Wow, I never noticed that. Vol. 19

[Seams]

On 1/9/2022 at 1:43 PM, Corvo the Crow said:

Ranger from Shadow Tower is attacked by a Shadowcat, is gravely wounded, nursed back to health by a wisewoman who mends his cloak with silk from Asshai, Asshai which is called Asshai-by-the-Shadow

Very nice catch. And that ranger is later glamored by Melisandre, who does a lot with using fire to cast shadows. Her so-called shadow babies are unstoppable weapons. Is Mance yet another shadow baby while he is under Melisandre's control?

[Corvo the Crow]

23 minutes ago, Seams said:

Very nice catch. And that ranger is later glamored by Melisandre, who does a lot with using fire to cast shadows. Her so-called shadow babies are unstoppable weapons. Is Mance yet another shadow baby while he is under Melisandre's control?

After you've posted, I've noticed a second thing... It's an elk they've brought down and lures the shadowcat. foreshadowing of a Stag's fall perhaps? How funny it would be, if Cat, who is now a shadow of herself, brings down Stannis because he gives Jon Winterfell 

Or in a more serious note, perhaps a Stag's fall will lure shadows, shadows of the white kind.

Edited January 12, 2022 by Corvo the Crow

[Corvo the Crow]

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Ser Malegorn offered his arm, and Queen Selyse took it stiffly. Her other hand settled on her daughter's shoulder. The royal ducklings fell in behind them as they made their way across the yard, marching to the music of the bells on the fool's hat. "Under the sea the mermen feast on starfish soup, and all the serving men are crabs," Patchface proclaimed as they went. "I know, I know, oh, oh, oh."

I've just noticed that Borrells with their crabby sigil deliver Davos to Manderlys, with their mermen sigil. Godric Borrell even feeds Davos soup, "Sistermen's Stew", that is made from seafood, but it's never mentioned to have starfish in it though.

[Seams]

26 minutes ago, Corvo the Crow said:

After you've posted, I've noticed a second thing... It's an elk they've brought down and lures the shadowcat. foreshadowing of a Stag's fall perhaps? How funny it would be, if Cat, who is now a shadow of herself, brings down Stannis because he gives Jon Winterfell 

Or in a more serious note, perhaps a Stag's fall will lure shadows, shadows of the white kind.

The giant elk that carries Coldhands and Bran and their traveling companions is eventually killed and eaten by the riders. I wonder whether GRRM is comparing Bran and his fellow travelers to elk-eating shadows?

[Corvo the Crow]

@Seams and @LynnS you'll probably be interested in this.

 

I don't know if the "prophecy" I'll discuss has been "deciphered" before, so here I go.

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Patchface rang his bells. "It is always summer under the sea," he intoned. "The merwives wear nennymoans in their hair and weave gowns of silver seaweed. I know, I know, oh, oh, oh."

It is widely accepted at this point that this is Sansa, wearing a hairnet with amethysts on it in Joffrey's wedding. So Sansa is our merwive.

Below is Sansa, escaping from King's Landing after Joffrey's Wedding.

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Ser Dontos pulled her back onto her feet. "This way. Quiet now, quiet, quiet." He stayed close to the shadows that lay black and thick beneath the cliffs. Thankfully they did not have to go far. Fifty yards downriver, a man sat in a small skiff, half-hidden by the remains of a great galley that had gone aground there and burned. Dontos limped up to him, puffing. "Oswell?"

"No names," the man said. "In the boat." He sat hunched over his oars, an old man, tall and gangling, with long white hair and a great hooked nose, with eyes shaded by a cowl. "Get in, be quick about it," he muttered. "We need to be away."

When both of them were safe aboard, the cowled man slid the blades into the water and put his back into the oars, rowing them out toward the channel. Behind them the bells were still tolling the boy king's death. They had the dark river all to themselves.

With slow, steady, rhythmic strokes, they threaded their way downstream, sliding above the sunken galleys, past broken masts, burned hulls, and torn sails. The oarlocks had been muffled, so they moved almost soundlessly. A mist was rising over the water. Sansa saw the embattled ramparts of one of the Imp's winch towers looming above, but the great chain had been lowered, and they rowed unimpeded past the spot where a thousand men had burned. The shore fell away, the fog grew thicker, the sound of the bells began to fade. Finally even the lights were gone, lost somewhere behind them. They were out in Blackwater Bay, and the world shrank to dark water, blowing mist, and their silent companion stooped over the oars. "How far must we go?" she asked.

"No talk." The oarsman was old, but stronger than he looked, and his voice was fierce. There was something oddly familiar about his face, though Sansa could not say what it was.

"Not far." Ser Dontos took her hand in his own and rubbed it gently. "Your friend is near, waiting for you."

"No talk!" the oarsman growled again. "Sound carries over water, Ser Fool."

Abashed, Sansa bit her lip and huddled down in silence. The rest was rowing, rowing, rowing.

The eastern sky was vague with the first hint of dawn when Sansa finally saw a ghostly shape in the darkness ahead; a trading galley, her sails furled, moving slowly on a single bank of oars. As they drew closer, she saw the ship's figurehead, a merman with a golden crown blowing on a great seashell horn. She heard a voice cry out, and the galley swung slowly about.

 

We later learn that the ship is Merling King, the ship from Braavos that Petyr was going to take to go to Vale and it continues it's voyage to Braavos after dropping it's precious cargo off the Fingers. 

Quote

 

Lord Tywin turned back to Littlefinger. "If Lysa Arryn will take you for a husband and return to the king's peace, we shall restore the Lord Robert to the honor of Warden of the East. How soon might you leave?"

"On the morrow, if the winds permit. There's a Braavosi galley standing out past the chain, taking on cargo by boat. The Merling King. I'll see her captain about a berth."

"You will miss the king's wedding," said Mace Tyrell.

Petyr Baelish gave a shrug. "Tides and brides wait on no man, my lord. Once the autumn storms begin the voyage will be much more hazardous. Drowning would definitely diminish my charms as a bridegroom."

Lord Tyrell chuckled. "True. Best you do not linger."

"May the gods speed you on your way," the High Septon said. "All King's Landing shall pray for your success."

 - ASoS Tyrion III

 

The ladder to the forecastle was steep and splintery, so Sansa accepted a hand up from Lothor Brune. Ser Lothor, she had to remind herself; the man had been knighted for his valor in the Battle of the Blackwater. Though no proper knight would wear those patched brown breeches and scuffed boots, nor that cracked and water-stained leather jerkin. A square-faced stocky man with a squashed nose and a mat of nappy grey hair, Brune spoke seldom. He is stronger than he looks, though. She could tell by the ease with which he lifted her, as if she weighed nothing at all.

Off the bow of the Merling King stretched a bare and stony strand, windswept, treeless, and uninviting. Even so, it made a welcome sight. They had been a long while clawing their way back on course. The last storm had swept them out of sight of land, and sent such waves crashing over the sides of the galley that Sansa had been certain they were all going to drown. Two men had been swept overboard, she had heard old Oswell saying, and another had fallen from the mast and broken his neck. - ASoS Sansa VI

"Here?" She did not want to go ashore here. The Fingers were a dismal place, she'd heard, and there was something forlorn and desolate about the little tower. "Couldn't I stay on the ship until we make sail for White Harbor?"

"From here the King turns east for Braavos. Without us."

"But . . . my lord, you said . . . you said we were sailing home." - ASoS Sansa VI

 

 

So now that we've established some things, let's go straight to the "prophecy"...

Jon, in Selyse's court, brings forward the matter of organizing a ranging for Hardhome despite her objections and the question of who will lead arises

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Up spoke Ser Malegorn. "Lord Snow, who will lead this ranging?"

"Are you offering yourself, ser?"

"Do I look so foolish?"

Patchface jumped up. "I will lead it!" His bells rang merrily. "We will march into the sea and out again. Under the waves we will ride seahorses, and mermaids will blow seashells to announce our coming, oh, oh, oh."

They all laughed. Even Queen Selyse allowed herself a thin smile. Jon was less amused. "I will not ask my men to do what I would not do myself. I mean to lead the ranging."

"How bold of you," said the queen. "We approve. Afterward some bard will make a stirring song about you, no doubt, and we shall have a more prudent lord commander." She took a sip of wine. "Let us speak of other matters. Axell, bring in the wildling king, if you would be so good."

Ser Malegorn of Redpool considers it'd be foolish and as soon as he makes it known by asking if he looks foolish, the fool Patchface declares he will lead.

This is Dany trying to explain Drogo how they'll cross the narrow sea.

Quote

 

"The earth ends at the black salt sea," Drogo answered at once. He wet a cloth in a basin of warm water to wipe the sweat and oil from his skin. "No horse can cross the poison water."

"In the Free Cities, there are ships by the thousand," Dany told him, as she had told him before. "Wooden horses with a hundred legs, that fly across the sea on wings full of wind."

Khal Drogo did not want to hear it. "We will speak no more of wooden horses and iron chairs." He dropped the cloth and began to dress. "This day I will go to the grass and hunt, woman wife," he announced as he shrugged into a painted vest and buckled on a wide belt with heavy medallions of silver, gold, and bronze.

 

So a wooden horse would be a seahorse.

The merwive wearing nennymoan boards a wooden horse, which would be a sea horse with a crowned merman blowing seashell on it's prow, mermaids blowing seashells. 

 

Also worth noticing is Ser Dontos Hollard, a fool escorts Sansa the merwive in the prophecy, and in another prophecy, another fool, Aegon Jinglebells is present so looking for fools for prophecies could be the way to go.

[LynnS]

1 hour ago, Corvo the Crow said:

Also worth noticing is Ser Dontos Hollard, a fool escorts Sansa the merwive in the prophecy, and in another prophecy, another fool, Aegon Jinglebells is present so looking for fools for prophecies could be the way to go.

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A Game of Thrones - Eddard XV

The dungeon was under the Red Keep, deeper than he dared imagine. He remembered the old stories about Maegor the Cruel, who murdered all the masons who labored on his castle, so they might never reveal its secrets.

He damned them all: Littlefinger, Janos Slynt and his gold cloaks, the queen, the Kingslayer, Pycelle and Varys and Ser Barristan, even Lord Renly, Robert's own blood, who had run when he was needed most. Yet in the end he blamed himself. "Fool," he cried to the darkness, "thrice-damned blind fool."

 

 

Edited January 12, 2022 by LynnS

[Alexis-something-Rose]

"He came to save the realm, my lord, Davos insisted. "To defend your lands against the ironborn and the wildlings."

Next to the high seat, Ser Marlon Manderly gave a snort of disdain. "It has been centuries since White Harbor has seen any wildlings, and the ironmen have never troubled this coast. Does Lord Stannis propose to defend us from snarks and dragons too?" (Davos III, ADwD)

This passage is so interesting. The wildlings hadn't come south of the Wall yet when this chapter happened. So it seems like wildlings will be seen in White Harbor.

The ironborn never came up the eastern coast of Westeros, but that may be changing with Euron as their king. Euron wants all of Westeros. This chapter takes place before the kingsmoot.

The snarks are still north of the Wall, but not for long.

And the dragons. Ser Marlon doesn't spend enough time at the Lazy Eel to listen to the stories of the sailors coming ashore. Ser Marlon doesn't know that there are in fact dragons in the world once again. Davos found out about them in his previous chapter.

Edited January 12, 2022 by Alexis-something-Rose
Lord Stannis, Not Lord Lannister

[Corvo the Crow]

On 1/13/2022 at 12:16 AM, LynnS said:

 

House Hollard has 3 crowns on their CoA… 

[Corvo the Crow]

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The sword was much lighter than he had expected. As he turned it in his hand he saw why. Only one metal could be beaten so thin and still have strength enough to fight with, and there was no mistaking those ripples, the mark of steel that has been folded back on itself many thousands of times. "Valyrian steel?"

First let's get this out of the way, I've never noticed that Valyrian steel was beaten thin, so perhaps a comparison with other thin blades such as the Others' thin blades are in order.

 

Now for the main reason of my post: Though I couldn't find the text evidence for it, wiki claims that Widow's Wail is smaller than Oathkeeper, which reminds me of another set of Valyrian blade pairs... Blackfyre and the smaller Dark Sister. Their naming are curious as well, Oathkeeper and Blackfyre are not spelled as Oath Keeper and Black Fyre while Dark Sister and Widow's Wail are spelled as two words. A Blackfyre situation for Starks or maybe Lannisters in the future perhaps?

[The Bard of Banefort]

ASOS:

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Lord Redwyne pinched at his nose. "May we return to the matter of the Greyjoy alliance? In my view, there is much to be said for it. Greyjoy's longships will augment my own fleet and give us sufficient strength at sea to assault Dragonstone and end Stannis Baratheon's pretensions."

AFFC:

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The news from the Reach seemed to grow more dire with every raven. The ironmen had not been content with their new rocks, it seemed. They were raiding up the Mander in strength, and had gone so far as to attack the Arbor and the smaller islands that surrounded it. The Redwynes had kept no more than a dozen warships in their home waters, and all those had been overwhelmed, taken, or sunk. And now there were reports that this madman who called himself Euron Crow's Eye was even sending longships up Whispering Sound toward Oldtown.

Paxter Redwyne was in favor of the Greyjoy alliance, but the Lannisters refused. Now the Ironborn are raiding his land and sinking his ships instead. Methinks Lord Redwyne is going to be looking for some payback once a certain Aegon reaches King's Landing.

[Fool Stands On Giant’s Toe]

On 1/3/2022 at 11:19 AM, Corvo the Crow said:

becomes white after staying in the river for so long

Bah! You made question  if she always dyed her hair, and it came out in the wash, or a Who’s really under that cloak situation, or is death just bad for your hair? 
I’m hitting the easy button. Magic.

 

[The Bard of Banefort]

There’s another queen who never was aside from Rhaenys and Daena: Daenora, Rhaegal’s daughter and Maekar’s niece. She gave birth to Aerion’s son, Maegor, during Maekar’s reign, so she would have still been alive when Aerys I died. But she was passed over, and the crown went to her father’s younger brother instead.

Edited January 24, 2022 by The Bard of Banefort

[Alexis-something-Rose]

2 hours ago, The Bard of Banefort said:

There’s another queen who never was aside from Rhaenys and Daena: Daenora, Rhaegal’s daughter and Maekar’s niece. She gave birth to Aerion’s son, Maegor, during Maekar’s reign, so she would have still been alive when Aerys I died. But she was passed over, and the crown went to her father’s younger brother instead.

The super interesting thing about Daenora is that she is Arryn down her mother's side, making her son Arryn by blood. So him getting passed over at the Great Council might not have sat all that well with House Arryn. 

This doesn't feel like a coincidence. Maybe Jon Arryn wasn't just trying to protect Ned and Robert when Aerys called for their heads but was also acting on an old grievance.

[EggBlue]

15 minutes ago, Crazy Old Guy said:

I just realized that Stannis could be the Valonquar that Cersei speaks of.

He's the brother-in-law to Cersei. Jaime could probably never go through with choking her to death no matter what.

technically yes but that doesn't seem like Stannis's style

[EggBlue]

8 minutes ago, Crazy Old Guy said:

I understand. But Stannis is a person with pent-up anger and knowing all the horrible shit that Cersei has done would probably set him on a tangent.

Maybe...

The other other theory that I have is that it's Davos that does it, but that's kinda a crackpot theory of mine.

Davos?! do tell..

[Corvo the Crow]

Robert Strong wasn't just randomly named, he is named so as to give the readers a hint that There's a connection between Strongs and Baratheons and perhaps also Lannisters to a degree. "The seed is STRONG" was also not just some random choice of words but a forerunner of this connection.

Ser Lucamore Strong of the KG has 16 bastards just like Robert Baratheon.

Cersei has 3 bastards from her lover that look like their father but they  are considered trueborn just as Queen Rhaenyra,whose lover was Harwin Strong, had 3 bastards that looked like their father but are considered trueborn.

 

 

[Takiedevushkikakzvezdy]

Jaime's famous line "There are no men like me, there is only me", apparently isn't in the books... 

[Hugorfonics]

2 hours ago, Takiedevushkikakzvezdy said:

Jaime's famous line "There are no men like me, there is only me", apparently isn't in the books... 

"What gods are those, Lady Catelyn? The trees your husband prayed to? How well did they serve him when my sister took his head off?" Jaime gave a chuckle. "If there are gods, why is the world so full of pain and injustice?"

"Because of men like you."

"There are no men like me. There's only me."

[Takiedevushkikakzvezdy]

39 minutes ago, Hugorfonics said:

"What gods are those, Lady Catelyn? The trees your husband prayed to? How well did they serve him when my sister took his head off?" Jaime gave a chuckle. "If there are gods, why is the world so full of pain and injustice?"

"Because of men like you."

"There are no men like me. There's only me."

I really need some caffeine.

[Fool Stands On Giant’s Toe]

I never noticed the depth of how descriptive all the teeth are in the series.