The House of the Undying. (Multiple spoilers beyond A Clash of Kings.)

[Boaz]

In 2-Sided Thread, Kiwi got me thinking about Dany's visit to the House of the Undying. I searched the words Daenerys, Dany, theory, prophecy, house, undying, and vision... and I looked back at the most viewed threads. And I did not find a thread detailing Dany's visions in the House of the Undying. There are a few threads that do talk about one or two of the visions and the prophecy of the three betrayals...

The Dragon Has Three Heads

ACOK Daenerys IV - New stuff has come to light...

Daenerys Theory

the Dragon has 3 heads, A discussion on Prophecy

...but I did not find a thread detailing the visions.

I've made long posts before, but I anticipate this to be my longest yet. In order to avoid that, I'll probably make multiple posts numbering the visions, quoting the prophecy, naming the visions of the past, commenting on the visions of the present, and then guessing at the visions of the future; what will be and what might have been.

Daenerys visits the House of the Undying, i.e. the warlock's mansion in Qarth, under directions from Pyat Pree. This takes place in Dany's sixth POV of ACOK... Book II, Chapter 49. Pyat Pree tells Dany...

"Within, you will see many things that disturb you. Visions of loveliness and visions of horror, wonders and terrors. Sights and sounds of days gone by and days to come and days that never were."

After drinking the magic potion and entering the mansion with only Drogon, Dany starts hearing noises. She is scared and hurries on without seeking the sources of the sounds. Then she starts having visions...

1. A beautiful woman being assaulted by four little pink rat faced men.

2. A feast of corpses supervised by a crowned man with a wolf's head.

3. Ser Willem Darry, in Braavos, at the house with the red door and a lemon tree.

4. An old silver haired king upon a huge barbed throne said, "Let him be the king of ashes."

5. A man very similar to Viserys talking to a woman nursing a newborn.

At this point, Dany cannot find the correct door and becomes terrified of an ominous shuffling/dragging sound.

6. Pyat Pree tries to lead her through the wrong door.

Next, Dany sees the wizards, witches, and warlocks of Qarth as they were in all their splendor.

Then she finds them as they really are... dead. But they begin to speak to her... to prophesy.

7. Viserys' death.

8. A copper skinned conqueror.

9. Rhaegar's death.

10. A blue eyed king with a red sword.

11. A parade.

12. A gargoyle coming to life.

13. Her Silver.

14. A bright eyed corpse on a ship. (This is the one Kiwi mentioned that got me going.)

15. A blue flower in a wall of ice.

16. Shadows dancing in a tent.

17. The house with the big red door.

18. Mirri Maz Duur's death.

19. Her Silver dragging a dead man.

20. A white lion.

21. The Dosh Khaleen.

22. Ten thousand slaves proclaiming Dany as their mother.

The prophecy from the Undying is intermingled with Dany's visions. But here are their words...

...mother of dragons... dragons... dragons... dragons...
...we live... live... live...
...and know... know... know... know...
...the shape shadows... and morrows not yet made... drink from the cup of ice... drink from the cup of fire...
...mother of dragons... child of three...
...three heads has the dragon...
...mother of dragons... child of storm... three fires must you light... one for life and one for death and one to love...
...three mounts must you ride... one to bed and one to dread and one to love...
...three treasons will you know... once for blood and once for gold and once for love...
...help her... show her...
...mother of dragons, daughter of death...
...mother of dragons, slayer of lies...
...mother of dragons, bride of fire...

 

[Boaz]

Visions of the past...

3. Ser Willem Darry, in Braavos, at the house with the red door and a lemon tree.

This is the fondest memory of Dany's life. She knew Willem would protect her. She loved the imagery of the door and she loved the scent of lemons.

4. An old silver haired king upon a huge barbed throne said, "Let him be the king of ashes."

This is a vision of Dany's father, King Aerys II, aka The Mad King. He is speaking to a man at the foot of the dais... either Lord Rossart, the Hand and Pyromancer, or maybe Jaime. His words are the order to burn King's Landing to the ground.

5. A man very similar to Viserys talking to a woman nursing a newborn.

This is probably the most memorable and discussed vision. It seems to be Rhaegar and Elia just after Aegon's birth. Rhaegar was actively seeking to fulfill the prophecy about the dragon's heads.

7. Viserys' death.

A gruesome memory.

9. Rhaegar's death.

The rubies flew from his armor into the river. Rhaegar whispered a woman's name as he died.

16. Shadows dancing in a tent.

Mirri Maz Duur's attempt to save Drogo's life. A terrible memory for Dany.

17. The house with the big red door.

Actually, Dany sees a little girl running towards the door. A memory of safe haven.

18. Mirri Maz Duur's death.

Dany sees a dragon burst forth from Mirri's head. Blood magic to raise dragons.

19. Her Silver dragging a dead man.

The sentence passed upon the wine vendor turned would be assassin.

I think these are all obviously in the past. Many are Dany's own memories, but all the rest have to do with her family.

 

[Boaz]

Visions of the present...

1. A beautiful woman being assaulted by four little pink rat faced men.

This is a vision of Westeros. The woman represents the people, the culture, and the resources of the Seven Kingdoms being torn asunder by the four men claiming to be king... Joffrey, Stannis, Robb, and Renly. Please remember that Balon did not declare himself until after Renly's death.

6. Pyat Pree tries to lead her through the wrong door.

I do not think that really was Pyat Pree.

 

[Boaz]

Visions of what might have been...

8. A copper skinned conqueror.

Here's the actual quote...

A tall lord with copper skin an silver-gold hair stood bneath the banner of a fiery stallion, a burning city behind him.

In AGOT, chapter 68, Dany's ninth POV, she dreamed of her son Rhaego. He was tall with copper skin and silver-gold hair. Her vision in the House of the Undying seems to be Rhaego fulfilling the prophecy of The Stallion Who Mounts The World.

21. The Dosh Khaleen.

I'm not sure about this vision, but I think it represents what was in store for Dany if she'd stayed. She'd be one of the old crones guiding the religion of the Dothraki.

Both of these visions deal with her life if Drogo and Rhaego had lived.

 

[Boaz]

Visions of what will be...

2. A feast of corpses supervised by a crowned man with a wolf's head.

After reading the horrific events of ASOS, you should know exactly what this vision means.

12. A gargoyle coming to life.

This deals with the theory/prophecy that there is a stone dragon on Dragonstone. I'm assuming this is will come to pass...

14. A bright eyed corpse on a ship.

After Kiwi's observation, I think this is another vision of Dany's family. She's already had visions of her father and brothers... now here is Maester Aemon. He's looking for her. He's figured out the prophecy... but not in time to actually live to see her.

22. Ten thousand slaves proclaiming Dany as their mother.

This came to pass in ASOS when Dany freed Mereen.

I think three of these have already happened. Just waiting on the gargoyle...

 

[Boaz]

Potential Spoilers!!!

Visions that I cannot place...

10. A blue eyed king with a red sword.

Here's my guess.... Stannis Baratheon, Mance Rayder, or Jon Snow. Purple eyes are for Valyrians. Green eyes are for Andals. Brown eyes are for the First Men. Blue eyes... well, many people have blue eyes... but most noticably those slain and resurrected by the Others have blue eyes. And a red sword echoes Lightbringer.... the red sword of the hero Azor Ahai. King Stannis already has a Lightbringer, but Aemon and Sam have dismissed it. Jon has a Valyrian Steel blade. Mance was a king...

11. A parade.

"A cloth dragon" is either a banner or a giant puppet hoisted above a cheering crowd. I think this may be a vision of a possible celebrated return of the Targaryens, but I don't know.

13. Her Silver.

The Silver is trotting towards a stream. Was this Dany's wedding night? Is it in the future?

15. A blue flower in a wall of ice.

A vision of Lyanna? Jon? The past? The future?

20. A white lion.

Drogo hunted these in the Dothraki Sea. But why a dragon and not Drogo? Could this be Dany herself? What about Tyrion? He has silver-blond hair, he's a Lannister, and he'd have to go to the Dothraki Sea to find Dany.

 

[Boaz]

Well, those are the visions and my observations and interpretations. Please correct them or add your own observations. Hopefully we'll know more in a year.

 

[Ursa major]

Could a gargoyle coming to life represent Tyrion (who is described in the books as being a lot less attractive, to say the least, than the Tyrion we see in the TV series)?

 

[Boaz]

Ursa, here's the text...

From a smoking tower, a great stone beast took wing, breathing shadow fire...

My apologies, in my haste and in my desire to not type an entire chapter, I took some liberties in my description. Dragonstone Castle is covered with stone gargoyles. You can find this description in the prologue for ACOK... Maester Cressen's POV.

I guess this could be thought of Balerion rising from Harrenhal after melting it. Or mayhaps it might be the dragon that many think is under Winterfell... Didn't Bran have vision of this through Summer's eyes?

 

[Ursa major]

Sorry, but I was reacting to the mention of a gargoyle, which is a small (well, not particularly large) grotesque carving that acts as a water spout. Tyrion being small and grotesque (in the books) -- and carved, for that matter -- matched that description.


By the way, has their been a debate here about what 'shadow fire' is? I seem to recall Melisandre going on about shadows being associated with the god of light, but that may have only been in the TV show. (I really must reread the books again.)

 

[Koopa]

Most of Boaz thoughts on the visions seen, reflect my own.
As to these:
- Glowing like sunset, a red sword was raised in the hand of a blue-eyed king who cast no shadow
For me that's basicallt Stannis Baratheon whom 'wields' melisandre. he casts no shadow cause of her magics. And maybe also cause ultimately he'll prove to be a dead end.

- A cloth dragon swayed on poles amidst a cheering crowd.
I'm thinking this is Faegon and the Golden Company when he announces his intentions to sail to westeros.

- the blue flower in the wall of ice seems a reference to Jon

- white lion ran through grass taller than a man:
This kinda screams Tyrion

- the pryat pree thingie. Might that be a reference to the woman visting dany? She ignores going to asshai and does her own thing. Might be completely wrong on this. Just building on Boaz thought process.

-From a smoking tower, a great stone beast took wing, breathing shadow fire.
This one is so hard. There's winterfell, dragonstone, then there's that decease GRRM introduced.
also are gargoyle and great stone beast the same? Or have i overlooked a portion of the prophecy?

then there are the fire she must light, the mounts she must ride, and the treasons she must know.
Not sure wether we should discuss those here are in the abovementioned threads.

 

[Boaz]

Kiwi, Nice point about Faegon (I assume this means Fake Aegon) and the Golden Company... I like it.

But I am not sold on Stannis as the blue eyed king... Melisandre uses lots of shadows. If the king has no shadow then either it's not Stannis or Stannis has had all the life sucked out of him...

 

[LittleStar]

My first thought was of the winterfell dragon theory, when you mentioned gargoyle. It's slightly less obvious choice than the dragonstone (not that that makes it any more or less likely).
The rest I'm pretty in tune with. though the Hirt eyed sailor. Wasn't it mostly agreed that this was Gerion(?), (I haven't read any theories for years, so I'm way out of date) Maester Aemon is an interesting look at it though, I hadn't thought of that.

But, damn. Reading this makes me want to re-read the whole series. Haven't read any of them since my first reading of DWD years ago. (haven't even watched the series, because my partner wants to read the book sfirst... But they are procrastinating because it's a big project)

 

[Brian G Turner]

14. A bright eyed corpse on a ship.

After Kiwi's observation, I think this is another vision of Dany's family. She's already had visions of her father and brothers... now here is Maester Aemon. He's looking for her. He's figured out the prophecy... but not in time to actually live to see her.

Wasn't is suggested in another thread that this might be Jon Connington, as an Aegon? Bright-eyed as meaning he's alive, but the greyscale as already dooming him unto death?

15. A blue flower in a wall of ice.

A vision of Lyanna? Jon? The past? The future?

Taken literally, it would seem to suggest spring - I would imagine the possibility of a late scene in the last book where a bleak moment, or one of introspection, is followed by the discovery of a flower in The Wall, and with it, the promise of spring.

 

[Narkalui]

I think with the stone beast taking wing, firstly this is certainly a dragon, secondly I think it is an unread dragon brought back by the Others. I think this because of the 'shadow fire' element. Through the various preachings of Red Priests we know that shadow and light are polar opposites and therefore it follows that if fire is light then ice is shadow. Therefore I believe this is referencing the much debated ice dragon. Which is undead. And serving the Others.

 

[Groot]

Yes, the Ice dragon is coming!

The two bits I found interesting are:
3. Ser Willem Darry, in Braavos, at the house with the red door and a lemon tree.
17. The house with the big red door.

Are these not the same thing? What are peoples thoughts on there being no lemon trees in Braavos?
I know Dany travelled when she was young, but did she stay somewhere important to the story?

And

10. A blue eyed king with a red sword.

Is this dead Jon Snow?

Good work Boaz, what about Quaite comments to Dany, they always seemed strange.

 

[ArstenWhitebeard]

I am pretty much in agreement with most of Boaz's projections.

I think her Silver walking to the stream was a vision of the past, and her wedding.

I also think the white lion is a red herring. We see the word lion and we want it to mean Tyrion or Jaime, but I think it was another vision of the past, when Drogo brought her the pelt of a huge white lion.

the blue flower growing in the wall of ice, to me, means that Jon is Lyanna's son, and he is growing up (in more ways that one) at the wall.

The prophecy that is the most intriguing to me is the blue eyed king with the red sword. There are so many possibilities, that it is hard to narrow it down. my initial thought is that Jon is going to somehow embody that prophecy. But to get real Crack-Pot, what if it will be Cold Hands? I had once put forward that Cold hands was actually the King of Winter, the old NW LC (a Stark by the way) who somehow married a white walker and ruled at the Night Fort. Leaf says that Cold Hands "Died a long time ago", which seems to indicate he is not Benjen Stark. But like I said, real Crack-Pot

 

[Narkalui]

The Nights King as Cold Hands is an idea I've contemplated before, I'm not sure if it's quite so crack pot. Jon having blue eyes and a red sword I think is symbolic of his being a union between Fire and Ice.

 

[ArstenWhitebeard]

The Nights King as Cold Hands is an idea I've contemplated before, I'm not sure if it's quite so crack pot. Jon having blue eyes and a red sword I think is symbolic of his being a union between Fire and Ice.

Thank you for not rubbing it in that I messed up Night's King with Winter King.

and I meant more that the idea of Cold Hands being AAR is crack-pot, not so much the idea that Cold Hands is the Night's King.

 

[Narkalui]

Ah, no that does sound a little silly. Sorry.