Who are the White Walkers really?

Potential Spoilers Below

First I will talk a little about the Others or White Walkers and what we know of them.  We know that they were last seen roughly 8,000 years ago.  It is said that they were defeated by the First Men and the Children of the Forest in the War for the Dawn.  The religion based around R’hllor says that Azor Ahai wielding a flaming sword called Lightbringer drove the Others back to save mankind from the Long Night.  It also says that he will be reborn amidst salt and smoke to once again fight against the Great Other.  

An Other

Leaf, One of the Children of the Forest

Azor Ahai hold Lightbringer facing the Others during The Long Night

It isn’t known whether they come when it gets cold or whether they themselves bring the cold.  They make no sound and leave no trails.  They have some kind of camouflaging armor that reflects light in a way that changes color as it moves making it hard for them to be seen.  They blend into their environment like a chameleon.  They carry long swords that have been said that no human metal has gone into the forging of the blade.  The blade itself seems to be made of ice and is sharper than any razor, a shard of crystal so thin that it seemed almost to vanish when seen edge-on.  They appear to be excellent swordsmen faster and stronger than the average man; as witnessed by easily tossing Samwell Tarly aside with one hand.  They speak a language that is unknown as of yet, sounding like cracking of ice on a winter lake, and the words were mocking.  Do they have a sense of fair play as when Ser Waymar Royce was face to face with an Other and encircled by five more they did nothing to interfere?  Or was it just that they knew that he didn’t stand a chance?  We know that when their swords come into contact with a steel sword there is not ring of metal on metal but only a high, thin sound at the edge of hearing, like an animal screaming in pain.  We know after making repeated contact with a steel blade it will cause it to shatter.  The television show simply shows the Other grabbing Sam's sword with one hand and shattering it with its grip.  The watchers moved forward together, as if some signal had been given. Swords rose and fell, all in a deathly silence.  We know that they can be killed by dragonglass or obsidian.  The are able to reanimate the dead, aka Wights, and enlist them in their ranks.  And recently we learned that they can turn human babies (boys) into themselves.  This is a topic to itself and I will be covering it shortly in another blog.

White Walker seen

White Walker simply brushes Sam aside with one hand
It doesn't even slow it down

Sam stabs the White Walker in the shoulder with a blade of Dragon Glass
It seems to freeze and burst into nothing

A White Walker on a dead horse leads Wights (reanimated dead humans)

A different looking White Walker possibly the Night's King

The White Walker above turns the baby boy into one of them

          Now let me tell you how I see this lining up with The Wheel of Time.  The Others make up a combination of characters from the Wheel of Time.  During the War of Power the Dark One tried to break through to the world of man and was defeated by Lews Therin Telamon.  The prophecies said that he would be reborn to once again fight the Dark One at the Last Battle.  The Prophecies of the Dragon stated that the Stone of Tear will never fall, till Callandor is wielded by the Dragon's hand.  Callandor is a sword that is not a sword that appears to be surrounded by "light", does this not scream Lightbringer?

Lews Therin Telamon

The Stone of Tear

Callandor floating in the Stone of Tear

The Dragon Reborn wielding Callandor

          They take on the characteristics of the Warder when it comes to how they move, fight with swords and seem to be able to blend into their environment.  A Warder is a person, traditionally male, who is bonded by an Aes Sedai through the use of saidar to become her bodyguard or protector.  A Warder did not simply use weapons, he was a weapon, and that was only the first requirement.  They wear color-shifting cloaks that allow them to virtually fade into their environment; making them shadows.  A Warder’s cloak like the Other armor give them the ability to mimic the surrounding landscape and serve as camouflage.  Some fight with power wrought weapons that never need sharpening and never break.  They are considered blademasters and some carry heron-marked swords which signify this level of skill.  The bond between a Warder and the Aes Sedai allows them to sense one another’s location as well as emotion.  They take on the characteristics of Myrddraal also.  They are muscular and serpent-quick.  The Myrddraal’s voice is rasped like a dry snake skin crumbling.  They fight with swords that are made by Forgers, man-shaped entities, who craft the deadly black blades of the Myrddraal.  They are much stronger than humans and can lift someone from the ground with one hand.   They use shadow to travel.  They use them to travel far distances by stepping into any area of shadow, only to suddenly appear elsewhere, in a shadow far away.  They are extremely hard to kill and are linked with Trollocs who fight with them.  Dealing a Myrddraal a death blow kills all the Trollocs linked to it will die, even though the Myrddraal itself will not die until sunset.  When the bond with a Warder is broken he rarely survives. He completely loses the will to live and will almost always die attempting to avenge his Aes Sedai.

A Warder and his Aes Sedai

Aes Sedai channeling Saidar

Aes Sedai and Warder having each others back

Color-Shift Cloak

Myrddraal leading Trollocs

Doesn’t this sound awfully similar?  Again I haven’t made up any of this as any who have read the books can attest.  So with that said some questions come to mind.

Will we find that if an Other is killed the Wights that are bonded/controlled by it also die for good?

Will it be revealed that Others travel through shadow in a similar fashion to the Myrddraal?

Do they have an Aes Sedai/Warder type bond possibly to the Great Other?

Did they make The Wall and was Bran the Builder one of them?  8,000 years is a long time and it seems that everyone has forgotten a lot.

The Wall

I personally don’t think the Others will turn out to be totally bad.  I think we will learn their true nature through Bran and his Greensight ability.  I will tell you my complete theory after I finish building the the foundation upon which it is based.

Bran

Excerpts referring to Warders from the Wheel of Time

Excerpts from New Spring:

“A Warder did not simply use weapons, he was a weapon, and that was only the first requirement.”

“A Warder’s cloak was a disconcerting sight, and murmurs rose in the camp, people gaping and pointing.”

"A sister and her bonded Warder could sense each other’s emotions and physical condition, and each knew exactly where the other was, if they were close enough, and at least a direction if they were far apart, but this seemed on the order of reading minds.”

“When you’ve had a Warder long enough, you will know what he is thinking, and he will know what you are."

Excerpts from The Eye of the World:

“The Warder's stony face showed nothing but he nodded slowly.”

“In the darkness the Warder's cloak made him a shadow, too.”

“The Warder's hardplaned face was expressionless, but there were those cold blue eyes.”

“The Warder's hood was thrown back, but his chameleonlike cloak blended so well with the night that the dim blur of his face seemed to hang suspended in the night.”

“Between the wagon and the footmen, and to either side, rode a dozen Warders, their cloaks swirling and tangling the eye.”

Excerpts from The Great Hunt:

“he thought the garments would fade into rock or woods almost as well as a Warder's cloak.”

Excerpts from The Dragon Reborn:

“Even to Perrin's eyes he was indistinct, sometimes seeming to vanish altogether, then reappear in midstride, parts of him fading into the night and fading back as the wind gusted. Only a Warder's shifting cloak”

“Perrin peered at the man's face. Even to his sharp eyes, the shadows seemed to shroud the other man's features like a Warder's cloak could do that, which made the larger figure Lan, just as the smaller was certainly Moiraine.”

“The colorshifting Warder cloaks made them queasymaking to watch for long, parts of them sometimes seeming to fade into the walls bond.”

Excerpts from The Shadow Rising:

“The longhilted sword, like those most Warders used, had a heron engraved on its slightly curved blade, symbol of a blademaster, and Min could not say whether it belonged to Gawyn or threatened him.”

“he astride his great black warhorse, in a color shifting Warder's cloak that probably brought as many oohs and aahs as the Aiel.”

“And the words we have taken for common use, and never think of their meanings in the Old Tongue. Warders are called 'Gaidin,' which was 'brothers to battle.”

“Warders moved like death itself when they wanted to.”

Excerpts from The Fires of Heaven:

“Few men saw a Warder who did not want to be seen, even without the Gaidin cloak.”

“The Warder's cloak hung down his back, disturbing the vision as it rippled with his movements.”

Comments encouraged.  Love to hear the idea’s of others.  Most believe that since I present my idea’s as “fact like” I’m not open to change my viewpoints which is far from the truth.  I simply look at the information presented and go from there.  If you can shine a light on another way of thinking that opens the door to debate.

Symbolically Is a Ta'veren equal to a Targaryen?

Potential Spoilers Below

Ta'veren

Pronunciation: tah-VEER-ehn

"A person around whom the Wheel of Time weaves all surrounding life-threads, perhaps ALL life-threads, to form a Web of Destiny."

The 3 Ta'veren
Perrin, Rand & Mat

When Rand "died" it was only his body as his consciousness was switched with Moridin and he lived on in that body.  Can you say "Warg"

Moridin

Varamyr Sixskins riding his snow bear with his 3 wolves and his shadowcat
Warg/Skinchanger

Excerpt from A Memory of Light:

“The song they sang was a Borderlander funeral song. Rand led the horse through the night to get a little closer. He peered between the tents to where three women stood around a funeral pyre.

Aviendha - Elayne - Min
The 3 women who stood around Rand's funeral pyre

Moridin, he thought. He’s being cremated with full honors as the Dragon Reborn.”

All 3 Ta'veren (Rand, Mat and Perrin) have the dream with Ba'alzamon and him breaking the backs of rats.  When Rand awakes he learns that it really came true.

Excerpt from The Eye of the World:

“You mustn't take any mind of what you saw, now. Master Fitch is a good enough man, though the best of you aren't any bargains. It's the folk complaining as has him on edge, and what do they have to complain about? Would they rather find live rats than dead ones? Though it isn't like Cirri to leave his handiwork behind. And over a dozen? Cirri wouldn't let so many get into the inn, he wouldn't. It's a clean place, too, and not one to be so troubled. And all with backs broken.” She shook her head at the strangeness of it all.

The bread and cheese turned to ashes in Rand's mouth. “Their backs were broken?”

Perrin fortell's the most prophecies in his wolf dreams:  

Rand, Mat and Perrin all have dreams that come true.

Some influences of being Ta’veren:

One becomes ta'veren according to the needs of the Wheel. No one is born ta'veren. Rand, Mat and Perrin became ta'veren just before Moiraine appeared.

Mat and Perrin both want to leave Tear but cannot because of Rand's ta'veren pull.

Verin cites Perrin's sudden leadership as ta'veren in action.

Verin

Mat begins to accept that his ta'veren nature and the Pattern will do with him what they want.

Rand's ta'veren effect causes improbable happenings when he visits Tear.

Rand's ta'veren effect causes Bael and Jheran to mend the four hundred year old blood feud between Shaarad and Goshien. It causes and constant stream of smaller events as well.

Bael

Jheran

Members of the Shaarad Aiel

Members of the Goshien Aiel

Excerpt from The Shadow Rising:

“There was no guide to how they were connected, or what they were supposed to do; the Prophecies never mentioned companions.”

The 3 were connected, referring to Rand, Mat and Perrin, in the fact that they were all Ta’veren and that they were all raised in the Two Rivers.

Targaryen

Pronunciation: Tar-GAIR-ee-in

Is not the “Web of Destiny” being woven around Daenerys, Jon Snow and Tyrion?

House Targaryen's sigil is a three-headed dragon breathing flames, red on black. The three-headed dragon represents the Conqueror and his two sisters, Rhaenys and Visenya.  Their house words are "Fire and Blood."

Sigil of House Targaryen

Rhaenys - Aegon - Visenya

Deceased Targaryens are traditionally cremated.

Another trait typical to Targaryens, and one that was passed on to the cadet branch, House Blackfyre, was the ability to have premonition-like dreams.

Game of Thrones prophecies (shows my choices as having prophetic dreams):  

How I see the Ta’veren like effects on who I believe to be the 3 current dragons.

 (The Dragon has 3 heads – Daenerys, Jon and Tyrion)

Tyrion - Daenerys - Jon

It doesn’t appear that Daenerys, Jon or Tyrion always had the effect they they have on others now just a few years ago.

Tyrion seems to be being drawn to Daenerys right now.  Whose pull will be stronger Jon or Daenerys?

All 3 of my choices for the 3 heads of the Dragon have taken on leadership roles similar to the 3 ta’veren in the Wheel of Time.

Excerpt from Tyrion Chapter Winds of Winter paraphrased:

“Why do the gods keep putting me into battle?” Tyrion thinks, since he is so obviously ill-suited for it.  He remembers the first time he ever prepared for a battle when he fought in his father’s army on the Green Fork.  This to me is reminiscent of Mat accepting his nature as ta’veren and the Pattern doing with him what they want.  Lines up  perfectly as I see Tyrion as the Mat character also.

All three of who I believe to be the 3 heads of the Dragon cause improbable happenings (i.e. Daenerys causing dragon eggs to hatch, Jon creating a fragile alliance between the Night’s Watch and the wildlings, Tyrion taking part and leading several successful battles despite his being a dwarf).

Just like the Dragon Reborn the Azor Ahai prophecies doesn’t mention companions or how they were connected.

Azor Ahai tempering Lightbringer by
stabbing his wife Nissa Nissa through the heart

I believe that my 3 choices are all Targaryen’s, see my blogs on the individuals in question if you haven’t already, and that all 3 of their mothers died giving birth to them.  The mother of the Dragon Reborn, Rand al’Thor in the Wheel of Time, also died giving birth to him. 

In 273 AC, however, Lady Joanna was taken to childbed once again at Casterly Rock, where she died delivering Lord Tywin’s second son. Tyrion, as the babe was named, was a malformed, dwarfish babe born with stunted legs, an oversized head, and mismatched, demonic eyes (some reports also suggested he had a tail, which was lopped off at his lord father’s command). Lord Tywin’s Doom, the smallfolk called this ill-made creature, and Lord Tywin’s Bane.

Tywin Lannister

The Targaryen fleet was smashed while it lay at anchor, and huge stone blocks were ripped from the parapets and sent hurtling into the wild waters of the narrow sea. Her mother had died birthing her, and for that her brother Viserys had never forgiven her

Viserys pissed at Daenerys yet again

“Before,” Dany said to the ugly Lhazareen woman, “I heard you speak of birthing songs …” “I know every secret of the bloody bed, Silver Lady, nor have I ever lost a babe,” Mirri Maz Duur replied.

Mirri Maz Duur

Bloody bed equals child birth as confirmed via the conversation above

He dreamt an old dream, of three knights in white cloaks, and a tower long fallen, and Lyanna in her bed of blood.

Ned finds Lyanna

Promise me, Ned, his sister had whispered from her bed of blood. She had loved the scent of winter roses.

Promise me, she had cried, in a room that smelled of blood and roses. Promise me, Ned. The fever had taken her strength and her voice had been faint as a whisper, but when he gave her his word, the fear had gone out of his sister’s eyes.

To book readers this suggests that Lyanna was giving birth and she had Ned promise to raise him as his own to save his life from Robert as he could have been a challenge to his reign as he grew older.

Comments encouraged.  Love to hear the idea’s of others.  Most believe that since I present my idea’s as “fact like” I’m not open to change my viewpoints which is far from the truth.  I simply look at the information presented and go from there.  If you can shine a light on another way of thinking that opens the door to debate.