Sunday, May 15, 2016

Will technology be shown to have existed in the Game of Thrones?

Potential Spoilers Below


“If the bits of information concerning daily life that have been preserved over the centuries can be believed, even ordinary people had access to a wide variety of technological wonders that seemed to rival the Power itself. It was possible to “live” stories in your own home by some means no longer known, and entertainment also was brought directly into the home through a three-dimensional imaging process. Live or prerecorded programs took on lifelike form right before the viewer. Communications also made use of this process. It was possible, with a code, to contact anyone who had access to a call unit, and to then see that person, or their logo if they wished to preserve privacy, as a small three-dimensional projection. This process created the illusion of being able to talk face-to-face no matter the actual distance involved.”


“There are records of people of the Age even transporting to other worlds, both among the stars and in other dimensions. Portal Stones, activated by the One Power, allowed the users and any who accompanied them to travel to other dimensions and worlds within the universe of the Wheel. It is doubtful that Portal Stones were used regularly by any other than Aes Sedai, because skill and strength in the Power were needed to activate them.”

Portal Stone
“Ruins of Portal Stones have been discovered in various parts of the world. Gray stone cylinders approximately three spans tall and a full pace thick, these stones are covered with hundreds of deeply incised diagrams and markings. The Portal Stones are said to be gateways to alternative realities within the Pattern. The knowledge of their use has been lost, but it is believed that Aes Sedai in the Age of Legends used them freely. Indications are that they may predate the Age of Legends.”


Mesaana had told her of another marvel of the Age of Legends that she wished very much to see, a thing called a “lift.” The flying machines sounded much grander, of course, but it was far easier to envision a mechanical contrivance that whisked you from floor to floor. She was not really certain that buildings several times as high as the White Tower could really have existed, either - in the whole world, not even the Stone of Tear rivaled the Tower’s height - but just knowing about “lifts” made climbing up spiraling hallways and sweeping flights of stairs seem laborious.”



Stone of Tear

Viewwalls made the striped wooden floor appear to be surrounded by a forest full of brightly flowered vines and fluttering birds that were even more colorful. Sweet scents and soft birdcalls filled the air. Only the arch of the doorway spoiled the illusion.”


“A ‘gift’ from Moghedien. A weapon from the Age of Legends. I can kill a man at a hundred paces with this, or just stun him if I want to put him to the question.”


“With a few trained Asha’man, your army could dine in Caemlyn in the morning, then have lunch in Tanchico a few hours later.”

The Asha'men dressed all in black
Who do we know in ASOIAF that does the same?
I believe the books will go more into this but since we are able to see the past through Bran will we also get a glimpse into the technological things that may have existed in the Age of Heroes?

Bran looking back on the past
“When Sam hesitated, one of those hands grabbed him by the arm and yanked him through the door. The room beyond was large and round. Books and scrolls were everywhere, strewn across the tables and stacked up on the floor in piles four feet high. Faded tapestries and ragged maps covered the stone walls. A fire was burning in the hearth, beneath a copper kettle. Whatever was inside of it smelled burned. Aside from that, the only light came from a tall black candle in the center of the room.

Sam
The candle was unpleasantly bright. There was something queer about it. The flame did not flicker, even when Archmaester Marwyn closed the door so hard that papers blew off a nearby table. The light did something strange to colors too. Whites were bright as fresh-fallen snow, yellow shone like gold, reds turned to flame, but the shadows were so black they looked like holes in the world. Sam found himself staring. The candle itself was three feet tall and slender as a sword, ridged and twisted, glittering black. “Is that . . . ?”

“. . . obsidian,” said the other man in the room, a pale, fleshy, pasty-faced young fellow with round shoulders, soft hands, close-set eyes, and food stains on his robes.

“Call it dragonglass.” Archmaester Marwyn glanced at the candle for a moment. “It burns but is not consumed.”

“What feeds the flame?” asked Sam.

“What feeds a dragon’s fire?” Marwyn seated himself upon a stool. “All Valyrian sorcery was rooted in blood or fire. The sorcerers of the Freehold could see across mountains, seas, and deserts with one of these glass candles. They could enter a man’s dreams and give him visions, and speak to one another half a world apart, seated before their candles. Do you think that might be useful, Slayer?”

“We would have no more need of ravens.”



Daenerys has already shown us communications devices that have been used on in ASOIAF:

Daenerys
“A woman stood under the persimmon tree, clad in a hooded robe that brushed the grass. Beneath the hood, her face seemed hard and shiny. She is wearing a mask, Dany knew, a wooden mask finished in dark red lacquer. “Quaithe? Am I dreaming?” She pinched her ear and winced at the pain. “I dreamt of you on Balerion, when first we came to Astapor.”

Quaithe
Astapor
“You did not dream. Then or now.”

“What are you doing here? How did you get past my guards?”

I came another way. Your guards never saw me.”

“If I call out, they will kill you.”

“They will swear to you that I am not here.”

“Are you here?”

No. Hear me, Daenerys Targaryen. The glass candles are burning. Soon comes the pale mare, and after her the others. Kraken and dark flame, lion and griffin, the sun’s son and the mummer’s dragon. Trust none of them. Remember the Undying. Beware the perfumed seneschal.”



Like the “lifts” mentioned in TWOT I believe we will have a Bran’s eye view of elevators or “lifts” at the wall in the Age of Heroes.  Will he also show us that during the Age of Heroes they also had viewwalls, stun guns and devices that allowed almost instantaneous travel from one location to another?  Travel I can see being shown to us in the form of runes written on rocks left behind by the first men; similar to portal stones.

Runes are the characters that the First Men used to write the Old Tongue. They were engraved on stones and other objects but were not written in books or scrolls. They are thought to be magical.

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 are 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.


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