).