Moments of Foreshadowing

[Teal'c]

Which makes me wonder, is someone stealing these ships and hording the men/cargo/elephants? Are they sinking in storms? What's happening to them? Is it specifically said that they're being "preyed upon"?

Whoever they are, the Iron Bank doesn't know their identity. Maybe Asshai?

If memory serves:

All of the cogs carrying the elephants were blown south near the Stepstones and have not shown up. That not a single one made shore is what makes it curious.

Victarion split his fleet into thirds, one of which went to Lys which would likely take them along the southern shores of the Stepstones. Not a single one of the larger slower ships made it to Victarion (which may have been all of them that went toward Lys.).

During the Doran/Arianne chat with the cyvasse board, Doran "was toying with an onyx elephant, turning it in his reddened, swollen hands." Black elephants would fit with ones owned by Asshai, the land of shadow. There's already an "onyx dragon" so it seems it ought not to be a substitute symbol for a Blackfyre and it wasn't a golden elephant.

Add to the creepy that Storm's End seems to have been made with the same anti-wight like magic as the Wall. What's up with that? Patchface leading "dead things in the water," a kraken horn, and now a fleet of shadow binders with a dragon fetish frolicking in the waters around the place that Mel's shadow baby couldn't penetrate.

I think Euron is in league with the Storm god.

Aeron states that he himself fears no mortal man, but Aeron is afraid of Euron. Aeron is particularly opposed to Euron, calling him a godless man; the Storm god is the historical enemy of the Ironborn.

Euron may have summoned the wind the blew Balon off the bridge.

After the sack of the Sheild Islands, Victarion visits Euron in the captured lord's chambers and the description of the wind swirlng around Euron seems like he actually summoned it. This would also explain all his sailing feats, if he can command the winds.

And yes, the castle at Storm's End is enchanted against some powerful magical enemy; its very name suggests the identity of this enemy force.

So Euron and the Storm god may be another invasion front for Westeros.

My crackpot creepy theory is that there will be 7 forces of nature altogether that Westeros will face. They all will have their own brand of undead servants, and they will have historical alliances and animosities with one another, and also strengths and weaknesses against each other, kind of a rock, paper, scissors, lizard, Spock. Kirk, Khan game.

So far we've got ice (Others), fire (Rh'llor), water (Drowned god) and wind (Storm god). Three more forces we haven't seen yet or not noticed.

[Naathi Prince]

When does Old Nan say that? If it is before the fall, it could simply foreshadow how the fall was needed to open his third eye. Bran has dreams of falling where the three-eyed crow is saying fly or die and pecks out his eyes, then a spot on his forehead for his third eye.

This is a solid explanation. Kudos.

[Naathi Prince]

I'm starting to be as paranoid as Aerys when it comes to foreshadowing, but anyone else thinks that those injuries somehow mirror Jon's own in the last chapter:

One arrow took Mance Rayder in the chest, one in the gut, one in the throat. The fourth struck one of the cage’s wooden bars, and quivered for an instant before catching fire. A woman’s sobs echoed off the Wall as the wildling king slid bonelessly to the floor of his cage, wreathed in fire. “And now his Watch is done,” Jon murmured softly. Mance Rayder had been a man of the Night’s Watch once, before he changed his black cloak for one slashed with bright red silk.

Throat and gut were there for sure and the fourth arrow/stab that didn't reach the target, the chest can be assumed as as close to shoulders as you can get when the archers are firing from only one direction, I guess. And than follows "and now his watch is done" and changing from black cloak to black and red one. Sounds familiar.

Black and Red are Targaryen Colors (RL=J forever)

[Faint]

It is ambiguous, it can be either Shiera Seastar or the actual reference to Ashara Dayne, but can also refers that Ashara Dayne is alive (Septa Lemore) and Shiera is Quaithe

It does leave the possibility that it might be one or the other I suppose. Although, I still favor her being Ashara Dayne.

[Fat Mac]

I think Euron is in league with the Storm god.

Aeron states that he himself fears no mortal man, but Aeron is afraid of Euron. Aeron is particularly opposed to Euron, calling him a godless man; the Storm god is the historical enemy of the Ironborn.

Euron may have summoned the wind the blew Balon off the bridge.

After the sack of the Sheild Islands, Victarion visits Euron in the captured lord's chambers and the description of the wind swirlng around Euron seems like he actually summoned it. This would also explain all his sailing feats, if he can command the winds.

And yes, the castle at Storm's End is enchanted against some powerful magical enemy; its very name suggests the identity of this enemy force.

So Euron and the Storm god may be another invasion front for Westeros.

My crackpot creepy theory is that there will be 7 forces of nature altogether that Westeros will face. They all will have their own brand of undead servants, and they will have historical alliances and animosities with one another, and also strengths and weaknesses against each other, kind of a rock, paper, scissors, lizard, Spock. Kirk, Khan game.

So far we've got ice (Others), fire (Rh'llor), water (Drowned god) and wind (Storm god). Three more forces we haven't seen yet or not noticed.

Can I say that I love your theory. That'd be really awesome. Perhaps the CotF and Bran could be wood, due to the Weirwoods? Maybe Arya and the FM represent some Light/Dark balance or something. Well, either way this theory is awesome.

[Sword in the Morning]

In ASoS, Ser Gregor's shield is painted over with the seven pointed star for his battle against the Red Viper. I figure this could be a subtle foreshadowing to his future alias Robert Strong, who arrays himself in very piously ornamented armor, and takes the seven pointed star for his sigil.

[chrisdaw]

I don't think so, Brienne is still behaving honourably in ADWD as she is saving her squire's life (and keeping her original vow to Catelyn as well). That is hard to do so doesn't make it less honourable, rather the contrary.

By Brienne's reckoning I don't think selling out Jaime is honorable.

[Pod The Impaler]

Aurane Waters? WHERE ARE YOU AURANE WATERS?

Mopping the deck on Sallador Saan's flagship, most likely.

[SkaagosChef]

ACOK - end of Arya's first chapter - foreshadowing of Ice being melted down

"The comet was splendid and scary all at once. "The red Sword," the Bull named it; he claimed it looked like a sword, the blade still red hot from the forge. When Arya squinted the right way she could see the sword too, only it wasn't a new sword, it was Ice, her father's greatsword, all ripply Valyrian steel, and the red was Lord Eddards blood on the blade after Ser Ilyn the King's Justice had cut of his head".

When Jamie see's re-forged part Ice (Oathkeeper) , he notices that red doesn't mix with gray steel of Ice (it's Lord Eddar's blood :bawl: )

[Zabuza]

Frog-faced Lord Slynt sat at the end of the council table wearing a black velvet doublet and a shiny cloth-of-gold cape, nodding with approval every time the king pronounced a sentence. Sansa stared hard at his ugly face, remembering how he had thrown down her father for Ser Ilyn to behead, wishing she could hurt him, wishing that some hero would throw him down and cut off his head.

So Jon is a hero! hooray! too bad he is coma.

[Wouter]

Regarding the ships with the elephants: I think some of them did arrive, just later than expected and scattered along the coast of the Stormlands. I think this was mentioned in conversation between Strickland and Connington in the latter's last chapter.

[Associate Maester]

Wow. The ships disappearing off the Stepstones is freaky. I'm doubting anything from Asshai. It seems odd at this stage to introduce yet more players. I'm in favor of the Euron-in-league with the Storm God theory.

[tze]

In King's Landing, Rhaenys's Hill contains the Dragonpit and Visenya's Hill contains the Great Sept of Baelor. In ACOK Dany points out that she descends from Rhaenys (but not, apparently, from Visenya). This could be a hint that she'll have dragon support but she won't get the support of the Faith.

Given that GRRM has basically confirmed that there will be a second Dance of the Dragons, perhaps the divide between the "King's Men" and "Queen's Men" in Stannis's forces foreshadows the future division between Aegon's followers (King's Men) and Dany's followers (Queen's Men). (I wouldn't be surprised if those actual terms---King's Men and Queen's Men---are literally used by the two future groups.) Given the religious divide among Stannis's forces---the King's Men follow the Seven and the Queen's Men follow R'hllor---this could be a hint that Dany will in fact join up with the Red Priests, especially given Aegon's (closer) association with the Faith.

Rhaegal attempts to make his lair in the pyramid of Hazkar, the residents fight him off, he destroys that pyramid and instead makes his lair in "the great black pyramid of Yherizan". That he ends up taking over a black pyramid could foreshadow him either ending up with Aegon (Blackfyre) or Jon (of the Night's Watch), especially given the verbal association between Rhaegal and Rhaegar. That Rhaegal destroys his first "home" could foreshadow Rhaegal destroying his first "controller" (perhaps the first person to try and ride him gets destroyed?) but not his second.

[Bushido]

I like the Rhaegal idea :thumbsup:

[FittleLinger]

In AFFC, Cersei first chapter, she dreams that she is naked in front of all her court, and then the Iron Throne consumes her,,,

[hum]

In ACOK:

"Harren and all his line had perished in the fires that engulfed his monstrous fortress, and every house that held Harrenhal since had come to misfortune. Strong it might be, but it was a dark place, and cursed."

Very foreshadowing

[Sand Snake No. 9]

Bear with me, I'm responding to 11 pages of unread comments. Or not, skip this post at your pleasure.

I was rereading the ASOS chapter Jaime springs Tyrion out of the black cell. While discussing that Tyrion will go flee to the Free Cities, Tyrion said, "Another name? Oh, certainly. And when the Faceless Men come to kill me, I'll say, 'No you have the wrong dwarf with a hideous facial scar.'"

Considering the Cat's thoughts about looking like she had drowned and Jaime's statement on being crippled, does Tyrion's Faceless Men reference foreshadow that Arya crosses paths with Tyrion?

Do you mean "crosses paths with Tyrion" to kill him, or that they will just encounter each other? (Here I am asking a question a month later.) I could see Cersei getting paranoid enough to hire a Faceless Man to kill her valonqar, but without Littlefinger or Varys around to help her I don't know how she'd contact them, and then there's the question of the price. She couldn't get money from the realm, not with the Small Council packed with Tyrells and the fact that the realm is bankrupt. I can't think of anyone else who would want to hire a FM to kill Tyrion. (I almost wrote "I can't think of anyone else who wants to kill Tyrion" but that would be a LIE!!)

I don't, however, believe that Arya's going any place but Westeros in the near future. Tyrion will be in Essos for a while trying to ingratiate himself with Dany (GRRM will have to do some fancy writing to get me to believe that Dany would take to Tyrion, never mind make him her Hand, in spite of all predictions. He's a traitorous, kinslaying, ugly Lannister. On top of that he's the son of the man who had her niece and nephew brutally killed, brother of THE Kingslayer, brother-in-law of the Usurper, and husband of one of the Usurper's puppies. I don't think she'll appreciate his "wit," either, or his whoring and drinking and association with Jorah Mormont. Yeah, fancy, fancy, fancy writing.

When Mormont gave Jon Longclaw in AGoT:

. . .

"A sword’s small payment for a life,” Mormont concluded. “Take it, I’ll hear no more of it, is that understood?”

“Yes, my lord.” The soft leather gave beneath Jon’s fingers, as if the sword were molding itself to his grip already. He knew he should be honored, and he was, and yet . . .

He is not my father. The thought leapt unbidden to Jon’s mind. Lord Eddard Stark is my father. I will not forget him, no matter how many swords they give me. Yet he could scarcely tell Lord Mormont that it was another man’s sword he dreamt of . . . "

Does this mean Jon will always think of himself as Ned's son even when he sits on the Iron Throne (made from lots of swords) as Rhaegar's boy?

Interesting statement considering Jon's crypt dreams, where the old Kings of the North tell him he doesn't belong because he's not a Stark, and he feels the same.

I thought specifically of House Redwyne because, in Dany's very first chapter in AGOT, Viserys lists for her the nobility that he believes will support a Targaryen restoration:

. . .

Before AFFC, I thought that was just a random list meant to show Viserys's ignorance---after all, why on earth would the Greyjoys of all people support the Targs? They do hate the Baratheons, but that's because they hate everybody. But given that the Greyjoys (and the Dornishmen) have now actively sought out Dany for an alliance, and both groups seem likely to screw her over (intentionally on the Dornishmen's part, unintentionally on the Greyjoys' part), I now think this list might be a very early hint as to the Westerosi that will 1) initially appear pro-Dany but 2) will end up screwing Dany over. (I mean, House Darry is basically now House Frey, since every remaining Darry is either married to, or a daughter of, a Frey, so allying with "House Darry" would be poisonous to any conquest---and House Tyrell, of course, is controlled by Mace, an idiot.)

As they have done in the past, the Freys will keep out of the conflict until the winner is obvious, then they'll join the fight. On the other hand, dragons might induce them to move earlier. But at the rate Dany's moving there might not be any Freys, or Darry-Freys, by the time she gets to Westeros.

She saw men whose teeth had been filed into points, hags with goiters as big as their heads, a whore with a huge striped snake draped about breasts and shoulders, a man whose cheeks and brow were covered with open sores that wept grey pus.

I think that the man whose face had open sores might be, might, be the Faceless Man with the plague sores. This theory appeals to me because a FM loose in King's Landing could be entertaining indeed. Who hired one to kill whom?

I like the idea of the working girl with the snake symbolizing the Sand Snakes on their way to bring the Lannisters down.

Which makes me wonder, is someone stealing these ships and hording the men/cargo/elephants? Are they sinking in storms? What's happening to them? Is it specifically said that they're being "preyed upon"?

Aurane Waters with Cersei's dromonds, I'll bet. I would think, however, that he'd jump on a Targ bandwagon considering the close connection between the Targaryens and House Valeryon, his father's house.

Add to the creepy that Storm's End seems to have been made with the same anti-wight like magic as the Wall. What's up with that? Patchface leading "dead things in the water," a kraken horn, and now a fleet of shadow binders with a dragon fetish frolicking in the waters around the place that Mel's shadow baby couldn't penetrate.

Darling Mel burned the godswood at Storm's End. It's my theory that she f*cked up the castle's mojo when she did that and destroyed its ancient protection. Damn Mel!

My crackpot creepy theory is that there will be 7 forces of nature altogether that Westeros will face. They all will have their own brand of undead servants, and they will have historical alliances and animosities with one another, and also strengths and weaknesses against each other, kind of a rock, paper, scissors, lizard, Spock. Kirk, Khan game.

So far we've got ice (Others), fire (Rh'llor), water (Drowned god) and wind (Storm god). Three more forces we haven't seen yet or not noticed.

Earth (CotF), Wood (greenseers) and Metal (Valyrians (Targs) or Men in general)

[tze]

In the bear pit at Harrenhal, Jaime tells Brienne he only rescues maidens. This foreshadows his refusal to rescue the non-maiden Cersei.

Westeros apparently has a cheerful song called "The Queen Took Off Her Sandal, The King Took Off His Crown." In Daznak's Pit, Dany mentions that her sandal has fallen off. Queen Daenerys losing her sandal presages King Hizdahr losing his crown.

[Pod The Impaler]

Wow. The ships disappearing off the Stepstones is freaky. I'm doubting anything from Asshai. It seems odd at this stage to introduce yet more players. I'm in favor of the Euron-in-league with the Storm God theory.

Maybe it's not pirates like Salad Door, or Aegon's fleet, or or Aurane Waters, or even Big Vic's efleet doing this.

Maybe some Celtigar halfwit went down to their castle cellar, and found that kraken summoning horn and gave it a try.

" ' Blow horn or kraken ' ? - oh damn, I better blow this horn !" *blows horn*

When it blows, the dust falls off it ... "Ohhh, I see. ... 'Blow horn FOR kraken' - silly me !"

[Harlaw's Book]

Sand Snake No. 9, I think either interpretation of "crossing paths" is possible. I haven't given much thought to how the Arya-Tyrion scene would play out --assuming that it happens of course. I was more focused on the idea that Tyrion was "tempting fate" the same way Cat and Jaime were. The more I think about the possibility of Tyrion encountering a FM, the more I think I might have been to hasty in assuming that Arya would the FM in the scenario. For me Arya's storyline remains so up in the air that if Tyrion does encounter Arya the FM, I could see it happening in either Westeros or Essos.

Now on to something new (I hope). When Bran recounts the story of the Rat Cook, he mentions the cook serving the Andal King Dornish wine along with the pie. It really stuck out to me that the wine was specifically mentioned to be Dornish. Could this be a foreshadowing for the North's and Dorne's secret plots against the Lannisters?