Bran's Vision

[Argo Hott]

I would like to say that the first two are the Hound and Jaime and probably everyone agrees on this one. But for the third person i think it might be the frankestein Qyburn made. It is bigger than Jaime and the Hound, and when the visor is opened it says there is nothing inside but darkness and thick black blood. So, when Oberyn poisons the Mountain, it is known that his blood becomes black. Coming from this and that the creature is made of body parts there is a big chance that this character is the Mountain, or Robert Strong to be more precise.

[Lost Melnibonean]

Littlefinger

[BranBrokeLegs]

The giant is Littlefinger. That particular vision is not foreshadowing or a prophecy. It's what's happening at that very moment. Catelyn on her boat heading to KL. Jon Snow friendless at first at the Wall. Ned and Lady. Sandor and Jaime accompanying the procession south. Littlefinger is the giant that looms over them all as he's the one that's set this all in motion by having Lysa poison Jon Arryn and blame it on the Lannister.

He's the giant. A reversal of LITTLEfinger. He's house standard was the Titan of Braavos. I doubt that GRRM had decided if the Titan of Braavos was stone or bronze way back in GoT. (And to be fair, the Titan of Braavos is half stone. The legs are carved out of the cliff.)

[mindchap]

The giant is Littlefinger. That particular vision is not foreshadowing or a prophecy. It's what's happening at that very moment. Catelyn on her boat heading to KL. Jon Snow friendless at first at the Wall. Ned and Lady. Sandor and Jaime accompanying the procession south. Littlefinger is the giant that looms over them all as he's the one that's set this all in motion by having Lysa poison Jon Arryn and blame it on the Lannister.

He's the giant. A reversal of LITTLEfinger. He's house standard was the Titan of Braavos. I doubt that GRRM had decided if the Titan of Braavos was stone or bronze way back in GoT. (And to be fair, the Titan of Braavos is half stone. The legs are carved out of the cliff.)

I could see that, but upon rereading the quote, the giant is only looming over Sandor and Jamie.

[mindchap]

Pardon the length, just thought I'd post the whole thing:

LOOKDOWN!

Bran looked down, and felt his insides turn to water. The ground was rushing up at him now. The whole world was spread out below him, a tapestry of white and brown and green. He could see everything so clearly that for a moment he forgot to be afraid. He could see the whole realm, and everyone in it.

He saw Winterfell as the eagles see it, the tall towers looking squat and stubby from above, the castle walls just lines in the dirt. He saw Maester Luwin on his balcony, studying the sky through a polished bronze tube and frowning as he made notes in a book. He saw his brother Robb, taller and stronger than he remembered him, practicing swordplay in the yard with real steel in his hand. He saw Hodor, the simple giant from the stables, carrying an anvil to Mikken’s forge, hefting it onto his shoulder as easily as another man might heft a bale of hay. At the heart of the godswood, the great white weirwood brooded over its reflection in the black pool, its leaves rustling in a chill wind. When it felt Bran watching, it lifted its eyes from the still waters and stared back at him knowingly.

He looked east, and saw a galley racing across the waters of the Bite. He saw his mother sitting alone in a cabin, looking at a bloodstained knife on a table in front of her, as the rowers pulled at their oars and Ser Rodrik leaned across a rail, shaking and heaving. A storm was gathering ahead of them, a vast dark roaring lashed by lightning, but somehow they could not see it.

He looked south, and saw the great blue-green rush of the Trident. He saw his father pleading with the king, his face etched with grief. He saw Sansa crying herself to sleep at night, and he saw Arya watching in silence and holding her secrets hard in her heart. There were shadows all around them. One shadow was dark as ash, with the terrible face of a hound. Another was armored like the sun, golden and beautiful. Over them both loomed a giant in armor made of stone, but when he opened his visor, there was nothing inside but darkness and thick black blood.

He lifted his eyes and saw clear across the narrow sea, to the Free Cities and the green Dothraki sea and beyond, to Vaes Dothrak under its mountain, to the fabled lands of the Jade Sea, to Asshai by the Shadow, where dragons stirred beneath the sunrise.

Finally he looked north. He saw the Wall shining like blue crystal, and his bastard brother Jon sleeping alone in a cold bed, his skin growing pale and hard as the memory of all warmth fled from him. And he looked past the Wall, past endless forests cloaked in snow, past the frozen shore and the great blue-white rivers of ice and the dead plains where nothing grew or lived. North and north and north he looked, to the curtain of light at the end of the world, and then beyond that curtain. He looked deep into the heart of winter, and then he cried out, afraid, and the heat of his tears burned on his cheeks.

Now you know, the crow whispered as it sat on his shoulder. Now you know why you must live.

“Why?” Bran said, not understanding, falling, falling.

Because winter is coming.

[Lost Melnibonean]

I could see that, but upon rereading the quote, the giant is only looming over Sandor and Jamie.

When the Hound and the Kingslayer face off in the Hsnds tourney Littlefinger is up in the stands wagering on the outcome.

[The Knight of Grey Garden]

It's likely Ser Robert Strong, but still the time and reunion with Sandor and Jamie is weird, maybe we'll know later.

But could the giant be a metaphor for Winterfell ? I mean a giant with an armor of stone (Over them both looned a giant in armor made of stone), could well describe a castle, (there was nothing inside but darkness and thick black blood), maybe a reference to the lack of Starks there (nothing inside), blood could be the death of many and darkness the time passed in the crypts.

Maybe it could be about the Red Keep (or King's Landing) and all the sorrows the Starks will live there and the emptiness of morals there.

[mindchap]

It's likely Ser Robert Strong, but still the time and reunion with Sandor and Jamie is weird, maybe we'll know later.

But could the giant be a metaphor for Winterfell ? I mean a giant with an armor of stone, could well discribe a castle, there was nothing inside, but thick black blood, maybe a reference to the lack of Starks there (nothing inside), blood could be the death of many, darkness the time passed in the crypts.

Maybe it could be about the Red Keep (or King's Landinf) and all the sorrows the Starks will live there and the emptiness of morals there.

In that sense it could symbolize Casterly Rock as well, but they are nowhere near it or Winterfell.

[noSer]

I always took that to mean Jamie but now its obvious to me he saw Oberyn. The word shadows indicates that they are dead. I know Sandor is most likely still alive but the Hound is certainly dead, and the giant looming over Jamie doesn't make sense whereas looming over Oberyn is crystal clear in meaning. If it was a reference to the people physically around the girls when Robert orders the death of Lady then the secret in Arya's heart would have to refer to her guilt over the butchers boy being killed which she didn't know about until afterwards. It can't be specific to that one scene.Arya's secrets, plural, begin with needle in the fat kids belly and continue from there. Sansa crying in her room....take your pick. I'm know sold on golden armor referring to Oberyn, and on Bran's chapters early in GoT's being as important as any to the true nature of the story.

[The Knight of Grey Garden]

In that sense it could symbolize Casterly Rock as well, but they are nowhere near it or Winterfell.

I just looked to the quote and it say that he looked south, so it's not Winterfell (he saw it in the same vision previously ''He saw Winterfell like the eagle see it...), but I really thinks it's King's Landing. It's things that BloodRaven want to show him.

He saw in the same vision dragons in Asshai and what lies in the Heart of winter which seems terrible.

[IRON BANK]

I believe this is a reference to rober t strong.

[Nagisa Furukawa]

People speculating the giant may be someone other than Robert Strong, note the full quote: "Over them both loomed a giant in armor made of stone, but when he opened his visor, there was nothing inside but darkness and thick black blood." Gregor got black blood from Oberyn's poisoning and the fact that Dorne received a believably giant skull as Gregor as led many to speculate Robert Strong may not have a head at all.

Also, I think "over them both loomed" means, not Sansa and Arya, but the two previous figures, the Hound and the figure golden like the sun (the sun being Martell's sigil is too strong a link to make me think it's Jaime). Gregor certainly looms over both the Hound and Oberyn's character arcs.

[Lost Melnibonean]

I think the third shadow suggests that Littlefinger, while Ned and the girls were on the way to KL, had hired a FM to kill Ned. But the Mountain that Rides is a good possibility too. And you don't have to worry about som future or distant threat. The Mountain would soon set up an ambush intended to capture or kill Ned. Mayhaps Tywin had begun planning the act after he realized that Robert would name Ned his Hand. Mayhaps he was just looking for some pretext and Tyrion’s abduction gave him that pretext, and all the while the Mountain was preparing.

[Lady Beyond the Wall]

I didn't see this thread, and started one. Here is my post:

Regarding the giant in Bran's dream:

"......Over them both loomed a giant in armor made of stone, but when he opened his visor, there was nothing inside but darkness and thick black blood."

There are a few references to shady characters "black blood" when their "evil" deeds are spoken of. Particularly Ramsay, but also Craster noted below.

“Craster’s blood is black, and he bears a heavy curse.”

“He is a bastard born of rape. A Snow, no matter what the boy king says.

Was ever snow so black?”

“His blood is bad. He needs to be leeched. The leeches suck away the bad blood, all the rage and pain. No man can think so full of anger. Ramsay, though ... his tainted blood would poison even leeches, I fear.”

I wonder if the same interpretation can be made of Bran's dream. Often I have thought that Littlefinger could be the giant. He may be deeply involved in the plot line of King's Landing, even after he leaves with Sansa, and his motives in the Vale remain to be seen. Made of stone could be metaphoric, or a ref to his family origins over seas.

My other thought was that this passage is a note to the location of the death of Ned Stark, and nothing should be made of it.

[butterbumps!]

I could see that, but upon rereading the quote, the giant is only looming over Sandor and Jamie.

Yea, and I think that's often overlooked.

What irks me about this passage is that, as you say, it's all events unfolding in real-time. So Cat on the boat with Roderick, Jon's first days at the Wall, and then this passage that clearly depicts the events happening at Darry.

Ned, Sansa, Arya, Jaime and the Hound are all at Darry; they are clearly the first 5 in that part. It stands to reason that the giant looming over Jaime and the Hound is there too. Gregor is not present, however. I almost wonder if the giant made of stone is Robert.

Each of the visions is both a literal real-time occurrence, as well as loaded with more symbolic or foreshadowing meanings. With that said, I can see a case for Robert's looming presence at Darry, then once more as Cersei's monster Robert Strong (but I think the operative thing here is not "Gregor" but Robert as the referent).

[mindchap]

I thought about it being Robert, when I first saw one of those Robert=Robert Strong theories, but the king is already mentioned, is there a chapter where the Hound remembers what happened there? I just read the Jamie chapter when he confesses everything that happened while in the Godswood with Ilyn Payne, thinking maybe there was something there but I couldn't see anything that might account for the Mountain being there.

[butterbumps!]

Gregor isn't around Darry or part of the party at all.

When Ned pleads with "the king," the Hound and Jaime are still out looking for Arya ("Their only good fortune was that both Jaime Lannister and Sandor Clegane were missing, leading searches north of the Trident.") Jaime and the Hound are present but "shadows" surrounding the 3 in this scene. Given this, I have to think that the shadow looming above them both is also present here. The other notable figures are Renly, Darry, Barristan and Ilyn Payne, but I don't think any of these makes sense.

I don't think it's inconsistent to have a reference to "the king" in the context of Ned's pleading and then refer to him again as the looming giant. I think the way to solve the puzzle is to figure out A. who's at Darry, and B. who is highly significant to both Jaime and Sandor. I think Robert works in this context, especially if it refers to his "reincarnation" via Gregor's body wrt Sandor.

I've also seen a case made for Cersei being the looming giant, along similar lines.

[mindchap]

I could see it being a ref to Cersei too because in that Jamie chapter she takes him to bed and tells him:

her, Cersei cried, ‘I want.’ I thought that she meant me, but it was the Stark girl that she wanted, maimed or dead.” The things I do for love. “It was only by chance that Stark’s own men found the girl before me. If I had come on her first...”

[callmedodge]

I could see it being a ref to Cersei too because in that Jamie chapter she takes him to bed and tells him:

The Hound is also part of her retinue is he not?

I came to the conclusion of Cersei midway through this thread. Never seen it before but glad it`s on the table. Doesn`t Ned also describe her as stone-faced at some point?

One could definitely make an argument for her being armoured in stone.

[mindchap]

We'll have to revisit this when we find out the particulars about Robert Strong.