The word "stark" also means hard/strong/durable in Swedish and German. Cool video, glad this popped up on my front page, the algorithm gods favour you😊
Yes! Well done! I knew it meant Strong but never made that “hard” connection, I think it’s also the reason George resurrects Gregor Clegane, the giant warrior constantly referred to as made of stone, as Sir Robert Strong, effectively naming a resurrected stone giant as a Stark, I’ve got this example planned for part 4 You’ve made a great connection there with stark meaning hard, that’s amazing, would you mind if I used this comment in a UA-cam short for the channel?
@@eldric.stoneskin well I'm a Finn, so Swedish is a familiar language! And sure, feel free to use the comment😊 good point about The Mountain, never thought about that before but it makes sense. Also makes me think about Melisandre's "waking dragons from stone"
@@eldric.stoneskin Not sure about swedish, but in german it's definitely just strong and durable Maybe hard in the sense of a hard liqour would be called stark, but it's not used in the hard as opposite of soft sense
@@DukeDukeGo yeah I wasn't so sure about the exact meaning of the word in German, just that it means something very similar. In Swedish the word has quite a lot of different uses and meanings.
@@eldric.stoneskin There’s a theory somewhere that hints at the Strongs being an old Stark offshoot, hence all the funky details George bestows on the house
Ned is very wary whenever entering the crypts, feeling judged and unworthy; shivering at the thought of the red rust stains of ancient swords long turned to dust by time and what it meant. The iron swords (note they are all made of iron, not bronze in contradiction to the Andal claim of bringing iron to Westeros; Old Nan also mentioned that the Others hated iron) of the Winter Kings supposedly keeps them at rest. Ned felt horror at the idea of the spirits of his honored ancestors loose in Winterfell and Ned wasn't a man to fear things irrationally. "There must always be a Stark in Winterfell" may be a tradition rooted in fear. I mean, if the Hungry Wolf wakes up invulnerable and discovered Ned allowed a sept to be built in Winterfell, married an Andal, and allowed his children to be taught by a Septa....well, it would NOT be pretty. To say nothing of any Stark waking up to find the Boltons in charge of Winterfell.
As to stark meaning hard, I believe that correlation is specific to a land being called “stark” because the attempts to remain settled there are so grueling that only the toughest or “hardest” people would stay there, or even try to remain there.🤔
The short of it is: Ned's afraid of his dead ancestors and family. If Lord Eddard Stark is afraid of something, he has very good reasons. The man wasn't afraid of The Mountain, Tywin Lannister, Khal Drogo, or even Robert Baratheon at his most angry, but he is very afraid of those crypts. Consider that.
@@wolfsbanealphas617 I think he is meaning to reference Cthulhu on purpose with this for sure, I think George is having fun again with his names and wordplays as Cthulhu is an Eldritch god, which may be a hint that Eldric Shadowchaser/Stoneskin is also an ancient incomprehensible being that defied death and will again rise from his slumber
Theon's dead the minute Jon Snow sees him. It doesn't matter what good deeds or heroics he pulls off, he is dead. If he is very lucky, Jon will behead him.
I don't know what you've done here, but you've cracked the code. This is the first ASOIAF theory video I've seen in a very long time that's really kept me listening to it like a child. Extremely well articulated video, ambience background music, images, and overall tone. Chapeau. Subscribed & eagerly looking forward for more!
Wow, so the weirwood realm almost acts like Valhalla, a realm for honored dead or in this case magical dead, so that they will return as an army come ragnarok/long night.
Exactly right, and Valhalla is a feast as well, and interestingly we see a Stark feast of the dead through Theons dream and the Ironborn speak of a feast after death as well beneath the waves
The thought about the Stark stone kings being inspired by the real-world terracotta army is so interesting, considering many of the "great wonders of the world" George has listed in ASOIAF are inspired by real world wonders already (the pyramids, the wall, etc.) and since it's known that 9 of these wonders were man-made, perhaps the Stark stone kings are one of these wonders! (although not sure how their origin could be so secret to even the Starks if they would be listed in a book of wonders..) Amazing video and theory!! Cant wait to see more ❤
Thanks very much! Yes that’s a great point, do we know what all 9 wonders in ASOIAF are? Interesting that you should point that out too because one of the 9 wonders in George’s world I can think of happens to be a giant stone man who comes to life to defend its city, who also happens to be holding a broken sword…
@@eldric.stoneskin Yeah! So far there's apparently 7 man-made wonders confirmed in the text: the Valyrian roads, the Wall, the Titan of Braavos, the bells of Norvos, the long bridge of Volantis, and the now ruined palace with a thousand rooms in Sarnath. All these wonders do seem to have a similar theme of connecting people (the roads and bridges) , protecting people, (the wall and titan) and perhaps warning people (the bell). Very interesting!
Fantastic! Trying to hear you over the music is a little rough but that might be my own neuro-weirdness lol but I really like this theory and I'm excited for more!
Loved this video. Tying in all the mottos of house Stark was well done. Maybe I missed it but "There must always be a Stark at Winterfell" could lead to the blood magic of the wirewood trees. Possibly needing someone from the bloodline to awaken them or maybe they only take command from a Stark.
Yes! Exactly right Daneeka! ill be going into this in video 3 or 4 I think, as I think every generation of stark need to be buried in the crypts so there could be a direct blood line between the first stark and Bran, as I think Bran has something to do with waking these giants as well...
@@eldric.stoneskinPJ's "time traveling Bran" video series ends with him staring that Bran needed Jon Snow to reject becoming the Lord of Winterfell by Stannis, because Jon would probably have burned the Heart Tree as a sacrifice to R'lohr. If that were the case, then Bran would have no way of waking up the Stone Kings, and (per your theory) would kill their souls if the tree is rooted and burned.
Yes very true it could happen, but I think this might be why the statues were armed with Iron swords, not only to stop them from being raised by the Others but to arm them for when they rise, as iron is a metal the others are said to hate
So glad to see a fresh theory. Winterfell crypts has to be one of the most interesting mysteries. Great first video bro hope your channe is blessed by the algorythm
Apart from the intro and outro music issue that you've already addressed, this was super cool! Fun fact; in Nordic mythology, the first ever being, and ancestor of all men, gods and jotnar, was licked out of a salt stone by a great big cow, meaning every humanoid creature in that mythos quite literally comes from stone. The creature's name, of course, is Ymir, and the cow is called Audhumbla. Perhaps George may have looked to this as well, or so I like to think.
Very interesting! There seems to be a lot of “stone born” examples in myth, another example would be Prometheus who shaped man out of mud with Athena breathing life into his clay figure
35:00 - That Eldric Shadow chase is the Westerosi name for Azor Ahai, makes perfect sense to me and and ive heard it before. David Lightbringer has also theorised that Elric is a stark ancestor due to name similarites. But the idea that Eldric stoneskin is the same person, and is at the bottom of the crypt is the perfect completion of this theory. So, that meanst THE azor ahai is in the crypt of winterfell. That also makes sense becuase of the foreshadowing that a 'dragon' is in the crypt of winterfell. Azor Ahai, is seperately implied to be a 'dragon person' in some way. So, overalll, who was AA / Eldric shadowchaser? He had some blood form the east, possibly Great Empire of the Dawn. Either HE came from the east, or his father did, and interbred with the Westerosi First Men, who themselves have interbred with CotF. Eldric, then becomes a greenman / druid of the weirwood trees. Possible the Weiwood grove standing where Winterfell now stands. He then sees a CotF priestess, Nissa Nissa, and lusts after her, and or her connecition to the weirnet. He interacts with her forcibly (either capture, marriage, rape, romance), and she becomes pregnant and dies in childbirth, or is killed. Through the crime of killing her, or her death, Eldric uses her as a portal to force his way into the Weirnet. This is simaltaneous with the Red Comet impacting the Moon, and causing moon meterors to shower down. The Weirnet, being raped and desfiled, bifurcates into two halfs - the living green half adn the death frozen half. human spirits within the weirnet are then exiles out of the weirnet as the Others, as the Long night falls. However, as the Long Night falls, the good druids begin a ritual to ressurect them into the Green Zombies, that make them able to survive the Long Night and fight the Others. Eldric and Nissa are both dead, their spirits shattered into the weirnet. Eldrics body may still be animated as the Nights King, and Nissa as the corpse queen. But, the offspring of their union, a baby, surivved and was adopted by humans. This boy grows to become the Last Hero (perhaps HE is Eldrich stone skin/shadow chaser?) and he finds the magic of the CotF, and is the one to slay his father (and mother) (with a sword made of moon meteor/ comet iron?), and end the Long Night. Then, after the Long Night ended, the Last Hero Eldric was entombed in a crypt by the hearrt tree, and the castle of Winterfell was built around it.
You've nailed it! Well done! Was thinking this baby may have been Bran the Builder as he built the crypts, seemingly had magical abilities and worked closely with the CotF? It's really hard to tell the specifics but fun to theorise about. Also planning on giving Dave a shout out next video as it covers the Nights watch and crosses over with his Green zombies theory quite a bit, and he's the GOAT of ASOIAF Symbolism
@@eldric.stoneskin It all makes alot of sense, the only thing that dosent scan for me, is this implies that when the Others come, Eldric Shadowchaser willl like awaken in his throne in the crypts, and come out swinging. And that seems too high fantasy for me. Instead, I think it'll be that currently living people will become the new Eldric. So, that leads me to suspect that Eldric is dead on his throne in the crypt, and cannot rise, but his conscisness is within the Weirwood, and his presence will be subtle and synonymous with the magic of the weirnet, and however that will be utilised. Perhaps as a ghost in the weirnet that Bran sees, and then it's Brans will that makes the stark skeletons arise from the crypts and fight.
@@umwha You could be right, but with all the examples of literal statues coming to life in the series including, The Stone Kings of the Crypts, The Shrouded Lord, the Titan of Braavos, I think its very likely just that will happen, actual statues coming to life would be too high fantasy I agree, but ancient people turned to stone with Greyscale reanimating is very possible I think, but I agree with you that currently living person, I think Jon, will need to become the next Eldric, and after contracting greyscale in his resurrection end up down in the crypts to await the next long night
@@eldric.stoneskin I just cant imagine an ancient person, literally standing up from the crypts, and walking out into the open. Would he talk? Would he explain himself? I think it'll be more like this. The stone kings on their thrones are like the people on the Weirwood thrones - they will never stand up, but they are both alive and dead, and their consciosness will be active. Likewise, there may be 'statues coming to life' vocabulary as you beautifully lay out in this video, but there is even more 'Trees are warriors' vocabulary, but I dont think the trees will literally pull themselves out fo the ground and march - instead its the conscionsnesses within the trees that will use the powers of nature to fight - only symbolically becoming tree warriors. Liekwsie, Stoneified people, may use their psychic power to do something, using rock or earth as a conduit, rather than them standing up and walking. I think perhaps a key element here with the statues is the motif of 'giving an object a face'. Like, the trees were given faces, IMO by the humans, because when you humanise an object it becomes easier to skinchange into. The COTF carved faces on limestone pillars (in the Arianne chapter). The creation of a statue, is the pinnacle of personifying an object (stone), and that idea has previosly been linked to skinchanging and psychic powers. So, that makes me thing GRRM is invoking the idea that when you make something into a human image, or personify something, like making it into a 'graven image' or a religious idol, then it can become a conduit for disembodied consciosness, or you can look through its eyes. That sort of thing, would link what we already know about weiwood psychic networks, and this emphasis on statues appearing to look, or judge.
@@umwha have to agree if only because George already has far too many characters running around that adding more (undead/dead?) heroes just isn't feasible.
Exactly right, well done! I’m going into Greyscale in part 3, there’s actually two characters who have greyscale in the main series that have the same name as a stark king which is more foreshadowing I think
Starks sigil is a grey direwolf. They have eyes described as grey. GREYscale turns living men into stone. You're totally onto something. Excellent video.
What if Greyscale is Fire’s last attempt/weapon at saving humanity ? We’ve always seen it as a disease whereas it might actually be a “benign” anomaly that humanity might use against the others. I haven’t put too much thought into it, especially since there seems to be a strong symbolism on Jon ( who probably is the last hero) embodying ice as well as fire. Great video whatsoever, keep up the great work !
This was a pretty good video. The greyscale as a "blessing" to help fight the Others is well-founded and puts a pretty nice twist on the statues in the crypt. And the Last Hero being entombed there makes sense under certain circumstances. However, Azor Ahai being entombed there does not. The original AA myth from Asshai is based around events in the Great Empire of the Dawn and not Westeros. Those places are pretty far away from each other. Then, there's also the plethora of other names associated with the Azor Ahai myth (Hyrkoon the Hero, etc). I think it's fair to assume that the AA myth is by nature cyclical, not linear. We know of at least two permutations (a past one and a future one) so it stands to reason there could be more instances of the "prophecy" taking place. Before, in between and after the two defined ones. The Westerosi Long Night would then be a seperate event from the Great Empire of the Dawn variation and the Last Hero and AA can be decoupled. It would especially also explain why the antagonists of the events are different. "Darkness" is a natural, integral part of the world and can never be fully overcome but only contained for a given amount of time. If darkness could be ended once and for all, it already would have been. Conversly, if darkness was all-powerful, it would have prevailed during the first cycle. But indeed, the cycle just goes on and on. What truely would even qualify any of the current heroes to rise above what has already been achieved? It ties into the fallacy of the end of history, something that plagues the real world badly. People always have a sense that the current status quo is to last forever, or that soon an event will occur that will allow such a state to start. But nothing can last. After every summer, there'll be winter. The false hope that the threat now showing itself north of the wall will be the final one is simply necessary to justify the sacrifices that will have to be made. The change from light to dark, from green to grey, from summer to winter, will always occur and will always be violent. The actions that facilitate the change can never be enough to stop the inevitable reaction that once more reverses the world to the previous order, much like a pendulum that will always swing back and forth. The only status quo that can be permanent then is neither summer nor winter, neither light nor darkness, but just plain nothingness. Anyway, back to the Long Night/ Last Hero: the Last Hero was undoubtedly an iteration of the AA myth and could likely be your Eldric Shadowchaser. The name certainly has First Men vibes. And he likely will be entombed where his foe fell, where Winter fell. The peculiarity of the crypts beneath Winterfell is of course that they started at the lowest levels. Normally, one would start filling it up at the top and dig deeper as time goes (simply more reasonable). What reason would there be for doing it the way the ancient Starks did it then? Probably to hide something, a terrible secret. Winter fell there. The Great Other fell there and is burried (asleep) at the lowest, conveniently collapsed, parts of the crypts, watched over by his vanquisher and his descendants. Waiting to be awoken himself by his loyal followers in the icy wastelands beyond the Wall. That, of course, is pure conjecture and would give the Great Other a very physical form - however indestructible. Now, I just want to make two points that relate to the conjecture above: 1. The Great Other's real name. We are never told (directly) what the Great Other's name is. In fact, it seems known only to few and never spoken aloud. Whatever his form, this Great Other would be a being of considerable power. Communicating telepathically/ warging should well be within the realm of possibilities, probably even in dream state. As you will recall, Hodor is, at one point terrified of the crypts. Most readers believe it to be due to Eddard's death occuring at the same time, but why would that scare him so? I think something else stirred down there. Also, Hodor's "Hodor persona" hasn't been explained in the books (and I just desperately hope we won't get the same lame reveal as in the show). We just know something happend to Walder (his real name) when he was a boy. I think Walder at a young age wandered into the crypts - unfortunately at a more lucid time for the GO, who warged into Hodor's mind and traumatized him forever with the knowledge he passed along. (Remember that it's said to be easier to warg into a creature if it is "used" to it, aka someone else already has done it. It's also stated that warging into humans is much harder than into animals. Yet, Bran manages, at an early point, to warg into Hodor. Almost as if it has already happend.) The only thing Hodor ever said afterwards was the name given by the GO: Hodor. That is the GO's name. You see, the GO is in essence a God of Winter, a God of Night. In norse mythology, the God of Winter and Night is Hödr, anglicized as Hodur. Hodur to Hodor is not exactly a big leap. Going back to our previous notion of the cyclical nature of the myth, in Norse mythology winter and summer are also seen as cyclical (obviously) with the solstices being specifically the turning points (summer solstice: Baldr is killed by Hödr on the longest day of the year; winter solstice: Hödr is killed by Vali, another brother, born specifically to avenge Baldr) of power in between the two. This ties in with the necessary violence at every turning point as well as the great importance of fratricide in the myth/ cycle. (I can give a further excursion on request) 2. The true purpose of the Horn of Winter. We aren't entirely sure what the horn does. It's generally said the horn will bring down the Wall by causing earthquakes or by awakening ice dragons or giants. Interesting that two out of three involve waking something up. What if it's true purpose is to awaken the Great Other instead, awaken him from his slumber underneath Winterfell. The irony being that the Wall was there to prevent the Others from awakening their master in other ways and that the horn doesn't do anything but render the Wall pointless. At the same time, those ancient Stark Kings would probably rise to form the first line against the Great Other, but still, the outcome would be catastrophic for whoever currently resided in Winterfell, if the horn is blown. This has specifically interesting implications for: Euron Greyjoy, the Boltons and Freys and finally Stannis Baratheon. To be noted: these thoughts by and large tie into my greater theory (which is, again, conjecture I only believe for the fantastical conclusions it allows) that "Planetos" is actually Lovecraft version of earth (in the far future or distant past).
Hi Bier Wolf, thanks for the response, some great observations in this write up - You could be right about Azor Ahai but looking through all the evidence I've been sifting through it seems as though they are both the same person, I could be wrong but in my opinion one is the northern memory of the hero of the long night and one is the eastern memory of the same hero, hence why one of Azor Ahais name is Eldric Shadowchaser - The cyclical nature of Georges writing is also very clear as you've said, and you've done a great job writing it up - Im not too sure on who the great other is at this stage, but at a guess I think it might be the Night Queen, and as you've said is buried at the bottom of the crypts with our Eldric Stoneskin character, an icey woman stolen from the others by an ancient Stark for their magic, just as Sansa was stolen away and kept in the Eyrie, which is constantly referred to as an ice tomb) and hence why we see others symbolism in the Starks too - Excellent observation about Hodor, I've already made this connection and have included it in part 6, I won't go into why but for now we actually see Hodor paralleling our kings of winter quite a lot, we see him bursting our of the crypts at the end of ACOC, he's also carrying a rusted (Red) sword taken from a king of winter and ends up with a long white beard and one eye frozen shut (Azor Ahai symbolism) while beyond the wall, hence the name Hodor meaning God of Winter, a very close title to King of Winter - I think the horn of winter wakes these kings of winter too which ill go into in part 4, and in my opinion the idea that the Horn "brings down the wall" is a misunderstood memory of the wrong wall, I think that maybe the horn brings down the collapsed wall in the crypts while also waking giants from the earth Thanks for all your comments, id love to see your write up if you have one available?
@@eldric.stoneskin ey, thanks for answering! I'm way too drunk to respond properly now on account of my sister's birthday but I'll get back in 10 hours or so with further explanations and an invitation
@@eldric.stoneskin Alright, I'm sober-ish. For the first point of AA and LH being the same: it's very possible and plausible. IRL, there's the concept of "comparative mythology", which is to say, similiar themes and stories are found in various cultures. Examples being the dead god (Norse Baldr and Egyptian Osiris) or the center of the world (Norse Yggdrasil and Hindu Mount Meru). It could very well be that AA is LH, just retold in another cultural context and due to the years (allegedly 8'000 years) has been changed to the point the characters seem different. My earliest theories usually also were based on the assumption that the two were the same, but the search for who it was specifically led me, as many, to the Bloodstone Emperor - as the one to cause the Long Night, he is intrinsically linked to the myth, even if he is more of a villain. The Bloodstone Emperor claims descent from the "God-on-Earth" and thus the Lion of the Night and the Maiden-made-of-Light. Quite the auspicious lineage, to be sure. Anyway, we know the line of this legendary dynasty to end with the Bloodstone Emperor (officially) but most peculiar is the fact that his sister was Empress, the first ever. Before them, all other rulers were male. Did they go by firstborn or by firstborn male? Firstborn male is prevalent in most cultures we know of and seems to also have been the case here. After the God on Earth came six Emperors and only then an Empress, in other words, six times the firstborn would have been male and on the seventh it would be female. Possible, but with a chance of (1/2)^7=0.78%. Thus it stands to reason that we can assume male primogeniture. Why was she titled Amethyst Empress? She was likely married to the real Emperor, whose name has been forgotten. Possibly, this line of Emperors participated in incest as enthusiastically as the Valyrians, considering their awesome God blood, so the Amethyst Empress might have been sister and wife to the real Emperor - and the Bloodstone usurped them both. The theme of two brothers quarelling is omnipresent in ASOIAF (Harlon the Hunter and Herndon of the Horn, Ser Erryk and Ser Arryk, Ser Harlan Hunter and Lord Gilwood Hunter (according to Littlefinger), Harle the Huntsman and Harle the Handsome, Euron and Urrigon/ Aeron/ Victarion, the Hound and the Mountain, etc). In several instances, this is also over a shared love interest. GRRM has confirmed Planetos to be round and thus it is definetly possible to get from the Great Empire of the Dawn to Westeros by sailing the sunset sea. In fact, Mance Rayder has a most peculiar cloak: "My brothers feared I might die before they got me back to Maester Mullin at the Shadow Tower, so they carried me to a wildling village where we knew an old wisewoman did some healing. She was dead, as it happened, but her daughter saw to me. Cleaned my wounds, sewed me up, and fed me porridge and potions until I was strong enough to ride again. And she sewed up the rents in my cloak as well, with some scarlet silk from Asshai that her grandmother had pulled from the wreck of a cog washed up on the Frozen Shore. It was the greatest treasure she had, and her gift to me.” He swept the cloak back over his shoulders" Red silk from Asshai found at a shipwreck on the western coast of Westeros doesn't necessarily mean the ship itself was from Asshai but it is still an interesting thing. There's more evidence that the sunset sea CAN be crossed and that it has been done (that Farman dyke, as an example). We know that the Long Night was started by events in the Great Empire of the Dawn BUT it seems that it was ended by actions in Westeros. This ties in well with other anomalies of Westeros, such as the foundation of the Hightower (fused black stone that is destinctly unvalyrian - only other instance of such is the Five Forts of the Great Empire of the Dawn), the sea-faring Ironborn (they're believed to be First Men by most, but the First Men did not take to the sea. The technology might just have come from across the Sunset Sea. The Disputed Lands (by Crowsfood'd Daughter) has a nice video on this titled Ironborn Myth and Legend: The Great Nagga debate), etc. Specifically goes this then into two mythological rulers in Westeros: Garth the Green and the Grey King. Green as life and light and summer, Grey as death and night and winter (and stone?). What we specifically know of the both is that they lived long and had many children that went on to found noble houses of their own. And we know the Grey King had an older brother whose descendant brought fourth house Goodbrother (the name alone is pretty telling. Theirs was the "good brother", while the Grey King was the "bad brother". The sigil of house Goodbrother is a horn, and their seat is called Hammerhorn, said to be so far inland the smallfolk there have never seen the sea). Garth the Green was said to have actually green skin - and sometimes even horns/ antlers. The color green and the horns/ antlers are all ferility symbols and indeed he was said to make the land blossom and evenso the young girls and old crones alike. The Grey King meanwhile had grey eyes, hair and beard and even his skin grew grey in time. But he also had had many sons and one of these founded house Greyiron, whose sigil depicts the "Sea King", who likely IS the Grey King as he is said to have been the first to carve a ship out of the "pale wood of the demon tree Ygg" (that eludes to weirwoods and also to the Norse Yggdrasil). The first to build a ship -> the first to conquer the sea! But the Greyiron sigil depicts the Sea King with... green hair? I thus postulate that the Grey King used to be evermuch as Green as his older brother, who was none other than Garth the Green.
part 2: What then turned the Grey King grey? A fan favourite, Stannis Baratheon is of course famous for murdering his brother. Fratricide. Kinslaying. A sin most despised in the world of ASOIAF. And we note that descriptions of him are increasingly grey and corpselike, stonelike. The same thing that happend to the Grey King after he murdered his brother, Garth the Green. We now postulate that the Grey King was the Bloodstone Emperor and Garth the Green his older brother, married to the Amethyst Empress. This "gemstone emperors" line were all named after gemstones, the reason not explicit but commonly thought to reflect on the eye colour of the given emperour due to Daenerys' dream. Pearl, Jade, Tourmaline, Onyx, Topaz, Opal. "Bloodstone" as a gem in ASOIAF is described as green with red droplets. Fitting for a villain, but the green is striking. The previous gems also all existed in a green variation (though not explicitly in the story. Onyx eyes would very much be black ones). Now, the Long Night was then caused by the Bloodstone Emperor usurping his sister, allegedly, but as said, assuming she actually ruled is "weird" (the irony, I know. I'm saying a 0.78% chance is less likely than my unhinged conjecture). The Amethyst Empress was married to the "leal eldest brother" (so is Goodbrother's sire described; that would make that ancestor the "true heir" to something. I'll refer to him as the "Emerald Emperor" aka Garth the Green) who was then killed by Bloodstone Emperor, hoping to usurp the throne and marry his sister - but she, with another brother, fled to their colonies out east: Westeros. This new brother (or perhaps even son of the Emerald Emperor) is then your Eldric Shadowchaser, Azor Ahai and the Last Hero, and the Amethyst Empress serves as Nissa Nissa. I really just meandered into actually disproving the theory I had intended to strengthen. Guess I'm all aboard with AA=LH now. In this scenario, Eldric Shadowchaser would defeat the Others at Winterfell and probably ask his companion (great-nephew or son) Bran the Builder to build the crypts and castle as a prison for the Great Other and then start his watch over him, turning grey after having slain the Bloodstone Emperor in revenge; fratricide starts the cycle, fratricide ends the cycle. And his line is cursed to turn to stone (turn grey for kinslaying) to watch over the foe. This actually is a much more satisfying theory than I could have hoped for. Granted, it's totally unproven but it has potential, I'd say. It also is not at all contraditory to my Lovecraft stuff, but in facts builds on it. I'll just drop a few names as a teaser before rounding this up: Lion of the Night = Hastur the Unspeakable (also known as the Storm God in the Durran legend and antagonistic with the Drowned God; a twisted "fertility God" associated with the colour yellow; worshipped by the Valyrians but once they stopped, the Doom befell them. A member of the "Yellow Emperor" (-> king in yellow) dynasty still claims the Great Empire of the Dawn but is currently exiled to Carcosa), Maiden-made-of-Light = Shub-Niggurath (also known as "The Black Goat of the Woods with a thousand young" or in ASOIAF terms: Black Goat of Qohor), Drowned God = Cthulhu (obviously. Who hasn't picked up on this? According to the stories, Hastur and Cthulhu are half-brothers and absolute rivals. I believe that when "the bloodstone Emperor cast down the Gods of Yi Ti", he specifically stopped worshipping Hastur in favour of Cthulhu and the Long Night was specifically also a fight in between Cthulhu's minions (squishers, etc) and Hastur's (Shantaks, which are basically dragons -> shantaks as original dragons that still live in the GEOD capital of Asshai that are actually aliens (summoned with dragonbinder; dragonbinder summons dragons, dragons came when the second moon exploded (according to the Qaartheen) and the second moon cracked due to Nissa Nissa's piercing scream -> Lightbringer = Dragonbinder; Eldric Shadowchaser is "helped" by Hastur)). Drowned God symbolism is just very Cthulhu-esque) , Great Other = Ithaqua (known as "Death-Walker", "God of the Cold" or "God of the Winds"; specifically stated to be descendant of Hastur and Shub-Niggurath). The Old Gods of the Forest are actually two different (groups of) entities: Shudde M'ell (specifically the CotF variation of the Old Gods; Shudde M'ell is known for living subterranean, causes earthquakes and communicates telepathically. Also, the physical description of Shudde M'ell and his race of Chthonians is snake-y-worm-y like the roots in Bran's party cave) and Kthanid (benevolent brother of Cthulhu, as good as he is bad; emissary of the "Elder Gods", which genuienly seem to want to help). Finally: Bloodstone Emperor = Nyarlothotep (or at least, the Bloodstone Emperor is one of his human forms. Nyarlothotep has 999 avatars and can easily pass off as a human. He likes deception just for the sake of it and is generally a wicked but charming character (-> I think Euron is another of his 999 avatars). Nyarlothotep is worshipped by the church of starry wisdom - which also exists in ASOIAF and was actually founded by the Bloodstone Emperor. Central to the church of starry wisdom is the "Shining Trapezohedron", a weird, black stone that fell from Yuggoth - which I claim is the second moon from before. This stone has the power to summon Nyarlothotep in the form of "the haunter in the dark" and just generally causes chaos. Current whereabout in ASOIAF? The Hightower basement) That Hightower stuff is then relevant for Euron's intentions in Winds of Winter. I'm currently in a discord ASOIAF RP game (it just restarted) and last time I was the Hightowers and that's where I came to this idea. On that note, if you're interested to join, I think the Host would like more players.
Very good points, the brother vs brother example is very prevalent as you’ve said, Stannis (a grey man) and his brother Renly (a green man) we even see two men, possibly brothers, at the Weirwood sacrifice Bran witnesses too
The quality of this content with these great ideas guarantee this channel will be huge by the time winds comes out. Similar to LML but still unique. Looking forward to more :)
Really like this video. I like how you shine a light on Rickon's connection to stone as he gets overlooked alot. I would like to know your thoughts on Lyanna having a statue when the women aren't usually given a statue. Also do you think Ned's bones not being in Winterfell with a statue might end up weakening the magic? I feel like it makes Lyanna's statue critical since Benjen is not buried there either. Rob does not have a statue either come to think of it. Which could be a bad omen maybe?
Lyannas statue and all the other stone women in the series will be the subject of my next series, I need to do a reread but at this stage thinking it might represent the idea that the Nights Queen might be down beneath Winterfell too
Reminds me of the real world mountain king motif, that a legendary King like Arthur, Charlemagne or Barbarossa is asleep in a mountain and said to wake once their country/people needs them most
Exactly right, very perceptive! I think George is also hinting at this motif with Gregor Clegane as well, he's referred to as "The Mountain", is described constantly as a stone giant, and is resurrected with the last name Strong, which is interesting as Strong in German means Stark, giving us another resurrected stark stone giant that implies the mountain king as you've said
@@eldric.stoneskin funny, I've made this exact observation about house Strong and how in the german translation they're renamed to Kraft (strength, force) Recently rediscovered that I've commented this on a Joe Magician video a few years ago and he answered that he looked into it and apparently it was te translators choice
@@eldric.stoneskin There's also Argoth Stone-Skin the Grey Giant from the age of heros Have you take inspiration from the Disputed Lands' Grey King series?
@@DukeDukeGo I love her channel, its one of the best, her Ironborn series is amazing, I'll be giving her a shoutout while touching on some of her theories as well in part 4 or 5 when I cover the Ironborn, as I think the Grey king may have been a Proto-Stark as there are too many parallels between the Grey King myth and the Starks for it to be a coincidence
@@eldric.stoneskin Well the Mountain is a headless creepfest, he is the example of how this idea goes wrong, he is never a hero or a force of good in life, so he's this cthonic mountain king evil force type in death.
19:00 The idea that people used to be giant in Westeros is facinating. The giant kings must be part giant and part human, due to the fact that pure giants are lower intelligence as shown in the series. It could be that the First Men came from Essos, and desired the power of the giants, and interbred with female giants to create half-giant offspring. Then, the humans desired the power of the CotF so they tried to interbeed with them, to get access to the Weirnet (Azor Ahai X Nissa Nissa). Alternatley, it could be that the Giants and the CotF were the original two homnid species on Westeros (this is cannon). And the Giants desired the magic of the CotF, and the CotF desired the power of the giants. They had to interbeeed, but the size difference made this impossible. The solution was that female CotF had to be impregnated by Giants, and the pregnancy would always kill them, and the baby would usually die too. These women were sacrifices. But eventulaly, a baby developed enough to become viable, after the death of its mother. This giant-CotF hybrid would be medium sized. He could then interbreed with both giants and CotF, creating more medium sized people. This population of hybrids became known as 'humans'. Therefore, the humans on Planetos (or just westeros) are part giant (evidenced by the recurrence of very huge people like Gregor, Brienne, Hodor), and part CotF, as evidenced by the skinchanging abilities some have.
Excellent video!! It’s got it all! Good audio✔️ Artwork ✔️ Original theory (at least one I haven’t heard)✔️ Text to back it up✔️ This is a heck of a production, subbed and waiting for more
Hands down the best theory I’ve ever heard. It’s gonna blow my mind if this doesn’t happen in the books. Can’t wait to see the future videos, keep making these and your channel is without a doubt gonna be big
This first video of yours might well be the best thing to ever come out of the UA-cam's algorithm: Brilliantly researched, stunningly presented! You really got me thinking about the topic, now it all makes so much sense in my head. I cannot wait until the follow-up, keep up the amazing work! 💪🏽 PS: Could you provide a bit more detail on the music you used? I'd love to hear more of this Leviathan, but I couldn't find anything. D:
Thanks very much, really appreciate the comments! The music is a project myself and a friend have been working on, hoping to have a UA-cam channel for the music up soon, check back in the description in a week or so, should hopefully have a link up
Loved the theory! For me it is something very new and exiting. Waiting for the next parts! I want to know more about the greyscale in connection to all of this.
Bravo!! Great video! I've only read Asoiaf once so far and on my reread I'm realizing that I'm still following mostly the plot and not paying enough attention to the language and the symbolism 😮 I don't know why! Coz I do that with literary fiction but your video and LML have made me focus more on those aspects and pick up on these nuances..so much thanks!
One thing I didn’t hear you mention was the size of the stairs down to the crypt. Forgot the exact word but they are bigger than normal. Just another piece to the theory of the old kings being bigger.
I thought I remembered the stairs being described as being larger than normal as well but couldn’t find a quote that referenced it? Let me know if you remember it
Omg, I believe this wholeheartedly. Cat and Sansa both resemble weirdwood trees as well, white/porcelain skin with auburn/red hair. My new favorite theory.
Yep exactly right, I’m planning on doing a series after this one of the stone women in the series too, amazingly all of the crying female statues in the series have the term “Ly“ in their name as well, think LYanna crying in the crypts, CataLYn becoming lady stone heart who weeps red tears, ALYssa’s tears in the Eeyrie, ALaYne Stone, the weeping woman statue in LYs, if you can think of anymore let me know!
I love this. It’s scary and I can see you put a lot of thought into it and given us a new theory that has never been thought of in the past 12 years since I started watching game of thrones and the past 11 since I start reading the books.
@@eldric.stoneskin I just watched part two and you make good points. There is definitely symbolism and I wonder your thoughts on the deep Ones. I believe they also have their origin in the wargs and greenseers. They seem to be children of the Forest that spent too long in fish form but there has to be more to it than that with patches and shiri(?) I forgot stanis daughters name.
Great video, can't wait for part two. Have you given thought how the Stone Kings will be reawakened? If Stannis captures Winterfell (which is probable imo) maybe Shireen is brought down from the wall and her latent Greyscale may have something to do with it?
Thanks very much! I think Shireen will be burnt by Melisandre to resurrect Jon and this will reawaken her Greyscale, passing it to Jon as he comes back to life making him the stone dragon that kings blood is said to wake But I think horn of winter wakes the stone kings already in the crypts and they are the giants from the earth the horn is said to wake, and I also think Bran has something to do with their resurrection too, all this will be in part 3 Thanks for watching!
@@bronhaller Yep that's exactly right, i'll be going into the nights watch and their vows in the next video, there's also a very interesting line people have struggled to explain in the vows which the stark kings being the first nights watch explains, here a little sneak peak from my next script.... The Nights Watch interestingly swear to be the “watchers on the Walls”, which makes no sense on the singular wall that the current nights watch reside at, but if we suspect the first Night Watch became the stone Kings of Winter, the Walls reference makes perfect sense, as its noted in the crypts that “the dead sat on their stone thrones against the walls”, and with George constantly mentioning that these Stone kings are eternally watching from these walls, this could be the reason for the plural walls mentioned in the nights watch oath
Fun fact, sickles also symbolize time. Sickles are used to harvest, symbolizing the passage of time between each season. The ancient Greek Titan of Time, Chronos, had a sickle as his symbol.
Great pick up! That’s amazing! Would make sense then that the bronze sickle could sacrifice people so they could be reawakened thousands of years in the future, essentially travelling through time in a way, great point, well done 🍻
Very interesting idea, I'm not sure I'm convinced that it's more than just GRRM's writing style, but I like your deep analysis of the text. I'm looking forward to seeing part 2!
Clearly this video is still on my mind. Even in Braavos they have Titan of Braavos, “a giant as tall as a mountain…he would wake with fire in his eyes, his rocky limbs grinding and groaning…to smash the enemies.” So many references in so many areas of rock being personified. “Stone is a mountain’s daughter” - Mya Stone. “The mountain is your mother.” Stonesnake And on and on and on. Ugh. How have I never seen these clear connections?!?! I’m annoyed with myself lol
Haha the connections really are everywhere, I have the Titan of Braavos in part 3, an interesting thing I picked up on with the Titan is that the ship Arya travels to Braavos is called “the titans daughter” illuding to Arya being a direct descendant of this giant stone warrior who comes to life to defend his city, just like her actual giant stone ancestors in the crypts
@@eldric.stoneskin yes! Ok, that’s another great point. And when you consider Stonesnake is telling Jon that the mountain is his mother, well. Lyanna is the only woman in the crypts of Winterfell. Maybe she’s not an ancient Stark King of Winter, but she’s a Stark. (Also, I think Stonesnake is an interesting name. Dragons are often compared to winged serpents. Jon is a Stark and a Targaryen, he’s essentially a Stonesnake…and if you’re gonna wake a dragon from stone…well, this stuff could take me a million directions lol)
Maybe the reason that "there must always be a Stark at Winterfell" is because someone is needed to wake up the stone kings, kick start their reanimation. Maybe Bran will escape back to Winterfell in order to wake them up?
I think your exactly right, I’m going to cover this in part 6, as I think the Three eyed Crow (a ancient greenseeing nightswatch man) might be using bran to get back to his original stone body to defeat the others
Ooh long form essay video series. This is truly what I live for from the Asoiaf community, recently its all been disorganized chat streams. I'll let you know what I think when I finish. ❤
😂 I love it, I know your not finished, but just the polish, the pacing, the organization. Great job. It's a whole a vibe and I'm into it😅 Can't wait for the next video. I'll give it a second listen to comment but I enjoyed it listening at work.
If I had a penny for the amount of jokes I could make about each mention of the Starks being "hard", I would have enough to buy myself a castle in southwestern Ireland
@@eldric.stoneskin No worries. Just make good content, put it into 10 minute sized chunks for the algorithm and make UA-cam shorts out of it and you will get traction. 2nd make facts videos about the ASOIAF universe because that draws viewers and needs little speculative research. Third use the other materials like the Dance of Dragons and Dunk n Egg stories to make content whether facts or theories. 4th use alternate social media platforms like Instagram etc. attract viewers. Fifth Branch out into other fandoms because ASOIAF is waning because GRRM hasn't released new books for a while. Lastly be loud in advertising your theories, don't call it the Greyscale men under Winterfell call it the Stonemen who will save the world or something. Anyway I hope you succeed on UA-cam. Have a good one.
I haven’t heard a new theory that I really liked in a long time. This was really good. I just found your channel and I look forward to watching more from you.
I love this theory, only thing that makes me sceptical is that many other characters are also connected to stone within the text (especially the Lannisters), though on the other hand I don't think anything is close to the level the Starks are compared to stone!
Many of the other stone characters in the books parallel Azor ahai which I’ll being going though in part 3, your right about the lannisters tho, I’m not sure what the connection is, wether they’re supposed to represent who the starks original were? Either way they are also first men, are strongly associated with stone and have a “hall of heroes” beneath Casterly Rock where “Kings stand their eternal guard”
@@eldric.stoneskin Interesting. We also have moments like Bran's first dream where the Lannister twins are personified as stone lions and the fact that Tyrion keeps being likened to a gargoyle lol.
@@yggdrasil2 Yes very true, and now I think about it Tyrion is also described as a giant constantly, they're showing us all the same symbolism as the Starks for some reason I haven't been able to figure out, unless an ancient Lannister was apart of the first stark heroes group of stone heroes?
@@eldric.stoneskin The Stark and the Lannisters are sometimes mirrored, with both branding themselves with an image of a currently extinct apex predator in their region, so maybe that's important somehow? Good point about Tyrion being likened to a giant, wonder if that's important.
Winter is coming and it falls at winterfell? I always kinda thought it was something like this since the battle of winterfell is where The war for dawn is fought in the show and is where winter had technically failed.
Great and very interesting video. Whether true or not, all these theories both show how great the story could be and what a pity it is that Martin hasn't been able to finish it (but let's not delve into that discussion (even though I kind of did just now 😂). Again, great video.
It would have! I was hoping for it but I think it was too high fantasy for HBO, I’m thinking it’s going to be Bran raising these stone kings, skinchanging them to fight the others himself, which would explain why Bran did nothing in season 8s war for the dawn
The word "stark" also means hard/strong/durable in Swedish and German. Cool video, glad this popped up on my front page, the algorithm gods favour you😊
Yes! Well done! I knew it meant Strong but never made that “hard” connection, I think it’s also the reason George resurrects Gregor Clegane, the giant warrior constantly referred to as made of stone, as Sir Robert Strong, effectively naming a resurrected stone giant as a Stark, I’ve got this example planned for part 4
You’ve made a great connection there with stark meaning hard, that’s amazing, would you mind if I used this comment in a UA-cam short for the channel?
@@eldric.stoneskin well I'm a Finn, so Swedish is a familiar language! And sure, feel free to use the comment😊 good point about The Mountain, never thought about that before but it makes sense. Also makes me think about Melisandre's "waking dragons from stone"
@@eldric.stoneskin Not sure about swedish, but in german it's definitely just strong and durable
Maybe hard in the sense of a hard liqour would be called stark, but it's not used in the hard as opposite of soft sense
@@DukeDukeGo yeah I wasn't so sure about the exact meaning of the word in German, just that it means something very similar. In Swedish the word has quite a lot of different uses and meanings.
@@eldric.stoneskin There’s a theory somewhere that hints at the Strongs being an old Stark offshoot, hence all the funky details George bestows on the house
My man just dropped the hardest first youtube video ever. You just got yourself another well earned subscriber
Ahhh I see what you did there, well played.
Thanks for the sub 🍻
Ikr, wtf. Started at the top, where go next
Ned is very wary whenever entering the crypts, feeling judged and unworthy; shivering at the thought of the red rust stains of ancient swords long turned to dust by time and what it meant. The iron swords (note they are all made of iron, not bronze in contradiction to the Andal claim of bringing iron to Westeros; Old Nan also mentioned that the Others hated iron) of the Winter Kings supposedly keeps them at rest. Ned felt horror at the idea of the spirits of his honored ancestors loose in Winterfell and Ned wasn't a man to fear things irrationally. "There must always be a Stark in Winterfell" may be a tradition rooted in fear. I mean, if the Hungry Wolf wakes up invulnerable and discovered Ned allowed a sept to be built in Winterfell, married an Andal, and allowed his children to be taught by a Septa....well, it would NOT be pretty. To say nothing of any Stark waking up to find the Boltons in charge of Winterfell.
As to stark meaning hard, I believe that correlation is specific to a land being called “stark” because the attempts to remain settled there are so grueling that only the toughest or “hardest” people would stay there, or even try to remain there.🤔
@@tallboy2234 Think you replied to the wrong comment. No worries.
The short of it is: Ned's afraid of his dead ancestors and family. If Lord Eddard Stark is afraid of something, he has very good reasons. The man wasn't afraid of The Mountain, Tywin Lannister, Khal Drogo, or even Robert Baratheon at his most angry, but he is very afraid of those crypts. Consider that.
"What is dead may never die, but rises harder and stronger."
Theon can be a Stark and a GREYjoy
Exactly right, and interestingly this Ironborn ritual includes the line "Bless him with Stone" before he is resurrected from death.......
@@eldric.stoneskin I thought the saying ment Cthulhu what’s your take on euron Greyjoy some say he is Randall Flag from Stephen king
@@wolfsbanealphas617 I think he is meaning to reference Cthulhu on purpose with this for sure, I think George is having fun again with his names and wordplays as Cthulhu is an Eldritch god, which may be a hint that Eldric Shadowchaser/Stoneskin is also an ancient incomprehensible being that defied death and will again rise from his slumber
Theon's dead the minute Jon Snow sees him. It doesn't matter what good deeds or heroics he pulls off, he is dead. If he is very lucky, Jon will behead him.
I never noticed this! 👌
I don't know what you've done here, but you've cracked the code. This is the first ASOIAF theory video I've seen in a very long time that's really kept me listening to it like a child. Extremely well articulated video, ambience background music, images, and overall tone. Chapeau. Subscribed & eagerly looking forward for more!
Thank you so much! Really appreciate that! Cheers!
This is legit one of the best put together and entertaining theories I’ve heard so far
Thanks very much!
I wonder if he would collab with David lightbringer. would be amazing
Wow, so the weirwood realm almost acts like Valhalla, a realm for honored dead or in this case magical dead, so that they will return as an army come ragnarok/long night.
Exactly right, and Valhalla is a feast as well, and interestingly we see a Stark feast of the dead through Theons dream and the Ironborn speak of a feast after death as well beneath the waves
The thought about the Stark stone kings being inspired by the real-world terracotta army is so interesting, considering many of the "great wonders of the world" George has listed in ASOIAF are inspired by real world wonders already (the pyramids, the wall, etc.) and since it's known that 9 of these wonders were man-made, perhaps the Stark stone kings are one of these wonders! (although not sure how their origin could be so secret to even the Starks if they would be listed in a book of wonders..)
Amazing video and theory!! Cant wait to see more ❤
Thanks very much! Yes that’s a great point, do we know what all 9 wonders in ASOIAF are? Interesting that you should point that out too because one of the 9 wonders in George’s world I can think of happens to be a giant stone man who comes to life to defend its city, who also happens to be holding a broken sword…
@@eldric.stoneskin Yeah! So far there's apparently 7 man-made wonders confirmed in the text: the Valyrian roads, the Wall, the Titan of Braavos, the bells of Norvos, the long bridge of Volantis, and the now ruined palace with a thousand rooms in Sarnath. All these wonders do seem to have a similar theme of connecting people (the roads and bridges) , protecting people, (the wall and titan) and perhaps warning people (the bell). Very interesting!
Fantastic! Trying to hear you over the music is a little rough but that might be my own neuro-weirdness lol but I really like this theory and I'm excited for more!
Ive had that same feedback from others so not just you, ill turn down the intro music for the next video, really appreciate the advice and support
So amazing to see a new spin on themes that have been discussed over and over. You really added another layer.
Thanks very much, appreciate the support
Loved this video. Tying in all the mottos of house Stark was well done. Maybe I missed it but "There must always be a Stark at Winterfell" could lead to the blood magic of the wirewood trees. Possibly needing someone from the bloodline to awaken them or maybe they only take command from a Stark.
Yes! Exactly right Daneeka! ill be going into this in video 3 or 4 I think, as I think every generation of stark need to be buried in the crypts so there could be a direct blood line between the first stark and Bran, as I think Bran has something to do with waking these giants as well...
@@eldric.stoneskinPJ's "time traveling Bran" video series ends with him staring that Bran needed Jon Snow to reject becoming the Lord of Winterfell by Stannis, because Jon would probably have burned the Heart Tree as a sacrifice to R'lohr. If that were the case, then Bran would have no way of waking up the Stone Kings, and (per your theory) would kill their souls if the tree is rooted and burned.
I won't lie, this may be one of the best theories I have seen. Best wishes my friend!😊
I really appreciate that, cheers 🍻
I also noticed that the name Shadowchaser could also be a reference to fighting the Others, because the Ofhers are called “pale shadows”.
Yep that’s exactly right, good pick up
They could also be an army for the other's to use, saying that they can raise the dead. A lot has been forgotten since the first long night
Yes very true it could happen, but I think this might be why the statues were armed with Iron swords, not only to stop them from being raised by the Others but to arm them for when they rise, as iron is a metal the others are said to hate
Wow.. that is crazy... amazing video man!I just realised that Jon has dreams of ending up down in the crypts too! Just like a stone king of winter....
Exactly…. And in his dreams he’s not scared of the stone kings, he’s scared of what awaits him, an eternity of darkness maybe…..
So glad to see a fresh theory. Winterfell crypts has to be one of the most interesting mysteries. Great first video bro hope your channe is blessed by the algorythm
Appreciate it mate, cheers 🍻
Apart from the intro and outro music issue that you've already addressed, this was super cool! Fun fact; in Nordic mythology, the first ever being, and ancestor of all men, gods and jotnar, was licked out of a salt stone by a great big cow, meaning every humanoid creature in that mythos quite literally comes from stone. The creature's name, of course, is Ymir, and the cow is called Audhumbla. Perhaps George may have looked to this as well, or so I like to think.
Very interesting! There seems to be a lot of “stone born” examples in myth, another example would be Prometheus who shaped man out of mud with Athena breathing life into his clay figure
35:00 - That Eldric Shadow chase is the Westerosi name for Azor Ahai, makes perfect sense to me and and ive heard it before. David Lightbringer has also theorised that Elric is a stark ancestor due to name similarites. But the idea that Eldric stoneskin is the same person, and is at the bottom of the crypt is the perfect completion of this theory.
So, that meanst THE azor ahai is in the crypt of winterfell. That also makes sense becuase of the foreshadowing that a 'dragon' is in the crypt of winterfell. Azor Ahai, is seperately implied to be a 'dragon person' in some way.
So, overalll, who was AA / Eldric shadowchaser? He had some blood form the east, possibly Great Empire of the Dawn. Either HE came from the east, or his father did, and interbred with the Westerosi First Men, who themselves have interbred with CotF. Eldric, then becomes a greenman / druid of the weirwood trees. Possible the Weiwood grove standing where Winterfell now stands. He then sees a CotF priestess, Nissa Nissa, and lusts after her, and or her connecition to the weirnet. He interacts with her forcibly (either capture, marriage, rape, romance), and she becomes pregnant and dies in childbirth, or is killed. Through the crime of killing her, or her death, Eldric uses her as a portal to force his way into the Weirnet. This is simaltaneous with the Red Comet impacting the Moon, and causing moon meterors to shower down. The Weirnet, being raped and desfiled, bifurcates into two halfs - the living green half adn the death frozen half. human spirits within the weirnet are then exiles out of the weirnet as the Others, as the Long night falls.
However, as the Long Night falls, the good druids begin a ritual to ressurect them into the Green Zombies, that make them able to survive the Long Night and fight the Others. Eldric and Nissa are both dead, their spirits shattered into the weirnet. Eldrics body may still be animated as the Nights King, and Nissa as the corpse queen.
But, the offspring of their union, a baby, surivved and was adopted by humans. This boy grows to become the Last Hero (perhaps HE is Eldrich stone skin/shadow chaser?) and he finds the magic of the CotF, and is the one to slay his father (and mother) (with a sword made of moon meteor/ comet iron?), and end the Long Night.
Then, after the Long Night ended, the Last Hero Eldric was entombed in a crypt by the hearrt tree, and the castle of Winterfell was built around it.
You've nailed it! Well done! Was thinking this baby may have been Bran the Builder as he built the crypts, seemingly had magical abilities and worked closely with the CotF? It's really hard to tell the specifics but fun to theorise about. Also planning on giving Dave a shout out next video as it covers the Nights watch and crosses over with his Green zombies theory quite a bit, and he's the GOAT of ASOIAF Symbolism
@@eldric.stoneskin It all makes alot of sense, the only thing that dosent scan for me, is this implies that when the Others come, Eldric Shadowchaser willl like awaken in his throne in the crypts, and come out swinging. And that seems too high fantasy for me. Instead, I think it'll be that currently living people will become the new Eldric. So, that leads me to suspect that Eldric is dead on his throne in the crypt, and cannot rise, but his conscisness is within the Weirwood, and his presence will be subtle and synonymous with the magic of the weirnet, and however that will be utilised. Perhaps as a ghost in the weirnet that Bran sees, and then it's Brans will that makes the stark skeletons arise from the crypts and fight.
@@umwha You could be right, but with all the examples of literal statues coming to life in the series including, The Stone Kings of the Crypts, The Shrouded Lord, the Titan of Braavos, I think its very likely just that will happen, actual statues coming to life would be too high fantasy I agree, but ancient people turned to stone with Greyscale reanimating is very possible I think, but I agree with you that currently living person, I think Jon, will need to become the next Eldric, and after contracting greyscale in his resurrection end up down in the crypts to await the next long night
@@eldric.stoneskin I just cant imagine an ancient person, literally standing up from the crypts, and walking out into the open. Would he talk? Would he explain himself?
I think it'll be more like this. The stone kings on their thrones are like the people on the Weirwood thrones - they will never stand up, but they are both alive and dead, and their consciosness will be active. Likewise, there may be 'statues coming to life' vocabulary as you beautifully lay out in this video, but there is even more 'Trees are warriors' vocabulary, but I dont think the trees will literally pull themselves out fo the ground and march - instead its the conscionsnesses within the trees that will use the powers of nature to fight - only symbolically becoming tree warriors. Liekwsie, Stoneified people, may use their psychic power to do something, using rock or earth as a conduit, rather than them standing up and walking.
I think perhaps a key element here with the statues is the motif of 'giving an object a face'. Like, the trees were given faces, IMO by the humans, because when you humanise an object it becomes easier to skinchange into. The COTF carved faces on limestone pillars (in the Arianne chapter). The creation of a statue, is the pinnacle of personifying an object (stone), and that idea has previosly been linked to skinchanging and psychic powers. So, that makes me thing GRRM is invoking the idea that when you make something into a human image, or personify something, like making it into a 'graven image' or a religious idol, then it can become a conduit for disembodied consciosness, or you can look through its eyes. That sort of thing, would link what we already know about weiwood psychic networks, and this emphasis on statues appearing to look, or judge.
@@umwha have to agree if only because George already has far too many characters running around that adding more (undead/dead?) heroes just isn't feasible.
ooo i loved this, i though about how maybe greyscale may be used in this tranformation into stone beings that can be reanimated.
Exactly right, well done! I’m going into Greyscale in part 3, there’s actually two characters who have greyscale in the main series that have the same name as a stark king which is more foreshadowing I think
Starks sigil is a grey direwolf. They have eyes described as grey. GREYscale turns living men into stone.
You're totally onto something. Excellent video.
Thanks very much!
Will be tuned in for this channel.
What if Greyscale is Fire’s last attempt/weapon at saving humanity ? We’ve always seen it as a disease whereas it might actually be a “benign” anomaly that humanity might use against the others.
I haven’t put too much thought into it, especially since there seems to be a strong symbolism on Jon ( who probably is the last hero) embodying ice as well as fire. Great video whatsoever, keep up the great work !
Yes I think your right, I think these greyscale kings are fire and ice too
You made me think of Theon, Theon, who dreams of Bran calling him from the tree. He is indeed a STARK.
Yes exactly, and he undergoes a grey transformation too and interestingly thinks of himself as a ghost in Winterfell
Have watched alot of ASOIAF theory videos and this is one of the best I've seen. Please make more!
Wow thankyou! Don’t worry there is plenty more to come!
This was a pretty good video. The greyscale as a "blessing" to help fight the Others is well-founded and puts a pretty nice twist on the statues in the crypt. And the Last Hero being entombed there makes sense under certain circumstances. However, Azor Ahai being entombed there does not. The original AA myth from Asshai is based around events in the Great Empire of the Dawn and not Westeros. Those places are pretty far away from each other. Then, there's also the plethora of other names associated with the Azor Ahai myth (Hyrkoon the Hero, etc). I think it's fair to assume that the AA myth is by nature cyclical, not linear. We know of at least two permutations (a past one and a future one) so it stands to reason there could be more instances of the "prophecy" taking place. Before, in between and after the two defined ones. The Westerosi Long Night would then be a seperate event from the Great Empire of the Dawn variation and the Last Hero and AA can be decoupled. It would especially also explain why the antagonists of the events are different. "Darkness" is a natural, integral part of the world and can never be fully overcome but only contained for a given amount of time. If darkness could be ended once and for all, it already would have been. Conversly, if darkness was all-powerful, it would have prevailed during the first cycle. But indeed, the cycle just goes on and on. What truely would even qualify any of the current heroes to rise above what has already been achieved? It ties into the fallacy of the end of history, something that plagues the real world badly. People always have a sense that the current status quo is to last forever, or that soon an event will occur that will allow such a state to start. But nothing can last. After every summer, there'll be winter. The false hope that the threat now showing itself north of the wall will be the final one is simply necessary to justify the sacrifices that will have to be made.
The change from light to dark, from green to grey, from summer to winter, will always occur and will always be violent. The actions that facilitate the change can never be enough to stop the inevitable reaction that once more reverses the world to the previous order, much like a pendulum that will always swing back and forth. The only status quo that can be permanent then is neither summer nor winter, neither light nor darkness, but just plain nothingness.
Anyway, back to the Long Night/ Last Hero: the Last Hero was undoubtedly an iteration of the AA myth and could likely be your Eldric Shadowchaser. The name certainly has First Men vibes. And he likely will be entombed where his foe fell, where Winter fell. The peculiarity of the crypts beneath Winterfell is of course that they started at the lowest levels. Normally, one would start filling it up at the top and dig deeper as time goes (simply more reasonable). What reason would there be for doing it the way the ancient Starks did it then? Probably to hide something, a terrible secret. Winter fell there. The Great Other fell there and is burried (asleep) at the lowest, conveniently collapsed, parts of the crypts, watched over by his vanquisher and his descendants. Waiting to be awoken himself by his loyal followers in the icy wastelands beyond the Wall. That, of course, is pure conjecture and would give the Great Other a very physical form - however indestructible.
Now, I just want to make two points that relate to the conjecture above:
1. The Great Other's real name. We are never told (directly) what the Great Other's name is. In fact, it seems known only to few and never spoken aloud. Whatever his form, this Great Other would be a being of considerable power. Communicating telepathically/ warging should well be within the realm of possibilities, probably even in dream state. As you will recall, Hodor is, at one point terrified of the crypts. Most readers believe it to be due to Eddard's death occuring at the same time, but why would that scare him so? I think something else stirred down there. Also, Hodor's "Hodor persona" hasn't been explained in the books (and I just desperately hope we won't get the same lame reveal as in the show). We just know something happend to Walder (his real name) when he was a boy. I think Walder at a young age wandered into the crypts - unfortunately at a more lucid time for the GO, who warged into Hodor's mind and traumatized him forever with the knowledge he passed along. (Remember that it's said to be easier to warg into a creature if it is "used" to it, aka someone else already has done it. It's also stated that warging into humans is much harder than into animals. Yet, Bran manages, at an early point, to warg into Hodor. Almost as if it has already happend.) The only thing Hodor ever said afterwards was the name given by the GO: Hodor. That is the GO's name. You see, the GO is in essence a God of Winter, a God of Night. In norse mythology, the God of Winter and Night is Hödr, anglicized as Hodur. Hodur to Hodor is not exactly a big leap. Going back to our previous notion of the cyclical nature of the myth, in Norse mythology winter and summer are also seen as cyclical (obviously) with the solstices being specifically the turning points (summer solstice: Baldr is killed by Hödr on the longest day of the year; winter solstice: Hödr is killed by Vali, another brother, born specifically to avenge Baldr) of power in between the two. This ties in with the necessary violence at every turning point as well as the great importance of fratricide in the myth/ cycle. (I can give a further excursion on request)
2. The true purpose of the Horn of Winter. We aren't entirely sure what the horn does. It's generally said the horn will bring down the Wall by causing earthquakes or by awakening ice dragons or giants. Interesting that two out of three involve waking something up. What if it's true purpose is to awaken the Great Other instead, awaken him from his slumber underneath Winterfell. The irony being that the Wall was there to prevent the Others from awakening their master in other ways and that the horn doesn't do anything but render the Wall pointless. At the same time, those ancient Stark Kings would probably rise to form the first line against the Great Other, but still, the outcome would be catastrophic for whoever currently resided in Winterfell, if the horn is blown. This has specifically interesting implications for: Euron Greyjoy, the Boltons and Freys and finally Stannis Baratheon.
To be noted: these thoughts by and large tie into my greater theory (which is, again, conjecture I only believe for the fantastical conclusions it allows) that "Planetos" is actually Lovecraft version of earth (in the far future or distant past).
Hi Bier Wolf, thanks for the response, some great observations in this write up
- You could be right about Azor Ahai but looking through all the evidence I've been sifting through it seems as though they are both the same person, I could be wrong but in my opinion one is the northern memory of the hero of the long night and one is the eastern memory of the same hero, hence why one of Azor Ahais name is Eldric Shadowchaser
- The cyclical nature of Georges writing is also very clear as you've said, and you've done a great job writing it up
- Im not too sure on who the great other is at this stage, but at a guess I think it might be the Night Queen, and as you've said is buried at the bottom of the crypts with our Eldric Stoneskin character, an icey woman stolen from the others by an ancient Stark for their magic, just as Sansa was stolen away and kept in the Eyrie, which is constantly referred to as an ice tomb) and hence why we see others symbolism in the Starks too
- Excellent observation about Hodor, I've already made this connection and have included it in part 6, I won't go into why but for now we actually see Hodor paralleling our kings of winter quite a lot, we see him bursting our of the crypts at the end of ACOC, he's also carrying a rusted (Red) sword taken from a king of winter and ends up with a long white beard and one eye frozen shut (Azor Ahai symbolism) while beyond the wall, hence the name Hodor meaning God of Winter, a very close title to King of Winter
- I think the horn of winter wakes these kings of winter too which ill go into in part 4, and in my opinion the idea that the Horn "brings down the wall" is a misunderstood memory of the wrong wall, I think that maybe the horn brings down the collapsed wall in the crypts while also waking giants from the earth
Thanks for all your comments, id love to see your write up if you have one available?
@@eldric.stoneskin ey, thanks for answering! I'm way too drunk to respond properly now on account of my sister's birthday but I'll get back in 10 hours or so with further explanations and an invitation
@@eldric.stoneskin Alright, I'm sober-ish. For the first point of AA and LH being the same: it's very possible and plausible. IRL, there's the concept of "comparative mythology", which is to say, similiar themes and stories are found in various cultures. Examples being the dead god (Norse Baldr and Egyptian Osiris) or the center of the world (Norse Yggdrasil and Hindu Mount Meru). It could very well be that AA is LH, just retold in another cultural context and due to the years (allegedly 8'000 years) has been changed to the point the characters seem different. My earliest theories usually also were based on the assumption that the two were the same, but the search for who it was specifically led me, as many, to the Bloodstone Emperor - as the one to cause the Long Night, he is intrinsically linked to the myth, even if he is more of a villain. The Bloodstone Emperor claims descent from the "God-on-Earth" and thus the Lion of the Night and the Maiden-made-of-Light. Quite the auspicious lineage, to be sure. Anyway, we know the line of this legendary dynasty to end with the Bloodstone Emperor (officially) but most peculiar is the fact that his sister was Empress, the first ever. Before them, all other rulers were male. Did they go by firstborn or by firstborn male? Firstborn male is prevalent in most cultures we know of and seems to also have been the case here. After the God on Earth came six Emperors and only then an Empress, in other words, six times the firstborn would have been male and on the seventh it would be female. Possible, but with a chance of (1/2)^7=0.78%. Thus it stands to reason that we can assume male primogeniture. Why was she titled Amethyst Empress? She was likely married to the real Emperor, whose name has been forgotten. Possibly, this line of Emperors participated in incest as enthusiastically as the Valyrians, considering their awesome God blood, so the Amethyst Empress might have been sister and wife to the real Emperor - and the Bloodstone usurped them both. The theme of two brothers quarelling is omnipresent in ASOIAF (Harlon the Hunter and Herndon of the Horn, Ser Erryk and Ser Arryk, Ser Harlan Hunter and Lord Gilwood Hunter (according to Littlefinger), Harle the Huntsman and Harle the Handsome, Euron and Urrigon/ Aeron/ Victarion, the Hound and the Mountain, etc). In several instances, this is also over a shared love interest. GRRM has confirmed Planetos to be round and thus it is definetly possible to get from the Great Empire of the Dawn to Westeros by sailing the sunset sea. In fact, Mance Rayder has a most peculiar cloak:
"My brothers feared I might die before they got me back to Maester Mullin at the Shadow Tower, so they carried me to a wildling village where we knew an old wisewoman did some healing. She was dead, as it happened, but her daughter saw to me. Cleaned my wounds, sewed me up, and fed me porridge and potions until I was strong enough to ride again. And she sewed up the rents in my cloak as well, with some scarlet silk from Asshai that her grandmother had pulled from the wreck of a cog washed up on the Frozen Shore. It was the greatest treasure she had, and her gift to me.” He swept the cloak back over his shoulders"
Red silk from Asshai found at a shipwreck on the western coast of Westeros doesn't necessarily mean the ship itself was from Asshai but it is still an interesting thing. There's more evidence that the sunset sea CAN be crossed and that it has been done (that Farman dyke, as an example). We know that the Long Night was started by events in the Great Empire of the Dawn BUT it seems that it was ended by actions in Westeros. This ties in well with other anomalies of Westeros, such as the foundation of the Hightower (fused black stone that is destinctly unvalyrian - only other instance of such is the Five Forts of the Great Empire of the Dawn), the sea-faring Ironborn (they're believed to be First Men by most, but the First Men did not take to the sea. The technology might just have come from across the Sunset Sea. The Disputed Lands (by Crowsfood'd Daughter) has a nice video on this titled Ironborn Myth and Legend: The Great Nagga debate), etc. Specifically goes this then into two mythological rulers in Westeros: Garth the Green and the Grey King. Green as life and light and summer, Grey as death and night and winter (and stone?). What we specifically know of the both is that they lived long and had many children that went on to found noble houses of their own. And we know the Grey King had an older brother whose descendant brought fourth house Goodbrother (the name alone is pretty telling. Theirs was the "good brother", while the Grey King was the "bad brother". The sigil of house Goodbrother is a horn, and their seat is called Hammerhorn, said to be so far inland the smallfolk there have never seen the sea). Garth the Green was said to have actually green skin - and sometimes even horns/ antlers. The color green and the horns/ antlers are all ferility symbols and indeed he was said to make the land blossom and evenso the young girls and old crones alike. The Grey King meanwhile had grey eyes, hair and beard and even his skin grew grey in time. But he also had had many sons and one of these founded house Greyiron, whose sigil depicts the "Sea King", who likely IS the Grey King as he is said to have been the first to carve a ship out of the "pale wood of the demon tree Ygg" (that eludes to weirwoods and also to the Norse Yggdrasil). The first to build a ship -> the first to conquer the sea! But the Greyiron sigil depicts the Sea King with... green hair? I thus postulate that the Grey King used to be evermuch as Green as his older brother, who was none other than Garth the Green.
part 2:
What then turned the Grey King grey? A fan favourite, Stannis Baratheon is of course famous for murdering his brother. Fratricide. Kinslaying. A sin most despised in the world of ASOIAF. And we note that descriptions of him are increasingly grey and corpselike, stonelike. The same thing that happend to the Grey King after he murdered his brother, Garth the Green. We now postulate that the Grey King was the Bloodstone Emperor and Garth the Green his older brother, married to the Amethyst Empress. This "gemstone emperors" line were all named after gemstones, the reason not explicit but commonly thought to reflect on the eye colour of the given emperour due to Daenerys' dream. Pearl, Jade, Tourmaline, Onyx, Topaz, Opal. "Bloodstone" as a gem in ASOIAF is described as green with red droplets. Fitting for a villain, but the green is striking. The previous gems also all existed in a green variation (though not explicitly in the story. Onyx eyes would very much be black ones).
Now, the Long Night was then caused by the Bloodstone Emperor usurping his sister, allegedly, but as said, assuming she actually ruled is "weird" (the irony, I know. I'm saying a 0.78% chance is less likely than my unhinged conjecture). The Amethyst Empress was married to the "leal eldest brother" (so is Goodbrother's sire described; that would make that ancestor the "true heir" to something. I'll refer to him as the "Emerald Emperor" aka Garth the Green) who was then killed by Bloodstone Emperor, hoping to usurp the throne and marry his sister - but she, with another brother, fled to their colonies out east: Westeros. This new brother (or perhaps even son of the Emerald Emperor) is then your Eldric Shadowchaser, Azor Ahai and the Last Hero, and the Amethyst Empress serves as Nissa Nissa.
I really just meandered into actually disproving the theory I had intended to strengthen. Guess I'm all aboard with AA=LH now.
In this scenario, Eldric Shadowchaser would defeat the Others at Winterfell and probably ask his companion (great-nephew or son) Bran the Builder to build the crypts and castle as a prison for the Great Other and then start his watch over him, turning grey after having slain the Bloodstone Emperor in revenge; fratricide starts the cycle, fratricide ends the cycle. And his line is cursed to turn to stone (turn grey for kinslaying) to watch over the foe.
This actually is a much more satisfying theory than I could have hoped for. Granted, it's totally unproven but it has potential, I'd say. It also is not at all contraditory to my Lovecraft stuff, but in facts builds on it. I'll just drop a few names as a teaser before rounding this up: Lion of the Night = Hastur the Unspeakable (also known as the Storm God in the Durran legend and antagonistic with the Drowned God; a twisted "fertility God" associated with the colour yellow; worshipped by the Valyrians but once they stopped, the Doom befell them. A member of the "Yellow Emperor" (-> king in yellow) dynasty still claims the Great Empire of the Dawn but is currently exiled to Carcosa), Maiden-made-of-Light = Shub-Niggurath (also known as "The Black Goat of the Woods with a thousand young" or in ASOIAF terms: Black Goat of Qohor), Drowned God = Cthulhu (obviously. Who hasn't picked up on this? According to the stories, Hastur and Cthulhu are half-brothers and absolute rivals. I believe that when "the bloodstone Emperor cast down the Gods of Yi Ti", he specifically stopped worshipping Hastur in favour of Cthulhu and the Long Night was specifically also a fight in between Cthulhu's minions (squishers, etc) and Hastur's (Shantaks, which are basically dragons -> shantaks as original dragons that still live in the GEOD capital of Asshai that are actually aliens (summoned with dragonbinder; dragonbinder summons dragons, dragons came when the second moon exploded (according to the Qaartheen) and the second moon cracked due to Nissa Nissa's piercing scream -> Lightbringer = Dragonbinder; Eldric Shadowchaser is "helped" by Hastur)). Drowned God symbolism is just very Cthulhu-esque) , Great Other = Ithaqua (known as "Death-Walker",
"God of the Cold" or "God of the Winds"; specifically stated to be descendant of Hastur and Shub-Niggurath). The Old Gods of the Forest are actually two different (groups of) entities: Shudde M'ell (specifically the CotF variation of the Old Gods; Shudde M'ell is known for living subterranean, causes earthquakes and communicates telepathically. Also, the physical description of Shudde M'ell and his race of Chthonians is snake-y-worm-y like the roots in Bran's party cave) and Kthanid (benevolent brother of Cthulhu, as good as he is bad; emissary of the "Elder Gods", which genuienly seem to want to help). Finally: Bloodstone Emperor = Nyarlothotep (or at least, the Bloodstone Emperor is one of his human forms. Nyarlothotep has 999 avatars and can easily pass off as a human. He likes deception just for the sake of it and is generally a wicked but charming character (-> I think Euron is another of his 999 avatars). Nyarlothotep is worshipped by the church of starry wisdom - which also exists in ASOIAF and was actually founded by the Bloodstone Emperor. Central to the church of starry wisdom is the "Shining Trapezohedron", a weird, black stone that fell from Yuggoth - which I claim is the second moon from before. This stone has the power to summon Nyarlothotep in the form of "the haunter in the dark" and just generally causes chaos. Current whereabout in ASOIAF? The Hightower basement)
That Hightower stuff is then relevant for Euron's intentions in Winds of Winter. I'm currently in a discord ASOIAF RP game (it just restarted) and last time I was the Hightowers and that's where I came to this idea. On that note, if you're interested to join, I think the Host would like more players.
Very good points, the brother vs brother example is very prevalent as you’ve said, Stannis (a grey man) and his brother Renly (a green man) we even see two men, possibly brothers, at the Weirwood sacrifice Bran witnesses too
The quality of this content with these great ideas guarantee this channel will be huge by the time winds comes out. Similar to LML but still unique. Looking forward to more :)
Thanks very much!
Awesome first video, some amazing connections there with the Starks, subbed for sure
Thanks for the sub!
I dig this a lot, many interesting ideas!!!
Thanks very Much! Im also a fan of your channel! Thank you for checking my video out!
Great first video my dude! Subbed
Thanks very much!
Really like this video. I like how you shine a light on Rickon's connection to stone as he gets overlooked alot. I would like to know your thoughts on Lyanna having a statue when the women aren't usually given a statue. Also do you think Ned's bones not being in Winterfell with a statue might end up weakening the magic? I feel like it makes Lyanna's statue critical since Benjen is not buried there either. Rob does not have a statue either come to think of it. Which could be a bad omen maybe?
Lyannas statue and all the other stone women in the series will be the subject of my next series, I need to do a reread but at this stage thinking it might represent the idea that the Nights Queen might be down beneath Winterfell too
Amazing idea, it meshes beautifully with so many other elements of the universe and other theories.
Thank you so much! Appreciate the support!
My boy hits hard with one long first video and thus really earned that subscription.
Thanks mate!
Great work. I have looked and looked for in depth content about the cripts of winterfell and now have finally found it, can't wait for your next video
Thanks very much! 5 more parts to come…
gosh u've sold me at 10 minutes in. keen to hear more
Thanks very much! Hoping for part 2 to be out in a month or so
I can't believe this is the only video on the channel! It's so good!
Thanks very much!
Reminds me of the real world mountain king motif, that a legendary King like Arthur, Charlemagne or Barbarossa is asleep in a mountain and said to wake once their country/people needs them most
Exactly right, very perceptive! I think George is also hinting at this motif with Gregor Clegane as well, he's referred to as "The Mountain", is described constantly as a stone giant, and is resurrected with the last name Strong, which is interesting as Strong in German means Stark, giving us another resurrected stark stone giant that implies the mountain king as you've said
@@eldric.stoneskin
funny, I've made this exact observation about house Strong and how in the german translation they're renamed to Kraft (strength, force)
Recently rediscovered that I've commented this on a Joe Magician video a few years ago and he answered that he looked into it and apparently it was te translators choice
@@eldric.stoneskin
There's also Argoth Stone-Skin the Grey Giant from the age of heros
Have you take inspiration from the Disputed Lands' Grey King series?
@@DukeDukeGo I love her channel, its one of the best, her Ironborn series is amazing, I'll be giving her a shoutout while touching on some of her theories as well in part 4 or 5 when I cover the Ironborn, as I think the Grey king may have been a Proto-Stark as there are too many parallels between the Grey King myth and the Starks for it to be a coincidence
@@eldric.stoneskin Well the Mountain is a headless creepfest, he is the example of how this idea goes wrong, he is never a hero or a force of good in life, so he's this cthonic mountain king evil force type in death.
This is the first time I ever heard this theory. Great job 👏
Thanks very much!
You are very welcome! I’m subscribed and look forward to more of your theories 😊
Love your work Big El. Insightful theory and sweet first video. Adding some Leviathan in the intro/outro 👌🏼. Can’t wait for part 2
Cheers mate 🍻
This was really well done!
Thanks very much!
19:00 The idea that people used to be giant in Westeros is facinating. The giant kings must be part giant and part human, due to the fact that pure giants are lower intelligence as shown in the series. It could be that the First Men came from Essos, and desired the power of the giants, and interbred with female giants to create half-giant offspring. Then, the humans desired the power of the CotF so they tried to interbeed with them, to get access to the Weirnet (Azor Ahai X Nissa Nissa).
Alternatley, it could be that the Giants and the CotF were the original two homnid species on Westeros (this is cannon). And the Giants desired the magic of the CotF, and the CotF desired the power of the giants. They had to interbeeed, but the size difference made this impossible. The solution was that female CotF had to be impregnated by Giants, and the pregnancy would always kill them, and the baby would usually die too. These women were sacrifices. But eventulaly, a baby developed enough to become viable, after the death of its mother. This giant-CotF hybrid would be medium sized. He could then interbreed with both giants and CotF, creating more medium sized people. This population of hybrids became known as 'humans'.
Therefore, the humans on Planetos (or just westeros) are part giant (evidenced by the recurrence of very huge people like Gregor, Brienne, Hodor), and part CotF, as evidenced by the skinchanging abilities some have.
I like this!
Great theory! There is definitely a lot of evidence for cross breeding with Giants in the books and would explain a lot
UH, what's stopping the males of the COTF from doing the interbreeding with Giant women? Tormund does, after all. HAR!
Bro for a first theory video this slaps. Can’t wait to see the rest of what you have to say. Keep up the good work brother!
Thanks! Will do!
What a great video, subbed! Can't wait to see more of your content
Thanks for the sub! Should be more in a month or so
Sick video and always happy to see more Aussies in the ASOIAF theory world!
Cheers mate 🍻
Subscribed. Love it. Please keep them going good sir.
Will do sir
Awesome video! Looking forward to the next one
Cheers mate!
Great theory video bro, keen to see some more
More to come!
Excellent video!! It’s got it all! Good audio✔️ Artwork ✔️ Original theory (at least one I haven’t heard)✔️ Text to back it up✔️ This is a heck of a production, subbed and waiting for more
Wow, thanks! Appreciate the feedback!
Hands down the best theory I’ve ever heard. It’s gonna blow my mind if this doesn’t happen in the books. Can’t wait to see the future videos, keep making these and your channel is without a doubt gonna be big
Thank you so much!
Will there be more content like this?!
You just earned a sub
Sure will be, thinking this first series will be about 5 videos long, next one should be out in a month or so, thanks for the sub 🍻
Well now I am sold on this theory and even if it doesn't happen, is one of my absolute favorite theories
Cheers 🍻
This first video of yours might well be the best thing to ever come out of the UA-cam's algorithm: Brilliantly researched, stunningly presented!
You really got me thinking about the topic, now it all makes so much sense in my head. I cannot wait until the follow-up, keep up the amazing work! 💪🏽
PS: Could you provide a bit more detail on the music you used? I'd love to hear more of this Leviathan, but I couldn't find anything. D:
Thanks very much, really appreciate the comments! The music is a project myself and a friend have been working on, hoping to have a UA-cam channel for the music up soon, check back in the description in a week or so, should hopefully have a link up
So fucking crazy. Immediately subscribed. I like your brand of madness.
Cheers!
Loved the theory! For me it is something very new and exiting. Waiting for the next parts! I want to know more about the greyscale in connection to all of this.
Glad to hear you enjoyed it! More coming soon…
Outstanding literary and vocabulary analysis!
Thanks I really appreciate that!
The best theory I have seen in MANY years. I'm a believer. Well done!
Wow, thanks very much, appreciate the support
ooooooo, this was pure realnesssss!!! great work! had to subscribe, I can't wait for more content!!
Thanks for the sub! More coming soon!
Bravo!! Great video! I've only read Asoiaf once so far and on my reread I'm realizing that I'm still following mostly the plot and not paying enough attention to the language and the symbolism 😮 I don't know why! Coz I do that with literary fiction but your video and LML have made me focus more on those aspects and pick up on these nuances..so much thanks!
Thanks very much! I’m glad I was able to help!
Damn awesome video ! Subscribed !!! Can’t wait for the next video!!!!
Thanks very much!
One thing I didn’t hear you mention was the size of the stairs down to the crypt. Forgot the exact word but they are bigger than normal. Just another piece to the theory of the old kings being bigger.
I thought I remembered the stairs being described as being larger than normal as well but couldn’t find a quote that referenced it? Let me know if you remember it
@@eldric.stoneskin I think it’s when hodor is carrying bran
Kudos on a great first video! New subscriber!
Awesome! Thank you! 🍻
With an intro like this, I already knew this vid (and channel) would go hard as fuck.
another interesting note on the Karstarks, theres a type of rock called "karst" which is literally within the name 'Karst'ark
Wow that is interesting! Great observation! I’ll have to look into it further, thanks for the great pick up!
How the hell is this your first video? Top shit, look forward to seeing where you go with future videos.
Cheers 🍻
Amazing first video can't wait for part 2
Thanks very much! More on the way soon…
Slam Dunk first video. Looking forward to more!
Thanks very much!
Looking forward to part 2!
Thanks very much!
Omg, I believe this wholeheartedly.
Cat and Sansa both resemble weirdwood trees as well, white/porcelain skin with auburn/red hair.
My new favorite theory.
Yep exactly right, I’m planning on doing a series after this one of the stone women in the series too, amazingly all of the crying female statues in the series have the term “Ly“ in their name as well, think LYanna crying in the crypts, CataLYn becoming lady stone heart who weeps red tears, ALYssa’s tears in the Eeyrie, ALaYne Stone, the weeping woman statue in LYs, if you can think of anymore let me know!
I love this. It’s scary and I can see you put a lot of thought into it and given us a new theory that has never been thought of in the past 12 years since I started watching game of thrones and the past 11 since I start reading the books.
Thanks! I’m glad you liked it
The first video equivalent of a boxer making his pro debut in a world title fight and winning in the first round. Bravo, good stuff.
Haha cheers 🍻
Personal theory is that grayscale will be the only way to stop the undead. Corpses can't move if they are stone.
Also a great point, maybe this stops the others raising the stone corpses in the crypts too?
@@eldric.stoneskin I just watched part two and you make good points. There is definitely symbolism and I wonder your thoughts on the deep Ones.
I believe they also have their origin in the wargs and greenseers. They seem to be children of the Forest that spent too long in fish form but there has to be more to it than that with patches and shiri(?) I forgot stanis daughters name.
Nice one can't wait for part 2
Thank very much! Should be about a month or so I think
You tickle my asoiaf hemisphere HARD subscribe
I see what you did there… cheers 🍻
Great video, can't wait for part two.
Have you given thought how the Stone Kings will be reawakened? If Stannis captures Winterfell (which is probable imo) maybe Shireen is brought down from the wall and her latent Greyscale may have something to do with it?
Thanks very much! I think Shireen will be burnt by Melisandre to resurrect Jon and this will reawaken her Greyscale, passing it to Jon as he comes back to life making him the stone dragon that kings blood is said to wake
But I think horn of winter wakes the stone kings already in the crypts and they are the giants from the earth the horn is said to wake, and I also think Bran has something to do with their resurrection too, all this will be in part 3
Thanks for watching!
The horn of Joramun is supposed to "wake giants from the earth."
@@laurenanderson61 that's my line of thinking, and the Nights' Watch oath: "I am the horn that wakes the sleepers"
@@laurenanderson61 Exactly, it makes perfect sense that the Horn of Winter would wake the Kings of Winter right?
@@bronhaller Yep that's exactly right, i'll be going into the nights watch and their vows in the next video, there's also a very interesting line people have struggled to explain in the vows which the stark kings being the first nights watch explains, here a little sneak peak from my next script....
The Nights Watch interestingly swear to be the “watchers on the Walls”, which makes no sense on the singular wall that the current nights watch reside at, but if we suspect the first Night Watch became the stone Kings of Winter, the Walls reference makes perfect sense, as its noted in the crypts that “the dead sat on their stone thrones against the walls”, and with George constantly mentioning that these Stone kings are eternally watching from these walls, this could be the reason for the plural walls mentioned in the nights watch oath
Bittttttch, this was incredible. Wow!
Thanks very much!
Great 1st video... Love ASOIAF. Keep bringing the great content n subs will come
Thanks very much!
@@eldric.stoneskinyou're welcome... When is part 2 coming ?
@@johnmontag it will be a month or so between videos and there will be 6 videos in the series
Fun fact, sickles also symbolize time. Sickles are used to harvest, symbolizing the passage of time between each season. The ancient Greek Titan of Time, Chronos, had a sickle as his symbol.
Great pick up! That’s amazing! Would make sense then that the bronze sickle could sacrifice people so they could be reawakened thousands of years in the future, essentially travelling through time in a way, great point, well done 🍻
@Eldric Stoneskin kudos to you for making such good vids so early in your YT career. I cant wait to see what else you make. You def got a sub
Very interesting idea, I'm not sure I'm convinced that it's more than just GRRM's writing style, but I like your deep analysis of the text. I'm looking forward to seeing part 2!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Clearly this video is still on my mind. Even in Braavos they have Titan of Braavos, “a giant as tall as a mountain…he would wake with fire in his eyes, his rocky limbs grinding and groaning…to smash the enemies.” So many references in so many areas of rock being personified. “Stone is a mountain’s daughter” - Mya Stone. “The mountain is your mother.” Stonesnake
And on and on and on.
Ugh. How have I never seen these clear connections?!?! I’m annoyed with myself lol
Haha the connections really are everywhere, I have the Titan of Braavos in part 3, an interesting thing I picked up on with the Titan is that the ship Arya travels to Braavos is called “the titans daughter” illuding to Arya being a direct descendant of this giant stone warrior who comes to life to defend his city, just like her actual giant stone ancestors in the crypts
Great points all of them, well done!
@@eldric.stoneskin yes! Ok, that’s another great point.
And when you consider Stonesnake is telling Jon that the mountain is his mother, well. Lyanna is the only woman in the crypts of Winterfell. Maybe she’s not an ancient Stark King of Winter, but she’s a Stark. (Also, I think Stonesnake is an interesting name. Dragons are often compared to winged serpents. Jon is a Stark and a Targaryen, he’s essentially a Stonesnake…and if you’re gonna wake a dragon from stone…well, this stuff could take me a million directions lol)
Bloodravens another Azor Ahai paralell character who’s a dragon and he’s described as “some ghastly statue”…… it’s everywhere
Fantastic video 🎉
Cheers 🍻
All I can say is WOW. Thank you!! I listened to all your videos at 3 times each already and you're blowing my mind.
You are so welcome! Glad you enjoyed them! I’ve got two more videos in the series to come
Maybe the reason that "there must always be a Stark at Winterfell" is because someone is needed to wake up the stone kings, kick start their reanimation.
Maybe Bran will escape back to Winterfell in order to wake them up?
I think your exactly right, I’m going to cover this in part 6, as I think the Three eyed Crow (a ancient greenseeing nightswatch man) might be using bran to get back to his original stone body to defeat the others
Ooh long form essay video series. This is truly what I live for from the Asoiaf community, recently its all been disorganized chat streams. I'll let you know what I think when I finish. ❤
Hope you enjoy!
😂 I love it, I know your not finished, but just the polish, the pacing, the organization. Great job. It's a whole a vibe and I'm into it😅 Can't wait for the next video. I'll give it a second listen to comment but I enjoyed it listening at work.
@@TheInsatiableDrBoom thanks very much! really appreciate the support! I’ve got two more videos in this series to come
Excellent! 🎉 Subbed. 👍
If I had a penny for the amount of jokes I could make about each mention of the Starks being "hard", I would have enough to buy myself a castle in southwestern Ireland
I had to control myself as well haha
I 100% subscribe to this theory. I had to re-listen to the whole series with this in mind, and my mind is blown! Great work!
Thanks very much! 🍻
Great content! Finally someone talks more of the book lore than the dumpster fire hbo series. Patiently awaiting your next video!
More to come!
A new ASOIAF theory channel?
Not something you see much of nowadays.
Yet here he is. Also check out the Company of the Cat
Yeah im a bit late to the party haha
@@eldric.stoneskin No worries. Just make good content, put it into 10 minute sized chunks for the algorithm and make UA-cam shorts out of it and you will get traction. 2nd make facts videos about the ASOIAF universe because that draws viewers and needs little speculative research. Third use the other materials like the Dance of Dragons and Dunk n Egg stories to make content whether facts or theories. 4th use alternate social media platforms like Instagram etc. attract viewers. Fifth Branch out into other fandoms because ASOIAF is waning because GRRM hasn't released new books for a while. Lastly be loud in advertising your theories, don't call it the Greyscale men under Winterfell call it the Stonemen who will save the world or something.
Anyway I hope you succeed on UA-cam. Have a good one.
@@laurenanderson61 I did, it's Great!
@@laurenanderson61Absolutely, I also highly recommend CotC as well, she has a great channel
Yooo this is a trip 👀 somebody send this to David Lightbringer lol
Haha please do I’m a big fan
I would of I knew how 😂😂😂
I haven’t heard a new theory that I really liked in a long time. This was really good. I just found your channel and I look forward to watching more from you.
Welcome aboard! Glad you enjoyed it! 🍻
I NEED MOREEEEEE! like yesterday. 🥰
Glad you enjoyed it, more coming soon!
I love this theory, only thing that makes me sceptical is that many other characters are also connected to stone within the text (especially the Lannisters), though on the other hand I don't think anything is close to the level the Starks are compared to stone!
Many of the other stone characters in the books parallel Azor ahai which I’ll being going though in part 3, your right about the lannisters tho, I’m not sure what the connection is, wether they’re supposed to represent who the starks original were? Either way they are also first men, are strongly associated with stone and have a “hall of heroes” beneath Casterly Rock where “Kings stand their eternal guard”
@@eldric.stoneskin Interesting. We also have moments like Bran's first dream where the Lannister twins are personified as stone lions and the fact that Tyrion keeps being likened to a gargoyle lol.
@@yggdrasil2 Yes very true, and now I think about it Tyrion is also described as a giant constantly, they're showing us all the same symbolism as the Starks for some reason I haven't been able to figure out, unless an ancient Lannister was apart of the first stark heroes group of stone heroes?
@@eldric.stoneskin The Stark and the Lannisters are sometimes mirrored, with both branding themselves with an image of a currently extinct apex predator in their region, so maybe that's important somehow? Good point about Tyrion being likened to a giant, wonder if that's important.
Yeah it’s something I’ll have to think on and look into I reckon, might eventually make a video out of the parallels, great comment Yggdrasil!
Great video!
Glad you enjoyed it
Winter is coming and it falls at winterfell? I always kinda thought it was something like this since the battle of winterfell is where The war for dawn is fought in the show and is where winter had technically failed.
Exactly right
Great and very interesting video. Whether true or not, all these theories both show how great the story could be and what a pity it is that Martin hasn't been able to finish it (but let's not delve into that discussion (even though I kind of did just now 😂). Again, great video.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Great stuff, keep it up!
Thanks, will do!
That was amazing ❤❤❤
Thanks very much
A very well earned like, and sub. 👍
Appreciate it mate 🍻
Not finished watching yet but there’s something about waking dragons (Jon Half Targ) from stone at the Wall.
Yeah that's right, Jon might well be that stone dragon, and im thinking Shireen might be the kings blood needed to wake this stone dragon
Truly hopeful we get a stone Lady returning!
Me too! I think that’s what the subject of my next series will be as there are a lot of stone women in the books as well
Would be cool if they stood up and fought the night kings generals in the show.
It would have! I was hoping for it but I think it was too high fantasy for HBO, I’m thinking it’s going to be Bran raising these stone kings, skinchanging them to fight the others himself, which would explain why Bran did nothing in season 8s war for the dawn