Reread ADWD

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Recently, i've begun a re-read of ADWD. And since i was doing a re-read, i figured i might as well take a leaf out of Srylanna's book and post my thoughts on the chapters I re-read.

Varamyr Prologue
- Claims he can seize the body of another human, making it his permanently. Later in the book we see Bran taking control of Hodor, but only for short periods of time. Afterwards he always returns to his own body. If what Varamyr say is true, it should be possible for a skinchanger if strong enough to permanently take the skin of another human being (we actually read about Varamyr attempting this in the prologue with Thistle). I wonder what happens to the 'soul' of the other human. Varamyr took Orell's eagle, in which at the time Orell was having his second life. Orell's presence initially was felt strongly. It faded over time. So in that case Orell faded away, he did not merge with Varamyr. Not sure if the same would apply when taking over another human. We do know Hodor is frightened when Bran takes over. Plus in GRRM's world it is probably easier for Bran to take control over a simpleton like Hodor than a 'regular' human being. I don't think the fysiology of the human brain works like that in real life but it's a story. Whenever Bran does take over Hodor, his vocabulary remained stuck at Hodor'ing.

- Varamyr finds himself in One-Eye (one of his wolves) for his second life when he dies.

- Thistle after becoming a wight, sees Varamyr as wolf. Wether this means she sees the living wolf or the warg/human in the wolf, i'm not sure.

 

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Tyrion I
-In Ilyrio Mopatis house, there is a statue of a beautiful young bravado with pale blond (golden?) hair. Upon reading this chapter i was thinking this may be a clue about a possible Targaryen/Blackfyre connection. Ilyrio himself has blond chest hair. So i figured the statue may be Ilyrio as a young person (confirmed in later chapters). After reading more chapters i'm less certain about a genuine Targaryen/Blackfyre connection straight up like that, though i do feel Ilyrio has Valyrian blood in him.

- I could not help but nottice that Ilyrio chapter ends with him ending the chapter with talk about the dragons savior with 3 heads. And that the next chapter is one of Dany's not Aegon's. So a possible clue there's that Aegon really is just the mummer's dragon.

 

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Dany I
- The Green Grace is called Galazza Galare, which sounds (imo) a lot like glazed glare. Meaning her benevolence towards Dany is actually just a thin coating, underneath which her glare (and hatred) lies hidden.

- Dany wants to rest in Meereen. Yet it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out the Meereenese rather be rid of her, and don't want to accept her as their queen. I Mean she starts by randomly nailing up a master for every slave child, we then read about her disdain for the Meereenese calling them sly and treacherous. Whilst holding court her judgement seems sympathetic to 'her' people and sometimes genuinely unfair for some former slave owners (even if you don't want to feel sympathetic for former slave owners). Her laws/judgement creates radical changes for the Meereenese, she bascially rejects all the Meereenese stand for. She seems to only see the hurts done to the former slaves, but not the hurts her slaves, she herself is now bringing upon the Meereenese. GRRM makes it so at first glance you think Dany is great, she is against slavery and what not. But when you pay a closer look at her actions suddenly they smell quite a bit.

 

[ArstenWhitebeard]

GRRM makes it so at first glance you think Dany is great, she is against slavery and what not. But when you pay a closer look at her actions suddenly they smell quite a bit.

This is very true and not really discussed enough. Dany condemns all slave owners, but many of those people (not the ones who nailed up the children, obviously, but lots of the others) are just normal people. They weren't breaking any laws by owning slaves and based on the testimony of the old tutor, or the pit fighters, they treated their slaves quite well. There is certainly a deep seated problem when people treat other human beings like property, but if that is the way a whole society was raised, then you cant really blame them. It is good that Dany is freeing slaves, and trying to stop slavery from continuing, but she should be trying to teach the Meereenese why it is wrong to buy slaves rather than punishing them for being born meereenese.

 

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Jon I
We start of with Jon warging and us learning he know remembers his wolf dreams even when awake. There is a clear theme throughout ADWD in that the Starks (all of them) are more connected with their wolves. He shows all of the remaining Starks warging. Mostly in their direwolfs, but also in humans and cats. When you take a broader perspective you can also make the argument that near the end of ADWD Dany and Drogon shows signs of being connected albeit not in the same fashion as the Starks are with their wolfs. Magic in general has come more to the forefront in comparison to the earlier books.

We learn that something is brewing in the north since Lyanna Mormont answers Stannis in a letter. She is the youngest of the Mormont brood. Her answering the letter basically means the rest of the Mormonts are no longer on Bear Island. Similar to how Bran was made Acting Lord of Winterfell in the abence of Robb. Given her answer (only a stark) one could derive that the rest of the family are working on a stark restoration. And for that you need Starks. Seeing as the Mormonts are not shown later on with the Boltons in support of the fake Arya Stark, this could point either to the legitimisation of Jon or they know Bran/Rickon are still alive. At this point in time i think Sansa is still a viable option as well, but i somehow doubt the Mormont would want to try and find Sansa and support her claim.

When Melisandre gets spoken too/is in contact with others, every now and then she touches the ruby on her neck. I'm not entirely sure but i wonder wether it is some magic telltale sign when someone is not telling the entire truth to her/lying to her. Like a medieval magic lie detector. I told myself to keep track of this motion, to see if it was just a tick or something more, but i forgot to do so...

 

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Bran I
Coldhands seems to be able to communicate with bloodraven through the ravens, or merely with the ravens to learn info of what is going on around them. Coldhands seems like an animated death. He is more than a wight since he ain't slow like a zombie. He seems more like what we learned Others to be. If so, the others are afraid of the fire as well. I'm starting to think he's the Night King. if only because GRRM stated it's not Benjen Stark and i can't figure out another prominent character we learned about that could fit the bill of Coldhands. He has one strange line, I figure it got more to do with telling Bran to be cautious than any genuine implication on the magic of the others. In any case, it goes like this: You cannot know what the light might summon from the darkness.

The pack of wolves that stalk Bran and his party are Varamyr's 3 wolves. Varamyr has his second life in One-Eye the pack leader. This led me to wonder if Varamyr still has some magic at it's desposal whilst being a wolf. We know much of his consciousness remains, so you could say Varamyr is following Bran and his party. To what end? I'm not sure, but in later chapters GRRM does keep reminding us of the wolfpack, so they might have some role left to play. Brand recognizes One-Eye is a warg.

 

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Tyrion II
Instead of going by sea to Meereen towards Dany, Ilyrio argues it's better to go over land. This is just a ploy for Tyrion to meet fAegon in my opinion. We learn or are reminded that Varys came from Myr to pentos before he befriended Ilyrio. If this is some clue GRRM gives us, i am shooting blanks. I can't connect the Targs/Blackfyres to Myr. Perhaps anyone else here knows more.

What i found interesting to note was confirmation we receive about the statue in Ilyrio's mansion. He was indeed that youth (at 16) with pale blond golden hair. Interesting not only because of the hair colour but because of what Ilyrio says. He claims to have been a poor bravo in soiled silks living by his sword. By why would Pytho Malanon (i figure a famous sculpor in Essos since he was named) bother to make a sculptor of a random poor bravo and then gift it to him... . It seems even then he was more than a poor bravo, which is probably why Varys sought him out. Possible Targ/Blackfyre connection? Not sure. I actually think the Targ connection has as much to do with someone else mentioned in this chapter: Serra

It is also Ilyrio whom reminds us that the male line of house Blackfyre ended. Implying that the female line did not. As well as that some contracts are writ, not in ink but in blood. That's basically saying that some female line still exists. The list of possible Blackfyre descendants/Targ bastards at the top of my head: Varys, Ilyro, fAegon, Serra.

Now, who is Serra? Serra was Ilyrio's wife. A woman with big blue eyes and pale golden hair streaked by silver he found in a pleasure house in Lys. Her name and her description remind me of Sheira Seastar. You could say Sheira was not technically a Blackfyre, but she is def. a Targ descendant. We know bloodraven and bittersteel where her lovers. She dies by the grey death. Ilyrio creepily keeps her hands in his bedchamber. No mention is made about a possible offspring of their union. However the way Ilyrio asks about fAegon resembles the way a doting (if absent father) asks about his son. I would not be surprised if fAegon turned out to be their child.

Even more of a crackpot theory: Lys, Myr and Tyrosh once formed the kingdom of the 3 daughters. To this day i think these 3 cities are still heavily connected, being in proximity of each other. Varys was enslaved in Myr. What if Serra was Varys his sister? send to lys to be trained in the pleasure houses? Making Varys fAegon his uncle. It sounds far fetched even to my own ears but... its a crackpot theory for something. I wonder if Varys is truly bald or if he is just pulling an egg...

 

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Quentin I
Quentin is warned by his father that Tywin Lannister may try to kill dany and that Quentin needs to be cautious in his actions so Varys does not discover him voyaging to Dany. I realize Varys in his capacity as spymaster needs to report to the council, but for Doran to warn Quentin about Varys instead of just general discovery for fear of things turning sour with the Iron Throne is kind of strange. I don't think it's a clue to fAegon being Varys his endgame instead of Dany but i could not help but think that when re-reading this.

He sees Jenny and her brother (still alive) in Volantis.

 

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Jon II
The children of the forest used to give the Night's Watch 100 obsidian daggers every year. How long ago was this? Before the Andals came? Did they trade with Dragonstone? Is that where the Children got their obsidian daggers?

Jon fears that Stannis will have Aemon burned by Melisandre cause he has got king's blood. Initially i felt this concern may have been a bit too much since Aemon unlike Mance or his son is a member of the NW. Not a traitor/enemy and somewhat protected by his vows. I reconsidered thinking of Edric Storm.

This also left me with a conundrum. Melisandre saw Davos slipping away Edric Storm in her fires. She may well have seen Jon slipping away Aemon and Mance his son. Yet she does nothing to stop it. Is it because she herself does not wish to kill the innocent? Correct me if i'm wrong but so far I think she has only ever given attainted people to her flames.

At the start of ADWD, Bowen Marsh seem to think Jon Snow is still half a boy. When Jon order his men to not continue with the hanging of Janos Slynt, he think Jon has listened to Janos his pleas and will let him go. I just found it interesting that GRRM put that in there. We can see that Jon, as he does/is with most his actions/decisions has thought things through and is well prepared. That is not to say he does everything right, but it's never on a whim. When he goes to face Janos Slynt, he takes half o dozen veterans as his guard with him.

On a sidenote, GRRM did a good job of letting the sadness seep through in the chapter. You can feel Jon's sadness. The cost that comes with being a man, a lord commander.

 

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Tyrion II
The one thing that really stuck out in this chapter is Ilyrio sentiments when talking about Aegon. he seems really sad, like he misses the boy. Again it makes me feel like there is a family connection there.

 

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@chapter above is Tyrion III not Tyrion II

Davos I
During Robert's rebellion Eddard Stark had to cross the mountains to the Fingers and find a fisherman to carry him across the bite into the North. When a storm caught them, the fisherman died. It was the fisherman's daughter who managed to get Eddard to the Sisters before the boat went down. Fisherman's daughter = Wylla ?!

 

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Jon III
The horn that got burned resembles more spellbinder (the horn Euron has) than anything else. I don't think Joramun's horn that could wake the giants and bring down the wall was destroyed. If that horn (the one that got destroyed by melisandre) had in truth something to do with dragons then can we take it as a clue that Ice Dragons exist as well? Given as it was found so far north.

The pages marked by Aemon in the Jade Compendium refer to Azor Ahai and more specifically to the real Lightbringer. After the sword was tempered in his wife Nissa Nissa, lightbringer was never cold to the touch, in battle the sword became fiery hot. It's all described very literally, as in implied that lightbringer was an actual sword, not a fire breathing dragon ( I say this cause some theories suggest the description should not be taken litterally and suggest that Dany's 3 dragons are the current equivalent of lightbringer).

 

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Dany II
I wonder if Dany's infatuation with Daario hinting at her still being young in some ways. I mean the Daario of her imagination is different than the real article. Some of Dany's actions once again managed to leave a bas taste in my mouth. For instance 2 unsullied were killed at a winebar (?!). In any case 2 unsullied got poisoned and the wineseller and his daughter were arrested as the sole suspects they could find. They (wineseller + daughter) claim to know nothing and Dany has no prove they did know, let alone did anything amiss. However, because none of Dany's men offer any other leads she orders the wineseller and his daughter to be tortured. Kudos to you Dany, kudos to you... .

It makes it even harder to root for her, when she once again demonstrates to actually know little and less of westeros. Blinded by hatred she puts the Lanisters and the Starks in the same basket. Barristan tries to inform her, but is cut off by her and by circumstance. Her hatred is understandable, but given her track record I can't help but think that at this point, she is the last thing Westeros needs. What westeros needs after all this war is time to heal, she intends to bring even more Fire and Blood upon them. Just because she feels it's her home and has a right to it. She ain't worse than a Cersei, Euron, Roose, but by herself she's only a marginal improvement at this point. Dany for the most part means well, but she isn't capable enough yet. She might be in the future. At the moment she would need capable other people to bring about her visions. You could argue no one can rule alone, but she really, i mean really needs capable people to improve her resourcefullness. If she was a baby at the start of GoT, then she is an infant know who has just learned her first steps. She can walk but isn't secure enough to truly run on her feet when it comes to rulership. Ofcourse this (rulership) is exactly what GRRM wants us to see her learn during her stay in Meereen. But the mistakes she makes whilst learning are rather brutal ones, which says much of her character.

 

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Reek I
We receive clues about the betrayal of the Karstarks to Stannis. We learn the Umber aren't politically stupid as well, deciding to play for both teams. As for Ramsay. The more the northern lords are acquanted with him, the more they must surely realize he is no Roose. Ramsay is just a tad too volatile and cruel to want to have him as your lord.

 

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Bran II
Varamyr-as-wolf is still following Bran. Not sure if this will become important in later installments, but GRRM keeps mentioning the wolfpack.

The cave they hide in, is the home of the children that remain and is somehow warded against the others. I wonder how, by runes, by songs of the children (and their magic), by the weirwood inside the caves similar to the Nighfort? No idea.

We see Bran slipping into Hodor's skin more and more, using him to fight of the zombies. Bran is basically taking possesion of another human being. Hodor don't like it much. Doesn't stop Bran from doing it more and more in the future.

The children's name in the true tongue means something along the lines of: Those who sing the song of earth. A very interesting name since the name of the series is the song of ice and fire. Do the children represent a third force. And if so, are they a balancing force? It seems clear to me that the Old Tongue was a deriviation of the True Tongue, making it all the more poignant the Old Tongue is lost to the people of the First Men, since the True Tongue obviously holds power. The children are long-lived. In short given their characteristics as well as the fact that they are fading from this world make them basically GRRM's version of fairies. Now we know GRRM is influenced by Tolkien and in Tolkien the Elves were mostly part of the good guys. The Noldor did do some bad stuff such as killing other elves. Dragons are not good in Tolkien's world.

As for Bloodraven, he's completely entwined with the weirwood and more dead than living. This does not bode well for Bran's future.

 

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Tyrion IV
Tyrion basically learns the 'truth' about Aegon in this chapter. Kinda lame that the halfmaester would just reveal it completely just because he lost at cyvasse but okay. Since Tyrion we are let to believe Tyrion had basically come to to this conclusion himself and the halfmaester just confirms the suspicions I guess I can live with that. I was more interested in trying to learn more about the halfmaester and lemore but failed to do so.

 

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Davos II
Eastwatch seems quite up to date with what happens in White Harbor. They knew Manderly had no love for the Boltons and that they were raising war ships. In the port, Davos sees a Bravo Galleon, the Horn of Plenty. My guess is Tyscho Nestoris made a pits stop at White Harbor before continue'ing to the Wall.

In the tavern Davos seems to pay minimal heed to what is happening in the East. He does take note of it, but is naturally more interested in the things directly related to Stannis. We learn that Ryswell and Dustin forces managed to surprise the ironmen on the Fever River, and put their longships to the torch? (That also means they didn't capture the longships and added it to whatever northern fleet House Bolton has at it's disposal. My guess is Bolton hardly has any ships to his name, which is good for Manderly.) We learn that Ramsay alongside Hother Umber is on it's way to Moat cailin to clear out the ironmen there. What with the kingsmoot and Euron setting his eye south, the ironmen are swiftly getting the boot out of the north. Whoresbane Umber, Cerwyn and Hornwood men are helping out in that regard as well.

What stands out to me is that people are right in saying the north lost a good deal of manpower with the fall of Robb. However some houses still have a lot left to give. I'm thinking House Dustin, House Manderly among others. Other houses more affected by the war are currently in the midst of raising new armies such as the Cerwyns. House Umber is fielding it's greenhorns and greybeards. The ironmen are in a way helpful in this regard, the ironmen are a unifying enemy for the north, not too mention the young northerners are getting bloodied in the fights against them all the while barely losing any men against the ironmen. Unless the battle between Stannis, Manderly and Bolton ends in a major bloodbath, the north will be able to field 1 last major army should it so desire.

 

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Dany III
Xaro Xoan Daxos shows off his best side: He tells Dany, sweetness cloys. Tart fruit and tart women give life it's flavor. He follows this up with: Dany, sweet queen, I cannot tell you what pleasure it gives me to bask once more in your presence. Your hinterlands are not precious to me, your person is. Should ill befall you, this world will lose it's savor.

Dany is once again being her glorious self. She has a spice merchant digging in the soil to create trenches for water to help make beans... .In return the spice merchant will get food and shelter. I might be going overboard but this reminds me of some failed evil communism leaders. Pol Pot and Mao Zedong immediately sprang to mind during this re-read. they too had the intelligentsia do menial labor instead of making use of their actual talents whilst 'providing' food and shelter. I realize i'm going a bit overboard since Pol Pot and Mao Zedong both commited heinous atrocities to humanity and Dany isn't quite there yet.

Anyone else thought it was ironic that Dany's answer to masked men are masked men (Brazen Beasts).

The chapter ends with Qarth declaring war on Dany.

 

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Jon IV
We're shown again that the North isn't politically inept. For example the Umbers are putting their eggs in both baskets. With Mors declaring for Stannis and Whoresbane for Bolton whilst stating to both they won't fight fellow Umbers. As previously stated the North isn't as devoid of fighting men as some would believe. Hornwood, Cerwyn, Tallhart, Ryswell and Dustin all have men currently in the field.

Arnolf Karstark intending to betray Stannis tries to goad Stannis in attempting to take the Dreadfort. Bolton's plan would have worked if only for Jon. Who proves he's no slouch on the tactical end during the war council. Jon basically saves Stannis cause. If only for a little while longer. Stannis cause ultimately looks doomed. You can't sit the Iron Throne when no one wants to have you as their king.

 

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Tyrion V
Tyrion explains the different forms of greyscale. But it's still a bit blurry for me in respect to it's relations with other deceases like the grey plague. From what i gather young children can survive, greyscale can sometimes be stopped/halted but not reversed with them. For adults the decease is mortal. Though it kills slowly, scaling you up till you're doomed. It's cousin the grey plague is faster and the way I see it, more deadlier.