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Moments of Foreshadowing 2


Ice Turtle

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A quote from Bran's last chapter in ACoK when Bran and crew find the godswood at Winterfell has been largely unburnt from the sacking.

"'there is a power in living wood,"said Jojen Reed, almost as if he knew what Bran was thinking, "a power as strong as fire'"

Hopefully that will be foreshadowing what's to come.

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This passage seems rife w/ potential significance:

Jon II ADwD:

“Fire is a cruel way to die. Dalla died to give this child life, but you have nourished him, cherished him. You saved your own boy from the ice. Now save hers from the fire.”

“They’ll burn my babe, then. The red woman. If she can’t have Dalla’s, she’ll burn mine.”

“Your son has no king’s blood. Melisandre gains nothing by giving him to the fire. Stannis wants the free folk to fight for him, he will not burn an innocent without good cause. Your boy will be safe. I will find a wet nurse for him and he’ll be raised here at Castle Black under my protection. He’ll learn to hunt and ride, to fight with sword and axe and bow. I’ll even see that he is taught to read and write.” Sam would like that. “And when he is old enough, he will learn the truth of who he is. He’ll be free to seek you out if that is what he wants.”

“You will make a crow of him.” She wiped at her tears with the back of a small pale hand. “I won’t. I won’t.”

Kill the boy, thought Jon. “You will. Else I promise you, the day that they burn Dalla’s boy, yours will die as well.”

Die,” shrieked the Old Bear’s raven. “Die, die, die.

The girl sat hunched and shrunken, staring at the candle flame, tears glistening in her eyes. Finally Jon said, “You have my leave to go. Do not speak of this, but see that you are ready to depart an hour before first light. My men will come for you.”

Gilly got to her feet. Pale and wordless, she departed, with never a look back at him. Jon heard her footsteps as she rushed through the armory. She was almost running.

When he went to close the door, Jon saw that Ghost was stretched out beneath the anvil, gnawing on the bone of an ox. The big white direwolf looked up at his approach. “Past time that you were back.” He returned to his chair, to read over Maester Aemon’s letter once again.

Samwell Tarly turned up a few moments later, clutching a stack of books. No sooner had he entered than Mormont’s raven flew at him demanding corn. Sam did his best to oblige, offering some kernels from the sack beside the door. The raven did its best to peck through his palm. Sam yowled, the bird flapped off, corn scattered. “Did that wretch break the skin?” Jon asked.

Sam gingerly removed his glove. “He did. I’m bleeding.” “We all shed our blood for the Watch. Wear thicker gloves.” Jon shoved a chair toward him with

a foot. “Sit, and have a look at this.” He handed Sam the parchment. “What is it?”

“A paper shield.”

Sam read it slowly. “A letter to King Tommen?”

At Winterfell, Tommen fought my brother Bran with wooden swords,” Jon said, remembering. “He wore so much padding he looked like a stuffed goose. Bran knocked him to the ground.” He went to the window and threw the shutters open. The air outside was cold and bracing, though the sky was a dull grey. “Yet Bran’s dead, and pudgy pink-faced Tommen is sitting on the Iron Throne, with a crown nestled amongst his golden curls.”

That got an odd look from Sam, and for a moment he looked as if he wanted to say something. Instead he swallowed and turned back to the parchment. “You haven’t signed the letter.”

Jon shook his head. “The Old Bear begged the Iron Throne for help a hundred times. They sent him Janos Slynt. No letter will make the Lannisters love us better. Not once they hear that we’ve been helping Stannis.”

“Only to defend the Wall, not in his rebellion. That’s what it says here.” “The distinction may escape Lord Tywin.” Jon snatched the letter back. “Why would he help us

now? He never did before.”

“Well, he will not want it said that Stannis rode to the defense of the realm whilst King Tommen was playing with his toys. That would bring scorn down upon House Lannister.”

“It’s death and destruction I want to bring down upon House Lannister, not scorn.” Jon read from the letter. “The Night’s Watch takes no part in the wars of the Seven Kingdoms. Our oaths are sworn to the realm, and the realm now stands in dire peril. Stannis Baratheon aids us against our foes from beyond the Wall, though we are not his men ...”

Sam squirmed in his seat. “Well, we’re not. Are we?” “I gave Stannis food, shelter, and the Nightfort, plus leave to settle some free folk in the Gift.

That’s all.”

“Lord Tywin will say it was too much.”

“Stannis says it’s not enough. The more you give a king, the more he wants. We are walking on a bridge of ice with an abyss on either side. Pleasing one king is difficult enough. Pleasing two is hardly possible.”

“Yes, but ... if the Lannisters should prevail and Lord Tywin decides that we betrayed the king by aiding Stannis, it could mean the end of the Night’s Watch. He has the Tyrells behind him, with all the strength of Highgarden. And he did defeat Lord Stannis on the Blackwater.”

“The Blackwater was one battle. Robb won all his battles and still lost his head. If Stannis can raise the north ...”

Sam hesitated, then said, “The Lannisters have northmen of their own. Lord Bolton and his bastard.”

“Stannis has the Karstarks. If he can win White Harbor ...”

“If,” Sam stressed. “If not ... my lord, even a paper shield is better than none.”

“I suppose so.” Him and Aemon both. Somehow he had hoped that Sam Tarly might see it differently. It is only ink and parchment. Resigned, he grabbed the quill and signed. “Get the sealing wax.” Before I change my mind. Sam hastened to obey. Jon fixed the lord commander’s seal and handed him the letter. “Take this to Maester Aemon when you leave, and tell him to dispatch a bird to King’s Landing.”

“I will.” Sam sounded relieved. “My lord, if I might ask ... I saw Gilly leaving. She was almost crying.” “Val sent her to plead for Mance again,” Jon lied, and they talked for a while of Mance and Stannis and Melisandre of Asshai, until the raven ate the last corn kernel and screamed, “Blood.

“I am sending Gilly away,” Jon said. “Her and the boy. We will need to find another wet nurse for his milk brother.”

“Goat’s milk might serve, until you do. It’s better for a babe than cow’s milk.” Talking about breasts plainly made Sam uncomfortable, and suddenly he began to speak of history, and boy commanders who had lived and died hundreds of years ago. Jon cut him off with, “Tell me something useful. Tell me of our enemy.”

…Gilly saved one from ICE (Craster’s and Gilly’s son, who would’ve become a sacrifice to the Others, making him a pretty unique little monster) and the other from FIRE (Mance’s and Dalla’s son who’s got King’s blood and stuff) Possible Boy Commanders to come?...not enough time for this plot line to develop?…yeah that’s probably true…but come on who really believes the Apocalypse is really coming to Westeros…after ADoS the world will still go on…I hope…maybe they'll get their chance next time the apocalypse rolls around...

and then there’s the reference to Bran and Tommen, and boy commanders from 100s of years past, who are these boy commanders? Why is Sam thinking about them in the context of this discussion/passage? Could this be some foreshadowing of religious strife to come as Tommen has re-armed the Faith (a commander of sorts, he commanded that they rearm to defend the faith and stuff) and Bran at the Command of the Wierwood-web network and the Old Gods... or the significance of Gilly's boys....or perhaps this is a thinly veiled reference to Jon’s and Edric Dayne’s shared past as milk brothers and potentially intertwined futures and boy commanders…IDK it’s a stretch…but…

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Watching Sansa getting ready for Joffrey's wedding feast, Tyrion notes:

Shae was helping Sansa with her hair when they entered the bedchamber. Joy and grief, he thought when he beheld them there together. Laughter and tears.

Heh.

In ASOS, Tyrion overhears Tywin discussing the creation of a new sword for Joffrey (Widow's Wail):

". . . cherrywood for the scabbards, bound in red leather and ornamented with a row of lion's-head studs in pure gold. Perhaps with garnets for the eyes. . ."

"Rubies," Lord Tywin said. "Garnets lack the fire."

When Mormont gave Longclaw to Jon, the eyes of its newly-carved direwolf pommel were made out of garnets. Tywin's comment here could serve as a literary hint that Longclaw (and by extension, Ghost) is never going to be associated with fire.

When Lysono Maar tells Connington, Aegon, and the leaders of the Golden Company that they will be unable to reach Meereen by sea, he claims that the sheer size of the Golden Company means "A pirate ship would not suffice. We would need a pirate fleet . . . " (Cue Victarion and his pirate fleet heading to Meereen by sea later in the same book.) And then another member of the GC suggests a different idea:

"We could feign acceptance of the Yunkish offer," urged Gorys Edoryen. "Allow the Yunk'ai to transport us to the east, then return their gold beneath the walls of Meereen."

This is basically exactly what Quentyn and the rest of the Dornishmen end up doing to reach Meereen (minus the giving back of the gold part). The third potential route to Meereen that is suggested by the GC (and ultimately rejected) is the land route---the demon road. (Tyrion ends up in Meereen because he's captured by Jorah Mormont and enslaved along with him---and Jorah's slave mark ends up being a demon mask.) And part of me wonders if the demon road will turn out to be how Marwyn will ultimately make it to Meereen (if in fact he ever does)? When he left the Citadel at the end of AFFC (and the Citadel is in the Reach---the demon road suggestion comes via Franklyn Flowers, and as Aegon so helpfully (and explicitly) points out, "Flowers" is a name you get if you're from the Reach), Marwyn was planning on getting passage to Meereen on the Cinnamon Wind; but it seems to be common knowledge by the time ADWD rolls around that Meereen is blockaded by sea (this is why neither Quentyn nor the Golden Company can find ships willing to sail to Meereen). So if Marwyn is desperate to get to Dany ahead of (so he believes) Citadel-sent assassins, he seems like the sort of person who just might chance the land route (the demon road).

The prince wore sword and dagger, black boots polished to a high sheen, a black cloak lined with blood-red silk. With his hair washed and cut and freshly dyed a deep, dark blue, his eyes looked blue as well. At his throat he wore three huge square-cut rubies on a chain of black iron, a gift from Magister Illyrio.

The other ASOIAF character known for wearing rubies at the throat---Melisandre---is someone who, many readers believe, has been disguising her appearance from the start, so Aegon wearing rubies at his neck could be a hint that his true identity is actually being disguised here, not revealed. He's wearing those rubies on a black iron chain, and a black iron chain is what's worn by maesters who've mastered the skill of ravenry---being "chained" by something associated with mastery over ravens (hello, Bloodraven) is probably not a good omen for Aegon. Aegon's "black cloak lined with red silk" evokes the imagery of Mance's red-silk-patched black Watch cloak (the thing that supposedly started the ball rolling on Mance becoming a King in the first place); that similarity could hint that Aegon will in some way follow in Mance's footsteps----that Aegon will wear no crown, perhaps, or that he will try (and fail) to conquer the North. Moreover, the fact that the cloak itself is black, and the red is beneath the black, could be a hint that Aegon is being symbolically revealed as the black dragon here, not the red dragon.

They gave the prince the best of the three horses, a big grey gelding so pale he was almost white. Griff and Haldon rode beside him on lesser mounts. The road ran south beneath the high white walls of Volon Therys for a good half mile.

The Pale Mare heralded the spread of a devastating disease, and we know Griff has been infected with greyscale at this point, so Aegon riding a pale gelding here could be a hint that his conquest will lead to the coming of a plague (and as "riding the pale mare" is a euphemism for being infected with the Pale Mare, Aegon riding a pale grey gelding could indicate that he himself will catch greyscale). Furthermore, Aegon's horse (the best of the three) is associated with the colors grey and white, Aegon is wearing a black cloak, and Aegon of course claims to be Rhaegar's son---this imagery could serve as a hint toward R+L=J, and potentially to the possibility that Jon, not Aegon, is really "the prince" (i.e., the PTWP).

Moreover, Volon Therys is described in terms of its "white walls"---Whitewalls was the place associated with the Second Blackfyre Rebellion, so here we have yet another hint that Aegon is really a Blackfyre.

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Moreover, Volon Therys is described in terms of its "white walls"---Whitewalls was the place associated with the Second Blackfyre Rebellion, so here we have yet another hint that Aegon is really a Blackfyre.

The stuff you come up with never ceases to amaze me, but this especially is very clever. Nice little D&E nod.

Also not sure if this really constitutes foreshadowing, but it seems to me that the more fire- and dragon-obsessed a Targaryen was, the worse he ended up. Or even people just broadly associated with dragons, like Daeron I. Worst king of all, Aegon IV, gave away dragon eggs as gifts. Baelor Batshit tried to pray for eggs to hatch. Aerion Brightflame drank wildfire. Aerys II thought he'd literally turn into a dragon. Aerys I read scrolls all day long and didn't actually govern. Daena Targaryen, whose extracurricular funtimes with Aegon IV spawned Daemon Blackfyre, was "born to ride a dragon." Viserys called temper trantrums "waking the dragon."

On the flipside, though they would've ridden dragons, I can't picture Viserys I or Jaehaerys I doing any of that, or crowing on about magical dragon blood. Same for Aegon V (who, though, met a dragon-and-fire-related demise) and Baelor Breakspear. The pattern indicates to me that a Targ who is not up his own ass when it comes to fire and dragons is a Targ who will not necessarily end up as a Darwin Award-winner.

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Not a big fan of this idea but it seems to make the most sense, in melisandres prophecy

"When the red star bleeds And the darkness gathers, Azor Ahai Shall be born again amidst Smoke and salt to wake dragons out of stone."

in aGoT dany's dragon eggs are often referred to as "stone" so it makes sense that they could fulfill the prophecy as the smoke would be the smoke from the fire and salt would be dany's tears. the red star would be the comet and and the darkness that gathers would be the approach of winter. Also before the dragons hatch khal Drogo (who is kind of a king) and dany's unborn son (who has kings blood from the targs and also khal Drogo if you call him king) both die. Mel keeps insisting that before the stone dragons can be woken they must sacrifice someone of kings blood.

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The pattern indicates to me that a Targ who is not up his own ass when it comes to fire and dragons is a Targ who will not necessarily end up as a Darwin Award-winner.

This one should be told to Dany, like, ASAP.

Not a big fan of this idea but it seems to make the most scense, in melisandres prophecy

"When the red star bleeds And the darkness gathers, Azor Ahai Shall be born again amidst Smoke and salt to wake dragons out of stone."

in aGoT dany's dragon eggs are often referred to as "stone" so it makes sense that they could fulfill the prophecy as the smoke would be the smoke from the fire and salt would be dany's tears. the red star would be the comet and and the darkness that gathers would be the approach of winter. Also before the dragons hatch khal Drogo (who is kind of a king) and dany's unborn son (who has kings blood from the targs and also khal Drogo if you call him king) both die. Mel keeps insisting that before the stone dragons can be woken they must sacrifice someone of kings blood.

I really, really appreciate the way Martin told us this profecy, and all those subtle hints that lead us to one or another person. In most books, you may have a profecy and would be very proud of yourself if you find the one person who fits in a certain (unexpected) way. But, with Martin, different people fit with the profecy on different levels, and you just can't decide if you've found the right answer or is it just Martin trolling with you. Too many candidates for AA, and there may be even more.

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This passage seems rife and then there’s the reference to Bran and Tommen, and boy commanders from 100s of years past, who are these boy commanders? Why is Sam thinking about them in the context of this discussion/passage?

I think the main point of Jon's little monologue about Bran and Tommen from a narrative perspective is that we get to see Sam wanting to say something, which reminds us of the fact that the knows that Bran is still alive, which adds quite a bit of tension to the scene.

But of course such things can have more than one function and a future conflict between Bran and Tommen is quite conceiveable, with Bran defeating Tommen inspite of Tommen being rather better protected (and maybe - dare I hope it? - also without hurting Tommen as in the playfight...)

The boy commander thing might just refer to the fact that Jon is a boy commander himself, just like Tommen and Robb are/were boy kings.

As to the future role of Dalla's and Gilly's babies.... I don't think they'll grown up in time to play much of an active role in the War for Dawn (now that Martin did away with the 5 year gap, the story is heading to a climax with increasing speed), so it's difficult to predict their purpose... frankly, the only importance I can see so far is having a bargaining chip in negotiations with Mance (which is why I predict Jon and Mance ending up on opposing sides for a while, otherwise it's hard to see a point in Jon's baby-swap-subplot).

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I was rereading GOT when a dream of Jon hit me as a foreshadowing. This dream takes place right after Jon took his vow as a member of NW.

" Last night he had dreamed the winterfell dream again. He was wandering the empty castle, searching for his father, descending into the crypts. Only this time the dream had gone further than before. In the dark he'd heard the scrape of stone on stone. When he turned he saw that the vaults were opening, one after the other. As the dead kings came stumbling from their cold black graves....."

This might mean Jon have to wake the dead king to fight against the Other. And also in all through GOT jon kept dreaming about the crypt searching for his father, i believe he will find that information in Lyanna's grave, it might possibly be a Targaryen cloak which Rhaegar gave to her on the wedding.

I think it means that Jon is destined to be some kind of important personage, and maybe a King in the North in addition to whatever else he is (Azor Ahai or Lightbringer?). It might explain why he's connected to the old Kings, searching for his dead father who is not there in the crypts (because his real father is not a Stark).

I don't know if this has been mentioned in first thread.

In ADWD, in Jon I or Jon II, while Jon and Stannis negotiate about wildlings, Stannis get irritated and tells Jon:

You haggle like a crone with a codfish, Lord Snow. Did Ned Stark father you on some fishwife

Few chapter later, in Davos I, lord Godric Borrell of Sweetsister tells Davos that during the Robert's rebellion Ned Stark spent some time with fishermen's daughter and left her with bag full of silver and bastard in her belly, who he later named Jon (after Jon Arryn).

I'm pretty sure the story Borrell tells Davos, and Stannis' snipe is a red herring... fishwife...fish...herring...red herring... see what GRRM did there? I think it's a joke that GRRM is having on the readers. We know that David Benioff and D.B. Weiss were asked by GRRM who they though Jon Snow's mother is, and they answered it correctly. That was years before ADWD came out and there was no previous mention of said fisherman's daughter.

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Some interesting lines from Tyrion's POV chapter in AGoT:

One by one the company drifted off to their shelters and to sleep, all but Jon Snow, who had drawn the night’s first watch.

Tyrion was the last to retire, as always.

If the night here is taken as a long night that's coming will Jon be the first one to face the Others? Mayhaps going to the Lands of Always Winter? And Tyrion will be the last, ending it all (like Gollum mayhaps)?

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I think the main point of Jon's little monologue about Bran and Tommen from a narrative perspective is that we get to see Sam wanting to say something, which reminds us of the fact that the knows that Bran is still alive, which adds quite a bit of tension to the scene.

But of course such things can have more than one function and a future conflict between Bran and Tommen is quite conceiveable, with Bran defeating Tommen inspite of Tommen being rather better protected (and maybe - dare I hope it? - also without hurting Tommen as in the playfight...)

The boy commander thing might just refer to the fact that Jon is a boy commander himself, just like Tommen and Robb are/were boy kings.

About the bolded part: We actually know what Sam was thinking - we have his POV as well in Feast:

“At Winterfell Tommen fought my brother Bran with wooden swords. He wore so

much padding he looked like a stuffed goose. Bran knocked him to the ground.” Jon

went to the window. “Yet Bran’s dead, and pudgy pink-faced Tommen is sitting on the

Iron Throne, with a crown nestled amongst his golden curls.”

Bran’s not dead, Sam wanted to say. He’s gone beyond the Wall with Coldhands.

The words caught in his throat. I swore I would not tell. “You haven’t signed the

letter.”

And we know what he said about the boy commanders -what I found interesting is that Jon didn't even pay attention to what Sam was saying, as it is not written down in his POV, only in Sam's.

“Pyp says that Lady Melisandre means to give him to the flames, to work some

sorcery.”

“Pyp should learn to hold his tongue. I have heard the same from others. King’s

blood, to wake a dragon. Where Melisandre thinks to find a sleeping dragon, no one is

quite sure. It’s nonsense. Mance’s blood is no more royal than mine own. He has never

worn a crown nor sat a throne. He’s a brigand, nothing more. There’s no power in

brigand’s blood.”

The raven looked up from the floor. “Blood,” it screamed.

Jon paid no mind. “I am sending Gilly away.”

“Oh.” Sam bobbed his head. “Well, that’s . . . that’s good, my lord.” It would be the

best thing for her, to go somewhere warm and safe, well away from the Wall and the

fighting.

“Her and the boy. We will need to find another wet nurse for his milk brother.”

“Goat’s milk might serve, until you do. It’s better for a babe than cow’s milk.” Sam

had read that somewhere. He shifted in his seat. “My lord, when I was looking through

the annals I came on another boy commander. Four hundred years before the

Conquest. Osric Stark was ten when he was chosen, but he served for sixty years.

That’s four, my lord. You’re not even close to being the youngest ever chosen. You’re

fifth youngest, so far.”

There is no indication that Sam started to talk about the boy commanders becaouse he was uncomfortable hearing about tits. But that's what Jon thinks.

The bolded part about Mance (and Jon's blood), including the added part by the raven is interesting - Jon does have royal blood (more than anyone else in the realm), He considers Mance to be the wildling king but says that he is has no royal blood becouse he never sat on a throne or wore a crown - maybe he is making excuses for Mance (and for himself, should he accept leadership, that if he wears no crown, he is no king, and therefore doesn't violate the oath?)

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The bolded part about Mance (and Jon's blood), including the added part by the raven is interesting - Jon does have royal blood (more than anyone else in the realm), He considers Mance to be the wildling king but says that he is has no royal blood becouse he never sat on a throne or wore a crown - maybe he is making excuses for Mance (and for himself, should he accept leadership, that if he wears no crown, he is no king, and therefore doesn't violate the oath?)

Thanks for cross-referencing! I have wondered about the Raven's cry for blood quite a bit before, but this makes it easier to read something into it.

So Jon and Sam talk about Mel's need for King's Blood to wake the dragon and Jon remarks that Mance's should be quite as unsuitable for the purpose as his own. Might be quite a bit of dramatic irony, if it turns out that it's Jon's blood that allows Mel to perform her magic after all.

As we know, quite a bit of it has been spilt by the end of ADWD. I couldn't say whether Mel will actually wake a dragon, but it might well allow her to pull off some particularly impressive trick. She might have to, if she wants to get control of the situation after the mutiny.

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There is no indication that Sam started to talk about the boy commanders becaouse he was uncomfortable hearing about tits. But that's what Jon thinks.

Well, he does shift in his seat, something that may well be read as nervous fidgeting.

But he's essentially telling Jon that he's not so such a special snowflake after all - there have been other boy commanders, and even younger ones at that! - which however doesn't seem to get through to Jon. One might read into that a little as well.

In sum, I think this aspect of the passage is more about characterizing both Sam and Jon rather than any particular forshadowing.

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In sum, I think this aspect of the passage is more about characterizing both Sam and Jon rather than any particular forshadowing.

I agree, the actual foreshadowing bit is the one about Mance and blood, I think.

There are a lot of mentions in the books about ice dragons, too. (Too much for them not to be true, I'd say). And there is the unnatural cold coming from the Wall, the cold Jon felt when he was stabbed, etc.

I would love to see all these things foreshadowing actual ice dragons IN the Wall (turned into stone or whatever), and being released by Jon's murder - which means the Wall comes down, etc.

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AGoT Arya III as she tries to evade the Lannister guardsmen-

ahead was a blank windowless mass of stone

The HoBW when Arya first sees it

On their left appeared a rocky knoll with a windowless temple of dark grey stone

AGoT Arya III:

Sometimes she would hear her father's voice, but always from a long way off, and no matter how hard she ran after it, it would grow fainter and fainter, until it faded to nothing and Arya was alone in the dark.

This foreshadows Ned's death as well as foreshadowing Arya's attempts to reunite with her family. No matter how much closer she gets to Robb and Cat she never reunites with them, and when she's at the Twins where they are, she runs towards the castle to her mother and brother, and you don't need me to tell the rest. After she leaves Sandor, she is left alone as result with no one (no pun intended) to comfort her, and she is alone in the darkness of her mind and the HoBW.

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Sansa ASOS; Chapter 1

Talking of Varys...

The wrinkled old lady smiled. "At Highgarden we have many spiders amongst the flowers. So long as they keep to themselves we let them spin their little webs, but if they get underfoot we step on them."

Foreshadowing that Varys will get Arya Underfoot and this will lead to his demise, maybe? Plus, when Arya was in the tunnels of the Red Keep spying on him and Illyrio, she almost recognized Varys, seeing through his disguise even though she was only 10. Adults like Tyrion have had trouble with that. And though Arya got lost in those tunnels, Varys' tunnels, she eventually found her way out again.

But then I could just be reading into things too much, I usually do.

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Foreshadowing that Varys will get Arya Underfoot and this will lead to his demise, maybe? Plus, when Arya was in the tunnels of the Red Keep spying on him and Illyrio, she almost recognized Varys, seeing through his disguise even though she was only 10. Adults like Tyrion have had trouble with that. And though Arya got lost in those tunnels, Varys' tunnels, she eventually found her way out again.

But then I could just be reading into things too much, I usually do.

To that I'll add from ACoK Dany I:

The dragons were no larger than the scrawny cats once seen skulking along the walls of Magister Illyrio's estate in Pentos

Arya, using the alias "Cat" and frequently associated with them, may visit Illyrio before Varys, or maybe get to Varys by posing as another little bird being sent to KL, where all her targets are.

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Foreshadowing that Varys will get Arya Underfoot and this will lead to his demise, maybe? Plus, when Arya was in the tunnels of the Red Keep spying on him and Illyrio, she almost recognized Varys, seeing through his disguise even though she was only 10. Adults like Tyrion have had trouble with that. And though Arya got lost in those tunnels, Varys' tunnels, she eventually found her way out again.

I think it's reaching a bit, but I do like the idea of Arya facing off against Varys eventually, although it might be rather indirectly. It's the sort of battle where her training with the FM would come in most handy, I think (which is, for instance, why I don't think she'll go the Wall. Her skills would be rather wasted there).

Also, there would be a nice symmetry with Sansa taking out LF and Arya taking out Varys.

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I think it's reaching a bit, but I do like the idea of Arya facing off against Varys eventually, although it might be rather indirectly. It's the sort of battle where her training with the FM would come in most handy, I think (which is, for instance, why I don't think she'll go the Wall. Her skills would be rather wasted there).

Also, there would be a nice symmetry with Sansa taking out LF and Arya taking out Varys.

I didn't even think of that last thing you mentioned. Now I'm completely convinced it will go down, though I'm not sure if you meant for that to happen. :P

The symmetry of it, Sansa taking out LF and Arya taking out Varys, is just way too good for Martin to pass up imo. I also think it is signifigant that Arya is the only person in the series so far to essentially one up Varys by spying on him, and getting away with it to boot.

EDIT: You are right about Arya's FM training preparing her to take on Varys as well. She is being trained to both spot lies, and lie excellently herself. That is exactly the sort of skill set she would need in order to take on and defeat Varys the mummer at his own game.

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