Potential
Spoilers Below
I keep telling everyone that
similarities between The Wheel of Time (TWOT) and A Song of Ice and Fire
(ASOIAF) are vast even if there are those out there that say otherwise.
Why Qyburn was expelled from
the Citadel:
“If
that is Your Grace’s wish,” Qyburn said, “but this poison . . . it
would be useful to know more about it, would it not? Send a knight to slay a knight
and an archer to kill an archer, the smallfolk often
say. To combat
the black arts . . .” He did not finish the thought, but only smiled at her.
He
is not Pycelle,
that much is plain. The queen weighed him, wondering. “Why did the Citadel take your chain?”
“The
archmaesters are
all craven at heart. The grey sheep, Marwyn calls
them. I was as
skilled a healer as Ebrose,
but aspired to surpass him. For hundreds of years the men of the Citadel have opened
the bodies of the dead, to study the nature of life. I wished to understand the
nature of death, so I opened the bodies of the living. For that
crime the grey
sheep shamed me and forced me into exile . . . but I understand the
nature of life and death better than any man in Oldtown.”
“Do
you?” That intrigued her. “Very well. The Mountain is
yours. Do what you will with him, but confine your studies to the black cells. When he dies, bring me
his head. My father promised it to Dorne. Prince Doran would no doubt prefer to
kill Gregor himself, but we all must suffer disappointments in this life.”
“Very
good, Your Grace.” Qyburn cleared his throat. “I am not so well provided as
Pycelle, however. I must needs equip myself with certain . . .”
“I
shall instruct Lord Gyles to provide you with gold sufficient for your needs.
Buy yourself some new robes as well. You look as though you’ve wandered up from
Flea Bottom.” She studied his eyes,
wondering how far she dared trust this one. “Need I say that it will go ill for
you if any word of your . . . labors . . . should pass beyond these walls?”
“No,
Your Grace.” Qyburn gave her a reassuring smile. “Your secrets are safe with
me.”
Qyburn
arrived before the food. Lady Falyse had
put down three more cups by then, and was beginning to nod, though from time to
time she would rouse and give another sob. The queen took Qyburn aside and told
him of Ser Balman’s folly.
“I cannot have
Falyse spreading tales about the city. Her grief has made her witless. Do you
still need women for your . . . work?”
“I
do, Your Grace. The puppeteers are quite used up.”
“Take
her and do with her as you will, then. But once she goes down into the black
cells . . . need I say more?”
“No,
Your Grace. I understand.”
“Good.”
The queen donned her smile once again. “Sweet Falyse, Maester Qyburn’s here.
He’ll help you rest.”
“Oh,”
said Falyse vaguely. “Oh, good.”
A little later within the
book you learn her fate:
“Alas,”
said Qyburn. “I fear that Lady Falyse is no longer capable of ruling Stokeworth. Or, indeed, of feeding herself. I have
learned a great deal from her, I am pleased to say, but the lessons have not
been entirely without cost. I hope I have not exceeded Your Grace’s instructions.”
Why Semirhage was cast out as Aes Sedai:
How
she did hate any who called themselves Aes Sedai. She had been one herself, a
true Aes Sedai, not an ignorant fool like the simpleton hanging before her. She had been known,
famed, whisked to every corner of the world for her ability to mend any injury,
to bring people back from the brink when everyone else said there was nothing
more to be done. And a delegation from the Hall of the Servants had offered her a
choice that was no choice: to be bound never to know her pleasures again, and
with that binding be able to see the end of life approach; or else to be
severed, and cast out as Aes Sedai. They had expected her to accept
binding; that was the rational, proper thing to do, and they were rational,
proper men and women. They never expected her to flee. She had been one of the
first to go to Shayol
Ghul.
Fat
beads of sweat popped out on the patient’s pale face. Her jaw knotted, and her
nostrils flared as she sucked in air. Now and then she gave a small grunt.
Patience. Soon, now.
It had been jealousy, the
jealousy of those who could not do what she could. Had anyone she pulled back
from death’s grasp ever said they would rather have died than suffer the little
extra she exacted?
And the others? There were always those who deserved to suffer.
What matter that she enjoyed giving them their deserts? The Hall and its
hypocritical whining about legalities and rights. She had deserved the right to do as she did;
she had earned the right. She had been more valuable to the world than all
those together who entertained her with their screams. And in jealousy and
spite the Hall had tried to pull her down!
Well,
some of them had fallen into her hands during the war. Given time she could break the strongest man,
the proudest woman, mold them exactly as she wanted them to be. The
process might be slower than Compulsion, but it was infinitely more
enjoyable, and she did not think even Graendal could
undo what she did. Compulsion could be unraveled. But her patients. . . . On
their knees they had begged to give their souls to the Shadow, and had served obediently
until they died. Each time Demandred had
been full of what a coup it was, another Counselor of the Hall publicly
proclaiming allegiance to the Great Lord, but for her the best part
had been the way their faces went pale, even years later, when they saw her,
the way they hurried to assure her that they remained faithful to what she had
made of them.
Both were healers but both received a
sadistic form of pleasure from the suffering that they gave to others
also. Without a doubt Cersei has
concocted a plan that will land Dany in her lap. I think like Semirhage she intends to break
her will. Below are excerpts that reveal
what happened to Rand al’Thor, the Dragon Reborn, after he fell into
Semirhage’s hands. Could Qyburn have
gotten his hands on Dragonbinder from
Euron.
Dragonbinder is ASOIAF version of the Domination
Band.
Also,”
the woman said, handing something forward, wrapped in cloth. “I am to give you
this.” She removed the cloth, revealing a dull-colored metallic collar, and two
bracelets. The Domination Band. Crafted during the Breaking, strikingly similar to the a’dam Semirhage had spent so much time working with.
With
this ter’angreal,
a male channeler could
be controlled. A smile finally broke through Semirhage’s fear.
Something
cold clicked around Rand’s neck.
Rand
immediately raised his hand to his neck, spinning. The serving woman stood
behind him, but her form was shimmering. She vanished and was replaced by a
woman with dark skin and black eyes, her sharp face triumphant. Semirhage.
Rand’s
hand touched metal. Too-cold metal that felt like ice, pressed against his
skin. In a rage, he tried to pull free his sword from its black, dragon-painted
sheath, but found that he could not do so. His legs strained as if against some
incredible weight. He scratched at the collar—his fingers could still move—but
the metal seemed to be a single solid piece.
At that moment, Rand felt
terror. He met
Semirhage’s eyes anyway, and she smiled deeply. “I’ve been waiting for quite a
long time to get a Domination Band on you, Lews Therin. Odd, how circumstances
occur, isn’t—”
“Quiet,
worm,” Semirhage spat at her, wiping the blood from her chin. She looked at it.
“That’s twice now those knives have tasted my blood.” She shook her head, then
turned and smiled at Rand. “You say nothing more can be done to you? You
forget, Lews Therin, to whom you speak. Pain is my specialty, and you are still little more than a
boy. I’ve broken men ten times as strong as you. Stand.”
He
did. The pain had not gone away. She obviously intended to keep using it
against him until she got a reaction.
“Yes,”
Semirhage said, almost to herself. “Now, if I can remember. . . . The male way
of doing this is so odd, sometimes.”
Rand
made the weaves, then pushed them toward Min. “No!” he screamed as he did so.
“Not that!”
“Ah,
so you see,” Semirhage said. “You weren’t so difficult to break after all.”
The
weaves touched Min and
she writhed in pain. Rand continued to channel, tears springing to his eyes as
he was forced to send the complex weaves through her body. They brought agony
only, but they did it very well. Semirhage must have released Min’s gag, for
she began to scream, weeping.
“Please,
Rand!” she begged. “Please!”
Rand
roared in anger, trying to stop, unable to. He could feel Min’s pain through
the bond, feel it as he caused it.
“Stop
this!” he bellowed.
“Beg,”
Semirhage said.
“Please,” he said, weeping.
“Please, I beg you.”
Suddenly,
he stopped, the torturing weaves unraveling. Min hung in the air, whimpering,
eyes dazed from the shock of pain. Rand turned around, facing Semirhage and the
smaller figure of Elza beside her. The Black looked terrified, as if she’d
gotten herself into something she hadn’t been prepared for.
“Now,”
the Forsaken said, “you see that you have always been intended to
serve the Great Lord. We will leave this room and will deal with those
so-called Aes Sedai who imprisoned me. We will Travel to
Shayol Ghul and present you to the Great Lord, and then this can all be
finished.”
He
bowed his head. There had to be a way out! He imagined her using him to tear
through the ranks of his own men. He imagined them afraid to attack, lest they
harm him. He saw the blood, death and destruction he would cause. And it
chilled him, turned him to ice inside.
They
have won.
Semirhage
glanced at the door, then turned back to him and smiled. “But I’m afraid we
must deal with her first. Let us be about it, then.”
Rand
turned and began to walk toward Min. “No!” he said. “You promised if I begged—”
“I
promised nothing,” Semirhage said with a laugh. “You begged quite prettily,
Lews Therin, but I have chosen to ignore your pleas. You can release saidin,
however. This needs to be somewhat more personal.”
Saidin
winked away, and Rand felt the withdrawal of power with regret. The world
seemed more dull around him. He stepped up to Min, her pleading eyes meeting
his. Then he pressed his hand to her throat, gripping it, and began to squeeze.
“No.
. . .” he whispered in horror as his hand, against his will, cut off her air.
Min stumbled, and he unwillingly forced her down to the ground, easily ignoring
her struggles. He loomed above her, pressing his hand against her throat,
gripping it and choking her. She looked at him, eyes beginning to bulge.
This
can’t be happening.
Semirhage
laughed.
Ilyena!
Lews Therin wailed. Oh, Light! I’ve killed her!
Rand
squeezed harder, leaning down for leverage, his fingers squeezing Min’s skin
and pushing down on her throat. It was as if he gripped his own heart, and the
world became black around him, everything darkened except for Min. He could
feel her pulse throbbing beneath his fingers.
Those
beautiful dark eyes of hers watched him, loving him even as he killed her.
This
can’t be happening!
I’ve
killed her!
I’m
mad!
Ilyena!
There
had to be a way out! Had to be! Rand wanted to close his eyes, but he couldn’t.
She wouldn’t let him—not Semirhage, but Min. She held his eyes with her own,
tears lining her cheeks, dark, curled hair disheveled. So beautiful.
He
scrambled for saidin, but could not take it. He tried with every bit of will he
had to relax his fingers, but they just continued to squeeze. He felt horror,
he felt her pain. Min’s face grew purple, her eyes fluttered.
Rand
wailed. THIS CAN’T BE HAPPENING! I WILL NOT DO THIS AGAIN!
Something
snapped inside of him. He grew cold; then that coldness vanished, and he could
feel nothing. No emotion. No anger.
At
that moment he grew aware of a strange force. It was like a reservoir of water,
boiling and churning just beyond his view. He reached toward it with his mind.
A
clouded face flashed before Rand’s own, one whose features he couldn’t quite
make out. It was gone in a moment.
And
Rand found himself filled with an alien power. Not saidin, not saidar,
but something else. Something he’d never felt before.
Oh,
Light, Lews Therin suddenly screamed. That’s impossible! We can’t use it! Cast it away! That is
death we hold, death and betrayal.
It
is HIM.
Rand
closed his eyes as he knelt above Min, then he channeled the strange, unknown
force. Energy and life surged through him, a torrent of power like saidin, only
ten times as sweet and a hundred times as violent. It made him alive, made him
realize that he’d never been alive before. It gave him such strength as he’d
never imagined. It rivaled, even, the power he’d held when drawing from the Choedan
Kal.
He
screamed, in both rapture and rage, and wove enormous spears of Fire and Air.
He slammed the weaves against the collar at his neck, and the room exploded
with flames and bits of molten metal, each one distinct to Rand. He could feel each
shard of metal blast away from his neck, warping the air with its
heat, trailing smoke as it hit a wall or the floor. He opened his eyes and
released Min. She gasped and sobbed.
Rand
stood and turned, white-hot magma in his veins—as when Semirhage had tortured
him, yet somehow opposite. As painful as this was, it was also pure ecstasy.
Semirhage
looked utterly shocked. “But . . . that’s impossible . . .” she said. “I felt
nothing. You can’t—” She looked up, staring at him with wide eyes.
“The True
Power. Why have you betrayed me, Great Lord? Why?”
Rand
raised a hand and, filled with the power he did not understand, wove a single
weave. A bar of
pure white light, a cleansing fire, burst from his hand
and struck
Semirhage in the chest. She flashed
and vanished, leaving a faint afterimage to Rand’s vision. Her bracelet dropped
to the floor.
Elza ran
toward the door. She vanished before another bar of light, her entire figure
becoming light for a moment. Her bracelet dropped to the floor, as well, the
women who had held them burned completely from the Pattern.
What
have you done? Lews Therin asked. Oh, Light. Better to have killed again than
to do this. . . . Oh, Light. We are doomed.
Rand
savored the power for a moment longer, then—regretfully—let it drop away. He
would have held on, but he was simply too exhausted. The vanishing of it left
him numb.
The Dark One actually intervened and
allowed Rand to channel the True Power upon which the domination band hand no
control. For this reason, I believe that
it may be the Night King who could recuse Dany.
I believe this will take place after Jon and Dany will find themselves at
odds with each other. This will happen
because Dany will not want to play second fiddle to Jon who has the better
claim to the throne than herself. The
people in the north once the news spreads of Jon’s heritage will IMO be more than
happy to follow him over a foreign queen.
The bar of pure white light is similar to Viserion’s blue white flame.
Could the Night King save Dany because of the following?
Jon Snow would have stepped aside for Bran |
Sam didn't have to tell us Daenerys wouldn't give up her crown |
Sammael had not
come to talk about al’Thor, yet ice formed at the base of his spine. Thoughts
he had forced himself to dismiss came oozing back. Al’Thor was not Lews Therin,
but al’Thor was Lews Therin’s soul reborn, as Lews Therin himself had been the
rebirth of that soul. Sammael was neither philosopher nor theologian, yet Ishamael had been both, and he claimed to have divined
secrets hidden in that fact. Ishamael had died mad, true, but even when he was
still sane, back when it seemed they surely would drive Lews Therin Telamon to
defeat, he
claimed this struggle had gone on since the Creation, an endless war between
the Great Lord and the Creator
using human surrogates. More, he avowed that
the Great Lord would almost as soon have turned Lews Therin to the Shadow as
have broken free. Maybe Ishamael had been a little mad then, too, but there had been
efforts to turn Lews Therin. And Ishamael said that it had happened in the
past, the Creator’s champion made a creature of the Shadow and raised up as the
Shadow’s champion.
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.
Could the Night King turn Dany over to his side because he has killed both her dragons. Remember in GRRM’s short story the Ice Dragon a little girl named Adara riding an Ice Dragon in winter was able to kill fire dragons, ridden by experienced riders, in the dead of winter. Remember the following converstation:
ReplyDeletehttps://imgur.com/gallery/Ex89LFT
Feeling betrayed by those who chose to follow Jon, being kidnapped and having her baby’s life threatened by Qyburn she is offered a hand by the Night King. Will he offer to return her dragons to her the same as he brought back Viserion. It goes without saying he would turn her into his Night’s Queen. What wouldn’t a mother do for her children? Now you have to think back to the opening scene in King’s Landing where you have the Dragonbow and 3 dragon skulls in front of them. Is this foreshadowing?
https://imgur.com/a/3G6He0d