A Storm, Notorious Bandits, and a Giant Armor Made of Stone
Feb 4, 2018 22:47:35 GMT
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Post by Melifeather on Feb 4, 2018 22:47:35 GMT
A Storm, the Smiling Knight and other Notorious Bandits, and a Giant Armor Made of Stone
Prelude
It is my intention to present evidence that suggests that “Trouserless Bob” (as BC refers to him) wasn’t the best friend or potential brother-in-law, nor comrad in arms Ned Stark believed him to be. Robert is presented as a drunken womanizer that detested “counting coppers”, but in his youth he was handsome and built like a maiden’s dream, and perhaps more driven for power than some readers would give him credit for. Reviewing the bandits and the detachments sent to deal with them, might reveal a more sinister side to Robert’s character prior to becoming King, and how the Rebellion may be tied to a conspiracy by the Citadel and the Faith of the Seven to control events and write the narrative history of Westeros.
I - A Storm
Storm’s End is the seat of House Baratheon, the Lord Paramount of the Stormlands, and once ancestral home of House Durrandon. It was built by Durran Godsgrief - the first Storm King during the Dawn Age - who declared war against the gods after they killed his family and guests, ruining his wedding to Elenei, who is said to have been the daughter of the god of the sea and the goddess of the wind. Elenei gave her maidenhead to Durran thus committing herself to a mortal life. The castle is said to be one of the strongest in the Seven Kingdoms and is protected by spells woven into its very walls to prevent magic from affecting it or passing through it. It is surrounded by a massive outer curtain wall one hundred feet high and nearly eighty feet thick on its seaward side.
All Lords of Storm’s End are symbolized as Storm Gods in the text, and Robert Baratheon in particular epitomizes this imagery even going so far as to resemble Thor, the god of thunder, lightning, and storms, by favoring a warhammer in battle. Robert lost his parents within sight of Storms End when their ship went down in a storm in Shipwrecker Bay.
The gathering storm that Bran envisions includes the actions of Robert Baratheon that happened prior to the Rebellion, and his non-action that led to the near extinction of House Stark, which is also symbolized by the dead mother direwolf scene early on in A Game of Thrones. The mother direwolf’s cause of death was found to be the horn of a stag in her throat, the stag being the sigil of House Baratheon. Bran’s vision of Robert:
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.
II - Notorious Bandits
The Kingswood Brotherhood was an infamous outlaw organization that gained notoriety by kidnapping nobles and holding them for ransom. A ploy that seems to echo something Tywin and Kevan Lannister did when their father was yet living to get their father's bannermen to pay back their debts. As a matter of fact, Kevan married a former hostage, Dorna Swift.
The KWB got the king’s attention after an attack on Elia while traveling through the woods. The biggest reason why I think the KWB were actually Lannister men is because they had the motive. If they had managed to kill Elia, then Rhaegar would have been available to remarry - possibly Cersei - or maybe the hit was simply retaliation. The attack injured Ser Gerold Hightower, so i believe he was also a target. Gerold was very loyal to the king, and if he had been able to identify any of the KWB, the jig would have been up.
King Aerys II then sent a detachment of soldiers led by Ser Arthur Dayne to take care of the outlaws. Here is a list of the members of the detachment, and the known members of the Kingswood Brotherhood.
The Members of the Detachment:
Ser Arthur Dayne - who led in Ser Hightower’s place
Ser Barristan Selmy
Lord Sumner Crakehall
Squire Merrett Frey
Squire Jaime Lannister
Known members of the Kingswood Brotherhood:
Simon Toyne - was the leader of the KWB
Smiling Knight - Jaime said he was “the Mountain of my boyhood. Half as big, twice as mad.”
Wenda the White Fawn
Oswyn Longneck - the Thrice-Hanged
Big Belly Ben - nearly killed Lord Crakehall, but was deterred by Jaime. Escaped capture.
Fletcher Dick - unknown fate
Ulmer - captured and sent to the Wall
Some readers wonder if Wenda the White Fawn was in fact Lyanna Stark. Was Wenda the White Fawn even an actual member of the Kingswood Brotherhood or was this just the story? Merrett Frey reports being captured by the KWB and that Wenda branded her trademark fawn onto the cheek of his ass. That’s the kind of crazy story that the common people would love to repeat, because it’s so provocative and exactly why I am wary to believe it.
I have some suspicions that the detachment of soldiers and the Kingswood Brotherhood may be one and the same. Is it possible that the detachment were actually doing Tywin's bidding and the KWB names were simply aliases? We will circle back to this, because I think there is evidence that the Smiling Knight may be Robert Baratheon, but before we get to that I’d like to review another group more current that also mirrors the KWB - the Brotherhood Without Banners. Here are some better known members:
Beric Dondarrion
Thoros of Myr
Edric Dayne
Anguy the Archer
Lem Lemoncloak - accused of being a Kingsguard in disguise
Harwin - his father was Master of Horse at Winterfell
Jack-Be-Lucky
Tom of Sevenstreams
Gendry - Robert Baratheon's bastard son
A favorite theory of mine is that Arya retraced Lyanna’s steps starting with when Yoren smuggled her out of Kings Landing all the way until she parts ways with Sandor and heads to Braavos to become "no one" (dead). Before connecting with Sandor, Arya is captured by the Brotherhood Without Banners, a group that Gendry later joins. Arya and Gendry could be a repeat of Lyanna and Robert. During this time she is taken to Acorn Hall and presented to Lady Smallwood who cleans her up and clothes her in a dress decorated with acorns. On the way there Anguy often rode beside Arya telling stories, but he never fooled her. He’s not my friend. He’s only staying close to watch me and make sure I don’t ride off again.
When Lady Smallwood learns Arya is highborn, she demands, “Who dressed the poor child in those Bolton rags?” This is an interesting sentence, because it calls to mind old Nan’s tale of when “maids were hunted through the woods”, something Ramsay Bolton was also suspected of doing. Maybe Ramsay was just carrying on a Bolton tradition? It's been rumored the Bolton's still practiced the tradition of First Night. There’s also Tyrion’s account of when he first met Tysha:
"Jaime and I were riding back from Lannisport when we heard a scream, and she came running out into the road with two men dogging her heels, shouting threats.”
If it’s true that history is a wheel and people are repeating past events over and over again is it possible that Lyanna was chased by two men, possibly Boltons? If we consider Arya’s “Bolton rags”, and the fact that she ends up being “rescued” by a group of men posing as bandits, it begins to sound exactly like when Tyrion and Jaime came upon Tysha, which I might point out Jaime said was “staged”.
There is a third group that mirrors both the Kingswood Brotherhood and the Brotherhood Without Banners. Arianne's posse plotted to sneak Myrcella out of Sunspear and take her to Hellholt where Arianne planned to crown Myrcella, raise her banners, and declare her claim for all of Dorne. Her group mainly mirrors the Kingswood Brotherhood, which I believe were men faithful to House Lannister that were carrying out covert raids meant to undermine House Targaryen. Arianne's posse was also trying to undermine the crown choosing Tommen over Myrcella with the added goal of starting a war. Arianne hoped that by starting a war that she'd gain the support of Dorne. The people of Dorne were still upset that Doran hadn't sought revenge for the brutal slaying of Elia and her children. I suspect the Kingswood Brotherhood were an alias, and a mirror to the Brotherhood Without Banners, because they carried out their missions in disguise and without banners. This was also repeated in AGOT when Tywin sent out Gregor Clegane to raid the Riverlands carrying no flags or sigils while Ned was Hand.
Here are the members of Arianne's posse:
Gerold "Darkstar" Dayne - meant to mirror Gerold Hightower during the attack on Elia, and Arthur Dayne when he led the detachment
Arys Oakheart - the Soiled Knight, meant to mirror Robert Baratheon prior to the Rebellion and the Smiling Knight - also possibly Gregor Clegane.
Myrcella - meant to be an inverted mirror of the marriage alliance between "the crown" and "Dorne" (the South), with the inversion being "the crown" (Robert) and "the North" (Lyanna)
Garin the Great - a mirror to Jaime the Kingslayer
Spotted Sylva - the "dead girl" - meant to mirror both Wenda the White Fawn and Lyanna
Ser Andrey Dalt aka "Drey" - brother to Ser Deziel Dalt who is the Knight of Lemonwood. Drey "pissed" all over Arianne's plans by being the source "that told". Whoever Lem Lemoncloak turns out to be, he assumed this identity, because the rest of his group wanted to kill him in order to prevent him from "telling".
I will also add the following revision - an illumination that occurred while deciphering Cat of the Canals. It's meant to help us identify who is mirroring Darkstar, but in the Cat of the Canals chapter this identity is hinted at symbolically through the cat with the chewed off ear.
The person that seems to best fit the description of a scrawny old tom with a chewed off ear as a parallel for Darkstar is Ser Gerold Hightower. As Commander of the Kingsguard it was up to Gerold to see to the training of their newest members. Gerold fits the description in this post regarding ear symbolism - especially the part about words being poison. Jaime sneered when talking about Gerold:
“As for Lord Rickard, the steel of his breastplate turned cherry-red before the end, and his gold melted off his spurs and dripped down into the fire. I stood at the foot of the Iron Throne in my white armor and white cloak, filling my head with thoughts of Cersei. After, Gerold Hightower himself took me aside and said to me, ‘You swore a vow to guard the king, not to judge him.’ That was the White Bull, loyal to the end and a better man than me, all agree.”
The way that Jaime is talking about Gerold Hightower gives the reader the sense that, not only did he not admire Ser Gerold's loyalty, he felt repulsed by it. Whatever secrets Jaime is keeping, he feels his past actions were justified.
Gerold Hightower was nicknamed "the White Bull" and known to be very strong. Lem Lemoncloak is described as a great lout with brown teeth and a sour nature. Gerold is also described as fierce despite his old age. Around 280 AC/281 AC, Gerold was shot through the hand by Ulmer, an outlaw of the Kingswood Brotherhood, who went on to steal a kiss and some jewels from Princess Elia Martell of Dorne. Perhaps it was during this attack when Merrett was kidnapped by the Kingswood Brotherhood, and then retrieved during the second detachment lead by Arthur Dayne? Hightower's hand was injured during this attack when Ulmer shot an arrow through it. The missing ear of the cat (in the Cat of the Canals chapter) may be a reference to when Gerold Dayne (Darkstar) attacked Myrcella, cutting off HER ear and nearly half her face. I had found parallels between Gerold Hightower and Gerold Dayne in my analysis of The Queenmaker chapter, and while I later included Arthur Dayne as a parallel to Gerold Dayne, I suspect that Darkstar's given name, "Gerold Dayne", is meant to bring our attention to BOTH detachments. The first as being lead by Gerold Hightower, and then the second lead by Arthur Dayne. Furthermore, the physical description of Lem Lemoncloak sounds more like Gerold Hightower than Arthur. Lem is described as big and brawny despite his age, and fierce.
III - The Smiling Knight
In my chapter analysis about The Soiled Knight, I’ve identified Robert Baratheon as the mirrored inversion to Arys Oakheart. Old Oak is the seat of House Oakheart. It is located in the west end of the Reach on the shore of the Sunset Sea. West of Old Oak are the Shield Islands known as the Four Shields. Geographically Storms End and Massey's Hook mirror Old Oak and the Shield Islands. The Soiled Knight chapter describes an illicit affair between Arianne Martell and Arys Oakheart who I believe are mirroring Cersei Lannister and Robert Baratheon.
Why would Robert conspire with Cersei? In a nutshell, her father, Tywin, wanted Aerys gone. He wanted to punish Rhaegar for not marrying Cersei, so he turns to the next possible candidate with a blood-tie to the Iron Throne. Robert has Targaryen blood. He’s young, strong, charismatic, and had the ability to make enemies into friends. He could easily fit the description of the Smiling Knight, and he has Northern allies to boot. There’s just this little inconvenient marriage promise to Lyanna. Tywin wanted Cersei to be Queen. He also wanted to keep the North as allies, but he had to get Lyanna out of the way. What better way than to use her death and blame it on Rhaegar?
When it comes to kidnapping, Ygritte and Arianne have something in common. They both told stories about the Red Wanderer being in the Moonmaid as being a good time to steal a woman.
The Moonmaid is a constellation, and the Red Wanderer is one of the Seven Wanderers visible in the sky over the known world. Colored red, it is associated with the Smith god by the Faith of the Seven. It therefore seems to be an analog to Mars. Among the Free Folk, the Red Wanderer is also known as the Thief. Supposedly when it is visible within the constellation of the Moonmaid, it is a good time for a man to steal a woman. What Westerosi man best represents the Smith, who is symbolically like Mars the warrior god, and carried a hammer? What is also so great is the symbolic use of the number seven, because it connects the Faith to the kidnappers. There are rumors about there being seven of "Rhaegar's Rubies". While it's known that Rhaegar's armor had his sigil wrought in rubies, surely it took more than seven to make the design? The Elder Brother from the Quiet Isle hinted that the Faith may have been looking for seven humans that represented the seven facets of their Faith: Father, Mother, Warrior, Maiden, Smith, Crone, and Stranger. He said, "... The battle was long leagues from here, but the river is tireless and patient. Six have been found. We are all waiting for the seventh.” If Robert was their Smith, who were the rest?
There is a passage in A Game of Thrones that caught my attention. After Catelyn kidnapped Tyrion, Tywin called his banners and sent out Ser Gregor Clegane to raid the riverlands, but curiously he and his men rode under cover of night, without banners:
Thank the gods for old Lord Hoster, then. Tywin Lannister was as much fox as lion. If indeed he’d sent Ser Gregor to burn and pillage— and Ned did not doubt that he had— he’d taken care to see that he rode under cover of night, without banners, in the guise of a common brigand. Should Riverrun strike back, Cersei and her father would insist that it had been the Tullys who broke the king’s peace, not the Lannisters. The gods only knew what Robert would believe.
The raiding party led by Ser Gregor Clegane of the present story is similar to the attack by the Kingswood Brotherhood which was said to have attacked Elia’s group, AND the abduction of Arya by the Brotherhood Without Banners. What is notable is that they were in disguised as common "brigands". Just like Ser Gregor’s men that raided without banners, the Kingswood Brotherhood may have been faked identities.
I posit that the detachment - disguised as an outlaw group - included Barristan Selmy, Jaime Lannister, Sumner Crakehall, Merrett Frey, and either Gregor Clegane or Robert Baratheon dressed in armor that looked like Rhaegar’s. Lyanna was likely traveling with Howland - which is a separate theory that I'm going to refrain from explaining right now, but I will point out that Arya was traveling with Lommy when they were intercepted by Gregor's men, and Lommy couldn't walk. I suspect that this is an echo of how Lyanna got separated from Howland - he had gotten injured and couldn't walk. But I digress - back to the fake armor scheme. Recall how Ser Arys got Myrcella out of Sandstone. He dressed a guard in his armor and had him stand guard over Myrcella’s handmaiden. Robert may have been a fat King, but in his youth he was nicely built. If the charade was planned by Tywin, he could have easily made a suit of armor similar to Rhaegar’s for Robert (or Gregor) to wear.
It was stated in The Queenmaker chapter that Arianne and Arys rode with Myrcella between them, Garin was next, followed closely by Spotted Sylva, with two Dornish knights bringing up the rear. This could also be applied as a formulaic description for both the Kingswood Brotherhood and the Brotherhood Without Banners riding with their respective captives Lyanna and Arya.
Updated with info gleaned from the Cat of the Canals chapter that connects Robert to the Smiling Knight:
FreyFamilyReunion shared his best thoughts about the meaning of the name, Allaquo, which is a character in the Cat of the Canals chapter. I was interested in identifying his parallel, because it's said Quence found Allaquo abed with Sloey. "Sloey" is a mirror to Ashara. In Some Pig’s Fisherman’s Daughter thread, Frey Family Reunion previously shared some information about the name “Quence”. His name sounds a bit like the fruit, “quince”, which is a pear-shaped fruit that can leave a bitter taste in one’s mouth. Not to mention that when something goes wrong, people sometimes describe it as going “all pear-shaped”. It has been speculated that the quince was the fruit of the forbidden Tree of Knowledge in the Garden of Eden. There is also a Turkish expression, “to eat the quince”, which apparently refers to an unpleasant situation to avoid. Lastly, the Bael fruit is sometimes called the Bengal Quince. This last tidbit may be a tiny confirmation that Jon is Ashara's son, an unexpected bitter "fruit" of a situation that went all pear-shaped.
Back to what FreyFamilyReunion said about Allaquo - he said the closest word that was similar was Alaqua, which is a Native American word for the Sweet Gum Tree. This tree has pointed five-star-shaped leaves and round spiky balls as fruit. It is also known as redgum - which brings to mind the red sourleaf chewed in the story. Sourleaf is a foul tasting plant, the leaves of which are chewed similar to chewing tobacco. It is generally transported in bales. Chewing it causes a pink froth on the lips, and chewers commonly spit the produced saliva out. Chewing also stains the chewers mouth and teeth red, causing a noticeable red smile. The "red smile" brings to mind the Smiling Knight who I posit was actually Robert Baratheon. Jaime once described the Smiling Knight as “the Mountain of my boyhood. Half as big, twice as mad.” Catelyn Stark considered Masha Heddle’s smile to be a “bloody horror”. Masha Heddle is the innkeeper of the Crossroads Inn in the Riverlands, so I have a growing suspicion that "sourleaf" is meant to direct our attention from Allaquo to this train of thought: redgum-sourleaf-bloody-smile-Smiling Knight-bloody horror, to the mysteries surrounding Lyanna and Ashara. I might also point out Robert's death scene was very reminiscent of Ned's memory of finding Lyanna. Here's a link to a comparison between Robert's death and Lyanna's. Two additional facts about sourleaf: chewing sourleaf can dull pain, and the bark of the sourleaf tree resembles the skin of an alligator and has distinctive red sap. This bloody smile definition of Allaquo suggests that he might be a parallel to Robert Baratheon. If that is the case then Ashara turned to Ned for help - help because Ned's friend Robert may have taken her maidenhead. BUT - this would not explain Jon's "Stark looks", unless magic is somehow involved. OR a one-to-one parallel wasn't intended - rather that we are just meant to connect Robert (the redgum) to Allaquo, who was a Stark....and who was Robert's closest friend? Why, Ned of course. Putting all the fruit clues together and we have somebody finding Robert in bed with Ashara. I think the "somebody" was Barristan Selmy, because he seemed to know about Ashara's dishonor, but Ashara went to Ned for help - she "turned to Stark" - and I think their romance blossomed out of that encounter.
I also found this description of Robert when he was dying in his bed of blood:
“Stinks,” Robert said. “The stink of death, don’t think I can’t smell it. Bastard did me good, eh? But I . . . I paid him back in kind, Ned. ” The king’s smile was as terrible as his wound, his teeth red. “Drove a knife right through his eye. Ask them if I didn’t. Ask them. ”
“Truly,” Lord Renly murmured. “We brought the carcass back with us, at my brother’s command. ”
“For the feast,” Robert whispered. “Now leave us. The lot of you. I need to speak with Ned. ”
IV - What About Walys
Maester Walys is Walys Flowers the bastard son of a Hightower girl and an Archmaester of the Citadel, and was the maester at Winterfell when Lyanna went missing. Lady Barbery Ryswell implies that he instigated Lord Rickard’s “southron ambitions”. Being that Walys is the bastard son of an Archmaester, I think we should suspect that he may have been a major player in the abduction and a connection to the Citadel. I posit that Maester Walys was Simon Toyne, who was the leader of the Kingswood Brotherhood. I have yet to figure out how he may have gotten into the Riverlands when Lyanna was abducted, but he also seems a likely candidate to mirror the Fisherman that Ned said rowed him across the Bite, but that he died on the journey. This is mirrored later when Sam and Gilly sail with Maester Aemon, who also died on the way to Oldtown. In any case, Barristan Selmy seems complicit in providing a backstory for Simon Toyne with this clue that I discovered in the wiki under the Tourney of Storm’s End:
Contradictions
Lord Steffon Baratheon was sent on a mission to Essos in 278 AC, but he died during the return voyage. The tourney he hosted thus must have occurred by 278 AC at the latest. Barristan states that Rhaegar defeated Simon Toyne during the tourney, but Barristan's White Book entry lists the tourney as occurring after the defeat of the Kingswood Brotherhood (during which Barristan killed Simon) and before the Battle of the Trident. In the White Book entry, written by Ser Gerold Hightower (as he was the Lord Commander), the tourney is called "Lord Steffon's Tourney". The chronology of the entry would place the tourney years after Steffon's death, which is suggested as well by naming Robert Baratheon by the title of "Lord", as Robert became the Lord of Storm's End after Steffon's death, and possibly the fact that Jon Connington was described as "Lord" as well, while it is known that Connington, exiled during the Rebellion, ruled Griffin’s Roost as Lord only for a few short years.
When the discrepancy was brought to his attention, George R.R. Martin stated that Barristan's recollection of Simon's participation is incorrect and that the aged knight is confusing multiple historical tourneys. It seems therefore likely that Barristan mixed up multiple tourney's at Storm's End in his mind, one hosted by Lord Steffon before his death, and one hosted by Robert after Steffon's death.
The contradictions regarding the Tourney of Storm’s End may be attempts by Barristan Selmy to conceal his part in the kidnapping plot by creating a false backstory for Simon Toyne, who I believe was actually Maester Walys. We know he’s lying since he places the Tourney of Storm’s End after the defeat of the Kingswood Brotherhood where he also credits himself as killing Simon Toyne. How could Rhaegar have defeated a dead man? It’s a pretty convenient tale since Rhaegar isn’t alive to discredit the claim.
How did Ser Barristan get so cozy with Robert Baratheon and have the balls to lie so convincingly to Dany about how loyal he was to her brother? Somehow there is a connection to the Citadel which I’m hoping Sam will reveal now that he is there in our current story.
V - A Giant in Armor Made of Stone
Every flight begins with a fall, the crow said. Look down.
“I’m afraid …”
LOOK DOWN!
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.
There have been many discussions on the identity of the stone giant full of black blood, and all the suggestions and theories have some merit. I have been a proponent that the stone giant is Littlefinger, and later I thought it might be Robert Baratheon, however I am now beginning to suspect that the stone giant’s identity is much bigger in size and strength than any one man, and am influenced by GRRM’s modeling of the Faith of the Seven on the Catholic Church. The Andals brought the Faith of the Seven to Westeros and the tradition of knighthood along with it. Knights are romanticized both in the books and in real life, but we also know knights are capable and guilty of horrible atrocities. Sandor Clegane represents the ugly truth under the armor. He not only recognizes and accepts what he is, but he points out the hypocrisy of other knights, especially the Kingsguard. Robert should be included in the symbolism of the giant in armor even if readers don't think of him as being a knight, but don't forget he was an Andal and trained as a knight. His identity as a participant in Lyanna's abduction was hidden under black armor, but I posit he was a willing pawn of the Faith of the Seven. For their part, the Faith and it’s Citadel are the anonymous darkness and thick black blood inside the armor.
VI - Conclusion
Robert's actions that led to Lyanna's abduction are a repeat of the ancient story of Durran Godsgrief and Elenei. Lyanna is the magic moon maiden, and Robert is the Lord of Storm's End that enabled a group of undercover outlaws to take her while disguised as Rhaegar and his men. They covered up their crimes by creating a fake outlaw group named the Kingswood Brotherhood. I believe Hightower was meant to die during the attack on Elia, because the group didn't want him to discover who was really under the armor. Ser Arthur Dayne seems to be more than complicit, unless he actually tried to help Lyanna get away and failed. But since I believe he was in Kings Landing protecting Elia and the children during the Sack, he must have survived the takedown of the Brotherhood Without Banners. They must have rounded up a bunch of criminals to play their parts so that Arthur would believe they got the outlaws. Ulmer is the only character that might be able to confirm this theory, and he's currently alive at the Wall. Of course, there's always Lem Lemoncloak, who I believe is either Gerold Hightower or Arthur Dayne. His physical description fits Gerold, but being friends with the commoners and having a soiled cloak fits Arthur.
It would be easy for Tywin to order a suit of armor that looked just like Rhaegar's to undermine support for his claim to the throne and overthrow his father. Robert was his willing patsy. He may not know exactly what happened to Lyanna, but he certainly knew Tywin was on his side during the Rebellion. Gregor Clegane carried out the actual kidnapping, raping, and injuries that Lyanna died from, but Robert was complicit in Tywin's plans to spark the Rebellion, and likely knew a whole lot more than we could ever suspect. IMO the imagery surrounding his death with his bloody red teeth is meant to connect him to the Smiling Knight, and I feel quite confident that we will learn of his betrayal in the future books.
The Faith and the Citadel are the enemy that Bloodraven and the Children are assembling forces against. The Faith encouraged the Storm God disguised as The Smiling Knight to kidnap the Moonmaid in order to prevent ice magic from returning to power, and it has led to the near extinction of House Stark. The in-world mythology of Durran Godsgrief and Elenei has played out as Robert and Lyanna. Maybe Robert held a grudge against the old gods and blamed them for the death of his parents? The Faith took the Iron Throne from the Targaryens using an Andal King, but for me the bigger story, if true, is the deceit of Robert Baratheon. Imagine the ramifications if it comes to light that Robert conspired with both the Faith and Tywin Lannister to kidnap and kill Lyanna just to rid the realm of Aerys and Rhaegar. The victors get to write the history, folks.
Prelude
It is my intention to present evidence that suggests that “Trouserless Bob” (as BC refers to him) wasn’t the best friend or potential brother-in-law, nor comrad in arms Ned Stark believed him to be. Robert is presented as a drunken womanizer that detested “counting coppers”, but in his youth he was handsome and built like a maiden’s dream, and perhaps more driven for power than some readers would give him credit for. Reviewing the bandits and the detachments sent to deal with them, might reveal a more sinister side to Robert’s character prior to becoming King, and how the Rebellion may be tied to a conspiracy by the Citadel and the Faith of the Seven to control events and write the narrative history of Westeros.
I - A Storm
Storm’s End is the seat of House Baratheon, the Lord Paramount of the Stormlands, and once ancestral home of House Durrandon. It was built by Durran Godsgrief - the first Storm King during the Dawn Age - who declared war against the gods after they killed his family and guests, ruining his wedding to Elenei, who is said to have been the daughter of the god of the sea and the goddess of the wind. Elenei gave her maidenhead to Durran thus committing herself to a mortal life. The castle is said to be one of the strongest in the Seven Kingdoms and is protected by spells woven into its very walls to prevent magic from affecting it or passing through it. It is surrounded by a massive outer curtain wall one hundred feet high and nearly eighty feet thick on its seaward side.
All Lords of Storm’s End are symbolized as Storm Gods in the text, and Robert Baratheon in particular epitomizes this imagery even going so far as to resemble Thor, the god of thunder, lightning, and storms, by favoring a warhammer in battle. Robert lost his parents within sight of Storms End when their ship went down in a storm in Shipwrecker Bay.
The gathering storm that Bran envisions includes the actions of Robert Baratheon that happened prior to the Rebellion, and his non-action that led to the near extinction of House Stark, which is also symbolized by the dead mother direwolf scene early on in A Game of Thrones. The mother direwolf’s cause of death was found to be the horn of a stag in her throat, the stag being the sigil of House Baratheon. Bran’s vision of Robert:
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.
II - Notorious Bandits
The Kingswood Brotherhood was an infamous outlaw organization that gained notoriety by kidnapping nobles and holding them for ransom. A ploy that seems to echo something Tywin and Kevan Lannister did when their father was yet living to get their father's bannermen to pay back their debts. As a matter of fact, Kevan married a former hostage, Dorna Swift.
The KWB got the king’s attention after an attack on Elia while traveling through the woods. The biggest reason why I think the KWB were actually Lannister men is because they had the motive. If they had managed to kill Elia, then Rhaegar would have been available to remarry - possibly Cersei - or maybe the hit was simply retaliation. The attack injured Ser Gerold Hightower, so i believe he was also a target. Gerold was very loyal to the king, and if he had been able to identify any of the KWB, the jig would have been up.
King Aerys II then sent a detachment of soldiers led by Ser Arthur Dayne to take care of the outlaws. Here is a list of the members of the detachment, and the known members of the Kingswood Brotherhood.
The Members of the Detachment:
Ser Arthur Dayne - who led in Ser Hightower’s place
Ser Barristan Selmy
Lord Sumner Crakehall
Squire Merrett Frey
Squire Jaime Lannister
Known members of the Kingswood Brotherhood:
Simon Toyne - was the leader of the KWB
Smiling Knight - Jaime said he was “the Mountain of my boyhood. Half as big, twice as mad.”
Wenda the White Fawn
Oswyn Longneck - the Thrice-Hanged
Big Belly Ben - nearly killed Lord Crakehall, but was deterred by Jaime. Escaped capture.
Fletcher Dick - unknown fate
Ulmer - captured and sent to the Wall
Some readers wonder if Wenda the White Fawn was in fact Lyanna Stark. Was Wenda the White Fawn even an actual member of the Kingswood Brotherhood or was this just the story? Merrett Frey reports being captured by the KWB and that Wenda branded her trademark fawn onto the cheek of his ass. That’s the kind of crazy story that the common people would love to repeat, because it’s so provocative and exactly why I am wary to believe it.
I have some suspicions that the detachment of soldiers and the Kingswood Brotherhood may be one and the same. Is it possible that the detachment were actually doing Tywin's bidding and the KWB names were simply aliases? We will circle back to this, because I think there is evidence that the Smiling Knight may be Robert Baratheon, but before we get to that I’d like to review another group more current that also mirrors the KWB - the Brotherhood Without Banners. Here are some better known members:
Beric Dondarrion
Thoros of Myr
Edric Dayne
Anguy the Archer
Lem Lemoncloak - accused of being a Kingsguard in disguise
Harwin - his father was Master of Horse at Winterfell
Jack-Be-Lucky
Tom of Sevenstreams
Gendry - Robert Baratheon's bastard son
A favorite theory of mine is that Arya retraced Lyanna’s steps starting with when Yoren smuggled her out of Kings Landing all the way until she parts ways with Sandor and heads to Braavos to become "no one" (dead). Before connecting with Sandor, Arya is captured by the Brotherhood Without Banners, a group that Gendry later joins. Arya and Gendry could be a repeat of Lyanna and Robert. During this time she is taken to Acorn Hall and presented to Lady Smallwood who cleans her up and clothes her in a dress decorated with acorns. On the way there Anguy often rode beside Arya telling stories, but he never fooled her. He’s not my friend. He’s only staying close to watch me and make sure I don’t ride off again.
When Lady Smallwood learns Arya is highborn, she demands, “Who dressed the poor child in those Bolton rags?” This is an interesting sentence, because it calls to mind old Nan’s tale of when “maids were hunted through the woods”, something Ramsay Bolton was also suspected of doing. Maybe Ramsay was just carrying on a Bolton tradition? It's been rumored the Bolton's still practiced the tradition of First Night. There’s also Tyrion’s account of when he first met Tysha:
"Jaime and I were riding back from Lannisport when we heard a scream, and she came running out into the road with two men dogging her heels, shouting threats.”
If it’s true that history is a wheel and people are repeating past events over and over again is it possible that Lyanna was chased by two men, possibly Boltons? If we consider Arya’s “Bolton rags”, and the fact that she ends up being “rescued” by a group of men posing as bandits, it begins to sound exactly like when Tyrion and Jaime came upon Tysha, which I might point out Jaime said was “staged”.
There is a third group that mirrors both the Kingswood Brotherhood and the Brotherhood Without Banners. Arianne's posse plotted to sneak Myrcella out of Sunspear and take her to Hellholt where Arianne planned to crown Myrcella, raise her banners, and declare her claim for all of Dorne. Her group mainly mirrors the Kingswood Brotherhood, which I believe were men faithful to House Lannister that were carrying out covert raids meant to undermine House Targaryen. Arianne's posse was also trying to undermine the crown choosing Tommen over Myrcella with the added goal of starting a war. Arianne hoped that by starting a war that she'd gain the support of Dorne. The people of Dorne were still upset that Doran hadn't sought revenge for the brutal slaying of Elia and her children. I suspect the Kingswood Brotherhood were an alias, and a mirror to the Brotherhood Without Banners, because they carried out their missions in disguise and without banners. This was also repeated in AGOT when Tywin sent out Gregor Clegane to raid the Riverlands carrying no flags or sigils while Ned was Hand.
Here are the members of Arianne's posse:
Gerold "Darkstar" Dayne - meant to mirror Gerold Hightower during the attack on Elia, and Arthur Dayne when he led the detachment
Arys Oakheart - the Soiled Knight, meant to mirror Robert Baratheon prior to the Rebellion and the Smiling Knight - also possibly Gregor Clegane.
Myrcella - meant to be an inverted mirror of the marriage alliance between "the crown" and "Dorne" (the South), with the inversion being "the crown" (Robert) and "the North" (Lyanna)
Garin the Great - a mirror to Jaime the Kingslayer
Spotted Sylva - the "dead girl" - meant to mirror both Wenda the White Fawn and Lyanna
Ser Andrey Dalt aka "Drey" - brother to Ser Deziel Dalt who is the Knight of Lemonwood. Drey "pissed" all over Arianne's plans by being the source "that told". Whoever Lem Lemoncloak turns out to be, he assumed this identity, because the rest of his group wanted to kill him in order to prevent him from "telling".
I will also add the following revision - an illumination that occurred while deciphering Cat of the Canals. It's meant to help us identify who is mirroring Darkstar, but in the Cat of the Canals chapter this identity is hinted at symbolically through the cat with the chewed off ear.
The person that seems to best fit the description of a scrawny old tom with a chewed off ear as a parallel for Darkstar is Ser Gerold Hightower. As Commander of the Kingsguard it was up to Gerold to see to the training of their newest members. Gerold fits the description in this post regarding ear symbolism - especially the part about words being poison. Jaime sneered when talking about Gerold:
“As for Lord Rickard, the steel of his breastplate turned cherry-red before the end, and his gold melted off his spurs and dripped down into the fire. I stood at the foot of the Iron Throne in my white armor and white cloak, filling my head with thoughts of Cersei. After, Gerold Hightower himself took me aside and said to me, ‘You swore a vow to guard the king, not to judge him.’ That was the White Bull, loyal to the end and a better man than me, all agree.”
The way that Jaime is talking about Gerold Hightower gives the reader the sense that, not only did he not admire Ser Gerold's loyalty, he felt repulsed by it. Whatever secrets Jaime is keeping, he feels his past actions were justified.
Gerold Hightower was nicknamed "the White Bull" and known to be very strong. Lem Lemoncloak is described as a great lout with brown teeth and a sour nature. Gerold is also described as fierce despite his old age. Around 280 AC/281 AC, Gerold was shot through the hand by Ulmer, an outlaw of the Kingswood Brotherhood, who went on to steal a kiss and some jewels from Princess Elia Martell of Dorne. Perhaps it was during this attack when Merrett was kidnapped by the Kingswood Brotherhood, and then retrieved during the second detachment lead by Arthur Dayne? Hightower's hand was injured during this attack when Ulmer shot an arrow through it. The missing ear of the cat (in the Cat of the Canals chapter) may be a reference to when Gerold Dayne (Darkstar) attacked Myrcella, cutting off HER ear and nearly half her face. I had found parallels between Gerold Hightower and Gerold Dayne in my analysis of The Queenmaker chapter, and while I later included Arthur Dayne as a parallel to Gerold Dayne, I suspect that Darkstar's given name, "Gerold Dayne", is meant to bring our attention to BOTH detachments. The first as being lead by Gerold Hightower, and then the second lead by Arthur Dayne. Furthermore, the physical description of Lem Lemoncloak sounds more like Gerold Hightower than Arthur. Lem is described as big and brawny despite his age, and fierce.
III - The Smiling Knight
In my chapter analysis about The Soiled Knight, I’ve identified Robert Baratheon as the mirrored inversion to Arys Oakheart. Old Oak is the seat of House Oakheart. It is located in the west end of the Reach on the shore of the Sunset Sea. West of Old Oak are the Shield Islands known as the Four Shields. Geographically Storms End and Massey's Hook mirror Old Oak and the Shield Islands. The Soiled Knight chapter describes an illicit affair between Arianne Martell and Arys Oakheart who I believe are mirroring Cersei Lannister and Robert Baratheon.
Why would Robert conspire with Cersei? In a nutshell, her father, Tywin, wanted Aerys gone. He wanted to punish Rhaegar for not marrying Cersei, so he turns to the next possible candidate with a blood-tie to the Iron Throne. Robert has Targaryen blood. He’s young, strong, charismatic, and had the ability to make enemies into friends. He could easily fit the description of the Smiling Knight, and he has Northern allies to boot. There’s just this little inconvenient marriage promise to Lyanna. Tywin wanted Cersei to be Queen. He also wanted to keep the North as allies, but he had to get Lyanna out of the way. What better way than to use her death and blame it on Rhaegar?
When it comes to kidnapping, Ygritte and Arianne have something in common. They both told stories about the Red Wanderer being in the Moonmaid as being a good time to steal a woman.
The Moonmaid is a constellation, and the Red Wanderer is one of the Seven Wanderers visible in the sky over the known world. Colored red, it is associated with the Smith god by the Faith of the Seven. It therefore seems to be an analog to Mars. Among the Free Folk, the Red Wanderer is also known as the Thief. Supposedly when it is visible within the constellation of the Moonmaid, it is a good time for a man to steal a woman. What Westerosi man best represents the Smith, who is symbolically like Mars the warrior god, and carried a hammer? What is also so great is the symbolic use of the number seven, because it connects the Faith to the kidnappers. There are rumors about there being seven of "Rhaegar's Rubies". While it's known that Rhaegar's armor had his sigil wrought in rubies, surely it took more than seven to make the design? The Elder Brother from the Quiet Isle hinted that the Faith may have been looking for seven humans that represented the seven facets of their Faith: Father, Mother, Warrior, Maiden, Smith, Crone, and Stranger. He said, "... The battle was long leagues from here, but the river is tireless and patient. Six have been found. We are all waiting for the seventh.” If Robert was their Smith, who were the rest?
There is a passage in A Game of Thrones that caught my attention. After Catelyn kidnapped Tyrion, Tywin called his banners and sent out Ser Gregor Clegane to raid the riverlands, but curiously he and his men rode under cover of night, without banners:
Thank the gods for old Lord Hoster, then. Tywin Lannister was as much fox as lion. If indeed he’d sent Ser Gregor to burn and pillage— and Ned did not doubt that he had— he’d taken care to see that he rode under cover of night, without banners, in the guise of a common brigand. Should Riverrun strike back, Cersei and her father would insist that it had been the Tullys who broke the king’s peace, not the Lannisters. The gods only knew what Robert would believe.
The raiding party led by Ser Gregor Clegane of the present story is similar to the attack by the Kingswood Brotherhood which was said to have attacked Elia’s group, AND the abduction of Arya by the Brotherhood Without Banners. What is notable is that they were in disguised as common "brigands". Just like Ser Gregor’s men that raided without banners, the Kingswood Brotherhood may have been faked identities.
I posit that the detachment - disguised as an outlaw group - included Barristan Selmy, Jaime Lannister, Sumner Crakehall, Merrett Frey, and either Gregor Clegane or Robert Baratheon dressed in armor that looked like Rhaegar’s. Lyanna was likely traveling with Howland - which is a separate theory that I'm going to refrain from explaining right now, but I will point out that Arya was traveling with Lommy when they were intercepted by Gregor's men, and Lommy couldn't walk. I suspect that this is an echo of how Lyanna got separated from Howland - he had gotten injured and couldn't walk. But I digress - back to the fake armor scheme. Recall how Ser Arys got Myrcella out of Sandstone. He dressed a guard in his armor and had him stand guard over Myrcella’s handmaiden. Robert may have been a fat King, but in his youth he was nicely built. If the charade was planned by Tywin, he could have easily made a suit of armor similar to Rhaegar’s for Robert (or Gregor) to wear.
It was stated in The Queenmaker chapter that Arianne and Arys rode with Myrcella between them, Garin was next, followed closely by Spotted Sylva, with two Dornish knights bringing up the rear. This could also be applied as a formulaic description for both the Kingswood Brotherhood and the Brotherhood Without Banners riding with their respective captives Lyanna and Arya.
Updated with info gleaned from the Cat of the Canals chapter that connects Robert to the Smiling Knight:
FreyFamilyReunion shared his best thoughts about the meaning of the name, Allaquo, which is a character in the Cat of the Canals chapter. I was interested in identifying his parallel, because it's said Quence found Allaquo abed with Sloey. "Sloey" is a mirror to Ashara. In Some Pig’s Fisherman’s Daughter thread, Frey Family Reunion previously shared some information about the name “Quence”. His name sounds a bit like the fruit, “quince”, which is a pear-shaped fruit that can leave a bitter taste in one’s mouth. Not to mention that when something goes wrong, people sometimes describe it as going “all pear-shaped”. It has been speculated that the quince was the fruit of the forbidden Tree of Knowledge in the Garden of Eden. There is also a Turkish expression, “to eat the quince”, which apparently refers to an unpleasant situation to avoid. Lastly, the Bael fruit is sometimes called the Bengal Quince. This last tidbit may be a tiny confirmation that Jon is Ashara's son, an unexpected bitter "fruit" of a situation that went all pear-shaped.
Back to what FreyFamilyReunion said about Allaquo - he said the closest word that was similar was Alaqua, which is a Native American word for the Sweet Gum Tree. This tree has pointed five-star-shaped leaves and round spiky balls as fruit. It is also known as redgum - which brings to mind the red sourleaf chewed in the story. Sourleaf is a foul tasting plant, the leaves of which are chewed similar to chewing tobacco. It is generally transported in bales. Chewing it causes a pink froth on the lips, and chewers commonly spit the produced saliva out. Chewing also stains the chewers mouth and teeth red, causing a noticeable red smile. The "red smile" brings to mind the Smiling Knight who I posit was actually Robert Baratheon. Jaime once described the Smiling Knight as “the Mountain of my boyhood. Half as big, twice as mad.” Catelyn Stark considered Masha Heddle’s smile to be a “bloody horror”. Masha Heddle is the innkeeper of the Crossroads Inn in the Riverlands, so I have a growing suspicion that "sourleaf" is meant to direct our attention from Allaquo to this train of thought: redgum-sourleaf-bloody-smile-Smiling Knight-bloody horror, to the mysteries surrounding Lyanna and Ashara. I might also point out Robert's death scene was very reminiscent of Ned's memory of finding Lyanna. Here's a link to a comparison between Robert's death and Lyanna's. Two additional facts about sourleaf: chewing sourleaf can dull pain, and the bark of the sourleaf tree resembles the skin of an alligator and has distinctive red sap. This bloody smile definition of Allaquo suggests that he might be a parallel to Robert Baratheon. If that is the case then Ashara turned to Ned for help - help because Ned's friend Robert may have taken her maidenhead. BUT - this would not explain Jon's "Stark looks", unless magic is somehow involved. OR a one-to-one parallel wasn't intended - rather that we are just meant to connect Robert (the redgum) to Allaquo, who was a Stark....and who was Robert's closest friend? Why, Ned of course. Putting all the fruit clues together and we have somebody finding Robert in bed with Ashara. I think the "somebody" was Barristan Selmy, because he seemed to know about Ashara's dishonor, but Ashara went to Ned for help - she "turned to Stark" - and I think their romance blossomed out of that encounter.
I also found this description of Robert when he was dying in his bed of blood:
“Stinks,” Robert said. “The stink of death, don’t think I can’t smell it. Bastard did me good, eh? But I . . . I paid him back in kind, Ned. ” The king’s smile was as terrible as his wound, his teeth red. “Drove a knife right through his eye. Ask them if I didn’t. Ask them. ”
“Truly,” Lord Renly murmured. “We brought the carcass back with us, at my brother’s command. ”
“For the feast,” Robert whispered. “Now leave us. The lot of you. I need to speak with Ned. ”
IV - What About Walys
Maester Walys is Walys Flowers the bastard son of a Hightower girl and an Archmaester of the Citadel, and was the maester at Winterfell when Lyanna went missing. Lady Barbery Ryswell implies that he instigated Lord Rickard’s “southron ambitions”. Being that Walys is the bastard son of an Archmaester, I think we should suspect that he may have been a major player in the abduction and a connection to the Citadel. I posit that Maester Walys was Simon Toyne, who was the leader of the Kingswood Brotherhood. I have yet to figure out how he may have gotten into the Riverlands when Lyanna was abducted, but he also seems a likely candidate to mirror the Fisherman that Ned said rowed him across the Bite, but that he died on the journey. This is mirrored later when Sam and Gilly sail with Maester Aemon, who also died on the way to Oldtown. In any case, Barristan Selmy seems complicit in providing a backstory for Simon Toyne with this clue that I discovered in the wiki under the Tourney of Storm’s End:
Contradictions
Lord Steffon Baratheon was sent on a mission to Essos in 278 AC, but he died during the return voyage. The tourney he hosted thus must have occurred by 278 AC at the latest. Barristan states that Rhaegar defeated Simon Toyne during the tourney, but Barristan's White Book entry lists the tourney as occurring after the defeat of the Kingswood Brotherhood (during which Barristan killed Simon) and before the Battle of the Trident. In the White Book entry, written by Ser Gerold Hightower (as he was the Lord Commander), the tourney is called "Lord Steffon's Tourney". The chronology of the entry would place the tourney years after Steffon's death, which is suggested as well by naming Robert Baratheon by the title of "Lord", as Robert became the Lord of Storm's End after Steffon's death, and possibly the fact that Jon Connington was described as "Lord" as well, while it is known that Connington, exiled during the Rebellion, ruled Griffin’s Roost as Lord only for a few short years.
When the discrepancy was brought to his attention, George R.R. Martin stated that Barristan's recollection of Simon's participation is incorrect and that the aged knight is confusing multiple historical tourneys. It seems therefore likely that Barristan mixed up multiple tourney's at Storm's End in his mind, one hosted by Lord Steffon before his death, and one hosted by Robert after Steffon's death.
The contradictions regarding the Tourney of Storm’s End may be attempts by Barristan Selmy to conceal his part in the kidnapping plot by creating a false backstory for Simon Toyne, who I believe was actually Maester Walys. We know he’s lying since he places the Tourney of Storm’s End after the defeat of the Kingswood Brotherhood where he also credits himself as killing Simon Toyne. How could Rhaegar have defeated a dead man? It’s a pretty convenient tale since Rhaegar isn’t alive to discredit the claim.
How did Ser Barristan get so cozy with Robert Baratheon and have the balls to lie so convincingly to Dany about how loyal he was to her brother? Somehow there is a connection to the Citadel which I’m hoping Sam will reveal now that he is there in our current story.
V - A Giant in Armor Made of Stone
Every flight begins with a fall, the crow said. Look down.
“I’m afraid …”
LOOK DOWN!
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.
There have been many discussions on the identity of the stone giant full of black blood, and all the suggestions and theories have some merit. I have been a proponent that the stone giant is Littlefinger, and later I thought it might be Robert Baratheon, however I am now beginning to suspect that the stone giant’s identity is much bigger in size and strength than any one man, and am influenced by GRRM’s modeling of the Faith of the Seven on the Catholic Church. The Andals brought the Faith of the Seven to Westeros and the tradition of knighthood along with it. Knights are romanticized both in the books and in real life, but we also know knights are capable and guilty of horrible atrocities. Sandor Clegane represents the ugly truth under the armor. He not only recognizes and accepts what he is, but he points out the hypocrisy of other knights, especially the Kingsguard. Robert should be included in the symbolism of the giant in armor even if readers don't think of him as being a knight, but don't forget he was an Andal and trained as a knight. His identity as a participant in Lyanna's abduction was hidden under black armor, but I posit he was a willing pawn of the Faith of the Seven. For their part, the Faith and it’s Citadel are the anonymous darkness and thick black blood inside the armor.
VI - Conclusion
Robert's actions that led to Lyanna's abduction are a repeat of the ancient story of Durran Godsgrief and Elenei. Lyanna is the magic moon maiden, and Robert is the Lord of Storm's End that enabled a group of undercover outlaws to take her while disguised as Rhaegar and his men. They covered up their crimes by creating a fake outlaw group named the Kingswood Brotherhood. I believe Hightower was meant to die during the attack on Elia, because the group didn't want him to discover who was really under the armor. Ser Arthur Dayne seems to be more than complicit, unless he actually tried to help Lyanna get away and failed. But since I believe he was in Kings Landing protecting Elia and the children during the Sack, he must have survived the takedown of the Brotherhood Without Banners. They must have rounded up a bunch of criminals to play their parts so that Arthur would believe they got the outlaws. Ulmer is the only character that might be able to confirm this theory, and he's currently alive at the Wall. Of course, there's always Lem Lemoncloak, who I believe is either Gerold Hightower or Arthur Dayne. His physical description fits Gerold, but being friends with the commoners and having a soiled cloak fits Arthur.
It would be easy for Tywin to order a suit of armor that looked just like Rhaegar's to undermine support for his claim to the throne and overthrow his father. Robert was his willing patsy. He may not know exactly what happened to Lyanna, but he certainly knew Tywin was on his side during the Rebellion. Gregor Clegane carried out the actual kidnapping, raping, and injuries that Lyanna died from, but Robert was complicit in Tywin's plans to spark the Rebellion, and likely knew a whole lot more than we could ever suspect. IMO the imagery surrounding his death with his bloody red teeth is meant to connect him to the Smiling Knight, and I feel quite confident that we will learn of his betrayal in the future books.
The Faith and the Citadel are the enemy that Bloodraven and the Children are assembling forces against. The Faith encouraged the Storm God disguised as The Smiling Knight to kidnap the Moonmaid in order to prevent ice magic from returning to power, and it has led to the near extinction of House Stark. The in-world mythology of Durran Godsgrief and Elenei has played out as Robert and Lyanna. Maybe Robert held a grudge against the old gods and blamed them for the death of his parents? The Faith took the Iron Throne from the Targaryens using an Andal King, but for me the bigger story, if true, is the deceit of Robert Baratheon. Imagine the ramifications if it comes to light that Robert conspired with both the Faith and Tywin Lannister to kidnap and kill Lyanna just to rid the realm of Aerys and Rhaegar. The victors get to write the history, folks.
