Post by Melifeather on Feb 13, 2016 19:32:20 GMT
The Drowned Man - AFFC Chapter 19
In the Iron Islands a “drowned man” is a convert to the faith of the Drowned God. Their baptism is a literal drowning. They are then resuscitated back to life with CPR, so that they can rise again stronger and harder. In these inversion chapters much of the premise of my theory involves the current characters reliving a past life, but then doing the opposite or with differing conclusions. With that in mind, will our “drowned man” be a fervent convert? Will he be in over his head? Or will he fully immerse himself in the sea?
We’ve learned in previous chapters that the hinge-ward-shield on the Wall has been manipulated. The Greyjoys and all of the Ironborn are now in the Targaryen position on the wheel of time. The area north of the Wall is in the Greyjoy-Ironborn position thus explaining why they are under water as Patchface says. North is now south, east is now west. The Iron Islands are now “Dragonstone” on the wheel of time and there are noticeable side effects. The Greyjoys are reliving the lives of the Targaryens, while the religion and very essence of the Ironborn are layered over the area north of the Wall where the remaining Targaryens in Westeros now live. Aemon in the Nights Watch, and Bloodraven in the cave, but there is another more dangerous side effect in that the white walkers may now have a back door into the realm.
The Drowned Man returns our attention to Aeron Greyjoy, or Damphair as he is known. From our previous chapter studies we’ve already identified Damphair as reliving Aemon Targaryen’s life. The chapter begins with Damphair struggling back to shore only after his arms and legs were numb before assembling the Ironborn to the kingsmoot.
After the Great Council selected Aegon V heir to the throne, Aemon volunteered to go to the Wall so that he could not be used in any plots to remove his brother from the throne. The cold and numbness that Damphair experiences symbolizes Aemon’s decision to live at the Wall were it is always so cold. Where Damphair ran from Euron, Aemon willingly went with Bloodraven to the Wall.
Also during the Great Council, one of the Blackfyre bastards petitioned to peacefully be considered has heir to the throne. Bloodraven offered Aenys Blackfyre safe conduct to Kings Landing, but once he arrived he was arrested and beheaded. Euron is equally skilled as Bloodraven. He’s cunning, shrewd, and ruthless. Aenys Blackfyre is channeled in this chapter by Baelor Blacktyde. Baelor was an Asha supporter at the kingsmoot. He refused to acknowledge Euron and attempted to leave, but Victarion blocked his way and Baelor is delivered to King Euron in chains. As punishment for his refusal to recognize his new liege, he is cut into seven pieces representing his faith to the Seven by Euron’s crew. Euron claims Baelor’s sable cloak for himself.
Damphair feels weak for running away from Euron, but the sea reminded him that the old Damphair was dead. He need not fear Euron like he did as when he was a child. No mortal man could frighten him, no more than the darkness, nor the bones of his soul, the grey and grisly bones on his soul. The sound of a door opening, the scream of a rusted iron hinge.
There has got to be great symbolism in the above paragraph. Lets break it down a bit. Aemon didn’t run away from Bloodraven. He embraced him. Aemon goes blind at the Wall, but he doesn’t fear the darkness. The bones of his soul must be referencing his memories, because we’re told that the bones remember. So the grey and grisly bones must be something he regrets, but at the same time he’s learned to accept. It may also simply refer to Aemon's advanced age. Grey and grisly does seem an apt description for how old he is. It’s tempting to want to jump ahead and try to guess what Aemon Targaryen did that would be considered “grey and grisly”, but one thing that I’ve learned while deciphering these chapters is that it’s best to remain patient and let the symbolism slowly reveal itself. For example, what about that last sentence about a door opening…the scream of a rusted iron hinge…is this referring to the hinge? Was Bloodraven able to move the hinge that has been warded and weaved into place all these thousand thousand years, or was it opened by Euron? We have to keep working if we want to find out.
As Damphair makes his way out of the water and across the strand, a drowned man returning from the call of nature stumbled into him in the darkness. “Damphair,” he murmured. Aeron laid a hand upon his head and blessed him. I can easily read this as blind Aemon Targaryen making his way along the Wall and stumbling into another man of the Nights Watch. In The Prophet we identified the area north of the Wall as the sea, and Patchface made us realize that the north is upside down, so everybody is underwater effectively making the black brothers of the Nights Watch “drowned men”.
Damphair’s heart beat faster when Nagga’s ribs come into view. It’s situated on the crown of a hill, forty-four monstrous stone ribs rising up like the trunks of great trees. She had fed on krakens and leviathans and drowned whole islands in her wrath, yet the Grey King had slain her and the Drowned God had changed her bones to stone.
What could be Nagga’s parallel in Aemon’s time? Certainly the Wall is wondrous to behold, and monstrous. The kraken is the sigil of the Greyjoys, and the dragon is the sigil of the Targaryens, but what is a leviathan? The Bible describes leviathans as great sea monsters. Ancient eastern origins describe leviathans as a seven headed serpent. Since Euron cut Baelor Blacktyde into seven pieces the inversion would be the Targaryens unifying the Seven Kingdoms by adopting the Faith of the Seven, where Euron intends to cut them apart. There’s also the possibility that the leviathan symbolism is the growing danger coming from the northern sea. The Drowned God would certainly fit symbolically as the old gods of the Children since they were forced north when the Targaryens adopted the Faith of the Seven.
The Grey King name that Damphair mentions sounds alot like Grey Lord who was Prince Garin the Great, a historical figure of the Rhoynar who beseeched Mother Rhoyne to curse the men of Volantis and Valyria with a damp fog that causes greyscale. Greyscale eventually consumes it’s victim turning the flesh to stone. The Grey King of the Greyjoys turned Nagga’s ribs to stone. So they have “turning things into stone” in common.
In the great northern sea the dead drowned men rise as wights when it is dark and cold. There is no name for wightification and no lord or king is blamed, but the Grey King could be said to parallel the Nights King. Aeron recalled that it was at Nagga’s ribs where the Grey King took his mermaid wife and planned his wars against the Storm God. It is said that the Nights King spied his Nights Queen from atop the Wall, and together they ensorcelling the Watch, bent them to his will, and sacrificed children to the Others.
The greathall had been warmed by Nagga’s living fire which the Grey King had made his thrall. The inversion of this could be that the Wall had been frozen by the Nights King. Wait, what? Is it possible that the great Wall of ice was created by the Nights King? Melisandre says it is one of the great hinges of the world, but is it a hinge because it’s warded? We lock doors and a ward is like a lock on a door, and doors are held in place by hinges, but there is no evidence that the warded hinge is a physical wall of ice as wards are invisible. The two may be independent from each other: an invisible hinge being it’s own thing versus the icy physical Wall. It is the Others themselves that are credited with making wondrous things out of Ice, so maybe there’s a connection there?
Meanwhile, Damphair pulled the cork from his waterskin and took a swallow of salt water then turned to face the sea. This is symbolic of Aemon accepting his decision to go to the Wall, even at great sacrifice to himself, and living at Castle Black right along the edge of the great northern sea. Damphair could hear the ceaseless rumble of the waves and feel the power of the god who lurked below the waters. Was deaf and blind Aemon aware of the power that lurked beyond the Wall?
Damphair prayed, “You have sent your people to me. They have left their halls and hovels, their castles and their keeps, and come here to Nagga’s bones, from every fishing village and every hidden vale.” Did Aemon feel a similar responsibility for all the men that have come to the Wall from every village, castle, keep, and hidden vale to serve in the Nights Watch?
Damphair watches the people getting ready for the day and calling for their first horn of ale. Drink deep, he thinks, for we have god’s work to do today. The sea was stirring too. The waves grew larger as the wind rose, sending plumes of spray to crash against the longships. The Drowned God wakes, thought Aeron Damphair.
The passage above makes me think that Aemon didn’t understand nor believe in the power north of the Wall, but he had faith in Brynden Rivers aka Bloodraven, who was once the Lord Commander of the Nights Watch for 13 years, but abandoned his position to go in search of the Children while out on a ranging. Did they ever have a discussion about the Children?
An aside here…isn’t it striking that Bloodraven served as Lord Commander for 13 years? The very length of time the Nights King reigned?
Aeron Damphair could hear the Drowned God’s voice welling from the depths of the sea. I shall be with you here this day, my strong and faithful servant, the voice said. No godless man will sit my Seastone Chair. Was Aemon Targaryen also receiving messages from the Children? This passage seems to apply more so to Brynden Rivers than Aemon. The symbolism of the Drowned God calling out from the sea makes me think that the god of the great northern sea are the Children’s old gods. They must have called out for help, but instead of Aemon answering, Bloodraven did.
Damphair stood at the top of the hill where Nagga’s ribs lay and called the men camped out on Old Wyk to order and gather for the kingsmoot. Damphair hoped they would choose Victarion and prevent Euron from sitting the Seastone Chair. His drowned men beat driftwood cudgels one against the other as they walked down a hill. They made such a fearful clacking and clattering it was as if a hundred trees were pummeling one another with their limbs. Kettledrums began to beat as well, and warhorns bellowed.
I’m trying to find an historical equivalent for when the Nights Watch would have made a lot of noise, but nothing comes to mind. The closest thing I can think of is how the Watch cuts down any tree within half a mile, and when they were about to be attacked by wildlings, they call out any sightings with warhorns. This could also be referring to the election of a new Lord Commander of the Nights Watch. When Jeor Mormont died and the Nights Watch met for a choosing, the men from all along the Wall came to Castle Black. The great hall was crowded and noisy. Men either talked in favor of someone or themselves, and voting was done with various tokens.
Men left their fires to make their way toward the bones of the Grey King’s Hall; oarsmen, steersmen, sailmakers, shipwrights, the warriors with their axes and the fishermen with their nets. Some had thralls to serve then; some had salt wives. Even maesters, singers, and knights. The common men crowded together in a crescent around the base of the knoll, with thralls, children and women in the rear.
This is similar to the men that get sent to the Wall. There are all kinds of men from criminals, to poachers, farmers, tradesmen, and men good with axes and other tools. Even maesters, singers, and knights. The men of high birth are given leadership positions as officers, while the common men are grouped into builders, stewards, and rangers. Women are not allowed on the Wall, but they have been known to accept young boys.
Damphair raises his hands to speak, “We were born from the sea, and to the sea we all return. The Storm God in his wrath plucked Balon from his castle and cast him down, yet now he feasts beneath the waves in the Drowned God’s watery halls.”….”Yet what is dead may never die, but rises again, harder and stronger!”
Once a man of the Nights Watch takes his vows, he cannot leave. Their vows are said either in a sept or before a hearttree: “Night gathers, and now my watch begins. It shall not end until my death. I shall take no wife, hold no lands, father no children. I shall wear no crowns and win no glory. I shall live and die at my post….”
Aeron’s voice declares, “A king shall rise!” and his followers repeat his words. “He shall. He must.” …”But who? Who shall sit in Balon’s place? Who shall rule these holy isles?….Who shall be king over us?”
Aeron’s words are similar to how the Nights Watch selects their Lord Commander. There’s come politicking involved, candidates put forward, and voting. The man with the most votes takes command until their death.
There were several candidates put forward for the Seastone Chair. Gylbert Farwynd, Erik Ironmaker, Asha Greyjoy, The Drumm, Victarion Greyjoy, and Euron Greyjoy. Each man gave a speech, had supporters call out their names, and then treasure spilled out on the ground as gifts. Most men, including Victarion claimed they would continue Balon’s work, but Asha promised peace while Euron promised victory…a way to conquer Westeros using dragons. He showed that he had a dragon horn and had one of his men blow it.
Asha has the best claim being directly descended from Balon, but the Ironborn refuse to be ruled by a woman. There is some symbolism referring to the north again as a sea. Asha asked, “The north? What is that, but leagues and leagues and leagues and leagues, far from the sound of the sea.” The word “league” is a measurement of three nautical miles.
The discussion of Asha changes the symbolism from the election of a Lord Commander to the Great Council that chose the next heir to the Iron Throne. I’ve identified Asha in the earlier chapters as reliving Rhaella, but she could equally be reliving Rhaenyra Targaryen, first-born child of King Viserys I who was passed over by her younger half-brother Aegon II sparking the civil war known as the Dance of the Dragons.
Asha names all the northern holdfasts that the Ironborn now hold: Moat Cailin, Deepwood Motte, Torrhen’s Square, even Winterfell, but she asks what do we have to show for it? The chapter calls her supporters her Black Wind men. I think this name is symbolic of Balerion the Black Dread, one of the three great dragons of Aegon the Conqueror. Asha’s men dump out the “riches” of the north: pebbles from the Stony Shore, pinecones from Deepwood Motte, and turnips from Winterfell. Asha’s point is that political peace is more valuable than plunder. Many men cheered for Asha, but they were shouted down by, “No craven’s peace!” and then calls for Victarion.
I am wondering if the three chests Asha empties represent the three houses of Arryns, Manderlys, and Starks that supported Rhaenyra’s claim for the Iron Throne?
As the men were squabbling over Asha and Victarion, Euron’s dragon horn sharp as a swordthrust split the air. It was a shivering hot scream that made a man’s bones seem to thrum. The horn was shiny black and twisted, bound with bands of red gold and dark steel, incised with ancient Valyrian glyphs that glowed red. It was a terrible sound of pain and fury, and Damphair covered his ears and prayed for the Drowned God to smash the horn.
Symbolically this blowing of the dragon horn is meant to recall the fear and horror Aegon the Conqueror brought upon Westeros. Damphair called it the horn of hell. snowfyre ’s essay on Joruman and the Horn of Winter likens horns to direwolf howls. It’s a call that opens the third eye, which is the ability to control minds. The dragon horn that Euron has controls dragons.
No godless man may sit the Seastone Chair, Aeron thinks again, but he knew that he must let his brother speak. His lips moved silently in prayer. Asha’s champions stepped aside, and Victarion’s as well. Symbolically, this could represent Aemon Targaryen stepping aside for his brother to rule. He also recognized his Bloodraven’s abilities, just as Damphair could feel Euron’s other eye, the one he kept hidden. Euron is a skinchanger. A talent that he has kept hidden, just as Bloodraven kept his skinchanging abilities hidden. Although many suspected he was using ravens to spy on the realm as evidenced by the question, how many eyes has does Lord Brynden have? A thousand and one.
Euron addresses the Ironborn to give his reasons why he should sit the Seastone Chair. He describes himself as Balon’s brother, Quellon’s eldest living son, and that he has Lord Vickon’s blood in his veins…the blood of the Old Kraken. Yet he has sailed farther than any of them. He says he’s the only living kraken that has never known defeat, never bent the knee, and the only one to sail as far as Asshai by the Shadow and seen wonders and terrors beyond imaging…
There has got to be a parallel with Bloodraven here. It is striking that Bloodraven intervened and helped defeat three separate Blackfyre Rebellions, and he retained his position as Hand of the King through multiple kings, until the Great Council of 233 selected Aegon V, who sent him to the Wall for luring Daenys by promising safety to Westeros only to have him arrested and beheaded once he arrived at court. I guess you could say that Bloodraven also sees wonders and terrors beyond imagining through the weirwoods.
“Crow’s Eye, you call me. Well, who has a keener eye than the crow? After every battle the crows come in their hundreds and their thousands to feast upon the fallen. A crow can espy death from afar. And I say that all of Westeros is dying. Those who follow me will feast until the end of their days.” Who would you choose to have said the preceding passage, Bloodraven or Euron? It is possible to imagine them both, but it was said by Euron even though it’s exactly what Bloodraven does in his cave.
“We are the ironborn, and once we were conquerors. Our writ ran everywhere the sound of the waves was heard…” The Targaryens were the conquerors of Westeros. They took it because they had dragons, but after the dragons died out so did they.
I find it particularly interesting that Euron goes on to say, “…I say we take it all! I say, we take Westeros…All for the greater glory of our Drowned God, to be sure.” Does this imply that the Targaryens kept the religion of the old gods away from the inhabitants of Westeros on purpose? Did the Children deliberately play the "religion" piece when the Andals came as a means to control humans? The Targaryens kept the religion of the previous cycle of invaders. Isn't that a bit strange?
For half a heartbeat Damphair was swept away by Euron’s words. Wasn’t this his dream also? Wasn’t it the same thing he had dreamt when he first saw the red comet? We shall sweep over the green lands with fire and sword, root out the seven gods of the septons and the white trees of the northmen… Isn’t this exactly what Aegon the Conqueror did?
Asha calls out, “Crow’s Eye…did you leave your wits at Asshai? If we cannot hold the north - and we cannot - how can we win the whole of the Seven Kingdoms?”
“Why, it has been done before. Did Balon teach his girl so little of the ways of war? Victarion, our brother’s daughter has never heard of Aegon the Conqueror, it would seem.”
This is the exchange where Euron makes the connection to Aegon the Conqueror and the taking of Westeros with dragons. He has the dragon horn, and he knows where there are not one, but three dragons. After this revelation we witness the majority of the ironborn being won to Euron’s side, “Euron! Euron! Crow’s Eye! Euron King!”
A priest may doubt, even a prophet may know terror. Damphair reached within himself for his god and discovered only silence. As a thousand voices shouted for Euron, all Damphair could hear was the scream of a rusted iron hinge.
In the Iron Islands a “drowned man” is a convert to the faith of the Drowned God. Their baptism is a literal drowning. They are then resuscitated back to life with CPR, so that they can rise again stronger and harder. In these inversion chapters much of the premise of my theory involves the current characters reliving a past life, but then doing the opposite or with differing conclusions. With that in mind, will our “drowned man” be a fervent convert? Will he be in over his head? Or will he fully immerse himself in the sea?
We’ve learned in previous chapters that the hinge-ward-shield on the Wall has been manipulated. The Greyjoys and all of the Ironborn are now in the Targaryen position on the wheel of time. The area north of the Wall is in the Greyjoy-Ironborn position thus explaining why they are under water as Patchface says. North is now south, east is now west. The Iron Islands are now “Dragonstone” on the wheel of time and there are noticeable side effects. The Greyjoys are reliving the lives of the Targaryens, while the religion and very essence of the Ironborn are layered over the area north of the Wall where the remaining Targaryens in Westeros now live. Aemon in the Nights Watch, and Bloodraven in the cave, but there is another more dangerous side effect in that the white walkers may now have a back door into the realm.
The Drowned Man returns our attention to Aeron Greyjoy, or Damphair as he is known. From our previous chapter studies we’ve already identified Damphair as reliving Aemon Targaryen’s life. The chapter begins with Damphair struggling back to shore only after his arms and legs were numb before assembling the Ironborn to the kingsmoot.
After the Great Council selected Aegon V heir to the throne, Aemon volunteered to go to the Wall so that he could not be used in any plots to remove his brother from the throne. The cold and numbness that Damphair experiences symbolizes Aemon’s decision to live at the Wall were it is always so cold. Where Damphair ran from Euron, Aemon willingly went with Bloodraven to the Wall.
Also during the Great Council, one of the Blackfyre bastards petitioned to peacefully be considered has heir to the throne. Bloodraven offered Aenys Blackfyre safe conduct to Kings Landing, but once he arrived he was arrested and beheaded. Euron is equally skilled as Bloodraven. He’s cunning, shrewd, and ruthless. Aenys Blackfyre is channeled in this chapter by Baelor Blacktyde. Baelor was an Asha supporter at the kingsmoot. He refused to acknowledge Euron and attempted to leave, but Victarion blocked his way and Baelor is delivered to King Euron in chains. As punishment for his refusal to recognize his new liege, he is cut into seven pieces representing his faith to the Seven by Euron’s crew. Euron claims Baelor’s sable cloak for himself.
Damphair feels weak for running away from Euron, but the sea reminded him that the old Damphair was dead. He need not fear Euron like he did as when he was a child. No mortal man could frighten him, no more than the darkness, nor the bones of his soul, the grey and grisly bones on his soul. The sound of a door opening, the scream of a rusted iron hinge.
There has got to be great symbolism in the above paragraph. Lets break it down a bit. Aemon didn’t run away from Bloodraven. He embraced him. Aemon goes blind at the Wall, but he doesn’t fear the darkness. The bones of his soul must be referencing his memories, because we’re told that the bones remember. So the grey and grisly bones must be something he regrets, but at the same time he’s learned to accept. It may also simply refer to Aemon's advanced age. Grey and grisly does seem an apt description for how old he is. It’s tempting to want to jump ahead and try to guess what Aemon Targaryen did that would be considered “grey and grisly”, but one thing that I’ve learned while deciphering these chapters is that it’s best to remain patient and let the symbolism slowly reveal itself. For example, what about that last sentence about a door opening…the scream of a rusted iron hinge…is this referring to the hinge? Was Bloodraven able to move the hinge that has been warded and weaved into place all these thousand thousand years, or was it opened by Euron? We have to keep working if we want to find out.
As Damphair makes his way out of the water and across the strand, a drowned man returning from the call of nature stumbled into him in the darkness. “Damphair,” he murmured. Aeron laid a hand upon his head and blessed him. I can easily read this as blind Aemon Targaryen making his way along the Wall and stumbling into another man of the Nights Watch. In The Prophet we identified the area north of the Wall as the sea, and Patchface made us realize that the north is upside down, so everybody is underwater effectively making the black brothers of the Nights Watch “drowned men”.
Damphair’s heart beat faster when Nagga’s ribs come into view. It’s situated on the crown of a hill, forty-four monstrous stone ribs rising up like the trunks of great trees. She had fed on krakens and leviathans and drowned whole islands in her wrath, yet the Grey King had slain her and the Drowned God had changed her bones to stone.
What could be Nagga’s parallel in Aemon’s time? Certainly the Wall is wondrous to behold, and monstrous. The kraken is the sigil of the Greyjoys, and the dragon is the sigil of the Targaryens, but what is a leviathan? The Bible describes leviathans as great sea monsters. Ancient eastern origins describe leviathans as a seven headed serpent. Since Euron cut Baelor Blacktyde into seven pieces the inversion would be the Targaryens unifying the Seven Kingdoms by adopting the Faith of the Seven, where Euron intends to cut them apart. There’s also the possibility that the leviathan symbolism is the growing danger coming from the northern sea. The Drowned God would certainly fit symbolically as the old gods of the Children since they were forced north when the Targaryens adopted the Faith of the Seven.
The Grey King name that Damphair mentions sounds alot like Grey Lord who was Prince Garin the Great, a historical figure of the Rhoynar who beseeched Mother Rhoyne to curse the men of Volantis and Valyria with a damp fog that causes greyscale. Greyscale eventually consumes it’s victim turning the flesh to stone. The Grey King of the Greyjoys turned Nagga’s ribs to stone. So they have “turning things into stone” in common.
In the great northern sea the dead drowned men rise as wights when it is dark and cold. There is no name for wightification and no lord or king is blamed, but the Grey King could be said to parallel the Nights King. Aeron recalled that it was at Nagga’s ribs where the Grey King took his mermaid wife and planned his wars against the Storm God. It is said that the Nights King spied his Nights Queen from atop the Wall, and together they ensorcelling the Watch, bent them to his will, and sacrificed children to the Others.
The greathall had been warmed by Nagga’s living fire which the Grey King had made his thrall. The inversion of this could be that the Wall had been frozen by the Nights King. Wait, what? Is it possible that the great Wall of ice was created by the Nights King? Melisandre says it is one of the great hinges of the world, but is it a hinge because it’s warded? We lock doors and a ward is like a lock on a door, and doors are held in place by hinges, but there is no evidence that the warded hinge is a physical wall of ice as wards are invisible. The two may be independent from each other: an invisible hinge being it’s own thing versus the icy physical Wall. It is the Others themselves that are credited with making wondrous things out of Ice, so maybe there’s a connection there?
Meanwhile, Damphair pulled the cork from his waterskin and took a swallow of salt water then turned to face the sea. This is symbolic of Aemon accepting his decision to go to the Wall, even at great sacrifice to himself, and living at Castle Black right along the edge of the great northern sea. Damphair could hear the ceaseless rumble of the waves and feel the power of the god who lurked below the waters. Was deaf and blind Aemon aware of the power that lurked beyond the Wall?
Damphair prayed, “You have sent your people to me. They have left their halls and hovels, their castles and their keeps, and come here to Nagga’s bones, from every fishing village and every hidden vale.” Did Aemon feel a similar responsibility for all the men that have come to the Wall from every village, castle, keep, and hidden vale to serve in the Nights Watch?
Damphair watches the people getting ready for the day and calling for their first horn of ale. Drink deep, he thinks, for we have god’s work to do today. The sea was stirring too. The waves grew larger as the wind rose, sending plumes of spray to crash against the longships. The Drowned God wakes, thought Aeron Damphair.
The passage above makes me think that Aemon didn’t understand nor believe in the power north of the Wall, but he had faith in Brynden Rivers aka Bloodraven, who was once the Lord Commander of the Nights Watch for 13 years, but abandoned his position to go in search of the Children while out on a ranging. Did they ever have a discussion about the Children?
An aside here…isn’t it striking that Bloodraven served as Lord Commander for 13 years? The very length of time the Nights King reigned?
Aeron Damphair could hear the Drowned God’s voice welling from the depths of the sea. I shall be with you here this day, my strong and faithful servant, the voice said. No godless man will sit my Seastone Chair. Was Aemon Targaryen also receiving messages from the Children? This passage seems to apply more so to Brynden Rivers than Aemon. The symbolism of the Drowned God calling out from the sea makes me think that the god of the great northern sea are the Children’s old gods. They must have called out for help, but instead of Aemon answering, Bloodraven did.
Damphair stood at the top of the hill where Nagga’s ribs lay and called the men camped out on Old Wyk to order and gather for the kingsmoot. Damphair hoped they would choose Victarion and prevent Euron from sitting the Seastone Chair. His drowned men beat driftwood cudgels one against the other as they walked down a hill. They made such a fearful clacking and clattering it was as if a hundred trees were pummeling one another with their limbs. Kettledrums began to beat as well, and warhorns bellowed.
I’m trying to find an historical equivalent for when the Nights Watch would have made a lot of noise, but nothing comes to mind. The closest thing I can think of is how the Watch cuts down any tree within half a mile, and when they were about to be attacked by wildlings, they call out any sightings with warhorns. This could also be referring to the election of a new Lord Commander of the Nights Watch. When Jeor Mormont died and the Nights Watch met for a choosing, the men from all along the Wall came to Castle Black. The great hall was crowded and noisy. Men either talked in favor of someone or themselves, and voting was done with various tokens.
Men left their fires to make their way toward the bones of the Grey King’s Hall; oarsmen, steersmen, sailmakers, shipwrights, the warriors with their axes and the fishermen with their nets. Some had thralls to serve then; some had salt wives. Even maesters, singers, and knights. The common men crowded together in a crescent around the base of the knoll, with thralls, children and women in the rear.
This is similar to the men that get sent to the Wall. There are all kinds of men from criminals, to poachers, farmers, tradesmen, and men good with axes and other tools. Even maesters, singers, and knights. The men of high birth are given leadership positions as officers, while the common men are grouped into builders, stewards, and rangers. Women are not allowed on the Wall, but they have been known to accept young boys.
Damphair raises his hands to speak, “We were born from the sea, and to the sea we all return. The Storm God in his wrath plucked Balon from his castle and cast him down, yet now he feasts beneath the waves in the Drowned God’s watery halls.”….”Yet what is dead may never die, but rises again, harder and stronger!”
Once a man of the Nights Watch takes his vows, he cannot leave. Their vows are said either in a sept or before a hearttree: “Night gathers, and now my watch begins. It shall not end until my death. I shall take no wife, hold no lands, father no children. I shall wear no crowns and win no glory. I shall live and die at my post….”
Aeron’s voice declares, “A king shall rise!” and his followers repeat his words. “He shall. He must.” …”But who? Who shall sit in Balon’s place? Who shall rule these holy isles?….Who shall be king over us?”
Aeron’s words are similar to how the Nights Watch selects their Lord Commander. There’s come politicking involved, candidates put forward, and voting. The man with the most votes takes command until their death.
There were several candidates put forward for the Seastone Chair. Gylbert Farwynd, Erik Ironmaker, Asha Greyjoy, The Drumm, Victarion Greyjoy, and Euron Greyjoy. Each man gave a speech, had supporters call out their names, and then treasure spilled out on the ground as gifts. Most men, including Victarion claimed they would continue Balon’s work, but Asha promised peace while Euron promised victory…a way to conquer Westeros using dragons. He showed that he had a dragon horn and had one of his men blow it.
Asha has the best claim being directly descended from Balon, but the Ironborn refuse to be ruled by a woman. There is some symbolism referring to the north again as a sea. Asha asked, “The north? What is that, but leagues and leagues and leagues and leagues, far from the sound of the sea.” The word “league” is a measurement of three nautical miles.
The discussion of Asha changes the symbolism from the election of a Lord Commander to the Great Council that chose the next heir to the Iron Throne. I’ve identified Asha in the earlier chapters as reliving Rhaella, but she could equally be reliving Rhaenyra Targaryen, first-born child of King Viserys I who was passed over by her younger half-brother Aegon II sparking the civil war known as the Dance of the Dragons.
Asha names all the northern holdfasts that the Ironborn now hold: Moat Cailin, Deepwood Motte, Torrhen’s Square, even Winterfell, but she asks what do we have to show for it? The chapter calls her supporters her Black Wind men. I think this name is symbolic of Balerion the Black Dread, one of the three great dragons of Aegon the Conqueror. Asha’s men dump out the “riches” of the north: pebbles from the Stony Shore, pinecones from Deepwood Motte, and turnips from Winterfell. Asha’s point is that political peace is more valuable than plunder. Many men cheered for Asha, but they were shouted down by, “No craven’s peace!” and then calls for Victarion.
I am wondering if the three chests Asha empties represent the three houses of Arryns, Manderlys, and Starks that supported Rhaenyra’s claim for the Iron Throne?
As the men were squabbling over Asha and Victarion, Euron’s dragon horn sharp as a swordthrust split the air. It was a shivering hot scream that made a man’s bones seem to thrum. The horn was shiny black and twisted, bound with bands of red gold and dark steel, incised with ancient Valyrian glyphs that glowed red. It was a terrible sound of pain and fury, and Damphair covered his ears and prayed for the Drowned God to smash the horn.
Symbolically this blowing of the dragon horn is meant to recall the fear and horror Aegon the Conqueror brought upon Westeros. Damphair called it the horn of hell. snowfyre ’s essay on Joruman and the Horn of Winter likens horns to direwolf howls. It’s a call that opens the third eye, which is the ability to control minds. The dragon horn that Euron has controls dragons.
No godless man may sit the Seastone Chair, Aeron thinks again, but he knew that he must let his brother speak. His lips moved silently in prayer. Asha’s champions stepped aside, and Victarion’s as well. Symbolically, this could represent Aemon Targaryen stepping aside for his brother to rule. He also recognized his Bloodraven’s abilities, just as Damphair could feel Euron’s other eye, the one he kept hidden. Euron is a skinchanger. A talent that he has kept hidden, just as Bloodraven kept his skinchanging abilities hidden. Although many suspected he was using ravens to spy on the realm as evidenced by the question, how many eyes has does Lord Brynden have? A thousand and one.
Euron addresses the Ironborn to give his reasons why he should sit the Seastone Chair. He describes himself as Balon’s brother, Quellon’s eldest living son, and that he has Lord Vickon’s blood in his veins…the blood of the Old Kraken. Yet he has sailed farther than any of them. He says he’s the only living kraken that has never known defeat, never bent the knee, and the only one to sail as far as Asshai by the Shadow and seen wonders and terrors beyond imaging…
There has got to be a parallel with Bloodraven here. It is striking that Bloodraven intervened and helped defeat three separate Blackfyre Rebellions, and he retained his position as Hand of the King through multiple kings, until the Great Council of 233 selected Aegon V, who sent him to the Wall for luring Daenys by promising safety to Westeros only to have him arrested and beheaded once he arrived at court. I guess you could say that Bloodraven also sees wonders and terrors beyond imagining through the weirwoods.
“Crow’s Eye, you call me. Well, who has a keener eye than the crow? After every battle the crows come in their hundreds and their thousands to feast upon the fallen. A crow can espy death from afar. And I say that all of Westeros is dying. Those who follow me will feast until the end of their days.” Who would you choose to have said the preceding passage, Bloodraven or Euron? It is possible to imagine them both, but it was said by Euron even though it’s exactly what Bloodraven does in his cave.
“We are the ironborn, and once we were conquerors. Our writ ran everywhere the sound of the waves was heard…” The Targaryens were the conquerors of Westeros. They took it because they had dragons, but after the dragons died out so did they.
I find it particularly interesting that Euron goes on to say, “…I say we take it all! I say, we take Westeros…All for the greater glory of our Drowned God, to be sure.” Does this imply that the Targaryens kept the religion of the old gods away from the inhabitants of Westeros on purpose? Did the Children deliberately play the "religion" piece when the Andals came as a means to control humans? The Targaryens kept the religion of the previous cycle of invaders. Isn't that a bit strange?
For half a heartbeat Damphair was swept away by Euron’s words. Wasn’t this his dream also? Wasn’t it the same thing he had dreamt when he first saw the red comet? We shall sweep over the green lands with fire and sword, root out the seven gods of the septons and the white trees of the northmen… Isn’t this exactly what Aegon the Conqueror did?
Asha calls out, “Crow’s Eye…did you leave your wits at Asshai? If we cannot hold the north - and we cannot - how can we win the whole of the Seven Kingdoms?”
“Why, it has been done before. Did Balon teach his girl so little of the ways of war? Victarion, our brother’s daughter has never heard of Aegon the Conqueror, it would seem.”
This is the exchange where Euron makes the connection to Aegon the Conqueror and the taking of Westeros with dragons. He has the dragon horn, and he knows where there are not one, but three dragons. After this revelation we witness the majority of the ironborn being won to Euron’s side, “Euron! Euron! Crow’s Eye! Euron King!”
A priest may doubt, even a prophet may know terror. Damphair reached within himself for his god and discovered only silence. As a thousand voices shouted for Euron, all Damphair could hear was the scream of a rusted iron hinge.