🧙 The Surprising Source of the White Walker's power

Major spoilers for Nightflyers! Turn back now!
Why does a shard of obsidian in the heart of the Night King turn him into a cold god instead of killing him? Or protect Benjen Stark from becoming one of the mindless army of the dead? The answer comes from George R.R. Martin's short story Nightflyers and novel Dying of the Light: the whisperjewel. Quotes read by MelanieLot7.
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[@GrayArea]

Good job! Kill the boy and let the man be born!!!! I believe The Night King = The Great Other

[@JoeMagician]

Great other hype!

[@crhettbuttler1]

Your tweet brought me here. Enjoyed the content lots. Thank you and Joe Magician.

[@jessiesargent7212]

Side note- I just realized that GrayArea isn't black lol

[@eastcoastlifestyle1735]

GrayArea hey grey please audition to audible... !

[@Jockeylotforfun]

What I truly love about your work is the encyclopedic manner that you lend to a subject. You masterfully assemble every tiny bit of info then clearly present it to an awed , thankful audience! Love QOT.🌹

[@JoeMagician]

You're very welcome! Make sure you check out the livestream, Merry and Melanie add a huge amount of knowledge to this as well.

[@ClintSprayberry]

Yup! Now we understand that stuff where the Blood Stone Emperor worshipped that fallen, black stone! Brilliant!!!!

[@JoeMagician]

Even LML is on board with this explaining the bloodstone emperor's magic stone. It's been pointed out that links with lovecraft as well.

[@ironreed2654]

Bravo sir, this was up there with Preston Jacobs work for applying the logic of G.R.R. Martins other worlds to SOIAF instead of our worlds logic. An excellent video I enjoyed a lot.

[@byjordi2185]

To think of Danys birth scene, the eyes of the ghost in the room It makes so much sense, your eyecolor is defining if you are (genetically) touched by the stones omg I love it

[@houseadams4841]

Just found channel not long ago... Love the narration, the ideas/theories.. Deeper then the average asoiaf stuff out there... Keep up the work, enjoying it..

[@JoeMagician]

Glad you're enjoying them!

[@TWard-je6mr]

The whisper jewels are a very interesting topic. Thanks for the video, it was magical...

[@JoeMagician]

You're very welcome

[@victoriasantoro6692]

I love the passages from the Nightflyers you read there..Nice Job Big Joe.

[@scottie16976]

I'm probably clutching at straws but "The old esper" that made the whisperjewel is described as having red gold hair. Bran describes Leaf as ...Her hair was a tangle of brown and red and gold, autumn colors, with vines and twigs and withered flowers woven through it.... This sounds like a CotF greenseer. The esper is also "a wizened old Emerli". Even the name Emerli makes me think of emerald and green. Great video!

[@JoeMagician]

That's an interesting connection! I wonder if its a character from another author he likes too, you're right the detail on the esper is unnecessary.

[@scottie16976]

Royd and his mother impress on the crystal as they are dying. Similar to Varamyr dying, when hes trying to take over Thistle's body its like he is trying to impress himself on to her. When he cant he impresses on the weirwood for a however long and then he is inside his wolf. Could Benjen have been impressed onto the dragonglass and the put back inside his own body?

[@JoeMagician]

Yes! That's what I was getting at, I think Benjen is impressed on his own Whisperjewel. Or was impressed on it by the children. He doesn't seem to have any memory of doing it himself.

[@scottie16976]

The shard of dragonglass that the Children put into the Night King could be a blade that some leader of the CotF carried. One that witnesses some awful battle like Red Lake. Possibly a leader or even someone who was against the Pact.

[@IamAmericasDaughter]

With this video makes me think Euron is even more important than I already did. That he could actually be becoming a god. You blew my mind Joe! Awesome video. Thanks.

[@JoeMagician]

Oh that's a great idea, what happens if someone else takes control of the heart of Winter.... Euron the Heartless?

[@annklavano]

Oh, very interesting. Think I may need to listen again and pay more attention this time. Thanks.

[@bgasym13]

Thank you for this video. It has been very illuminating. It has shown me the explanation of Jon's dream. Him standing on the wall with black ice armor and a flaming sword in his hand. He will have dragon glass put into his chest, maybe by Danny(Nisa Nisa anyone?). It will awaken his powers. It also explains how the hero went to the children of the forest and found help. How would he suddenly be able to defeat the white walkers just with a flaming sword alone? Who knows? maybe Nisa Nisa became the Night's King's wife.

[@JoeMagician]

Oh that's an interesting way to take this, I didn't make any predictions for the future. Love the idea that this is how the last hero was aided, works very well with the green zombie series from LML.

[@alanpennie8013]

@@JoeMagician Yes. I do think LML is right about that. See also a you tuber called Bridge 4 who mainly talks about the show.

[@sabrinakrisb4672]

Despite what happened with the show, this video still really works well as analysis of the themes George focuses on!

[@semaera]

Maybe Mance really is dead then, and the ruby is what contains his essence/memories/desires. She could've used the flames to do it, too. She said the ruby allows her to control him, too, which I never understood until now. If its not just a glamour, then her proclamation about his loyalty makes more sense: his soul is bound to her magic through the ruby. So maybe he's kind of like a fire wight, like Dondarrion. And doesn't he imply later when he's in Winterfell that the magic would fade? Does that mean she loses control of him, or his essence fades and he's left a corpse? "Grey fingers"...that's a pretty common clue in his books that someone is "sorta" dead. And then what would that mean about the source of the pink letter...?

[@AzrielEver]

Oh my gif, Lady Stoneheart was a hint Her name was literally a clue

[@dannabats]

Great explenation as to how geirges other works can have clues to the ending of got and the motivations of the others and magic.

[@JoeMagician]

It''s one of those really open questions, personally this makes the most sense for me. At least it's based on something solid like his previous works that he borrows heavily from rather than interpreting unreliable legends and myths meant to trick us haha. It's my headcannon for now until we learn more hopefully in Winds and next season.

[@ruffgirl1776]

Another great video. Thank you for your passion and great work

[@reignorshine.]

Interesting . Maybe ice Chrystal's themselves frozen water can hold some magic, or information, memory ancient consciousness ? Good job shining new light on the concept 👍

[@JoeMagician]

I'd expect so, they do have a crystalline structure. and he's had faces and bones hold memories, why not some ice?

[@xajaso]

LOVE THIS. Excellent work, thanks for sharing

[@misscherim]

This is an amazing video. Well done. I love this. It’s very Orb of Aldur from The Belgariad series by David Eddings. I really enjoyed this one. Thanks.

[@greenman6141]

Going back to the early 1960s, when Andre Norton wrote her first Witch World book, when we first meet one of the witches of Estcarp, she wears a gem pendant, and she uses it, in some fashion, for working her spells. We later learn that this is the mark of office all witches. They use their jewel to focus their powers.

[@theaansel8738]

Wow this is truly beyond the wall!

[@caitfitz8029]

Great video 🤘💖

[@MrMobius010]

The scene where blood ravens cave is attacked Im pretty sure the children are calling fire from dragonglass. The glass glows with a blue fire just like the eyes of the others before it explodes into a red fireball. I'm not sure if this us a clue or not but its neat. I wonder about sapphires since the stones are mentioned with prolly only dragonglass gets more page space. What if the stone is ice? Grrm always talks about they can work ice like no other.

[@JoeMagician]

That's a great catch! That very well may be how they did it. Could be, sapphires and other blue stones are very often mentioned as you point out. The whisperjewels are said to be like ice and fire, interpreting the stone as ice and the memory/soul as the fire.

[@storsolo]

I have been searching for this video to rewatch. I FINALLY found it 🎉 🍿

[@catanito7689]

You got my subscription you earned it with great material..

[@himynameisrev]

A hive minded telepathic archenemy is also the overall worst bad guy in GRRM’s 1000 worlds science fiction. I love your analysis on this, I’ve wondered how much you consider his other works outside ASOIAF.

[@JoeMagician]

Those hiveminded telepathics are everywhere in the thousand worlds...... although kinda like the Others we don't know much about the Hrangans, just that the humans made war on them. They literally are alien and a different sort of life, which George plays with in Nightflyers. I take his previous works seriously as inspirations and ways of looking for mechanics he's been tinkering with forever. He's even said that the original Game of Thrones was his pet turtles when he would make up political intrigues about them. It's a great resource to look underneath the hood a little bit especially on fantasy and magical mechanics that he's keeping hidden in ASOIAF>

[@figjam9530]

@@JoeMagician with his love of turtles it's a wonder house Estermont don't play a bigger part in ASOIAF.

[@sevrinaina6949]

I love you joemagician!

[@JoeMagician]

Right back at ya ;)

[@WarriorGirl_113]

After rewatching this vid I can't help but wonder if you might agree with me... his pin or whatever it's called on his neck looks like it could be a 1,000 year old worn out Crow just like Brienne's brand new one in the very last episode of G.o.T?!?

[@EllieisaBanana]

I definitely love this video. I love how you organize and execute your point! I may have missed the credit, but who is reading the book excerpts? She is so good!

[@JoeMagician]

You're too kind! The reader was MelanieLotSeven! twitter.com/MelanieLot7

[@christophertracy7272]

It makes NO sense that a being made ice would have any power over Fire made flesh! Fire is their bane, D&D were the ones who killed Viserion! That's not going 2 happen in the books, period!

[@cam12freer]

I think the night king is looking for another pale haired bride...

[@roddammit5510]

You the man Joe!!

[@Matt_of_the_mountains]

I know it's an older story and the show has been out for a couple years but a spoiler warning for Nightflyers would have been appreciated. It's still on my list and just haven't managed to get to it yet.

[@szymonitaherrero9737]

Wow, very climatic, chills!

[@sanriscribbles]

not complaining about staring at my work on this one are you? :|

[@szymonitaherrero9737]

@@sanriscribbles dont have much time to stare. Didnt notice art at first. Just listened to this stuff in the background while doing my chores and enjoyed the music and reading. What's your point? You seek a praise? Feel undervalued? You're welcome: pretty good night(s) king, guess that's the work you are talking about (there's nothing about it in the description)

[@sanriscribbles]

@@szymonitaherrero9737 obviously you need to read better, as Joe magician always thanks me and shouts me out in the description of the video and the video itself. I don't want anything from you, I'm just confused as to why you are so rude to me

[@szymonitaherrero9737]

@@sanriscribbles and I am quite entertained that you are making my old comment that didnt even mention you all about you. And then feel oh so hurt when Im answering you back

[@whitleypurnell5613]

This is great! I loved Nightflyers and Dying of the light. but never put this together. Do you think Quaithe or another force may be the the power influencing Dany? She is obviously strongly associated with Amethysts

[@JoeMagician]

Absolutely, the ability to affect dreams and minds with glass candles is a huge plot point. Dramatic changes of mind are usually good signs that minds are being played with. The amethyst connection might be very important, as it is the Amethyst Empress that the Bloodstone Emperor kills in order to seize the throne and bring on the Long Night. Perhaps it signals that she will be getting Nissa Nissa'd at some point, i hope not. But it's hard to overlook that story in relation to Dany.

[@alanpennie8013]

@@JoeMagician Do you think someone was messing with Caitlyn's head in book 1?

[@gholamdapantaloonsniffer8218]

@@alanpennie8013 I have a feeling the maesters were as I have a feeling the Hightowers have more to do than is being led on so far!

[@eastcoastlifestyle1735]

Awesome video bro! Refreshing that there are some channels still using logic and book proof and not being sell outs and recycling videos.. again good video👍👌 and if your looking for an AWESOME book series that's so underrated is "The Iron Druid Chronicles" What's best for new readers is he just finished his ninth and final book to the series and I promise you if you like grrm writing you would like Kevin Hearnes writing and story I'm sure! It would make a great an awesome show and I see it happening when people discover it more!

[@bronhaller]

Now I want to go read Nightflyers!

[@JoeMagician]

You should! it's relatively short, you could knock it out very quickly.

[@veritasinvicta8128]

I believe The Night King to be a mere show creation. We know there are white walkers, in the prologue itself along with wights. But who leads the Otners? I think Euron maybe an agent of the Otners. He could be the three eyed crow in Bran's dreams, as Bloodraven appears as a weirwood tree in Bran's dreams. Three eyed raven is another show creation. Is there a night king leading the Others? I would surmise so but it seems that the term "Night's King) is too similar to the 13th Lord Commander of the Night's Watch (The Night King) who may well have been a Stark named Brandon.

[@seanhunsinger4531]

Hey, has anyone heard the theory that Benjin's state is not from the children's intervention of the process of being turned, but actually due to him being a Stark and that his blood and that of any Stark's has sacred magical properties due to their possible relation to the whites dating back to the first long night and that might possibly factor into to why the white's magic doesn't take control of him, at least not entirely. Also that the Stark's are one of the few houses in all of Westero's who still worships the old gods could be in relation to their unique resistance to night Kings magic. If anyone has heard anything In relation to Benjin and or if Stark's have a unique resistance to the whites magic please reply with whatever you have to add to it. I find the possibility that Stark's can't be manipulated by the other's magic to be a cool idea and that having that ability is why they've been the King's and wardens of the north, and of course Lord's of Winterfell for basically as long as history remembers.

[@sleekoduck]

Dying of the Light: the First Long Night!

[@BraveBunnyCat]

Does this explain Cat's sudden decision to abandon Bran after he's attacked in his coma by the assassin with the dragonbone dagger? Cat grabs the knife to protect Bran and his wolf finishes the guy off. Before Bran can even wake, Cat leaves Winterfell. Does this explain why? Do the jewels on the famous Valerian dagger enchant her?

[@kerryannhaywood3396]

No. She had done all sge could. It probli broke her like she was bein torn in half by her arms. There wre answers (and her sister Lysa/lil finger devious letter)!!!!. She desperately weeked after the drops of mistruths in her sisters desperation plea...Peter Baelish's 1st step of his chwotic ladder building! !!!....

[@jjvoity7797]

Ah, paused 1:30 in. It's so painful to use show cannon for anything. Either the original or the modern Night King being created by the CotF is plausible but it seems to me has as much chance of being extracted from Dan and Dave's ass as it does of being revealed to them by GRRM. But still, because it's you, I'll stick it through to get to the book part. Edit: It turned out really good, as I suspected. Glad I listened through.

[@JoeMagician]

I'm glad you gave it a chance :)

[@jjvoity7797]

This is the second time you've done this. After your whacked out lemon tree theory turned out to not be so whacked out after all, I've learned to always give you an ear all the way through and not pull out the bronze sickle and sacrifice your theories prematurely to the heart tree two minutes in no matter my instincts.

[@DelilahDraken]

If I understood everything right, this would mean that somewhere up there in the very, very cold north there is a large piece of probably quite antigue technology filled with a memory of crystal (colour not specified). And this thing is controlling the hordes of frozen zombies, and probably the others as well. Now I wonder if there is another of those pseudo-computers in Asshai. That area always seemed to me as very advanced. At least , it must have been in the past, way before the nuclear/chemical/biological catastrophe that made the city and surrounding lands so uncomfortable. By the way, nice video.

[@JoeMagician]

Sort of! I don't think there's a computer explicitly, like ASOIAF is in a sci fi universe. It'll be a fantasy version of that crystal computer. Kind of like how a flaming sword and a lightsaber are basically the same idea. One uses advanced technology, the other uses magic for the same effect.

[@DelilahDraken]

But isn't that sort of the same thing? It's all dependent of the definition of magic. Magic is a form of energy, and all energy can be used to influence the world around. I didn't specifically mean a computer as we have them. It could also be a specifically 'bred' brain or being that is in contact with the memory stones. A quite high medical knowledge on planetos is fact. Also a high grade of genetic/medical experimentation is implied with the legends about 'half-animal men' or Gorgossos and Sothoros.Also also, the beginning of dragons. There are large flying reptiles in Sothoros that sound dreadfully like pterosaurs, and there exist also flight-less reptiles called fire wyrms, I think. It is mentioned that in Asshai or old Valyria they created the dragons. Which also implies experimentation and medical knowledge.

[@JoeMagician]

Yes, absolutely the concepts are exactly the same and how George uses them is very similar as well. Not the setting or vocabulary though, it's important to draw the distinction IMO between concepts and setting. And planetos has suffered a dramatic amount of lost knowledge since the Long Night fell, you're right there. It's a tough line to straddle though, the Heart of WInter and the dragonglass spearhead aren't computers but they are "computer-like". The fantasy equivalent like I mentioned with flaming swords and lightsabers. Or land speeders vs. horses, or lasers vs. bows and arrows. My thinking on what caused the cataclysm near Asshai was a supervolcano, echoing the Doom of Valyria. Has all the signs like raining ash, a choked river, unlivable conditions.

[@alanpennie8013]

@@JoeMagician I think this is right. ASOIAF isn't exactly science fiction but there are thematic parallels with GRRM's earlier writing. Mind you I prefer LML's meteor theory for Asshai because of the Lovecraft echoes.

[@evilmizu]

What if I told you that Danny had stone eggs which she projected a part of herself on each, and when the Volcryon passed by her powers were amplified turning stone into dragons and making fire harmless.

[@newhouse.joseph]

cool video!:)

[@Ζήνων-ζ1ι]

Preston Jacob has been saying these things for years.

[@sevrinaina6949]

What exactly?

[@alexmarsh8464]

That GRRM’s other SCI-FI work can be analyzed to understand ASOIAF better. That the others aren’t necessarily magic but possibly controlled via psyche abilities. That other people are being puppeted by pupper masters.

[@burtan2000]

Yeah, but he's abrasive, contentious, pretentious, and contrarian by nature so didnt listen

[@GeminibBorn]

@@burtan2000exactly, can’t stand him for too long

[@hypatiakovalevskayasklodow9195]

@@burtan2000True he is just un-listenable i’m afraid

[@yensid4294]

Maybe a spoiler warning for Night Flyers would have been nice for those of us who haven't read it & were interested in watching the show. I was hoping you would talk about the different colors of dragon glass & the possibility of each color having a different magical property. Oh well...

[@JoeMagician]

Oh.....:( I'm really sorry, I'll add one in the description.

[@sunshinesilverarrow5292]

Very interesting, thank you! Hugs & sunshine 🌞 N

[@mattkyokowilliams9841]

What if Dawn (the 🗡️) was somehow made of an Others bone 🦴 with magic to keep it from melting?

[@thunderclap7154]

So I’ve been reading “Nightflyers” Melantha Jhirl wispher jewel triggered, when she sexually aroused. Hers contains the sensations of carnal encounter. Could it be that be that when Melisandre's ruby glows , it’s because her holds the first time she saw a threat to her live in the flames ? Very interested to hear your thoughts!

[@JoeMagician]

It could be! My thought is that if her ruby is a whisperjewel in the same sense, it would contain her being sold as a slave memory. Something she holds onto as motivation to keep going when she loses sight of what she is doing. That seems to be a very powerful, old memory for her which seems like it would fit the bill. Melantha seems like a much more well-adjusted, content person than Melisandre so her preferred memory is of extreme sexual pleasure.

[@MrCod18]

Cool channel , just subscribed

[@JoeMagician]

Welcome aboard!

[@sabrinakrisb4672]

Joe Magician you are just so crazy smart wow

[@sabrinakrisb4672]

I didnt think of a lot of what's in this video at all

[@ClintSprayberry]

Yay!

[@conniesuper9892]

Way to go,nice job!!Loved this!

[@JoeMagician]

Thank you Connie :)

[@keirynmatsui3280]

One thousand thumbs and one 👍

[@jeangove01]

Is the Night King book canon though?

[@greenman6141]

1. Benjen isn't Cold Hands. Not in the novels. 2. Using the story in one book of fantastical fiction to "explain" another is not really workable. Martin doesn't write the same story over and over. 3. Obsidian is not a crystal. Indeed, the hallmark of obsidian is that both its high viscosity and the rapid cooling that is key to its creation, inhibit the growth of crystals. Were it to cool slowly and to have crystals grow, it would be likely to become granite.

[@magicman3400]

Does he exist in the books?

[@JoeMagician]

There probably is one Other in charge, and also a source of power too. They may not be the same thing, like there could be someone inside the master crystal directing everything and a physical leader that uses a body too. Whether or not the original Other is still alive like the show gives us, I don't think we have enough information to say that.

[@magicman3400]

Joe Magician yeah ok that makes sense. Great video though just recently discovered your channel and I just finished binge watching it

[@warrior316]

Do you think that if Jon snow had a microwave he could defeat the others

[@JoeMagician]

Unlikely. he could eat up some food real well though.

[@warrior316]

Joe Magician I think hotdogs or macaroni would be much more popular if grrm introduces microwaves in twow

[@tsarcastic3722]

What the fuck is a Lommie?

[@TeaganJustice]

😦

[@johnpike8010]

Usually love your videos, but for gods sake, put some spoiler warnings on if your going to talk about stories other than ASOIAF. I was looking forward to watching the new Night Fliers series.

[@JoeMagician]

My bad about that, I put a spoiler warning in the description after others got spoiled too. On the bright side, they changed quite a lot for the tv series so you're just gonna be a few episodes ahead while watching. They take it all in a very different direction. Again though, I'm sorry.

[@thecomet6276]

👍👏👏👏

[@iceleafofalba]

💓🔥💓

[@andrewcoyle2459]

Show only characters are not interesting