The House of the Undying - A Song of Ice and Fire *Spoilers*

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variol son
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The House of the Undying - A Song of Ice and Fire *Spoilers*

Post by variol son »

we know…the shape of shadows…morrows not yet made…drink from the cup of ice…drink from the cup of fire…mother of dragons…child of three…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…daughter of death, slayer of lies, bride of fire
The good ol' House of the Undying, one of the most interesting, and quite possible important, chapters in the whole story, up until that point at least.

I was thinking, Daenerys identifies Mirri Maz Duur as the first treason, the one for blood, but what about the other two? Any guesses on who will betray, and why? I believe that Ser Jorah Mormont will be the treason for love, but I can't think why.

Has she lit any of the three fires? Has she riden any of the three mounts? What does it mean to be the Slayer of Lies? Mmmmmmm.

I think that Bride of Fire may refer to marrying someone to do with R’hllor, the Lord of Light. Maybe Stannis? 8O

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Vs
Last edited by variol son on Sat Aug 06, 2005 5:05 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Post by I'm Murrin »

At a complete guess, betrayals for gold and love I'd expect to be Illyrio and Jorah, but I think Jorah may be too obvious. One of the fires could be the bonfire that raised the dragons, but some people think that bonfire represented all three fires - life for Dany and the dragons, death for Drogo and Viserys (he wasn't in the fire, but it was partly for him) and Rhaego, love for Drogo, though I don't think that.
The mounts - one to bed is Drogo, the other two might be her other husbands, but it has been supposed that the second - to dread - could be Drogon.

Also very important are the images that go with the words (and the images she sees beforehand in the doorways, but they aren't as relevent to herself):
Viserys screamed as molten gold ran down his cheeks and filled his mouth. A tall lord with copper skin and silver-gold hair stood beneath the banner of a fiery stallion, a burning city behind him. Rubies flew like drops of blood from the chest of a dying prince, and he sank to his knees in the water and with his last breath murmured a womans name... mother of dragons, daughter of death...
Viserys, Rhaego, and Rhaegar. 'Daughter of death' applies to these images specifically, so my own supposition is that her life, who she is, was formed by the deaths of Rhaegar, Viserys, and her son Rhaego.
Glowing like sunset, a red sword was raised in the hand of a blue-eyed king who cast no shadow. A cloth dragon swayed on poles amidst a cheering crowd. From a smoking tower, a great stone beast took wing, breathing shadow fire... mother of dragons, slayer of lies...
Stannis, a mummer's dragon, a stone dragon. 'Slayer of lies'. The three images are all different lies she must slay, but they are all linked. The first is obvious - Stannis is not who Mellisandre say he is, and his sword is not Lightbringer (those prophecies were matched more closely by Dany's own raising of the dragons). The stone dragon looks like it could be Mellisandre's dragon, which she keeps asking Stannis permission to raise, and Dany probably will have to face it when raised, or prevent it from being raised. The mummers dragon I am not sure about. It could be a dragon which she must reveal to be false, possibly even with some link to Euron Crow's Eye.
Her silver was trotting through the grass, to a darkling stream beneath a sea of stars. A corpse stood at the prow of a ship, eyes bright in his dead face, grey lips smiling sadly. A blue flower grew from a chink in a wall of ice, and filled the air with sweetness... mother of dragons, bride of fire...
These three are different to the ones above. 'Bride of fire' - these are her husbands. The first is Dany riding to her first night with Drogo. The second is less clear - a popular theory is Euron Crows Eye, from 'grey lips smiling' = Greyjoy, and the fact he is a sailor, and was supposed dead until aSoS. The third - a blue flower growing from the Wall - is believed to represent Jon Snow.

These are followed by a number of images from her own life - her childhood home; Mirri Maz Duur dying; the merchant who tried to poison her; the lion whose skin she now wears - then some less literal:
"Beneath the Mother of Mountains, a line of naked crones crept from a great lake and knelt shivering before her, their grey heads bowed." - this hasn't happened, the crones kneeling before her, but we cannot know if it is a real future or one that could have happened.
"Ten thousand slaves lifted bloodstained hands as she raced by on her silver, riding like the wind. 'Mother!' they cried, 'mother, mother!'" - this is another future.
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Post by variol son »

Illyrio would be quite likely as a treason for gold. And I always thought that Drogo's funeral pyre was the fire for life as it brought life to the dragons, and I don't think it would be all three either.

As for the rest, I think I need to hurry up and read A Storm of Swords. :D I only wish it didn't come in two volumes. :?

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Vs
You do not hear, and so you cannot be redeemed.

In the name of their ancient pride and humiliation, they had made commitments with no possible outcome except bereavement.

He knew only that they had never striven to reject the boundaries of themselves.
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Post by duchess of malfi »

Ten thousand slaves lifted bloodstained hands as she raced by on her silver, riding like the wind. 'Mother!' they cried, 'mother, mother!'" - this is another future.
One of the best moments in the series...the result of perhaps the only time one of the "kings" acted purely out of compassion for others rather than for personal power... :)

Dany rules. 8)

And yes, get reading, VS!!!!!!!! :lol: :lol: :lol:
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Post by variol son »

One must get buying first, and so one must have the money to buy. :(

Anywho, wouldn't Ser Jorah be the treason for gold? Selling information to Varys.

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Last edited by variol son on Mon Aug 30, 2004 7:02 am, edited 1 time in total.
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He knew only that they had never striven to reject the boundaries of themselves.
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Post by duchess of malfi »

I've never thought that it is enough...the treason for blood changed Dany's life forever...I suspect that the other two treasons will be equally life shattering for her... :(
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Post by duchess of malfi »

www.angelfire.com/ma4/mlarchives/faq/prophecies.html

for a pretty good discussion on the House of the Undying, and the other prophecies and dreams from the books --- but there are a ton of spoilers there from all three books, so be forewarned!
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Post by variol son »

Could you please send this to the new Martin forum in the Library dAN? Thanks. :D

Sum sui generis
Vs
You do not hear, and so you cannot be redeemed.

In the name of their ancient pride and humiliation, they had made commitments with no possible outcome except bereavement.

He knew only that they had never striven to reject the boundaries of themselves.
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Post by OsRavan »

the three heads of the dragon are widely considered to be

dany
tyrion (forshadowing in book 1 with his facination and
Spoiler
we know he is heading to meet up with dany in the next book
and jon.. if you buy into the theory of jon being rhaegars son as most seem to. including myself.
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Re: The House of the Undying - A Song of Ice and Fire

Post by bossk »

variol son wrote:
we know…the shape of shadows…morrows not yet made…drink from the cup of ice…drink from the cup of fire…mother of dragons…child of three…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…daughter of death, slayer of lies, bride of fire
The good ol' House of the Undying, one of the most interesting, and quite possible important, chapters in the whole story, up until that point at least.

I was thinking, Daenerys identifies Mirri Maz Duur as the first treason, the one for blood, but what about the other two? Any guesses on who will betray, and why? I believe that Ser Jorah Mormont will be the treason for love, but I can't think why.

Has she lit any of the three fires? Has she riden any of the three mounts? What does it mean to be the Slayer of Lies? Mmmmmmm.

I think that Bride of Fire may refer to marrying someone to do with R’hllor, the Lord of Light. Maybe Stannis? 8O

Sum sui generis
Vs
I actually thought the chapter itself was quite boring. But absolutely necessary as foreshadowing. In fact, I am now VERY interested in Dany's story as I wait to see how all of the prophecies will be fulfilled.
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Post by variol son »

Daenerys is my favourite character in the whole shebang. I'm gutted that we won't see her until Dance with Dragons. :cry:
You do not hear, and so you cannot be redeemed.

In the name of their ancient pride and humiliation, they had made commitments with no possible outcome except bereavement.

He knew only that they had never striven to reject the boundaries of themselves.
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Post by bossk »

variol son wrote:Daenerys is my favourite character in the whole shebang. I'm gutted that we won't see her until Dance with Dragons. :cry:
I love that everyone has different faves. I've always been very interested in Bran's transformation from "cripple" to "seer" or whatever he's becoming. I was devastated when I thought Theon had killed him and am very intrigued by what he's learning from Coldhands. Can't wait.
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