The Green Bard
A Storm of Swords represents a transitional period in Dany’s bond with her dragons. The wolf bond themes from our Direwolves of Winterfell series seem in evidence in several interactions between Dany and her dragons. I think that GRRM has made these types of bonds similar in many aspects. There are certainly differences, though, and in later volumes, we’ll see these more.
The first parts of this series: Kingsblood (on YouTube), Kingsblood II (on YouTube) It is written in The World of Ice and Fire, when the God-on-earth exited, not stage left but directly to the stars, that: Dominion over mankind then passed to his eldest son, who was known as the Pearl Emperor and ruled for a thousand years. […]
This episode is in follow up to my prior work, “Kingsblood, Elitism, Magic, and 10,000 years of Sex in Westeros,” where I focused on how widespread I think Kingsblood is in GRRM’s TWoIaF. This episode I’ll focus more on why I think the texts are hinting at the interpretation I presented there. I think the […]
Update: This essay has been posted as a YouTube Video, as a podcast on Spotify under “The Bard’s Truth,” and as a podcast at anchor.fm/Bards-Truth. It has also been posted on Reddit, Last Hearth, and A Forum of Ice and Fire. Please submit your reactions, share, like, follow, and subscribe at your preferred medium. I […]
We can identify the dragon to be Drogon because this time we get a physical description. I presume it to be the same dragon as the first dream because it is described as “the dragon,” not “a dragon.” Drogon’s egg is mentioned in the passage, as well, to make sure that we connect him to the dream. Recall our prior discussion of physical contact amplifying the bond. Dany feels heat coming off his egg when she touches it, and for an instant, she feels like she’s dreaming again. To me, this is clear evidence for a telepathic bond to Drogon at this moment. Recall again, that the magic is amplified by physical touch.
This is a transformative dream for Dany, so much so that the handmaidens immediately noticed. This is significant; the dragon symbolically heals her mind and body, burning away her fear and pain, and making her “new and fierce.” Whether you believe that it was just a psychological healing, a physiological healing by fire magic, or some combination of these with the normal healing and development of callous from blisters due to the passage of time, we know for certain that after the dream she feels better, so she was at least healed emotionally by the dream, if only partially.
The scene is at first confusing because Ghost never makes a sound, yet Jon swears he “heard” something which led to the discovery of our sixth pup. Remember, Ghost never speaks with his voice, so Jon did not hear him whine or bark, unless he heard it in his mind.
His angry brother with the hot green eyes was near, the prince felt, though he had not seen him for many hunts. Yet with every sun that set he grew more distant, and he had been the last. The others were far scattered, like leaves blown by the wild wind.
Bran saw his father’s face change, saw the other men exchange glances. He loved Jon with all his heart at that moment. Even at seven, Bran understood what his brother had done. The count had come right only because Jon had omitted himself. He had included the girls, included even Rickon, the baby, but not the bastard who bore the surname Snow, the name that custom decreed be given to all those in the north unlucky enough to be born with no name of their own.
The smells made her belly rumble. The night wolf had feasted, but that would not fill the blind girl’s belly. Dream meat could not nourish her, she had learned that early on.
“Put away your sword, Greyjoy,” Robb said. For a moment he sounded as commanding as their father, like the lord he would someday be. “We will keep these pups.”
The Green Bard 