in a feast for crow prince doran tellhis daughter he planned to send her to Tyrosh when she was younger to meet danny and her bro. this mean the targs were in tyrosh and so was the house with the red door and all its lemons. also in a game of thrones, the wine merchant who tries to poison danny hears her accent and asks if she's from Tyrosh and she says 'my accent is Tyroshy but I am from Westeros' She grew up in Tyrosh...
The line of “there are no children in Asshai” remains one of the most ominous bits of worldbuilding in all of fiction. And this is coming from a world where there are like 8 different diseases that “make your flesh slough off your bones as you piss blood”
@@VaporeonEnjoyer1 George's never intended to release Winds anytime soon. and Dreams will probably never intended to release at all, I think he's trolling us; GRRM probably plan to drop Dreams the day he die. So he doesn't have to listen to us being angry at him for the ending.
@@Bipolar-Kitten I think this is pretty much it. If it's getting released then it's getting released at a time where he won't get bullied online for it. He's clearly annoyed with the fanbase for it, I think it's kind of a funny troll tbf. Also makes sense that he's written himself into a corner and simply doesn't want to admit it, and the final product will just have to contain lots of inconsistencies because it's too complicated and he doesn't want significant help.
Agreed, one of my biggest writing pet peeves is when a piece of world building that was intended as a throwaway line or to flesh out the background is explained, often in an unsatisfying and lore breaking/twisting way. Destiny 2 was the fucking worst at this. Let mysteries stay mysteries.
Asshai's description is closely in line with the Red Waste being irradiated. The irradiated water damages cells of fish mutating them and the harm to the reproductive system of residence prevents them from having kids.
I haven't read the book yet, but if GRRM actually used the term "irradiated," then perhaps there is some magical or chemical/biological reason that connects the places. While it would be possible to use alternative terms to describe both places, "irradiated" is certainly striking.
Just a side thought, Volantis is the first daughter of Valyria while Daenerys could be considered the Last Daughter of Valyiria, their conflict would reflect the refusal to change and the inevitability of change.
@@worldadventuretravel Yes they are. They're among the houses that support stannis on the blackwater before bending to Joffrey. Later, Stannis considers sacking Claw Isle as a reprisal for House Celtigar's surrender, but Davos convinces him otherwise. Also Aurane waters is a bastard of house velaryon.
Those are the things GRRM should be writing spinoffs about, instead of churning out the 562nd detailed Targaryen lore about the same exact prophecies, dreams, mad people, family squabbles between 8 people named Aegon, Aemon, Daemon, Daegon, Daeron, Aeron, Maeron, Baelon, Shaelon and dragons dragons dragons. Targs are just boring.
And then the next chapter later he can barely walk because of his leg muscles. His gymnastic crap is utterly unbelievable. Stops the story dead every time I get to it. @@shaycase1834
I think that the person who made that comment wasn't referring to physical gymnastics but rather his character in the show when they ran out of book material.
No, seriously. Tyrion the guy who can barely walk without pain randomly can do gymnastic tumbling. It's a head-scratcher that stopped the book cold for me. @@Rumkitty2000
I think Dani going to Ashai is possible, but maybe not bringing her POV with her. Instead we'll get a post-Ashai Dani with a reluctance to go into detail even in her memory about what happened.
I always felt that Daenerys’ "lightbringer" would be the dragons. She didn’t sacrifice Drogo and Rhaego to get them, but they were hatched out of the pire Drogo was burned in, and she would probably never perform that ritual if she hadn’t lost Drogo and Rhaego in the first place
In a way, she decided to kill them both, she basically said she convinced herself it wouldn't be Rhaego but thought it might be to save Drogo, then kills Drogo herself. We also see her keep trying to hatch the eggs, so maybe the failed attempts of Azor Again were those failed attempts trying to hatch the dragons. Makes a lot of sense to me
@@exothermic1942 I believe the theory that only Drogon specifically is lightbringer, the other 3 dragons are the failed attempts, I feel like many people forget that an important aspect in the forging of lightbringer was Nissa Nissa allowing the sword to go through her, sacrificing herself, Dany walking into the pyre was the equivalent of that
@@exothermic1942 I mean, when she kills Drogo it's out of mercy, since he's basically been rendered as a vegetable. I know I would want someone to put me out of my misery if I was a braindead vegetable.
If the eggs were from Dragonstone Illyrio gave her a gift that was hers already, stolen from her family. He could hardly tell her that. I feel Asshai is so foreign, so out of reach for anybody, it is easy to claim something is from Asshai. Who’s gonna correct you?
Speaking of Glass Candles, imagine if Marwyn actually taught Daenerys how to create one? Maybe he found some insights and knowledge through the lost pages of Signs and Portents, or maybe learned something in Ashai. But without dragons, such a creation was impossible. It would be cool to see the return of magic personified, in a way, by the creation of a piece of magical technology not forge from scratch in centuries.
That seems like a pretty strange assertion when the children are confined to one specific region, so almost everywhere has no children of the forest. Seems pretty self evident
@@KingKong11730 But we dont know that the cotf are confined to one location. The ifequevron (if i even spelled that right) have strong cotf vibes and theyre in northern essos. Leng seems like it has some serious old gods/cotf stuff going on too. And who knows with southoryos? Point is, I think its beyond safe to assume cotf arent just in westeros. They very well could have been in the areas around Asshai prior to whatever doom-like event happened there. George doesnt waste words and much of what he tells us has multiple meanings.
@KingKong11730 The children of the forest are responsible for the white walkers, and there are tales/accounts of white walkers that come from all over the world besides Westeros
Theory! Danys eggs come from the dragon Dreamfyre. Dreamfyre is literally the mother of the dragons. So Daenerys is symbolically taking the role of Dreamfyre. Maybe the name ‘Daenerys’ means dream fire in Valyrian. ‘Dae’ can mean dream (Daenys the dreamer suits this) and ‘Erys’ or ‘Nerys’ can mean fire . The idea of dream-fire seems to fit, in the sense that it represents psychic power, and resonates with the idea that within the weirnet there is a magical godhead of dreams/ dreamers and their power is symbolically a type of divine fire within trees.
@@charliewild2367 I don't understand what you're saying now tbh. The original post talks about how the person thinks, that Daenerys may mean "Dream fire". You said it means dragon fire. But it doesn't. "Dracarys" is a word for Dragon fire. Not Daenerys. There isn't really any meaning for that name in ASOIAF I'm pretty sure. In Welsh it means Lady of Light / Lady of Hope.
We will see it through glass candle that Marywn will bring to Daenerys what we will see maybe finally truth about Dany past and maybe some events from future
Daenerys is a Targaryen and if she’s reborn in Asshai she’ll be the Princess who was promised. Right? Where else would Drogon take her? Not only that Asshai is the alleged home of dragons. Drogon has no siblings left. He’s going where the dragons are. They almost certainly went there. Great video!
If there's nothing alive in Asshai but the occasional sorcerer, meaning no animals, no potable water, ergo nothing for dragons to eat or survive on, *how would dragons be from Asshai?* Think it through. Dragons are not from any place that doesn't support life.
Pretty sure Drogon takes Dany to Asshai after she dies in Westeros. I don’t think there is any time for her to visit the Shadowlands before sailing West, but knowing everything you say in this video plus what the show gave us, I think she will be resurrected there
I think the Dany's plot on book 2 was meant to have Dany travel throught the Jade sea visiting different locations and reach Asshai at the end maybe the house of the Undying original location was Stygai and Euron who is involved with the Warlocks and is mentioned by Theon several times in the book could appear as someone trying to marry Daenerys so he can get the dragons, thinks wouldn't work as Euron planed but he would conect with some higher power at Stygai and change plans deciding to go to Valyria by himself where he would find the dragobinder horn, maybe it was to long and Martin decided to contain the story in Asshai
13:49 Jorah is an idiot. If dragons and dragon eggs come from Asshai, then why would they want more dragon eggs? If they trade dragon eggs for food and water then the eggs aren't as useful to them and won't fetch a very high price there.
If you want to sell a bunch of diamonds, you might have to go to a diamond dealer. Yes, they have a surplus of diamonds/dragon eggs, but their business is appraising the value of diamonds/dragon eggs and turning that surplus into other things of value. TLDR: If dragon eggs are practically currency there, they can easily be traded in the already established market.
Part of me believes that the initial Bran chapter (famous for coming to George in a flash of inspiration brought about by the phrase "the summer snows) was supposed to be a part of "Avalon," which he refers to as his unfinished work-in-progress before switching over to develop ASoIaF. I think he must have recognized that the weight of this chapter was significant enough to warrant its own story, so he ultimately repurposed all his old ideas and fused them together. But what do I know? This is all pure speculation anyway.
Lomas Longstrider seems like a nod to GRRM's friend and Wheel of Time author, Robert Jordan: there's a famed and legendary traveller in the WoT called Jain Farstrider who is known the world over for his travels all over the world.
Holy shit! Great fucking video. I know you condescend yourself sometimes saying you're not as good as so and so UA-camr but stop that shit cuz you're doing fucking fantastic work my dude
In all honesty, his series on the Targaryen Kings is my favorite. I realize he may have reached the Dragonbane and thus the end of Fire and Blood. But the videos are great.
Its funny that those Volantene nobles think themselves higher than Dany and Viserys when in the old Valyrian empire they wouldve been worshipped by the Volantenes as Gods owing to their Dragonlord blood.
*Marwyn And yes I believe he will give Dany a glass candle too, supposedly once George said he didn't have enough time anymore for Dany to go all the way to Asshai so a glass candle is a clever solution to make the trip
@Dani_1012 No he is literally right. Marvin the Mage is the brother of who you're referring to. He is a glass candle shopkeeper God you GOT fans know nothing of ASOIAF. You know nothing Dani_1012
There def won’t be any Asshai if we’re to take Martin at his word. He has said that he has no intention of exploring Asshai other than the vague rumors that we’ve heard over the course of the series.
Ive always thought of it as a ancient pre valyria, asshai had its own doom but its been thousands of years ago with the survivers descendants eventually making it to valyria to teach them about dragons and blood magic to restart there culture in a way
I have the theory that Ashai doesn't have children because it's not a place where people are /from/ only a place you can live/ visit. People may stay there the rest of their lives but no one grows up there. It's focused on learning and practicing magic. So I see it functioning kind of like a university campus. Plus, its more than inhospitable, so it's not a place where it would be safe to raise a child.
A land of magic users who dwell in darkness to hone their skills sounds super dope. I wonder how the city actually functions with such a tiny population. If dragons do exist there, there's not too many, and they don't fly far from the peninsula.
What would they eat? Dragons are not from anywhere that doesn't support life, because again, where would they get drinkable water and what would they eat?
In short, GRRM had introduced a concept he now has no idea how to insert into the main plot. I'm willing to bet he regrets the whole character of Quaithe.
I bet the reason the show kinda forgot about Quaithe is because they asked GRRM what he was gonna do with her and he said "the fuck do I know" and since neither did they, they just completely dropped her.
Dude... Just found your channel... I'm impressed. You're thorough and concise. As a mid-tier beginner..... Idk (to outside of GOT & HOTD Lore) i appreciate how you break it down 👌😊
Hey Crusader, I really enjoy your content, and for future videos I would like to know how do you think Jon and Danny will meet in the books? It's not a topic that is covered a lot and I would like to know your vision
I’m planning a video about every Dany/Essos plotline in TWOW (like my Northern plotlines video) so I imagine I’ll discuss Jon and Dany at length there. Although I’m not so sure they’ll meet by the end of Winds… Thanks for watching!
Everything Martin created is awesome: the mysterious places, the prophecies. Only I fear he put them there as they occurred to him, and now he doesn't know what to do with them.
The moment GRRM called himself 'a gardener' as a writer as opposed to 'architects' (writers who KNOW the structure and arcs of their work), I knew he would be frustrating to read. In other words, he has no idea what he's doing although he is a genius. THAT makes it so much worse! We get attached to his brilliant writing and he is meandering to the point of never finishing the freaking story.
He needs to practice pruning. Any ideas that bloat the story should have been left out and published in a spinoff series separate from the mainline books. I wonder how many versions of WoW he’s written at this point from not being able to make up his own mind. I get wanting to write out all the various ways a situation may play out, but at some point you need to pick a lane and stick with it. The other ideas can be writing exercises for fun, not points of derailment.
You can’t deny that his method works for generating great characters and stories though, the downside is how absurdly hard it is to deal with all these separate plotlines and make them come together in a satisfying way.
Thanks for a very informative, probably the very best look at the unbelievably overlooked Land Of Asshi! And don't forget the kingdom? Of Stygi. What the hell is go....,oh. It also looks like we need deep and fun looks like your's.
a worthy video My Lord, I think you are right about G. R. R. M. writing himself into a corner and now its been 13 years... I have never waited for a book this long. I still remember when ADOD came out and how I read it in 42 days trying to read slow thinking that {now my Watch begins} Years have passed... I understand that we might never see another book in His Grace's lifetime, though hope dies last.
Thanks for compiling this, it reminds me there are still interesting storylines from GRRM's work and it wasn't all a waste of time just because of the failed show ending. Asshai-by-the-Shadow should have been the FIRST spinoff series HBO came up with, but nooo, instead we get a Jon Snow and the Night's Watch which was supposed to come to an end when the white walkers stopped being a thing, and a show based on a different book GRRM went off and wrote instead of finishing ASIOAF.
11:44 Oh I get it! Ilyrio says the Eggs came from asshai. Alyssa’s ship ended up in asshai. She took the eggs to asshai, sold or lost them, and they were layered bought and made their way to Ilyrio.
Yeah, she kinda did, but she sold them to the Sealord of Braavos to afford the construction of that very ship. The eggs did not travel west, nor have they been to Asshai.
@@_antillas8674 Oh! Was it directly confirmed that all 3 eggs were sold? I feel like one egg would be enough to fund a ship. This could be a misdirection from George.
Khal Drogo was Dany's Nissa Nissa, it's rather obvious. She even "forged lightbringer" from him, with his sacrifice - her dragons. Her dragons are the lightbringer, it doesn't have to be a literal sword, does it? That would be rather boring as well, wouldn't it? And if we want to be super specific, she put the egg of Drogon onto Drogo's heart (or the part of chest under which heart is) so it may not be all 3 of them, but only Drogon.
A meteor crashed in the mountains near the Great Empire of the Dawn's capital city during the Dawn Age (closer to Sygai in the mountains), destroying the peninsula with the blast and radiation as well as releasing a massive amount of debris in the atmosphere to block the sun and cause the Long Night. A remnant of the Great Empires population lost their culture but survived and migrated west to eventually become Valyrians and eventually readopt their parent culture's ability to handle dragons. That's my running theory anyway. If it's true then Asshai has physical OG dragon lore that has, assumably, been pretty safe in a structurally sound, gargantuan but underpopulated 10,000 year old city, but it ALSO has a better account of what the deal is with dragons, the long night, magic and maybe even the Others than anywhere else on the planet.
I don’t know how much the books will follow the main plot from the last seasons of the show, i hope as little as possible, but after Dany’s death Drogon brought her towards Volantis, some speculate that it’s so that the red priestess who helped her in Meeren could bring her back, but since we don’t have info on Volantis precisely, only east, could have Drogon chose to bring her to Asshai? For some kind of resurrection
Thank you for such a detailed video! To me it makes more sense to see Azor Ahai and the Prince(ss) that was promised as two different figures: there really doesn't seem to be much indication of them being the same. Ofc I'm immensely confused by the tv show ending, in which the interpretation of Azor Ahai is very literal and clearly different from the prophecy of Aegon's dream (it only makes sense to assume that Daenerys was the Princess That Was Promised in the tv version of the story, since Jon Snow didn't seem to be very effective in fighting the White Walkers himself). So idk. I would really love to see it all play out differently in the books. If we ever get those last books, that is.
As I was watching I realized something possibly interesting. You mention the assumption Euron used the egg to pay for an assassin. Maybe, but maybe Euron did something more interesting. You pointed out that Euron, Mirri, and Marwyn have been to Asshai. What if that's the connection? Could Euron, his myrish friend having failed, designed the marriage to Drogo to hatch his eggs? It draws the line between Mirri and Euron. Sending Dany into the Dothraki sea with the eggs toward Mirri who helps Dany hatch them. They arrive in Qarth where we believe the Pirate King began his journey to Westeros from after having seen the dragons had hatched. So Euron fails to hatch an egg and goes to Illyrio having her married to Drogo. Explains how he got them, why he'd give her such a valuable gift. He did it to pay off a debt to Euron. Euron has his horn, he's obviously prepared for Dany to have hatched them, which makes him the only person in the world who seemed to be ready. If he set it all up, his plotline and Illyrio's actions make more sense no? This removes the need for Dany to go to Asshai. She can learn this truth anywhere. It may also explain Quaithe. She may have learned of this plot while she was in Asshai and has been trying to disrupt or hyjack it? Or she was a part of it, ensuring Dany actually managed to do it? Crazy?
Haven’t actually read the books yet, though I’ve watched a ton of videos. (Reading thru Fire & Blood rn). But I don’t think you’re crazy. What’s crazy is if this is right, because then we know that Daenerys and the most powerful new threat, besides the Walkers, was just completely set up by Euron. Which makes us wonder… what does Euron want?? And how close is he to really getting it??
The fact we’re watching a thirty minute video essay about his art and the world he’s crafted shows he has watered it a lot. I wish people weren’t rude to GRRM. I know we all want TWOW, but this incredible author gave us such great art and such an amazing series, we should be more grateful and less snarky
I'm sure this has been said somewhere already but what if eurons not lying but telling a half truth. He used the dragon egg to pay the faceless men to kill his brother by throwing him into the sea. So he threw this egg into the sea aka his brother.
If it’s true that GRRM abandoned the Asshai thread and replaced it with Volantis….then that is massively disappointing. And yeah, GRRM has stated quite a while ago that Asshai will not be seen in the books, so I guess it’s not new. But Asshai is infinitely more fascinating than Volantis or any other place in the ASOIAF world, and I do subscribe to the theory that Asshai was actually the former capital of the Great Empire of Dawn, who were the original harnessers of dragons and had something to do with the onset of the first Long Night. Alas, we’ll probably never know…
dude im such a big fan of the original dune movie. I heard they made a book based on it. But honestly im not big into reading. Plus i enjoy the original source material anyways.
I feel like Martin changed his mind on the origin of the dragons from Asshai to being made with blood magic, but if he wanted he could make both coexist with the natural dragons from Asshai being what inspired the valirians to create their own
I'm pretty sure Marvyn left the Glass Candle in the citadel for Sam to get his hands on later. Complete with a big sign saying "May on no surcunstances be lit, touched or licked!" to make it irresistable. :D Marwin: "The candle, did you lick the candle!?!?" Sam: "Yes, I'm sorry! What will happen to me now?" Marwin: "Nothing, but Jaqen owns me a beer."
15:40 GRRM has stated that, like Lord of the Rings, his story takes place in “alternative” earth, not in a foreign world. So ASOAIF world is just as big as the earth
As I state in this video, George said ASOIAF's planet, "Might be a little larger than ours, though. I was thinking more like Vance's Big Planet.... but don't hold me to that." So he does not have an explicit size in mind, but he considers it to be probably larger than Earth. It's not 1:1 with our planet. Source: www.westeros.org/Citadel/SSM/Category/C91/P60
Sick vid bro, the art of Asshai looked like it could be Total War:Asshai haha. I've thought about Eurons dragons egg. What if he was rich enough to afford his brothers hit, rebel lord discount or something and he still had the egg?
It would have been sick if we got a series that takes place in the shadowlands but during the exact same time period as game of thrones. Imagine if they tied Danaryes prophecy of destroying kings landing to the magic that brought the eggs back to life.
Just because Danny met Marwyn in book 1 and same meets him in book 5 it doesn’t necessarily mean George planned it from the start. Also Great video man!
The size of the city would make sense if it was at one point the capital of the GEotD. Which is what I think it being compared to 4 capital cities (counting Volantis as successor to Valyria and Qarth as former capital of a larger Qartheen territory--plus it's slogan as "greatest city that ever was or will be") is meant to suggest.
I truly believe now she has to go to asshai, only because of the show, I think he's going to drastically change the books in certain ways, make the more magical and shrouded in mystery
As regards Mel, she is right where she needs to be and took the most efficient route to get there. She may not understand her visions but they did put her right where she needs to be. Let's say she just showed up at the Wall by herself, ya, that's not going to work, she ended up with the only King who went there. She is, of course, being led to Jon, it's just taking her some time to realize that.
A lot of the ways GRR shows growth or lack there of is giving characters an obvious this is what you need to do / should do moment. I think the whole shadow by Asshai thing is one of those moments for Danny. She should go there and learn more about her dragons / bloodline but things will get in the way and she’ll prioritize lesser things and then lack some critical info on one of those points which will make it a distinct plot point or turning point in future books.
Magic always comes at a great price, to do anything physical takes physical interaction. Typically our actions are like pebbles in a pond radiating out but typically having little effects. To cast a pebble out of the physical to make a ripple or direct intended consequence beyond the physical into the deeper & more expansive Spirit Realm... Yes, that takes a Very High Price.
Dany's whole storyline is what happens when an author gets carried away with their world building. Dany's whole story is built around a return to Westeros, but GRRM wants her to fight slavery and visit Asshai first. That's great, but it's in the other direction. In order to move back and forth, Dany's story needs way more in world time to happen than any of the others. There's a reason the Mereen arc feels like a detour and a waste of time. Don't lie, you've felt it too. We read the same books. The ideas are great, but the world building wasn't done to facilitate it. I generally prefer GRRM's gardener style of storytelling, but in Dany's case it was a major mistake. Mereen should have been Volantis. Asshai and the Shadow Lands should have either been just north of Old Valyria, or should have also been on the Valyrian peninsula (and just localise the fallout of the Doom a little closer to the Old Valyrian capitol city). Just like that, you save like 200 pages and do all the same plot points. For the record I know GRRM is a better writer than I'll ever be. In my opinion that's even more reason to examine ASOIAF's flaws. To learn from the best, why not analyse their mistakes?
Everyone's been saying that drogon is going to take her to old Valeria and somehow find a way to resurrect her... But what if he takes her to the shadowland instead where Danny can learn the truth of what actually caused the extinction of dragons and fix it so that dragons return to westeros
Red doors in a house made of stone = the doors of Dragonstone, the only red doors ever mentioned in the story other than those in her dream. Daenerys has memories of living in Dragonstone.
George R. R. Martin writes from the perspective of his characters whenever we follow them. It is their information or misinformation that is shared throughout the books, not an all-knowing author ... but ofc such huge stories often get forgotten information, even to the author.
in a feast for crow prince doran tellhis daughter he planned to send her to Tyrosh when she was younger to meet danny and her bro. this mean the targs were in tyrosh and so was the house with the red door and all its lemons. also in a game of thrones, the wine merchant who tries to poison danny hears her accent and asks if she's from Tyrosh and she says 'my accent is Tyroshy but I am from Westeros' She grew up in Tyrosh...
Great points
The line of “there are no children in Asshai” remains one of the most ominous bits of worldbuilding in all of fiction. And this is coming from a world where there are like 8 different diseases that “make your flesh slough off your bones as you piss blood”
Asshai may be less a landmass and more a location. maybe a grand magic school like a helscape hogwarts
Better than the one that makes you shit blood too, tbf. The Seven bestow their blessing where they may.
For me it meant that there's no one for Daenerys to care for there, she calls her ppl "her children"
Seems to me it’s about innocence. There are no animals or children there.
It’s just a metaphor. It’s not literal
I believe Asshai is one of those thing that GRRM will never fully explain and to be remain as mysterious as the Doom of Valyria.
You're hoping for a fleshing out of Asshai from George? I'm just hoping Winds actually gets finished.
@@VaporeonEnjoyer1 George's never intended to release Winds anytime soon. and Dreams will probably never intended to release at all, I think he's trolling us; GRRM probably plan to drop Dreams the day he die. So he doesn't have to listen to us being angry at him for the ending.
@@Bipolar-Kitten I think this is pretty much it. If it's getting released then it's getting released at a time where he won't get bullied online for it. He's clearly annoyed with the fanbase for it, I think it's kind of a funny troll tbf. Also makes sense that he's written himself into a corner and simply doesn't want to admit it, and the final product will just have to contain lots of inconsistencies because it's too complicated and he doesn't want significant help.
Agreed, one of my biggest writing pet peeves is when a piece of world building that was intended as a throwaway line or to flesh out the background is explained, often in an unsatisfying and lore breaking/twisting way. Destiny 2 was the fucking worst at this. Let mysteries stay mysteries.
@@VaporeonEnjoyer1 I think its more possible to get an Asshai HBO drama then for the books to be finished.
Asshai's description is closely in line with the Red Waste being irradiated. The irradiated water damages cells of fish mutating them and the harm to the reproductive system of residence prevents them from having kids.
I agree there is some sort of radiation or maybe magic
Pretty sure it’s magic
Its Radiation @@Pure_Light_of_Heaven
@@nerdelf3704Why not magic radiation?
I haven't read the book yet, but if GRRM actually used the term "irradiated," then perhaps there is some magical or chemical/biological reason that connects the places. While it would be possible to use alternative terms to describe both places, "irradiated" is certainly striking.
The show really nailed Tyrion’s acrobatics in later seasons. His character flipped and flopped all over the place
Good one 🤸♂️
so true
Just a side thought, Volantis is the first daughter of Valyria while Daenerys could be considered the Last Daughter of Valyiria, their conflict would reflect the refusal to change and the inevitability of change.
Yess, I like this
Don’t think she’s the last daughter the celtigars and velaryons still exist
@@GSTV16 They do? Where? They're not mentioned in the story.
She will be revived in Volantis by the red priestess (show lore)
In the book she never died
@@worldadventuretravel Yes they are. They're among the houses that support stannis on the blackwater before bending to Joffrey. Later, Stannis considers sacking Claw Isle as a reprisal for House Celtigar's surrender, but Davos convinces him otherwise. Also Aurane waters is a bastard of house velaryon.
It would be so cool to see locations such as Assha’i, Yi Ti, Leng, the 5 Forts and Sothoryos.
It is highly unlikely that ASOIAF China will never be shown
I'm curious about Ulthos and the Grey Waste as well which are even less likely to ever appear
There's apparently an animated series about the "Golden Empire" of Yi Ti in the works. I haven't heard a anything about it in a couple years though
Those are the things GRRM should be writing spinoffs about, instead of churning out the 562nd detailed Targaryen lore about the same exact prophecies, dreams, mad people, family squabbles between 8 people named Aegon, Aemon, Daemon, Daegon, Daeron, Aeron, Maeron, Baelon, Shaelon and dragons dragons dragons. Targs are just boring.
Tyrion's acrobatics are still a thing: he does a cartwheel at the brothel just before he gets grabbed by Jorah Mormont.
I just re read that chapter a couple days ago. I had forgot about his gymnast tumbling.
And then the next chapter later he can barely walk because of his leg muscles. His gymnastic crap is utterly unbelievable. Stops the story dead every time I get to it. @@shaycase1834
I think that the person who made that comment wasn't referring to physical gymnastics but rather his character in the show when they ran out of book material.
No, seriously. Tyrion the guy who can barely walk without pain randomly can do gymnastic tumbling. It's a head-scratcher that stopped the book cold for me.
@@Rumkitty2000
I think Dani going to Ashai is possible, but maybe not bringing her POV with her. Instead we'll get a post-Ashai Dani with a reluctance to go into detail even in her memory about what happened.
I always felt that Daenerys’ "lightbringer" would be the dragons. She didn’t sacrifice Drogo and Rhaego to get them, but they were hatched out of the pire Drogo was burned in, and she would probably never perform that ritual if she hadn’t lost Drogo and Rhaego in the first place
In a way, she decided to kill them both, she basically said she convinced herself it wouldn't be Rhaego but thought it might be to save Drogo, then kills Drogo herself. We also see her keep trying to hatch the eggs, so maybe the failed attempts of Azor Again were those failed attempts trying to hatch the dragons. Makes a lot of sense to me
@@exothermic1942 I believe the theory that only Drogon specifically is lightbringer, the other 3 dragons are the failed attempts, I feel like many people forget that an important aspect in the forging of lightbringer was Nissa Nissa allowing the sword to go through her, sacrificing herself, Dany walking into the pyre was the equivalent of that
@@exothermic1942 I mean, when she kills Drogo it's out of mercy, since he's basically been rendered as a vegetable. I know I would want someone to put me out of my misery if I was a braindead vegetable.
Only death can pay for life. Three deaths, three living dragons.
Her baby’s life force literally quickened the eggs because she interfered in the blood magic ritual
i love that you give Dany purple eyes, such a waste for them not to do it in the show tbh
If the eggs were from Dragonstone Illyrio gave her a gift that was hers already, stolen from her family. He could hardly tell her that. I feel Asshai is so foreign, so out of reach for anybody, it is easy to claim something is from Asshai. Who’s gonna correct you?
Speaking of Glass Candles, imagine if Marwyn actually taught Daenerys how to create one? Maybe he found some insights and knowledge through the lost pages of Signs and Portents, or maybe learned something in Ashai. But without dragons, such a creation was impossible. It would be cool to see the return of magic personified, in a way, by the creation of a piece of magical technology not forge from scratch in centuries.
I think the bit about there being no children in Asshai has a double meaning: no children of the forest
That seems like a pretty strange assertion when the children are confined to one specific region, so almost everywhere has no children of the forest. Seems pretty self evident
@@KingKong11730 But we dont know that the cotf are confined to one location. The ifequevron (if i even spelled that right) have strong cotf vibes and theyre in northern essos. Leng seems like it has some serious old gods/cotf stuff going on too. And who knows with southoryos? Point is, I think its beyond safe to assume cotf arent just in westeros. They very well could have been in the areas around Asshai prior to whatever doom-like event happened there. George doesnt waste words and much of what he tells us has multiple meanings.
@KingKong11730 The children of the forest are responsible for the white walkers, and there are tales/accounts of white walkers that come from all over the world besides Westeros
@@6tiple6ix6afiaI just hope George remembers all this lore
I'm pretty sure in the world book, there was a forrest near Asshai that had stories about the children of the forest.
Theory! Danys eggs come from the dragon Dreamfyre. Dreamfyre is literally the mother of the dragons. So Daenerys is symbolically taking the role of Dreamfyre. Maybe the name ‘Daenerys’ means dream fire in Valyrian. ‘Dae’ can mean dream (Daenys the dreamer suits this) and ‘Erys’ or ‘Nerys’ can mean fire . The idea of dream-fire seems to fit, in the sense that it represents psychic power, and resonates with the idea that within the weirnet there is a magical godhead of dreams/ dreamers and their power is symbolically a type of divine fire within trees.
It means 'dragon fire'
@@charliewild2367 Dracarys means "Dragon fire". Not Daenerys, that's completely different word :D
@@_Seph_ That isn't what I said...
@@_Seph_ I didn't write this post... I corrected it. Before you might I add. Thanks
@@charliewild2367 I don't understand what you're saying now tbh.
The original post talks about how the person thinks, that Daenerys may mean "Dream fire".
You said it means dragon fire.
But it doesn't.
"Dracarys" is a word for Dragon fire. Not Daenerys. There isn't really any meaning for that name in ASOIAF I'm pretty sure. In Welsh it means Lady of Light / Lady of Hope.
We will see it through glass candle that Marywn will bring to Daenerys what we will see maybe finally truth about Dany past and maybe some events from future
My exact thoughts
Daenerys is a Targaryen and if she’s reborn in Asshai she’ll be the Princess who was promised. Right? Where else would Drogon take her? Not only that Asshai is the alleged home of dragons. Drogon has no siblings left. He’s going where the dragons are. They almost certainly went there. Great video!
What are you talking about it ended on s6
If there's nothing alive in Asshai but the occasional sorcerer, meaning no animals, no potable water, ergo nothing for dragons to eat or survive on, *how would dragons be from Asshai?* Think it through. Dragons are not from any place that doesn't support life.
Read.
Pretty sure Drogon takes Dany to Asshai after she dies in Westeros. I don’t think there is any time for her to visit the Shadowlands before sailing West, but knowing everything you say in this video plus what the show gave us, I think she will be resurrected there
“To go west, you must pass under the shadow,” the shadow city, the city that is a shadow of itself: Volantis.
probably one of the best ASOIAF videos I’ve watched recently man. It was really enjoyable appreciate it
I think the Dany's plot on book 2 was meant to have Dany travel throught the Jade sea visiting different locations and reach Asshai at the end maybe the house of the Undying original location was Stygai and Euron who is involved with the Warlocks and is mentioned by Theon several times in the book could appear as someone trying to marry Daenerys so he can get the dragons, thinks wouldn't work as Euron planed but he would conect with some higher power at Stygai and change plans deciding to go to Valyria by himself where he would find the dragobinder horn, maybe it was to long and Martin decided to contain the story in Asshai
Chris, your domination of the ASOIAF UA-cam continues. Great video!!
13:49 Jorah is an idiot. If dragons and dragon eggs come from Asshai, then why would they want more dragon eggs? If they trade dragon eggs for food and water then the eggs aren't as useful to them and won't fetch a very high price there.
If you want to sell a bunch of diamonds, you might have to go to a diamond dealer. Yes, they have a surplus of diamonds/dragon eggs, but their business is appraising the value of diamonds/dragon eggs and turning that surplus into other things of value.
TLDR: If dragon eggs are practically currency there, they can easily be traded in the already established market.
Part of me believes that the initial Bran chapter (famous for coming to George in a flash of inspiration brought about by the phrase "the summer snows) was supposed to be a part of "Avalon," which he refers to as his unfinished work-in-progress before switching over to develop ASoIaF. I think he must have recognized that the weight of this chapter was significant enough to warrant its own story, so he ultimately repurposed all his old ideas and fused them together. But what do I know? This is all pure speculation anyway.
Lomas Longstrider seems like a nod to GRRM's friend and Wheel of Time author, Robert Jordan: there's a famed and legendary traveller in the WoT called Jain Farstrider who is known the world over for his travels all over the world.
Holy shit! Great fucking video. I know you condescend yourself sometimes saying you're not as good as so and so UA-camr but stop that shit cuz you're doing fucking fantastic work my dude
Thank you for the support
In all honesty, his series on the Targaryen Kings is my favorite. I realize he may have reached the Dragonbane and thus the end of Fire and Blood. But the videos are great.
@@CrusaderChris we visit chroyane thru tyrion's pov
Its funny that those Volantene nobles think themselves higher than Dany and Viserys when in the old Valyrian empire they wouldve been worshipped by the Volantenes as Gods owing to their Dragonlord blood.
Marwyn the Mage will give Danny a glass candle allowing her to astral project into Ashai and communicate with Quathe.
Lmao Marvin
*Marwyn
And yes I believe he will give Dany a glass candle too, supposedly once George said he didn't have enough time anymore for Dany to go all the way to Asshai so a glass candle is a clever solution to make the trip
@Dani_1012 No he is literally right. Marvin the Mage is the brother of who you're referring to. He is a glass candle shopkeeper God you GOT fans know nothing of ASOIAF. You know nothing Dani_1012
He left it in Oldtown.
@@andrewknoll7716he took the green one with him I believe
There def won’t be any Asshai if we’re to take Martin at his word. He has said that he has no intention of exploring Asshai other than the vague rumors that we’ve heard over the course of the series.
Ive always thought of it as a ancient pre valyria, asshai had its own doom but its been thousands of years ago with the survivers descendants eventually making it to valyria to teach them about dragons and blood magic to restart there culture in a way
I have the theory that Ashai doesn't have children because it's not a place where people are /from/ only a place you can live/ visit. People may stay there the rest of their lives but no one grows up there. It's focused on learning and practicing magic. So I see it functioning kind of like a university campus. Plus, its more than inhospitable, so it's not a place where it would be safe to raise a child.
A land of magic users who dwell in darkness to hone their skills sounds super dope.
I wonder how the city actually functions with such a tiny population. If dragons do exist there, there's not too many, and they don't fly far from the peninsula.
They probably have somebody who specializes in botany
It makes me wonder how Corlys Valaryion managed to survive a visit.
What would they eat? Dragons are not from anywhere that doesn't support life, because again, where would they get drinkable water and what would they eat?
We don’t know if life exists there or not. Mutated animals may survive there, or the dragons grab lunch from somewhere else close by.
Amazing video, as usual. Great job with the editing as well!
Would love to see series about Asshai and other mysterious areas.
I just want this damn old man to finish this series before he goes to the star fields!😂
I want Yeen storyline.
In short, GRRM had introduced a concept he now has no idea how to insert into the main plot. I'm willing to bet he regrets the whole character of Quaithe.
I thought it would be her going to Ashai and coming from the west to Casterly Rock, instead GRRM is just stuck in Mereen.
Marvin the Mage will give Danny a glass candle allowing her to astral project into Ashai and communicate with Quathe.
🤔
I bet the reason the show kinda forgot about Quaithe is because they asked GRRM what he was gonna do with her and he said "the fuck do I know" and since neither did they, they just completely dropped her.
Dude... Just found your channel... I'm impressed. You're thorough and concise. As a mid-tier beginner..... Idk (to outside of GOT & HOTD Lore) i appreciate how you break it down 👌😊
There is no chillin in Asshai
Made me laugh out loud
I guess once again we won’t know unless George finishes the books😵💫
Hey Crusader, I really enjoy your content, and for future videos I would like to know how do you think Jon and Danny will meet in the books?
It's not a topic that is covered a lot and I would like to know your vision
I’m planning a video about every Dany/Essos plotline in TWOW (like my Northern plotlines video) so I imagine I’ll discuss Jon and Dany at length there. Although I’m not so sure they’ll meet by the end of Winds… Thanks for watching!
Everything Martin created is awesome: the mysterious places, the prophecies. Only I fear he put them there as they occurred to him, and now he doesn't know what to do with them.
Another great video. Keep it up mate.
The moment GRRM called himself 'a gardener' as a writer as opposed to 'architects' (writers who KNOW the structure and arcs of their work), I knew he would be frustrating to read. In other words, he has no idea what he's doing although he is a genius. THAT makes it so much worse! We get attached to his brilliant writing and he is meandering to the point of never finishing the freaking story.
I think he over did it. It's not bad being a gardener but don't let the garden get overrun and forget about the main crops
He needs to practice pruning. Any ideas that bloat the story should have been left out and published in a spinoff series separate from the mainline books. I wonder how many versions of WoW he’s written at this point from not being able to make up his own mind. I get wanting to write out all the various ways a situation may play out, but at some point you need to pick a lane and stick with it. The other ideas can be writing exercises for fun, not points of derailment.
You can’t deny that his method works for generating great characters and stories though, the downside is how absurdly hard it is to deal with all these separate plotlines and make them come together in a satisfying way.
@Dell-ol6hb I'm not denying it. That's precisely what I said. We agre 100%.
Have you tried Abercrombie? Best of both worlds.
So bitter, I feel bad for grrm having fans so nasty about the beautiful complicated stories he's created
Thanks for a very informative, probably the very best look at the unbelievably overlooked Land Of Asshi! And don't forget the kingdom? Of Stygi. What the hell is go....,oh. It also looks like we need deep and fun looks like your's.
a worthy video My Lord, I think you are right about G. R. R. M. writing himself into a corner and now its been 13 years... I have never waited for a book this long. I still remember when ADOD came out and how I read it in 42 days trying to read slow thinking that {now my Watch begins} Years have passed... I understand that we might never see another book in His Grace's lifetime, though hope dies last.
On the upside, chat GPT will probably be able to do a great job of finishing it for us of Gurrm doesn't.
Asshai always makes the hairs on my body stand when I read about it. Not necessarily an evil place, just shrouded by the unknown.
This is just when you google something and you are bombarded with ads everywhere about the thing you searched 2 months ago
Great Dune reference in the start.
she might contact Assahai through glass candles in Volantis, kind of astral plane trip, it would be awesome chapter
Dany literally has to go backwards (into the Dothraki Sea) to go forwards (to Asshai).
Such a cool video continue the hard work❤.😊
Thank you for this detailed analysis.
Thanks for compiling this, it reminds me there are still interesting storylines from GRRM's work and it wasn't all a waste of time just because of the failed show ending. Asshai-by-the-Shadow should have been the FIRST spinoff series HBO came up with, but nooo, instead we get a Jon Snow and the Night's Watch which was supposed to come to an end when the white walkers stopped being a thing, and a show based on a different book GRRM went off and wrote instead of finishing ASIOAF.
I LOVE YOU VIDEOs!!!!!!!! ❤
11:44 Oh I get it! Ilyrio says the Eggs came from asshai. Alyssa’s ship ended up in asshai. She took the eggs to asshai, sold or lost them, and they were layered bought and made their way to Ilyrio.
Yeah, she kinda did, but she sold them to the Sealord of Braavos to afford the construction of that very ship. The eggs did not travel west, nor have they been to Asshai.
@@_antillas8674 Oh! Was it directly confirmed that all 3 eggs were sold? I feel like one egg would be enough to fund a ship. This could be a misdirection from George.
@@umwhaIt's in Fire and Blood
Fantastic video! ❤
Khal Drogo was Dany's Nissa Nissa, it's rather obvious. She even "forged lightbringer" from him, with his sacrifice - her dragons.
Her dragons are the lightbringer, it doesn't have to be a literal sword, does it? That would be rather boring as well, wouldn't it?
And if we want to be super specific, she put the egg of Drogon onto Drogo's heart (or the part of chest under which heart is) so it may not be all 3 of them, but only Drogon.
A meteor crashed in the mountains near the Great Empire of the Dawn's capital city during the Dawn Age (closer to Sygai in the mountains), destroying the peninsula with the blast and radiation as well as releasing a massive amount of debris in the atmosphere to block the sun and cause the Long Night. A remnant of the Great Empires population lost their culture but survived and migrated west to eventually become Valyrians and eventually readopt their parent culture's ability to handle dragons.
That's my running theory anyway. If it's true then Asshai has physical OG dragon lore that has, assumably, been pretty safe in a structurally sound, gargantuan but underpopulated 10,000 year old city, but it ALSO has a better account of what the deal is with dragons, the long night, magic and maybe even the Others than anywhere else on the planet.
Another great video!
I loved that opening
Love your videos mate!
I've also always wondered why the Dragon Lords before the Doom didn't invade and conquer Westeros?
I don’t know how much the books will follow the main plot from the last seasons of the show, i hope as little as possible, but after Dany’s death Drogon brought her towards Volantis, some speculate that it’s so that the red priestess who helped her in Meeren could bring her back, but since we don’t have info on Volantis precisely, only east, could have Drogon chose to bring her to Asshai? For some kind of resurrection
Thank you for such a detailed video! To me it makes more sense to see Azor Ahai and the Prince(ss) that was promised as two different figures: there really doesn't seem to be much indication of them being the same. Ofc I'm immensely confused by the tv show ending, in which the interpretation of Azor Ahai is very literal and clearly different from the prophecy of Aegon's dream (it only makes sense to assume that Daenerys was the Princess That Was Promised in the tv version of the story, since Jon Snow didn't seem to be very effective in fighting the White Walkers himself). So idk. I would really love to see it all play out differently in the books. If we ever get those last books, that is.
As I was watching I realized something possibly interesting. You mention the assumption Euron used the egg to pay for an assassin. Maybe, but maybe Euron did something more interesting.
You pointed out that Euron, Mirri, and Marwyn have been to Asshai. What if that's the connection? Could Euron, his myrish friend having failed, designed the marriage to Drogo to hatch his eggs? It draws the line between Mirri and Euron. Sending Dany into the Dothraki sea with the eggs toward Mirri who helps Dany hatch them. They arrive in Qarth where we believe the Pirate King began his journey to Westeros from after having seen the dragons had hatched.
So Euron fails to hatch an egg and goes to Illyrio having her married to Drogo. Explains how he got them, why he'd give her such a valuable gift. He did it to pay off a debt to Euron. Euron has his horn, he's obviously prepared for Dany to have hatched them, which makes him the only person in the world who seemed to be ready. If he set it all up, his plotline and Illyrio's actions make more sense no?
This removes the need for Dany to go to Asshai. She can learn this truth anywhere. It may also explain Quaithe. She may have learned of this plot while she was in Asshai and has been trying to disrupt or hyjack it? Or she was a part of it, ensuring Dany actually managed to do it?
Crazy?
Haven’t actually read the books yet, though I’ve watched a ton of videos. (Reading thru Fire & Blood rn). But I don’t think you’re crazy.
What’s crazy is if this is right, because then we know that Daenerys and the most powerful new threat, besides the Walkers, was just completely set up by Euron. Which makes us wonder… what does Euron want?? And how close is he to really getting it??
If George thinks of himself as a gardener more than a writer, can we ask if he has remembered that gardeners usually water their garden?
The fact we’re watching a thirty minute video essay about his art and the world he’s crafted shows he has watered it a lot. I wish people weren’t rude to GRRM. I know we all want TWOW, but this incredible author gave us such great art and such an amazing series, we should be more grateful and less snarky
@@college54114totally agree. It's such a buzz kill when people are hating on such an amazing writer that they clearly have enjoyed themsleves.
I hate the idea of never going to Asshai... but I guess in a way. that's what keeps the allure of it alive. The sheer mystery of it makes it great
Let’s wait for ai to release winds of winters 😍
Children are sacrificed in Asshai and a great prize indeed. Children need nurturing. No nurturing and morality in Asshai.
I agree.
But what about pregnant women? Are there any or is there child import?
@@jito7377I wonder if fertility is even possible or frequent in Asshai given how hostile it is. unless all babies are sacrificed upon birth
I'm sure this has been said somewhere already but what if eurons not lying but telling a half truth. He used the dragon egg to pay the faceless men to kill his brother by throwing him into the sea. So he threw this egg into the sea aka his brother.
If it’s true that GRRM abandoned the Asshai thread and replaced it with Volantis….then that is massively disappointing. And yeah, GRRM has stated quite a while ago that Asshai will not be seen in the books, so I guess it’s not new. But Asshai is infinitely more fascinating than Volantis or any other place in the ASOIAF world, and I do subscribe to the theory that Asshai was actually the former capital of the Great Empire of Dawn, who were the original harnessers of dragons and had something to do with the onset of the first Long Night. Alas, we’ll probably never know…
dude im such a big fan of the original dune movie. I heard they made a book based on it. But honestly im not big into reading. Plus i enjoy the original source material anyways.
I feel like Martin changed his mind on the origin of the dragons from Asshai to being made with blood magic, but if he wanted he could make both coexist with the natural dragons from Asshai being what inspired the valirians to create their own
When this man GRRM inevitably dies without completing ASOIAF, i hope that other authors are allowed to write lore expanding tales within this universe
I'm pretty sure Marvyn left the Glass Candle in the citadel for Sam to get his hands on later. Complete with a big sign saying "May on no surcunstances be lit, touched or licked!" to make it irresistable. :D
Marwin: "The candle, did you lick the candle!?!?"
Sam: "Yes, I'm sorry! What will happen to me now?"
Marwin: "Nothing, but Jaqen owns me a beer."
I think that when Dany was killed by Jon and Drogon took her body, he took her to Asshai . Idk just a thought!
I also think that Euron Grayron is one of the children who tried to fly with the crow, because he says he dreamed of flying as a child like Bran
15:40 GRRM has stated that, like Lord of the Rings, his story takes place in “alternative” earth, not in a foreign world. So ASOAIF world is just as big as the earth
As I state in this video, George said ASOIAF's planet, "Might be a little larger than ours, though. I was thinking more like Vance's Big Planet.... but don't hold me to that." So he does not have an explicit size in mind, but he considers it to be probably larger than Earth. It's not 1:1 with our planet.
Source: www.westeros.org/Citadel/SSM/Category/C91/P60
Sick vid bro, the art of Asshai looked like it could be Total War:Asshai haha.
I've thought about Eurons dragons egg. What if he was rich enough to afford his brothers hit, rebel lord discount or something and he still had the egg?
Real Historian Moment right there 12:10
I think you meant to say "Good friend" lol
Friends, roommates, sisters-in-law, lovers… yeah they were pretty close
It would have been sick if we got a series that takes place in the shadowlands but during the exact same time period as game of thrones. Imagine if they tied Danaryes prophecy of destroying kings landing to the magic that brought the eggs back to life.
Just because Danny met Marwyn in book 1 and same meets him in book 5 it doesn’t necessarily mean George planned it from the start. Also Great video man!
The size of the city would make sense if it was at one point the capital of the GEotD. Which is what I think it being compared to 4 capital cities (counting Volantis as successor to Valyria and Qarth as former capital of a larger Qartheen territory--plus it's slogan as "greatest city that ever was or will be") is meant to suggest.
About the sacrafice of the love of your life, Dany did burn Drogo to hatch Dragons. Can't Imagine a more powerfull weapon for the long night.
Omg your intro made me laugh so hard now my rib hurts 😂😊
I truly believe now she has to go to asshai, only because of the show, I think he's going to drastically change the books in certain ways, make the more magical and shrouded in mystery
As regards Mel, she is right where she needs to be and took the most efficient route to get there. She may not understand her visions but they did put her right where she needs to be. Let's say she just showed up at the Wall by herself, ya, that's not going to work, she ended up with the only King who went there. She is, of course, being led to Jon, it's just taking her some time to realize that.
He could've avoided the whole Dani in Mereen storyline. But I'm still grateful
enjoyed this thanks
I would like to see more shows explore Essos. Maybe the Aegon the Conquerer spinoff, but I doubt it. We only seem to get Westeros.
Wow Imagine if George had maintained the story to a trilogy. That would have been wild.
A lot of the ways GRR shows growth or lack there of is giving characters an obvious this is what you need to do / should do moment. I think the whole shadow by Asshai thing is one of those moments for Danny. She should go there and learn more about her dragons / bloodline but things will get in the way and she’ll prioritize lesser things and then lack some critical info on one of those points which will make it a distinct plot point or turning point in future books.
Magic always comes at a great price, to do anything physical takes physical interaction. Typically our actions are like pebbles in a pond radiating out but typically having little effects. To cast a pebble out of the physical to make a ripple or direct intended consequence beyond the physical into the deeper & more expansive Spirit Realm... Yes, that takes a Very High Price.
They've got to be dreamfyres eggs, that's good writing
Yeah its why rhaegar was so powerful, cuz he was born during the burning of everyone in summerhall. Kind of wonder if it was all planned by someone
Dany's whole storyline is what happens when an author gets carried away with their world building. Dany's whole story is built around a return to Westeros, but GRRM wants her to fight slavery and visit Asshai first. That's great, but it's in the other direction. In order to move back and forth, Dany's story needs way more in world time to happen than any of the others.
There's a reason the Mereen arc feels like a detour and a waste of time. Don't lie, you've felt it too. We read the same books. The ideas are great, but the world building wasn't done to facilitate it. I generally prefer GRRM's gardener style of storytelling, but in Dany's case it was a major mistake.
Mereen should have been Volantis. Asshai and the Shadow Lands should have either been just north of Old Valyria, or should have also been on the Valyrian peninsula (and just localise the fallout of the Doom a little closer to the Old Valyrian capitol city). Just like that, you save like 200 pages and do all the same plot points.
For the record I know GRRM is a better writer than I'll ever be. In my opinion that's even more reason to examine ASOIAF's flaws. To learn from the best, why not analyse their mistakes?
Finally Purple eyes on Targaryen’s lol
Everyone's been saying that drogon is going to take her to old Valeria and somehow find a way to resurrect her... But what if he takes her to the shadowland instead where Danny can learn the truth of what actually caused the extinction of dragons and fix it so that dragons return to westeros
I just want to see Danny's revenge against those who plotted against her, specially Tyrion, Jon and Sansa
“The prince WHO was promised, not the prince THAT was promised.” Stannis Baratheon
Red doors in a house made of stone = the doors of Dragonstone, the only red doors ever mentioned in the story other than those in her dream. Daenerys has memories of living in Dragonstone.
Omg the opening killed me
George R. R. Martin writes from the perspective of his characters whenever we follow them. It is their information or misinformation that is shared throughout the books, not an all-knowing author ... but ofc such huge stories often get forgotten information, even to the author.