The Fisherman's Daughter: not catching red herring...
Apr 17, 2016 17:30:21 GMT
Maester Flagons, Weasel Pie, and 1 more like this
Post by Some Pig No Doubt on Apr 17, 2016 17:30:21 GMT
A repeat of one of my personal favorite crackpots, the Pretty Some Bacon Beautiful Pig's Fisherman's Daughter Theory™. This theory ascertains that the FD - a woman said to be the real mother of Jon Snow - is in fact a real person with real significance to Ned Stark and Jon Snow's story, and not just some false lead dropped into the story to throw readers off the scent of RLJ.
We are introduced to the Fisherman's Daughter in ADWD via a recollection told to Davos by Godric Borrell, Lord of Sweetsister, after Davos is captured in the Belly of the Whale trying to escape the island after washing ashore in a storm.
There are some important points to note here. First, both Borrell lords, father and son, were present for this encounter - the current Lord Borrell witnessed Ned's visit personally. This is verification that Ned Stark was physically at the Sisters, and he had a woman with him. Second, something led the Borrells to believe that they were intimate - such as a particular closeness, or sharing a room at the inn...an intimacy that would lead to 'a bastard in her belly.' Third, we have confirmation that the fisherman's existence cannot be verified, because he drowned before the daughter got them to shore - the Borrells are told that the fisherman existed, but they never saw him. They only see the daughter.
Now, let's return to some notes on the Sisters from the same chapter:
The takeaway here is that the Three Sisters are an isolated unit operating as a smugglers' haven, has no fealty to Arryn/Stark/the Vale/the North/anyone in particular, and are not widely involved/included in the affairs of the Seven Kingdoms. The Borrell lords (then and now) would know the high lords of the area such as Stark and Manderly, but the likelihood of them knowing/recognizing vassals or family members would be small.
There are other numerous mentions in the chapter of the Sisters' ideal location in the Bite, and its proximity to the major port of White Harbor and to the narrow sea via a sail around the Fingers. And about White Harbor, we know this from Davos: "If Winterfell was the heart of the north, White Harbor was its mouth." A fiercely loyal mouth at that, and a prominent port for all walks of trade in from/out to all walks of Planetos.
Next, when Jon Arryn raised his banners, Ned had to make way to Winterfell from the Vale - avoiding Targ-loyal Gulltown. However, if you look in more detail at Ned's supposed route, suffice it to say there are many red flags here.
Map of Vale:
Supposedly, Ned left the Eyrie and needed to avoid Gulltown, so opted to head for the Fingers. I'm assuming that at the time it was also necessary to avoid the Kingsroad and the Green Fork, although the latter seems odd given that it would take him directly to friendly Greywater Watch. The journey was said to be long and perilous, with him taking the long way through the mountains toward the Fingers. This is where things get interesting when you take a closer look at the makeup of the Vale and some of Neddard's options.
First, to get to the Fingers, he has to go north and east. This in itself makes absolutely no sense to me if he's trying to make it to White Harbor - talk about going 180 out of your way. I am curious as to the choice of this route given that it goes through the territory of House Corbray, which has allegiance to House Arryn during the Rebellion that is iffy at best - not to mention that the Corbrays have more than a few connections to/dealings with Littlefinger and the Baelish family in general. Why would Ned not make for one of the more loyal Vale houses or take a more direct route toward the Bite/Greywater?
Second, Ned and the FD wash up on Sweetsister. Look at the position of Sweetsister in the Bite: it's the middle island. Where the hell did Ned leave FROM to end up there? Are we really to believe that a local fisherman is going to carry him from the Fingers across the entire length of the Bite to get to White Harbor? Review this map of the North and tell me if that seems logical and/or even feasible.
What I deduce from this is that Ned did not in fact start from the Eyrie, had to take a necessary detour, or needed to remain as far under the radar as possible (or all of the above) to take the route he did.
This begs the question: why?
Let's return to the history of the Sisters as a smuggler's haven, and Ned's impromptu traveling companion.
So the situation is that near the start of the Rebellion, after Lyanna has gone missing/after the StarkBQin KL/after Jon Arryn has called his banners but before Ned gets to Winterfell to call his own, we have Ned Stark (presumably en route to White Harbor) landing in a reclusive area known to be a smugglers' cove with a mystery woman that somehow is assumed to have borne Ned's bastard son later. Keep in mind that Ned - despite not being married to Cat at this point - is still not a man known to take his pleasures, but again there had to be some degree of affection shown between them for Godric to associate Fisherman's Daughter / Jon Snow.
Let's look at this a moment. Ned "left her with a bastard in her belly", meaning then that the fisherman's daughter was not visibly pregnant on Sweetsister. Now as I'm sure we are all aware, not visibly pregnant =/= not pregnant. A woman can be several months along and still not show. Next, Ned also left her with "a bag of silver". Sure, that bag of silver could be pathetic recompense for the loss of her father......or it could be payment for passage on a ship. Perhaps a pirate ship conveniently tucked in at neutral isolated Sweetsister, or a galley out of Stark-loyal White Harbor, but a ship nonetheless.
I will swear until the last page of ASOIAF that the purpose of this Davos/Borrell exchange and of the intro of Fisherman's Daughter in the first place is to establish Ned's attempt to smuggle a woman OUT of Westeros/the Vale and to the Narrow Sea. The "bag of silver" is payment for passage on a pirate/merchant ship....perhaps bound for Dorne, or Tyrosh, or maybe even Braavos (!).
My proposition is that the Fisherman's Daughter is either Lyanna Stark or Ashara Dayne. My first guess was Lyanna, but I'm gradually warming more to the idea of Ashara. Ned is summoned to assist one of these two ladies leave north-central Westeros by boat. If the "Fisherman's Daughter" was newly pregnant or still very early in her pregnancy (like 3ish months) when this took place, it could jive pretty well with the birthdates of some of these mystery kids in the mix.
IMO the only way to avoid conflict areas (and follow trade/pirate routes) to get to Dorne would be to sail down the Narrow Sea through the Stepstones, around Sunspear and all the ports loyal to the Martells (unless Doran is involved, and then just land at their port) and head straight on via the Summer Sea to the tiny port at Starfall - or arrange to have a second ship do a pickup at a more inconspicuous Dornish port and then head on to Starfall. A bit convoluted, but it could be done. However, it should be noted that a destination of Tyrosh, Land of All Strange & Mysterious Targaryen Connections, is a straight shot down the Narrow Sea and requires none of these machinations. (“When King's Landing fell, Ser Jaime slew your king with a golden sword, and I wondered where you were.” “Far away,” Ser Gerold said..)
Support for Ashara - we have multiple references to Ashara Dayne and Ned having a "thing" post-Harrenhal, plus Ashara "looking to Stark" which could imply either the "thing" with a Stark fella or a favor that needs to be repaid. Also, the final journey from TOJ to Starfall seems more reasonable when you factor your lover and maybe a baby into it - perhaps a baby that you are passing off as your lover's but isn't really?? (Ned admits to some kind of romantic goof "in sight of gods and men" after marrying and impregnating Cat...did he pull a Sam Tarly and sleep with the chick he's protecting as he's ferrying her elsewhere?) Ashara was famously "not nailed to the floor at Starfall", and had access to both horses and BOATS, "although not many of her own"....and I'm assuming that a lady of Starfall, a castle that borders the sea, would know a little bit about sailing. Extra bonus points if there's also smuggling of a Rhaegar heir in the mix too, one that could be sheltered at White Harbor.
Support for Lyanna - this gets her into Dorne where she is implied to be while avoiding the "R&L and two KG went 1000 miles down the Kingsroad in disguise!" nonsense. Lyanna being shipped to Starfall explains the "they" who found Ned holding her hand, resolves the wonkiness surrounding the idea of the birth of a baby in an abandoned watchtower with 3 KG acting as midwives, and answers the eternal question of how Ned Stark knew to take 7 northmen (all from houses west of the Kingsroad that form a solid line of western border defense from the Rills to the Bay of Ice, I might add - what's coming in from the Sunset Sea? Iron Islanders?) down to the famous round tower and find his missing sister with seemingly minimal effort - he already knew where she was, because he helped get her there. If, and it's a big IF, Lyanna did bear a child around the time of the Sack, the timing of the FD encounter could also work well here.
A large assumption with this theory, of course, is that regardless of which gal he may have been acting as coyote for, the honorable Ned Stark more or less betrayed his house, his allies, and his cause by doing this...but given all the guilt and angst and burden over his lies/mistakes that is continually alluded to in AGOT plus GRRM's love of moral ambiguity, I think such an act would fit perfectly with Ned's charcter arc.
We are introduced to the Fisherman's Daughter in ADWD via a recollection told to Davos by Godric Borrell, Lord of Sweetsister, after Davos is captured in the Belly of the Whale trying to escape the island after washing ashore in a storm.
"Ned Stark was here?"
"At the dawn of Robert's Rebellion. The Mad King had sent to the Eyrie for Stark's head, but Jon Arryn sent him back defiance. Gulltown stayed loyal to the throne, though. To get home and call his banners, Stark had to cross the mountains to the Fingers and find a fisherman to carry him across the Bite. A storm caught them on the way, the fisherman drowned, but his daughter got Stark to the Sisters before the boat went down. They say he left her with a bag of silver and a bastard in her belly. Jon Snow, she named him, after Arryn."
"At the dawn of Robert's Rebellion. The Mad King had sent to the Eyrie for Stark's head, but Jon Arryn sent him back defiance. Gulltown stayed loyal to the throne, though. To get home and call his banners, Stark had to cross the mountains to the Fingers and find a fisherman to carry him across the Bite. A storm caught them on the way, the fisherman drowned, but his daughter got Stark to the Sisters before the boat went down. They say he left her with a bag of silver and a bastard in her belly. Jon Snow, she named him, after Arryn."
There are some important points to note here. First, both Borrell lords, father and son, were present for this encounter - the current Lord Borrell witnessed Ned's visit personally. This is verification that Ned Stark was physically at the Sisters, and he had a woman with him. Second, something led the Borrells to believe that they were intimate - such as a particular closeness, or sharing a room at the inn...an intimacy that would lead to 'a bastard in her belly.' Third, we have confirmation that the fisherman's existence cannot be verified, because he drowned before the daughter got them to shore - the Borrells are told that the fisherman existed, but they never saw him. They only see the daughter.
Now, let's return to some notes on the Sisters from the same chapter:
Borrell: "Most knights who land upon my shores seek me in my hall, not in the Belly of the Whale. A vile smuggler's den, that place."
Davos: "There was nothing sweet about Sisterton, though. It was a vile town, a sty, small and mean and rank with the odors of pig shit and rotting fish. Davos remembered it well from his smuggling days. The Three Sisters had been a favorite haunt of smugglers for hundreds of years, and a pirate's nest before that."
"The Three Sisters were fickle bitches, loyal only to themselves. Supposedly they were sworn to the Arryns of the Vale, but the Eyrie's grasp upon the islands was tenuous at best."
Borrell: "These kings [of the 7 Kingdoms] never bother with the Sisters. Why should they? We are small and poor."
Davos: "There was nothing sweet about Sisterton, though. It was a vile town, a sty, small and mean and rank with the odors of pig shit and rotting fish. Davos remembered it well from his smuggling days. The Three Sisters had been a favorite haunt of smugglers for hundreds of years, and a pirate's nest before that."
"The Three Sisters were fickle bitches, loyal only to themselves. Supposedly they were sworn to the Arryns of the Vale, but the Eyrie's grasp upon the islands was tenuous at best."
Borrell: "These kings [of the 7 Kingdoms] never bother with the Sisters. Why should they? We are small and poor."
The takeaway here is that the Three Sisters are an isolated unit operating as a smugglers' haven, has no fealty to Arryn/Stark/the Vale/the North/anyone in particular, and are not widely involved/included in the affairs of the Seven Kingdoms. The Borrell lords (then and now) would know the high lords of the area such as Stark and Manderly, but the likelihood of them knowing/recognizing vassals or family members would be small.
There are other numerous mentions in the chapter of the Sisters' ideal location in the Bite, and its proximity to the major port of White Harbor and to the narrow sea via a sail around the Fingers. And about White Harbor, we know this from Davos: "If Winterfell was the heart of the north, White Harbor was its mouth." A fiercely loyal mouth at that, and a prominent port for all walks of trade in from/out to all walks of Planetos.
Next, when Jon Arryn raised his banners, Ned had to make way to Winterfell from the Vale - avoiding Targ-loyal Gulltown. However, if you look in more detail at Ned's supposed route, suffice it to say there are many red flags here.
Map of Vale:
Supposedly, Ned left the Eyrie and needed to avoid Gulltown, so opted to head for the Fingers. I'm assuming that at the time it was also necessary to avoid the Kingsroad and the Green Fork, although the latter seems odd given that it would take him directly to friendly Greywater Watch. The journey was said to be long and perilous, with him taking the long way through the mountains toward the Fingers. This is where things get interesting when you take a closer look at the makeup of the Vale and some of Neddard's options.
First, to get to the Fingers, he has to go north and east. This in itself makes absolutely no sense to me if he's trying to make it to White Harbor - talk about going 180 out of your way. I am curious as to the choice of this route given that it goes through the territory of House Corbray, which has allegiance to House Arryn during the Rebellion that is iffy at best - not to mention that the Corbrays have more than a few connections to/dealings with Littlefinger and the Baelish family in general. Why would Ned not make for one of the more loyal Vale houses or take a more direct route toward the Bite/Greywater?
Second, Ned and the FD wash up on Sweetsister. Look at the position of Sweetsister in the Bite: it's the middle island. Where the hell did Ned leave FROM to end up there? Are we really to believe that a local fisherman is going to carry him from the Fingers across the entire length of the Bite to get to White Harbor? Review this map of the North and tell me if that seems logical and/or even feasible.
What I deduce from this is that Ned did not in fact start from the Eyrie, had to take a necessary detour, or needed to remain as far under the radar as possible (or all of the above) to take the route he did.
This begs the question: why?
Let's return to the history of the Sisters as a smuggler's haven, and Ned's impromptu traveling companion.
So the situation is that near the start of the Rebellion, after Lyanna has gone missing/after the StarkBQin KL/after Jon Arryn has called his banners but before Ned gets to Winterfell to call his own, we have Ned Stark (presumably en route to White Harbor) landing in a reclusive area known to be a smugglers' cove with a mystery woman that somehow is assumed to have borne Ned's bastard son later. Keep in mind that Ned - despite not being married to Cat at this point - is still not a man known to take his pleasures, but again there had to be some degree of affection shown between them for Godric to associate Fisherman's Daughter / Jon Snow.
Let's look at this a moment. Ned "left her with a bastard in her belly", meaning then that the fisherman's daughter was not visibly pregnant on Sweetsister. Now as I'm sure we are all aware, not visibly pregnant =/= not pregnant. A woman can be several months along and still not show. Next, Ned also left her with "a bag of silver". Sure, that bag of silver could be pathetic recompense for the loss of her father......or it could be payment for passage on a ship. Perhaps a pirate ship conveniently tucked in at neutral isolated Sweetsister, or a galley out of Stark-loyal White Harbor, but a ship nonetheless.
I will swear until the last page of ASOIAF that the purpose of this Davos/Borrell exchange and of the intro of Fisherman's Daughter in the first place is to establish Ned's attempt to smuggle a woman OUT of Westeros/the Vale and to the Narrow Sea. The "bag of silver" is payment for passage on a pirate/merchant ship....perhaps bound for Dorne, or Tyrosh, or maybe even Braavos (!).
My proposition is that the Fisherman's Daughter is either Lyanna Stark or Ashara Dayne. My first guess was Lyanna, but I'm gradually warming more to the idea of Ashara. Ned is summoned to assist one of these two ladies leave north-central Westeros by boat. If the "Fisherman's Daughter" was newly pregnant or still very early in her pregnancy (like 3ish months) when this took place, it could jive pretty well with the birthdates of some of these mystery kids in the mix.
IMO the only way to avoid conflict areas (and follow trade/pirate routes) to get to Dorne would be to sail down the Narrow Sea through the Stepstones, around Sunspear and all the ports loyal to the Martells (unless Doran is involved, and then just land at their port) and head straight on via the Summer Sea to the tiny port at Starfall - or arrange to have a second ship do a pickup at a more inconspicuous Dornish port and then head on to Starfall. A bit convoluted, but it could be done. However, it should be noted that a destination of Tyrosh, Land of All Strange & Mysterious Targaryen Connections, is a straight shot down the Narrow Sea and requires none of these machinations. (“When King's Landing fell, Ser Jaime slew your king with a golden sword, and I wondered where you were.” “Far away,” Ser Gerold said..)
Support for Ashara - we have multiple references to Ashara Dayne and Ned having a "thing" post-Harrenhal, plus Ashara "looking to Stark" which could imply either the "thing" with a Stark fella or a favor that needs to be repaid. Also, the final journey from TOJ to Starfall seems more reasonable when you factor your lover and maybe a baby into it - perhaps a baby that you are passing off as your lover's but isn't really?? (Ned admits to some kind of romantic goof "in sight of gods and men" after marrying and impregnating Cat...did he pull a Sam Tarly and sleep with the chick he's protecting as he's ferrying her elsewhere?) Ashara was famously "not nailed to the floor at Starfall", and had access to both horses and BOATS, "although not many of her own"....and I'm assuming that a lady of Starfall, a castle that borders the sea, would know a little bit about sailing. Extra bonus points if there's also smuggling of a Rhaegar heir in the mix too, one that could be sheltered at White Harbor.
Support for Lyanna - this gets her into Dorne where she is implied to be while avoiding the "R&L and two KG went 1000 miles down the Kingsroad in disguise!" nonsense. Lyanna being shipped to Starfall explains the "they" who found Ned holding her hand, resolves the wonkiness surrounding the idea of the birth of a baby in an abandoned watchtower with 3 KG acting as midwives, and answers the eternal question of how Ned Stark knew to take 7 northmen (all from houses west of the Kingsroad that form a solid line of western border defense from the Rills to the Bay of Ice, I might add - what's coming in from the Sunset Sea? Iron Islanders?) down to the famous round tower and find his missing sister with seemingly minimal effort - he already knew where she was, because he helped get her there. If, and it's a big IF, Lyanna did bear a child around the time of the Sack, the timing of the FD encounter could also work well here.
A large assumption with this theory, of course, is that regardless of which gal he may have been acting as coyote for, the honorable Ned Stark more or less betrayed his house, his allies, and his cause by doing this...but given all the guilt and angst and burden over his lies/mistakes that is continually alluded to in AGOT plus GRRM's love of moral ambiguity, I think such an act would fit perfectly with Ned's charcter arc.