The Black Cat - warg of Rhaenys?

[TheHedgeWizard]

Well there is something going on with this cat and i dont think we have heard the last of it.

It might not be probable for a feral cat to live 20 years but it is possible and this is a fantasy series were alot of things are possible. i dont think there is any doubt this is Balerion T. Cat.

[Northern]

I wish I had my books on me. I SWEAR at one point, it's said that the cat is missing an eye.

Haven't found anything on it being a one-eyed cat, but I did find this from one of Arya's chapters in AGOT:

The one-eared black tom arched his back and hissed at her.

Arya padded down the alley, balanced lightly on the balls of her bare feet, listening to the flutter of her heart, breathing slow deep breaths. Quiet as a shadow, she told herself, light as a feather. The tomcat watched her come, his eyes wary.

Seems to have both eyes at that point.

Sansa chapter in ACOK:

She ran down a shadowy colonnade and pressed herself against a wall to catch her breath. When something brushed against her leg, she almost jumped out of her skin, but it was only a cat, a ragged black tom with a chewed-off ear. The creature spit at her and leapt away.

And from Kevan's epilogue in ADWD:

The king seemed happier than Kevan Lannister had seen him in a long time. From soup

to sweet Tommen burbled about the exploits of his kittens, whilst feeding them morsels of pike

off his own royal plate. “The bad cat was outside my window last night,” he informed Kevan at

one point, “but Ser Pounce hissed at him and he ran off across the roofs.”

“The bad cat?” Ser Kevan said, amused.

He is a sweet boy.

“An old black tomcat with a torn ear,” Cersei told him. “A filthy thing, and foul-tempered.

He clawed Joff’s hand once.” She made a face. “The cats keep the rats down, I know, but that

one … he’s been known to attack ravens in the rookery.”

The only thing I came up with that is close to being a "one eyed cat" is in reference to Tyrion's sellswords in Sansa's first chapter in ACOK:

Two of his men followed close behind him; a black-haired black-eyed sellsword who moved like a stalking cat, and a gaunt youth with an empty socket where one eye should have been. Tommen and Myrcella trailed after them.

Hope that helps~

[assjfjgjsgjljljglgjfjsduar]

^ Yeah, I looked in the books and it's one ear, not one eye. I was so sure. :D

[FanTasy]

it actually seems like a really good idea. they mention that cats are almost as plentiful as rats, and a cat could come and go as it pleases.

Sadly, as my own bunch of cats - still and inexplicably 'unwarged' :cool4: , tell me, cat's can't come and go as it pleases them.

Most cats are utterly helpless when they are confronted with closed doors. And stray cats meet a lot of people who chase them away or don't wan't them sitting at meetings.

I'm not saying the cat can't be skinchanged and if so Bloodraven did so. I'm just curious about what the purpose is for gathering intelligence at Kings Landing, if it is Bloodraven using this cat. Somehow I doubt he wants to know all that happens everywhere just because he can know all that happens everywhere.

I agree with what some posters said: the cat is mentioned multiple times. So this must have a meaning.

I think a more obvious function of this cat in the writing is that Arya, when chasing it training her skills, met with Varys and Illyrio, giving the readers plot information. Subsequently finding her way out of the dungeons, and this facilitated Arya to get out of the Red Keep when things went bad after Trant came to collect her.

And the black cat is a nice reminder of the tragic thing that happened at Kings Landing: the death of its owner. To remind us what happened at the Sack, the slaying of Rhaegars children which is an important event in the plot.

[Random person in the North]

We've seen that skinchangers can warg into an animal upon death. So far in the entire series of ASOIAF, the only Targ that we know has the ability to skinchage is BloodRaven. Rhaenys was also 3-4 when she died, which makes me think she wasn't some superpowered Warg wizard...

But Rickon isn't much older than that and definitely has a "warging" connection with Shaggydog. Arya isn't a superpowered warg wizard but she's had the "wolf dreams" for a long time and can now take over other animals too.

I don't see any evidence that warging is just related to the Starks/COTF/first men. Others could have the same powers.

Personally I think it's hinted that some of Rhaenys' consciousness lives on in Balerion. I don't think she was consciously warging the cat but there was a close connection. From a story point of view it doesn't matter - because I doubt it will ever go anywhere - but I do think it's a nice bit of background detail.

Of course it could just be that GRRM mentions the cat regularly because he likes to. Cats show up quite regularly in his earlier (non-ASOIF) short stories.

[Ser Rupp of House Pancake]

It makes the most sense that the black cat is the Bloodraven/three-eyed crow spying on king's landing. Take this Line from ACoK immediately after the black cat brushes Sansa's Leg while on her way to the godswood

"... even here, in the heart of the castle at the heart of the city, you could feel the old gods watching with a thousand unseen eyes."

-- A Clash of Kings (pp. 282-283).

Yes this literally refers to the godswood, but it is also referring to bloodraven's thousand eyes and it is so closely juxtaposed to the cat, that it can be no coincidence. The black cat is clearly linked to the old god's watching via bloodraven/three-eyed crow.

As to whether the cat is Balerion-- probably. Poetically it makes sense-- why introduce 2 black cats when one will do. He would be over 17 years old as of his most recent appearance in ADwD (which is very old for any cat and unheard of for a feral stray) but the influence of Bloodraven warging him could extend his life. I think he was warged even when Rhaenys was alive, so bloodraven, the children and "the old gods" could know what was going on back then.

Furthermore, maybe Ser Pounce is so unhappy with the black cat because he is resisting being warged. Maybe Balerion has been bugging Ser Pounce as a way for Bloodraven to get close enough to warg another cat close to another possibly doomed royal. We have been told cats hate to be warged and resist it terribly.

[FanTasy]

He would be over 17 years old as of his most recent appearance in ADwD (which is very old for any cat and unheard of for a feral stray) but the influence of Bloodraven warging him could extend his life.

Care to elaborate? Why could an animal that is skinchanged into live longer than animals that - quite inexplicably - were not skinchanged into?

[Jon&TheDragons]

I'm sure people have had plenty of theories about this but I haven't found it on the forum. If someone knows please hint me to it :)

Maybe the cat, whomever he may be, knows secrets...such as where dragon eggs would be hidden.

Any thoughts on that?

[Rheagar Prime]

all this time i was saying bloodraven but hey why not rhaenys its just that martin say she is dead makes me skeptical, but one never knows.

[not in the face]

After reading this, I think some of the cats behavior is attributed to just being a cat but is it possible instead that Balerion is being warged by Sansa? She loathes Lannisters and would want to know what is going on around KL.

[GhostC]

yeah my step dad had a cat that lived to be 30 lol so in the timeline, considering that he's "old as sin" it definitely works...i don't think Rhaenys is involved in any way though, pretty sure it's just Bloodraven's way of keeping his eye on things, and just because he may not be as interested in the political side of things anymore there are still important things that concern him happening in King's Landing, for example sending men to the wall, or even potentially realizing the imminent threat and convincing the rest of the seven kingdoms to lend their arms to stop the others, etc.

[Ladywhiskers]

I don't think Sansa does want to know what's going on in King's Landing. She got away from there, that's really her main concern. And I really can't see her spying on Tommen, of all people, if she really still did care what was happening at King's Landing. Sansa has no real interest in, or claim on, the Iron Throne, and no desire to ever return to the Red Keep. We have never seen her have a warging dream, either.

The cat is most likely Rhaenys' kitten, and very possibly the sire or grandsire of Tommen's kittens. I'm not sure why Bloodraven would concern himself with Tommen or the antics of Ser Pounce, but it would make sense for him to warg the cat if he wanted to look at the Red Keep. I like the idea of Rhaenys surviving, living on through her kitten, but if that's what's happening, the poor girl is probably just looking at the kittens, remembering how much she loved playing with hers, and wondering who this strange boy is whose tastes are so similar.

[the conquoring bastard25]

I have to agree that Bloodraven would have every reason to want to keep an eye on what's going on in the Capital, for no other reason then this, Knowledge is a weapon, arm yourself well before you ride into battle Jon Snow, Aemon tells him right before he leaves the wall. His last piece of council mind you.

Aemon would have spend plenty of time in the company of his Great Uncle's company while they were in the Watch together. A man that was the spy master of the realm would know a thing about Knowledge and it being an useful tool.

Bloodraven has been keeping an eye on this generations Starks for quite sometime, he's taken a special interest in Bran and Jon as of right now, but he's been keeping an eye on Sansa while she was in the Capital and he was the one that lead Arya on her merry chase though the dungeons that led her to uncovering part of Varys and the Fat Man's plot.

Bloodraven is like the Bobby Fisher of information he sees and knows all. He moves and forces Bran to come to him by plaguing him with dreams of the Three eyed crow until Bran is in a situation where he's in a position that he has to come to him. He was sending those dreams for months before he had to make the journey, he even sent dreams to Jojen and Howland so that he would send Meera and Jojen to winterfell.

He's been in more than one of Jon's dreams in the first scene the we see of Jon(dance) he's being courted by Bloodraven has he's posing to be the moon and is chasing Ghost up and down the wall. Jon tries to hide but the moon laughs I don't know about you but even in my wildest dreams the moon never laughs at me. Then as Jon is forced awake again Mormont's raven is jumping on his chest and rudely awakens Jon from his slumber. This is also the same dream where jon gets some pretty accurate information of where his brother's and sister's wolves are as there are weirwoods on the trident, Skagos and above Bran in the cave.

The question came up about why would Bloodraven bother with KL?

Beyond the fact that he wants his cousin more than likely on the throne to unite Westeros to act against the White Walkers? Other than the fact that when you know a man you know how to move him. By having eyes and ears all over the kingdom he has details and info about every high lord, lady, plot, scheme going on all over the realm. If his goal to get Jon the throne then having all the information he can get is key to getting the realm to supporting Jon and his claim.