Can all starks warg?

[Manderlay]

Since this is about wargs i would just like to add an interesting quote from ASoS (Bran I) that I came across recently during my re read; I think this can be viewed as Bran is perhaps meant to fly a dragon.

"The Green-seers were more than that. They were wargs as well, as you are, and the greatest of them could the wear the skins of any beast that flies or swims or crawls, and could look through the eyes of the weirwoods as well, and see the truth that lies beneath the world."

[Osric]

Magic is back with the dragons?

:agree: that's implied in the books. We dont know if any other Stark was a warg in the time when the dragons were at its apogee, but the tumbs with the dire wolves at the feet of the Kings and Lords of the North may mean something about this

[Gingerchu]

The real question is 'Can all wargs Stark?'

[assjfjgjsgjljljglgjfjsduar]

Can anyone explain why the current generation of Starks are all wargs though?

If being a warg is so rare, why are 6/6 children with Stark blood wargs? If being a Stark means you are especially likely to be a warg/green seer (as implied in one of Brans ADwD chapters hen he is told it is in his blood) the why haven't we been told of any other Stark wargs?

Because it's important to the plot and I think we're meant to pick up that this generation is of particularly unique importance.

[lady m]

Actually, I have a theory.

If it has been offered up before, I would be grateful for a link to it being posted in reply.

I think the direwolves themselves are the key. We see in Jon's wolf dreams that Ghost can sense his littermates. I think the direwolves, unlike regular wolves, have a natural ability to form a psychic link with their packs. And this ability awakens the latent warg gift in the Stark line, which is inherited genetically. That's why all the Kings in the North & Lords of Winterfell are portrayed with direwolves beside them in the crypt, because they had to bond with their beast to manifest their ability. That's why Eddard's children are wargs, but he is not--he never had a direwolf.

Opinions? Echoes of the sound of crockery shattering?

[Edited for spelling, because my keyboard is sticking.]

No, I don't think it's out of line. I've posted similar thoughts before, and it's what I believe. The wolves are the familiar for Starks and with the disappearance of direwolves south of the Wall the Starks third eyes remained closed. I think all of them are born with the ability, but if they never have a direwolf familiar it remains untapped.

[The Prince of Ice]

Actually, I have a theory.

If it has been offered up before, I would be grateful for a link to it being posted in reply.

I think the direwolves themselves are the key. We see in Jon's wolf dreams that Ghost can sense his littermates. I think the direwolves, unlike regular wolves, have a natural ability to form a psychic link with their packs. And this ability awakens the latent warg gift in the Stark line, which is inherited genetically. That's why all the Kings in the North & Lords of Winterfell are portrayed with direwolves beside them in the crypt, because they had to bond with their beast to manifest their ability. That's why Eddard's children are wargs, but he is not--he never had a direwolf.

Opinions? Echoes of the sound of crockery shattering?

[Edited for spelling, because my keyboard is sticking.]

Sounds plausible to me, we might never know if its true or not but i cant think of any evidence to disprove it so your theory holds water at the moment. Good job nice interpretation :)

[assjfjgjsgjljljglgjfjsduar]

The real question is 'Can all wargs Stark?'

To that I say, probably not. I'm sure it's happened before and maybe even used to happen with much more frequency (the stone direwolves in the crypts). But apart from confirming that all six Stark kids are wargs, I don't think GRRM specified that it was an all-Stark thing. Like I don't believe Ned, Rckard, Brandon or Lyanna were wargs. ETA: And yes it's entirely possible that the "gift" was lost when the direwolves seemingly went extinct.

It does make you wonder though if warging, and the benefits that come with it, played a role in the Starks becoming Kings in the North. We know that above the Wall, wargs are treated with reverence and even given tribute. Given that the Stark line came about in a much murkier time, I think it's entirely possible that the Starks used the supernatural mystique of being wargs and the political advantages (scouting, spying, whatever) to set themselves up as the supreme family.

[lady m]

:agree: that's implied in the books. We dont know if any other Stark was a warg in the time when the dragons were at its apogee, but the tumbs with the dire wolves at the feet of the Kings and Lords of the North may mean something about this

And yet the direwolves showed up well before the dragons, Bloodraven knew there was something special about Bran well before the dragons, and the Starks were born and would have had latent warging powers years before the dragons reappeared.

It seems to me the dragons themselves are as much a result of magic growing in power and amplifiers of said magic, much more so than the source of the magic themselves.

[assjfjgjsgjljljglgjfjsduar]

I didn't mean "Why did George R R Martin write them all as wargs?" I meant "What reason in-universe is given (if any) for the sudden appearance of all these wargs?"

I assume it's because those gifts will end up being integral to the fight against the Others and/or dragons. Sure, it's a statistical miracle for all six to be wargs, but given that divine intervention is a "thing" in this series (or at least magical intervention), I don't see why it should be hard to disbelieve.

[The Prince of Ice]

I didn't mean "Why did George R R Martin write them all as wargs?" I meant "What reason in-universe is given (if any) for the sudden appearance of all these wargs?"

Everything George writes is "for the plot", but he has to justify those things in-universe or the series would be crap.

It's like answering the question "Why do only Targaryens have Dragons" with "for the plot". Well, no you can't just answer that, you answer "because they are the last Valyrian house who rode dragons for millennia using sorcery etc.." That's his justification for having only one house with dragons, otherwise you just have a 2 dimensional story with no substance to it.

I could of put a bunch of reasons why the Stark children all were wargs and all had direwolves but just wanted to explain it simply, which is that it was way for GRRM to advance the plot. My bad i didnt elaborate, ill be sure to next time :)

[Flame and Shadow]

I wonder why it's important for Robb and Sansa to be wargs. One's dead and the other no longer has a direwolf, if direwolves are indeed the key to unlocking warg abilities.

[Breastplate Stretcha]

Actually, I have a theory.

If it has been offered up before, I would be grateful for a link to it being posted in reply.

I think the direwolves themselves are the key. We see in Jon's wolf dreams that Ghost can sense his littermates. I think the direwolves, unlike regular wolves, have a natural ability to form a psychic link with their packs. And this ability awakens the latent warg gift in the Stark line, which is inherited genetically. That's why all the Kings in the North & Lords of Winterfell are portrayed with direwolves beside them in the crypt, because they had to bond with their beast to manifest their ability. That's why Eddard's children are wargs, but he is not--he never had a direwolf.

Opinions? Echoes of the sound of crockery shattering?

[Edited for spelling, because my keyboard is sticking.]

I like it. I think it's obvious that the direwolves unleashed an ancient power in Ned's children, but I like your idea that direwolves are inherently telepathic.

I wonder why it's important for Robb and Sansa to be wargs. One's dead and the other no longer has a direwolf, if direwolves are indeed the key to unlocking warg abilities.

Maybe all Starks are born with the ability to warg and the direwolves just imposed a telepathic link onto them.