Sothoryos, Yeen, Brindled Men, Summer Isles - Westeros Disaster Hunters - A Song of Ice and Fire

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Sothoryos, land of monsters and mystery - what in the Green Hell happened here? I'll explain it all - toad idol, fish people, Yeen and the Brindled Men, velociraptors and wyverns and basilisks, settlements by Old Ghis and Valyria, and a new origin theory concerning the Summer Isles.
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title image uses "Yeen" by Chetan Biswas
Big thanks to Adam Whitehead, master cartographer: atlasoficeandf...

[@DavidLightbringer]

WorldAnvil, the ultimate world-builder! Get 51% off with code DAVID: worldanvil.com/?c=David

[@americanandpinay]

Is it me, or is Planetos looking more and more like Europe and middle east? I just wanted to suggest one to you before you just dismissed as a herring or a ruse. If Westeros was like UK size and they went and she encountered a lengthy continent like Africa, maybe it would feel like it never ended. Now I want to know what is west of Westeros.

[@muninrob]

Thought on your moon meteor impact theory: If a large meteor struck the Antarctic ice sheet it would result in a massive global rain storm and a huge increase in the global sea level ~20 to 60 feet. (in the 1st months of the impact winter)

[@lucasadam65]

Jon snow hair

[@Grogeous_Maximus]

Dave, do you have any theories on non-human hybrids? Like Children/Deep Ones?

[@greygreensentinel]

Buying bread from a man with brindles, he was 6’4 and full of muscles. I asked to you speaka my language? He just smiled and gave me a wyvern sandwich

[@DavidLightbringer]

😂🤣😂🤣

[@ZendikarMage42750]

I need the rest of this version of Down Under now, heh heh

[@I_Babeuf]

Outstanding.

[@r.shanethompson7933]

You sir/ma'am, have great talent!

[@captainmaim]

What sort of stuffed animal is attached to your leg, good sir?

[@Manakuuchiha]

In an age of AI art, i really appreciate you using real art as examples and crediting the artists on screen.

[@DavidLightbringer]

now and always!

[@Dyundu]

Can AI really make art though? Or does it just generate images? 🤔

[@didncozosksma4466]

⁠@@Dyundu Regurgitates is a better word

[@jamesh7469]

@@DyunduAI does illustration. Art implies thought and intent

[@didncozosksma4466]

@@jamesh7469 No, AI “art” does not illustrate, giving such a title is doing it a courteous defense.

[@robertkulb6640]

I love how Sothoryos is George’s giant Skull Island-like sandbox to populate with all his Weird Tales influences.

[@chheinrich8486]

I compare it to lustria from warhammer fantasy, you know, the home of the lizard men and their dinosaur horde😂

[@blaxpoitation8528]

I would love to see a Castlevania-esque animated series exploring the lore of Sothoryos, and places like the Summer Isles, and the Shadow Lands. Go deep into the more horror aspects of ASoIaF

[@antonironstag5085]

@@chheinrich8486 i agree. catachan from warhammer 40K also!

[@chheinrich8486]

@@antonironstag5085 catachan and lustria are the same if you think about it🤣🤣

[@jimbones5484]

​@@chheinrich8486>gayhammer

[@GeroldGarthcia]

In regards to the Valerians and Summer Islanders keeping and civilization on Sothoryos a secret, when real life explorers first reached parts of the world they previously hadn't known of, they often kept the location and navigation routes as state secrets. Given the value of having a monopoly on trade and opportunities to exploit or conquer the area without interference or competition from their rivals. For instance when the Portuguese first reached Japan, they kept the knowledge of it's location a secret, and profited from a trade monopoly with Japan for many years. This dynamic is currently being shown in the very good FX series Shogun which Dave has commented on. Given GRRMs knowledge of history and tendency to reference real world history in his books I'd say it's a very plausible theory.

[@DavidLightbringer]

yeah it makes sense that he'd simply imply the existence of other lands without actually giving proof, that adds realism

[@ModMax69]

My uncle has been GRRM's gardener for over 10 years and they have become quite friendly. George actually asked my uncle's opinion on Sothoryos in regards to creating an entire book series on it. It is pretty much Africa and the story was going to be a "creation story" about how humans came about. There was going to be references to how an extra-terrestrial lifeform came down and showed the tribal people how to use fire and tools etc. My uncle told him it was a little too similar to "Chariots of the Gods". GRRM decided he was probably right, and actually regretted he included so much about it in The World of Ice and Fire as it had already been published. He is kind of embarrassed about the whole thing. That's why when people bring it up at conventions he changes the subject.

[@FlementBrax-rh7sn]

@@ModMax69 Cool! My uncle works at Nintendo.

[@Josh-cf7xf]

@@ModMax69my uncle is Biden’s diaper changer.

[@ModMax69]

My uncle got his horticulture degree from USC in 1978 and has been George's head groundskeeper for almost 15 years. He doesn''t even care about A song of Ice and Fire, I have to beg him to talk about GRRM.@@Josh-cf7xf

[@AskMia411]

Something I noticed with the map and the locations of the more Neanderthal peoples, it seems to follow a curved line from Ibb, down the bone mountains, to that island and then sothoryos. You mentioned that the island (I don’t remember which one) might have been connected to sothoryos at one point as the ancient continuation of the bone mountains. Going off the recurring themes of ancient planetos, I could see Ibb being the same situation on the northern end. Also, the disaster hunters series has got me looking at every area for signs of ancient meteor impacts 😅 On the dragon lady flying over sothoryos, she didn’t fly down for 3 years, she returned “three years later”, which likely means she flew south for a year and a half, and then took the same amount of time flying back. A bit more believable and survivable. After all, Aerea Targaryen did survive in Valeriya for a year (yes it did eventually kill her, but the worn infection likely happened just before her return) so it’s not too hard to imagine an adult dragon rider surviving for longer in a similarly hostile environment. To me at least.

[@menschgebliebeneropper6714]

You are wrong, I have proof, *presents proof*

[@AskMia411]

@@menschgebliebeneropper6714 Huh? Did you mean to reply to me? Because IDK what you're referring to.

[@menschgebliebeneropper6714]

@@AskMia411 lol I dunno I just typed random stuff cuz I was bored. Don’t mind me 😂😂😂👍

[@AskMia411]

@@menschgebliebeneropper6714 Lol okay, carry on 😄

[@kyleholmes8230]

Square teeth implies that they were vegetarian so I wouldn't put too much stock in them being cannibals or even omnivores. We learn this about wun wun in the Jon chapters. They could be like hippos though where they just kill you and don't eat you. Just a thought. Great video Dave! See you Sunday!

[@McHobotheBobo]

Hippos do eat meat sometimes

[@trli7117]

Obligate Herbivores are a myth. Most grazing animals will eat small rodents or bird eggs if they can get hold of them.

[@JimRFF]

My thoughts exactly... broad flat teeth (like molars) are ideally used for grinding, which implies a heavily plant-based diet... meat-eating is best done with small, sharp teeth, like canines and incisors... and for completeness' sake, the jagged angled surface of bicuspids is best suited for cracking bones to get at marrow, which suggest a scavenging lifestyle (human beings' incorporation of all of these teeth forms indicates that we are biologically omnivores that will mix strategies of foraging, active hunting, and scavenging)

[@Anacronian]

Not exactly, square teeth only imply an ability to chew greenery, but it does not indicate an inability to eat meat, humans have almost no canines but eat meat very well. Big canines are indicative of a creature killing with its teeth, but are not needed to chew meat, in fact every creature who eats meat but does not kill with its teeth have almost no canines since flat teeth are superior at chewing ..well everything, even meat.

[@JimRFF]

@@Anacronian yeah, to be clear, I was speaking in some VERY broad generalities, and in nature there are remarkably few obligate carnivores or obligate herbivores, most animals (even ones we normally call "herbivores" like cows and deer) will absolutely scavenge meat and even eat small animals if an opportunity presents itself and the bigger animal wants more calories... but generally speaking, a single type of tooth in the whole mouth implies a more restrictive/homogenous diet for the animal, compared to a wider range of tooth shapes in broadly omnivorous animals like apes and bears

[@lavender__luna]

Damn, a full length produced LML video about Sothoryos at 7am?! Sign me right the fuck up!!! 💜💜💜

[@ThommyofThenn]

Freaking cool, right!?!

[@Khoditsky]

An entire jungle hell continent so hostile no human civilization can survive sounds exactly the type of place the children of the jungle would thrive in. Theyd never be spotted even by dragons as they hide in dark places. Just imagine the amount of dinosaur warging and special magical plants there

[@DavidLightbringer]

interesting notion! i hadn't considered that

[@yoweedmofo19897]

Good point! I know there's reports that the inland brindled men are a lot more dangerous than those on the coast; do you think they'd have interacted much or kept to themselves?

[@TealWolf26]

I want to warg an ankylosaur now.

[@xfactor6462]

There is King Ghidorah and Godzilla sleeping dormant in Sothyoros... valerian people and summer island has no other choice to must keep it top secret, otherwise if they awake... Dragon in westeros are nothing more just like a shrimp crisp 😋😋😋

[@RaulRamirez-se9qo]

George should have a fan contest to write the history of places he will never visit in the books, not to become Canon but as a dedication to fans. Like the souls art project that was done a while back

[@chheinrich8486]

I would just make a copy and paste version of lustria from warhammer fantasy, with maya inspired lizardmen that ride all sorts of dinosaurs😂😂😂

[@BowiePhillips-j2w]

@@chheinrich8486bok

[@debater452]

I think that Naath was originally setled by the ancestors of the summer islanders on their way to the islands after they were driven out of Sothoryos. The Naathi and Summer Islanders have similar physical features like their skin color and tones. Both also practise similar cultural traditions. For example both are very pacifist as the Naathi are complete pacafist and the summer islanders practise heavily ritualised warfare with minimal loss of life. They also have similar gods as the Lord of Harmony seems to be quite similar to the god of love in the summer islands. The reason why the Naathi are so much more isolationist is because they have the butterfly plague which prevents them from being conquered unlike the Summer islanders who had to use military force to defeat pirates in wars to survive and actually pay attention to the outside word unlike the Naathi. The geography also makes, sence Naath is at the middle of the way from Sothoryos to the islands so it makes sence why they would have setled there. Perhaps the reason why the Naathi were able to survive on the island long enough to develope immunity is because they are from a continent know for it's insane disesses

[@geoninja3631]

❤

[@tinahs8269]

Great theory...David overlooked Naath in his narrative. Perhaps those who could stand the butterfly bites stayed and the rest of the group moved on.

[@JoshSweetvale]

Maybe those who were immune stayed on Naath. While those who weren't, moved on to the Summer Isles.

[@zran3097]

Wow. Another amazing video; your knowledge goes so much deeper than any other channel I've ever seen. Then there's the high quality slick production value, the images (never low res and always super interesting), the hilarious jokes and quips (yours is the only channel I don't skip sponsorship segments), the concise manner of presentation with even-minded scepticism, the cutting edge theories... the way you constantly quote the book, reading quotes and stanzas with their own graphic card... best ASOIAF channel ever. So glad I found you and thank you to you and all Patreons who helped make all this wonderful content.

[@DavidLightbringer]

wow this is such a nice comment! I really appreciate the detailed list of what you like about the channel. cheers

[@joannaszulc1496]

Facts

[@fawnna9489]

this exactly sums up why i’ve been obsessed with david’s channel for the last two years!

[@danielled8665]

Dont know if anyone mentioned; but the snake is probably a variation on Titanoboa; the largest known snake to have existed. The crocs are also accurate, likely Sarcosuchus. The apes sound like Gigantopithicus and possibly one of the early hominid species. Honestly that continent sounds like a case of "if the extinction of non-avian dinosaurs and the ice ages had not happened."

[@ShelbyOfOldStones]

This is exactly what I was thinking during the video.

[@YaBoiDREX]

sothoryos is literally skull island

[@slipstreamxr3763]

Sounds like the landmass that Spear and Fang originated from in Primal.

[@YaBoiDREX]

@@slipstreamxr3763 It’s basically that.

[@JoshSweetvale]

What if the Apes are an evolutionary offshoot of Giants?

[@Nationallovenat]

This is awesome! Just wanna say how glad I am you don’t rely on any AI in your videos. I’m seeing a lot of bad ai being used to talk about asoiaf when there’s so many great artists out there :( but you show off so much awesome art!! Thanks for that

[@DavidLightbringer]

yep, AI free zone here, now and always

[@kennan200]

I completely agree. David is such a relief for that. No mispronunciation, bad grammer, misspelling. All those things make me question the reasoning in their presentations. David is so reasonable & sensible to follow. Thanks, David!

[@dizzi2304]

Thank you for this wonderful video, King! Love your look today 👑

[@ScarlitWidow]

My son was thrilled when I got him World Anvil for him for his birthday last month. Glad they are supporting you with my spending❤ Also, so kind of Rhaegar to make the code DAVID. Much easier to spell correctly 😂

[@DavidLightbringer]

oh wow right on, cool to hear! Thank you!

[@I_Babeuf]

That'd be such a thoughtful and encouraging gift to get from your parent; what a great idea!

[@ivandankob7112]

@@I_Babeufye, my parents always made fun of me playing games as a child and now they wonder why I don’t tell them stuff from my life or share my passions when I’m a full grown adult

[@droka1564]

Love sothoryos, probably my favorite bit of George’s worldbuilding

[@sanitizerwilson1599]

Ser Eustace Hightower's Ship Lady Meredith was damaged in the Sunset Sea, he ahead for the Summer Isles but he was more South than he realized he landed on Coast of Sothoryos. He was stuck there more than 1 year with his crew getting sick or disappearing. Lucky a ship from the Summer Isles were sailing by (I wonder why and where they going) they able flag them down to give them ride to the Summer Isles.

[@DavidLightbringer]

true I could have mentioned that one! good knowledge! and it just shows that the Summer Islanders maintain contact / visit Sothoryos sometimes

[@MrHws5mp]

Nice one Dave.👍 Just a thought: perhaps the Summer Islanders aren't from Sothoryos as such, but are from the postulated undiscovered civilisation(s) to the south. If the latter was on another land mass (big island/small continent) rather than connected to Sothoryos, that might shield them from worst of the latter's destructive wildlife and allow civilisation to evolve there with a bit less competetive pressure, much as it has done on the Summer Isles. This might offer another explanation for Jaenara Belaerys' suspiciously long three year "solo" adventure. Perhaps she discovered the southern civilisation and was either held prisoner there or "went native" for a while (fell in love with either the culture or an individual, even) and then returned to Valeria determined to protect the southerners from Valerian expansionism. After all, if a dragon-riding civilisation knew where to fly and had an incentive to go there, it'd soon end up as just another slaves-and-resources mine for their empire. That habit of concealing the existence of the southern civilisation might then have become ingrained in the Summer Islanders, even though it's no longer strictly necessary (and that's only been true for the last 400 years anyway), and even though the southern civilisation might not even still be there.

[@outinspace8760]

David I just found your channel and I don't know how I slept on it for so long. Your videos a ridiculously high quality and you have a serious talent for story telling. Incredible work

[@DavidLightbringer]

oh why thank you, and be welcome

[@Kikithewildling]

Good morning! Great stuff. Thank you.

[@ianplocki120]

Of all the places in the world of ice and fire, Sothoryos is the place I want to see the most in a spin off show

[@GreyWasteTim]

Giant apes that can kill an elephant with one punch. I'm convinced the Green Hell is GRRM's version of Kong Skull Island just as Gogossos is the Island of Dr. Moreau

[@anorangetabby]

💯💯👍

[@AshtheGreenMan]

Garth be praised. David be thanked.

[@GG-xm2cm]

50 ft long snakes shouldn't be much different from Titanoboas because that's how big Titanoboas used to be. Sothoryos is essentially a Prehistoric Hellhole

[@BelialTnTn]

I'm new here, came from the mention in the Alt Shift X Jo Snow video. I love what you do, I've already seen a handful of your stuff over the last few days and it's really awesome! I just want to suggest something, it would be helpful if you put the book/chapter from which you are reading the excerpts right below the text you're reading. Keept up the good work!

[@SpiritStoneWarrior94-yx3gs]

Speaking of Velociraptor Fantasy Fiction.... if you want some of that, then read the Malazan novels! They have a sentient ancient dinosaur race in the novels, who have sword arms!! Theyre super cool and Stephen Erickson did a phenomenal job writing them, both in their zombified/mumified forms and regular forms in the novels 😊

[@cpolt1192]

You have intrigued me

[@Hectonkhyres]

Well, eusocial dinosaur race. They were like some weird hybrid of predatory dinosaurs and termites with incomprehensible internal politics. Dudes supposedly invented entropy in that cosmology, though that might be BS just like every other bit of ancient lore.

[@ivandankob7112]

There’s also Gary Garrison’s Eden series that describes the Earth that didn’t have dinosaurs wiped out and they evolved into sentient race while humans independently evolved somewhere in the north and both races eventually clashed

[@genlob]

The obvious influence on Sothoryos is King Kong, with the giant apes and distorted fauna of Skull Island. I'm also getting vibes from Conan Doyle's Lost World and the 1961 film version of Jules Verne's Mysterious Island. Ulthos - there's a Lovecraft story, the Cats of Ulthar. Wonder if that's a connection?

[@BudravenOG]

In the Lovecraft mythos there is also a god named Ulthar (Uldar, Ultharathotep), who is said to watch over the great old ones. Some great old ones include: Cthulhu, Hastur and Yig

[@AskMia411]

Hey I’m early for once! The green weirwood video got me curious about shade of the evening trees and how they might be related to weirwoods, because I always saw a connection there and thought that shade trees might’ve been the uncorrupted form of weirwood or vice versa. They’re basically a color inverted weirwood (minus the carved faces) and the drink made from their sap has a similar effect to weirwood paste. Though, shade of the evening drink seems to give visions of the future (based on Dany and Aeron’s visions) with the sole exception of Dany setting Rhaegar, while weirwood shows the past (Bran’s visions). Now that we know the weirwoods used to be green, all my ideas about shade of the evening trees are shaken up. I’d love a video on the topic or even just to hear your thoughts on it. I had a more detailed comment on the green weirwood video, but I was late to the party on that video 😅

[@josephdaniel563]

David, you are absolutely the first person I have heard propose this Summer Islander Theory. And I think it should be the standard until we get more information. Excellent video and well done!

[@haleyfournier1462]

Ah, starting the day off with a fresh LML video after watching old livestreams... truly the start of a good day!

[@andrewm3210]

This is the absolute best channel for all things OBS (oily black stone) related, as well as commentary on the strange world outside of Westeros that GRRM snuck into ASOIAF.

[@LoLotov]

I always saw the brindled men as being more like australopithicines than any kind of human species, which gave me the notion that the in-universe genus homo evolved in sothoryos and migrated to essos, from whence they diverged into the various species of the world. This seems to be ibbenese, hairy men, humans, and perhaps some of the peoples described in the far east and north. The children of the forest genus is clearly unrelated to any ape lineage (pupil shape, number and type of fingers), and would likely have been native to essos when the first protohumans crossed over from sothoryos. I hadn't noticed that almost a land bridge between sothoryos and essos before, and was immediately reminded of the hammer of the waters. It's just too much like the step stones to ignore, even if both this and the step stones are perfectly normal continent formations. Thus, new theory, children of the forest like beings have been at war with or enslaving humanity since before we'd truly become human yet. Possibly, the more the species evolved, the less susceptible to being skin changed we became, and thus more and more of a threat, until we'd driven them out of essos, followed them into westeros, and were only stopped by the whitewalkers.

[@xZFeroxZx]

The giant white vampire bats sound very much like Desmodus Draculae or rather a fantasy version of this extinct giant "vampire bat" of our world. And the 50ft long snake sounds like Titanoboa, the largest snake to ever live on earth, which was able to reach just about 50ft and was similar to Anacondas.

[@jeffreywankel]

Exactly 47 minutes left at work….the seven have blessed me.

[@abigail6873]

LOVE the Disaster Hunter Series!! Thanks for bringing us great ideas, David :)

[@anorangetabby]

Yes! The Disaster Hunters series is fantastic! 🎉

[@PatrickLongblkwhtrbbt]

In England, theres a Wessex, Essex, Sussex, but the only region called "north-" is Northumbria.

[@PatrickLongblkwhtrbbt]

I believe the first three were named for the Exe river, which.... mostly runs north-South? Theres not really a place that you can comfortably call "North-Exe"

[@DavidLightbringer]

oh okay that's bound to be the inspiration then! He just blew it up to a global scale

[@phnompenhandy]

@@PatrickLongblkwhtrbbtNo, the '-sex' refers to 'Saxons. The Angles got the north.

[@ZendikarMage42750]

There's no such thing as going too wild with theories about Sothoryos, that place was made for wild and untamable things, heh heh. I'd even go one step further on your Summer Islander theory and say it's possible they came from even farther away than Sothoryos, using the continent as a jumping off point to get to the Summer Islands. They definitely have the maritime skill to come from some unknown land far to the south and either west or east (or even further south). And unless Sothoryos didn't use to be so hostile to civilization it would make sense if the people who became the Summer Islanders developed somewhere a little more hospitable originally. See, possible to go way further into pure speculation, that's what makes Sothoryos so fun, heh heh

[@darthJ9]

With the exception of maybe GRRM, I dont think theres any one else on the planet who can talk about Sothoryos for 45 minutes

[@DavidLightbringer]

this is what I do hahaha

[@jjvoity7797]

GRRM could go 45 minutes on any topic but he doesn't want to. "Here. Have a morsel or three of unverified maester rumors. Be grateful for it, and that's all you're ever getting." David's job is to shed more light (literally in his username), whereas George is content with providing a 10 watt light bulb and leaving the rest to your imagination.

[@facelessdirewlf]

yoo i needed this, been sick at home and this is perfect to take my mind somewhere else

[@boardst8086]

Same

[@Ricaidius]

Absolutely loved the video. The edges of the World of Ice and Fire are always the most interesting facets.

[@samwyleblackwood4595]

Thanks for making an otherwise boring workday more bearable!!!

[@setelliott9683]

Planetos could be so enormous that a continent 3 years, and then some, across and an ocean so large west of westeros no one has crossed it and returned exits, and the egg stealing Lady and dragon rider both just got as far as they could before turning about and going back to Essos. As a world anvil builder, I love this idea.

[@setelliott9683]

Brindled Men sound like Orcs without tusks

[@DavidLightbringer]

they do a little bit. Just btw, GRRM said his planet is about earth size, maybe a little bigger

[@setelliott9683]

@@DavidLightbringer that makes me sad for Planetos, but happy for several of my worlds 😆

[@dlee4236]

I love these kinds of videos. You did a tremendous job going in depth on Sothoryos. Keep up the great work!

[@wbbartlett]

I think Jaenara took a leaf out of Blackadder's book and actually just sailed to France for a few months before coming back and claiming she has a wild adventure

[@OO-tc3wx]

Essos, Westeros, Sothoryos, would be based on Essex, Wessex, Sussex, Middlesex. Saxon lands. plus a Velociraptor was just 2 feet tall and 6 feet long. Learnt that in the game The Last Of Us 2. Jurassic Park lied.

[@DavidLightbringer]

A bunch of those would be a handful though

[@Roseliptillgirl]

Yeah, I think 'velociraptors' in the movie are closer to something called a Utahraptor which is about the right size but the name wasn't as cool.

[@look4lec]

Dennis Nedri (aka Newman from Seinfeld) was not the owner of Jurassic Park, he was a disgruntled employee who took a huge bride to steal years work of research and dinosaur embryos. Great video but I expect a full retraction and recut of the video explaining the whole plot of jurassic park. You have been killing it, man!

[@DavidLightbringer]

John Hammond was eaten by the Compys in the book. I will accept your apology here in the comments section though, no need to send me your original opening night premiere Jurassic Park T-shirt that you cherish.

[@look4lec]

@@DavidLightbringerI've read the books and forgot that, you deserve the shirt. It is dirty with sweat from a 10 year old, but fine, you win! I thought the compys attacking were the intro was from the second book with the girl's family investigating them. EDIT: Credit where credit is due, o7 Dave Lightbanger.

[@JeffreyWilliams-qv5kp]

George said at one point that the masters are biased and even they don't have all the information, basically making them like today's historians and archeologists. Stuff like this is very Graham Hancock to me, and I'm here for it.

[@DavidLightbringer]

he clearly loves playing with that bias and incomplete knowledge. he loves that shit

[@faust13301]

I was led to this channel after listening to David discuss the Lovecraftian influences on ASoIaF on Quinn’s Ideas and started digging in . This video is another fine example of why this channel is becoming my favorite for ASoIaF lore and speculation.

[@crimsonshadowjj7935]

Maybe sothoryos circles the planet and meets with the lands of always winter🤔

[@snek2908]

My thoughts too. I made a comment saying the same before scrolling down and finding that you had already posted this theory.

[@draxxbergeron3083]

Wow, what an interesting and well-produced video! The one time that I'm happy with KZbin's suggested videos, as it helped me find your channel. I appreciate the high-quality video(s) delving into the obscure topics within the Game of Thrones universe. The entertainment value of your video was an easy "10 out of 10, would watch again..." and this is urging me to watch more of your content. Thanks and well done.

[@DavidLightbringer]

hey thanks a lot and welcome to the channel!

[@nobodyexceptme7794]

I just imagine one day guys like this get hired to write a spinoff on sothoryos. I love the idea that they are keeping stuff secret like Europeans tried to do with Asianand African countries etc. Imagine an invasion of westeros by a sothoryos civilization! We need that spin off asap!

[@sandrasim46]

the world of asoiaf is like a medieval sci-fi, the way species are described in sothoryos is reminiscent of hg wells the time machine more than the lord of the rings or something more fantasy.

[@evannesbitt7852]

I tend to give more weight to the Summer Islanders coming from Naath over Sothoryos, it would pair well with their early maps detailing only islands in a vast expanse of ocean and its possible that the Summer Isles and Naath were just far enough that two separate civilizations developed. It would also speak to the anti slavery sentiment of the Summer Islanders if they left Naath, considering slavers view the Naathi as prime slaves as they are civilized and pacifistic. Perhaps the Summer Islanders broke off as a faction of communities on Naath who championed more violent resistance against slavers from say the Basilisk Isles or the Valyrian Freehold, instead of instigating civil war to take control over the whole of their beloved homeland, they left to a more isolated but still prosperous archipelago like the Summer Isles where they could establish their own governments. This would work well with the continuity of the Summer Islanders settling on Sothoryos from the Summer Isles. Great video all the same really appreciated a deep dive into Sothoryos and it's horror

[@DavidLightbringer]

someone else was suggesting in the comments here that the Summer Islanders would have stopped y Naath on the way, even island-hopping if their boats were more primitive back then. The Naathi basically look like Summer Islanders who interbred with children of the forest, so there must have been children of the forest somewhere around here too, perhaps on Sothoryos (we'd probably hear about them on either of the island groups). I will also consider SI people having come from Naath when I come ack to this, but I tend to think the Naathi are a break-off of the ancient SI migration, or perhaps related to a common ancestor. Because you still have the same question for the Naathi, as they are on an island: where did they come from?

[@jasminneitzel9067]

The Summer Islander theory seems sound to me, they have to have come from somewhere and Sothoryos is the closest. The singular map of the world could be explained by a dark age, maybe losing knowledge or map making skills in the process and having to rediscover them. Similar to maybe the minoan culture and some others on greek islands after ther bronze age collapse. It could also be a sign for advances in map making. Like they really got better at it and started with their own homeland and then added as they not only travelled but measured the world.

[@ThatLive305]

Always loved the Sothoryos lore. Thank you

[@notjeremy2871]

Imagine a GOT: soythoryos tv series. People adventure there and die gruesomely one by one further cementing how dangerous it is. Gimme raptors!

[@saltygrump]

I've been on the hunt for more videos about the World outside of Westeros. KZbin recommended you and I'd say I'm thoroughly satisfied! Your content is right up my alley.

[@adamzoellner8274]

Yessssss my absolute favorite topics in perhaps all of the books, love any talk about the great empire of the dawn and all there emperors and sothoryos aswell just so strange 👍🏻👍🏻

[@V-is4Val]

I always wondered if the Brindled Men were based off of the Australian aboriginal people because of the very cool and distinctive white body paint that is often done in striped patterns, which could be compared to the brindle pattern. I thought the "inability to mate with humans" bit was possibly a big ole dose of ASOIAF racism as it has echos of old horrible eugenics beliefs that I shall not even repeat, though your theory makes a lot of sense too. Thanks David!

[@jazwhoaskedforthis]

Oo, I think this is a good idea. Yeah, I think if you look at it through the lender of racist maesters with limited information, it makes sense.

[@ethanlackey8048]

The still births are a tad strange tho.

[@concept5631]

Maybe they made it up ​@@ethanlackey8048

[@fuzzyhair321]

​@@jazwhoaskedforthis yeah it would be. But these humanoids seem very different from homo humans. Likely a completely different species, like a convert evolution. Like what if what makes us humans, happened to others but didn't get the brain power but more muscle strength instead

[@Tracythegrimreader]

Amazing content as always! A side note for the Summer Islander's "lost cities" in the western coast of Sothoryos, it could well be that after the long night the sea levels had risen after the melting and those same cities may well be underwater. Our own world has many lost cities off the shores due to higher sea levels or land collapse. Especially in the Mediterranean.

[@DavidLightbringer]

oh very true!

[@joshmaggard6]

I'd read and heard a theory about how ghosts are "imprints" as it were of the energy of people that are left behind on the environment when a person dies. This theory seems especially understandable when one takes into consideration that the typically most haunted places in our real world are places like prisoner camps and mental asylums, where people suffered cruelly. The theory states that the energy of those suffering people imprints on the world around them as they suffer, and that's why those areas are more haunted; more energy imparted over a lifetime of suffering equals more energy to slowly "bleed out" of the environment as manifestations and activity. Imagining the sensation of going to a ruined Gogossos after five whole millennia of such suffering literally made me shiver and stare at a wall for a minute. That's spine chilling.

[@aerynmusick4548]

George: Dragons don’t have separate wings because lizards have four legs. Also George: hey check out the six-legged basilisk!

[@DavidLightbringer]

I will just say that that was an artist choice they're not said to be six-legged in the books

[@chheinrich8486]

@@DavidLightbringerok, but I sure want to know how basilisk differ from both the lizard lions(pretty standard land crocs) and the giant snakes he describes for sothoryos

[@ghostdreamer7272]

I do also wonder how many of the tales of Sothoryos and far-far eastern Essos are exaggerated tales. As GRRM often utilizes the unreliable narrator, and I think outright says somewhere that exaggerations are more likely the further away you go, like an epic game of telephone.

[@lucreziaborgia1553]

Every time i look at the 100k sub count I'm confused and deeply troubled as this is by far the best content about ASOIAF in the world. If GRRM hired you to help him, I'm pretttttyyyy sure we'd have a finished series.

[@jazwhoaskedforthis]

I feel like GRRM couldn't help but be encouraged and motivated if he got to talking to David. His enthusiasm for GRRM's world and the layers he weaves together even makes me want to start writing again.

[@0drone]

I'm so glad your channel is growing, I have been watching for years across various accounts. Your content has always been creative and thought provoking.

[@johnbuxton4484]

Oh man I've been waiting for this one! Can't wait to have my mind blown by some Eldritch dino morphs

[@fernandosanchezm]

I want to tell you, I know how much of an hassle should be to put every single credit of the artwork you use, but as an artist myself I got to say thank you for the effort to give the artist the respect that they deserved, kudos to you bro!

[@andrewjones9798]

Every once in a while, I’m like come on David what’s the issue with blah or blah… then you explain your thought and it clicks in my mind, its the dragon riders story this episode haha, love it keep doing your thing!

[@quinnSjo]

What a beautiful thing to wake up to 🎉

[@hoponlopo8690]

the way the black wyvens attack sounds like how balerion burned harrenhall.

[@drgordo112]

Sounds like a potential hiding spot! The reputation alone keeps the world far away

[@behurastudio]

I always think of the Ibbenese as more primitive LOTR Dwarves and the Brindled Men are straight up cavemen lmao Also the Lizardmen, Eyeless cave-dwellers (and hell, maybe even the Winged Men over in Essos) are real, they’re definitely some runaway Gogossos experiments living in exile, Braavos-Style. Also each of their main distinguishing aspects are present in Targaryen stillborns (you mentioned the eyeless bit and they also can have wings and scales and stuff) Also shout outs to the humongous komodo-dragon like Basilisks, coolest monster in ASOIAF (up there with dragons and ice spiders)

[@comentedonakeyboard]

Actualy that little Killer Kangaroo scared away the droping Koala Bears😂

[@jakelee5096]

Alright but all jokes aside, I'd read Rhaegar: Velociraptor Hunter

[@johndrake2147]

You know when an LML video is less than 5 hours, there's limited lore on the topic

[@andrewgadberry7884]

More disaster hunters! My favorite series so far (and Sothoryos!?) Much love to ya man!

[@ShOot4theStArZ_aim4theMoOn13]

can't believe I'm early🎉 I've only just started watching your channel it's fantastic!! I have soo many questions about sothoryos my minds been racing about it, making my own little stories & the explorers who never came back😅 your great empire of the dawn series is 🔥🔥 too!!💯 I love mythology so your videos HIT. keep up the amazing work!

[@ro_thing]

honestly my favourite theory for jaenara belaerys' flight over sothoryos is that, given it's a giant jungle with little-to-no-notable landmarks, she just got lost and spent three years mostly flying in circles. once she figured it out she was so embarassed she just said. jungle goes on forever. don't go check. trust me bro.

[@MrFredstt]

With all the news of GRRM wanting to do shows about other aspects of his world we may just get more info about Sothoryos

[@sleepyviking1723]

"Lookin at you Robert Jordan" I laughed out loud

[@jgr7487]

Ulthos? What about Ultra (= beyond), from which we also have Ulterior.

[@SpiritStoneWarrior94-yx3gs]

That makes sense! Seeing as it's "beyond" the known parts of the east

[@soso694]

Australia lol

[@ScaryBat2]

Came for the lore, stayed for the spirit fingers.

[@prey556]

As you pointed out the Sothoryi are clearly just a reference to Pigs by Pink Floyd. "Big man, Pig man!" Is obviously the inspiration for how the Brindled Men look.

[@zoltanszaszi2264]

Amazing video, one comment. 30:35 "The Ibeneese seem like a thought experiment ... what if some _smart_ Neanderthals survived into modern times and built a civilization?" Neanderthals were just as intelligent and developed as modern humans, they had similar (very high-tech for the time) stone tools, clothes, they buried their dead with flower wreaths, they probably had music and made cave art. So it's entirely possible to imagine a Neanderthal civilization, built by, not "the smart ones" among them, but just Neanderthals generally. They were humans, just like us, and we actually still carry a large portion of their genes.

[@tripleh327]

The brindled men details that any attempted interbreeding resulted in stillbirth and failure is fascinating As you said it implies an extreme difference in species They are so different that they do no produce even sterile hybrids like lions and tigers ligers or horse and donkey mule That means that the brindled men can be an entire different species evoluted from the sothoryos genus of primates Or that maybe the ancient civilization of toad men/deep ones experimented and diverged them so much from baseline humans to become an entire different species Both explanation could be pretty damn on point On one hand you have a different hominid evoluted from an entire different and parallel path from the essosi/westerosi humans On the other hand you have the typical devolved slave species that outlives their former masters and become wild found so many times in literature works

[@ronan6524]

My apologies for not subscribing until now..

[@christianbranch2459]

Let’s not forget the reference to talking trees of tall trees town. Dose this mean some green hands are on Sothoryos? 38:16

[@jords00001]

Hmm the southern region of a planet that is seemingly uninhabitable due to the elements and monsters but may actually be populated by a secret civilization you say? Reminds me of Arrakis 🤔

[@lokdog257]

22:20 why would fish people build such a large city inland? Islands and costs i get, but deep in the middle of a jungle? That doesnt scream "fish people" and sea gods to me. I think Yenn was an opposing empire to Ashai 25:16 what are the odds that Basalisk Bay is an ancient impact crator? I always thought that something had occured to make all the stone become oily, after construction. 28:07 the Brindled Men sound like Neanderthals, with a twist. Even the part about eating their dead.

[@BigboiiTone]

You are bar none the BEST asoiaf channel.and thanks for calling us corsairs, being named pirate is hurtful

[@bartolomeestebanmurillo4459]

I think it's a good idea that GRR Martin keeps a level of mystery concerning far off lands in the world of Game of Thrones. I know that the series written from the POV of Westerosi who are the analogues of medieval Europeans.

[@WeesanTV]

What a great video! Always appreciate these in depth location studies; the world book is great and all, but certainly not as entertaining or enjoyable as a excellent LML vid. Thanks for your hard work, lots of love ♥

[@Clunkers707]

i just had a terrible night what a cool thing to keep my mind off it i love sothoryos thank you

[@leannepowell8709]

I love your lives and watch them on the replay everytime but it was these fab produced videos that brought me here. Can't wait to watch this one!

[@mitth.rawdog.nuruodo]

I know we’re not actually supposed to get the answers to every mystery GRRM has sprinkled throughout his works, but I’ve forgotten JUST how many there are and how rich the delightfully creepy, weird, and just not-quite-right things there are. My ‘tism and ADHD want desperately to hyperfixate, but I can’t or i’ll drive myself nuts 😂😂 Again I’ll say THANK YOU for making these deep dives!

[@lakesexorama]

This video is the newest wonder of the world! 😁😁😁

[@LordJakobofHouseBabrick]

This is why you MUST make sure your phone is charging at night! Now I'm having to enjoy it late. Great video!

[@Devoted2Mariah]

Why do I look forward to the sponsorship ad? Lmao reading Rhaegar was the best idea you’ve had. You can see why GRRM keeps us hooked. The secret was Rhaegar the whole time. 😂

[@DavidLightbringer]

he's a solid pitch man that's for sure

[@debater452]

If the oily black stone is from meteros as you have suggested earlier the meteor that the blackstone in Yeen and the Baslisk islands came from could have hit land that was connecting the Basilisk islands to Sothoryos just like what could have happaned on the Iron islands.

[@jackelinevalladares7118]

You are the very BEST of ASOIAF content