Stark mysteries update (Patreon)

We’re deep into the big Stark history video... Here’re some thoughts, which accidentally turned into a mini essay --

I’ve always liked the idea that the first Long Night ended with an agreement between the humans and the Others (white walkers), and that the Others built the Wall. But the closer you read the text, the clearer it seems that the Wall, Winterfell and House Stark were founded in opposition to the Others. The Wall seems to have magic that stops the dead from crossing, so it’s hard to believe that the Others built the Wall. Winterfell’s hot springs, iron swords in the crypts, iron crown of winter, and possible protective magic all seem firmly anti-Other. It’d be cool if the Stark words ‘Winter is coming” was a boast or battlecry, representing a Stark alliance with wintry Others magic – but “Winter is coming” is probably just what it seems, a warning against winter and the Others.

Still, the Night’s King, Nightfort and Black Gate are strong evidence that human sacrifice to the Others was part of the Wall’s history from the very beginning. Why else would there be a hidden gate “as old as the Wall itself” in the oldest castle on the Wall, the same castle where the Night’s King made sacrifices to the Others? Having Craster so prominent in ACOK reinforces the importance of human sacrifice to the Others… And Old Nan tells us the Night’s King was a Stark. So, like, maybe there were some rogue elements among the first Starks who were secretly in cahoots with the Others? Some kind of Bloodstone Emperor figure? (Azor Ahai…?)

Another complication is the Horn of Winter – if the humans and children built the Wall, why did they make a Horn to destroy the Wall? Did the Horn exist before the Wall, as some general-purpose magic weapon? It kinda makes sense that the Horn of Winter would be guarded by the Stark Kings of Winter in the crypts of Winterfell, to prevent the Others using it to bring down the Wall – maybe that’s why “There must always be a Stark in Winterfell”, the Starks must guard the Horn. But why not just destroy the Horn instead? And while we’re at it, how did the Horn end up on the Fist of the First Men? Did Coldhands, or Benjen put it there? And how did Joramun get the Horn? And if Joramun blew the Horn, why does the Wall still stand? The Horn raises a hundred baffling mysteries.

But there’s one mystery I think we can resolve. TWOIAF mentions rumours of a dragon beneath Winterfell, or in the Winterfell crypts. In ACOK, Summer sees a “great winged snake” above Winterfell after its sack, and Osha says “We made noise enough to wake a dragon” – so… maybe the sacking of Winterfell woke the ancient secret dragon in its crypts? But Summer’s POV uses lots of weird wolfy metaphors, so the “great winged snake” could be poetic language meaning smoke or something. Maybe this rumoured dragon isn’t literal, but metaphorical – Jon repeatedly has dreams of the Winterfell crypt, where he thinks “I’m not a Stark, that this isn’t my place” – yet somehow he knows he “[has] to go down there”. Many readers speculate that in the crypts, Jon will find evidence of his true parentage, and discover that’s he’s “not a Stark”, but a Targaryen. The cool thing is that this could symbolically connect to the idea of a dragon beneath Winterfell – the dragon of Winterfell is Jon Targaryen.

So there’s still a lot to untangle here – not to mention the last hero, ice dragons, old gods and such… And I don’t expect we’ll find many solid answers. But there are lots of fascinating mysteries to uncover in the ancient history of the Starks.

This Stark video might take a while longer to finish, but we’ll have a GOT S1E02 video out sooner rather than later – along with some other cool GOT videos. If you want the very latest video updates, and to chat ASOIAF, $3+ Patrons can join in the video-talk Discord – just gotta connect your Patreon account.

Thanks for your support!

ASX