วีดีโอ

Wonderful well thought out video! As one fairly small TH-cam channel to another, good luck!

Tolkien was a Christian, and as so, he ultimately defeats death. Martin, on the other hand, is not a Christian; and he believes that all you can do is "Eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow you may die." This seems to be his underlying philosophy. Whether you call it nihilism or not, Martin views death as the end. 1 Corinthians 15:32: “What do I gain if, humanly speaking, I fought with beasts at Ephesus? If the dead are not raised, Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die.”

According to George R.R. Martin himself (author's annotation in ADWD in the i version of the book) "Jon Snow was born around or shortly after the sack of King's Landing". This annotation is added to the latest version of the book, already after George figured out the timeline. Some time before adding this annotation George was asked about Jon Snow's birth in an interview. He said he needed to look up the timeline.Years after he added this annotation. This annotation makes it impossible for Jon to be Rhaegar Lyanna's child. If Jon was born in the Tower of Joy, it would've taken Ned about a month to get there after the sack of King's Landing, lifting the siege of the Storm's End and traveling through the Red Mountains of Dorne. Lyanna was found in a bed of blood which indicates that she was either giving birth at the moment Ned was there or right before he found her. It is impossible for Lyanna to be giving birth "around the same time or shortly after the sack of King's Landing", because the birth would have taken place about a month later. And this is in case they were hiding in Dorne at all. Rhaegar and Lyanna could have pulled Bael the Bard and the Maiden of Winterfell and could be hiding in Winterfell's crypts - the last place anyone would've looked for them. Bran, Rickon, Osha, 2 huge direwolves and Hodor managed to hide there for weeks. The legend about Bael the Bard and the Maiden of Winterfell was told in this story for some reason. In this case Rhaegar and Lyanna's baby would've been born in Winterfell crypts and Ned would have found him months after the sack of King's Landing. Jon would've been at least a couple of months old at this point. Actually, it makes more sense they were hiding in Winterfell, because hiding a woman you are cheating with in the place where the family of the woman you're cheating on is ruling is absolutely insane. When Ned asked the Kingsguards at the Tower of Joy about where they were, Gerold Hightower answered "far away". Well, Winterfell is pretty far away. Plus, we know that Benjen Stark went to the Wall at the age of 14-15. Ne was close with Lyanna and it's possible he knew where she and Rhaegar were hiding. Ned came back to Winterfell,Benjen had to inform Ned about where their sister was because she was giving birth. That's why Benjen had to leave: for hiding a secret that got thousands of people killed, Ned sent him to the Wall. Anyway, this little annotation makes it impossible for Jon to be Lyanna's son, whether it suits your expectations of the story, or not

It’s Ashara and you won’t convince me otherwise! Still a wonderful vid ❤

In the beginning I didn't like the idea of Tyrion being a Targaryen. But If Aerys II believed he was Azor Ahai having to give birth to three "Lightbringer" children, then Tyrion is obviously the second try (The Lion Heart one), just as Rhaegar is the first try (The one that shattered in water). But in the end, while Tyrion is half Targaryen and Lannister, he is, in spirit ,the son of Tywin, just like Jon (R+L) is Ned Stark's son.

Hi! Thank you for your video! Was that your native language you spoke at 5:37? What language was that?

I remember reading the books before the show started. As I read the less I liked them. They seamed to me and still does as a pale shadow of the lord of the rings. And the show solidified for me the fact Americans don’t do original fantasy that well. Americans are better at science fiction.

Here's my take on it : TWOIAF and the books have many references to Lovecraft Pantheon. So many in every corner of the world, that it's difficult to see how they could not exist. And because GRRM is a huge Lovecraft fan LOL IMHO, the Elder Gods are real and deep asleep under the earth, or under the sea.. But their power to distort reality and and their latent telepathy is still active. So while the "Cthulhu"(s) of Planetos is/are asleep, you can still appeal to its/their sadism by making magical transactions. And the currencies are life/blood and how much the sacrifice is valued. Because "Power is where men believe it is", sacrificing a beloved one, or a someone of a royal lineage will have the sleeping Elder God give you a favor through the correct procedure, aka "magic ritual". So, once again IMHO, all official gods (even Rhollor and The Great Other) do not exist. All you have are many factions with their own beliefs in made-up god, but they all tap in the same source of "Magic" via blood-based sacrifices. The faith of the seven looks like its gods are not existing, and they don't. But what makes the FOTS look impotent is that they ignore how to tap into the magic source. Rhollor feels like he might exist, because its priests and servant master some ways to harness the sleeping Elder God reality altering powers. Same for the COTF and their Westwood system. My Opinion is that all these factions, without knowing it, all appeal to the same one evil sleeping Elder God when they use magic. They just don't know it. That's my favored option, because that would be very GRRM to subvert the Good Vs Evil paradigm. In the TV show, the gods are the writers and the audience. It's illustrated by Tyrion asking if the gods play with humans like humans play with ants, just for entertainment (yes they do). And that's why, when Jon comes back to life and is asked what is on the other side, Jon answers : "Nothing. There was nothing". Because the characters of the show don't really exist. They only exist as long as they are useful to the show, and when they die, there is no afterlife for them. :)

I think that people also need to learn to better distinguish between ends justifying means (ex Stannis immediately seemingly being ok with sacrificing his nephew)and sacrificing for the greater good (ex Jon remaining with the watch instead of agreeing to be the new lord stark and when soldiers lay down their lives for a good cause) as they are very different things with vastly different implications

Here's a neat wrinkle: what if Roose's eye colour is a result of ocular albinism? There's lots of pictures you can google, and the grey eyes look exactly like Roose's are described. Here's the rub though; while there are 2 main forms of ocular albinism, both are carried on the X chromosome. If Roose has a trueborn son then he must have contributed a Y chromosome, and couldn't be the genetic reason for Ramsey's eye colour. The only way he could have is if Ramsey were XXY, which is also extremely uncommon.

is this video about book or show canon? you mention Helaena being a dreamer like it's a fact, but I thought that was a show invention? George has said the the show is the show and the books are the books, so whatever happens in the show will not influence the book canon, unless George explicitly say so, of course.

I wonder if they got the 40 families from the 40 families of the valyrian freehold

Hold on, where do we have evidence that the weirwood north of the wall change faces? Do we know that village WAS whitetree? If it was, then why is the tree smaller? If not, where does it say that weirwood faces change?

I really like your theories! btw just did my first theory on /asoiaf r3ddit, based on many excellent channels like yours, David, Quinn, The Disputed Lands, Michael, etc… I even mentioned something from you there =D. I tried to be coherent with evidence, its about Leng, The Five Forts, Oldtown and some stuff people normally dont talk about. If you have a minute to spare and fell like it, i just posted it there: [Theory] Cave, Volcanoes and… Goats? (Spoilers main). If you happen to read it, tell me if you liked it or not =D

dany is the grreatest. emilia is the greatest. simple !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

i really do wonder what jeyne's dynamic with lady stoneheart will be. will LSH sees jeyne as one of the schemers that plotted the red weddings? or will she sees jeyne as one of the few allies to survive, glad to be seen?

The nobles of Meereen did not see justice. She asked them to name the perpetrators. Why would they name the real perpetrators, rather than any moderates who would be willing to work with her? She almost certainly executed every Meereenese noble who was against crucifying children.

It also occurs to me that the legend of Huzor Amai (?) strongly supports what you say re the themes of unity surrounding Azor Ahai. Huzor did not, as far as we know (and if i remember correctly!), end the Long Night or vanquish demons/Others, but is said to have unified the various peoples of the grasslands, the lands that were previously ruled by the Fisher Queens of the Silver Sea, into a unified (culturally, if not always politically!) and splendid Civilisation, that of Sarnor. This was presumably in the centuries following the Long Night, or at least the collapse of the Fisher Queens civilization. He parallels , in a way, Khal Mengo (?), who unifies the Dothraki in order ultimately to destroy the Sarnori cities. Hope I'm remembering this reasonably okay

Great video, and it really makes the most sense if we imagine that there was never a single Azor Ahai, but that the figure is more symbolic or archetypal like you say. If Bloodstone was a single, historical individual (rather than e.g standing for a dynasty of rulers), i wonder if he was himself seeking to fulfill some older version of the prophecy, perhaps to unite mankind under his rule, but instead through his actions helped trigger the Long Night.. This would parallel Euron in the present story, who may play an initiating role in this new Long Night, whether knowingly or not. It could mean that the two embody the same archetype, while being distinct characters with differences in their motivations. This archetype is perhaps an inversion or corruption of Azor Ahai, being that of a megalomaniac who believes themselves alone to play a messianic role, in contrast to the collective heroic effort you describe. I cant help but think of the scene in Astapor, with the liberated unsullied slaying the masters, as reflecting the positive idea of Azor Ahai, in contrast! Thank you for the thoughtful and thought provoking video

Melissandra mentions to Jon Keep your wolf close. Many times. I think Ghost is important in Jon’s resurrection/remaining alive