#;; LIGHTBRINGER/THE DRAGONS = EXCALIBUR

[kaerinio]

*clears my throat* marwyn (the mage) as dany's merlin.

[vicky82gargoylesfan]

My Thoughts on the last 3 issues of Gargoyles: Dark Ages

I'm a bit behind so I'm just going to do the last 3 issues together, sorry if it's a bit messy and if i've missed some things out.

Spoilers

The Gargoyles and Humans are helping each other build the castle,  Brother Valdez who is the King's architect is helping them build it. 

The Dragon was pretty cool and It looks like we will see it again in the Gargoyles Quest story. I assume it was still in the caves during the episode Shadows from the Past.

The Dragon doesn't like human and doesn't want them building there home here. It was a pretty cool fight. The Archmage uses a spell on the Dragon, the same one he used on Hudson that gave him a scar.

Alesand becomes best friends with the young Gargoyles and gives them names, Caesar, Alexander, Charlemagne, and Antiope

The Trio and Antiope were pretty cute and still causing trouble. Antiope was pretty knowledgeable, she knew about the Ghost Cage (from Shadows from the Past) and knew about the Dragon and what it could do to Alesand.

I do like Alesand and Antiope but I really shouldn't get too attached as they are no longer around now.

For the first time we see a young Mary, possibly Magus and Nicolas. Did notice young Magus was spying on the Archmage and Angel.

Angel started her lesson with Archmage but first she had to learn how to read. She also went to where the get a flute, while the Dragon was away. I assume this could be Puck's flute and I wonder what's happened to it and if Demona has got it.

Desdemona started her lessons in becoming a warrior-priestess, Sacrifice is teaching her.

We got to see the Illuminati, Peredur fab Ragnal, Fleur and Shari who were calling themselves The Lightbringers.

While the Dragon was occupied, Peredur and Fleur grabbed Excalibur and went back to Carbonek (using a spell) and Brother Valdez went after them. They had to leave Shari behind and so had to find her own way back. Funny enough that Excalibur ends up in a stone Dragon in the episode Pendragon.

The story ends with Shari telling everyone a story.

[oadara]

This might be a bit of a stretch, but seeing as how GRRM likes to incorporate a lot of myths, legends and symbolism into these ASOIAF novels, do you think that Dany's hatching of the dragon eggs could be a nod to the Arthurian 'sword in the stone' legends, seeing as how the eggs were referred to as fossilised stone and the dragons were sometimes referred to as 'flaming swords'?

Hey friend,

This might be out there but I really like it! 

Obviously it’s not an exact parallel to the Arthurian legend of Excalibur, however, I do think there is some merit to it having important similarities with the legend. 

As you note the dragon eggs are described as stone on several occasions. Here are a few examples:

A Game of Thrones - Daenerys II

Magister Illyrio murmured a command, and four burly slaves hurried forward, bearing between them a great cedar chest bound in bronze. When she opened it, she found piles of the finest velvets and damasks the Free Cities could produce … and resting on top, nestled in the soft cloth, three huge eggs. Dany gasped. They were the most beautiful things she had ever seen, each different than the others, patterned in such rich colors that at first she thought they were crusted with jewels, and so large it took both of her hands to hold one. She lifted it delicately, expecting that it would be made of some fine porcelain or delicate enamel, or even blown glass, but it was much heavier than that, as if it were all of solid stone. The surface of the shell was covered with tiny scales, and as she turned the egg between her fingers, they shimmered like polished metal in the light of the setting sun. One egg was a deep green, with burnished bronze flecks that came and went depending on how Dany turned it. Another was pale cream streaked with gold. The last was black, as black as a midnight sea, yet alive with scarlet ripples and swirls. “What are they?” she asked, her voice hushed and full of wonder.

“Dragon’s eggs, from the Shadow Lands beyond Asshai,” said Magister Illyrio. “The eons have turned them to stone, yet still they burn bright with beauty." 

A Game of Thrones - Daenerys III

"I was,” she answered, standing over the dragon’s eggs that Illyrio had given her when she wed. She touched one, the largest of the three, running her hand lightly over the shell. Black-and-scarlet, she thought, like the dragon in my dream. The stone felt strangely warm beneath her fingers … or was she still dreaming? She pulled her hand back nervously.

Stone, she told herself. They are only stone, even Illyrio said so, the dragons are all dead. She put her palm against the black egg, fingers spread gently across the curve of the shell. The stone was warm. Almost hot. “The sun,” Dany whispered. “The sun warmed them as they rode.”

A Game of Thrones - Daenerys IV

Irri fetched the egg with the deep green shell, bronze flecks shining amid its scales as she turned it in her small hands. Dany curled up on her side, pulling the sandsilk cloak across her and cradling the egg in the hollow between her swollen belly and small, tender breasts. She liked to hold them. They were so beautiful, and sometimes just being close to them made her feel stronger, braver, as if somehow she were drawing strength from the stone dragons locked inside.

A Game of Thrones - Daenerys V

For a moment Dany was so shocked she had no words. “My eggs … but they’re mine, Magister Illyrio gave them to me, a bride gift, why would Viserys want … they’re only stones …”

There’re a few more instances in which Dany refers to the eggs as stone but I think the above examples are enough. Then we have the reference to the dragons as a sword, which comes from Xaro Xhao Daxos: 

A Dance with Dragons - Daenerys III

“When your dragons were small they were a wonder. Grown, they are death and devastation, a flaming sword above the world.“

Additionally, I’m of the belief that Drogon is Lightbringer, which adds to the symbolism of the dragons as a sword. 

For Arthur pulling Excalibur from the stone marks the beginning of his quest to become the great King Arthur and in many respects for Daenerys hatching the dragons is the beginning of her quest as queen. In those broad strokes, there is some similarity, although the Arthurian legend (whichever version) ends up being different from the quest in which Dany embarks on. 

Nonetheless, it’s an interesting connection between the two. 

TTFN