Potential Spoilers Below
I have been saying for some time now that The Game of Thrones
(TGOT) seems to be modeled after The Wheel of Time (TWOT). Here I lay out the case that Oldtown was based upon Tar Valon and Hightower and the Citadel were based upon
the White Tower. I will show you an example from TWOT followed
by an example from TGOT and you make the call.
I will also build a case as to who built Hightower. I have said that themes pretty much follow
the same lines of thought and then abruptly they take a 180 degree turn to
differentiate it so as not to violate copyright infringement.
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| Oldtown where the Citadel and Hightower can be found. Though it isn't shown Oldtown has numerous bridges. |
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| Tar Valon where sits the White Tower |
“It was not as if even Accepted were allowed outside the Tower grounds every day, after all, and Tar Valon was the largest city, the grandest city, in the known world. In the whole world, surely. The island was nearly ten miles long, and except for public parks and private gardens—and the Ogier Grove, of course—the city covered every square foot of it.”
“No history of the Reach is complete without
a look at Oldtown, that
most grand and ancient of cities, still the richest, largest, and most
beautiful in all Westeros,
even if King’s
Landing has eclipsed it as most populous.
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| King's Landing |
“Construction on what was to become the central city of Aes Sedai power, Tar Valon, placed on the island
of the same name, did not begin until 98 AB. At that time, Ogier, who had taken up stonemasonry after the Breaking, had become the finest of all at the
craft. The Aes Sedai may have recognized the brilliance of the largely organic
forms the Ogier created, probably because of the Ogier’s natural affinity for
growing things, for they gave the Ogier masons free rein on many of the
buildings. Even in modern times many of these structures still stand as a
tribute to their art. It took 104 years of uninterrupted construction to build
Tar Valon, until 202 AB. It is believed to be the first major city built after the Breaking. At the
least, it was the first among those surviving today.
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| Ogier |
“The
White Tower rose
from the center of the city, a
thick bone-white shaft climbing almost a hundred spans into the sky and
visible for miles. It was the first thing anyone approaching the city saw, long
before they could make out the city itself. The heart of Aes Sedai power, that
alone was sufficient to mark Tar Valon apart, but other, smaller towers rose
throughout the city.
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| Hightown could also be seen for miles. |
“Oldtown was built in stone, and all its streets were cobbled, down to the meanest alley. The city was never more beautiful than at break of day. West of the Honeywine, the Guildhalls lined the bank like a row of palaces. Upriver, the domes and towers of the Citadel rose on both sides of the river, connected by stone bridges crowded with halls and houses. Downstream, below the black marble walls and arched windows of the Starry Sept, the manses of the pious clustered like children gathered round the feet of an old dowager.
And beyond, where the Honeywine widened into Whispering Sound,
rose the Hightower,
its beacon fires bright against the dawn. From where it stood atop the bluffs
of Battle Island,
its shadow cut the city like a sword. Those born and raised in Oldtown could
tell the time of day by where that shadow fell. Some claimed a man could see
all the way to the Wall from the top. Perhaps that was why Lord Leyton
had not made the descent in more than a decade, preferring to rule his city
from the clouds.”
I couldn’t find it when I put this together but I remember
somewhere in the 15 book series TWOT that people born in Tar Valon could also
tell the time of day by how the shadow of the White Tower fell upon the
city. When I find it I will add it to
the comment for this article.
“By 98 AB the name “the White Tower” had been in use for some time
for the planned central structure, perhaps as long as thirty years, though the
Tower itself would not be finished for another hundred years. In that year (98
AB), Elisane Tishar is
shown as the Amyrlin Seat,
the first to bear that title, one she apparently had held for several years at
this point. A Hall of the
Tower had been chosen, but a council of seven was recorded as “closely advising the Amyrlin
Seat.” These women were Mitsora
Caal, Karelia Fanway,
Azille Narof, Saraline Amerano, Dumera Alman, Salindi Casolan, and Kiam Lopiang. ”
How old is Oldtown, truly? Many a maester has pondered
that question, but we simply do not know. The origins of the city are lost in
the mists of time and clouded by legend. Some ignorant septons
claim that the Seven
themselves laid out its boundaries, other men that dragons once roosted
on the Battle Isle
until the first Hightower put an end to them. Many smallfolk believe the
Hightower itself simply appeared one day. The full and true history of the
founding of Oldtown will likely never be known.”
“Even more enigmatic to scholars and historians is the great
square fortress of black stone that dominates that isle. For most of recorded
history, this monumental edifice has served as the foundation and lowest level
of the Hightower, yet we know for a certainty that it predates the upper levels
of the tower by thousands of years.
Who built it? When? Why? Most maesters accept the common wisdom
that declares it to be of Valyrian construction, for its massive walls and
labyrinthine interiors are all of solid rock, with no hint of joins or mortar,
no chisel marks of any kind, a type of construction that is seen elsewhere,
most notably in the dragonroads of the Freehold of
Valyria, and the Black
Walls that protect the heart of Old Volantis. The
dragonlords of Valryia, as is well-known, possessed the art of turning stone to
liquid with dragonflame, shaping it as they would, then fusing it harder than
iron, steel, or granite.
“If indeed this first fortress is Valyrian, it suggests that the
dragonlords came to Westeros thousands of years before they carved out their
outpost on Dragonstone,
long before the coming of the Andals, or even the First Men. If so, did
they come seeking trade? Were they slavers, mayhaps seeking after giants? Did
they seek to learn the magic of the children of
the forest, with their greenseers and their weirwoods? Or was
there some darker purpose?”
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| Stannis sitting on a chair within Dragonstone |
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| Children of the Forest |
“The fused black stone of which it is made suggests Valyria, but the plain, unadorned style of architecture does not, for the dragonlords loved little more than twisting stone into strange, fanciful, and ornate shapes. Within, the narrow, twisting, windowless passages strike many as being tunnels rather than halls; it is very easy to get lost amongst their turnings. Mayhaps this is no more than a defensive measure designed to confound attackers, but it too is singularly un-Valyrian. The labyrinthine nature of its interior architecture has led Archmaester Quillion to suggest that the fortress might have been the work of the mazemakers, a mysterious people who left remnants of their vanished civilization upon Lorath in the Shivering Sea. The notion is intriguing but raises more questions than it answers.”
“An even more fanciful possibility was put forth a century ago by Maester Theron.
Born a bastard on the Iron Islands,
Theron noted a certain likeness between the black stone of the ancient fortress
and that of the Seastone
Chair, the high seat of House Greyjoy of Pyke,
whose origins are similarly ancient and mysterious. Theron’s rather inchoate
manuscript Strange
Stone postulates that both fortress and seat might be the work of a queer,
misshapen race of half men sired by creatures of the salt seas upon human
women. These Deep Ones,
as he names them, are the seed from which our legends of merlings have grown,
he argues, whilst their terrible fathers are the truth behind the Drowned God of the ironborn.”
The mazemakers were a race of men who lived in antiquity. The
mazemakers constructed vast mazes consisting of blocks of carved stone which
have been found among the islands of Lorath as well as one in mainland Essos
south of Lorath. Most of Lorassyon consists of an underground maze. The purpose
of the mazes is unknown as the mazemakers left no written records. Large bones which have been
found indicate they were massively built and larger than men, which has led
some to suggest the mazemakers were born of the unions of human men and female
giants.
Archmaester Quillion suggests that the labrynthine foundation of
the Hightower is connected with the Lorathi mazemakers.
The legends of the Lorathi state the mazemakers were destroyed by
creatures of the sea, such as merlings, selkies, or walrus-men. It is unknown
if the mazemakers were connected with the Pattern or their
vanquishers were connected with the Deep Ones.
“By the first century AB, letters reliably attributed to Aes Sedai
already speak of “forgotten Talents”
and “lost abilities,” and bemoan the “vast knowledge of the Power that is gone
and may be centuries in the rediscovery.” If any Aes Sedai had survived the
entire span, or even Aes Sedai who had been raised in the early years of the
Breaking, there would have been few or no lost abilities and no need to “rediscover” them.”
To me this by itself sums up
with Sam
will do while at the Citadel. He will
rediscover things that have been lost.
Among them will be the secret of the Horn of
Winter which he still carries and should be known to those who are
paying attention. Indeed in TWOT the Horn of Valere which made its way to the White Tower
played what I believe will be a similar role in TGOT.
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| Sam looking astonished at all the books within the Citadel |
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| The Horn of Winter |
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| The Horn of Valere |
Where the White Tower was built after the Breaking of the World, ending the Age of Legends. I believe that Hightower was built after a similar event ending the Age of Heroes. The name Battle Isle I believe comes from the idea that it was most likely the location from which the strategy for war was conducted during that “world changing” event.
Comments
encouraged. Love to hear the ideas of others. Most believe that
since I present my ideas 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.
