How Howland Reed's Powers Brought Down The Tower of Joy (And More)

Howland Reed's Magic Explained. Today we explore the book quotes that mention the magic powers of Howland Reed and try to make sense of what he can actually do. Then try to figure out what he may have used these powers for. Including a few theories for things he may have done at the tower of Joy.
#Howlandreed #asoiaf #gameofthrones

[@Hanklerfishies]

I still prefer the idea that Howland helped Ned by using a net on Dayne, the way that Meera fights.

[@michaeltalksaboutstuff]

I just had a funny thought. Weave words is a crannogman joke saying for we will catch you in a net we wove and suddenly you are more likely to listen to our words. But yes I do also think the idea that a frog net beats the most honorable knight is very GRRM and very possible.

[@Lespritdelescali]

@@michaeltalksaboutstuff That was the same thought I had - Howland did catch him in a net, but instead of following with a killing blow he broke the miscommunication wheel keeping the war turning by asking Arthur basic questions like "what do you think we're fighting about?"

[@Mindcrow]

​@@LespritdelescaliThis would be incredibly on brand for GRRM.

[@TheMannis.]

So wholesome and on brand 😂

[@cardwitch91]

@@Lespritdelescali Same. I always figured the way Howland “defeated” Arthur Dayne was by throwing a net over him and then talking him down. While I don’t necessarily think Arthur is still alive, I don’t necessarily think either Ned or Howland killed him the way the show did it

[@MotherofSocialAnxiety]

"She climbs real good" -Jojen "Thats hot" -Bran 🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@captainlazereyes8851]

The idea of Ned and Howland hitting the tower of joy with hammers is hilarious to me for some reason 😂

[@michaeltalksaboutstuff]

As hungry unwashed baby Jon lays there in the sand waiting for them to finish their hammering haha

[@myujmes]

Hi-ho, hi-ho, it's off to work we go

[@l.mcmanus3983]

“Every time I see a tree I say Supp Bran” had me burst out laughing. I really enjoyed all your speech bubbles. It also makes me wonder if the Neck is naturally a swampy land or if it is possibly a secondary “wall” to divide the land and keep the customs of the north from being diluted.

[@Themitten]

The bubbles kill me 😂

[@garethwhite8770]

I heard the children of the forest did something there, they have earthquake magic. They might have split essos and westros

[@captainmaim]

@@garethwhite8770 First they break the Arm of Dorne, then they break the Neck, then they go looking for some geographical legs to shatter... Frankly, I think the Squishers or the Deep Ones flooded the neck.

[@tacogaviglio575]

I'm stuck at a car mechanic for an hour as they work on my car. And then, boom. You put out a vid. I'm in.

[@TinfoilMaester]

"Weave words" also puts storytelling/communication into the figurative language of spiders. Which to me screams Varys and Old Nan, the needle-clacking weaver. Leaf and the Reeds are both part of the long plan to retrieve the Bran child. So Howland's already woven into the same plotline as LeafNan.

[@captainmaim]

I think you've got something there.

[@SpiritStoneWarrior94-yx3gs]

Howl(and)s Moving Castle 😂

[@donkeysaurusrex7881]

“You’re a wizard, Howland.”

[@umwha]

I expected your idea to be that the Tower of Joy was actually an ancient weirwood trunk converted into a stone tower. I think that would fit various thematic interpretations about there being an Ice woman, who is dead or birthing, within the Weirnet, somehow, and the white knights sent out from the tower would represent Others emanating from the Ice-Woman within the Weirwood. That would explain why Ned decided that the tower had to come down, for he believes that the old gods can see whatever transpires within view of a weirwood so long as it lives - thus he purges the memory of Jons parentage from the world. Rhaegar did want his child to be a prophetic child, so maybe he knew something of the spirits within weirwoods?

[@jclaburn]

There are two fundamental possibilities, as I see it, for how the fight went down at the tower of Joy: The one I originally thought was that Howland calmed Ned down enough to talk to the kingsguard and acted as a mediator making a deal. That makes the most logical sense. But reading the chapter over and over, the language is most consistent with my newer reading: the two sides started to fight, and five of the Northmen were quickly cut down, then Howland surrendered while stopping Ned from fighting somehow, whether it be jumping in front of him, grabbing his sword arm, casting a net on Ned, or using magic on him. The language has the two sides come together in a rush of shadow and steel. But you see Ned's five men are described right before that as shadows and wraiths four times. But the three kingsguard have faces that Ned can see as though bright even today. That seems like code for the three kingsguard lived, but it also means you can interpret the rushing together as the kingsguard being the steel and the Northmen being the shadow, because they were killed.

[@swayback7375]

Another interpretation of the faces and the whole “tower of hot fever dream” is that Ned’s version is extremely flawed and inaccurate, which is certainly true in part, the only things Ned seems to recall are the important negatives, so to speak, he can’t remember the faces of his friends because he was so focused on the foes, all the questions Ned asks in the dreams essentially were answered with a no from the kings guard, when Ned was looking for them to say yes, he doesn’t note the presence of ANYONE except the combatants from each side and Lyanna but it’s very likely that others were there, there could have been quite a few others present and they could have been quite involved but they don’t stand out in Ned’s mind or dream because to him they didn’t matter or their actions weren’t hinging on the fight that Ned had mentally been preparing himself for as he rode all those miles. I’ve adopted this as my head cannon and it still allows for the same flexibility you described, I like to think ashara was there, pregnant with a bastard of Brandon or howland so she was “spoiled”… so after the first 2 kg died howland was able to intervene and convince Arthur he would accept the babe and hide ashara which she wanted to do, and potentially allowed Arthur a way out of being a disgraced kings guard by slipping away to live a plain life. He certainly would not want to serve another king, they should die for their king but he also couldn’t quit his position, so maybe it was better than death to him… or maybe it was ashara that forced this type of compromise, she values her brothers life more than her own and Arthur valued asharas life more than his own so they may have each intervened on behalf of the other. I think it fits with the themes in a lot of ways. Grrm likes to undermine the institutions he deems as “bad” such as “honor above all” honor is HUGE in Westeros, as it should be, but honor above all is the same as blind loyalty as well as honor and pride often overlap. Having Arthur set aside his honor, name and sword to save the life of his sister who was dishonored by being pregnant at the same time as his sister setting aside her name, wealthy lifestyle, and raising a dead man’s baby in the swamp with howland who she seemed to like feels very fitting. It also gives Ned a reason to go to starfall, return the sword publicly, while delivering the truth that both daynes survived but are gone as well as plot and plan the story would make perfect sense all around. I think the story is “ashara leapt from a tower” which could be very true… the tower of joy, not a tower at starfall. It also creates a reason for Jon to exist and a good backstory to present to the public about who he is and blah blah

[@captainmaim]

@@swayback7375 I think Arthur allowed Ned to kill him after they planned for Ned to take Jon north (away from Robert, who'd kill him the same day he found out Jon was Rhegar's son. Arthur and Howland Reed were both 100% down with the Prince who was Promised prophecy and Arthur would surely have traded his life for the prophecy. The only way for Rhegar's son to live was for Arthur to lose the fight. I think Arthur handed Dawn to Ned (who promised to return it to Starfall) and then knelt for the killing blow, believing that the realm would be saved by his sacrifice. The first book is clear that Ned was only a decent swordsman, and Arthur was a legendary swordsman.

[@jclaburn]

It makes sense to me that he doesn't actually move the castle, he raises and lowers the land around the castle, so that the way to gets there changes over time, like a maze. And if he really wants to protect it, he sinks all the land leading to it so that it essentially has a giant moat of muddy submerged bogland. It's as though his castle is in the middle of the Dead Marches which Frodo, Sam. and Gollum travel through on their way to Mordor. Martin hides lots of homages and connections to the Lord of the Rings. The connection to the Dead Marches also suggests that a catastrophe sunk the Neck and you have Grey Water Watch which is a very haunting and spooky place. The Neck and the Dead Marches are almost like the Otherworld from Scottish folk tales.

[@michaeltalksaboutstuff]

That is also a good point how you don't even need to sink the castle if you can move all the land around it and swap around water and earth everyone would think they castle is moving because the swamp all changes every time.

[@Nenernener123]

I love that Meera has Drax abilities to disappear! 👌

[@Valkanna.Nublet]

I think there's a very simple explanation as to how a couple of guys could pull down a tower, and it's something I don't remember anyone else suggesting. They didn't. The destruction of the tower is an excuse Ned gave to cover for him lying about its location. Everyone thinks it was on the Prince's Pass, Ned told a story that it was destroyed which would explain why no one found it. But the easier explanation for why no one could find it is that it simply isn't where he said it was. There's a several points that lead me to that conclusion. 1: People already had a problem with what happened because Ned travelled all the way to Starfall, miles out of his way, just to return a sword. But what if it wasn't that far? What if Starfall was close enough to make such a trip more understandable? A day trip is far more reasonable than one of potentially weeks. 2: The alleged location of the Tower of Joy is on the other side of mountains to Starfall. Not only does this make the sword trip hard to understand, but we're also supposed to believe that he did that trip with a newly born baby. So not only do we need to assume there was more than just Ned and Howland, we're now supposed to believe they had a wet nurse and that a just born baby could make a trip that could potentially be weeks long. 3: Ned and Howland are from the North, so are highly unlikely to know about passes through the mountains of Dorne. So we either assume that in this unmentioned group that was maybe with them there was a local with knowledge of the terrain, or the trip to Starfall would take potentially weeks of travelling around the mountains. A trip that could be rather dangerous for just a couple of guys, or small group, just after a war when emotions and grievances would still be strong. 4: The description of the location of the Tower is at the foot of the mountains. Even if we assume that description is true, and not just invented by Ned, those mountains cover hundreds of miles, including next to Starfall. 5: Of all the places where a prince of the realm could go and hide without anyone seeing him, some tower near a major road is not a good place. However, near to one of the most loyal houses, a place people don't just randomly walk past, is far safer and more secret. 6: And of course there's the whole 'how can they pull down a whole tower' business. Even if they did pull it down there would still be remains that could be located, unless Howland really did turn the whole place to water and sink it below ground. 7: If there had been a tower that suddenly vanished someone somewhere would notice. Locals would talk about the tower that just suddenly fell over and/or vanished. People like Varys and Littlefinger would be able to easily find out rumours like that, the local lords would know about it. It's not something that could ever be kept secret, yet we're supposed to believe that no one knows the location because Ned pulled it down? Seriously... 8: Ned is already lying about the identity of Jon, and Jon was born at the tower, so it's not hard to believe that part of the lie to protect Jon includes lying about the tower. The simplest explanation is Ned lied about the location and the tower is actually near Starfall.

[@SeanLKearns]

I think the note about him being able to make castles disappear is about underwater demolition. The cranogmen are obviously nam style seals.

[@JamieEgg-qs9mc]

Howland Reed is one of my favorite names in the story. I think of it as a howlin’ reed. A howlin’ reed could mean laughing tree, as in Knight of the Laughing Tree. But it could also mean wailing, keening, screaming, or other similar terms that are important to the story’s symbolism. Reed could be another term for tree but it could more specifically mean a small or childlike tree. Finally, a reed is an important part of a wind instrument- and wind is important to our story that is also called a Song. Songs often involve instruments (reeds) and howling (singing). Earth + Water = mud or swamps and I agree that Howland’s powers with earth and water are related to how he hides castles and brought down the Tower of Joy. However it doesn’t seem to fit with the rest of the magic in the story that he would do it with merely a whispered word. GRRM seems to like magic to have some sort of sacrifice of life essence. Perhaps he needed some highborn blood from Ned’s men’s fight against the Kingsguard. Or maybe Lyanna’s blood. Words are wind and Howland might speak to the trees with a whisper in the wind in order to get the trees to move earth and water. The vow Meera and Jojen make to Bran mentions earth and water (howland’s magic) but it also mentions iron, which is used to keep the Kings of Winter’s vengeful spirits from escaping the crypts of Winterfell, as well as to chop down trees, such as “a cruel piece of iron” that Will metamorphosized into the tree notices from the prologue. Copper is also mentioned, and the Royces, whose words are “We Remember” are known for armoring themselves in copper engraved with magic runes. Ice and Fire are also mentioned and they are clearly related to the magic of the story also. There is a Bran chapter that begins with a duel between Meera and Summer. Meera wins the duel by tricking Summer and capturing him in her net. I think this may be an allegory to warn us that Meera and Jojen may be tricking Bran in order to trap him in the Wierwood “net.” Howland and Littlefinger both share symbolism with the Children of the Forest- perhaps different factions of Children but perhaps not. Littlefinger could be said to speak to the trees by making certain moves in front of the trees, such as Dontos meeting with Sansa in front of the trees, but then killing Dontos out of the sight of the trees. Littlefinger used his words to get Ned, Dontos, and Sansa to work toward his own ends. Meera and Jojen may be doing the same with Bran. And Howland may have done so with Ned. With regard to your upcoming ideas about Theon, I’d like to mention that I think his captivity in the dark added to his abilities to hear the wierwood messages. This is similar to Bran’s powers increasing in the darkness in the crypts, or the mad king’s time spent in dark dungeons before he begins to hear “Burn them all!” There is also a bodily metamorphosis of these three characters becoming pale white, thin, and gnarled like roots.

[@captainmaim]

100% agree that Howland is a proper name for a hero. There was a USN Captain in WWII in the Pacific called "Howlin' Jack" Howland. Rickon should have been named Howland Stark.

[@KarlKarsnark]

Mud Magic: Confirmed!?!?! ...and on my IRL Name Day, no less. Huzzah! Thank you, Ser. (seems all Howland would have to really do is undermine one or two corners of the tower and it could then tumble over and break up when it hit the ground. Cheers!)

[@michaeltalksaboutstuff]

Happy name day Ser! Glad I managed to get this out today in that case. I had wanted to do a video trying to pick apart which of Howland's powers were magic and which were just survival skills at some point, as well as his weaving words at Arthur Dayne. But your comment about the tower of joy made me instantly bump this topic up to next in the list haha. Thanks for all the insights so far over many videos

[@Nenernener123]

I still think my favorite tin foil theory with Ashara possibly being there (delivering Dany, child born of rape from Aerys) & them getting baby sent off safely to Dragonstone or wherever they ended up with the red door safely would have explained the Daynes supporting Ned so much. Dany unknowingly being the bastard works perfectly with Jon in Ice & Fire. Not to mention it also could easily drive her into madness if the one thing she always knew about herself (her names) was a lie.

[@Nenernener123]

Also happy name day Karl! Hope you are on your way to making the 8 tonight! 🎉

[@KarlKarsnark]

@@Nenernener123 The "Dany" and "Dayne" spellings are hard to ignore also. Having both Jon & Dany be bastards, albeit "royal" ones, would be a great commentary on the whole idea of birthright, as well. I'm so old now, I'm luck if I can "Make the 1/8", but that's not gonna stop me from trying! LOL. Cheers!

[@BeteBlanc]

I have a number of disconnected thoughts. Probably not useful, but you decide. Where Howland and his magic are concerned I see a bit of a double standard in fandom. People usually accept magic is difficult to control and requires life to pay for it. Yet when Howland enters he has a lot of control and he can bring down things without sacrificing. I'm not disagreeing, he just seems to be considered as a special case and it seems off to me. How did Howland help? Again too many possibilities. However, digging into parallels there might be a few that resonate. One, there are strong parallels with him and Bran. Magic and being broken seem to follow each other. Plus there is the question of why we aren't seeing him on page and why he sent his kids rather than go himself. I think it's possible he actually can't, because he threw himself between Ned and Arthur and was crippled. Ned's choice of words was "I" pulled down the tower not "we," which might suggest Howland wasn't able to help. Two, your suggestion of weaving words. A lot of your own suggestions point to illusion being a pillar of CotF magic. He could have made himself appear as Ned. Perhaps he bounced words like Mel and Arthur got turned around. Where the events of the ToJ are concerned I have two suggestions. No conclusions, but two ways of considering them that most don't. The first is that you reread Brienne's battle at the Whispers. She's carrying Ned's sword and seeking to recover a Stark maid. Further, the verbal exchange is remarkably similar to that of Ned and Arthur, wondering they aren't with their friends. And lastly the Morning Star weapon appears to be an allusion to Dawn held by Arthur. All in, it seems to subtly reflect an inverted version of the ToJ story that we have. I'm not suggesting one for one connections, just that the context seems to suggest a connection so it might be useful in understanding vaguely similar things that happened. The other is simply that we question the timeline we typically believe. The flow of events in Ned's dream suggests the bed of blood occurred before the ToJ confrontation. We're trying to interpret Howland's actions from this backwards timeline and doing so may be what's confusing it.

[@ashleyofnaath]

I know this video was about Howland, but when you were talking about his ability to talk to trees, all I could think about was Theon because there are several instances of him talking to Bran through a weirwood in ADWD. Theon clearly sees Bran's face on the tree, clearly perceives what Bran tells him, and speaks back. In fact, in 'A Ghost of Winterfell', Bran restores Theon's sanity and strengthens his resolve to live. Because of this I've always suspected Bran is trying to save him. In a TWOW sample chapter it's implied that the ravens are trying to influence Stannis to give Theon to the weirwood tree, but I don't think he'll actually die; rather, I think Bloodraven and Bran want Theon at the tree to communicate with him and try to help Stannis, because Stannis winning gives the north its best chance against the Others. Or maybe I'm just nuts lol. Anyway, great video!!

[@michaeltalksaboutstuff]

Yeah there is definitely some Theon weirwood connections going on. I have a video in mind as to a place it could go. Possibly being significant that Theon is called "the ward of Winterfell" and it also seems that weirwood magic is the literal "ward of Winterfell" in the sense of a magical ward. So Theon's role protecting Bran in season 8 might be what we get when the show takes out the magic and his weirwood connections. Theon turning white himself may be hinting at future events and him and his connection to the trees magic might end up being important to protect Winterfell.

[@ashleyofnaath]

@@michaeltalksaboutstuff Theon also has a prophetic dream on at least one occasion, so I have to wonder about his magic abilities overall. It's implied Euron could've been visited by Bloodraven but communication couldn't be sustained because there aren't weirwoods on the Iron Islands; so I have to question if there's something magical in the Greyjoy bloodline. Admittedly bloodlines are a blind spot for me so I don't know if that's possible but something's going on in House Greyjoy.

[@JamieEgg-qs9mc]

@@ashleyofnaath There are theories that the seastone chair is a wierwood. But they could also communicate with glass candles, which are interchangeable with obsidian daggers.

[@EvanBerkowitz]

In an earthquake some kinds of ground liquefy. This would be useful magic for temporarily stationing Greywater Watch, taking down the Tower of Joy. More tinfoily is that it's also related to the hammer of the waters / Moat Cailin / that sort of thing.

[@conniesuper9892]

Nice job!Thanks for the shout out!!

[@captainmaim]

After Arthur Dayne killed everyone but Howland Reed and Ned, Howland Reed explained to Arthur Dayne about the three-headed dragon and the Prince who was Promised, how the boy in that tower had to be raised in the North where Robert wouldn't find him, and how the Dragon Prince was already dead in the Trident. Arthur Dayne understood that the only way that boy lives is if he loses and the only way he loses is to allow Ned to kill him. That's why Ned promised to take Dawn back to Starfall, and why the Daynes love Ned enough to name a boy after him when he killed Arthur.

[@frankcalello8678]

Great vid, love the analysis. That said, the freaking word bubbles are without a doubt my favorite part of this. I would weave so many more words right now, but I'm no Howland Reed, so I'll leave it to the master.

[@johnbuxton4484]

This is a god send at work in the rain bro, appreciate it 👊

[@polyemphis]

Howland being ASOIAF's Picard would be rad. I hope we see him soon

[@pigpig252]

I swear, the Reeds are such a fascinating house. I really hope we learn more about them one day

[@C_Mail]

Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn Spoilers: This series features a power called ‘the words of changing’ - a secret, high level magic where spoken words can alter the physical world. It plays a major role in the villain’s plan to alter the world. Knowing this series influenced GRRM, when I hear Howland Reed changing mud to water with a whisper, I think back to this concept in Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn.

[@espalier]

i've been reading M,S&T mostly to understand ASoIaF better, and wondering about lots of this stuff.

[@calebreynolds9183]

Sounds a lot like the thu’um and sword singing from elder scrolls

[@db7213]

I'm sold on this theory, and definitely think you are on to something here. All the strangeness about Ned's recollections of the events at the Tower of Joy goes away if you accept that Howland has exactly the list of magical powers that Jojen and Meera says he has. And the fact that Bloodraven says that "all he could hear is a rustling of the leaves" and it just so happens that the only time the guy who "can talk to trees" is present in the story, is the exact moment when Bran causes this "rustling of the leaves", is just too much of a coincidence. If GRRM wants there to be time travel in the story, this (a Greenseer sitting in Weirwood throne a cave in the future sending messages via rustling in tree leaves in the past) is clearly the mechanism. So, all in all, I think you have cracked it. The only thing I would like to add is that Ned has mysterious memory gaps ("After that, he remembered nothing") could also be the result of Howland's ability to "weave words". I.e. maybe Ned saw too much, so Howland used his word weaving magical powers to erase some of Ned's memories of the event.

[@michaeltalksaboutstuff]

Thanks! and as to the last part, honestly I had heard the idea Howland did some mind shenanigans to Arthur at the Tower of Joy but him messing with Ned's mind on some level would be wild and I kinda like it. Although the massive trauma of the Tower of Joy for Ned would seem likely to cause some memory blocks on its own. So imo that part of it is interesting and could be the case, but unless we get some further confirmation I would assume trauma caused the memory gaps.

[@melhawk6284]

​@michaeltalksaboutstuff maybe Howland helped with blocking the worst of them? Knew his friend was gonna be in BAD shape if something popped up at a bad moment, and reinforced them?

[@climatebas]

Fun to think about but I think it makes Howland too OP. With a son like Jojen, he might have some more subtle magical powers like kind of talking to trees, but I think the other powers were metaphors for his physical skills, or ability to command people to flood or drain parts of the neck and to move the (probably not super-huge) floating castle around.

[@andrewward5891]

I agree. I think Meera brags about her dads magic probably because if outsiders think Howland has magic powers they’re less likely to mess with them.

[@conniesuper9892]

Weaving words sounds like what Melissandre does when she's convincing Jon he's seeing and hearing Ygrette while at the Wall( in the books). Maybe while Ned was at ToJ Howland let Ned believe he had seen his sister alive to make him promise to care for Jon...hopefully she wasn't an,"Only death can pay for life" casualty and Ned would have to be told IT WAS THE CHILDBIRTH THAT CAUSED THE BED OF BLOOD,not my COTF bronze blade with runes!!!Why would Ned take this little crannogman with him unless he was good at blowdarts,or archery? Plus,Ned was at the Eyrie when all this Brandon in King's Landing started...how does he keep in touch with Howland after Harrenhal? Who's booming voice was coming out of Knight of the Laughing Tree? Why would Ned bring the little guy to ToJ unless he knew Howland had magical ways,that Ned would have to deny exist in front of Luwin,who doesn't believe it exists anymore?Was it Littlefinger who told Brandon it was Rhaegar who stole Lyanna or Howland to further the ball rolling? Littlefinger is a small guy too,with the way he weaves words and is slight ...he seems to have plans in motion that seem helpful,but suddenly you're kidnapped on a ship...this plan to send his two children to get his friend Ned's son and haul him beyond the Wall seems helpful at first until he KNOWS how his Jojen will meet HIS sacrificial demise.

[@kelman2009]

Love your videos! This one does seem to be the more woo woo of the ones I've seen so far and so I'm not so sure about some of these theories contained within. I do think the make castles disappear or whatever it is is a reference to that indigenous people that make castles of reeds, I think they are that float on water. Reed comes across as the most powerful person in Westeros and while swamps are often associated with a magic it just doesn't seem quite on the money but thank you for this anyways.

[@Taykoe88]

I dont think he spent the resources building multiple castles, i just think he moves the island that his castle is on around in the marshes like a boat. Or maybe the foundation is straight compacted dirt so he can physcically move the castle across ground and when it gets to a suitible spot, he could drop all the earth surrounding it so its now an isle. Then the next month he could do the same, first bring earth up and then move the castle and repeat. Im probably totally off on both, but i really love my boat idea lol. A boatin' castle lol.

[@minimumviableplayer1402]

Arthur Dayne fits as a candidate for the "twist with a character that has died in the show".

[@girlnettles]

6:33 🙌 Karl Karsnark supremacy 🙌

[@KarlKarsnark]

Well, if you say so :) ..and on my IRL Name Day too! Happy new Year, senorita!

[@d.m.collins1501]

Everything in your theories and speculations makes pretty good sense. Except the whole "Howland Reed has five castles and he raises and lowers them into the mud" bit. Do you know how much time and manpower it would costs to drain a castle of slime and ooze and mud after it's been submerged? The magic that could suddenly dry a castle that two minutes ago was filled with wriggling catfish and alligator shit would be WAYYYY more amazing than simply lifting and sinking a castle... it beggars belief in a low-magic world.

[@fletcherw32]

Howler Reed is really good at camouflaging his overgrown forts, at least that’s my running theory.

[@Nemenon]

The Tower of Joy probably isn't that large of a structure, if Howland could use his magic to condense the moisture underneath the dirt he could cause the foundation to become very unstable thus resulting in it either collapsing into the ground itself via sinkhole, or just causing it to fall over because it's now unbalanced. (I don't actually know anything about this shit). Also the Crannogmen are known for their "cowardly" fighting techniques like nets, spears, and poisoned darts, so he probably didn't need magic to kill Pendragon.

[@myujmes]

I'd love for this to be the case

[@julianprice9947]

I heard on a Preston Jacob’s video that it is actually not that difficult to tear down a tower. A professional mason told him the it would take maybe a day or two to break apart all the blocks of stone.

[@michaeltalksaboutstuff]

Agreed that it could be done, but that would require tools and a day or two of work. My thought has always been, well it is possible but weird. It would be weird that they would have the tools in the first place, they have enough to carry without masons tools. Then second do they have the day or two with a newborn baby? If there were really only the two of them there they need to get Jon to somewhere he can be taken care of, not spend two days tearing down the tower. All of these things could be solved other ways for sure. Maybe they rode to Starfall and came back to deconstruct it with Dayne family help for all we know. Which is why I admit many things could have happened there. But I thought it was worth noting Howland doing this magic to undermine it also solves things in a nice clean way if that is a power he has.

[@dannycline2544]

“Turn earth to water and water to earth with just a word.” “Make castles appear and disappear.” Honestly, I think this is just a poetic way of describing how he hides Greywater Watch; I don’t think this refers to anything fantastic or magical.

[@kyleboerner]

You have great videos man! Curious if you see any kind of parallels between Howland and Sauron (and if the north overall is the dark side(sauron had vampires ‘bolton’ and werewolves ‘stark’ ). I know this is my imagination running away with itself, I’m always curious though by GRRM calling Howland “the shadow” just like sauron, and he seemingly has no family tree like sauron did esp in The Rings of Power. Looking forward to future videos 👏

[@nateh9917]

id be careful in thinking that they were only at the tower of joy for one day. There's no reason to think Lyanna died the day they got there, and in fact it may be more likely that she lived for a few days or weeks, but got an infection or something that killed her before she was strong enough to leave. It's also possible that they weren't the only 3 there. There would probably have been handmaidens or someone there to tend to Lyanna, and when saying "They were the only two witnesses", it could just be because the handmaid were inside the tower/hiding, which is exactly what you'd expect them to do. I know Jon got brought to Starfall and given a wet nurse there, but if Lyanna died the day Ned got there, and no one else was there, Jon would have had nothing to eat unless they could knock down the tower and get to Starfall within a day.

[@reddest-x]

I love the concept of Uncle Artie.

[@SlaveCraven-vw8tk]

No, it was wildfire. There's a reason we watched Cersei burn down the tower. Mad King era had wildfire everywhere

[@griffin3508]

Seeing as a medieval stone tower had on average 10-foot-thick walls, it would take 10 men with the right medieval tools (sledgehammers, ropes, pick axes and large hammers) and experience about 50-man days, I do not know Ned and Howland's tower crushing experience or how long they stayed at the tower but seeing as they were 2 and not 10, am guessing if it was definitely magic.

[@Cable150364]

What you mentioned about howland reed’s powers with turning earth into mud and vice versa got me thinking about moat cailin. Could be a muuuch larger castle submerged beneath the earth using the same magic that possibly took down the tower of joy and conceals or moves greywater watch

[@jaredbrady5566]

"Mystery Box" gives me ptsd... *shudders*

[@mojowasabi8823]

Turning water to earth with words could be bc as a lord he can demand the building of cranogs, which is what they live on in the swamps. Might be a stretch, but...

[@jclaburn]

There is someone who can listen to trees but he's no one you are thinking of: Theon Greyjoy. Theon hears Bran say his name through the trees, unlike Ned, who can't hear Bran saying his name. That suggests either that Theon has special powers or that it's the time gap that talking to Theon contemporaneously Theon can hear his name, but in the past Ned can't. But before we say that it's all time, we have to note that Theon seems connected to the trees symbolically because he is slowly becoming a weirwood tree: Ramsay's torture and half starvation of him and imprisonment underground maessentially We can and probably should also turn the analogy around in a sense and see Theon's ordeal as the analogy in the story for what the greenseers (especially the ones inside the frozen wall) go through. Being trapped underground, with almost no food, slowly starving, rats gnawing on their toes, miserable, slowly loosing their identity as a person and their own name. Reek is short for Richard, which means divine ruler. But the process of becoming one of these old gods is pure torture and no one who truly knew what its like to be one of them would want to be in this state.

[@michaeltalksaboutstuff]

I do think you are correct on a level about Theon being connected to the trees and ending up inside them. I have a place I think Theon ends up (although I am still working out the full details I have it mostly mapped out and part of my video to do list) but your comments about him have been the closest to having my theory figured out for sure. I will go into it a bit in case you can add anything else helpful, or it helps you at all. I think one thing that could be worked into the idea and you might find helpful is that Winterfell seems to be warded by weirwood magic. Theon is called "The Ward of Winterfell" and in the show they had that line about how he has everything happen to him all just so he could be where he needed to be, which was protecting Bran. But they had him do it physically in the show. I think it makes much more sense if he has undergone all the torture and near death so he can be sacrificed into the wood or bound and merged into the weirwood while still alive somehow as a mind meld and that sacrifice could turn Theon "the ward of Winterfell" into the literal "ward of Winterfell". So yeah spoilers for my series there is a video coming one day called The Ward of Winterfell theory and this comment will likely be in it haha. But I would love your thoughts on that since you seem to have found your way to a roughly similar conclusion.

[@jclaburn]

@@michaeltalksaboutstuff Well, I initially thought he should go into the tree at the NIghtfort that has no face, which is where the Night's King is supposed to be. So he becomes the Night's King at the end. But since that time I have been thinking isn't Winterfell more important as a location than the Night Fort. Isn't the key to winter or heart of winter buried somewhere in the crypts under Winterfell and that's what the Others want but it has to be protected from them. A separate issue, while we are talking, is are we sure that humans really created the wall and the Wall creates the others--albeit I really it--as opposed to the Others creating the wall and putting the greenseers inside to empower them. A lot of things in the story seem to suggest the Starks have been secretly worshipping the others for so long that they forgot they were, but executing commoners and giving the blood to the weirwood trees, performing first night and giving the bastards to the others, these seem like practices that lasted thousands of years and were really about worshipping and serving and sustaining the others up doing whatever they do in the far, far north, while protected by the Starks and the rules from men encroaching on them. It's been my theory for some time that the Starks before this generation weren't the good guys, and that is the biggest George Martin twist of the story. They were serving the Others all along. The Starks turned the land Stark serving the Others and maintained an unfair status quo all along that allowed them to be in power while shielding the Others up north with people who couldn't organize as a form of thralls to them.

[@michaeltalksaboutstuff]

@@jclaburn So in terms of your question about who creates the wall, the others etc. I think the general answer I am coming around to is whoever did the actual actions they were following the plan of the trees. So the weirwoods kinda did it. I almost need to make a video apologizing to the COTF for my early videos blaming them haha it is the trees all along. So I think the weirwoods may have created the others and built the wall and convinced people to channel blood magic into them all to gain their own place of power they hold. I would be open to a situation where the wall was created by someone besides humans, but whoever did it I think the trees were the ones behind it. I think they gain the most from having bodies strapped to them and blood magic fed into them. They might even be leading the process of their own rebirth before our very eyes fully in control of the others and men and guaranteed to get the result they want. Bran looks to be in control by the end. But we don't know how much of him is still him and how much of him is the trees. So generally I could be swayed on a lot of details of who did what exactly with ancient tales. In terms of the starks being bad until the current generation I would say that is more or less accurate. We would certainly look a lot less kindly at the starks had we seen some of the old first night wolf kings before we met Ned and Bran. Idk if the ancient starks knew or thought they were serving the others, but if they are serving the trees and the others are as well, is there really a big difference? They might as well be serving the others, or the others serving them. It is the fear of the others that keeps people flocking to the Starks after all. All of that keeps blood flowing to the trees.

[@jclaburn]

@@michaeltalksaboutstuff I have gone back and forth on whether I think the weirwoods are an invasive organism that came from space on a comet, or a once healthy worldtree that was corrupted by magic by the Others or else by the Children or men in a way that went wrong, or whether it was a once healthy world tree that got sick or infected by something that came on a comet. These all seem like possibilities to me. I definitely don't think they are both healthy and benign the way they are. They seem like something very dangerous that takes the innocuous form of looking like a tree or some kind of magical trees that got deeply corrupted.

[@fletcherw32]

I think it’s important to mention/remember that Ned and the boys didn’t just Jetpack to the Tower of Joy. They were likely riding war horses, we can assume that the Kings guard each had a war horse; as well as Lyanna and her midwife. She could have even had a small team of Handmaidens and midwives, but I’d expect there’d be one professional so as to keep things tight lipped. So we’re looking at a conservative estimate of 10 warhorses; and two pony’s. It’s not inconceivable that Ned and Howland could rustle 12 horses into hauling an old tower off it’s foundations. I certainly prefer the depiction of Howland Reed as a silver tongued skilled hunter, rather than an actual Druid. If you’re going with the surviving Kingsguard theory, then it’s even more plausible that three to five trained Knight’s could organize this cowboy esque demolition in under an hour.

[@justincurll1110]

HOWLand's moving castle😊

[@Legs_]

I always figured they just tied the dozen or so horses that would have to be there together and just kinda pulled it tf over tbh

[@AnnabelTheGoldsmith]

Is all of this water to earth earth to water stuff anything to do with ancient House Mud?

[@Melted220]

Ned took the bricks and used them for graves for all the dead that day at the tower.

[@sblinder1978]

Talking to trees is hella easy

[@jacksavere6988]

Howland summoned his castle from under Arthur’s feet and he fell to his death 💀

[@calebreynolds9183]

Breathing mud just sounds like they’re okay getting covered in it my dude. They live and breathe the dirty life

[@Yoroiful]

4:00 I don't know much about the lore but "water to earth and earth to water" might not be literal, especially given the other context you presented. Howland Reed, sounds like, for a lack of a better term, a "bard". Someone who can influence people to such a degree that he makes them act against their very nature - water to earth and earth to water. It could explain how they got to the tower without dying to the best warrior in Westeros.

[@DLYChicago]

Maybe Howland can use the voice.

[@TheBigHatLegion]

My theory, and this hinges on Reed "just using words", not actually killing Dayne. I believe Reed convinced, magically or not, Dayne to back down. Mayhaps Arthur let Eddard see his sister. Mayhaps, stricken with grief over having surrendered or having broken his oath, Dayne killed himself. That's why Dayne nor his bones were taken back to Starfall, only his sword. And to break a Kingsguard oath for Neds family, would mayhaps lead to Eddard calling Arthur Dayne "The Finest Knight he ever saw." The legend of Ned killing him in single combat would be more an honorable death for Dayne, and mayhaps Dayne wished it so. It would very much mirror the Legend of Artorias from Dark Souls, you should look up his story. Arthurs death, needing to be lied about, is better than the truth to the histories, mayhaps. Just a theory.

[@robertoaguiar6230]

Can this foundation undermining magic be related to how the horn of joruman is supposed to bring down the wall? If the wildlings believe this is what is does, and they know turning solid ground into mud is possible they would be convinced the wall could be brought down by magic in a kind of easy way. I do prefeer your idea of the trees shaking, I just wonder if other people in the world have other theories and this could be one of them.

[@VANIT_E]

Let this theory cook a little while longer lol

[@aaronabarca4919]

You mean he didn't use a shotgun?😢

[@emrek99205]

I don't think the earth to water is actual. Or at least not how you are thinking. Bran was able to travel to the Tower of Joy so there is a weirwood nearby. Howland could simply have whispered to the trees to ask that the roots move in such a way to "liquefy" the Tower's foundation. He can understand the trees and they presumably understand him. This goes along with your idea of the Weirwood trees at the Wall shaking off the ice. The Horn of Joramund might merely allow the user's voice to penetrate the ice like a megaphone so that the trees can hear it and be asked to shake. It might not really have any special power beyond that. This makes it interesting because instead of being broken when John Snow finds the horn, he just didn't know what to say and all he heard was air. It could be perfectly operational and just need someone who can speak the Trees' language. Someone who can speak with trees must go to the Wall with the Horn. I'm guessing that might be Howland or *posssibly* Theon. The three eyed raven, Bran, and CotF can effectively talk with the trees, but two of them are stationary now and the children don't seem to have any interest in the trees of the wall. Coldhands knows some ancient language(s) but he was the one to bring the Horn back to the Night's Watch. Seems unlikely he would be the one to use it since he doesn't even breathe. Btw, a moving root system can have other effects in a fight. If the ground is moving under your feet it makes it hard to stand or fight. If the ground gives way and churns like quicksand it can make it hard to move. A person might surrender or toss their weapon out of the effect so that they can try to swim. At minimum Arthur could negotiate a "take my hand, and pull me out" only to regretfully fail and be consumed by the tree. That could explain why Ned felt honor to the Daynes and brought the sword back to them. It is said that Ned and Howland buried Arthur beneath the rocks of the tower. Trapping him and then collapsing the tower upon him would be a very easy way to do that all things considered. It would only require a conversation with a tree. Of course, this would make Ned into nothing more than a distraction and set the fight as a failure in his mind. Constantly trying to defend himself while Howland whispered with trees is not all that heroic.

[@emrek99205]

Also if the trees are able to churn up the land to engulf people, they could also do that to any babies left out in the Snow, Sands, Rivers, etc. The CotF wouldn't be needed to go there first. A tree that gets water from the bottom of a well could easily blenderize a baby thrown into it.

[@Z0mb3hHunt3r]

Howland's moving castle? Lol I assumed he floated grey water watch on the swamp by making the castle have a bouyant foundation.

[@ruthbennett7563]

Howland Reed & the Tower of Joy Destruction was brought to us by Weirwood Soup & Swamp Mushroom Tea. 😂😂😂

[@thegatorhator6822]

Did GRRM really give a man called Howland... A Moving Castle?

[@ucnguyenanh9414]

Only Ygritte would call it a castle. But yes.

[@thegatorhator6822]

@@ucnguyenanh9414 not the joke but fair enough.

[@Armaniche]

Howland could make castles appear and disappear. Wouldn't it be easier to make a tower appear and disappear than a castle?

[@eric2500]

GRRM likes parallelisms. I am thinking of Septon Meribald and perhaps Dog, who seem to understand how to walk on quicksand. Is this the more Faith of the Seven - ish variant of the elemental Earth Magic Howland can do with Water and Earth?

[@andrewcameron4277]

You heard the theory that mance rayder being Arthur dayne

[@tinahs8269]

I wonder if the name Tower of Joy is more euphemistic than descriptive...for all we know it was a two room shack on stilits, which would easily be dismantled by two men

[@jacobsquare4812]

Breathing mud makes sense if you consider their last name. They use reeds!

[@umwha]

Im positive on these vids, but heres some creative criticism. We did not need nearly 4 minutes in the beginning to restate that the characteristics of the crannogmen are simply exaggerations.

[@umwha]

7:30 minutes in and the only point you've made is 'It was once said Howland can turn earth to water. Therefore, I believe he turned the foundation of the ToJ to water to bring it down'. Why all this wasted air time?

[@jonathanjoestar9714]

​@@umwhaI would imagine it has to do with algorithms and how they prefer videos over 10 minutes.

[@Luke-uv8zx]

Howland's Moving Castle lmao

[@TomModeste]

Howland did not take down the ToJ, he TALKED it down

[@deeplydownside]

Howland Reed got that rizz.

[@michaeltalksaboutstuff]

His personal sigil is a Rizzard lion

[@emrek99205]

Howland Rizz

[@danieldybka7065]

Anyone can talk to trees. It’s only magic when the trees reply

[@aprilmae274]

For you and Karl-omg...the water! If there are caves/rivers underground Howland could have totally done this! And isn't that the general area where Arienne is when find those caves with the carvings? I need a map to remember now, shite. This feels WAY more right than "2 Men and a Baby" pulling a tower down. That shite never made sense. NOTHING about the ToJ makes frikin sense. Nothing. Pretty sure we should be questioning that entire story, or am I maybe reading too much into it? I mean-who in the ef sends a woman to an isolated desert-mountain tower to have a baby with only 3 knights to...what? Help? WtF? ALL the crap that happens AFTER the baby is born in what can only be described as INSANELY dangerous circumstances, is like...just wtf, man. And why does Ned make sure to stop at Lady Dustin's? To drop her dead husband's horse off, but not his body? Seriously? The Barrow peeps are KNOWN for their barrows-there is NO way Ned is bringing her a horse and not her husband, dead or alive. No. No way that happened like that. I sincerly doubt that anyone {except MAYBE the White Bull} died at the ToJ...and the word weaving is how THAT went down. I don't know if it was Howland, but SOMEONE there, during this time period, screwed with Ned's memories. I personally think that Howland did it, with Lady Dustin's help. Maybe a couple of others, as well. SOMETHING went down that involves Lady Dustin helping Ned somehow, though, is how it reads to me. But the Tower of Joy, no matter what, would have had to come down QUICKLY, right? There was NO time for pulling it down, stone by stone, because even if EVERYONE did die-Howland and Ned still have that baby to keep secret and to get away from there. There is literally NO way that it played out the way Ned "remembers" it. None. O! O! Howland did learn how to listen to trees at the Isle of Faces-I wonder if Howland will be able to hear Bran through the trees and understand-especially AFTER Bran and crew leave the cave? Howland isn't a greenseer-so Bran can't just pop into his dreams and start chatting, etc. without it being screwed up badly somehow. But this method is better. A literal landline connection for those who know how to listen to what they are hearing. Perhaps ONLY possible for Howland to do clearly from the IoF? Unless the trees don't care that Bran killed Blood Raven-then any weirwood is an open line. The trees might not care-they might even be grateful. In fact, there's a chance that Bran is there to help get Blood Raven gone, even though he doesn't know it. Howland was on that Isle doing something for a long time. I have always wondered if the Green Men and the Trees of the isle wanted Blood Raven gone, so they set into motion their own little plot. That would be way more to write here though. I think there's a pretty good chance that Bran is going to try to save Jojen and THAT'S why they will have to leave the cave. Bran is prolly going to kill Blood Raven, etc. I wonder if Howland is as angry about Jojen's "fate" as Meera is and that's why he hasn't gotten involved yet. It's weird to me that Howland has hardcore stayed away for recent events considering how involved he was in getting the ball rolling at the Harrenhall Tournament. It reminds me of what Benjen says to Jon about not knowing what he was giving up-Benjen was also reflecting on his own choices. Benjen was talking about Harrenhall Tourney and events leading up to him taking The Black. I think this might apply to Howland as well. To all of them. So far in the books we have heard everyone {still alive} that was involved with Harrenhall tourney reflect on their choices/regrets/opinions regarding it all. Except Howland's. Right? If not everyone, then pretty damn close. Enough so that it reads like they ALL have deep regrets. I think Howland will, too. I can't help feeling like it's more than him trying to keepsomething/someone secret-he seems to have been pretty open about his past with Meera and Jojen. Def not as secretive as Ned was with his kids. Howland's kids were shocked by how little Ned's son knew about anything, whether it was true or rumor mill stuff. And remember how Edric Daye and Arya were when talking about Jon, etc. IF Lyanna or Ashara is secretly Howland's wife, then she can stay at home while Howland goes. Or wear a disguise if she really HAS to go with him. Something. But there's nothing. Why hasn't shown himself? Not to Ned, not to Robb...He does send his 2 kids to swear oaths to Bran, though, and where they end up going and doing has NOTHING to do with wtf Robb is doing-so wtf is Howland doing? He;s def not interested in supporting ANY war between men. It seems his SOLE interest is in helping Bran. This means something. This is not the first Brandon Stark he has had direct contact with concerning these events. I have always thought that Howland might be pissed about something. Resentful? I'm not sure what. I don't think he is pissed at the Stark's, don't get me wrong-I think he might be pissed off at fate\magic. Maybe not even pissed-I need a word for it. Look at Roose-he showed up when called on. Why hasn't Rowland, like ever? I KNOW I can say this better, uhg. But does anyone else question his continued absence for EVERYTHING? It reminds me of how Lady Dustin is just so casual when openly talking shit to Roose Bolton. It is accepted. It occured to me that Roose is aware of some part of this, likely, and doesn't see Barbrey the same way he sees every other person in life so far. It is going to take more than being his dead wife's sister and dead son's aunt to make Roose so chill with ANY kind of shit talking to his face, in public, ESPECIALLY by a woman who has no husband. Not exactly a safe place to be amongst Boltons in general. Hell, Ramsey's mom can tell you how safe being a married is woman when a Bolton is nearby. Lady Hornwood can't tell you how safe a widow is when a Bolton is nearby, sadly. So how are these 2 {Barbrey and Howland} getting away with certain shite that NOBODY else would ever even consider doing? Both Barbrey and Howland have this weird distance to current events that seems directly connected to the ToJ events. They seem to have special regard in the North and are very unique people for Northern standards, those 2. Why do {northern} people treat them so differently? It seems like it has been different for them so long now that people just accept it as natural, almost. I'm guessing since Ned has been Lord.

[@jiggajayflow]

I think Howland caught Arthur Dayne in a net lol. Just like Meera caught Sam in the Nightfort

[@thing_under_the_stairs]

Sorry, all I can think of right now is Howland's Moving Castle. I'll see myself out.

[@umwha]

Sorry but this idea is bad. One line says he can turn earth to water. Youve taken it 100% literally, and are using it to explain him pulling down a tower - when no magic explanation was needed as it might've just been a small tower - and also to explain the moving castles which are not even confirmed to exist. Him turning a castles foundation to and from water to move them is structurally impossible anyway, and would be an enormous cost-free magical feat greater than anything in the series. Considering Melisandre was said to be the best seer in her order and she can hardly use any magic soothsaying at all, I don't think enormous effortless magical feats are going to crop up in Howlands hands. Then there are some basic implications. If Ned has a guy as his best friend who can turn earth to water then he has a superweapon - you'd think Ned might call him to do something significant in the war like appear in a battlefield to turn the ground to water beneath enemy horses and carriages, help the forces breaking into kings landing, but no, Howland is toddling after Ned. Ned should have called on Howland in the greyjoy rebellion to turn the water to earth underneath the Ironborn ships .... This is ridiculous. Also, we don't need to speculate about him using weaving words to help in the duel if he can just open a deep pond underneath any opponent.

[@patrickleitzen9752]

I'll only believe that Howland had a 12ga until GRRM tells me differently in TWOW or ADOS

[@geoninja3631]

💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚💚

[@jaykay1223]

Merrin and Pippin could talk to trees too 😂

[@zyzzyz7035]

Howland talked Ned and Arthur down. Arthur listened to him because he is his brother in law. Howland was the man she was with at the great turney. Not Ned, not Brandon or anyone else. The Starks stood by Ashara and supported her being with Howland. Howland and Ashara were a couple and Meera and Jojen are their children. They now live at Greywater Watch. There were lots of people at the Tower of Joy. Targaryen sympathizers and Dornish there with Lyanna and crew.

[@Celephinn]

Mud magic ✨

[@saenz7947]

Howland is man of many secrets. He weaves words like none other, breathes in mud and turns earth into water to move his castle. Howl' sends his children on a quest to recruit a crippled boy into a time-traveling-shenanigans plot made by the same crippled boy. Witness a story of family secrets... cryptic oaths... ancient magic... talking to trees... and the exciting adventures of a swamp earthbender. Howl's Moving Castle. In your dreams, soon.

[@skeletonbuyingpealts7134]

Shotgun.

[@magalengo]

Magical ris

[@blakew.5736]

Isn’t it speculated that Meera is Jojan’s half sister? The bastard daughter of Ashara Dayne and Rickard Stark?