A King in Hiding: Adding It All Up Part 2

[Mithras]

“What terms does he [balon] propose?”

“That we recognize his kingship and grant him everything north of the Neck.”

“The best thing to do about our lord of Pyke is nothing, in my view. Granted enough time, a better option may well present itself. One that does not require the king to give up half his kingdom.”

“Rickon will ask when I’m coming home. Try to explain where I’ve gone, if you can. Tell him he can have all my things while I’m away, he’ll like that.”

I think at a certain point, Rickon will be declared the King in the North and so he will have King Jon’s things in the North while he is away and busy dealing with the Others.

[IceFire125]

Tyrion felt sorry for the boy (Jon). He had chosen a hard life … or perhaps he should say that a hard life had been chosen for him.

"Prince Rhaegar’s prowess was unquestioned, but he seldom entered the lists. He never loved the song of swords the way that Robert did, or Jaime Lannister. It was something he had to do, a task the world had set him. He did it well, for he did everything well. That was his nature. But he took no joy in it."

"He was three-and-thirty when the Great Council chose him to mount the Iron Throne. A man grown with sons of his own, yet in some ways still a boy. Egg had an innocence to him, a sweetness we all loved. Kill the boy within you, I told him the day I took ship for the Wall. It takes a man to rule. An Aegon, not an Egg. Kill the boy and let the man be born." The old man felt Jon’s face. "You are half the age that Egg was, and your own burden is a crueler one, I fear. You will have little joy of your command, but I think you have the strength in you to do the things that must be done. Kill the boy, Jon Snow. Winter is almost upon us. Kill the boy and let the man be born."

Rhaegar did not often put his name on tournament list to compete, but when he does, it was meant for him to do, something that he felt he must do (to fulfill a certain passage(s) written in the scrolls? to fulfill a prophecy?), then we hear that he'd rather play with his harp than to joust, something he doesn't enjoy doing.

And here Tyrion felt sorry for Jon, because he doesn't know that he is choosing a hard life, yet Tyrion had the unknowing foresight, that maybe this hard life is choosing Jon (leading him to something greater that he must do).

It all comes together with Maester Aemon's counsel, paralleling Jon with his brother King Aegon V; that his time of command (and someday rule as king) will be hard, therefore he must kill the boy and let the man be born.

[Jon's Queen Consort]

nvm

[Ghost's Shadow]

nvm what? :P

[Mithras]

This may have been given before but check this out:

The grass swayed and bowed low, as if before a king, but no king appeared to her.

“Fire and Blood,” Daenerys told the swaying grass.

A stone turned under her foot. She stumbled to one knee and cried out in pain,

The grass bowed down before him [Drogon].

The grass of the Dothraki Sea bowed down before Drogon as if before a king but no king was in sight. Later, a stone turned under the foot of Dany and she stumbled to one knee as if bending the knee before a king. The stone turning under Dany’s foot is a clue for the stone dragon (Jon) waking up (embracing his Targaryen heritage).

I think Drogon will be the King Jon’s mount and Dany will bend knee to him when he mounts Drogon.

[MtnLion]

This may have been given before but check this out:

The grass swayed and bowed low, as if before a king, but no king appeared to her.

“Fire and Blood,” Daenerys told the swaying grass.

A stone turned under her foot. She stumbled to one knee and cried out in pain,

The grass bowed down before him [Drogon].

The grass of the Dothraki Sea bowed down before Drogon as if before a king but no king was in sight. Later, a stone turned under the foot of Dany and she stumbled to one knee as if bending the knee before a king. The stone turning under Dany’s foot is a clue for the stone dragon (Jon) waking up (embracing his Targaryen heritage).

I think Drogon will be the King Jon’s mount and Dany will bend knee to him when he mounts Drogon.

Great find. Coupled with Daenerys' earlier dragon dream (while Viserys was yet alive) it makes an enormous amount of sense. I would go a step further and say that Jon may ride any of the dragons, and be the first Targaryen to ever ride more than one.

[Mithras]

Great find. Coupled with Daenerys' earlier dragon dream (while Viserys was yet alive) it makes an enormous amount of sense. I would go a step further and say that Jon may ride any of the dragons, and be the first Targaryen to ever ride more than one.

Hmm. I think by the time Dany comes North to face Jon, Viserion and Rhaegal will be already dead. They will not survive the Dance.

[jons nissa]

Hmm. I think by the time Dany comes North to face Jon, Viserion and Rhaegal will be already dead. They will not survive the Dance.

is this because you think it's been foreshadowed? was it in the other thread that they will not survive the dance?

[Fire Eater]

Hmm. I think by the time Dany comes North to face Jon, Viserion and Rhaegal will be already dead. They will not survive the Dance.

Actually, I think just Viserion will be dead while Rhaegal and Drogon will survive.

[Mithras]

is this because you think it's been foreshadowed? was it in the other thread that they will not survive the dance?

There is a foreshadowing for Viserion’s death and he should be the first dragon to die.

“Well, how long does a dragon live?” She looked up as Viserion swooped low over the ship, his wings beating slowly and stirring the limp sails.

Dany asks how long a dragon lives and soon after Viserion is mentioned to be swooping low over the ship. We know that at the Battle in the Gullet, Vermax flew too low and went crashing into the sea along with its rider.

He moved his catapult again, closed his hand around Tyrion’s alabaster dragon, removed it from the board.

Viserion is highly foreshadowed to be Tyrion’s mount and here a catapult removes Tyrion’s dragon from the board.

About Rhaegal, I am not sure. But since Viserion is a goner, Rhaegal will probably die as well to leave Drogon as the last dragon. It would be GRRMesque to let two dragons die in a civil war whereas they could have been great use in the fight against the Others in the North.

[MtnLion]

There is a foreshadowing for Viserion’s death and he should be the first dragon to die.

“Well, how long does a dragon live?” She looked up as Viserion swooped low over the ship, his wings beating slowly and stirring the limp sails.

Dany asks how long a dragon lives and soon after Viserion is mentioned to be swooping low over the ship. We know that at the Battle in the Gullet, Vermax flew too low and went crashing into the sea along with its rider.

He moved his catapult again, closed his hand around Tyrion’s alabaster dragon, removed it from the board.

Viserion is highly foreshadowed to be Tyrion’s mount and here a catapult removes Tyrion’s dragon from the board.

About Rhaegal, I am not sure. But since Viserion is a goner, Rhaegal will probably die as well to leave Drogon as the last dragon. It would be GRRMesque to let two dragons die in a civil war whereas they could have been great use in the fight against the Others in the North.

(Nods in agreement) It would be too easy to defeat the others with three dragons.

[Fire Eater]

snip

I don't think Viserion will die in a naval battle, but on land at the hands of a man commanding a catapult or scorpion whose sigil is a ship: Davos.

[Corvinus85]

(Nods in agreement) It would be too easy to defeat the others with three dragons.

hmm, reading about the Dance of the Dragons and also the sample about the Rhoynar from the World of ASoIaF, I am not sure how impressive three dragons, that may not even reach the size of Aegon's dragons, will be against the Others.

[Fire Eater]

hmm, reading about the Dance of the Dragons and also the sample about the Rhoynar from the World of ASoIaF, I am not sure how impressive three dragons, that may not even reach the size of Aegon's dragons, will be against the Others.

Actually, I think the remaining dragons, Drogon and Rhaegal, will be the only characters who make it to the Epilogue of ADoS alongside Bran given:

You’ve given the dragons their biggest growth spurt yet this season. What are they like this time?

Weiss: They’re entering their adolescence. They’re having minds and desires of their own and they’re staring to not be all that interested in what their mom has to say. And that’s difficult when your children weigh 1,500 pounds. They’re really pretty massive beasts.

Benioff: Think about the skull Arya hides in during season one — that’s supposed to be a full-sized dragon. And our dragons are still not even close to that. By the time we get to the end, season seven, that’s where they have to get to — assuming they survive.

[Lady Flandrensis]

So Jon gets Drogon, the other 2 are dead and Dany has none for all her efforts. "Oh how sharper than a serpent's tooth", and all that.

[Arlan of Pennytree]

Can someone get a quote from the books regarding what washed up at Quiet Isle?

Black dragons head, red with rust. This is very interesting.

Because black dragon on a red blackground is the Blackfyre sigil.

"No. When the smith's son was an old man, A bastard son of the fourth Aegon rose up in Rebellion against his trueborn brother and took for his sigil a black dragon. These lands belonged to Lord Darry then, and his lordship was fiercely loyal to the king. The sight of the black iron dragon made him wroth, so he cut down the post, hacked the sign into pieces, and cast them into the river. One of the dragon's heads washed up on the Quiet Isle many years later, though by that time it was red with rust."

Discussion between Podrick and septon Meribald before they reached the Quiet isle, FFC. I think the 1st poster of this is referring to the 7th ruby as Jon and the black (Blackfyre) dragon rusted red (pretending to be true) as Aegon (young Griff).

[IceFire125]

This may be brought on by many already, also to Apple Martini, who responded to me then about this...

but I love how GRRM portrayed Jon, the hidden heir/royalty, doing the hiding of royalties (those with royal blood and importance), by sending away the child of the King Beyond the Wall, Mance's with Maester Aemon, who himself was royalty with true Targaryen blood.

More importantly, when he commanded Sam to forge a chain at Oldtown. I love how GRRM layered this clue or somewhat of a foreshadowing, in my opinion.

“Be quiet. You lied and schemed and plotted to make me Lord Commander. You will obey me. You’ll go to the Citadel and forge a chain, and if you have to cut up corpses, so be it. At least in Oldtown the corpses won’t object.”

He doesn’t understand. “My lord,” Sam said, “my f-f-f-father, Lord Randyll, he, he, he, he, he … the life of a maester is a life of servitude.” He was babbling, he knew.

“No son of House Tarly will ever wear a chain. The men of Horn Hill do not bow and scrape to petty lords.” If it is chains you want, come with me. “Jon, I cannot disobey my father.”

“...You leave an hour before sunrise. And here’s another order. From this day forth, you will not call yourself a craven. You’ve faced more things this past year than most men face in a lifetime. You can face the Citadel, but you’ll face it as a Sworn Brother of the Night’s Watch. I can’t command you to be brave, but I can command you to hide your fears. You said the words, Sam. Remember?”

I am the sword in the darkness. But he was wretched with a sword, and the darkness scared him. “I … I’ll try.”

“You won’t try. You will obey.”

“Obey.” Mormont’s raven flapped its great black wings.

“As my lord commands. Does … does Maester Aemon know?”

“It was as much his idea as mine.” Jon opened the door for him.

Aemon's response to Sam's misgivings created a unique parallel of Jon and King Daeron II.

When he found Maester Aemon in the rookery, he gave him Jon’s letter and blurted out his fears in a great green gush of words. “He does not understand.” Sam felt as if he might throw up. “If I don a chain, my lord f-f-f-father … he, he, he …”

“My own father raised the same objections when I chose a life of service,” the old man said. “It was his father who sent me to the Citadel. King Daeron had sired four sons, and three had sons of their own. Too many dragons are as dangerous as too few, I heard His Grace tell my lord father, the day they sent me off.” Aemon raised a spotted hand to the chain of many metals that dangled loose about his thin neck. “The chain is heavy, Sam, but my grandsire had the right of it. So does your Lord Snow.”

Here we see that Prince Maekar, Aemon's father, had a similar objection or maybe even some arguments with his father, King Daeron II (like Sam and Jon did), of Aemon being sent to the Citadel, but he had to obey... just like Sam had to obey Jon in the eyes of Aemon.

When I read that line about him being afraid of his father, who does not want him to be serving petty lords, a big red light pop up in my head; it was another of GRRM's dramatic irony and layered clues and foreshadowing about Jon's royal importance.

Because little did Sam know that he was being commanded by not only Lord Commander of the Night's Watch, but the hidden heir and the rightful, future King of the realm. That his fear of his Father not wanting him to be in servitude to petty lords was unnecessary and should be of no further burden, for he was, is and will be in servitude to Jon, the rightful King.

[Harlaw's Book the Sequel]

“Be careful what you wish for, it might come true” happens a lot in ASOIAF, and I’ve been wondering if that applies to Bran’s dream of being a Kingsguard. I think it does, especially if Jon is the king he’s guarding. While Bran isn’t competing in tourneys or doing any of the combat things he dreamed of doing, he is doing quite a few of the duties that Jaime, Barristan, and others say a Kingsguard has (and is likely to keep doing them in future books).

• Defend king from harm or threat. Bran saved Jon at Queenscrown.
  
• Keep the king’s secrets. Bran already has hints of R + L = J. If he doesn’t already, I’m sure he will know the whole story. Also, Bran probably knows of a lot of other secrets ie Jon swapping Dalla and Gilly’s babies.
  
• Give counsel when requested –Bran gave Jon counsel when Jon dreamed of Bran as a tree in ACOK.
  
• Kingsguard can protect other members of the royal if the king wants that. Bran has been an influence in Sansa and Arya’s chapters, so it can be seen as Bran extending Kingsguard protection to them, or Bran helping them is compatible with the king's wishes.
  

Also I have seen a lot of speculation that Bran wants Theon taken to the weirwood to be sacrificed to save Jon. But even if that isn’t true, I think Bran’s interfering with Theon will turn out to be for Jon’s benefit in some way.

[Arlan of Pennytree]

Direwolves and rubies in the same sentence gave me an idea

"At her throat, her ruby gleamed, a third eye glowing brighter than the others. Jon had seen Ghost's eyes blazing red the same way, when they caught the light just right."

That's the only quote I could find describing Ghost's eyes like rubies (and it's an indirect description at that) but I thought it was worth a mention.

I think this gives us a connection between Melisandre, Ghost and Jon. What else is deep red, like rubies? Blood. What kind of blood does Melisandre harp on and on about? King's blood. What is steaming - smoking - as it runs from Jon's stab wounds? Blood. King's blood.

King's blood is mentioned about a thousand times by Mel, and the extreme power it contains. If R+L=J is true, she will have the purest K B there is. What power it possesses I don't know, but it's the biggest cliffhanger ever. Thoros is a huge hint here. He's bringing Lord Beric back, as a servant of R'hllor, so we know that Red Priests/Priestesses can restore life to the slain.

Also, when Jon was born, the snow-white cloaks of the KG laid down their lives for him. Ghost is snow-white and ever vigilant in guarding Jon, loyal. Jon is to be reborn, with a white guardian, with his Kingsguard. I think this parallel is much overlooked!

[Ghost's Shadow]

KG Ghost?

Oh Brynden, you... *glomp*