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Maester Aemon's 3 Tests


Mithras

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There was an old thread about this but I want to raise some new questions.



First let us recall the full quote where Maester Aemon tells Jon about how he was tempted to break his vows.



“Three times the gods saw fit to test my vows. Once when I was a boy, once in the fullness of my manhood, and once when I had grown old. By then my strength was fled, my eyes grown dim, yet that last choice was as cruel as the first. My ravens would bring the news from the south, words darker than their wings, the ruin of my House, the death of my kin, disgrace and desolation. What could I have done, old, blind, frail? I was helpless as a suckling babe, yet still it grieved me to sit forgotten as they cut down my brother's poor grandson, and his son, and even the little children."


Let us begin from the last one. It was obviously the Sack of KL he was talking about. Not that he could do anything but he felt tempted to break his vow of the NW although he was a blind old man at the time of RR.



The second one is less obvious. It was after his father Maekar's death when the Great Council decided to give him the crown. He was 35 (fullness of his manhood) by this time. He kept his vow as a maester and advised them to take Egg to the throne.



The last one is driving me crazy. What vow he could swear as a boy and how did he keep it although he was tempted to break it severely?



Any thoughts?

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I always thought it was the temptation of power; when his father offered him a seat on the small council but he refused because he felt he would have then usurped the Grand Maester's place. That might be totally wrong though.

He was 23 when Maekar's reign began. That makes it unlikely to call himself boy at that time. The test should have happened during Maekar's predecessor Aerys I's reign which began at 209 while Aemon was 11. And also note that Blooadraven was the hand of Aerys I.

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My guess would be during the Blackfrye Rebellion. But here is an interesting thought. Aemon had three, what if Jon has three times/trials to turn is back on the NW.



1) Ned's arrest/Robb riding off to war.


2) In aDwD; The Pink Letter and trying to save "Arya"


3) The Battle for the Dawn: What if the only way for him to save the people, is to turn his back once again and take up a crown. Aemon, was offered a crown once too.



I dunno.....im just rambling


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My guess would be during the Blackfrye Rebellion. But here is an interesting thought. Aemon had three, what if Jon has three times/trials to turn is back on the NW.

1) Ned's arrest/Robb riding off to war.

2) In aDwD; The Pink Letter and trying to save "Arya"

3) The Battle for the Dawn: What if the only way for him to save the people, is to turn his back once again and take up a crown. Aemon, was offered a crown once too.

I dunno.....im just rambling

Hmmm..... AA needed three attempts to forge LB. Could Jon's attempts to leave the NW but instead remain true to his vows and thus reminding the NW of their true purpose lend credence to the theory of the NW being Lightbringer?

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it could be when he joined the maester order, he took a vow to be loyal to his king but when he was ordered to become a maester that would put him out of the line of succession and that might have been what had tested his vows

If the Wiki is true, Aemon's grandfather Daeron II sent him to the Citadel himself, fearing of too many heirs around being dangerous.

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Or maybe it was simply a love affair. He fell in love with someone but kept forging his chains.

I think that this is the most plausible theory based on what we know. The event would have to be something that took place between Aerys and Maekar's reign. I find it very plausible that Aemon forsook his love for a woman in order to remain true to his vows as a maester. This would also draw a parallel to Jon when he abandoned Ygritte in order to fulfill his duties to the NW.

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Not the Blackfyre Rebellion - that was over before Aemon was ever born. I once thought that the three tests were the Great Council where he was offered the crown, the Tragedy at Summerhall which killed his beloved brother Aegon, and Robert's Rebellion. But now I'm looking at the timeline I know that can't be right. The Great Council happened when Aemon was in his thirties, so that can't be the "when I was a boy". The "when I was a man grown" could have been either the Great Council or Summerhall, and we know that the "when I was old" one was Robert's Rebellion. But the "when I was a boy" one is mysterious. The theory that it was a woman he loved seems likely but it is not the only possibility.


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Not the Blackfyre Rebellion - that was over before Aemon was ever born. I once thought that the three tests were the Great Council where he was offered the crown, the Tragedy at Summerhall which killed his beloved brother Aegon, and Robert's Rebellion. But now I'm looking at the timeline I know that can't be right. The Great Council happened when Aemon was in his thirties, so that can't be the "when I was a boy". The "when I was a man grown" could have been either the Great Council or Summerhall, and we know that the "when I was old" one was Robert's Rebellion. But the "when I was a boy" one is mysterious. The theory that it was a woman he loved seems likely but it is not the only possibility.

Yes, I agree that from what we know at present, love seems to be the most plausible.

Once when I was a boy - Love?

Once in the fullness of my manhood - Great Council

Once when I had grown old - Sack of KL

I would discount Summerhall for "once in the fullness of my manhood" because Summerhall took place in 259AL. Aemon died at the age of 102 in 300/301AL, so he would have been 60 or 61 during Summerhall.

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Hmmm..... AA needed three attempts to forge LB. Could Jon's attempts to leave the NW but instead remain true to his vows and thus reminding the NW of their true purpose lend credence to the theory of the NW being Lightbringer?

Three's its always in threeeeeessss!!

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Three's its always in threeeeeessss!!

Dude, you called it rambling but I say that some of the greatest discoveries in human history have happened by accident. I am a fervent supporter of the NW=LB theory and your post, whether intentional or not, lends credence to the theory. For me at least.

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