#and instead of like getting tied up there she ends up wielding a valyrian sword (brightroar) and fights one of the shadow dragons

[swordmaid]

tbh i still want to continue the jb mummy au i have ideas for it!!! but currently i am in an i want to draw my ocs kick

[margoshansons]

N+A=J, Azor Ahai, and Dawn

Look, before you go and crucify me for presenting and actually believing this theory, just hear me out. I’m not here to convince you or bash on your theory, so please don’t do that with mine.

These are just my opinions and while proof for R+L is stronger and is probably what will happen in the books, I do think that people are missing out on the awesome potential for N+A.

This is not an attempt to prove it. There are people with more dedication and more time on their hands who have tried. I’m only here to discuss why I like this theory from a narrative standpoint better than R+L=J

TLDR: Jon is Azor Ahai and making him a Dayne gives him access to Dawn, cool warg magic, and the potential to be the Sword of the Morning, which I think is pretty sick.

So let’s go!

1. Jon Snow’s Narrative Arc 

Jon Snow is arguably the main character of ASOIAF, with Bran and Daenerys joining him as other main protagonists of the series. And it’s no secret why. 

All three have very distinct, very important relationships to Magic. 

Daenerys has her dragons, Bran is the Three-Eyed Crow, and Jon Snow’s whole storyline is about preparing for the next Long Night. The war against the Others.

It’s been that way since the beginning. We get small bits and pieces of it here and there but once Othar attacks Mormont it’s finally revealed to us and Jon that there are bigger things beyond the wall than wildlings. And we know that this is a complete surprise to Mormont and the other men of the Night’s Watch. 

We also know that there is little written about the Others in Westeros at all, seeing as Sam isn’t able to find much on them when he travels to the Citadel. 

This leads to the Great Ranging which leads to the Battle of the Fist of the First Men, which leads to the mutiny, which leads to Jon betraying the wildings which leads to the Battle at the Wall, which eventually gets him elected Lord Commander.

My point being, Jon’s storyline at this point has been spent 100% in the North surrounded by magic. There is no indication of him going south, no indication of politics beyond strategy and Stannis, no indication of him doing anything except planning for a battle against the Others and trying to save as many people as possible. 

IN FACT! The reason he gets shanked is because he momentarily forgets his duty and puts the same people he promised to save in danger. 

Up until Jon gets the pink letter, he never thinks about going south, but then “Arya” is in trouble and he puts NW and wildling men at risk. That is why he gets stabbed, that’s why they say “For the Watch”

Because in doing so he not only forgets his vows, but also the cause the men had pledged themselves to. 

Now, all of this next bit is speculation based on what I personally think is going to happen and why I think Jon being Ashara’s son makes for a better narrative. 

We know several plot points need to be resolved regarding Jon. I personally think he warged in Ghost, and then Melisandre will give him the last kiss as a priestess of r’hllor, which resurrects him like Beric Dondarrion.

Now, interesting thing here. The last kiss is a common funeral rite for the religion of the R’hllor and there’s another name for it as well.

The last kiss is a rite practiced by the red priests of R'hllor. When a follower of the Lord of Light dies, priests fill their mouths with fire and breathe flame into the deceased, as they believe that fire cleanses and is a bright gift. Harwin and Thoros of the brotherhood without banners refer to it as the kiss of life. (Wiki of Ice and Fire)

So, a kiss of life that is related to fire, that’s interesting. You know what else is interesting? 

The exact circumstances of Jon’s death. It’s very different than what happened in the show. The show scene was quoted as being “a bad guy killing a good guy” while the books made it much more morally grey. 

The most interesting part of Jon’s death, however, is Bowen Marsh sticking the dagger in Jon. He’s not only the first person to deal a mortal blow, but GRRM describes in detail how much Marsh is weeping, and how tragic this end really is. 

Hmmmm, is it just me or is this starting to sound familar?

Flames, saltwater, wow this is really starting to remind me of something, but I can’t quite put my finger on it....

*stares into the camera like I’m on the office*

He’s being set up to be reborn amidst salt and smoke!

And now we get to my main part of the theory (took us long enough) but before that happens I need to make one thing very clear. 

The Prince that Was Promised and Azor Ahai are NOT the same person. 

Yes, Melisandre refers to them interchangeably, but no offense, she’s wrong...like a lot. 

And while we know that Rhaegar knew about TPTWP, it was highly unlikely he knew about the Others, because as stated above, there is little to no information about them in Westeros and they haven’t been seen since the Long Night. So I really don’t have any idea why Rhaegar would think his son was destined to destroy beings that didn’t exist. 

He got the details of TPTWP from Valyrian scrolls, and based on the info we have, Valyrians never interacted with the Others.

Azor Ahai on the other hand, is prophecized to directly battle with “the Great Other” which Mel connects to the Others (although this isn’t confirmed). On top of this, here are the two prophecies of Azor Ahai and TPTWP

TPTWP

born of Aerys and Rhaella’s line

born of salt and smoke

prophecised by a bleeding star

has a song of ice and fire

“the dragon must have three heads”

will deliver the world from darkness

will wake dragons from stone

Obviously this is exclusive to Targaryens, and Rhaegar was even thought to be the Prince that was Promised, but I think this applies to Daenerys or Aegon more than Jon even with R+L.

Especially considering Rhaegar used the song of ice and fire line on Aegon before even thinking of Lyanna. 

Azor Ahai:

will show up after a long summer

born or reborn amidst salt and smoke

born or reborn after “stars bleed” and “the cold breath of darkness falls heavy on the world”

will draw forth a burning sword named Lightbringer

will ultimately fight against the Great Other

There’s no mention of dragons, songs, or anything else that most people use to interchange the two. Now the reason I bring this up is because if Jon turns out to be the son of Ned and Ashara, then he not only has a claim to Winterfell through Robb’s will, but he also can claim Dawn, the Dayne’s ancestral sword. 

Dawn is a unique sword in the fact that its not made of Valyrian Steel but it’s just as sharp. It’s blade is described as “pale milkglass” and it’s a two-handed greatsword wielded by the Sword of the Morning. It was forged from the heart of a falling star and is the entire origin for House Dayne. It’s even said to glow.

The intesting thing about it? Only a Dayne can wield it. 

It’s not passed down from father to son like most Valyrian Steel swords, but is instead given to the knight most worthy of possessing it. 

GRRM has always emphasized the importance of Swords, especially Valyrian Steel swords. But I think what’s so interesting about Dawn is that we get its history in the very first book, and Arthur and Ashara Dayne are some of the only named Dornish characters we get from that time period.

(Also, just a fun fact, George has said that if he could wield a sword it would be Dawn, so do with that what you will)

I think that Dawn is Lightbringer, and the fact that George hasn’t given much information about the Daynes (a relatively minor house) when asked, makes me think that they play a much bigger part in the endgame than we think.

They have ties to the First Men, which means they were around during the first Long Night and the Battle for the Dawn. This also means that they potentially have the same warging abilities the Starks do, which would only be heightened if they were joined. 

(I have so many theories on the First Men and magic, but that would take longer to get into than this.)

So, if Jon were to be the son of Ned and Ashara, then he could become the Sword of the Morning, which provides interesting imagery when you place it next to “The Long Night”.

It also would create one of my favorite parallels. Ned Stark heads to Starfall to return Dawn to Ashara after killing her brother, The Sword of the Morning. Jon Snow/Stark heads to Starfall to claim Dawn after being declared the Sword of the Morning and Ashara’s son.

Tbh, I just love this theory because magic! And heartbreaking parallels. 

In conclusion, ASOIAF is messy and complicated and won’t be solved with a perfect parentage reveal. I think this one is interesting and while I think R+L=J will be what’s revealed (tbh I don’t mind it as long as they don’t romanticize it), I think there’s just as great a story if Jon really is the bastard of Ned and Ashara Dayne.

Please be kind, I am only a lady who likes cool theories with way too much time on her hands.

[rhaella]

The Weight of Living

(read on ao3)

At every opportunity she finds, Arya likes to ride beyond the walls of Winterfell.

It’s not that she doesn’t love her home. Every day she is grateful to be there, to see Sansa with her two daughters, one of whom resembles Arya so strongly she gets mistaken as her own. To have Bran and Rickon back after so many years of thinking them dead.

And Jon, who still musses her hair at every opportunity like they are children and tells her he’s making up for all the time they lost.

But Winterfell has ghosts as well.

Sometimes she looks down at the training yard and can swear she sees Robb, swinging his practice sword and laughing. Robb was always laughing. Or she’ll walk by Mother and Father’s chambers, which have remained untouched since the Starks reclaimed their home, and hear her mother sweet singing and find herself pressing her ear against the door. Or she’ll see Jon from across a room and for a split second mistake his face for her father’s. Jon bears even more resemblance to him now than he did in his youth, especially as he grows ever-nearer to the age Father was when he died.

There are also ghosts in those who survived.

Sometimes she’ll catch Sansa wearing Mother’s dress as she brushes through her squirming daughter’s curls, trying to recreate a time long gone. She’ll see a haunted, empty look in Bran’s eyes, as though he’s lost in time. Rickon has never grown out of his skittishness and mistrust, and everyone has learned to walk loudly if coming up behind him to avoid startling him. And sometimes Arya will join Jon as he sits sleepless all through the night, staring at a spot on the wall and tracing the scars on his abdomen through his clothes.

All the Starks will wake up screaming most nights, panicked and sweating from some terrible memory playing on their eyelids. More often than not, they’ll all migrate to Jon’s bedchamber at some point in the night and end up piled in his oversized bed, curled into each other while Jon keeps his vigil. Sansa’s ever-patient husband has grown used to waking up alone by now.

The riding helps Arya clear her mind. The ghosts cannot touch her while she races through the woods, her hair whipping in the wind.

She’ll pick a direction and ride until she comes across some village where no one knows her name and she’ll walk through it, greeting its residents and asking to help them if she can. Sometimes it will just be buying fabrics from the women who spin them, or offering food and coin to hungry children. Other times she’ll help women cook, or weave, or repair their houses. Once, she ended up spending an entire day picking turnips in a elderly farmer’s field and had come home aching and sunburnt. He had offered her pay for her labor, but she’d only asked for a basket of turnips and had pressed several gold dragons in his palm, leaving him gaping behind her.

Today, on her way into a new town, she sees a few little girls playing a pretend game in the grass. She smiles, remembering when she and Jon had played as knights, with Sansa as the damsel and Robb her dragon. But she pays the girls little mind as she ties her horse to a tree, until she hears her own name being spoken.

She moves a bit closer to them to hear better, quietly and with her head turned so as not to scare them.

“I want to be Ser Brienne this time. I was Arya Stark last time,” the smallest girl with tangled brown hair whines.

“Well I’m the oldest and biggest,” says a girl with long, copper hair. “Ser Brienne was a fearsome warrior, and big as a giant. A little wisp like you could never slay the dead as she did.”

Arya dares a glance at the group.

The little one’s face is red as she glares at the older girl. “It isn’t my fault you were born first!” she cries. “I’ll tell Mother how you’re being bossy again!”

The third girl, a blonde, is stifling giggles. “You two can argue over who gets to be Arya and Brienne, but I will always be Queen Dany,” she says.

Arya finds herself approaching them. They look up at her with curious eyes, but don’t look afraid. They don’t even give a second glance to her clothes or the sword at her belt. These girls are young enough not to have known a world where women can’t wear breeches or carry a weapon.

“Hello,” Arya says, squatting to be at their level. “What are your names?”

The older girl takes it upon herself to answer for the three of them. “My name is Jeyne. This is Alys,” she says pointing at the blonde beside her. “And this little pest,” she says, gesturing to the little one, “is my sister Nym.”

“Named for the great wolf, leader of Arya Stark’s wolf pack!” she exclaims. Arya suddenly wishes she had brought Nymeria with her, if only to leave the little ones in awe. But she never brings Nymeria on her rides. She loves the feeling of being unknown, and traveling around with a giant wolf at her side would surely give away her identity.

“And she never lets us forget it,” Jeyne grumbles.

Arya only smiles. Sisterhood can be a trial, as she well knows. “I heard you talking about a game you’re playing. War for the Dawn, is it?”

“Yes,” the Jeyne says. “We always play as the women warriors. Mother always tells my sister and me stories about them and sings us their songs. Someday we will be great knights, too.”

“But I hope we never have to fight the dead!” Alys interjects. “I’m brave, but the Others sound so fearsome! I’d rather save a maiden from bad men who are living.”

“I would fight the dead!” little Nym insists, indignant. “I’m quick as a fox and would slash them apart faster than they can move their dead old hands to reach me.” She makes a slashing motion in the air.

Arya smiles. “I think the three of you would make fine defenders of the realm, and whatever else you want to become. Girls can do anything these days.”

If only she’d had someone to tell her this as a child, perhaps she wouldn’t have felt like such a misfit. She resolves to return to this village soon and bring the girls proper training swords to use in their games. Gods know there are enough in the armory, and too few children in Winterfell to use them.

“You know,” she says quietly, as if giving away a secret. The girls lean closer in tandem. “I knew Ser Brienne and Queen Daenerys. I fought alongside them in the war.”

The girls gasp, their eyes wide as saucers. “You fought the dead?” Alys asks.

“Yes,” Arya says, flashing a grin. “They were as fearsome as you say. If they were freshly dead, when you’d slay them you’d find yourself covered in sticky black blood.” Jeyne gasps. Nym leans closer, her eyes aglow.

“But the Others were most fearsome of them all. Cold and terrible with eyes the color of ice. And just when you were near to finishing the wights,” Arya says, and waits, watching the girls biting their lips and squirming, “they’d swoop in and raise new dead from our fallen armies.” This time, even the littlest looks afraid.

She does not tell them how sometimes the dead would come back with the faces of those you loved, and you’d have to shove your blade through their ribs anyway. No time for tears, because soon enough another would be upon you. Gendry, she thinks, and wants to weep.

“W—what if they come back?” Alys asks, her voice trembling.

“They never will. We made sure of that.” She remembers the dawn, in all its beauty and terror, as it illuminated the mountains of bodies. She remembers collapsing, half in exhaustion and half in grief.

“What were Queen Daenerys and Ser Brienne like in the war?” the eldest asks, obviously wanting a change in subject.

“Queen Daenerys was beautiful. I remember seeing her fly far above on her great dragon. A dragon black as the night and bigger than your whole village. Her dragon would shoot fire down at all the dead, burning thousands at once, and she looked fierce as a dragon herself holding on to its back.” Arya pauses, wondering how much to tell them. “I got to pet her dragon once.”

“You’re a liar!” Nym cries. “A dragon would burn you to death if you dared touch it!”

Arya smiles. “Not me. The queen allowed it, and thankfully so did the dragon. Its scales were rough, like a lizard’s, but hot. I still have burns on my fingers from the heat,” she says, showing them the faded scars on her fingertips.

She considers Ser Brienne. Brienne, the first knighted woman in the realm, is dearer to her than most, and still makes frequent visits to Winterfell to see her and Sansa. There is so much that she could say about her that she almost cannot choose.

“Ser Brienne was the fiercest warrior I’ve ever known. Big, and so tall she towered over most grown men, and when she swung her Valyrian steel sword she’d slash four wights open at once.”

“Oathkeeper,” one child says, incredulous.

“A beautiful weapon,” Arya says. “Now it belongs to the Starks, as it was forged from their father’s. But Ser Brienne wielded it well. She was stronger than most men. She knocked Ser Jaime Lannister on his golden rump on more than one occasion. She was an honorable woman, too, and kind. The truest knight I’ve ever known, just like from the songs of old. But back then, women who tried to be warriors were mocked instead of loved.” Nym wrinkles her nose.

“You must have been a fierce warrior yourself,” Jeyne says, “to have survived. Were you ever scared?”

“We were all scared, always. Even Queen Daenerys and Ser Brienne. It is one thing to battle men, but entirely another to battle the dead. Only the stupid are brave and fearless. The strong are brave, despite their fear.”

Arya’s horse whinnies behind her and shakes her out of her memories. She looks up at the sky. It must be mid-afternoon now, and she should head back before it gets dark.

“Well, I’ll leave you to your game,” she says to the girls, whose mouths still hang open.

“Wait!” says the smallest child, Nym, lunging forward. “Before you go, did you ever meet Arya Stark?”

Arya grins now, tapping her fingers on Needle’s hilt.

“I am Arya Stark,” she says as she twirls on her heel and struts toward her horse, leaving the children gasping behind her.

She’ll go back to her ghosts. They’ll haunt her until the day she dies. But if all her suffering has given hope and choices to little girls like the one she once was, perhaps it is a burden she can bear.

[alicesloane13]

Thoughts on GoT S8 E2?

Death. Lots of it!

Serious answer… let’s see:

First off this is more theories for the next few episodes bc I think it’s all going to overlap. I didn’t watch the books. I’ve only watched the early seasons more than once. (Bad fan I know). So, most of my thoughts are very very loosely researched or not at all. A lot of them are just crack

S8.02

One thing I’m trying to consider is that there are a LOT of unresolved things happening and NOT a lot of time to wrap everything up. They’ve said that they’ve filmed multiple endings and I’m afraid that different loose ends will tie up with different endings, so… bummer :/ Maybe they’ll release them later (I mean… more $$$ for them right?)

- Tyrion is going to do something that might hurt the greater good on behalf of Cersei. Their last conversation he was very emotional and obviously still very fucked up feeling and guilty about Marcella and Tommen. Now that he’s found out she’s pregnant. He got a very strange look on his face, they cut the scene short, and he was very gruff and short about his answers to everyone. He’s been a little… distracted and absent-minded sense then. Possibly more guilt and debating on which choice is really the right thing to do.

- Dany is really going to show she’s losing her shit. It’s been a long time coming, and that look she gave Jon when he told her… Everyone has been calling or teasing/saying that Cersei is “The Mad Queen”. Which, I mean… she’s not the sanest at the moment BUT I think Dany is going to be that one to officially get that title.

- Melisandra (who I’m not a fan of from way back) is definitely up to something. That conversation she had with Varys was pointed somewhere. I feel like her whole “we’re both going to die here” was just a vague we’re both here for the long haul and not that their fates/deaths are in any way tied together

- Ser Davos is never going to see his wife–that I didn’t even–remember him having (she’s been mentioned twice?). Well, he might see her, but we won’t. I hope for his sake! He’s on my please try not to die list. All the shit he’s been through and not going home, I’m starting to see him almost like Odysseys/Ulysses trope

- Samwell (also a fave) has always wanted to be a wizard right? I think he definitely is and/or has magic to some degree. He’s kind of blundered through a lot of things successfully. He saved Gilly, killed a white walker, the other early white walkers just flat out ignored his presence, cured Jorah, people tend to listen to him and take his advice A LOT even though he doesn’t particularly seem like the type of person you’d take advice from. I love the idea that this is just all his own skills, but he wants to be magical so much that I think it would be sweet.

- Here’s where it turns to crack. I was doing a bit of research on the stuff that Maggy the Frog told Cersei. I looked at both show and books stuff. Book Maggy the Frog had a family tree. Some rando on it who we know nothing about other than he was sent with other people when Tywin this guy was among them (in the books). His name is Samwell. Now I know obviously the Tarly’s most likely are not any lineage coming from her. Sam’s dad even boasts about killing her. BUT Samewll also looks nothing like his family. Name kids after relatives is a pretty typical thing here.

So, if you were Randyll Taryly and this kid you have in your house you’re pretending (for whatever reason) starts showing possible magical traits… you might be so anti-magic that you’d go off and try and eradicate that lineage just out of fear it might come out or something? Idk

- People are theorizing that this entire thing is Sam recording the history and telling this story. I would much rather it be Gilly telling little Sam and having picked up where he left off. Because I love her and how cool would it be from her starting point to evolve into that? She’s already shown herself to be useful and her reading is nearly perfect now.

- Crack theory: Arya is dead and the faceless man is working in her stead. Very unlikely. Doesn’t quite make sense. Why would he kill her and then go off and move through her life? Beats me. The Waif wouldn’t make sense either. But that would fuck me up lol and could explain why Nymeria “knew” her, but didn’t “KNOW” her. He also knows about her list and who is on it etc. He also still owes her a kill. Their bargain was that she took his name off her list, not that it canceled out that kill. Lots of more logical theories out there about this already being taken care of between him, the waif, and Arya.

- Ser Brienne is Azor Ahai (reincarnated?) or the prince(s) that was promised if they’re not the same. I’m not going into details on this one or we’ll be here all day. Message me if you want more?

- Unlikely, but maybe since Jon died the Night King will have some influence/power over him

- Popular theory: the Night King is going to reanimate the dead Starks. Eh, even if that happens it won’t really be “our” Starks. How many of their bodies actually made it back to Winterfell? I do think they’re coming back in some way or another. Most likely this way. (also in the books the catacombs are bigger than all over Winterfell and I guess there’s a theory there might be dragon eggs in there idk)

However, I have another theory. That makes absolutely no sense. Ever since Melisandra kind of lost her faith/way she keeps disappearing and returning. Which she’s not a MC so that makes sense. But she’s been getting more and more confident. Then the convo with Varys… my guess is she’s been out researching and/or recruiting (I vaguely remember someone saying she went rogue after Stannis).

We know she brought Jon back from the dead, and that other people have been able to do this. I would love for her to come back and revive the dead Starks so the Night King couldn’t have a hold on them as easily. They’d still be creepy af and all, but at least not a weapon from the inside.

My other theory about her is that… Okay, Ned had Ice. Lightbringer had a lot of fire connected to it. Let’s just talk about Ice first. It was melted down and made into two swords. Brienne has Oathkeeper. Jamie has Widow’s Wail.

(Which how poetic is that that both halves of the swords involved in Brienne’s knighting were Ned’s sword. Also, Ned who always encouraged Arya to follow unconventional hobbies would totally be down with knighting Brienne I think).

So, Ice is with two people who are gonna be pretty damn important to this fight. Everyone has been going on about the dragons now being fire and ice. What if instead, it’s weapons. I don’t know who would wield them. Jon seems pretty attached to his sword. Arya likes her spear and daggers. Idk.

BUT she’s leaving to go to Volantis in the middle of all this. If you look up the history of Valyria you can see there’s a connection between them. Ned’s sword was made by a Valyrian blacksmith? I read that in one spot, dunno about accuracy.

It would make sense that if anyone would be smithing a weapon it would be Gendry. But he also feels a bit more important than merely making weapons at this point. Maybe there was more involved with crafting it. Tools involved, additional material, she’s off to find some blacksmith that was related to the original one. She brings back some fire weapon… and then we have 3-4 (if they make two like ice) swords that are fire and ice. Maybe Gendry could be someone who wields it bc as Tormund mentions that hammer is kinda big and kinda slow. He’s going to need something quick and easily maneuverable for this battle.

- my FAVORITE and most UNLIKELY theory…enough big people survive. Dany does become full-on Mad Queen demanding everyone bend the knee or get fried. She’s out of control. There are very few people who could take her by surprise and not bat an eye. I think she’s wary of Sansa, so that rules her out (that would be cool too though). I think Arya could pull it off, bc ofc! BUT it would be very poetic and create a beautiful parallel if Cersei kills her and becomes… Queen Slayer. It might not fully redeem her, but she’d definitely get some points.

I think that’s all I got. Please Please Please let me know what you think, or ask questions, or give me your own thoughts, etc. I know most of this is crack, but I was kinda trying to think of the most outlandish things.