Post by Melifeather on Mar 11, 2018 20:38:47 GMT
If you've watched the Dr Strange movie or read the Marvel comic Dr Strange, you may recall that he defeats Dormammu by casting a spell over time itself, creating a continual time loop using the Eye of Agamotto. No matter how many times Dormammu killed Dr Strange, he always came back to the beginning frustrating Dormammu until he gives up. I believe GRRM has also inserted a time loop into ASOIAF as evidenced by the extended seasons where winters and summers last up to 9-10 years long and springs and falls are shorter introductions.
During these time loops life continues for humans even if the seasons move very slowly. Theoretically a one year spring, plus a 9 year long summer, plus a year long autumn, plus a 9 year long winter would technically be one 20-year-long time loop. Bloodraven teaches Bran that you cannot change the past, so if there are time loops then the plan is to change the future. The trees remember and show events from the past to Bloodraven then Bran, but they cannot change these events. The people living during this 20-year-long time loop would repeat whatever happened during the previous time loop after time is reset.
Whoever is manipulating time did so in order to change a future outcome. It's a delaying tactic until the right people are in the right place to deal with the future. With each time loop whatever or whoever was being watched for didn't come, so the time loop was reset. Bloodraven's comment that he looked for Bran indicates that he may be the one that was resetting time until Bran was born.
Bran was born at the beginning of the current or latest summer in 290. He was 8 or 9 years old when Jaime pushed him from the tower. Old Nan called him “my sweet summer child”. Bloodraven may have extended summer so that Bran could grow up, but he was running out of time. He was fading into the weirwoods fast and needed Bran to come quickly. He sent Jojen greendreams so that he and Meera would fetch him.
The Cyvasse game comes to mind - Westeros is the playing board and the time loops are separate games. The repeating of games also reminds me of the 1983 movie War Games where a military super-computer predicts possible outcomes of nuclear war. A hacker unwittingly gets the computer to run a simulation that nearly starts WWIII. He's able to stop the computer by teaching it tic-tac-toe and the concept of a draw, or "winner: none". I'm curious if each time loop is the same number of years, or if the length of a season coincides with a certain person or specific event. And of course I'm trying to discover the purpose of the time loops. Is having Bran as the next greenseer necessary in order to defeat the Others? There are two characters that seem to provide some insight into the time loops: Tyrion and Howland.
Tyrion
Tyrion was born in 273. The estimated year when Tyrion was at the Wall was 298 which would make him approximately 25 years old at the time. He told Mormont he’d seen 8 or 9 winters, but Mormont commented that the current summer had lasted 9 years, so Tyrion would have seen his 8-9 winters by the time he was 15 years old and each winter couldn't have been more than a year or so apiece. Mormont's comment about summer lasting 9 years with a 10th “soon upon us”, suggests that summer was extended. Circling back to Bran, this latest summer does indeed correspond with Bran's age. Also worrisome is that an extended summer typically leads to an extended winter.
Howland
Howland spent the winter on the Isle of Faces, but when spring broke he left. This was during the year of the False Spring which means shortly after the Harrenhal tourney winter had returned. It was called the "year" of the False Spring, because spring only lasted one year, and "false", because instead of leading into summer - winter returned. (Edited to add 2/19/19: The World Book states that during the Year of the False Spring, Spring lasted only a few months.) This is a prime example of time being reset, but why? Does Howland’s prayer for a way to “win” have anything to do with this reset? Did Lyanna's abduction happen during winter, or did winter last for a year and then it was finally spring before she went missing?
If Bloodraven was looking and waiting for Bran, what is the significance of the time loop reset at the time of the Harrenhal tourney? Certainly Lyanna's abduction was eerily similar to when Elia was attacked by the Kingswood Brotherhood. Was her abduction necessary or just a casualty of messing with time?
During these time loops life continues for humans even if the seasons move very slowly. Theoretically a one year spring, plus a 9 year long summer, plus a year long autumn, plus a 9 year long winter would technically be one 20-year-long time loop. Bloodraven teaches Bran that you cannot change the past, so if there are time loops then the plan is to change the future. The trees remember and show events from the past to Bloodraven then Bran, but they cannot change these events. The people living during this 20-year-long time loop would repeat whatever happened during the previous time loop after time is reset.
Whoever is manipulating time did so in order to change a future outcome. It's a delaying tactic until the right people are in the right place to deal with the future. With each time loop whatever or whoever was being watched for didn't come, so the time loop was reset. Bloodraven's comment that he looked for Bran indicates that he may be the one that was resetting time until Bran was born.
Bran was born at the beginning of the current or latest summer in 290. He was 8 or 9 years old when Jaime pushed him from the tower. Old Nan called him “my sweet summer child”. Bloodraven may have extended summer so that Bran could grow up, but he was running out of time. He was fading into the weirwoods fast and needed Bran to come quickly. He sent Jojen greendreams so that he and Meera would fetch him.
The Cyvasse game comes to mind - Westeros is the playing board and the time loops are separate games. The repeating of games also reminds me of the 1983 movie War Games where a military super-computer predicts possible outcomes of nuclear war. A hacker unwittingly gets the computer to run a simulation that nearly starts WWIII. He's able to stop the computer by teaching it tic-tac-toe and the concept of a draw, or "winner: none". I'm curious if each time loop is the same number of years, or if the length of a season coincides with a certain person or specific event. And of course I'm trying to discover the purpose of the time loops. Is having Bran as the next greenseer necessary in order to defeat the Others? There are two characters that seem to provide some insight into the time loops: Tyrion and Howland.
Tyrion
Tyrion was born in 273. The estimated year when Tyrion was at the Wall was 298 which would make him approximately 25 years old at the time. He told Mormont he’d seen 8 or 9 winters, but Mormont commented that the current summer had lasted 9 years, so Tyrion would have seen his 8-9 winters by the time he was 15 years old and each winter couldn't have been more than a year or so apiece. Mormont's comment about summer lasting 9 years with a 10th “soon upon us”, suggests that summer was extended. Circling back to Bran, this latest summer does indeed correspond with Bran's age. Also worrisome is that an extended summer typically leads to an extended winter.
Howland
Howland spent the winter on the Isle of Faces, but when spring broke he left. This was during the year of the False Spring which means shortly after the Harrenhal tourney winter had returned. It was called the "year" of the False Spring, because spring only lasted one year, and "false", because instead of leading into summer - winter returned. (Edited to add 2/19/19: The World Book states that during the Year of the False Spring, Spring lasted only a few months.) This is a prime example of time being reset, but why? Does Howland’s prayer for a way to “win” have anything to do with this reset? Did Lyanna's abduction happen during winter, or did winter last for a year and then it was finally spring before she went missing?
If Bloodraven was looking and waiting for Bran, what is the significance of the time loop reset at the time of the Harrenhal tourney? Certainly Lyanna's abduction was eerily similar to when Elia was attacked by the Kingswood Brotherhood. Was her abduction necessary or just a casualty of messing with time?
