The House of the Undying Narration and Close Reading

[00:00:00]Hi, welcome back. So, I put up a poll to see what video you guys wanted next, and it was super close, like literally by a 4% margin, but you guys asked for a House of the Undying narration and close reading. So, here we go. I want to do a quick disclaimer first, though. I have been in the A Song of Ice and Fire fandom for about 10 years. The amount of The House of the Undying, different like analysis and videos that I've watched on various platforms is expansive. So obviously a lot of my readings and thoughts are going to be influenced by that. So there might be other creators that you see that have very similar thoughts to me. I'm not claiming that any of my thoughts or theories are original. I know to some people this might seem like obvious or overkill, but I find crediting super important. I also really want to shout out again my friend Chelsea Hallowed Harpy. A lot of my analysis is blossomed and informed by her readings of the book, specifically Daenerys. You should really check her out. A lot of her theories based around dragons and dragon bonds and the magic of a song of ice and fire. I find it super rich. And also, she is doing her own Daenerys cosplay based on a Clash of Kings Daenerys. I really think she was the person that popularized the trend of doing the Heracar pelt. Uh, I never really saw anyone doing it before her and it's really kicked off a super amazing creative trend of a lot of other people doing it. She's going to be doing it for a con soon and she has her whole process of making the cloak on her Tik Tok. So, definitely check it out. All right, let's start. All right, so in my version of this book, this starts on page 523.

[00:01:38]Um, I apparently have a super large version of the book, which a lot of people have pointed out. I would love to get the new covers. So if anyone wants to get me those Daenerys in the city of splenders, Dany had expected the house of the undying ones to be the most splendid of all. But she emerged from her paloquin to behold a gray and ancient ruin.

[00:02:03]Long and low, without towers or windows, it coiled like a stone serpent through the grove of black bked trees whose inky blue leaves made the stuff of the sorceress drink. the Carthan called Shade of the Evening. No other building stood near. Black tiles covered the palace roof, many fallen or broken. The mortar between the stones was dry and crumbling. She understood now why Zoro Zan Dazos called it the palace of dust.

[00:02:34]Even Drogon seemed disqued by the sight of it. The black dragon hissed, smoke seeping out between his sharp teeth. So, the thing I find super interesting about the House of the Undying is these black bark trees with inky blue leaves. They make the um shade of the evening, as we just read, and they seem to be in direct comparison to the weirwood trees that have white bark, red leaves, and they also make this weirwood paste. We're going to talk about that more going on, but I do love this kind of direct comparison that we have. We also first get to see Drogon's opinion of the house and kind of his emotion and his personality, especially because Daenerys and Drogon are so connected emotionally.

[00:03:18]There is a lot of like soul bonding, a lot of heart bonding that Daenerys and Drogon specifically have as he is very tuned in to Daenerys's emotions and they seem to share kind of the same emotions a lot of the time. We see this happen more in A Dance with Dragons, but we're starting to really see it pick up here.

[00:03:34]So again, I really want us to focus on kind of how these black bark trees with their inky blue leaves are kind of this connection on the other side of the world to the weirwood trees and how this is a connection between Bran and Daenerys. Um, also I want to kind of like focus on the amount of blue imagery that is used here, especially because blue is such an important imagery for the others. And then blue shows up a lot in Daenerys's life kind of as like auspicious signs, which I then think is interesting because later in the chapter, we see that a blue rose is signifying something sweet and good for Daenerys that will be coming up versus all the other kind of dark blue things in her life. So, let's continue. Blood of my blood, Joo said in Dothraki.

[00:04:21]This is an evil place, a haunt of ghosts and magi. See how it drinks in the morning sun? Let us go before it drinks us as well. Sir Jorah Mormont came up besides them. What power can they have if they live in that? Heed the wisdom of those who love you best, said Zoro. So on Dazos, lounging inside the paloquin.

[00:04:48]Warlocks are bitter creatures who eat dust and drink of shadows. They will give you not. They have not to give. Ago put a hand on his arc.

[00:04:58]Khesi, it is said that many go into the place of dust, but few come out. It is said, Joo agreed. We are the blood of your blood, said Ago. Sworn to live and die as you do. Let us walk with you in this dark place to keep you safe from harm. Some places even a cow must walk alone, Dany said. So, I think it is such a missed opportunity for this book to explore more of what it means for Daenerys to be a cow, to be the first female cow, to lead this Dothraki horde.

[00:05:38]Because when we get to A Storm of Swords, she really is then thrusted into the role of Misa, liberator, breaker of chains, and then queen of marine at the very end. I really wish we could have like I don't know had like one or two less Jorah scenes and more with her blood riders as they really teach her what it means to lead them because the Dothraki really are so important to Daenerys. She carries a lot of their culture with her even into a dance with dragons. So I just think it's a missed opportunity to be able to characterize them more. I think it's one of my biggest critiques of George's writing is his writing of the Dothraki and the lack of expanded voice for them. Take me then, Sir Jorah urged the risk. Queen Daenerys must enter alone or not at all.

[00:06:28]The warlock patt stepped out from under the trees. Has he been there all along?

[00:06:35]Dany wondered.

[00:06:37]Should she turn away now, the doors of wisdom shall be closed to her forever more. My pleasure bard awaits even now.

[00:06:46]Zoro Zawan Dozos called out. Turn away from this folly, most stubborn of queens. I have floutus who will soothe your troubled soul with sweet music and a small girl whose tongue will make you sigh and melt. Sir Jor Mormont gave the merchant prince a sour look. Your grace remember Mary Mazdor.

[00:07:08]I do. Dany said suddenly decided. I remember she had knowledge and she was only a magi.

[00:07:18]I do love that Daenerys, even though Merie is a opposition in her life, is someone that ultimately took everything from her and is a very negative presence in her life. Daenerys still views her as a teacher and still sees value in the things that Mary taught her. It shows a lot of reverence that Daenerys has for magic. And I think that this reverence is going to continue on for the other magic users she meets like Melisandre.

[00:07:50]Piatt Pri smiled thinly. The child speaks as sagely as a crone. Take my arm and let me lead you.

[00:08:00]I am no child.

[00:08:02]Dany took his arm nonetheless.

[00:08:05]It was darker than she would have thought under the black trees, and the way was longer, though the path seemed to run straight from the street to the door of the palace. Piet Pri soon turned aside.

[00:08:19]When she questioned him, the warlock said only, "The frontway leads in, but never out again. Heed my words, my queen. The house of the undying ones was not made for mortal men. If you value your soul, take care and do just as I tell you.

[00:08:41]I will do as you say, Dany promised.

[00:08:46]When you enter, you will find yourself in a room with four doors. The one you have come through and three others. Take the door to your right. each time the door to your right. If you should come upon a stairwell, climb, never go down, and never take any door but the first door to your right.

[00:09:09]The door to my right, Danny repeated. I understand. And when I leave the opposite, by no means. Patt said, "Leaving and coming, it is the same.

[00:09:23]Always up, always the door to your right. Other doors may open to you.

[00:09:29]Within you will see many things that disturb you. Visions of loveliness and visions of horror, wonders and terrors, sights and sounds of days gone by. Days to come and days that never were.

[00:09:43]Dwellers and servtors may speak to you as you go. Answer or ignore them as you choose, but enter no room until you reach the audience chamber.

[00:09:56]I understand. When you come to the chamber of the undying, be patient.

[00:10:02]Our little lives are no more than a flicker of a moss wing to them. Listen well and write each word upon your heart.

[00:10:12]When they reached the door, a tall oval mouth set in a wall fashioned in the likeness of a human face. The smallest dwarf Dany had ever seen was waiting on the threshold.

[00:10:26]He stood no higher than her knee, his face pinched and pointed, snoutish, and he was dressed in delicate levery of purple and blue. His tiny pink hands held a silver tray. Upon it rested a slender crystal glass filled with a thick blue liquid. Shade of the evening, the wine of warlocks.

[00:10:50]Take and drink, urged Payatt Pri. Will it turn my lips blue?

[00:10:57]One flute will serve only to unstop your ears and dissolve the call from your eyes so that you may hear and see the truths that will be laid before you.

[00:11:10]Dany raised the glass to her lips. The first sip tasted like ink and spoiled meat, foul. But when she swallowed it, it seemed to come to life within her.

[00:11:22]She could feel tendrils spreading through her chest like fingers of fire coiling around her heart and on her tongue was a taste like honey and anise and cream, like mother's milk and Drogo's seed.

[00:11:38]like red meat and hot blood and molten gold. It was all the taste she had ever known and none of them. And then the glass was empty. So this passage right here I think is supposed to be in direct conversation with Bran's chapter when he ingests the weirwood paste because he also talks about how is this bitter taste and then this sweetness and the green seers tell him that he needs to take this to kind of you know open himself to the magic of the world to better his training. So Daenerys is doing this here but she has no real teacher. Piatt Pri as we know has no love for her. they, you know, they don't actually want to do good for her. This is kind of a running theme because this is the same with Mary Mazdur. But Daenerys, she still learns, she still opens herself to this magical connection. Daenerys has to really be her own teacher because a lot of the world is against her because she has dragons. Now you may enter, said the warlock. Dany put the glass back on the servtor's tray and went inside.

[00:12:43]She found herself in a stone anti room with four doors, one on each wall. With never a hesitation, she went to the door on her right, and stepped through. The second room was a twin to the first.

[00:12:56]Again, she turned to the right hand door. When she pushed it open, she faced yet another small antichamber with four doors.

[00:13:05]I am in the presence of sorcery.

[00:13:08]The fourth room was oval rather than square and walled in worm eaten wood in place of stone. Six passages led out from it in place of four. Dany chose the rightmost and entered a long dim high ceiling hall. Along the right hand was a row of torches burning with a smoky orange light, but the only doors were to her left. Drogon unfolded wide black wings and beat the stale air. He flew 20 feet before thuing to an undignified crash. Dany stroed after him. The mold eataten carpet under her feet had once been gloriously colored, and whirls of gold could still be seen in the fabric, glinting, broken amidst the faded gray and modeled green.

[00:13:58]What maimed served to muffle her footfalls, but that was not all to the good. Dany could hear sounds within the walls, a faint scurrying and scrabbling that made her think of rats. Drogon heard them, too. His head moved as he followed the sounds, and when they stopped, he gave an angry scream.

[00:14:18]Other sounds, even more disturbing, came through some of the closed doors.

[00:14:25]One shook and thumped as if someone was trying to break through. From another came a distant piping that made the dragon lash his tail wildly from side to side.

[00:14:36]Dany hurried quickly past.

[00:14:40]Not all the doors were closed. I will not look, she told herself, but the temptation was too strong. In one room, a beautiful woman sprawled naked on the floor while four little men crawled over her. They had radish pointed faces and tiny pink hands like the servtor who had brought her the glass of shade. One was pumping between her thighs. Another savaged her breasts, worrying at the nipples with his wet red mouth, tearing and chewing. So obviously this is to serve as a metaphor, an allegory for the war of the five kings. And I know people are going to be like, "But there's only four."

[00:15:21]So in the war of the five kings, there were only ever four kings at a time, but it's still called the war of the five kings because overall there were five kings. It's kind of stupid. Whatever.

[00:15:32]Um, and I also find that this paragraph uh supports my theory that Northern Independence is not as morally good as a lot of the fandom and especially the TV show likes to paint it. Um, I actually think Northern Independence is a bad thing and I do get a lot of hate online whenever I share that. Um, you can fight me in the comments. I'm not wrong. And I probably will make another video about this, so stay tuned.

[00:16:00]Farther on she came upon a feast of corpse. Savagely slaughtered, the fers lay strewn across overturned chairs and hacked trestle tables. A sprawl in pools of congealing blood. Some had lost limbs, even heads. Severed hands clutched bloody cups, wooden spoons, rose foul, heels of bread. In a throne above them sat a dead man with the head of a wolf. He wore an iron crown and held a leg of lamb in one hand as a king might hold a scepter and his eyes followed Dany with mute appeal. So this passage is the foreshadowing we have for the Red Wedding. This is also another reason why I don't really like this idea that George does a lot of plot twists.

[00:16:47]He's going to really subvert things.

[00:16:49]George does do shocking things and he does subvert our expectations at times, but he always lays the groundwork. You know, he's never going to do like a 180 heel turn on us. He's going to sprinkle it within the text. And it's one of those things that maybe on your first read through you're like, "What does that mean?" Like, "What could that possibly mean?" And then on your second read through, you're like, "Oh my god, it's The Red Wedding."

[00:17:13]So, I that's why I always say that um the Song Bites and Fire books are books that you should read twice because you read it the first time and then you read it the second time to see everything that you missed. Um every time I do a reread, I'm like, "Oh my god." And I'm currently in a reread right now. I'm almost finished Aie for Crows. So, I will then be going on to A Dance with Dragons and I'm very excited to see what I might have missed. She fled from him, but only as far as the next open door. I know this room, she thought. She remembered those great wooden beams and the carved animal faces that adorned them. And there outside the window, a lemon tree. The sight of it made her heart ache with longing. It is the house with the red door. The house in Braavos.

[00:17:59]No sooner had she thought it than old Sir Will came into the room, leaning heavily on his stick. "Little princess, there you are," he said in his gruff, kind voice. Come, he said. Come with me, my lady. You're home now. You're safe now.

[00:18:18]His big, wrinkled hand reached for her, soft as old leather, and Dany wanted to take it and hold it and kiss it. She wanted that as much as she had ever wanted anything.

[00:18:31]Her foot edged forward, and then she thought, "He's dead.

[00:18:36]He's dead, that sweet old bear. He died a long time ago. She backed away and ran. This is a common theme in this chapter that Dany is being tempted by the past and things that she could have had, but she keeps doing what she did in a Game of Thrones where if she looks back, she is lost. She has to keep going forward. She can't be tempted by the past. though we see a lot that Dany really thinks of this house with the red door and this kind old man before you know she lives a beggar's life with her abusive older brother Viseris and it's something that I really think about a lot because I don't think Daenerys really in her heart of hearts wants to be a queen or wants to rule she wants a family and she wants to be a good person and she wants to liberate people she really kind of always comes into power as a way to help others but in In a way, it is antithetical to her goals because no one can ever really truly be free and really be a liberator under a monarchy.

[00:19:39]You know, no one can really be free under a rule that is all about subjugation. So, I think that's really a tension in Daenerys's story that we're going to see unfold. The long hall went on and on and on with endless doors to her left and only torches to her right.

[00:19:57]She ran past more doors than she could ever count. Closed doors and open ones, doors of wood and doors of iron, carved doors and plain ones, doors with poles and doors with locks and doors with knockers. Drogon lashed against her back, urging her on, and Dany ran until she could run no more. Finally, a great pair of bronze doors appeared to her left, grander than the rest. They swung open as she neared, and she had to stop and look. Beyond loomed a cavernous stone hall, the largest she had ever seen. The skulls of dead dragons looked down from its walls. Upon a towering barbed throne sat an old man in rich robes, an old man with dark eyes and long silver gray hair.

[00:20:45]Let him be king over charred bones and cooked meat. he said to a man below him.

[00:20:51]Let him be the king of ashes.

[00:20:54]Drogon shrieked, his claws digging through silk and skin, but the king on his throne never heard. And Dany moved on. So, this is obviously um her seeing a vision of her father, which is interesting because this is the first time she ever saw her father, but at this point, Daenerys doesn't know that her dad had gone mad. So, she doesn't even have a thought that this would be her father, which I think is interesting.

[00:21:18]Viseris was her first thought the next time she paused, but a second glance told her otherwise.

[00:21:25]The man had her brother's hair, but he was taller, and his eyes were a dark indigo rather than lilac.

[00:21:32]Aegon, he said to a woman nursing a newborn babe in a great wooden bed. What better name for a king? Will you make a song for him? The woman asked. He has a song. The man replied, "He is the prince that was promised, and his is the song of ice and fire." He looked up when he said it, and his eyes met Danny's, and it seemed as if he saw her standing there beyond the door.

[00:22:03]"There must be one more," he said.

[00:22:06]Though whether he was speaking to her or the woman in the bed, she could not say.

[00:22:12]The dragon has three heads. He went to the window seat, picked up a harp, and ran his finger slightly over its silvery strings. Sweet sadness filled the room as man and wife and babe faded like the morning mist, only the music lingering behind to speed her on her way. So, I actually think this passage here is one of the most important in the entire chapter and maybe even kind of the entire book. So, this is when Dany is seeing Rhaegar. And it's unclear if this actually happened, but I like to think that it did. I like to think that in this moment, Rhaegar actually saw Dany.

[00:22:54]And this is important for a few reasons.

[00:22:57]One, it proves to me that Rhaegar did not, you know, run off with Leon to have some prophecy baby. That doesn't make any sense to me because I was pregnant at Harrenhal, which does make it all worse.

[00:23:11]Um, but also he thinks that Aegon is the prince that was promised. He says it here. We know in the Samwell chapters from a beast for crows that Aean was told by Rhaegar that he thought that his son Aegon was the prince who was promised. So it would make no sense that if he already thinks he has the prince who was promised that he would run off with Lyanna and that his song is the song of ice and fire. So, he has really no need to go and sleep with Lyanna um to kind of make this song of ice and fire. He already thinks that he has that, but he's looking at Daenerys and he thinks that Daenerys is his daughter.

[00:23:46]He doesn't know that his mother is going to be pregnant. That hasn't happened yet. Um and so he thinks that, oh, this is my daughter because obviously they look alike. They're siblings. And so he says that there has to be one more. And so a lot of people think like, oh, he's trying to have his vicinity. He's trying to have his vessa. He's so prophecy obsessed. If he's so prophecy obsessed, wouldn't he have gone in order? Wouldn't he have gone vessa Aegon Raineies?

[00:24:14]Like if he's so prophecy obsessed, it doesn't make sense to me that he wouldn't go in order. But he is saying that the dragon must have three heads.

[00:24:23]And a lot of people um so I mean I'm taking it to mean that he thinks that you know the Prince who promise needs to have um you know more support that there were three conquerors. He needs to have that support. And he thinks he's looking at Dany right now who's going to be his daughter. Obviously, Dany doesn't look anything like Raineies. So, he thinks, "Oh, there has to be one more. I'm seeing her right now. We're going to have another child." And he has no reason to think that that would not be with Ellia until, you know, he hears that, "Hey, Ellie can't have more kids."

[00:24:50]I still don't think that he thinks that he needs to have another child. I think it just happens. Um, I mean, I can like kind of see what people are saying, but I don't really think it makes a lot of sense. And people also use Rhaegar saying the dragon must have three heads as like that's why there's multiple Azor Ahai. That's not in the original Azor Ahai myth. That's just what Rhaegar says in his interpretation. And Rhaegar makes a lot of mistakes and is often wrong.

[00:25:17]And also there's a lot to point that Daenerys herself is the dragon that has three heads. So she is to her knowledge the last dragon and she's the last like full [snorts] Targaryen. Not that that really matters, but you know, it's all to say. Let's continue.

[00:25:37]It seemed as though she walked for another hour before the long hall finally ended in a steep stone stair, descending into darkness. Every door, open or closed, had been to her left.

[00:25:50]Dany looked behind her. The torches were going out, she realized with a start to fear. Perhaps 20 still burned. 30 at most. One more guttered out even as she watched, and the darkness came a little farther down the hall, creeping towards her. And as she listened, it seemed as if she heard something else coming, shuffling and dragging itself slowly along the faded carpet. Terror filled her. She could not go back, and she was afraid to stay here, but how could she go on? There was no door on her right, and the steps went down, not up. Yet another torch went out as she stood pondering, and the sounds grew faintly louder.

[00:26:29]Drogon's long neck snaked out, and he opened his mouth to scream, steam rising from between his teeth. He hears it, too. Dany turned to the blank wall once more, but there was nothing.

[00:26:43]Could there be a secret door? A door I cannot see. Another torch went out.

[00:26:48]Another. The first door on the right, he said. always the first door on the right, the first door on the right. And it came to her suddenly. Is the last door on the left? She flung herself through. Beyond was another small room with four doors. To the right she went, and to the right, and to the right, and to the right, and to the right, and to the right, and to the right, until she was dizzy and out of breath once more.

[00:27:12]When she stopped, she found herself in yet another dank stone chamber. But this time the door opposite was round, shaped like an open mouth, and Piatt Pri stood outside in the grass beneath the trees.

[00:27:26]"Can it be that the undying are done with you so soon?" he asked in disbelief when he saw her. "So soon?" she said, confused. "Oo, the thunder is coming in.

[00:27:38]I don't know if you guys can hear that.

[00:27:40]I've walked for hours and yet still not found them. You have taken a wrong turning. Come, I will lead you. Piatt Pri held out his hand. Dany hesitated.

[00:27:53]There was a door to her right still closed. That is not the way, Piatt Pri said firmly, his blue lips prim with disapproval.

[00:28:03]The undying ones will not wait forever.

[00:28:07]Our little lives are no more than a flicker of a moth's wing to them. Dany said, remembering, "Stubborn child, you will be lost and never found," she walked away from him. To the door on the right. Oh, it is really coming down outside. How cozy. Anyway, I do really love this passage because again, it is Danny's mantra that if she looks back, she is lost and she has to make her own way in this world. So, she won't let Piatt pre, you know, lead her. She has to do it herself. And also, she's really smart. She can tell that he's kind of tricking her or doing something. She walked away from him to the door on the right. No. Patt screeched. No. To me.

[00:28:48]Come to me. To me.

[00:28:51]His voice crumbled inward, changing to something pale and wormlike. Dany left him behind. Entering a stairwell. She began to climb. Before long, her legs were aching. She recalled that the house of the undying ones had seemed to have no towers.

[00:29:09]Finally, the stair opened. To her right, a set of wide wooden doors had been thrown open. They were fashioned of ebony and weirwood. The black and white grain swirling and twisting in strange interwoven patterns. They were beautiful yet somehow frightening. "The blood of the dragon must not be afraid," Dany said a quick prayer, begging the warrior for courage. in the Dothraki horse god for strength. She made herself walk forward. So, I really love this passage in this ending because it shows the way that Dany views religion. To me, she seems to view it in a very pagan-like way that she recognizes multiple pantheons and their strength and the certain things that they can offer to her and she will make prayers, offerings to them to ask them to lend her these things. She asks for courage. She asks for strength. And the way that she approaches religion is very different than someone like Catelyn would who prays in the sept and only prays to the seven. Um, and she's very devout. Dany kind of approaches it in more of a pagan way, which makes sense because Dany is very magical. Um, and so I really do like this because a lot of people think that Dany is not religious, and I think she is, but just kind of in her own unique way. Beyond the doors were a great hall and a splendor of wizards.

[00:30:25]Some wore sumptuous robes of irmine, ruby velvet, and cloth of gold. Others fancied elaborate armor studded with gemstones or tall pointed hats speckled with stars. There were women among them dressed in gowns of surpassing loveliness. Shafts of sunlight slanted through windows of stained glass, and the air was alive with the most beautiful music she had ever heard. A kingly man in rich robes rose when he saw her and smiled. Daenerys of House Targaryen. Be welcome. Come and share the food of forever. We are the undying of Karth.

[00:31:05]Long have we awaited you, said a woman beside him, clad in rose and silver. The breast she bare in the Carthian fashion was as perfect as a breast could be.

[00:31:16]Gay.

[00:31:18]We knew you were to come to us. The wizard king said, "A thousand years ago, we knew and have been waiting all this time. We sent the comet to show you the way. We have knowledge to share with you," said a warrior in shining emerald armor and magic weapons to arm you with.

[00:31:36]"You have passed every trial. Now come and sit with us, and all your questions shall be answered."

[00:31:44]She took a step forward, but then Drogon leapt from her shoulder. He flew to the top of the ebony and weirwood door, perched there, and began to chew at the carved wood.

[00:31:55]A willful beast, laughed a handsome young man. Shall we teach you the secret speech of dragon kind? Come, come.

[00:32:04]Doubt seized her. The great door was so heavy it took all of Dany<unk>y's strength to budge, but finally it began to move. Behind was another door, hidden. It was old gray wood, splintery and plain, but it stood to the right of the door through which she entered. The wizards were beckoning her with voices sweeter than song. She ran from them, Drogon flying back to her through the narrow door she passed into a chamber a washed in gloom. So, I do love this again. It's kind of this like it it's a lot of what Karth is that Karth is very hollow. There's not much to it, but it's very splendorous. It's something that Danny notes that like the city is like it's not really a city. It's just like a city of splendor. And these undying, they are coding themselves with this splendor to hide their true nature to her. And Drogon picks up on it. And then Dany shortly after does because they are tied with their emotions. And I do love that it shows that the dragons are really intuitive.

[00:33:07]A long stone table filled this room.

[00:33:10]Above it floated a human heart, swollen and blew with corruption, yet still alive. It beat a deep, ponderous throbb of sound, and each pulse sent out a wash of indigo light. The figures around the table were no more than blue shadows. As Dany walked to the empty chair at the foot of the table, they did not stir, nor speak, nor turn to face her. There was no sound but the slow deep beat of the rotting heart. Also, sorry if you guys hear thunder. There's really nothing I can do about that. But again, it's this imagery of blue that is keeps coming up in Daenerys's life. So, we have this like beating blue heart, which is obviously what is like powering the house of the undying. It's their life force, but it also reminds me of the heart of winter that Bran sees in a game of thrones. We have the blue of Euron's lips from drinking the shade of the evening. We have the blue of young Griff's hair as he is someone that is wanting to cast her aside. We have the blue of the eyes of the other. We have the blue of Daario's hair. And there's a lot of theories that he is either Euron or he is going to betray Dany in some way. So, we have a lot of deep blue imagery throughout Daenerys's life.

[00:34:34]And of course, we have the Undying, who are a deep blue as well.

[00:34:40]Mother of dragons, came a voice, part whisper and part moan. Dragons, dragons, dragons.

[00:34:50]Other voices echoed in the gloom. Some were male and some female. One spoke with the timber of a child. The floating heart pulsed from dimness to darkness.

[00:35:01]It was hard to summon the will to speak to recall the words she had practiced so insiduously.

[00:35:08]I am Daenerys Stormbborn of House Targaryen, queen of the seven kingdoms of Westeros.

[00:35:15]Do they hear me? Why don't they move?

[00:35:18]She sat folding her hands in her lap.

[00:35:22]Grant me your counsel and speak to me with the wisdom of those who have conquered death. Through the indigo merc she could make out the wizzed features of the undying one. To her right, an old old man wrinkled and hairless. His flesh was a ripe violet blue. His lips and nails bluer still. Spooky.

[00:35:45]So dark they were almost black. Even the whites of her eyes were blue. They stared unseen at the ancient woman on the opposite side of the table whose gown of pale silk had rotted on her body. One withered breast was left bare in the Carthian manner to show a pointed blue nipple hard as leather. She is not breathing. Dany listened to the silence.

[00:36:12]None of them are breathing and they do not move and those eyes see nothing.

[00:36:17]Could it be that the undying ones were dead?

[00:36:22]Her answer was a whisper as thin as a mouse's whisker.

[00:36:28]We live, [sighs and gasps] live, live, it sounded. Myriad of other voices whispered echoes. And no, no, no.

[00:36:39]I have come for the gift of truth, Dany said. in the long haul that the things I saw, were they true visions or lies?

[00:36:49]Things past things or or things to come. What do they mean? The shapes of shadows, moros not yet made. Drink from the cup of ice. Drink from the cup of fire.

[00:37:05]Mother of dragons, child of three. So we see here they're asking Dany to drink from the cup of ice and from the cup of fire. So again, Dany is ice and fire.

[00:37:18]Dany holds both of these things. We know from a lot of interviews from George that ice represents things that are cold obviously and death and the others. And fire is life. It is humanity. A lot of people try to paint these things as one is bad, one is good. But I really think George is trying to talk about equilibrium that while ice represents death, death is also a necessary part of life. And we also see, you know, again, they talk a lot about mother of dragons and child of three. Three is a super important number for Daenerys. She's going to have three husbands. We know that she has Drogo his dar and she will marry Jon in whether that is like actually or symbolically she's going to marry Jon. She has three dragons. We see that they're going to talk about three pers three treasons but also she is the third of the Amethyst Empress reborn. We have the first one then the death of her by the bloodstone emperor caused the long knight. We have Reineer who was overthrown by and usurped by Aegon II and that caused the death of the dragons. That was the beginning of the end that the long knight was going to come again. Magic was, you know, dying in this world. And then we have Daenerys who this time is going to break the cycle by killing Euron, the bloodstone emperor. She's also the third Daenerys that we have. And so again, this idea of three is super important in Daenerys's story. Three, she did not understand.

[00:38:57]Three heads has the dragon. So again, three heads have the dragon. It is connected to Daenerys. She is the dragon. The ghost chorus yammered inside her skull with never a lip moving, never a breath stirring the still blue air.

[00:39:15]Mother of dragons, child of storm. The whispers became a swirling song. Three fires you must light. One for life and one for death and one to love. So the one for life is the one that she makes the py for Drogo that then births the dragons. Uh the one for death um that could be her killing um yo. I also think that could be the fire that she sets in Volantis for the inner wall with the slave keepers or if she burns any of the slavers in Meereen. I think that is the fire for death because at the end of Dance for Dragons, Daenerys realizes that you can't fight the absolute like evilness that is slavery with compromise. Sometimes you have to defeat evil with fire and blood. You need resistance. And I think that is something that we see in our real life that sometimes no amount of peaceful protesting is going to make a difference.

[00:40:16]And then we have one to love. So this one is definitely kind of more up for debate. I think this is going to be that Daenerys is going to melt or burn something to do with the heart of winter or like the fire that she lights in the long night for love for love of humanity, for love of Jon, for the love of her children, for the love of Westeros. I think obviously this one's going to be extremely positive.

[00:40:45]Her own heart was beating in unison to the one that floated before her, blue and corrupt.

[00:40:51]Three mounts you must ride. One to bed and one to dread and one to love. So the one to bed is Cal Drogo because she was sold with the idea that she needed to be the wife and produce the heir. One to dread is his daughter. She doesn't want to marry him but she has to for the idea of brokering peace and one to love that is going to be John again her three husbands that she will have whether that is in law or symbolically.

[00:41:16]The voices were growing louder and she realized it seemed her heart was slowing and even her breath. Three treasons you will know. Once for blood and once for gold and once for love. So we have the once for blood that is Mary Mazdor. The once for gold that is Jorah selling her out for gold or to you know go back to Westeros. It could also be the fact that young Griff with the Golden Company is betraying her. he was supposed to, you know, be this family for her now that she knows him yet, but he was supposed to go and meet her and instead he goes to Westeros to take over her throne and essentially be like, um, I'm going to conquer this. Don't even worry about it.

[00:41:58]And once for love. So, I think the treason for love is going to be Daario in some way. I don't see Jon betraying her. Um, I just don't really think that makes sense for Jon's character. And also, I don't know what he would betray her for. Um, but yeah, I think it's probably going to be Daario because Daario is one of Danny's loves, even though he kind of sucks.

[00:42:20]I don't Her voice was no more than a whisper, almost as faint as theirs. What was happening to her? I don't understand, she said more loudly. Why was it so hard to talk here? Help me.

[00:42:34]Show me.

[00:42:36]Help [gasps] her. The whispers mocked.

[00:42:39]Show her. Then Phantom shivered through the merc images in indigo. Faceras screamed as the molten gold ran down his cheeks and filled his mouth. A tall lord with copper skin and silver gold hair stood beneath the banner of a fiery stallion, a burning city behind him.

[00:43:00]Rubies flew like drops of blood from the chest of a dying prince, and he sank to his knees in the water, with his last breath, murmuring a woman's name.

[00:43:12]Mother of dragons, daughter of death.

[00:43:16]So we see here some of the three big deaths in Daenerys's life. Viseris, her son Rego and Rhaegar as she is like the daughter of death. Also Aries kind of as this death grim reek like figure and her being the daughter of him in her life really just being surrounded by death as she then creates life.

[00:43:38]Glowing like sunset, a red sword was raised in the hand of a blue-eyed king who cast no shadow. A cloth dragon swayed on poles amidst a cheering crowd.

[00:43:50]From a smoking tower, a great stone beast took wing, breathing shadow fire, mother of dragons, slayer of lies. So obviously the glowing sunset, the blue-eyed king that cast no shadow is Stannis. Um, we see, you know, his shadow is tied with Melisandre. That's probably why it's shown as he has no shadow. The cloth dragon or the mummer's dragon is obviously Feon. He's not really Aegon Targaryen. Um, but he's going to have a cheering crowd because, you know, they think that they think he's going to be cheering. Could be the Golden Company. So, this one is kind of debated and I'm not really sure how I feel about this one. From a smoking tower, a great stone beast took wing, breathing shadow fire. So obviously that could be John Con with his grayscale and he's breathing shadow fire. You know, he's spreading this black fire rebellion and he doesn't even know it. It also could be Euron because to me the cloth dragon already is showing Fagon. So then to double it up with John Con might be a little weird because he does have a passage in a feast for crows in which he talks to Victarion when he's asking him to go and meet Daenerys and he's like have you ever like jumped out of a tower to fly or something along those lines.

[00:45:05]So he has those tower imageries.

[00:45:08]Being the great stone beast doesn't make like a ton of sense with him. People have pointed out that like the stone griffin would make sense for John Con, but also it could be something about if Euron enslaves or binds one of Dy's dragons.

[00:45:27]They are kind of stone beasts. They are dragons that were birthed from stone.

[00:45:32]And we do know that he is an opposition to Dany. So, so kind of spreading the shadow fire. I do think there's a lot of interpretations for this, but Dany is the slayer of lies. She will bring the truth to Westeros.

[00:45:45]Her silver was trotting through the grass to a darkling stream beneath a sea of stars. A corpse stood at the prow of a ship, eyes bright in his dead face, gray lips, smiling sadly. A blue flower grew from a in a wall of ice, and filled the air with sweetness.

[00:46:07]Mother of dragons, bride of fire. So the first one is to denote her marriage to Cal Drogo. He gives her silver. She's in a stream with the sea of stars. The corpse stood at the prowl of the ship.

[00:46:22]So this could either be Victarion who is kind of a walking corpse with his gray lips. He's a gray joy. He's not described as having bright eyes though.

[00:46:34]Euron is described as having one bright eye and maybe he's the corpse, but he I don't think Danny's going to marry him.

[00:46:41]It could be hisar after Varion kills him. And we do know that um Tywin when he's dead with the rigam mortise is like Wow, it is really coming down outside. You guys are probably going to hear the rain. Sorry about that. Um his mouth is like contorted into a smile. So it could be that. It then goes into describing Jon as the blue flower in the of the wall of ice. Obviously, Lyanna in the wall of ice, that's John.

[00:47:09]And it's filled the air with sweetness.

[00:47:11]And we know that Rhaegar's music filled the air with a sad sweetness. So, I do and obviously that's one of like the main evidence that we have that Jon is Lyanna and Rhaegar's child and we see that she is the bride of fire. Um, and I also think Bride of Fire, so obviously Bride of Fire I also think has to do with the Py that she said and Daenerys's connection to fire. I also think it might have a connection to John as kind of this Knights King. Uh, again, I don't think his story is going to follow the Knights King directly. My friend Fel has a really great video on this, but the Knights King marries a corpse bride.

[00:47:54]Now, Daenerys is reborn. She is kind of a corpse bride, but while the corpse bride is very icy, um, Daenerys is very fiery, but they still both have that like moonlight effect. They have like the moonlight hair and the bright eyes.

[00:48:09]So, I think there's a parallel there.

[00:48:12]Faster and faster, the visions came, one after the other, until it seemed as if the very air had come alive. Shadows whirled and danced inside a tent, boneless and terrible. A little girl ran barefoot through a big house with a ren door. Mirie Mazdur shrieked in the flames. A dragon bursting from her brow.

[00:48:33]So that's kind of like Mary is one of the sacrifices to make Rhaegal. Um, and my friend Chelsea Howard Harpy, who I talked about earlier in the video, has a really great theory about how the sacrifice of Mirie Mazdur, this unwilling sacrifice is um affecting Rhaegal's personality and will have some consequences down the line. Behind a silver horse, the bloody corpse of a naked man bounced and dragged. A white lion ran through grass taller than a man. Beneath the mother of mountains, a line of naked crrons crept from a great lake and knelt shivering before her, their gray heads bound. 10,000 slaves lift blood stained hands as she raced by on her silver, riding like the wind.

[00:49:19]Mother, they cried. Mother, mother.

[00:49:22]Beneath the mother of mountains. I really think that is showing where because Dany is going to go back to the Dohken and she is going to liberate them and she is going to connect the Dothraki because she is the stallion who mounts the world. Um it was never Rego, it's her and she is going to connect them and make the one great Kalisar and liberate the Doh Colleen.

[00:49:47]And then we see obviously what's going to happen in the next book of them crying out Misa and wanting to touch her as she rides in silver. Well, as she rides on silver, they were reaching for her, touching her, tugging at her cloak, the hem of her skirt, her foot, her leg, her breast. They wanted her, needed her, the fire, the life. And Dany gasped and opened her arms to give herself to them.

[00:50:12]And then black wings buffeted at her round the head and a scream of fury cut the indigo air and suddenly the visions were gone. Rift away and Dy's gasp turned to horror. The undying were all around her blue and cold whispering as they reached for her pulling, stroking, tugging at her clothes, touching her with their dry, cold hands, twinning their fingers through her hair. All the strength had left her limbs. She could not move. Even her heart had ceased to beat. She felt a hand at her bare breast, twisting her nipple. Teeth found the soft skin of her throat. A mouth descended on one eye, licking, sucking, biting. So Daenerys is this life force, this force of fire, and she's coming, she's being come upon by this undead. I do think it is interesting that they're going onto one of her eyes. Euron only has one eye. I don't know if that really is connected. It's just something that stuck out to me. but to continue. Then indigo turned to orange and whispers turned to screams. Her heart was pounding, racing. The hands and mouths were gone. Heat washed over her skin.

[00:51:18]And Dany blinked at a sudden glare.

[00:51:21]Perched above her, the dragon spread his wings and tore at the terrible dark heart, ripping the rotting flesh to ribbons. And when his head snapped forward, fire flew from his open jaws, bright and hot. She could hear the shrieks of the undying as they burned.

[00:51:38]Their high, thin, papery voices crying out in tongues long dead. Their flesh was crumbling parchment. Their bones dry wood soaked in tallow. They danced as the flames consumed them. They staggered and riived and spun, raised, blazing hands on high, their fingers bright as torches. So, I think this is kind of a little preview to Drogon and Daenerys during the long night as Drogon is literally eating and tearing at this blue dead heart as he probably will with the heart of winter. Obviously, the heart of winter is probably more symbolic. But I do think that, you know, it's all tied together. And again, Drogon is protecting her. Daenerys is scared and Drogon can sense that. And also, this is his mother. He's going to protect her. This is one of their victories.

[00:52:28]Dany pushed herself to her feet and bowled through them. They were light as air, no more than husks, and they fell out of touch. The whole room was ablaze by the time she reached the door.

[00:52:38]"Drogon," she called, and he flew to her through the fire. Outside a long, dim passageway stretched serpentine before her, lit by the flickering orange glare from behind. Dany ran, searching for a door. A door to the right, a door to her left, any door. But there was nothing.

[00:52:57]only twisty stone walls and a floor that seemed to move slowly under her feet, writhing as if to trip her. She kept her foot and ran faster, and suddenly the door was there ahead of her, a door like an open mouth. When she spilled out into the sun, a bright light made her stumble. Piet pre was jibbering in some unknown tongue and hopping from one foot to the other. When Dany looked behind her, she saw thin tendrils of smoke forcing their way through cracks in the ancient stone walls of the palace of dust and rising from between the black tiles of the floor. Howling curses, pi pre drew a knife and danced towards her, but Drogon flew at his face. Then she heard the crack of Joo's whip, and never was a sound so sweet. The knife went flying and an instant later Ricaro was slamming Piatt to the ground. Sir Jorah Mormont knelt beside Dany in the cool green grass and put his arm around her shoulder. All right, so that is pretty much like the most magical chapter we have gotten yet in A Song of Ice and Fire. It is chocked full of just things to come and specifically things to come for Dany um as she kind of opens herself up for magic. It really is such a wonderful chapter in what I think is a really underrated book. I know a lot of people rate A Feast for Crows or A Clash of Kings as their least favorite, but I really love A Clash for Kings. And thank you so much. I hope that you guys liked this. Um, obviously a lot of the other items on the poll were voted very highly and people said they really wanted to hear more. So, I do want my next video to be about how Daenerys uses fashion for politics. So, I hope you guys get excited for that. And if you like this video and you want to see more, please tell me your theories down below. Tell me what you liked. Tell me what you didn't like. That's fine, too. So, please like, subscribe, comment. If you don't want to miss a video, hit that bell, whatever YouTubers say. Um, the outpouring of love and support that you guys have given me over the few weeks that I've been on this platform have really been amazing, and I'm really glad that I was welcomed so readily into this community. Um, especially by so many other wonderful creators. So, I'm really excited to keep creating for you guys.

[00:55:10]And if you like these of kind of these like narration deep reads, please let me know. I'd love to do them. I am a voice actor, so these are a lot of fun. It mixes a lot of my interests with each other. But until next time,