Read Online Winter is Coming: Symbols and Hidden Meanings in A Game of Thrones by Valerie Estelle Frankel - Free Book Online
Authors: Valerie Estelle Frankel
Ads: Link
the onrushing autumn. The mountain-shaped pyramids of her city burn down and blow away in the wind. And she bleeds for the first time since she met Khal Drogo…It’s either menstruation or a miscarriage, either way suggesting she can become pregnant now. Drogo has already returned in the form of her dragon, his namesake. Or something more literal or in a dream state may occur, now that Daenerys is prepared to bear a living child. When asked if Daenerys is fertile again, Martin comments only, “I am sure Daenerys would like to know. Prophecy can be a tricky business.” 18
The Army of Ice
That night she dreamt that she was Rhaegar, riding to the Trident. But she was mounted on a dragon, not a horse. When she saw the Usurper’s rebel host across the river they were armored all in ice, but she bathed them in dragonfire and they melted away like dew and turned the Trident into a torrent. Some small part of her knew that she was dreaming, but another part exulted. This is how it was meant to be. The other was a nightmare, and I have only now awakened. (III:310)
The host armored in ice could be a suggestion that the battle she should be preparing for is not against the armies of the Seven Kingdoms, but rather of the Others—Dragonfire will prove an important weapon and Dany the destined hero.
Daenerys Frees the Slaves, House of the Undying
Ten thousand slaves lifted bloodstained hands as she raced by on her silver, riding like the wind. “Mother!” they cried. “Mother, mother!” They were reaching for her, touching her, tugging at her cloak, the hem of her skirt, her food, her leg, her breast. They wanted her, needed her, the fire, the life, and Daenerys gasped and opened her arms to give herself to them. (II:707)
This has been fulfilled with Daenerys’s liberation of the slaves of Astapor and its neighboring cities in A Storm of Swords .
Three Fires Must You Light…
three heads has the dragon . . .
. . . three fires must you light . . . one for life and one for death and one to love . . .
. . . three mounts must you ride . . . one to bed and one to dread and one to love . . .
. . . three treasons will you know . . . once for blood and once for gold and once for love . . .
(II.515)
This prophecy too comes from the House of the Undying, and Daenerys thinks of it often. Of course, Daenerys’s experiences in the first book, from her horse Silver she rides on her wedding night to the Maegi’s treason that kills her husband and unborn child to the fire that births her dragons, can be seen fulfilling the first three.
The “dread” is her dragon and the fire for death most likely a cataclysm in war as Drogon burns the enemy into a grisly melted ruin like that of Harrenhal. Hatched from a red and black egg, he even mirrors the Targaryen colors. The fire may already have come true, as there’s a great conflagration when she first rides him. However, the third mount is a mystery—what could she ride after a dragon? Perhaps after the war ends, she will find a simpler mount and be, not Khaleesi or Mother of Millions, but simply Daenerys once more. More intriguingly, she might discover her warg magic and ride inside a raven, wolf, or another person—the bonded animal of someone she loves, or an attempt to save someone she loves or return to him.
Treasons are a little clearer: “The Undying of Qarth had told her she would be thrice betrayed. Mirri Maz Duur had been the first, Ser Jorah the second,” Daenerys thinks (V:38). All through the first season, Jorah has been the one informing on her to Varys, and Dany isn’t pleased to discover this. This leaves the treason for love.
Azor Ahai “called for his wife, Nissa Nissa, and asked her to bare her breast. He drove his sword into her breast, her soul combining with the steel of the sword, creating Lightbringer” (II:115). This moment must repeat for the great hero to live once again. Further, if Jon or Dany is the great hero, this could fulfill all three terms of
The Army of Ice
That night she dreamt that she was Rhaegar, riding to the Trident. But she was mounted on a dragon, not a horse. When she saw the Usurper’s rebel host across the river they were armored all in ice, but she bathed them in dragonfire and they melted away like dew and turned the Trident into a torrent. Some small part of her knew that she was dreaming, but another part exulted. This is how it was meant to be. The other was a nightmare, and I have only now awakened. (III:310)
The host armored in ice could be a suggestion that the battle she should be preparing for is not against the armies of the Seven Kingdoms, but rather of the Others—Dragonfire will prove an important weapon and Dany the destined hero.
Daenerys Frees the Slaves, House of the Undying
Ten thousand slaves lifted bloodstained hands as she raced by on her silver, riding like the wind. “Mother!” they cried. “Mother, mother!” They were reaching for her, touching her, tugging at her cloak, the hem of her skirt, her food, her leg, her breast. They wanted her, needed her, the fire, the life, and Daenerys gasped and opened her arms to give herself to them. (II:707)
This has been fulfilled with Daenerys’s liberation of the slaves of Astapor and its neighboring cities in A Storm of Swords .
Three Fires Must You Light…
three heads has the dragon . . .
. . . three fires must you light . . . one for life and one for death and one to love . . .
. . . three mounts must you ride . . . one to bed and one to dread and one to love . . .
. . . three treasons will you know . . . once for blood and once for gold and once for love . . .
(II.515)
This prophecy too comes from the House of the Undying, and Daenerys thinks of it often. Of course, Daenerys’s experiences in the first book, from her horse Silver she rides on her wedding night to the Maegi’s treason that kills her husband and unborn child to the fire that births her dragons, can be seen fulfilling the first three.
The “dread” is her dragon and the fire for death most likely a cataclysm in war as Drogon burns the enemy into a grisly melted ruin like that of Harrenhal. Hatched from a red and black egg, he even mirrors the Targaryen colors. The fire may already have come true, as there’s a great conflagration when she first rides him. However, the third mount is a mystery—what could she ride after a dragon? Perhaps after the war ends, she will find a simpler mount and be, not Khaleesi or Mother of Millions, but simply Daenerys once more. More intriguingly, she might discover her warg magic and ride inside a raven, wolf, or another person—the bonded animal of someone she loves, or an attempt to save someone she loves or return to him.
Treasons are a little clearer: “The Undying of Qarth had told her she would be thrice betrayed. Mirri Maz Duur had been the first, Ser Jorah the second,” Daenerys thinks (V:38). All through the first season, Jorah has been the one informing on her to Varys, and Dany isn’t pleased to discover this. This leaves the treason for love.
Azor Ahai “called for his wife, Nissa Nissa, and asked her to bare her breast. He drove his sword into her breast, her soul combining with the steel of the sword, creating Lightbringer” (II:115). This moment must repeat for the great hero to live once again. Further, if Jon or Dany is the great hero, this could fulfill all three terms of
Similar Books
It's Always Darkest Before the Fridge Door Opens: Enjoying the Fruits of Middle Age
Phil Callaway, Martha O. Bolton
