Hello Kind Fellas and Good Ladies,
Sorry for the delay. A Girl had to take a break to take care of home a bit. But never from A Song of Ice and Fire. As my partner and good friend, Bran the Builder has stated in his posts, there needs to be a discussion around the events of these best-selling novels. With so many realistic stories and characters in this elaborate series, its best to start where we all did… In the beginning.
Here Begins our Steemit chapter re-read where we highlight important events, key and minor characters and locations within the imaginary world of Planetos. The great @branthebuilder will lay out these details on his page, while foreshading, highlights and correlations will be laid out here. His layout of the series starts in his post, A Game of Thrones Prolouge Review.
We start our Watch in The Prologue of Chapter 1 of a Game of Thrones: the book and chapter.
A Brief Summary
Experienced Rangers Will and Gared are lead by their new ranging commander Ser Waymar Royce. Waymar has spent a year and a half at the Wall, this is his first time leading a ranging party. Gared is a man with forty years of ranging experience. While Will has four years of experience and over 100 rangings. The Men are sworn members of the NIght’s Watch, an order that overees the Wall, protecting the realm from Wildlings and enemies of legend that lived 8000 years ago. While the men are searching for a band of Wildlings, A mysterious species of seemingly-dead-Ice-Humanoids make quite the re-entry into present Westerosi reality in this introductory chapter.
In exploring the Prolouge, Quotes will be highlighted, commentary and foreshadowing will be listed below it.
..In George, We Qoute..
“woods began to grow dark”
-In the very first sentence of the series...we are greeted with woods performing actions. Easily dismissed as good imagery. The woods are later given the tasks of “staring” in Catelyn I, then
in a later chapter, the woods “hide” the Lady Arya after her encounter with Joffrey at the Ruby Ford. The woods are very busy in the upper half of the realm.
The second phrase we’ll highlight is “Do the dead frighten you?”
-A Question which would be ordinary in any other series. But immediately we are given a prominent antagonist in the series. An Undead Fright, assuredly. Though the question is asked mockingly, it is indeed a serious cause for pause. Any man with life, should fear the oncoming ‘un’dead.
Continuing…”Gared did not rise to the bait. He was an old man, past fifty, and he had seen the lordlings come and go.”
-This is foreshadowing that the high lord Waymar would soon meet his fall. He does, indeed, rise at the end of this chapter
Gared: “Dead is dead,” he said. “We have no business with the dead.”
-As we soon see, they do indeed have business with the dead or undead
Will: “My mother told me that dead men sing no songs,”
-Is this foreshadowing for Patchface? Every word Patches utters is in song and he may be undead. He was trapped under the waves for two days, after the Windproud crashed into Shipbreaker Bay. Everyone else onboard was pronounced dead. He was rescued. Spewed out ample water but never another comprehensible thought. A theory we will address in another post
Will: “My wet nurse said the same thing, Will,” Royce replied. “Never believe anything you hear at a woman’s tit. There are things to be learned even from the dead.”
-Since Will never had the heartbreak of losing the Easter Bunny or Santa Claus, is he referring to the gods?? What tale should men not believe that they learned at a teet?
-There are things we do NEED to learn from the dead. Why they’ve returned? How? How are they performing Necromancy?
“Are you unmanned by the dark, Gared?”
-Another intentional arrangement of words… the dark is indeed ‘Unmanning’ rangers and wildlings in the cold of night. Changing warm blooded men into new recruits of the undead army. Ranging parties have been going missing of late.
@HBO
Watching The Watchers
Next, it is revealed that Gared was a Night’s Watch veteran of 40 years. While Will was far less experienced with four years. Still, the young lad detects fear in the seasoned NW ranger.
Will:” He was a veteran of a hundred rangings by now”
-The number 100 may bear significance in this story. Craster is about to give the Others his 100th child, Gilly’s child, Baby Sam.
“The endless dark wilderness that the southron called the haunted forest had no more terrors for him.”
-Irony. Will is soon meet with night’s worst terror.
“ A cold wind was blowing out of the north, and it made the trees rustle like living things.”
-Yet another reference to the trees being alive..the first was “woods began to grow dark”
“All day, Will had felt as though something were watching him, something cold and implacable that loved him not. Gared had felt it too.”
-Something “Other” than trees did have eyes upon the rangers (obvious reference to Others)
Next We Learn: Ser Waymar Royce is eighteen, slender with grey eyes from a prestigious house of too many heirs. A ranger of the Watch for a year and a half, yet given a command position over more experienced rangers. Which causes fellow rangers to mock him behind his back
A Hunter’s Stealth
We also Learn: Will was a hunter/poacher caught in the Malister Woods.
“No one could move through the woods as silent as Will”
-We soon find out who exactly can indeed top Will’s gift for silent traverse (yes, White Walkers)
Next, Will describes the camp of eight he found dead.
“No living man ever lay so still.”
-Irony since the Undead are on the move. Plus these “campers” will not continue to lay still
(could also be foreshadowing for another character who may rise again, after a presumed death in A Dance With Dragons (the fifth book in the series) I won’t spoil who it is
After Will describes the wildling camp, the eight members, their positions, weapons and possible cause of death...THE COLD… he continues...
“It steals up on you quieter than Will, and at first you shiver and your teeth chatter and you stamp your feet and dream of mulled wine and nice hot fires. It burns, it does. Nothing burns like the cold. But only for a while. Then it gets inside you and starts to fill you up, and after a while you don’t have the strength to fight it.”
-A quick call back to Will’s stealth, foreshadowing for him being the only one sly enough to sneak away, OR one would assume…
-Ice is given the characteristic of fire, BURNing. A call back to Robert Frost’s poem and to the title of the series. Ice & Fire
-Ice Burning reminds me of Jojen’s quote in A Storm of Swords, “If ice can burn, then love can hate mate. (when does love hate? When it is forced?)
-This could also be explaining the transformation of a MAN into an Other or a Wight; the undead beings.
Gared: “It’s easier just to sit down or go to sleep. They say you don’t feel any pain toward the end. First you go weak and drowsy, and everything starts to fade, and then it’s like sinking into a sea of warm milk. Peaceful, like.”
-Sinking into the sea reminds me of Brynden Rivers/Bloodraven LATER warning Bran not to stay under the waves too long. Bran dives into his dreamlike state and would rather remain due to its beauty and comfort in comparison to his reality, but he is called back by Bloodraven, a green seer.
“Two ears, three toes, and the little finger off my left hand.”
-Gared had been touched by the cold. Had seen other brothers frozen through still holding a smile
The COLD
Waymar: “And how did you find the Wall?”
Will: “Weeping,”
-Here the Commander inquires about the nature of the 500 ft Wall from Will. Since it has been melting Or “Weeping” as WIll suggests, the weather is not likely to freeze anyone.
source
“It wasn’t cold enough.”
-While weeping normally indicates sadness, here it indicates warmer weather. Which is a bonus in this environment. But as the men come closer to camp, it does get chillier, though the Wall is warmer than usual. Possibly providing proof that the Others bring the Cold, not vice versa ...since the Others are approaching.
The men continued toward the Wildling Camp. The commander, cocky and riding a horse far too big for ranging (a destrier). His men, annoyed with his attitude and ready to head back south. Just then A wolf howled.
“A cold wind whispered through the trees.”
-Was there indeed a voice carried or just the wind.
“There’s something wrong here,” Gared muttered.
The young knight gave him a disdainful smile. “Is there?”
“Can’t you feel it?” Gared asked. “Listen to the darkness.”
Will could feel it. Four years in the Night’s Watch, and he had never been so afraid. What was
It?
-Both experienced rangers can sense a problem.
Could it be coincidence that a wolf growls here? The next time we encounter Gared in Bran I, a pregnant dire-wolf has delivered her pups. Could this be the same wolf? A harbinger for both Waymar and his ranging party AS WELL AS Ned Stark and Robert Baratheon. In both cases, for both parties (Rangers and Royals) the wolf is warning of coming doom.
The Others, for the Rangers. The child Baratheons for the Starks.
Waymar: “Wind. Trees rustling. A wolf. Which sound is it that unmans you so, Gared?”
-Royce throws more insults. But it becomes clear later in the chapters that green seers communicate through the wind, trees and animals (especially wolves). Could this have been a warg warning the rangers? A present day Bloodraven, a past dwelling Bran? Or just sounds???
Listening
Continuing On: Gared suggest Waymar unsheath a dagger instead of his sword, he declines. Gared offers to light a fire, Waymar declines.THe little lord is concerned fire will attract enemies.
“There’s some enemies a fire will keep away,” Gared said. “Bears and direwolves and... and
other things...”
-Waymar clearly knows to be leary of more than Wildling enemies, “Other” being important to note
“Will made no sound as he climbed. Behind him, he heard the soft metallic slither of the lordling’s ringmail, the rustle of leaves, and muttered curses as reaching branches grabbed at his longsword and tugged on his splendid sable cloak.”
-Will is still ever silent in his climb to a vantage points as the inexperienced Commander attracts whatever is out there (overdressed and underskilled for the occasion)
**In the next Sequence: **The party reached the Wildling camp to discover the once dead bodies Will proclaimed were there are now gone.
“A sword slashed at a branch as Ser Waymar Royce gained the ridge.”
-Lordling Waymar Royce is still producing too much sound to remain unnoticed
“Get down!” Will whispered urgently. “Something’s wrong.”
Royce did not move. He looked down at the empty clearing and laughed. “Your dead men seem
to have moved camp, Will.”
-Our first indication that dead men can move.
-Royce continues not to follow direction. Then laughs in mockery
“On your feet, Will,” Ser Waymar commanded. “There’s no one here. I won’t have you hiding
under a bush.” Reluctantly, Will obeyed.
Ser Waymar looked him over with open disapproval. “I am not going back to Castle Black a
failure on my first ranging. We will find these men.”
-It is not a good idea to be readily visible or produce noice just because your enemy in earshot or view per your assumption. . A better ranger would know this
-Waymar is correct. He will not be returning from his first ranging and he will find these man.
“The wind was moving. It cut right through him (Will)”
-Seems small, but yet again the wind itself commits actions..moving..cutting… as its own entity
Quiet Shadows
“Down below, the lordling called out suddenly, “Who goes there?” Will heard uncertainty in the
challenge. He stopped climbing; he listened; he watched. The woods gave answer: the rustle of leaves, the icy rush of the stream, a distant hoot of a snow owl. The Others made no sound.”
-The Others make no sound. The undead beings are silent. Perhaps causing all else to move. In this story green seers can speak using the elements. This may be the first indication that the Others are Green Seers. A subject matter GRRM refuses to elaborate
Marc Simonetti
“He (Will) turned his head, glimpsed a white shadow in the darkness. Then it was gone. Branches stirred gently in the wind, scratching at one another with wooden fingers. Will opened his mouth to call down a warning, and the words seemed to freeze in his throat.”
-Will is in mid-climb up an old Sentinel (these trees are mentioned often, I wonder of heir significance).
-He spies a WHITE shadow, then it disappears. Likely the White Shadow(Others) blends in with the snow. Or it could be the armor they wear; “the reflective camouflaging armor” picks up “the images of the things around it like a clear pond.” per awoiaf.westeros.org/index.php/Others
-It is said the Others do speak. It sounds like “the cracking of ice on a winter lake” so the branches scratching at each other may be their voices.
by John Picaco
“A shadow emerged from the dark of the wood. It stood in front of Royce. Tall, it was, and gaunt
and hard as old bones, with flesh pale as milk. Its armor seemed to change color as it moved;
here it was white as new-fallen snow, there black as shadow, everywhere dappled with the deep
grey-green of the trees. The patterns ran like moonlight on water with every step it took.”
-Their armor again is acting as a mirror to the elements.
-Are the Others meant to be a dark reflection of mankind? Death and destruction as a way if life
It Continues to be Mentioned: That it is cold. Once again, indicating that the Others bring the cold. Since in recent days, the Wall was weeping and this COLD seems new and bracing
“The Other slid forward on silent feet. In its hand was a longsword like none that Will had ever
seen. No human metal had gone into the forging of that blade. It was alive with moonlight,
translucent, a shard of crystal so thin that it seemed almost to vanish when seen edge-on. There
was a faint blue shimmer to the thing, a ghost-light that played around its edges, and somehow
Will knew it was sharper than any razor.”
-The UNdead wonder is approaching a frightened Lord Waymar. He has readied his longsword.
-As did the Other. Yet the White Walker’s sword sounds similar to House Dayne’s “Dawn”
-The white armor of the White Walkers can also be compared to the all white attire of Kingsguard. The Kingsguard also carry an all white shield with no insignia
The Dance
“Ser Waymar met him bravely. ‘Dance with me then.’ “
-Dance is often used in place of fight, spar or battle within this series.
“The Other halted. Will saw its eyes; blue, deeper and bluer than any human eyes, a blue that
burned like ice.”
-Here we encounter the idea of something cold or frozen, burning (again). Ice & Fire
“They fixed on the longsword trembling on high, watched the moonlight running cold along the metal.”
-I first wondered why the sword deserved a highlight. It may be that a fight actually has to occur. While the Longsword is NOT Valyrian, it is metal. So, it can defend its wielder against an Other.
“Will had to call out. It was his duty. And his death, if he did. He shivered, and hugged the tree,
and kept the silence.”
-We are lead to believe Will made a conscious decision to remain quiet while Waymar Royce raised his sword to his approaching foes?It was his duty to shout out As more crept silently from the trees? Could he have been frozen in fear?
Source
“The pale sword came shivering through the air. Ser Waymar met it with steel. When the blades met, there was no ring of metal on metal; only a high, thin sound at the edge of hearing, like an animal screaming in pain.”
-I have to wonder if the WW’s swords went through a similar forging process as Lightbringer. A living soul was used to forge the unique blade. Could a living animal or person be used in forging these crystal swords? GRRM said that “The Others can do things with ice that we can’t imagine and make other substances of it.” it could be the babies sacrificed to the Others may be trapped in their swords, well not Craster’s children. He seems to have special blood. His wives recognize some of the Others as Craster’s sons. What of all the other countless sacrifices made to these strange gods?
Screaming Swords
“His blade was white with frost; the Other’s danced with pale blue Light. Then Royce’s parry came a beat too late. The pale sword bit through the ringmail beneath his arm. The young lord cried out in pain. Blood welled between the rings. It steamed in the cold, and the droplets seemed red as fire where they touched the snow.”
-The Crystal blade is causing Waymar’s to be covered in frost.
-The Crystal blade cuts through ringmail
-Waymar’s blood is fire and the cold, ice. An ongoing theme of Ice & Fire
by Amok
“The Other said something in a language that Will did not know; his voice was like the cracking
of ice on a winter lake, and the words were mocking.”
-A bit of cold justice for the ever snarky Waymar. He spent this whole time speaking down to more experienced rangers. Now more experienced White Walkers are talking down to him. He cannot begin to comprehend them.
“When the blades touched, the steel shattered. A scream echoed through the forest night, and the longsword shivered into a hundred brittle pieces, the shards scattering like a rain of needles. Royce went to his knees, shrieking, and covered his eyes.”
-This is the first time the we learn the Others can shatter steel with their weaponry.
-Waymar Royce fought valiantly
“The watchers moved forward together, as if some signal had been given. Swords rose and fell,
all in a deathly silence.”
-Until this point, it had been one-on-one combat. Now all (5) the ice creatures attack simultaneously. Is this part of their training to strike in unison this way? Are they apart of a hive mindset? Is there A SIngle Other controlling all the “Others”
“The pale blades sliced through ringmail as if it were silk.”
-Once again, crystal sword displays supernatural properties
The Good, The Bad and the Grey
“Far beneath him, he heard their voices and laughter sharp as icicles.”
-Laughing seems a bit much. Was it truly laughter or did Will perceive it that way? Otherwise, it's hard to see any grey in these characters if there are taking delight in butchering a man.
-This also parallels Waymar laughing at Will just moments ago.
Will does eventually climb down from the Sentinel once the icy audience clears, leaving only Ser Waymar Royce face down in the snow, with a shard of sword in his left eye. WIll went to retrieve the hilt of the shattered sword as proof of what occured. As he arose with the hilt, Waymar arose from his death.
Source
“The right eye was open. The pupil burned blue. It saw.”
-Waymar was now, the Undead. Clothed in black, his new allegiance would be to the “Walkers” of White.
-George RR Martin notably sets up the “good guys” in black and the “bad guys” in white
“Will closed his eyes to pray. Long, elegant hands brushed his cheek, then tightened around his throat. They were gloved in the finest moleskin and sticky with blood, yet the touch was icy cold.”
- Does Will pray to the old gods? Do the Others serve the old gods? If the Others are a collective hive, is it actually them who are hearing these prayers?
Notable Parallels
They are parts in the author’s story that act as parallels. Specifically we find the following Valonqar parallels: Will/Buck & Jaime/Cersei
-Will was caught in the Mallister’s woods, skinning one of their own bucks.
-Will climbs down from tree to pick up broken sword. Waymar Royce rises with him and chokes him
Jaime was caught bedding the Queen, “breaking in” Robert’s doe (female deer, Baratheon wife; stag is house sigil)
Foreshadowing/Prediction
Cersei climbing off throne, Picks up Widows Wail.. Jaime rises with her and choke the life from her. In clear symmetry with Will and Waymar, who were “brothers”(of the Night’s Watch). Cersei and Jaime are also “siblings”. The valonqar is the younger brother ( = Jaime or Waymar) strangles the older sibling (= Cersei or Will)
@branthebuilder added this prediction. He did the great service of a breakdown of the chapter in his post A Game of Thrones Prolouge Review
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