Monday, July 31, 2017

How might Varys die?

Potential Spoilers Below


Who is Moghedien


The investment advisor Lilen Moiral joined The Shadow long before the War of Power began, hiding her allegiance, conspiring and plotting from the shadows. This later earned her the name Moghedien, a small spider from the Age of Legends that lived in hiding, with a poison that killed within seconds.  She was one of the thirteen Forsaken.  She was also called the Spider.

The Forsaken
“Moghedien was always a skulker in shadows, a coward who hung back; she scoffed at those who were fool enough to take open risks but at the same time hated them and envied their achievements, and hated them because she was sure they despised her hanging back.”

"She hides and takes no risks.  She attacks only where she sees weakness, and moves only in shadows. If she fears defeat, she will run; she is not one to fight to the last, even when doing so has the chance of victory.  A chance is not good enough for Moghedien.  Lanfear always claimed Tel'aran'rhiod for her own, but Moghedien could do things here far beyond Lanfear, though she has not Lanfear's strength in the world of flesh."
   —Birgitte to Nynaeve about Moghedien





Who is Varys

Varys
Lord Varys, called "the Spider", is an enigmatic member of the small council and the master of whisperers for King Robert I Baratheon, Lord of the Seven Kingdoms.  Secrets are Varys's trade, and his skill at acquiring them has earned him a reputation for being seemingly omniscient. Crucial to his trade is a spy network of children that he refers to as his little mice or little birds.

King Robert

Little Birds
Varys's history of providing information to all sides, of aiding enemies, of pitting rivals against one another, and of manipulation to achieve his ends has earned him a reputation of being distasteful and untrustworthy among the nobles at court.  In private, however, he claims to value order, stability, and peace above all, and professes loyalty to those who work for those goals as well.


What happened to Moghedien:

“Now,” Moghedien said as the dragons fired in the distance, “why haven’t any of our Ayyad gone to remove those weapons from the battle?”

The Ayyad kneeling before Moghedien bowed her head. “We have fewer than a dozen Ayyad left, Wyld.”

Demandred aka Bao the Wyld
Your excuses are weak,’ Moghedien said, listening as the explosions stopped. Perhaps some of M’Hael’s remaining Dreadlords had just resolved the problem of the dragons.

She felt her skin itch as the Sharan commander strode toward a Myrddraal across the field. She hated being in the open like this. She was meant to remain in shadows, letting others lead battles. However, she would never have it said that when the situation demanded it, she was too frightened to go and—


A gateway split open behind her, and several of the Sharans yelled out. Moghedien spun, opening her eyes wide as she looked into what appeared to be a dark cavern. Dragons pointed out of it.

“Fire!” a voice yelled.”


What may bring about Varys' death?:















Before being fired upon by Talmanes and the dragons Moghedien had taken on the guise of Demandred's alias of Bao the Wyld using the Mask of Mirrors. As Bao the Wyld she had taken command of the Sharans.  This is important because Varys himself is a master mummer and has taken on takes on numerous disguises.  

Talmanes
He will do something similar to Moghedien and take a position contrary to his nature and/or he will be on the run, in disguise, before Daenerys finds him.  Remember what she said: 











Does Varys find someone whom he feels is a better ruler than Dany but doesn't tell her to her face and simply attaches himself to that person before Dany finds him and makes good on her promise.  Moghedien was fired upon by dragons, but they were actually cannons, and she survived.  It seems that Varys will be fired upon by an actual dragon ending his life.  What do you think?



Comments encouraged.  Love to hear the ideas 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.

Sunday, July 30, 2017

The Doom of Valyria – the “why” behind the event

Potential Spoilers Below

“I don’t see that we have any other choice,” Elayne snapped, exhausted. Light! Here, help had come, and she was snapping. Stop it. She composed herself, sitting up straighter. “I mean to say that your arrival, while appreciated greatly, cannot turn a battle that is this far gone. A hundred Asha’man cannot stop a hundred thousand Trollocs on their own. If we could arrange our battle lines better, get at least a short rest for my men . . . but no. That is impossible. We must retreat—unless you can produce a miracle, Lord Logain.”

Elayne

Asha'men

Trollocs


He smiled, perhaps at her use of “lord” for him. “Androl!” he barked.

A middle-aged Asha’man hurried over, a plump Aes Sedai joining him. Pevara? Elayne thought, too exhausted to make sense of it. A Red?

“My Lord?” the man, Androl, asked.

“I need to slow that army of Trollocs long enough for the army to regroup and re-field itself, Androl,” Logain said. “How much will it cost us for a miracle?”

“Well, my Lord,” Androl said, rubbing his chin. “That depends. How many of those women sitting back there can channel?”




“It was a thing of legends.

Elayne had heard of the great works performed by large circles of men and women. Every woman in the White Tower was taught of these feats from the past, stories of different days, better days. Days when one half of the One Power had not been a thing to fear, when two halves of one whole had worked together to create incredible wonders.

The White Tower
She wasn’t sure the days of legend had truly returned. Certainly, the Aes Sedai during those times hadn’t been so worried, so desperate. But what they did now left Elayne in awe.

She joined in the circle, making the total fourteen women and twelve men. She barely had any strength to lend, but her trickle added to the increasingly large stream. More importantly, a circle had to have at least one more woman than it had men—and now that she had joined, Logain could come in last of all and add his considerable strength to the flow.

At the head of this circle was Androl, an odd choice. Now that she was part of the circle, she could feel his relative strength. He was extremely weak, weaker than many women who were turned away from the Tower, refused the shawl because of their lack of innate talent.”

“Elayne and the others had relocated to the far side of the battlefield. The rest of the Asha’man held back the attacking Trolloc horde as Androl prepared. Whatever he did, it would need to be swift. Elayne still had trouble believing anything could be done. Even with this much power, even with thirteen men and fourteen women working together.

“Light,” Androl whispered, standing between her horse and Logain’s. “Is this what it feels like to be one of you people? How do you handle so much of the One Power? How do you keep it from consuming you alive, burning you away?”

Pevara rested her hand on his shoulder in a gesture that was unmistakably tender. Elayne could barely rub two thoughts together amid her fatigue, but she still found herself shocked. She had not expected affection from a Red for a man who could channel.

Move the soldiers back,” Androl said softly.

Elayne gave the order, worried. The man beside her had never held this kind of power before. It could go to someones head; she had seen it happen. Light send that he knew what he was doing.

The soldiers and others retreated, passing by Elayne’s group. Several tired Ogier nodded to her in passing, their shoulders slumped, their arms scored with cuts. The Trollocs poured forward, but the Asha’man who weren’t in the circle disrupted their attack with weaves of the One Power.

Ogier

It wasn’t enough. Though the Asha’man fought well, there were just so many Trollocs. The Asha’man could not stop this tide. What did Logain think could be done?

Androl smiled widely, and held his hands out in front of himself as if pressing against a wall. He closed his eyes. “Three thousand years ago the Lord Dragon created Dragonmount to hide his shame. His rage still burns hot. Today ... I bring it to you, Your Majesty.”

Lews Therin - the Lord Dragon

Dragonmount
A beam of light split the air, easily a hundred feet tall. Moonshadow shied back and Elayne frowned. Why a column of light? What good would that . . .”

The beam of light began to twist in the air, rotating upon itself. Only then did Elayne recognize it for the start of a gateway. An enormous gateway, large enough to swallow buildings. She could have moved an entire wing of the Caemlyn palace through that thing!

The air shimmered in front of them, the way a gateway always looked from behind. She couldn’t see where the gateway was leading. Did they have an army waiting on the other side?

She could see the expressions on the slavering Trolloc faces as they looked into the opening. Absolute horror. They broke away, running, and Elayne felt a sudden heat, almost overpowering.

Something exploded out of the gateway, as if pushed by an incredible force. A column of lava a hundred feet in diameter, blazing hot. The column broke apart as the lava crashed down, splashing to the battlefield, gushing forward in a river. The Asha’man outside the circle used weaves of Air to keep it from splashing back on the circle and to shepherd it in the right direction.

The river of fire washed through the foremost Trolloc ranks, consuming them, destroying hundreds in an eye blink. The lava was under pressure on the other side; that was the only way she could explain the force with which it sprayed from the enormous gateway, turning Trollocs into cinders, burning a large swath through their army.

Androl held the gateway for long minutes as the Shadow’s army pulled back. Asha’man to the sides used gusts of wind to blow the Shadowspawn back into the ever-widening river. By the time Androl finished, he had created a barrier of red-hot death between Elayne’s army and the bulk of the Trollocs, whose backs were against the northern walls of Cairhien.

Androl took a breath, closed the gateway, then pivoted and made two others in quick succession, one pointing southeast, the other southwest.

A second and third column of lava spurted forth—smaller this time, as Androl was obviously weakened. These went tumbling over the land to the east and west of Cairhien, singeing away dead weeds and casting smoke into the air. Some of the Trolloc army had pulled back, but many others had perished, boxed in, with the walled city on one side and lava on others. It would be some time before the Fades could organize the survivors to resume their attacks on Elayne’s forces.

Fade / Myrddraal
Androl let the gateway close. He slumped, but Pevara caught him.

“One miracle, my Lord,” Androl said, voice soft, as if strained. “Delivered as requested. That should hold them back for a few hours. Long enough?”

“Long enough,” Elayne said. “We will be able to regroup, bring through supplies for the dragons, and fetch as many Aes Sedai from Mayene as we can get to Heal our men and wash away their fatigue. Then we can sort through who is strong enough to continue and re-position our ranks for a much more effective battle.”

“You intend to keep fighting?” Androl asked, surprised.

“Yes,” Elayne said. “I can barely stand, but yes. We cannot afford to leave that Trolloc horde here intact. You and your men give us an edge, Logain. We will use it, and everything we have, and we will destroy them.”


Well I think the White Walkers and or The Great Other/Three-Eyed Crow, maybe Bran himself, of that time did just that.  Fearing that a large number of dragons would be able to sweep over them they used the nuclear option and took out all the dragons on the Valyrian Freehold using a device and/or magic, similar to the Bowl of the Winds, to do it.  I wrote of this in an article titled: Why you can’t forecast the weather in ASOIAF.  What Androl did with Dragonmount is similar with what was done with the Fourteen Flames, where the Valyrians found their dragons, as a way of giving their side enough time to “regroup and re-field itself”.  As in TWOT all the Trollocs weren’t taken out; the same goes for the dragons.  The Doom of Valyria was man-made or Other-made as it were, GRRM’s commentary on global warming IMO.  The device and/or magic was the same IMO that shattered the Arm of Dorne.  Nothing really game changing just the “WHY” behind the event itself.  The metaphorical similarities between the two books series keep piling up so why should this be any different with the 180 degree turn to make it dissimilar.


Bran

Valyrian Freehold & Dragons

The Bowl of the Winds



When I first saw this I immediately thought of the Bowl of the Winds - the crystal projections caught my attention

The Fourteen Flames

The Doom of Valyria

Comments encouraged.  Love to hear the ideas 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.