Are The Weirwoods Good Or Evil? + 1st Line of A Game of Thrones Explained

[@fenzelian]

One thing I think that’s connected to all this is all the lemon cake references. There are a bunch of scenes where somebody like Arya or Sansa wants lemon cake but can’t get it and instead has to make do with something bloody or meaty or gross, like a bowl of brown. And I think this refers to how the green magic is the trees wanting to eat sunlight but being denied the nourishment from the sun and being forced to instead drink human blood, which is related to their leaves turning from green to red.

[@shanejohns7901]

As I mentioned elsewhere, perhaps the weirwood leaves can be any color seen on the dragons?

[@Swimmaroo]

Mayhaps Weirwoods, like Dragons, were created with blood magic/ genetic engineering to survive long winters🤔

[@nexus6163]

that actually works really well

[@umwha]

Heres something that I think you will find a valuable contribution: distinguish 'Weirwood worship' from 'tree worship'. Tree worship is good, weirwood worship is bad - a corruption. Many have speculated that Weirwoods are in fact zombie trees - a result of a human imposition. The faces are carved (human intervention) and are said to be wailing, crying, groaning, bleeding etc. Importnatly, the ancient tree worshipping religion is associated with the colour green (greenseer, green dream, green sea etc), yet weirwoods have no green on them at all - so, all the 'green' stuff actually isn't to do with weirwoods. Personally, I think that the CotF and human druids worshipped normal trees, mainly Oaks (this is what real english druids did). Then, some corrupt humans wanted to force or steal access to the full magic that the CotF possessed. They imposed their own human egos onto the trees, to help facilitate humans embodying the trees by personifying them. In the Long Night Event, whatever it was, it caused all the heart-trees, which were oaks, to become empty zombified vessels, turning white and red. The souls of the corrupt humans reside in the weirwoods, (Others), while the true Green Sea of the CotF remains in the green heart-trees. Hence, weirwoods are immortal, having no fruit, flowers or seeds. Oaks have a vaguely hand-like shape to the leaves. Improtantly, the real ancient pagans had seasonal rituals about sacrificing to oaks, or there being wights beneath oaks. Additionally, mistetoe is a parasitic, poisonous winter-flowering plant that lives on oak trees. I think this represents the white Others parasitising the oak.

[@michaeltalksaboutstuff]

Certainly some good thoughts here. I do think there is a lot circling around the question of just who or what is in the trees. If it is a collective of all humanity that is one thing. If it is all to feed a few "Others" who have corrupted the magic for themselves and steal life from the sacrifices then it gets a lot darker a lot quicker. The entire idea of the weirwood afterlife being a lie and going into the trees not being what is promised is one I could see GRRM going with and have on my list of topics for one day. I still could see it going a few ways in terms of what is in control inside the trees and they are all super cool.

[@umwha]

@@michaeltalksaboutstuff What do you think of distinguishing between 'green tree worship' and weirwood worship? Thats my key point here.

[@michaeltalksaboutstuff]

@@umwhaI think it is certainly possible that will be the solution. Things like the Oaken seat and oak worship make me think it could be a seperate thing that is gone back to. The other way I could see it going however is the weirwoods were like oaks once and it is the actions and desires of those who used them for power that changed them into the thing they are. I could see either a return to a natural type of tree like an Oak for worship, or the restoring of the weirwood as a normal green magic tree vs a blood magic one.

[@Pwnulolumad]

Fascinating connection

[@umwha]

@@michaeltalksaboutstuff I agree that returning to green-tree worship would feel like a logical end. I think the Weirwoods need to be exorsized of the psychic parasites, and then they can be destroyed, or die. I don't think they can come back to life being green. Likewise, the wights need to be freed from control of the Others, and allowed to rest. They cannot come bakc.

[@Buford_T_Justice1]

I love this whole theory. I just have one question. Were the Weirwoods still green or were they already corrupted with blood when the First Men were chopping them all down? Maybe you mentioned that but I didn’t catch it. Were the Weirwoods corrupted by TCOTF in order to make The Pact with The Firstmen? To give them green seeing and warging power?

[@joshcoughx]

This is the best ASOIAF channel on youtube. Your theories make more sense than anyone else I've seen, and are more complete. Preston Jacobs' old stuff is pretty great though.

[@MosHighChadro]

You get it man! The cycle of "Ice and Fire". Water, green magic, balance. On and on we go, as the dance continues...

[@Gerson.Reyes.C]

It's like poetry, it rhymes!

[@elpsykongroo8308]

Great video!... regarding green magic, I have always found Garth the Gardener to be a very overlooked but important archetype. It's interesting that in a land and era where Wierwoods had so much power he chose an Oak tree for the throne of house gardener. I think stories of the reach might have a lot of clues about the actual green magic of the children. Agree with the idea that green magic is balanced and is something related to water (i.e. ice+fire) both ice and fire are destructive and leave the world barren but their balance Water is life and makes the world green. It also fits with the seasons getting more regular once things are resolved. We know that children worshipped the Wierwoods and that they had skinchangers and greenseers. But we don't know the nature of their worship or the nature of the Wierwoods before they started fighting men and before the long night. Similarly there were also people of river and nature worshippers the Rhoynar in Essos and there they fought the Fire wielding dragons. Don't know if it's relevant but there are a lot of parallels between the Children and Rhoynar. Both were nature worshippers. One is in the fight related to ice the other with fire. There's also certain similarities between the others and grey scale. Stories that grey scale was curse by Rhoynar on Valyrians after the lost, and others created by children when they were loosing.

[@Yosya8059]

Wow, nice parallels!

[@BeteBlanc]

Norse philosophy was framed more as a struggle between order and chaos rather than good/evil. The Frost poem is much the same. The world can grind to a halt where nothing can change, or it will fly apart unable to find any form of structure. Good and evil act perpendicular to the dynamic of order and chaos (or Ice and Fire). Everything cycles between the two because you can't have growth without change or structure. Breaking this wheel would end life itself. I also wanted to add to what you said. In Norse myth the result of the meeting of ice and fire is water and earth. This may actually be quite significant. The story is the SoIaF, the product of that is water and earth. The CotF with Bran tell him they sing the song of earth, which in context should imply this is another way of saying the same thing. The sing songs that balance order and chaos. Like Green being a balance of yellow and blue. It is likely significant that these trees are most often seen with pools and hills, or earth and water. Theoretically, it would be fair to expect something that sings the song of water, which should carry the same flip side as earth. So, can the trees be "good" or "bad". I don't know if it's relevant. As a symbol of balance, and as hearts, what they do is keep life going. That's what a heart does. I think the good evil is about the person connected to it. Can life exist in the world of Westeros without them? Are they just symbols of magic or is it something more fundamental? Do they speak more to "Morgoth's Ring, or to the "Flame Imperishable" of Illuvatar (which is a word composed of roots for "light" and "avatar" or... well... the lord of light, which Morgoth lied and said he was often)?

[@Jonjzi]

I see the messed up seasons as a an attempt to control fate itself by controlling the stars, or a consequence of that attempt. The mystery of the astrolabe in the GoT intro is a clue. This detail suggests the importance of astrology, which is directly connected to the idea of fate and correlates with the seasons. Changing the seasons means changing the movement it the stars themselves, which means changing fate. Historically, magic and astrology were pretty much one and the same. George likes to use irl historic models for his own world all the time. If you consider how actual practitioners of astrology/magic approach casting a spell it's all about timing. For example, something like "scorpio rising" (or the thief in the moon maid perhaps?) influences whether a spell works properly. The stars could even be the source for magic, or at the very least they greatly influence the way magic works. It also seems to be a possible explanation for questions like "what are the Others waiting for?". To me, the astrolabe is one of those really George influences in the show from when he thought things set up early in were actually going somewhere.

[@ruigerd]

Only recently found your channel, the clips of the interviews give much credence to your points but also leave room for individual speculation. Hope your channel grows and gains more recognition

[@MotherofSocialAnxiety]

One of my top three favorite channels for ASOIAF on KZbin. Thank you so much for giving us such interesting theories to keep us warm throughout the long night! Anyone "chasing the GRRM dragon" should check out David Lightbrigner and Gray Waste Tim, as well!

[@stars-and-clouds]

This might be one of the best encompassing asoiaf theories I've ever heard. Well done.

[@BehuraStudio]

Damn, the symbolism of the first sentence of the Prologue completely slipped past me, nice catch!

[@joshcoughx]

"The heart in conflict with itself" seems to be true on many thematic levels as well, especially related to the Heart Tree. Maybe you've mentioned that, maybe not.

[@Yosya8059]

Nice hint!

[@ArielEveMachado]

Okay I think I get a little better what your idea is. It’s not clear cutting the weirwoods, it’s more like how the Native Americans used to do controlled burns of forests to clear away too much overgrowth that was choking out other plants, prevent bigger forest fires, and generate a layer of ashes that would promote new growth.

[@shanejohns7901]

Green-seers can see events that occurred near any and all weirwood trees, regardless of time or location, by interfacing with the weirwood network. I am not sure if they lose their green-seeing abilities the further away from a living (or maybe even the dead) weirwood tree? I believe they have a huge interconnected root network as well. Which is creepy, because it starts to look like an actual brain in its structure.

[@notharveyweinstein3235]

What sort of wood do they burn in Westoros for their fires? If they weren't desperate and had an ideal wood source, that would would likely be weirwood (it seems to be a hardwood, like oak). If you were burning wood that had an element of human/CotF consciousness trapped inside of it you may get some sort of vision in the flames of one of their memories of the past or future. Perhaps this is what drives Melisandre's fire magic and touches on why it's so difficult to get right. It's impossible to place where the vision you are seeing is on the time stream.

[@eziowayne]

Absolutely loving your videos! Keep up the great work!

[@WaywardWhiteWalker]

The Weir are like technology, can be used for good or evil. Depends who's in control of this tech.

[@AnarchoCatBoyEthan]

Good video as always homie, really like this one.

[@bluckymusic3102]

Recently found the channel, very good content deserves more subs 💪

[@marcosmedeiros6185]

Martin's way of shaping its own mythology, specially the moral aspect of it (grey zone of characters, the corruption of certain objects that used to be seen as pure like the trees etc.) reminds me a lot of David Lynch.

[@umwha]

Im honoured to be featured inthe video

[@anneconner1108]

Love waking up at 730 to a new video. Wish everyone I subscribed to would post like this.

[@snocades]

EXCELLENT analysis

[@alcyonae]

Incredible! If this isn’t the real ending, it would still be the most satisfying ending I could have ever dreamed of! You’ve given me peace with this theory

[@Themitten]

I have been loving your videos, thanks for all your hard work!!

[@haerverk]

As someone intimately familiar with the Norse mythos I have to say the insert about Nidhoggr is blatantly misinformed. The serpent (in this context) is most notably mentioned AFTER the resurfacing of the new land, ergo post Ragnarok. It's literally the last stanza. Which is a very ominous note for the poem "Voluspå" to end on as it basically sets up the new world for another all too familiar cycle of order battling chaos until they are both mutually vanquished.

[@michaeltalksaboutstuff]

Thanks for the context. The deeper details of Norse myth is one of the things mentioned in why I have more research to do before I am trying to go into details about how things might be playing out. I do think GRRM is drawing heavily on it. The Nidhoggr gnawing at the world tree and Drogon biting at the weirwood in the house of the undying seems like a connection to me but I am curious if that tracks to you. Could you see a world where Drogon has Nidhoggr symbolism if the story is one of rebirth after an end times like long night and Drogon and Dany are important in this process? Possibly in a destruction of the old world tree? That was the vibes I got, but I am as I said just working on a surface level here. I am not super familiar with the exact role the Nidhoggr plays in regards to the world tree in the end times and idk that GRRM will do a one to one anyway but I would love to hear more thoughts from anyone who knows this stuff well.

[@minnumseerrund]

Well thats the thing, really. Nidhug is symbolic of the inevitable end of the world - but it's not The End, as the world is reborn from the ashes. It's neither good nor evil, it's the cyclic nature of existence just like summer and winter. I will add that besides gnawing on the roots of Ygdrasil and talking shit with the eagle at it's top, Nidhug is very much associated with death and evil; he drinks the blood of the dead on their journey to Hel and he is described as carrying corpses in between his feathers. It's notable that he is never an active character in the sagas, tho. He is simply a background character, slowly destroying the world tree - which in turn the Norns keeps alive with the water of Urd's Well. So ultimately, to me at least, Nidhug isnt as much a symbol of evil as he is of destruction/death in the cyclic or natural sense. @michaeltalksaboutstuff To add on to your questions on the symbolism of rebirth: It's notable that the Norse creation myth mirrors some of the things you talk about in this video, especially the fact that life starts in the space inbetween the respective realms of ice and fire, Ginnunganap. Life is born from mist in this case, but eh water :) Interestingly, the world also ends in ice and fire. Ragnarok itself is predated by the Fimbul winter, a winter that lasts 3 years. After that the fire jotun led by Sutr ride to Asgard, destroying the rainbow bridge Bifrost behind them, to do battle with the Aesir. Oh yea, and the jotun Hrungner leads an army of the dead (from Hel) while of course the einheijr are the chosen (also dead) champions of Odin. So again, creation and destructing are tied together. Bonus fact: The world (or our world, Midgaard) is the result of Odin and his brothers killing (or sacrificing) the first primal being born from the mist of Ginnunganap, so there's your blood magic.

[@michaeltalksaboutstuff]

@@minnumseerrund Thank you for this, a lot of this confirms the general direction I am going and I am very excited. These comments will likely make it into a future video. I fully agree that the destruction of this world tree and the rebirth is a good thing. Or at the least a natural cycle. One of the general things I have been driving at in the series for anyone reading who hasn't seen is the idea that the others coming back and the old ways ending are in fact good or needed. I have been getting these vibes and trying to get them across (see the night king did nothing wrong for a bit of a meme version of this). The role I see for Dany and Drogon in the cycle of ice and fire in regards to the tree is the burning of the world tree by Drogon might be a thing that happens. Best guess is it might be he burns the one at the nightfort if that is THE central tree. Essentially if the heart tree is like a heart beat for the planet I could see this destruction of the tree tipping off the long night on some level. (This will all be covered in a video at some point) but then the process of the rebirth of the tree in a new green magic form full of potential will be the thing that brings about the end of the long night and new cycle of seasons/new heartbeat of the planet that is normal. I have a plan for the roles of the characters and Drogon seems to me set up to take down the big tree... Does Drogon burning the world tree which is full of the dead track with the Nidhoggr symbolism when laid out like that and translated into GRRMs version of things?

[@minnumseerrund]

@@michaeltalksaboutstuff Okay, first of: I just realised that Bloodraven is Albino Odin. Odin hung himself from (sacrificed himself to) Ygdrasil for 9 days and nights to claim the powers of the runes. He also sacrificed something to be allowed to drink from Mimir's well, gaining insight and wisdom - one of his eyes! And of course he got pet ravens. So, regarding rebirth: No, Nidhug is not that. Yes, he is slowly killing Yggdrassil (or doing harm to it, at least) but again, he isnt actually an active player or featured in any of the myths. He is just there. And of course, he makes a cameo during/after Ragnarok - but again, he doesnt actually do anything, except being an omen of evil or the fact that this reborn world will end too. So imo he's completely symbolic. I see what you're getting at but you are putting a lot of emphasis on action whereas the prophecy of Ragnarok seems much more inevitable, a part of the cycle that is bound to happen - not because of what some individual may or may not do, but simply because that is the way of the cosmos. I will add that there are examples of self-fulfilling prophecies in Norse mythology, namely the death of Balder. So things arent necessarily as set in stone as they're described in the Vølva's prophecy - buuuuuut again, we're talking a religion/belief system/cosmology, not a modern novel.

[@ganykaliya7811]

There is the possibility that the Weirwoods are the Harrangans that were fought by Humans in George rr martin's Thousand Worlds series. Preston Jacovs did a few videos on the subject. There's even a theory that while George stated that ASOIAF doesn't take place in the Thousand Worlds. The Thousand Worlds themselves are the realm of Men while Planetos could be in fact old Harranga the Harrangan homeworld. I mean the story of the Great Empire of the Dawn has chariots coming down from the sky, i.e. colony ships. There's also all these tunnels which could be old nuclear bunkers all over Westeros. Now, you're wondering what about the giants, green men and the children. Well, they seem to be descendants of Humans that arrived on the planet earlier and evolved to join the Harrangan mind. This would mean that the conflict between the Harrangans and Humans would have been once again between Humans, which fits with George's themes of "the best conflicts are in the Human heart."

[@shara1979]

Maybe theres the 4 elements of magic: Earth, Fire, Air, Water. The trees are Earth. The Rhallor magic, is Fire. The magic like Qyburn uses, maybe thats air/wind, (not sure), & what The Damphair uses us Water... Maybe not Qyburn is air, I dunno yet what magic he uses, it could b Hightower. We don't know enough yet, but the Hightowers are important, & I believe have a role yet to play. He's up in a high tower, where it's windy. He might use air element magic. To be determined, I guess. But we know the element gods for the others. : Rhllor- fire, Wierwood/the Old gods- Earth, the Deep Ones- Water......

[@shara1979]

So, in the book, each element of magic has a character to represent it, practitioner/wizard - Bran- Earth, Melissandra-Fire, Qyuburn- Air, & the Damphair-Water. And maybe it'll take all 4 elements, or all 4 wizards, to defeat the White Walkers, or Euron. That's why each is in a different part of Westros, & still alive, including the Damphair-who's attached to Eurons ship ..... Also, each element, or "God", has a character representing it, who was dead & brought back, & lost their mind, or made stupid from the experience. Bran has Hodor or Cold hands, Qyburn has the Mountain, (& here is trickier), Melissandra has, maybe , Beruc Dondarrion, Catelyn Stark, or maybe Patchface, and tho Catelyn was returned by the water, but not killed by it, but Patchface, at least, might belong to the Damphairs Water gods, as they brought him back from death. But each god/element has brought back a character, and has a magic wielder.

[@dalegaliniak607]

I think its more likely that the weirwood trees are an implementation of this theme, as opposed to the _whole_ thing. To start with, my guess is that the weirwood trees _are_ examples of green magic. I think you're conflating "green" with "non-violent", but nature can be _very_ brutal. Wolves are natural, but very dangerous and they also come out at night. Also, blood is a cost for magic. Good power balance means greater power comes at a greater cost. Water, narratively, is a bad fuel for magic since it doesn't cost anything (even shadow and fire magic comes with costs in the books). I can see the children of the forest sacrificing some of their greenseers to create weirwood trees and then feeding them blood to keep them juiced up. They are then worshiped for their sacrifice. The Starks recognized their potential and continued this tradition. Nature can be brutal, but it's not good or evil. It's how people use it that matters.

[@FaithAndRepentance]

Love this Channel. Lets fo Algorithm, July 2024 🎉❤

[@l.mcmanus3983]

Green magic = green energy, or perhaps in other terms, a renewable resource. The other forms of magic are perhaps equivalent to fossil fuels and nuclear power. Was the doom of Valeria then alluding to some sort of nuclear accident? If you take it to another level, is all magic about converting matter to energy?

[@Swimmaroo]

4:58 so there might be a magical lawnof thermodynamics

[@JamieEgg-qs9mc]

Great video! I agree that the trees are not necessarily good or evil. Most of the characters aren’t either: they are broken, or worried, or seeking revenge, or redemption. I think this may be the same with the trees. The trees also represent the world as a whole, like Yggdrasil in Norse mythology. The image of Yggdrasil with Nidhogg gnawing at the roots is prevalent throughout the story. Think of Waymar in the prologue as Nidhogg when he is at the base of the tree, hacking and slashing at the branches. Waymar hisses and is described as slithering and his armor scaley. At the top of the tree is Will, who was sent to the wall by the house with an Eagle for its sigil, for poaching a buck. Westeros itself is also an image of Yggdrasil, “the south is an adders’ nest.” Some castles are also images of Yggdrasil, with the dragon in the crypts of Winterfell, or with Arya witnessing Illyrio coming “out of the bowels of hell” beneath King’s Landing. Perhaps the ravens in the rookeries represent the Eagle, or at least Odin’s Ravens. In the first book, Bran observes how mankind has been destroying the forests and thinks to himself that if he were the Children of the Forest, he would want revenge. Bran’s first chapter is about learning to pass judgment. I am not sure whether GRRM will have Dany or Jon or Bran or even Jaime be responsible for saving or dooming mankind and the world. Maybe he is creating a story where he hopes for the reader to be the savior. All that is to say: “We should start back.”

[@michaeltalksaboutstuff]

Huge thanks! There are a lot of good thoughts here. A deeper dive into Norse Mythology is definitely on my to do list. I have a very basic knowledge I have picked up over the years, a lot of it from researching these stories. I really love the idea of Westeros as a tree and am now picturing it in my head. The neck is like the trunk the north and beyond the wall is above like the upper trunk and branches and the stuff below is all the roots. The land ruled by the dragons like the dragon eating at the roots? Does that track? The south ruled by the Targs while the north is ruled by the starks and the land above by the old gods... If the whole north was the trunk you could almost see winterfell as the face in the tree... There is for sure a mythologic story of rebirth going on here on some level and I at this point think on some level Dany, Jon, Bran (and based on his original outline probably also Arya and Tyrion) will play a part in the rebirth of the world and likely the world tree too. But certainly he will want the reader to take away the idea of making a positive change to the way things are done for the reader IMO. A lot of cool stuff going on just at first glance. I might need to come back to this comment and line of thinking.

[@JamieEgg-qs9mc]

The image of Yggdrasil also has four bucks with antlers which represent the seasons. Maybe when the King (in A Game of Thrones and also in House of the Dragon) hunts and sacrifices the White Hart, this has something to do with the irregular seasons, also heralded by white ravens. In House of the Dragon, the king stabs the white hart three times, which made me think of Captain Ahab blooding his harpoon three times, like Azor Ahai bloods his sword three times. White whale, white wall, white walkers. When Captain Ahab pierces the white whale, it is described like breaking through a wall and escaping prison. Ahab’s ship is then taken under the sea, into the next realm. This makes me consider how the Stannis chapters are told from Davos’ perspective. Just like Captain Ahab’s story is told from the perspective of “Ishmael.” Ahab as a hero was neither good nor evil. He was a maniac. “Ishmael,” I think, represents Satan from Paradise Lost, or at least Ishmael from the Bible. Unlike Cain in the Bible who killed his brother, Ishmael was banished not for doing something evil, but for teasing his brother. In Paradise Lost, Satan starts out is prideful rather than evil, but eventually becomes a serpent, slinking to hell, while Adam and Eve will be responsible for mankind’s slow path to redemption. There are obviously many parallels between Yggdrasil and the tree with the fruit and serpent in the Garden of Eden. Snakelike Waymar sent Will up the tree to “look for fire,” fire being the power of the gods. Whereas the serpent sent Eve up the tree for the fruit which was the knowledge of the gods. Thus, “we should start back” could mean we should return to our natural state before corruption, as pointed out in another comment.

[@JamieEgg-qs9mc]

@@michaeltalksaboutstuff Yggdrasil has a dragon as well as a serpent, so I also think of the snakes in Dorne, although Nidhogg is sometimes called an adder. Ratatoskr are the squirrels who run up and down the tree, carrying messages from the realms of men (trunk) to the gods realms above. Maesters may represent ratatoskr (mischievous grey squirrels) when they are described as “grey rats” by Lady Dustin and they climb up and down the rookeries to deliver messages among the realms. And certainly the maesters are suspected of mischief.

[@1FATBOY114]

Your hypothesis is sound. The tree is neither good or evil just like a gun it is a tool; the good or evil is in the application and intent of the utilization of said tool.

[@CJusticeHappen21]

So, given your thoughts on the Weirwoods, how do the Blue Trees that produce the Shade of the Evening fit into your theory?

[@FearTheRubicon-pi3ip]

Hey @michaeltalksaboutstuff , Brandon The Breaker broke Guest Rights… this seems to be one of the last pieces for your theory. Good luck.

[@ubercomrade]

This is your best

[@saminator3563]

Trees not suposed to have faces and hands. You just made me think of fire wyrms

[@keithklassen5320]

I haven't read the books, but it seems to me that even having a "good magic" vs "bad magic" is more moralistic than GRRM tends to get. Maybe I'm off-base.

[@Thecrimsonking01]

Take a shot every time he says greenmagic

[@YarPirates-vy7iv]

Psh. Lightweight. Take a shot every time he says 'the'.

[@Thecrimsonking01]

@@YarPirates-vy7iv i was drunk ,, now I have alcohol poisoning.. cheers mates.

[@YarPirates-vy7iv]

@@Thecrimsonking01 champ! 🍻

[@garethmartin6522]

GRRM being a hippie doesn't say very much, it was a very broad subculture. And he also is, or at least used to be, a Science Fiction writer. So I think the latter might be more pertinent, that this might well be SF disguised as fantasy, which is a sort of mini-genre of it's own. And hence I'm not so inclined to think these things must be so metaphorical and metaphysical. GRRM has written, in those SF novels, about mind-controlling plants and hive minds several times. So I'm not convinced the symbolic meaning in the end is the right way to go.

[@pyropulseIXXI]

Attempting to make the world a better place is never heroic; it always fails, and it is really about imposing your will on others because you just know what is best for everyone. In actuality, the road to hell is paved in good intentions. Only children think that they can fight to make the world better. Also, being a worldly person is a bad thing. You improve the world by improving yourself, and then passing this knowledge onto others so they can improve themselves. Also, power is always evil, because even those that use power for ‘good’ are imposing their will on others, and this is evil (nuclear energy generation vs nuclear bombs isn’t power; power is control over people, not literal power generation)

[@ohyeaaaa1]

It all makes sense too when you consider the final book is supposed to be titled A Dream of Spring.

[@shara1979]

"Tree. .. green magic.... seems to b the "ROOT" of all magic..." LoL, the "root". Clever

[@bradlyclark8943]

It is also notable that Plato says the world has been destroyed and restarted many times. Always destroyed either by ice or fire.

[@MDMDMDMDMDMDMDMDMD]

"We should start back" having deeper meaning is "why are the curtains blue?" territory.

[@theduxabides9274]

19:09 I'm not surprised at all that the wikipedia article "lacks sufficient corresponding in line citations" according to it's template message. That paragraph blatantly ignores the fact that the corpses it claims Nidhogg is 'shedding' are PART OF IT'S WINGS. It's 'pinions' or outer wings are made up of the corpses of slain humans, likely the murderers, traitors and adulterers mentioned in the stanza above it, that's as far from a Phoenix as you can get (even a 'macabre' one).

[@justincurll1110]

It's amazing to me how little understanding Lord of the RIngs Martin has. A major themes in The ord of the Rings is how the Ring plays on the potential for evil INSIDE people's hearts, and yet he says it's externalized.

[@pyropulseIXXI]

Yeah. It is crazy

[@bstahl52]

Listen to what george said again

[@martindiaries]

He contradicts himself quite often. One very funny occasion is how he thought ressurecting characters is bad writing, aka Gandalf in LOTR, yet he will most likely bring back to life Jon Snow, and let's not forget Berrick and Lady Stoneheart and a plethora of other characters in ASOIAF. Something something George.... 🤔

[@bstahl52]

@@martindiaries His critique is they're brought back and unchanged by the resurrection. Stoneheart and Berrick are fundamentally changed as characters when resurrected. Jon will likely be the same. If you actually listen to what he says you'd know this.

[@Jasonmakesvideo]

Heart Tree = Blood Star corrupted erdtree they REALLY want them sacrifices

[@costhaplolz]

Hear me out: it's not weir, it's were-woods. As in man-trees. They have faces, weep red, and have red bloody hand-looking leafs because they are planted in/on the corpse of some1 (perhaps someone psychically active?), it even gives grrm his "I am your father" moment, Vader= father, weir(were) = man.

[@wandaXmaximoff]

I like to think of power as similar to fire. On its own, it’s just an element. But people wield it for either good or evil. The same could be said for ASOIAF. Magic is a form of power, what is important is how people use the power. Do they use it to subjugate people or help people.

[@brushrunner]

The Walls have Colossal Hodor Titans in it

[@kiri101]

The problem of externalizing evil is a deep one, and it's rooted in our cultural and religious traditions - it trends towards fear and conservativism. I was deeply disturbed for this reason when after the beggining of the recent phase of the Russia invasion of Ukraine people in the West started referring to the Russian soldiers as 'orcs'. This dehumanisation is exactly what leads to cyclical conflicts and abuses.

[@bc269]

How’s does the Prince who was Promised play into this?

[@DRourkey]

I bet when the weirwood first dropped it was basically like the dragons. Probably created by powerful mages using dark magic to create a new power

[@yokothespacewhale]

I wonder how many I voted stickers this guy put on the covers of his books

[@bgm3460]

The weirwoods are the internet of middle age

[@kai_plays_khomus]

Only that it's not the middle ages.. ☝️🤓🤐

[@jpmzo]

I don't think we should ne messing with Nuclear anything; power, weapons, or anything else.

[@tariqskanaal8187]

Well we live in reality

[@JoeUchiha-gs5ru]

The andals caused the long night

[@samlasalle3853]

If George is a hippy its no surprise that he called the good way to use magic "green magic" lol

[@LordCamelNut]

The loard of creepy magic. Of course I trust you. Glad we are able to carry guns. Here in the us

[@bostonmetalclips]

Heart tree = Leto 2

[@umwha]

There is a bit of a contradction in your position: In an earlier video you thoerised that the clash was between 'icy conservatism' and 'fiery progress' ... And you outline that George is completely 'progressive' and anti-conservative. Yet in this video, you state that the theme of the novel is captured within the first line 'We should start back' meaning we need to return to an age like the age of heroes, to negate the corruptions that society has acquired. This is the quintessential conservative sentiment. Recapture the honour of old traditions, and shrug off the corrupting cultural drift. In my view, whats happening is George is not 100% lefty - he is a wise and seasoned centrist, seeing the deep value within each politico-philosophical pole - regression, conservation and progression - neither is good nor evil, each has its contribution to the balance.

[@yokothespacewhale]

😂

[@warpedwhimsical]

@@yokothespacewhaleit’s a little different cause this isn’t “let’s go back to the way our ancestors did things,” this is “we were born into a world that has been corrupted by the actions of our ancestors, let’s go back to the natural state of being before that corruption”

[@fuckoffgoogle1657]

>George is a centerist Lol. Lmao even

[@yokothespacewhale]

I wonder how many I voted stickers this guy put on the cover of his books

[@franciman2]

Interesting

[@haroldramson5988]

I don’t care about this!!! When is Winds of Winter???

[@TomBombadil676]

Funny how linguisticly germanic cultures have to make so much mental gymnastics just to understand power and its nature. "Power corrupts and..." is a bullshit saying equating power to evil. Even if he tries to absolve himself with that Tolstoï quote (good and evil through the human heart) ; GRRM very much is making books about his own notions of evil (even if he doesnt use the word itself (which is a mere sigil)). Latin derivated languages and culturrs provide a way better grasp on the idea of power, to its users. Power being both noun and a verb that can be conjugated ; it alleviates any connotation to the term and makes it so we don't need a Nietschze like author to come up with such a notion as "will to power" through a whole fucking book 😂. To us latin derived language speakers : power is the mere measure of ones capacity in exherting their will : Its qualities are purely potential. I read the books with a totally different lens. All these environemental notions are so pessimistic too. As if humans weren't a product of nature, fullfiling their own by ennacting in the world 😅. We are made out of, embeded and extensions of nature. Any other characterization is mere misanthropic projection.