@@Bookborn ser duncan the tall saved Queen Rhaella from the fires who give birth to prince rhaegar that very night, and so a dragon was born at summerhall
prince rhaegar targaryen born from smoke and salt, smoke from the fires salt from the tears of those who survived the tragedy of summerhall, the place prince rhaegar loved the most, so have been jon snow and daenarys have salt and smoke in their stories, the dragon has three heads house of undying fire and blood baby
Haha, i was thinking the same thing. I think there are quite a few people who would/will fall in this category once they finally decide to read it. It's amazing.
I've never been more proud of a collection of people than this group when no one corrected her about not seeing Jamie chapters again after Feast. We all just collectively decided it would be better to watch her be surprised.
The “historians sucking up to current rulers” story detail is why George is the GOAT. Storytelling not just in books but in books about books and in the metanarrative of those book-books
He really thinks of so many little things like that, which is great. Him adding (like a gardener as he puts it) can also go too far, like with how he's set up so many plot points that he is and will continue to (after Winds) have trouble giving every single one a resolution.
It's truly impressive, and it's why the world of ASOIAF feels so rich. I think it's also why series like that only come around so rarely. There are many fantasy books I like and enjoy, but to truly get a world that feels ALIVE is a difficult task.
It's also why many of the creative liberties taken from page to screen for House of the Dragon in the details of what is shown as actually having happened in the tv series versus how things were said to have happened in the book, in my opinion, actually work a lot more than many die-hard book loyalists like to admit. (But perhaps that's just me.)
When George RR Martin talks about what inspired him to write Fire & Blood as a history book he mentions that he was writing an unpublished book about a journalist that worked in the Pulitzer Building (New York World Building). A building that was said to tower over the competition "The new york sun" journal and people joked how Pulitzer could spit down the sun. This building also was considered the tallest skycrapers in the whole city upon completion and then it was demolished in 1955-56. So when George started digging (in a time without the internet) about the details of the building, he found many sources and some even with contradictions for a simple thing as how many stories the building had. This building existed 70 years ago and he couldnt even get a proper source of such an obvious detail, now imagine that but from historians writing hundreds of years after the facts and you can understand why history ends up being a frustrating mess of contradictions, false facts and hearsay with a pinch of personal bias from the historian. He also gives an example about the inspiration for the red wedding, the black dinner of scotland and how its detail and theatric presentation was probably embelished after the facts.
Thank you, this is super great context! I think most fantasy authors take inspiration from real history, but I love how George takes inspiration not just from actual events but how they were actually presented and written. It's such a good detail.
I think that's the holdup. George is effectively writing three intertwined novels. Blood and fire, dunk and egg, and winds. All the rhaegar mysteries, Summerhall, blood raven mysteries, they all have to come out into a cohesive narrative that Also leads well into dream of spring.
OMG Bookborn finally replied to one of Quinn's comments (I don't remember seeing her reply to them in the previous ASOIAF book reviews)! Collab stream chatting about ASOIAF for an hour or so soon?.. Please?
I love your fresh set of eyes. Dunk Saved Rhaela and by instance Rhaegar, Jon, and that bloodline. He likely kicked a door on to get them out " how could my foot be worth a prince's life?"
You beat me to this comment. I don't know who to credit for coming up with the theory, but it's fully headcanon for me that Dunc saves Rhaella (and thus Rhaegar) using his foot somehow.
I think it’s be crazy if it was not that. All the hints are there, and in something as quick and simple as the Hedge Knight, George can’t burry the lead as much with 20 alternatives
Your point about Catelyn - it also highlights women's roles in Westoros (society) in keeping alive the narratives/stories. Like, Sansa's love of songs and stories is shown as a childlike thing, but how many times does Arya think "Sansa would have known this"? Catelyn knows the histories and stories and consequences, and it makes her a savvy political consigliere
@@mirayoquese8608 I haven't stopped thinking about Asshai, the base of the hightower or Yeen since reading it Like in my head rent free, What's going on George
@@WatashiMachineFullCycle that and the (SPOILERS) . . . . . Azor Ahai similarities between cultures was the most ground breaking lore aspect of the book, for sure.
There is a theory that Ser Duncan saved a pregnant Rhaella Targaryen from the wildfyre and she was so shocked she went into labor and gave birth to Prince Rhaegar on the outskirts of Summerhall as the building burned.
My theory without much evidence: Dunk and Egg has been largely focused on the contradictions of being honorable. And of course GRRM’s motto that the only thing worth writing is the heart in conflict with itself. Egg (or someone close) sees a vision of Dany bringing forth dragons from going into the fire. He believes it’s Rhaella and so sets up her to go into the flames. Dunk must choose between loyalty to his king and friend and saving an innocent girl. He kicks aside the pyre, spreading the wildfire and getting everyone else killed. Including Dunk as he returns to try and save his friend.
Aside from Dunk's role, that's all confirmed. There's even a painting in this book that shows Summerhall burning and Rhaella labouring in the foreground.
It's commonly thought that Summerhall was a plot by King Aegon V to hatch dragons via human sacrifice because there is power in 'king's blood' (remember how Melisandre wanted to burn Mance and then his son for the same magical reasoning). Aegon's pro-commoner reforms were resisted heavily by nobles, and he was always struggling with rebellions, so he might have thought that if Targaryens had dragons again, his position would be strong enough to enact the laws he wanted to. So Aegon threw this party to celebrate Rhaella's pregnancy with Rhaegar to gather the royal family in order to burn one or more of them alive. Dunk, as just a good bloke, would have resisted the plans, and he would have tried to save everyone. It's hinted that he died saving Rhaella from the flames, who then gave birth to Rhaegar and then tada the rest is history. There is a really good Alt Shift X video on this.
It's a great theory, and if true he's a nutter for being willing to kill royals in his family to get that. His line of thinking there believing the ends justify the ends, and things like his pro-commoner reforms make him morally grey, which as we know is the type of character George likes the most.
I know the common belief is that Egg wants dragons due to his conflict with the Nobles re his reforms. However I wonder, based on HotD if he wanted Dragons due to the prophecy?
@@chrisph9910 Yeah maybe. I heard a theory somewhere that Dany's dragon hatching event was such an important magical effect that it sent psychic ripples through time, which led to other Targaryens (Aerion, Aerys II, and maybe in this case, Aegon V) getting fire happy as they got dragon dreams of something involving fire/human sacrifice/dragons hatching and interpreted the dreams to be about themselves. I quite like this idea.
I don't think Melisandre ever expresses a desire to burn Mance and his baby. That seems to be just Jon's speculation, and considering Mel saved Mance from burning... Now, Edric Storm is a different story. I think that is a better example of Melisandre wanting to sacrifice for king's blood.
Yeah as someone who didn’t hate Cat and thought she was fine, learning more about the blackfyre rebellion makes her fears over Jon WAY more reasonable - even though we know Jon’s not that kind of person.
Yeah, as Cat is someone obsessed with legacy/her children/has a hate-problem with Jon, the added narrative she'd tell herself about the blackfyre rebellion just makes soooo much sense.
@@Bookborn i don't know if you guys will agree, but i also think cat saw so much 'starkness' in jon which she couldn't see in her own children, most of them turned out to have more tully characteristics, that it nagged at her as well. just one more thing to pile upon her worries.
@@SirGeeSantos I feel like that's stated right out in the books! He looks like a stark in the way many of her children didn't, doesn't she say that in the first book or am I misremembering
Summerhall was a result of Egg kind of slowly becoming obsessed with hatching dragons. One good theory I heard was that he might’ve used wildfire in their attempted hatching. There’s a dragon dream in the last novella where Dunk and Egg are swallowed by sand, and the pyromancers are known to rig sand to drop on wildfire if anything goes wrong since water doesn’t put it out. Another theory I saw was that Egg might’ve seen Daenerys on the pyre in a dream as he’s definitely a dreamer (there’s a bigger theory that many dragon dreams are related to that event because of how magically significant it was. Even Aerys said he wanted to light KL in a “funeral pyre” and “rise reborn as a dragon”). Many Targaryens possibly thought what Dany did was what they were destined to do or otherwise misinterpreted the dream. Daenerys lost all her hair in the pyre, coming out bald much like our beloved Egg. She had also recently given birth, and her mother Rhaella (who Dany very likely resembles) was pregnant with Rhaegar at Summerhall. Some fans think Egg might’ve planned to sacrifice his own family in a blood magic ritual, seeing who he could’ve assumed to be Rhaella on a pyre that resulted in dragons, and that maybe he and Dunk died when the pyromancers tried to snuff out the flames. It’s also heavily implied that Dunk saved Rhaella, so his great act is saving Dany’s mother, therefore allowing possibly the most important character to be born at all, which is a hell of a feat for Dunk The Lunk of Fleabottom
The world isn’t ready for the return of Davos and Rickon leading an army of Unicorn riding Skags into battle. Lest we forget the wolf dream where Ghost watches Shaggydog eating an enormous “goat” with a huge horn…
I like this more casual format :D The locations and lore drops at the end of the book are very relevant to the endgame theories of the main series. So, you may well want to talk about it again. :D
yeah it gets pretty interesting towards the end with all the far off eastern cultures on the edges of the maesters' maps. I remember reading just a few pages of this book each day, in between incoming phone calls at my call center job. it was a good time with that giant thing 😂 the art really is amazing!
I love GRRM's prose here describing Aerys after Duskendale. "Captivity at Duskendale had shattered whatever sanity had remained to Aerys II Targaryen. From that day forth, the king’s madness reigned unchecked, growing worse with every passing year. The Darklyns had dared lay hands upon his person, shoving him roughly, stripping him of his royal raiment, even daring to strike him. After his release, King Aerys would no longer allow himself to be touched, even by his own servants. Uncut and unwashed, his hair grew ever longer and more tangled, whilst his fingernails lengthened and thickened into grotesque yellow talons."
That picture of him with the fingernails still haunts me. He started off as some Bipolar I MOFO, but the rest of it was actually crazier. Someone like that would be relieved of his duties today based on mental health reasons. He was too paranoid, and very destructive. Should have just stepped aside and made Rhaegar king. But I guess that rivalry with Tywin would have just given Tywin the win.
10:22 heavily implied Dunk saves a pregnant Rhaella from the fire, who immediately then gives birth to Rhaegar, who we know is basically how the Targaryen lineage ends up surviving
For some additional pain I recommend listening to the song “Jenny of Oldstones” by Florence + The Machine. It was made for the show but fits canon for what was sung in the books as we’re told that was one of Rhaegars favorites.
@Bookborn yup! It’s the first thing I think of when I think of Summerhall. It’s been a minute but as I recall the Ghost of High Heart is theorized to be a friend of Jenny of oldstones. That’s why she asked Lem to sing Jenny’s song, she’s one of those who probably knew what really happened IMO.
Remember when podrick sang the song in season 8? In my head canon, that is how Rhaegar's sound would like when he sang the song at the ruin of Summerhall, with his finger playing harp... 🥲
Love your shout on Baelor, one of my favorite Targaryens as well because he’s so fascinating for a lot of the reasons you said. Like I think many of the things he does are, even if not as explicitly as like hatching dragons or greensight, overtly magical and meant to be interpreted that way, but also because he is so devout you’re forced to question whether or not HE is magical or he is actually just blessed by the Gods. George, shockingly, does a great job at writing ambiguously. Also absolutely LOVE the subversion on Targaryen Madness where arguably the most mad member of the entire family tree is the purest and holiest member of the lineage.
This book has the evidence for some of my favorite theories regarding past events of the ASOIAF universe (including Summerhall): - The Doom of Valyria being caused by the Faceless Men, who took advantage of the strife between the Valyrian Families to unalive many of the Fire Mages who kept the Forteen Flames in check (this comes from the conversation that the Kindly Man has with Arya in book 4, where he states that the Faceless Man eventually unalived the Valyrian slave masters + the information on the Valyria section of this book) - The Origin of Dragons (this have one or two infos from the second half of World of Ice and Fire, but I don't think it's a major spoiler or anything of the sorts): Septon Barth, who is usually right, states in Fire and Blood that the Valyrians practice mysteries better left alone. The World of Ice and Fire mentions that the Valyrians used magic to create chimeras (which are combination of two or more animais into one) and Barth's book on Dragons is called "Dragons, Wyrms, and Wyverns: Their Unnatural History". Firewyrms are mentioned by the Kindly Man in book 4 as being kin to dragons, wyrms that breath fire and lived on the Forteen Flames and could grow to giant sizes. Wyverns live in Sothoryos and are identical to dragons, but they are smaller and can't breath fire (Barth also mentions in his book that Valyrians used Wyvern stock to creat Dragons). The theory says that the Valyrian Blood Mages (Martin mentioned in a video that, together with the Dragon Lords, they were the two main "groups" on the Valyrian Freehold) used blood magic to interbreed Wyverns and Wyrms to creat Dragons, and then used blood magic again to "splice" the Dragon "DNA" into some of the Valyrians, who then became the Dragon Lords, so that the Dragons would see them as "kin" and not "food". That would explain why some of the Targaryen children were borne with dragon features (like Dany's kid and Maegor's children) (I think that Race for the Iron Throne was the one that first came up with this theory, but I'm not 100% sure). - What happened in Summerhall: the author of this theory was the late great Steven Attewell from the Race for the Iron Throne blog. His idea is that Egg would become gradually frustrated and desperate with his failed atempts to bring social justice to Westeros, believing he could only do it if he had dragons. Eventually, he would dream of Dany awakening the Dragons, but would misinterpret it, believing Dany to be himself. He would then try to awaken the Dragon eggs with wildfire in Summerhall, but since only unlife can pay for life, he would try to sacrifice the soon-to-be-born baby Rhaegar, mirroring Stannis when he thought to sacrifice Edric Storm to save Westeros from the Long Night. One life for many. But Duncan, as Davos did, would be against it and would save Rhaella and the unborn Rhaegar, taking them away from the fires of Summerhall, but coming back to save Egg, unaliving with him. Very tragic, but very Martin.
When Tyrion and Bronn visit Wisdom Hallyne in the Alchemist's Guild, Hallyne claims that their acolytes prepare "the substance" in sealed rooms and that if the Wildfire ignites, sand drops from the ceiling to put it out, also smothering the acolyte. During the 2nd Dunk and Egg Novella, Duncan has a weird dream where he and Egg are crossing Dorne, and start drowning in quicksand. Aegon the Unlikely believes that the Dragons will return, which Duncan thinks might not be so great. There are hints that like the Maegi says "only death pays for life" and Aegon planned to use Wildfire and Human sacrifice to birth dragons. Specifically, he intended to use the new-born Rhaegar, King's blood having potency according to Melisandre. I think it possible Duncan defied Aegon and chose not to permit the sacrifice of Rhaegar, saving his life but causing it to burn down. This would certainly tie into Jaime's "So many vows, they make you swear and swear, Obey the King, Defend the weak. etc." spiel about Knighthood.
Duncan’s dream of the Dornish sands smothering him and Egg makes me think that the Sand hatches that are built above wildfire cashes will be the death of our Good Knight and his king.
I think I liked seeing all of Aegon IV's mistresses. Lara Rogare is the first Lyseni we're introduced to in this context, but Shierra's mother is probably the most interesting because her daughter is all that.
BRILLIANT re 17:01. Yes, absolutely what makes this series so special. It isn't niche or demanding (cf. Malazan hahah), but treats its audience like intelligent audience who like immersive literature and can pick up on clues
dude i was literally just re-watching your fire and blood review last night and thinking about how i am excited for your world of ice and fire video, perfect timing
Fire & Blood was written during the reign of Joffrey/Tommen as well, if I remember correctly. And some fans have argued that Fire & Blood was actually also very editorialized and propagandist. During the Great Council of 101 for example, the writing makes Rhaenys' claim seem much weaker than it actually is (saying how people argued for her son's and even her daughter's claim and only mentioning in passing that she had a claim herself (which arguably was the right one)). Many fans also speculate generally that a lot of propaganda might be hidding around the dance of dragons there because we have Marwyn claiming in the main series that the Maesters killed the dragons and since the dragons died during the dance of dragons, he seems to be implying that they caused or worsened the dance of dragons. Preston Jacobs (who you have talked with before) has put forth a lot of arguments in these directions too. tl;dr: Fire & Blood is likely written as editorialized propaganda as well.
Ok, I'd actually heard the Maester theory before but I hadn't connected it when I read Fire and Blood. That's super interesting. I guess whenever I reread fire and blood I need to look more for the propaganda! It was clearly less obvious in that one for me than this one
I absolutely believe this. People get very fixated on JUST the dance sections with the multiple conflicting accounts but I've always been suspicious of the citadel and firmly believe that the ENTIRE book is propaganda. I mean, why give F&B a fictional author if we aren't meant to understand that Gyldayne is inserting his own bias??
You are taking Marwyn at his word, which I think is unwise. He implies the establishment at the Citadel is out to get him, but he is the establishment! He's one of only seven archmaesters and was given a mask and rod of Valyrian steel to signify this post. The maesters are so against magic that they have "archmaester of magic" as a permanent office and gave that office to Marwyn. Also, do keep in mind that the only people who talk about Marwyn are themselves sketchy weirdos who cannot be trusted like Mirri Maz Durr and Qyburn.
@@WatashiMachineFullCycle I think the most overlooked section when people talk about propaganda in F&B is Aegon's Conquest. To me it comes across as mostly more myth than fact; like America idolizing George Washington the founder and forgetting George Washington the slave owner.
Regarding the pictures of the mothers of the great bastards, they are drawn in the order they are to place the mothers of Bloodraven and Bittersteel in positions of prominence because those were the two children of greatest significance, being on opposing sides in the Blackfyre rebellions, and they are drawn in two separate locations on the page because of the ancient and ongoing rivalry between their houses. Serenei of Lys is also next to Missy because her kid, Shiera Seastar loved Bloodraven. I think it makes more sense to order them in terms of historical significance rather than in the order in which Aegon chronologically started sleeping with them. That’s also why the women he had no kids with are near the back (Bellegere is implied to have so many lovers the parentage of her kids is doubted) Good vid
I understand that it makes sense from a history book perspective now that you say it - which is the point of the book - but as a reader it annoyed me 🤣🤣🤣
Also on Unicorns - check this out from a Jon chapter in ADWD when he is dreaming as Ghost: "Snow," the moon murmured. The wolf made no answer. Snow crunched beneath his paws. The wind sighed through the trees. Far off, he could hear his packmates calling to him, like to like. They were hunting too. A wild rain lashed down upon his black brother as he tore at the flesh of an enormous goat, washing the blood from his side where the goat's long horn had raked him. Shaggydog hunting Skagos Goat-Unicorns confirmed.
As someone who has watched all of your Asoiaf-related videos more than once, I am happy to take literally anything you have to say about it. Much like the books themselves, when I search for videos like yours regarding these books, nothing even comes close. I watched so many videos about the show, reactions to the show, theories about the show and books; but your videos truly reignited my love for the books themselves, and I will take literally any video, the longer the better, that you have to give us.
I really like that this book is written by a fictional author in the world rather than an omniscient observer, because the author is now bound by his own knowledge and the political landscape. You've already noticed his propaganda about Robert's Rebellion, but his stories also get crazier and crazier the further away they are in time and place from Westeros :D The video about religion would be pretty awesome too :D I really love how ambiguous religion is in ASOIAF, I haven't seen that in any other fantasy series.
I also really feel that the way he plays with religion is different than any fantasy series. I think I've read series with ambiguous religions, but they never felt quite as real as the way George writes it
@treymoss6511 That would definitely be a fun video. I think we've seen each other before, so I wanna say good to see you, but i'm not sure . Good to see you anyway if not😄
For what happened in Summerhall, I like the theory that Aegon dreamed a future vision of Dany hatching her eggs and tried (+failed) to replicate the sacrifice.
I highly recommend watching the "Alt Shift X" video on the tragedy of Summerhall. It explains and explores all the theories and conspiracy around it. Love your videos bookborn and anything asoiaf related keep up the great work.
felt this title sentiment in my bones. helps that grrm keeps making relatively bare bones characters still very interesting, especially through biased lenses. think the larger perception towards magic in the series is interesting, most remarking it as chaotic to tamper with or foolish to believe in it, and this could be due to several factors. also i believe the biggest fan theory is that egg tried to bring back dragons, his rule was reaaaally hampered by the rebellions and probably had a hard time balancing constant war time with his heavy common people campaign focus - so he might have felt he had to lean into the chaos of belief because his hands were tied? either way deeply tragic to think about
Yeah, I think it's clear he was trying to bring back dragons, I'm more curious on how...seems some people suggest he might've resorted to human sacrifice which would make me a sad girl lmao
@@Bookborni personally don’t see him using his family as sacrifices but he may have been extremely reckless in his frustrations at that point that he uses their blood(not necessarily kill but “only death pays for life” so who knows) or a lot of wildfire that got out of control.
same 😔 like how you were talking about wondering the ways in which baelor came to be as influenced in faith as he was, i'm VERY curious if we'll ever see the specific journey it took for egg to get where he did, i'm not entirely convinced it was his idea altogether but who knows! people change 😢@@Bookborn
When its threatened that Dunc may lose I think a foot (?) in the Hedge Knight after kicking Aerion, there's frequent comments that maybe he will need that foot to do some great deed in the future to justify it being saved over the life of a king. I wonder if he somehow saved some life, perhaps Rhaella before she gave birth to Rhaegar (and allowing future birth of Dany), by kicking down a door or something.
Dear Bookborn, I wouldn't have ever thought about propaganda while reading TWOIAF. It's interesting that the unbiasedness goes only as far as others are concerned but never in regard to current rulers. And I liked to see the version in English of the book, cause I read in my first language, Portuguese. Super great video!
I’ve had this book for at least four years and still haven’t read through all of it. I especially love the stuff about sothoryos because it makes the world feel so much more alive, and it’s pretty cool to think about the characters I love existing in a world where something so crazy exists. I’m actually using the basilisk isles as inspiration for my current d&d game’s setting. Also I believe unicorns actually do exist on Skagos but they’re more goat-like than horse-like. Kevin Catalan does an amazing rendition of what one might look like. In fact Catalan does a bunch of awesome creature designs for asoiaf.
Even if you dont want to watch the show (which is fair!), some of their casting was impeccable. One of which is Charles Dance as Tywin!! Just look up pictures of go from the show, and you get the full Tywin vibe 😂
@@jessicanowe There's something perfectly cat-like about Charles Dance as Tywin. Like you really look at him and think "yeah, this guy is a lion for sure"
Yeah, Reyne-Tarbeck Rebellion is quite the interesting event, and most importantly very much a character establishing moment for Tywin, which shaped his children to become the way they are in the main series.
I'd definitely enjoy seeing a video about the regions. My favorite part of the book is reading about the Boltons. They're just so evil that I can't help but love them
The common Summerhall theory I have heard is that Egg or another Targ was having visions of Daenerys re-hatching the dragons using a very specific recipe: king + baby prince + witch burned alive. The Ghost of High Heart, King Aegon V, and the newborn Prince Rhaegar were all present and everyone died in a tragic fire. It is suspected that Egg was attempting to use himself, the Ghost of High Heart, and baby Rhaegar as a blood sacrifice to bring dragons back mirroring what Daenerys eventually does with Drogo, Rhaego, and Mirri Mazz Durr. I don't know what is more tragic, Dunk stopping the ritual to save Rhaegar but dying in the process or the ritual being completed but no dragons actually hatching.
@@Flammewar Her birthing Rhaegar outside Summerhall immediately after is fact, we just have those little snippets from World of Ice and Fire about the bravery of Dunc to suppose the rest.
I absolutely love this book, and often go back to it for reference. And the way it's set up is clever, because it moves West to East, leaving some of the most important chapters (Yi Ti, Asshai) until the very end. George hopes that by then the readers are a bit numb and miss some of the clues in those chapters. Very much looking forward to the second video.
i believe a lot of the artwork depicted in the book are actually fan art that predates the book's existence. george has stated in a few interviews that he generally avoided reading fan theories so it doesn't affect his narrative, but that he is a fan of fantasy art. i actually recognize some of the fan art showcased in the book way back when GoT was still airing and the fandom was blazing hot then
I quite enjoyed this video, and would love to hear your thoughts about the rest of it! One thing I'd also love, further down the line probably, would be a video where we get to hear some of your favourite theories, or what ideas/theories you might have come to form yourself. Or even talking about some popular theories you just don't see being true based on your understanding of characters, themes, etc. This book series is so rich, so ripe for theory-crafting, and with all the time people have had, it has come to be such a big part of the fandom. If you think that would be fun, I'd love to see something like that ❤
Great video... 1) Baelor probably got this way because of absentee parents, Aegon 3rd was very detached. He might have gotten attached to some septon who raised them as his surrogate mother. 2) Duncan probably saved Rhaella Targaryen. She was in her late pregnancy and gave birth to Rhaegar just outside Summerhall as it was burning. There's a theory that the ritual involved sacrificing the unborn child to awaken the dragons, and Duncan didn't just save them from the fire but tried to stop the ritual from taking place which might have somehow started the fire. 3) Regarding Tywin and Aerys, I think it's the other way round, Aerys was jelous that people thought Tywin was really ruling the kingdom and he was a good for nothing puppet king....we also have Sir llyn Payne captain of Tywin's guard who had his tongue cut off when Aerys found out that he had said something like that. 4) I really like the art of young Tywin and his father Tytos....the artist shows their contrasting personality through just their facial features really well.
There’s a really good theory I read years ago that Dunk’s foot will play a big part in his Summerhall heroics. It’s been a while since I’ve read it, but I remember that Dunk thinks about his foot a lot through the novellas and weighs it against the life of a prince (or something to that effect). And considering Rhaegar was born at Summerhall that night (under a red comet), I wouldn’t be surprised if he saved Aerys/Rhaella. And if you believe Jon is TPTWP, then that makes it even more important.
@Bookborn It's also very likely a reference to the Puddleglum's foot scene in the Narnia book from 1953, 'The Silver Chair'. One of the characters in that book is called Eustace, the same as a lord in the second Dunk novella. In the comic adaptation of the Hedge Knight (only in the comic) a speech bubble mentions a mythical 'Prince Rilian', who is also from The Silver Chair. And the tragedy happening at a place called 'Summerhall' is an obscure reference to 'Summerhill', which was a post-war modern co-ed school that C.S. Lewis disliked and based the school in Silver Chair on. For reasoning why Martin would use that scene as an inspiration... it's a very defiant "I will live my life as if magic exists even though it probably doesn't!" moment.
The VtM core rulebook will probably be my coffee table book for the next 2 years, I got it recently and was astounded by its size & beauty in comparison to the more expensive D&D 5e books.
Considering what you said about sometimes struggling to imagine large spaces it could definitely be interesting to see how your mental image of certain locations compares to how they are depicted in F&B in a Part 2 of this video.
Egg, or King Aegon V, was trying to bring dragons back at Summerhall. He was a well-intentioned king, but many lords resented him for his time wandering the realm as a commoner with Ser Duncan the Tall. He believed that dragons were the key to making lasting changes for the good of the realm. However, his efforts did not go as planned. The tragedy at Summerhall consumed him and many others in flames, but at that very time, Egg’s granddaughter, Princess Rhaella, was pregnant with Prince Rhaegar. Rhaegar was born amidst the fire and chaos, and it’s likely that Ser Duncan, or others present, saved both Rhaegar and his mother from the inferno.
"And what answer does your tree give you?" "None that I can hear. But the old man, Ser Arlan, every day at evenfall he'd say, 'I wonder what the morrow will bring.' He never knew, no more than we do. Well, mighten it be that some morrow will come when I'll have need of that foot? When the realm will need that foot, even more than a prince's life?" - Prince Maekar and Duncan the Hedge Knight, fifty years before the death of King Aegon and the near extinction of House Targaryen.
Concerning Baelor, Obryn Martell does mention in the books that he got bit by the poisonous snakes so many times that the venom drove him mad, and we don't have much discussion of Baelor prior to that event
21:11 that’s because Charles Dance is Tywin. 21:56 without spoiling if it’s somehow magically in Dance. Do you think that Asshai will be in the next book? I feel as if it’s been too widely talked about in the text to not be a place we go to. I suppose Volantis, the Tyrosh, and Lys are talked about a bunch, but there seems to be a different quality in the mentions of Asshai that make it seem foreshadowy to me.
i love lore and world building. the second half has i in spades. the world is far bigger than youd imagine it is, and has a lot of interesting details. i feel like any fan of the series is definitely missing something by not reading it, even if its relevance to the main story is minimal
Have you noticed that Winterfell, Braavos, Qarth and Asshai are all on the same line direction when drawn together? (Edit--sorry that was the big map in 2012.) Also when you see the chapter pages of each Westeros region, you can see a diagram of a worm trying to get to a black hole or stone but vines appear to block it. (And the vines do not always succeed...) There are lots of theories this relates to both the weirwood net and firewyrm tunnels.
I'm deeply curious about what happened at Summerhall! It could be so many things, likely an attempt to wake dragons with wildfire that went out of control, with Duncan likely saving the pregnant Rhaelle, who gave birth to Rhaegar as Summerhall burned. By saving Rhaelle and Rhaegar, Duncan certainly changed the course of history! A more disturbing theory is that the attempt to wake dragons involved human sacrifice. That perhaps when many Targaryens dreamed of dragons, they foresaw Daenerys' rebirth of dragons. Perhaps Egg, or Egg's prophetic brother Daeron, dreamt of a great pyre with a king (or khal), a babe, and a princess, perhaps even a woodswitch (or Maegi); and dragons returning to the world. Who knows how a vision of Daenerys might have appeared to them through the symbolism of dreams, and what interpretations might be drawn from it. Could Egg have intended to be that king, to burn on the pyre to bring dragons back? Could he have intended for Rhaelle to go into the pyre, to burn Jenny's woodwitch? It's all disturbing ideas, but not without some appeal. I think it's Joe Magician who did an excellent video on this theory. I'm curious, did you connect the Ghost of High Heart to Jenny's woodswitch? And how Rhaegar went to Summerhall, how the played music, how the Ghost asks for her Jenny's song. It breaks my heart that the Ghost might have haunted the ruins of Summerhall before High Heart, and how Rhaegar could have even written her a song about her Jenny 💔
i love that the in-world history books of asoiaf show this very clear bias on the part of the maesters and septons and makes you wonder if the intention is to gain favor from the current king or if they genuinely believed the narrative they wrote down edit: this totally reminds me of "the prince" by machiavelli. he wrote it himself how it is definitely a power move to try and gain favor from the current ruler, and machiavelli historians even suggest that he wrote the book to actually make himself look good in the eyes of the new political power at the time because the book added to the narrative that the new guy is this genius political player
Ok since you now know much of the history I really hope you watch Preston Jacobs video series, "Daenerys and the page of lies," to get a deep dive into Lemongate, because of how a lot of stuff doesn't add up in Danny's past. Jon and Danny mirror each ithers journeys, so both their past having some mystery/them not being who they think they are. (Jon has struggled with thinking he's the bastard of winterfell when he might actually be a legitimate Targeryan prince if Rhaegar and Lyanna got married secretly on the Isle of Faces which we know they likely were at because of a recent 2024 ASOIAF CALENDAR of all things that shows them together!) Maybe Danny isn't the Targeryan princess she stakes so much of her personality on?
Regarding Baelor the Blessed, I think how he is could have a lot to do with growing up in the shadow of the Dance. His father, Aegon "The Unlucky/The Broken King", was deeply traumatized by living through the Dance, he even seems to have self-harmed by wearing a hairshirt. I think rather than seeing the Targaryen dynasty through the lense of glory and triumph as many had before, Balor looked at it with shame. And that shame had to be dealt with somehow, and for him that was through religion, which plays a lot on shame (at least the Catholicism-inspired Faith of the Seven does). I think his older brother Daeron sought to restore the glory, rewrite the narrative through glorious military conquest, proving their worth without dragons. Baelor, instead, sought religion and piety, tried to atone for the sins of his dynasty, perhaps coming to think that their downfall came from their ungodly acts. But ultimately, I think it came from growing up feeling ashamed by the tragedy that shaped the generation before, and needing a way to act on that shame.
@@Bookbornoh no don’t worry, team black is by far more popular with the show fans. I think they’re referring to the fact that the show is a pretty morally black and white portrayal of the Dance, where the blacks are the clear good guys and the greens are the clear bad guys. Fans (especially on twitter) can get pretty rabid about it, to put it lightly lol
@@Bookbornyou can support team black but it doesn’t change the fact that Aegon II was true legitimate king and Rhaynera remembered only as pretender. Stannis said it to Shireen. Plus Aegon was a real badass who survived dragon’s fire(long before Daenerys) and his connection with his dragon Sunfyre(most beautiful and most loyal dragon ever)was amazing
The real question is: Does Dunc come clean about not being knighted before the kings guard appointment? And let Egg knight him? I feel like the Dunc we know right now would, 100%
I remember finding the North and Starks part of the history exciting, but there was not that much info. I wish there was more development in that area, like Fire and Blood for the Starks.
Yeah, I actually really enjoy the pre-conquest stuff on Westeros in this book. Probably my favourite part over the Targaryen Kings or the far off lands.
I think Tyrion & Oberyn make mention that Baelor went a little nutty after the trek to Dorne - his brush with death after being bitten by the vipers repeatedly very likely tipped him over the edge... but when it comes to Targs and madness I always always always point the finger at dragon dreams. If Baelor was a dreamer that dovetails so nicely with the way religious extremists are about holy visions. All it would take after that is one little extra push to go right over the edge. And the fastings and sleep deprivation? I can tell you first hand that will make you hallucinate after a couple of days.
18:40 Yes, Unicorn in Skagos! Remember when you said in book 5 review that you were wondering where Davos would find Rickon as Lord Manderly asked him to do as a payment for his loyalty to Stannis? Well, Skagos is the answer ''cause that island is full of people who eat human's flesh for breakfast. And there are some funny theories out there that in book 6 Rickon would appear in Skagos riding a Unicorn 🤣🤣🤣
@@rafaelblake7278 I very badly want Rickon to be the most wolfish Stark out there. Like full on Princess Mononoke wild child on Skagos. I think it would be fun
I am pretty sure that in the books we get a dream vision from one of the Starks (not sure if it was Bran, Arya or Jon) that sees "their brother" (Shaggydog) hunt a "big goat" (unicorn).
Watching Preston Jacobs blackpill you on the deep lore was one of the most fun streams you ever did, can't wait for a livestream collab with other asoiaf yt theorists like Glidus or David Lightbringer or Grey Waste Tim or Quinn the GM or Micheal Talks About Stuff or Joe magician or anyone who can further advance your indoctrination into the endless well of asoiaf theories
Lightbringer would be great! I think Bookborn would enjoy some of the symbolism he can point out, as well as the language foreshadowing and worldbuilding.
@@madgodprince Lightbringer would be awesome for symbolism stuff, but I'm also becoming very fond of Michael - his theory on the wall is my new obsession
I liked your casual take here. I think there's merit to both casual and scripted content. So I don't think one is necessarily better than the other. In fact, they can often compliment each other.
![เป็นไปได้ไหม - WanMai [Performance Video]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/Eh5hItD4Mr0/mqdefault.jpg)
Summerhall never happened, Dunk & Egg died of age ☺️
Ok SO TRUE
@@Bookborn ser duncan the tall saved Queen Rhaella from the fires who give birth to prince rhaegar that very night, and so a dragon was born at summerhall
prince rhaegar targaryen born from smoke and salt, smoke from the fires salt from the tears of those who survived the tragedy of summerhall, the place prince rhaegar loved the most, so have been jon snow and daenarys have salt and smoke in their stories, the dragon has three heads house of undying fire and blood baby
What is Dunk may never die
Bookborn's refusal to read ASOIAF to becoming a diehard fan is now my favourite character arc... sorry Jaime Lannister
agree
Right... I love seeing all her reviews
Haha, i was thinking the same thing. I think there are quite a few people who would/will fall in this category once they finally decide to read it. It's amazing.
She’s almost as pretty as the Kingslayer
I've never been more proud of a collection of people than this group when no one corrected her about not seeing Jamie chapters again after Feast. We all just collectively decided it would be better to watch her be surprised.
The “historians sucking up to current rulers” story detail is why George is the GOAT. Storytelling not just in books but in books about books and in the metanarrative of those book-books
He really thinks of so many little things like that, which is great. Him adding (like a gardener as he puts it) can also go too far, like with how he's set up so many plot points that he is and will continue to (after Winds) have trouble giving every single one a resolution.
It's truly impressive, and it's why the world of ASOIAF feels so rich. I think it's also why series like that only come around so rarely. There are many fantasy books I like and enjoy, but to truly get a world that feels ALIVE is a difficult task.
It's also why many of the creative liberties taken from page to screen for House of the Dragon in the details of what is shown as actually having happened in the tv series versus how things were said to have happened in the book, in my opinion, actually work a lot more than many die-hard book loyalists like to admit. (But perhaps that's just me.)
When George RR Martin talks about what inspired him to write Fire & Blood as a history book he mentions that he was writing an unpublished book about a journalist that worked in the Pulitzer Building (New York World Building). A building that was said to tower over the competition "The new york sun" journal and people joked how Pulitzer could spit down the sun. This building also was considered the tallest skycrapers in the whole city upon completion and then it was demolished in 1955-56.
So when George started digging (in a time without the internet) about the details of the building, he found many sources and some even with contradictions for a simple thing as how many stories the building had. This building existed 70 years ago and he couldnt even get a proper source of such an obvious detail, now imagine that but from historians writing hundreds of years after the facts and you can understand why history ends up being a frustrating mess of contradictions, false facts and hearsay with a pinch of personal bias from the historian. He also gives an example about the inspiration for the red wedding, the black dinner of scotland and how its detail and theatric presentation was probably embelished after the facts.
Thank you, this is super great context! I think most fantasy authors take inspiration from real history, but I love how George takes inspiration not just from actual events but how they were actually presented and written. It's such a good detail.
As much as I absolutely need Blood & Fire, if it comes out before Winds the main series is completely doomed
At this point is any book better than no book?? 🥲🥲
I think that's the holdup. George is effectively writing three intertwined novels. Blood and fire, dunk and egg, and winds. All the rhaegar mysteries, Summerhall, blood raven mysteries, they all have to come out into a cohesive narrative that Also leads well into dream of spring.
I feel like I’m the only person who enjoyed reading the reigns of the Targs in fire and blood a little more than the actual series 😂
Quinn!!!! Love to see you here
OMG Bookborn finally replied to one of Quinn's comments (I don't remember seeing her reply to them in the previous ASOIAF book reviews)!
Collab stream chatting about ASOIAF for an hour or so soon?.. Please?
I love your fresh set of eyes. Dunk Saved Rhaela and by instance Rhaegar, Jon, and that bloodline. He likely kicked a door on to get them out " how could my foot be worth a prince's life?"
Stop 😭😭
@@Bookborn I absolutely love your channel, I'm so happy you crossed to the dark side 🥰
You beat me to this comment. I don't know who to credit for coming up with the theory, but it's fully headcanon for me that Dunc saves Rhaella (and thus Rhaegar) using his foot somehow.
I think it’s be crazy if it was not that. All the hints are there, and in something as quick and simple as the Hedge Knight, George can’t burry the lead as much with 20 alternatives
Your point about Catelyn - it also highlights women's roles in Westoros (society) in keeping alive the narratives/stories. Like, Sansa's love of songs and stories is shown as a childlike thing, but how many times does Arya think "Sansa would have known this"? Catelyn knows the histories and stories and consequences, and it makes her a savvy political consigliere
Love everything about this statement. YES 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
OMG
Women in Westeros are the real historians, not Maestres
@@AmantducafeOld Nan is the most importantly historian out there!
This is an amazing observation.
"I feel like I won't have a lot to say about the second part"
*Laughs in black stone*
Oily
@@mirayoquese8608 I haven't stopped thinking about Asshai, the base of the hightower or Yeen since reading it
Like in my head rent free, What's going on George
@@Amantducafe There are two types, oily and not-oily/dry.
@@WatashiMachineFullCycle that and the (SPOILERS)
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Azor Ahai similarities between cultures was the most ground breaking lore aspect of the book, for sure.
@@gokbay3057 What did George mean by this?
There is a theory that Ser Duncan saved a pregnant Rhaella Targaryen from the wildfyre and she was so shocked she went into labor and gave birth to Prince Rhaegar on the outskirts of Summerhall as the building burned.
Born amidst salt and smoke (tears and flame)
Isn't that was canon? I thought that was written at some point, though maybe I'm getting that mixed up with theories.
apparently WITH HIS FOOT!
My theory without much evidence: Dunk and Egg has been largely focused on the contradictions of being honorable. And of course GRRM’s motto that the only thing worth writing is the heart in conflict with itself.
Egg (or someone close) sees a vision of Dany bringing forth dragons from going into the fire. He believes it’s Rhaella and so sets up her to go into the flames. Dunk must choose between loyalty to his king and friend and saving an innocent girl. He kicks aside the pyre, spreading the wildfire and getting everyone else killed. Including Dunk as he returns to try and save his friend.
Aside from Dunk's role, that's all confirmed. There's even a painting in this book that shows Summerhall burning and Rhaella labouring in the foreground.
It's commonly thought that Summerhall was a plot by King Aegon V to hatch dragons via human sacrifice because there is power in 'king's blood' (remember how Melisandre wanted to burn Mance and then his son for the same magical reasoning). Aegon's pro-commoner reforms were resisted heavily by nobles, and he was always struggling with rebellions, so he might have thought that if Targaryens had dragons again, his position would be strong enough to enact the laws he wanted to. So Aegon threw this party to celebrate Rhaella's pregnancy with Rhaegar to gather the royal family in order to burn one or more of them alive. Dunk, as just a good bloke, would have resisted the plans, and he would have tried to save everyone. It's hinted that he died saving Rhaella from the flames, who then gave birth to Rhaegar and then tada the rest is history. There is a really good Alt Shift X video on this.
It's a great theory, and if true he's a nutter for being willing to kill royals in his family to get that. His line of thinking there believing the ends justify the ends, and things like his pro-commoner reforms make him morally grey, which as we know is the type of character George likes the most.
I know the common belief is that Egg wants dragons due to his conflict with the Nobles re his reforms. However I wonder, based on HotD if he wanted Dragons due to the prophecy?
@@chrisph9910 Yeah maybe. I heard a theory somewhere that Dany's dragon hatching event was such an important magical effect that it sent psychic ripples through time, which led to other Targaryens (Aerion, Aerys II, and maybe in this case, Aegon V) getting fire happy as they got dragon dreams of something involving fire/human sacrifice/dragons hatching and interpreted the dreams to be about themselves. I quite like this idea.
Oh man, not Egg wanting human sacrifice tho, I don't like that 😭
I don't think Melisandre ever expresses a desire to burn Mance and his baby. That seems to be just Jon's speculation, and considering Mel saved Mance from burning...
Now, Edric Storm is a different story. I think that is a better example of Melisandre wanting to sacrifice for king's blood.
Yeah as someone who didn’t hate Cat and thought she was fine, learning more about the blackfyre rebellion makes her fears over Jon WAY more reasonable - even though we know Jon’s not that kind of person.
Yeah, as Cat is someone obsessed with legacy/her children/has a hate-problem with Jon, the added narrative she'd tell herself about the blackfyre rebellion just makes soooo much sense.
@@Bookborn i don't know if you guys will agree, but i also think cat saw so much 'starkness' in jon which she couldn't see in her own children, most of them turned out to have more tully characteristics, that it nagged at her as well. just one more thing to pile upon her worries.
@@SirGeeSantos I feel like that's stated right out in the books! He looks like a stark in the way many of her children didn't, doesn't she say that in the first book or am I misremembering
@@Bookborn No you are remembering things correctly. :)
@@Bookborn The most Starkish of Cat's children is Arya, who is said to resemble Lyanna
"Excellent video. I laughed, I cried, I killed a Stark." - King Joffrey Baratheon, First of His Name.
it's still too soon Brian
@@Bookborn lmao. I'll make a donation today in his honor to Direwolf Preservation.
Summerhall was a result of Egg kind of slowly becoming obsessed with hatching dragons. One good theory I heard was that he might’ve used wildfire in their attempted hatching. There’s a dragon dream in the last novella where Dunk and Egg are swallowed by sand, and the pyromancers are known to rig sand to drop on wildfire if anything goes wrong since water doesn’t put it out. Another theory I saw was that Egg might’ve seen Daenerys on the pyre in a dream as he’s definitely a dreamer (there’s a bigger theory that many dragon dreams are related to that event because of how magically significant it was. Even Aerys said he wanted to light KL in a “funeral pyre” and “rise reborn as a dragon”). Many Targaryens possibly thought what Dany did was what they were destined to do or otherwise misinterpreted the dream. Daenerys lost all her hair in the pyre, coming out bald much like our beloved Egg. She had also recently given birth, and her mother Rhaella (who Dany very likely resembles) was pregnant with Rhaegar at Summerhall. Some fans think Egg might’ve planned to sacrifice his own family in a blood magic ritual, seeing who he could’ve assumed to be Rhaella on a pyre that resulted in dragons, and that maybe he and Dunk died when the pyromancers tried to snuff out the flames. It’s also heavily implied that Dunk saved Rhaella, so his great act is saving Dany’s mother, therefore allowing possibly the most important character to be born at all, which is a hell of a feat for Dunk The Lunk of Fleabottom
The world isn’t ready for the return of Davos and Rickon leading an army of Unicorn riding Skags into battle. Lest we forget the wolf dream where Ghost watches Shaggydog eating an enormous “goat” with a huge horn…
I like this more casual format :D
The locations and lore drops at the end of the book are very relevant to the endgame theories of the main series. So, you may well want to talk about it again. :D
Oooh ok 👀
yeah it gets pretty interesting towards the end with all the far off eastern cultures on the edges of the maesters' maps.
I remember reading just a few pages of this book each day, in between incoming phone calls at my call center job. it was a good time with that giant thing 😂 the art really is amazing!
I love GRRM's prose here describing Aerys after Duskendale.
"Captivity at Duskendale had shattered whatever sanity had remained to Aerys II Targaryen. From that day forth, the king’s madness reigned unchecked, growing worse with every passing year. The Darklyns had dared lay hands upon his person, shoving him roughly, stripping him of his royal raiment, even daring to strike him. After his release, King Aerys would no longer allow himself to be touched, even by his own servants. Uncut and unwashed, his hair grew ever longer and more tangled, whilst his fingernails lengthened and thickened into grotesque yellow talons."
Some sort of mental illness mixed with a heavy traumatic response. He could've been schizophrenic, suffered from psychosis, or something else.
That picture of him with the fingernails still haunts me.
He started off as some Bipolar I MOFO, but the rest of it was actually crazier.
Someone like that would be relieved of his duties today based on mental health reasons.
He was too paranoid, and very destructive. Should have just stepped aside and made Rhaegar king. But I guess that rivalry with Tywin would have just given Tywin the win.
10:22 heavily implied Dunk saves a pregnant Rhaella from the fire, who immediately then gives birth to Rhaegar, who we know is basically how the Targaryen lineage ends up surviving
For some additional pain I recommend listening to the song “Jenny of Oldstones” by Florence + The Machine. It was made for the show but fits canon for what was sung in the books as we’re told that was one of Rhaegars favorites.
FLORENCE MADE A SONG FOR ASOIAF?!! I love Florence.
@Bookborn yup! It’s the first thing I think of when I think of Summerhall. It’s been a minute but as I recall the Ghost of High Heart is theorized to be a friend of Jenny of oldstones. That’s why she asked Lem to sing Jenny’s song, she’s one of those who probably knew what really happened IMO.
@@Bookborn also check out The Nationals “Rains of Castomere” cover if you haven’t yet either
Remember when podrick sang the song in season 8? In my head canon, that is how Rhaegar's sound would like when he sang the song at the ruin of Summerhall, with his finger playing harp... 🥲
I'm back after listening. HAUNTING.
Love your shout on Baelor, one of my favorite Targaryens as well because he’s so fascinating for a lot of the reasons you said.
Like I think many of the things he does are, even if not as explicitly as like hatching dragons or greensight, overtly magical and meant to be interpreted that way, but also because he is so devout you’re forced to question whether or not HE is magical or he is actually just blessed by the Gods. George, shockingly, does a great job at writing ambiguously. Also absolutely LOVE the subversion on Targaryen Madness where arguably the most mad member of the entire family tree is the purest and holiest member of the lineage.
YES, what a great way to describe it at the end- is he the maddest? or the most blessed? I just want MORE INFO!
This book has the evidence for some of my favorite theories regarding past events of the ASOIAF universe (including Summerhall):
- The Doom of Valyria being caused by the Faceless Men, who took advantage of the strife between the Valyrian Families to unalive many of the Fire Mages who kept the Forteen Flames in check (this comes from the conversation that the Kindly Man has with Arya in book 4, where he states that the Faceless Man eventually unalived the Valyrian slave masters + the information on the Valyria section of this book)
- The Origin of Dragons (this have one or two infos from the second half of World of Ice and Fire, but I don't think it's a major spoiler or anything of the sorts): Septon Barth, who is usually right, states in Fire and Blood that the Valyrians practice mysteries better left alone. The World of Ice and Fire mentions that the Valyrians used magic to create chimeras (which are combination of two or more animais into one) and Barth's book on Dragons is called "Dragons, Wyrms, and Wyverns: Their Unnatural History". Firewyrms are mentioned by the Kindly Man in book 4 as being kin to dragons, wyrms that breath fire and lived on the Forteen Flames and could grow to giant sizes. Wyverns live in Sothoryos and are identical to dragons, but they are smaller and can't breath fire (Barth also mentions in his book that Valyrians used Wyvern stock to creat Dragons). The theory says that the Valyrian Blood Mages (Martin mentioned in a video that, together with the Dragon Lords, they were the two main "groups" on the Valyrian Freehold) used blood magic to interbreed Wyverns and Wyrms to creat Dragons, and then used blood magic again to "splice" the Dragon "DNA" into some of the Valyrians, who then became the Dragon Lords, so that the Dragons would see them as "kin" and not "food". That would explain why some of the Targaryen children were borne with dragon features (like Dany's kid and Maegor's children) (I think that Race for the Iron Throne was the one that first came up with this theory, but I'm not 100% sure).
- What happened in Summerhall: the author of this theory was the late great Steven Attewell from the Race for the Iron Throne blog. His idea is that Egg would become gradually frustrated and desperate with his failed atempts to bring social justice to Westeros, believing he could only do it if he had dragons. Eventually, he would dream of Dany awakening the Dragons, but would misinterpret it, believing Dany to be himself. He would then try to awaken the Dragon eggs with wildfire in Summerhall, but since only unlife can pay for life, he would try to sacrifice the soon-to-be-born baby Rhaegar, mirroring Stannis when he thought to sacrifice Edric Storm to save Westeros from the Long Night. One life for many. But Duncan, as Davos did, would be against it and would save Rhaella and the unborn Rhaegar, taking them away from the fires of Summerhall, but coming back to save Egg, unaliving with him. Very tragic, but very Martin.
When Tyrion and Bronn visit Wisdom Hallyne in the Alchemist's Guild, Hallyne claims that their acolytes prepare "the substance" in sealed rooms and that if the Wildfire ignites, sand drops from the ceiling to put it out, also smothering the acolyte. During the 2nd Dunk and Egg Novella, Duncan has a weird dream where he and Egg are crossing Dorne, and start drowning in quicksand.
Aegon the Unlikely believes that the Dragons will return, which Duncan thinks might not be so great. There are hints that like the Maegi says "only death pays for life" and Aegon planned to use Wildfire and Human sacrifice to birth dragons. Specifically, he intended to use the new-born Rhaegar, King's blood having potency according to Melisandre.
I think it possible Duncan defied Aegon and chose not to permit the sacrifice of Rhaegar, saving his life but causing it to burn down. This would certainly tie into Jaime's "So many vows, they make you swear and swear, Obey the King, Defend the weak. etc." spiel about Knighthood.
Duncan’s dream of the Dornish sands smothering him and Egg makes me think that the Sand hatches that are built above wildfire cashes will be the death of our Good Knight and his king.
oh shit!!!
Good to see another person mention this. I also think there will be smothering involved at Summerhall.
The LOVE that illustration of serene of Lys its probably the most detail depiction of a valyrian we've yet seen
I think I liked seeing all of Aegon IV's mistresses.
Lara Rogare is the first Lyseni we're introduced to in this context, but Shierra's mother is probably the most interesting because her daughter is all that.
Bookborn literally the one person keeping me in this fandom right now.
BRILLIANT re 17:01. Yes, absolutely what makes this series so special. It isn't niche or demanding (cf. Malazan hahah), but treats its audience like intelligent audience who like immersive literature and can pick up on clues
dude i was literally just re-watching your fire and blood review last night and thinking about how i am excited for your world of ice and fire video, perfect timing
Fire & Blood was written during the reign of Joffrey/Tommen as well, if I remember correctly.
And some fans have argued that Fire & Blood was actually also very editorialized and propagandist. During the Great Council of 101 for example, the writing makes Rhaenys' claim seem much weaker than it actually is (saying how people argued for her son's and even her daughter's claim and only mentioning in passing that she had a claim herself (which arguably was the right one)).
Many fans also speculate generally that a lot of propaganda might be hidding around the dance of dragons there because we have Marwyn claiming in the main series that the Maesters killed the dragons and since the dragons died during the dance of dragons, he seems to be implying that they caused or worsened the dance of dragons.
Preston Jacobs (who you have talked with before) has put forth a lot of arguments in these directions too.
tl;dr: Fire & Blood is likely written as editorialized propaganda as well.
Ok, I'd actually heard the Maester theory before but I hadn't connected it when I read Fire and Blood. That's super interesting. I guess whenever I reread fire and blood I need to look more for the propaganda! It was clearly less obvious in that one for me than this one
I absolutely believe this. People get very fixated on JUST the dance sections with the multiple conflicting accounts but I've always been suspicious of the citadel and firmly believe that the ENTIRE book is propaganda. I mean, why give F&B a fictional author if we aren't meant to understand that Gyldayne is inserting his own bias??
You are taking Marwyn at his word, which I think is unwise. He implies the establishment at the Citadel is out to get him, but he is the establishment! He's one of only seven archmaesters and was given a mask and rod of Valyrian steel to signify this post. The maesters are so against magic that they have "archmaester of magic" as a permanent office and gave that office to Marwyn.
Also, do keep in mind that the only people who talk about Marwyn are themselves sketchy weirdos who cannot be trusted like Mirri Maz Durr and Qyburn.
@@WatashiMachineFullCycle I think the most overlooked section when people talk about propaganda in F&B is Aegon's Conquest. To me it comes across as mostly more myth than fact; like America idolizing George Washington the founder and forgetting George Washington the slave owner.
@@hannahbun YES, ABSOLUTELY!! omg thank you, COMPLETELY agree
Regarding the pictures of the mothers of the great bastards, they are drawn in the order they are to place the mothers of Bloodraven and Bittersteel in positions of prominence because those were the two children of greatest significance, being on opposing sides in the Blackfyre rebellions, and they are drawn in two separate locations on the page because of the ancient and ongoing rivalry between their houses. Serenei of Lys is also next to Missy because her kid, Shiera Seastar loved Bloodraven.
I think it makes more sense to order them in terms of historical significance rather than in the order in which Aegon chronologically started sleeping with them. That’s also why the women he had no kids with are near the back (Bellegere is implied to have so many lovers the parentage of her kids is doubted)
Good vid
I understand that it makes sense from a history book perspective now that you say it - which is the point of the book - but as a reader it annoyed me 🤣🤣🤣
@ yeah it makes sense to be annoyed by it at first Lol
I was literally just rewatching your asoiaf videos this morning wishing there was more and now you uploaded this! Perfect timing
Also on Unicorns - check this out from a Jon chapter in ADWD when he is dreaming as Ghost:
"Snow," the moon murmured. The wolf made no answer. Snow crunched beneath his paws. The wind sighed through the trees.
Far off, he could hear his packmates calling to him, like to like. They were hunting too. A wild rain lashed down upon his black brother as he tore at the flesh of an enormous goat, washing the blood from his side where the goat's long horn had raked him.
Shaggydog hunting Skagos Goat-Unicorns confirmed.
As someone who has watched all of your Asoiaf-related videos more than once, I am happy to take literally anything you have to say about it. Much like the books themselves, when I search for videos like yours regarding these books, nothing even comes close.
I watched so many videos about the show, reactions to the show, theories about the show and books; but your videos truly reignited my love for the books themselves, and I will take literally any video, the longer the better, that you have to give us.
This is about the nicest possible comment I could ever have gotten, Thank you so much, it really brightened my day 😭
I really like that this book is written by a fictional author in the world rather than an omniscient observer, because the author is now bound by his own knowledge and the political landscape. You've already noticed his propaganda about Robert's Rebellion, but his stories also get crazier and crazier the further away they are in time and place from Westeros :D
The video about religion would be pretty awesome too :D I really love how ambiguous religion is in ASOIAF, I haven't seen that in any other fantasy series.
I also really feel that the way he plays with religion is different than any fantasy series. I think I've read series with ambiguous religions, but they never felt quite as real as the way George writes it
Always get excited when Bookborn makes a video about asoiaf
I hope you review the other half of the book. Learning about the more "crazier" locations beyond Westoros was the most interesting for me!
Can't wait for part 2 because that carries my hope for more Blackfyre stuff😄
I would've loved to hear her thoughts on you and the Golden Company
@treymoss6511 That would definitely be a fun video. I think we've seen each other before, so I wanna say good to see you, but i'm not sure . Good to see you anyway if not😄
We need that 2nd part! 🙏
another interesting propaganda is the fact that Tywin sacking King's Landing and having the babies killed is never mentioned in this book
Omg YES!! That is missing and I didn’t even realize…
"I don't think there's much more information on this, so I wonder if the fandom even has much to say."
oh, my sweet summer child...
yeah, that's on me. I should've realized lmao
For what happened in Summerhall, I like the theory that Aegon dreamed a future vision of Dany hatching her eggs and tried (+failed) to replicate the sacrifice.
Yes! So happy you mentioned sir barrriston
I love real history so much so that I studied it in college. That's why I'm so in love with fake history. It's so cool.
Yes please do a video on the locations!!!! I’m so excited!!! 😊
I like the casualness
I highly recommend watching the "Alt Shift X" video on the tragedy of Summerhall. It explains and explores all the theories and conspiracy around it. Love your videos bookborn and anything asoiaf related keep up the great work.
i recommend Alt Shift X’s youtube videos, specifically his summerhall video. it’s top tier bringing in most possible theories and exploring them
felt this title sentiment in my bones. helps that grrm keeps making relatively bare bones characters still very interesting, especially through biased lenses. think the larger perception towards magic in the series is interesting, most remarking it as chaotic to tamper with or foolish to believe in it, and this could be due to several factors. also i believe the biggest fan theory is that egg tried to bring back dragons, his rule was reaaaally hampered by the rebellions and probably had a hard time balancing constant war time with his heavy common people campaign focus - so he might have felt he had to lean into the chaos of belief because his hands were tied? either way deeply tragic to think about
Yeah, I think it's clear he was trying to bring back dragons, I'm more curious on how...seems some people suggest he might've resorted to human sacrifice which would make me a sad girl lmao
@@Bookborni personally don’t see him using his family as sacrifices but he may have been extremely reckless in his frustrations at that point that he uses their blood(not necessarily kill but “only death pays for life” so who knows) or a lot of wildfire that got out of control.
same 😔 like how you were talking about wondering the ways in which baelor came to be as influenced in faith as he was, i'm VERY curious if we'll ever see the specific journey it took for egg to get where he did, i'm not entirely convinced it was his idea altogether but who knows! people change 😢@@Bookborn
“If I have burning things to talk about “
Oh very good.
yes lets see a part 2 about the other section in world of ice and fire. great video. thank you
When its threatened that Dunc may lose I think a foot (?) in the Hedge Knight after kicking Aerion, there's frequent comments that maybe he will need that foot to do some great deed in the future to justify it being saved over the life of a king. I wonder if he somehow saved some life, perhaps Rhaella before she gave birth to Rhaegar (and allowing future birth of Dany), by kicking down a door or something.
This seems to be the prevailing theory I'm reading in my comments, and I loooove it
Love this format! Love how obsessed you are with asoiaf. I don’t feel alone with my obsession 🤣
Personaly, i loved this format. I'd really like if more videos were like this, i thought it really worked :P
Dear Bookborn, I wouldn't have ever thought about propaganda while reading TWOIAF. It's interesting that the unbiasedness goes only as far as others are concerned but never in regard to current rulers. And I liked to see the version in English of the book, cause I read in my first language, Portuguese. Super great video!
I’ve had this book for at least four years and still haven’t read through all of it. I especially love the stuff about sothoryos because it makes the world feel so much more alive, and it’s pretty cool to think about the characters I love existing in a world where something so crazy exists. I’m actually using the basilisk isles as inspiration for my current d&d game’s setting.
Also I believe unicorns actually do exist on Skagos but they’re more goat-like than horse-like. Kevin Catalan does an amazing rendition of what one might look like. In fact Catalan does a bunch of awesome creature designs for asoiaf.
Even if you dont want to watch the show (which is fair!), some of their casting was impeccable. One of which is Charles Dance as Tywin!! Just look up pictures of go from the show, and you get the full Tywin vibe 😂
Haha a friend has sent me a couple scenes to watch and one was the trial scene with Tyrion. He’s def way closer to what I pictured!
@@jessicanowe There's something perfectly cat-like about Charles Dance as Tywin. Like you really look at him and think "yeah, this guy is a lion for sure"
The Dunk & Egg books made me re-read this and a) i liked it a LOT more, and b) yeah I'm sold on the DunkFoot theory
Would love to hear about the location stuff specially the Westerlands when they go more into the Reyne-Tarbeck rebellion
Yeah, Reyne-Tarbeck Rebellion is quite the interesting event, and most importantly very much a character establishing moment for Tywin, which shaped his children to become the way they are in the main series.
I would absolutely love to hear more of your thoughts on all the lore and background histories. You have such insight
I'd definitely enjoy seeing a video about the regions. My favorite part of the book is reading about the Boltons. They're just so evil that I can't help but love them
The common Summerhall theory I have heard is that Egg or another Targ was having visions of Daenerys re-hatching the dragons using a very specific recipe: king + baby prince + witch burned alive. The Ghost of High Heart, King Aegon V, and the newborn Prince Rhaegar were all present and everyone died in a tragic fire. It is suspected that Egg was attempting to use himself, the Ghost of High Heart, and baby Rhaegar as a blood sacrifice to bring dragons back mirroring what Daenerys eventually does with Drogo, Rhaego, and Mirri Mazz Durr. I don't know what is more tragic, Dunk stopping the ritual to save Rhaegar but dying in the process or the ritual being completed but no dragons actually hatching.
i just finished book one of ASOIAF and i am now obsessed, i think i need to get the world of ice and fire book already
I bought it awhile back and have flipped through it a bit. It's such a great book that I don't want to mess it up by reading it 😂😂
@@bakedpotato7858 haha yes, it does look like a beautiful book
History doesnt repeat, but it rhymes
Duncan probably saved rhaella who then birthed rhaegar right outside the burning castle
Wait, isn’t that a fact or am I so long in the fandom that I just accepted it as a fact? xD
@@FlammewarOf course it's a fact, just like how Roose Bolton being a skinwalker vampire is a fact.
@@Flammewar Her birthing Rhaegar outside Summerhall immediately after is fact, we just have those little snippets from World of Ice and Fire about the bravery of Dunc to suppose the rest.
I absolutely love this book, and often go back to it for reference. And the way it's set up is clever, because it moves West to East, leaving some of the most important chapters (Yi Ti, Asshai) until the very end. George hopes that by then the readers are a bit numb and miss some of the clues in those chapters. Very much looking forward to the second video.
The way I NEEDED this video today, bless
i believe a lot of the artwork depicted in the book are actually fan art that predates the book's existence. george has stated in a few interviews that he generally avoided reading fan theories so it doesn't affect his narrative, but that he is a fan of fantasy art. i actually recognize some of the fan art showcased in the book way back when GoT was still airing and the fandom was blazing hot then
I quite enjoyed this video, and would love to hear your thoughts about the rest of it!
One thing I'd also love, further down the line probably, would be a video where we get to hear some of your favourite theories, or what ideas/theories you might have come to form yourself. Or even talking about some popular theories you just don't see being true based on your understanding of characters, themes, etc.
This book series is so rich, so ripe for theory-crafting, and with all the time people have had, it has come to be such a big part of the fandom. If you think that would be fun, I'd love to see something like that ❤
Great video...
1) Baelor probably got this way because of absentee parents, Aegon 3rd was very detached. He might have gotten attached to some septon who raised them as his surrogate mother.
2) Duncan probably saved Rhaella Targaryen. She was in her late pregnancy and gave birth to Rhaegar just outside Summerhall as it was burning. There's a theory that the ritual involved sacrificing the unborn child to awaken the dragons, and Duncan didn't just save them from the fire but tried to stop the ritual from taking place which might have somehow started the fire.
3) Regarding Tywin and Aerys, I think it's the other way round, Aerys was jelous that people thought Tywin was really ruling the kingdom and he was a good for nothing puppet king....we also have Sir llyn Payne captain of Tywin's guard who had his tongue cut off when Aerys found out that he had said something like that.
4) I really like the art of young Tywin and his father Tytos....the artist shows their contrasting personality through just their facial features really well.
There’s a really good theory I read years ago that Dunk’s foot will play a big part in his Summerhall heroics.
It’s been a while since I’ve read it, but I remember that Dunk thinks about his foot a lot through the novellas and weighs it against the life of a prince (or something to that effect).
And considering Rhaegar was born at Summerhall that night (under a red comet), I wouldn’t be surprised if he saved Aerys/Rhaella. And if you believe Jon is TPTWP, then that makes it even more important.
yes several people have mentioned the dunk/foot thing, I guess I need to go back and reread dunk and egg now too lol
@Bookborn It's also very likely a reference to the Puddleglum's foot scene in the Narnia book from 1953, 'The Silver Chair'. One of the characters in that book is called Eustace, the same as a lord in the second Dunk novella. In the comic adaptation of the Hedge Knight (only in the comic) a speech bubble mentions a mythical 'Prince Rilian', who is also from The Silver Chair. And the tragedy happening at a place called 'Summerhall' is an obscure reference to 'Summerhill', which was a post-war modern co-ed school that C.S. Lewis disliked and based the school in Silver Chair on.
For reasoning why Martin would use that scene as an inspiration... it's a very defiant "I will live my life as if magic exists even though it probably doesn't!" moment.
There's so much depth and so many connections that the re-read is an even better experience. Enjoy!
The VtM core rulebook will probably be my coffee table book for the next 2 years, I got it recently and was astounded by its size & beauty in comparison to the more expensive D&D 5e books.
One of Prestons absolute best theories is that Cat was the hair in Robb's will. Brilliant thinking.
I love this new kind of video!
@Bookborn What was your take on the Reynes of Castamere? That was one of my favorite parts. Made me like Tywin's character even more.
Considering what you said about sometimes struggling to imagine large spaces it could definitely be interesting to see how your mental image of certain locations compares to how they are depicted in F&B in a Part 2 of this video.
Egg, or King Aegon V, was trying to bring dragons back at Summerhall. He was a well-intentioned king, but many lords resented him for his time wandering the realm as a commoner with Ser Duncan the Tall. He believed that dragons were the key to making lasting changes for the good of the realm. However, his efforts did not go as planned. The tragedy at Summerhall consumed him and many others in flames, but at that very time, Egg’s granddaughter, Princess Rhaella, was pregnant with Prince Rhaegar. Rhaegar was born amidst the fire and chaos, and it’s likely that Ser Duncan, or others present, saved both Rhaegar and his mother from the inferno.
That’s just a theory… a Game theory
"And what answer does your tree give you?"
"None that I can hear. But the old man, Ser Arlan, every day at evenfall he'd say, 'I wonder what the morrow will bring.' He never knew, no more than we do. Well, mighten it be that some morrow will come when I'll have need of that foot? When the realm will need that foot, even more than a prince's life?"
- Prince Maekar and Duncan the Hedge Knight, fifty years before the death of King Aegon and the near extinction of House Targaryen.
Concerning Baelor, Obryn Martell does mention in the books that he got bit by the poisonous snakes so many times that the venom drove him mad, and we don't have much discussion of Baelor prior to that event
21:11 that’s because Charles Dance is Tywin.
21:56 without spoiling if it’s somehow magically in Dance. Do you think that Asshai will be in the next book? I feel as if it’s been too widely talked about in the text to not be a place we go to. I suppose Volantis, the Tyrosh, and Lys are talked about a bunch, but there seems to be a different quality in the mentions of Asshai that make it seem foreshadowy to me.
i love lore and world building. the second half has i in spades. the world is far bigger than youd imagine it is, and has a lot of interesting details. i feel like any fan of the series is definitely missing something by not reading it, even if its relevance to the main story is minimal
Have you noticed that Winterfell, Braavos, Qarth and Asshai are all on the same line direction when drawn together?
(Edit--sorry that was the big map in 2012.)
Also when you see the chapter pages of each Westeros region, you can see a diagram of a worm trying to get to a black hole or stone but vines appear to block it. (And the vines do not always succeed...) There are lots of theories this relates to both the weirwood net and firewyrm tunnels.
I'm deeply curious about what happened at Summerhall! It could be so many things, likely an attempt to wake dragons with wildfire that went out of control, with Duncan likely saving the pregnant Rhaelle, who gave birth to Rhaegar as Summerhall burned. By saving Rhaelle and Rhaegar, Duncan certainly changed the course of history!
A more disturbing theory is that the attempt to wake dragons involved human sacrifice. That perhaps when many Targaryens dreamed of dragons, they foresaw Daenerys' rebirth of dragons. Perhaps Egg, or Egg's prophetic brother Daeron, dreamt of a great pyre with a king (or khal), a babe, and a princess, perhaps even a woodswitch (or Maegi); and dragons returning to the world. Who knows how a vision of Daenerys might have appeared to them through the symbolism of dreams, and what interpretations might be drawn from it. Could Egg have intended to be that king, to burn on the pyre to bring dragons back? Could he have intended for Rhaelle to go into the pyre, to burn Jenny's woodwitch? It's all disturbing ideas, but not without some appeal. I think it's Joe Magician who did an excellent video on this theory.
I'm curious, did you connect the Ghost of High Heart to Jenny's woodswitch? And how Rhaegar went to Summerhall, how the played music, how the Ghost asks for her Jenny's song. It breaks my heart that the Ghost might have haunted the ruins of Summerhall before High Heart, and how Rhaegar could have even written her a song about her Jenny 💔
I used to read this book to my little brother as bedtime stories when he was a kid.
i love that the in-world history books of asoiaf show this very clear bias on the part of the maesters and septons and makes you wonder if the intention is to gain favor from the current king or if they genuinely believed the narrative they wrote down
edit:
this totally reminds me of "the prince" by machiavelli. he wrote it himself how it is definitely a power move to try and gain favor from the current ruler, and machiavelli historians even suggest that he wrote the book to actually make himself look good in the eyes of the new political power at the time because the book added to the narrative that the new guy is this genius political player
ASOIAF is hands town the best fantasy series. The lore is unmatched in my opinion. Just hope it is one day finished 🙃
Ok since you now know much of the history I really hope you watch Preston Jacobs video series, "Daenerys and the page of lies," to get a deep dive into Lemongate, because of how a lot of stuff doesn't add up in Danny's past. Jon and Danny mirror each ithers journeys, so both their past having some mystery/them not being who they think they are. (Jon has struggled with thinking he's the bastard of winterfell when he might actually be a legitimate Targeryan prince if Rhaegar and Lyanna got married secretly on the Isle of Faces which we know they likely were at because of a recent 2024 ASOIAF CALENDAR of all things that shows them together!) Maybe Danny isn't the Targeryan princess she stakes so much of her personality on?
Regarding Baelor the Blessed, I think how he is could have a lot to do with growing up in the shadow of the Dance. His father, Aegon "The Unlucky/The Broken King", was deeply traumatized by living through the Dance, he even seems to have self-harmed by wearing a hairshirt. I think rather than seeing the Targaryen dynasty through the lense of glory and triumph as many had before, Balor looked at it with shame. And that shame had to be dealt with somehow, and for him that was through religion, which plays a lot on shame (at least the Catholicism-inspired Faith of the Seven does). I think his older brother Daeron sought to restore the glory, rewrite the narrative through glorious military conquest, proving their worth without dragons. Baelor, instead, sought religion and piety, tried to atone for the sins of his dynasty, perhaps coming to think that their downfall came from their ungodly acts. But ultimately, I think it came from growing up feeling ashamed by the tragedy that shaped the generation before, and needing a way to act on that shame.
"I was team Black"
Pray to all the gods that the online HOTD fandom dont find this video
oh noooooo did I unintentionally walk into another really unpopular opinion 😭
@@Bookbornoh no don’t worry, team black is by far more popular with the show fans. I think they’re referring to the fact that the show is a pretty morally black and white portrayal of the Dance, where the blacks are the clear good guys and the greens are the clear bad guys. Fans (especially on twitter) can get pretty rabid about it, to put it lightly lol
@@Bookbornyou can support team black but it doesn’t change the fact that Aegon II was true legitimate king and Rhaynera remembered only as pretender. Stannis said it to Shireen. Plus Aegon was a real badass who survived dragon’s fire(long before Daenerys) and his connection with his dragon Sunfyre(most beautiful and most loyal dragon ever)was amazing
The real question is: Does Dunc come clean about not being knighted before the kings guard appointment? And let Egg knight him? I feel like the Dunc we know right now would, 100%
i love this format. more more more content. hope you do the same for clash of kings
Great video and perspective!
i say yes to all of your asoiaf video ideas!!!
I remember finding the North and Starks part of the history exciting, but there was not that much info. I wish there was more development in that area, like Fire and Blood for the Starks.
That history is yet to be revealed for the main series
Yeah, I actually really enjoy the pre-conquest stuff on Westeros in this book. Probably my favourite part over the Targaryen Kings or the far off lands.
Would love an illustrated encyclopedic book of this sort for Joe Abercrombie’s Circle of The World from his First Law World Series
I’m not sure there’s enough lore there, ya know?
I think Tyrion & Oberyn make mention that Baelor went a little nutty after the trek to Dorne - his brush with death after being bitten by the vipers repeatedly very likely tipped him over the edge... but when it comes to Targs and madness I always always always point the finger at dragon dreams. If Baelor was a dreamer that dovetails so nicely with the way religious extremists are about holy visions. All it would take after that is one little extra push to go right over the edge. And the fastings and sleep deprivation? I can tell you first hand that will make you hallucinate after a couple of days.
Please make a second video, you could discuss world building. Great content!
2:07 Oh, shit! I never noticed that.
I wasn't even on page one and I was like OK LETS GOOOOO
My favorite part of the book! It's so good.
Video was great. Format also great. 👍🏻
18:40
Yes, Unicorn in Skagos! Remember when you said in book 5 review that you were wondering where Davos would find Rickon as Lord Manderly asked him to do as a payment for his loyalty to Stannis? Well, Skagos is the answer ''cause that island is full of people who eat human's flesh for breakfast. And there are some funny theories out there that in book 6 Rickon would appear in Skagos riding a Unicorn 🤣🤣🤣
@@rafaelblake7278 I very badly want Rickon to be the most wolfish Stark out there. Like full on Princess Mononoke wild child on Skagos. I think it would be fun
I neeeed rickon on a unicorn, he deserves that
I am pretty sure that in the books we get a dream vision from one of the Starks (not sure if it was Bran, Arya or Jon) that sees "their brother" (Shaggydog) hunt a "big goat" (unicorn).
I'd love to see a video with you talking theories with David Lightbringer
Watching Preston Jacobs blackpill you on the deep lore was one of the most fun streams you ever did, can't wait for a livestream collab with other asoiaf yt theorists like Glidus or David Lightbringer or Grey Waste Tim or Quinn the GM or Micheal Talks About Stuff or Joe magician or anyone who can further advance your indoctrination into the endless well of asoiaf theories
seconded!!
Or In Deep Geek
Lightbringer would be great! I think Bookborn would enjoy some of the symbolism he can point out, as well as the language foreshadowing and worldbuilding.
@@madgodprince Lightbringer would be awesome for symbolism stuff, but I'm also becoming very fond of Michael - his theory on the wall is my new obsession
I liked your casual take here. I think there's merit to both casual and scripted content. So I don't think one is necessarily better than the other. In fact, they can often compliment each other.