The Anthropology of Game of Thrones

Hey! Welcome back to another installment of Trey the Explainer! In light of the upcoming premier of the final season of Game of Thrones, I took the time to have a detailed examination and speculation of the paleontology, prehistory, and anthropology of Westeros and Essos in George RR Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire World. In this video I discuss the various fictional races of the world and try to create a biological and evolutionary tree based off the information given in the books. We will try answer questions like: where do Humans come from? And What are the White Walkers exactly? Hope you enjoy!
Special thanks to Preston Jacobs for serving as the primary inspiration of this video ( / @prestonjacobsthesweet... )
Some Artists I neglected to credit:
A Song of Ice and Lemoncakes by DragonInstall (www.deviantart.com/dragoninst...)
The Mico for several portraits (www.deviantart.com/themico)

[@OnePlancheMan]

The White Walkers are just highly evolved barn owls. You heard it here first, folks.

[@dirandrous7682]

Of course not! Obviously their athropomorphic Basking Shark corpses!

[@sophiawilson8696]

The White Walkers are former citizens of The Great Dawn Empire they were change by blood magic. A meteor summit from space by the Blood Stone Emperor change their forms to ice.

[@WWZenaDo]

@@sophiawilson8696 - Might be that an incoming meteor carried an alien bacteria/germ that infected the race (found that race more susceptible to that infectious agent) which would cover the "blood magic" aspect. Then their genome incorporated the bacteria's DNA in a manner vaguely similar to the way early single-celled and multi-celled forms of life incorporated primitive bacteria DNA into their genetic codes.

[@thisisobviouslybait]

As a fan of BTS, I think that barn owls are actually evolved white walkers and you've got that backwards.

[@coldworld5]

Hahaha legit did a lol at this

[@jamyangpelsang3099]

By the time "Winds of Winter" is released, us homo sapiens would probably already have evolved into an entirely different species.

[@appa609]

Martin will be a cyborg, at the very least

[@Theonetruedarklord]

Then we become the whites

[@gunargundarson1626]

Haha then "A Dream of Spring" is going to release when Hell freezes over.

[@jeannedarc3440]

Jamyang Pelsang The Tenno would already be a relic of the past when “Winds of Winter” releases

[@eurasiaacaci.-110]

Well the ice age happens

[@ktaragorn]

"Im a fan of the show" "in the wake of the premiere of the final season" oh dear :D

[@LangThoughts]

Trey, you sweet summer child, winter was coming........

[@alhassirakhdugani5813]

@@LangThoughts oy vey did it come 😪

[@starlight0313]

@@LangThoughts only to be killed by bad writing

[@TheGrizzlo503]

“Sothoryos is the continent we know the least about” Ulthos wants to know your location

[@scoresby3476]

Ulises Leon far south east, further then essos

[@nunogomes4149]

Ulises Leon to the south east of Essos, may even be connected to Sothoryos/Essos

[@butterskywalker8785]

@@nunogomes4149 so it probably resembles Australia in location?

[@RESIST_THE_GREAT_REPLACEMENT]

@Ulises Leon It’s just south of Asshai

[@fabiosidney1438]

It's Hy-Brazil, come to it

[@ZigZag-mw9ir]

Technically there are fish people, in the shivering sea, and flat out deep ones.

[@shantusandoval1161]

That's what o thought, but he is just guessing we don't really know what it's really like.

[@silvertheelf]

Probably with lungs tho... But yas ELDRITCH ABOMINATIONS!

[@TREYtheExplainer]

ZigZag2000 I left the lovecraftian deep ones because we don’t know for certain if they actually exist as no POV character has encountered them, but you are right there are legends

[@ZigZag-mw9ir]

TREY the Explainer that’s fair enough. I would guess that they do, as something made the salt throne and many of things on the iron islands. It is suggested that was once another race in Westores and they underwater in nature. They also are said said to exist in Essos with more legends of them. I get why you didn’t do, but it would of been cool to discuss. Cool video though.

[@FireurchinProductionsByzantium]

Sounds like weeaboo space commies with a raging boner for "the greater good"

[@huxley3043]

kind of wish the show went for a more ethereal look for white walkers rather than the very mundane magic zombie design. would've been more distinct + memorable.

[@spoke2639]

I agree, in the books i imagine them more like Ice Elf’s

[@ShivJ16]

You think the walkers look mundane? The Night King has a pretty memorable design to me. Of course the grunts are just normal zombies, but they're distinguished from conventional Walking Dead style zombies by their icy nature rather than being warm rotting flesh.

[@chelseys5192]

Sadly, I think it comes down to the limited budget of the early seasons.

[@freeofavia]

agreed. They would be scarier if they were more beautiful and less understandable.

[@ItsSVO]

John Volken the things on the show that look like zombies are literally the raised dead though, the others themselves don’t look like zombies at all nor are actually dead.

[@thembelanihdlamini5395]

OK I've seen a lot of GoT nerd videos, but this has to be one of the nerdiest. I love the simplistic explanations.

[@EliasBlind]

yes and I love it

[@vixxxenfoxxx3660]

Love these GoT videos. I just started the books. I was trying to wait til they were finished but a friend gifted me her collection and I couldn't help myself.

[@redsnake69]

I finally figured out. Game of Thrones is a post-apocalyptic world and the white walkers are the surviving robo-anthropo-droid-AIs of current civilization.

[@shizotypical]

Raising wights with nanobots

[@ambustio9807]

You reminded me of wacky lore of orginal heros of might and magic

[@khaelstorm2552]

Check Preston Jacobs out.

[@marlonthomas8042]

Khael Storm was about to reply “hey Preston” 😂😂

[@aaronsoto1346]

Grrm has a lot of interregnum/post-apocalyptic stories in his other writings. Many where people mistake tech for magic. Also he doesn’t distinguish between sci-fi and fantasy as some others may. He sees it as just how you dress it up.

[@The_PokeSaurus]

I love it when writers mix science with fiction. Its a nerd's paradise.

[@daddyleon]

Yes, soooo much better to me :) Next up: replace wyverns/dragons with pterodactyls, drakes with dinosaurs, mermaids with ... cetaceans? and...orcs with sapient bear?

[@kaleomungin]

ptero dactyls

[@daddyleon]

@@kaleomunginhmm.. ptero-dactyls...dragons..pterodractons..dractons?

[@arkadiuszjandylewski152]

Why leave magic out? This world could be governed by different physical laws.

[@The_PokeSaurus]

@@arkadiuszjandylewski152 I like that idea.

[@Divinemakyr]

"Sothoryos, probably the continent we know least about." *Staring at Ulthos intensifies.

[@jacksonlynch1731]

I would argue that, even though the Children and Giants probably diverged from each other long before they arrived on Westeros. The size difference between the two in comparison to the Ibbanese, Brindled Men, and Homo Sapiens is likely explained by Insular Gigantism and Insular Dwarfism. Given the fact that an isolated species will trend towards following an evolutionary path designed to deal with unique environmental pressures, it seems likely that the two species were isolated from each other and the rest of the world millennia prior to the last Ice Age. The Giants likely faced environmental pressures that were predatory in nature, while also being able to take advantage of plentiful food sources to increase in size and bone structure in order to protect from said predators. In contrast, the Children probably found themselves in an ecosystem that was relatively bereft of large predation, but also saw food sources in reduced abundance, leading to adaptations trending towards lower energy requirements. This would develop into smaller and more delicate statures. Then, as the Ice Age began and sea levels dropped, it's likely that both groups were suddenly exposed to the continent of Westeros, likely in the form of land bridges connecting to their respective islands of origination. I would posit, therefore, that due to stark differences in appearance, the Children and the Giants are not really closely related at all. They share bipedalism and a geographical location (Westeros) but do not exhibit any other real anthropomorphic similarities. I would probably assume that the Giants are probably a species that branched off from the Ibbanese or Brindled Men several millennia before the last Ice Age, while the Children branched off even further back, perhaps 10 Million years prior to the last Ice Age. I might even go so far as to suggest that the Children were the first to split from the rest, and that the isolation that lead to their Insular Dwarfism likely predates the split between the rest by hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of years. This is also, I believe, supported by the fact that their intelligence level surpasses most, if not all, other species on Planetos. Now...this is wild speculation...but I suspect a cursory inspection of the Sunset Sea by oceanographic technology would probably reveal either a Hawaii-like set of submerged islands off the coast of Westeros, or a small, submerged subcontinent far west and north of Westeros with an oceanic ridge that would act as a land bridge during a major Ice Age. If you took the time to read all that, I hope you enjoyed!

[@HappyBeezerStudios]

And the idea of the children that the giants are their bretheren might show that they acknoliged this other, humanoid species to be related to them.

[@cristian-ionutapostol8018]

I don't think the Children are descended from a common ancestor with humans and giants, they seem far more deer-like and they live thousands of years, meaning their genetics are vastly different.

[@diegoolivaresgonzalez42]

@@cristian-ionutapostol8018 They look like deers just in skin( not fur) color, so they are primates...

[@cristian-ionutapostol8018]

@@diegoolivaresgonzalez42 Primates telomeres that either don't damage over time or damage so little that they have negligible senescence, slit pupils with little-t-no visible sclera, four digits on each hand, and talons/claws instead of fingernails. That's a lot of non-primate traits for a primate to manage to evolve. Also, official artwork from various sources show them with squashed cat, deer, or dog-like noses and distinctly non-primate ears. The only traits they share with hominins is upright bipedalism.

[@diegoolivaresgonzalez42]

@@cristian-ionutapostol8018 Maybe you are confusing fanarts with book description

[@MagnusTonitrum117]

Apparently the Giants of Essos (I hope that is spelled right) are much larger than the Giants of Westeros. They’re twice as tall as their Westerosi brethren/descendants/cousins.

[@starlight0313]

the jhog win?

[@LimeyLassen]

Worth noting that even in a setting where magic is real, the principles of evolution still hold up. Like if dragon breath is supernatural, dragons would still evolve to take full advantage of it.

[@enotsnavdier6867]

Limey Lassen Ya a magical adaptation like being able to expel fire so hot that it can melt stone is insane. I really need an explanation for why dragons aren't the dominant life form in the series. With how insanely powerful they are they should have dominated the planet.

[@levchusovitin6380]

@@enotsnavdier6867 They probably did. But they are apex predator, so there were few of them. Then disasters strack(ice age/long winter), almost killing them. When they were at their weakest, valyrians domesticated them, with fall of valyria only few survived.

[@Armendicus]

That and they have really tricky slow reproductive cycles .

[@Ninjaananas]

Indeed, because evolution is simple logic and causality. Fantasy can have logic.

[@passthebutterrobot2600]

Quite so. Even if the creationists' view of our world were somehow correct, evolution would still be inevitable.

[@serioushamster]

What did the Others say to each other during the Long Night? No Homo.

[@ashiqali4933]

serioushamster haha HAHAHAHAH oh that’s funny

[@DavidGarcia-oi5nt]

@@ashiqali4933 is it?

[@thedarkmasterthedarkmaster]

Maybe after the long night, Martin will actually finish his book

[@solarprogeny6736]

@@Zak-ob5ze it's 2019

[@imperator692]

@@solarprogeny6736 muh current year

[@ToqTheWise]

The Others seem to be a lot like Daugar, the undead of Norse mythology which unlike classical zombies are intelligent. It’s for this reason I think that they’re the result of some sort of a mutagenic organism/pathogen. I also wouldn’t completely rule out magic since there does seem to be clear examples of magic such as warging and arguably Jon’s resurrection. I like the idea of a world that combines magic and natural science, even putting a science to magic. But then again we’re talking about Lord George, first of his name, writer of books, and crusher of dreams so all of this could be wrong. Edit: I think House Targaryen itself is another example of magic. No house could survive that long with that much inbreeding.

[@musaran2]

The Others seem like parasites to me, possibly magical in nature. What we see is just their host body.

[@CAMSLAYER13]

The Egyptians were that inbred. It was normal for sons to merry their mothers

[@giorgosthoma849]

@@CAMSLAYER13did you saw how king tut looked tags are always being mentioned at being unnaturally beautiful and they inbred more times that I can count got at be some magic here kepping the genes at bay

[@CAMSLAYER13]

@@giorgosthoma849 he was probably classed as "beautiful" since he was royalty and had associated traits. He actually had quite a few fucked up genetic issues like a cleft palette and a club foot.

[@giorgosthoma849]

@@CAMSLAYER13 I was refering to the trags i know king tut was fucked up thats why i said theirs some kind of magic at place here

[@arkadeepkundu4729]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="131">2:11</a> "Grorge has taken the time to think these things out" *Well, too bad the directors didn't*

[@vardiganxpl1698]

Yeah, we all should get a rewrite of seasons 6-8

[@vladimirlagos2688]

I think the true gold gem for paleobiologists in the world of "Planetos" is that continent of Sothorios. Located in the equator and thus less likely to suffer from ice ages and fairly removed from homo sapiens influence, it must be a teeming with late extant transitional forms not only for early humans, but also for other creatures such as dragons. By the way, I really like his hypothesis about the white walkers as aliens since they clearly don't fit with anything else in the planet.

[@Ognyann]

There are supposedly dinosaurs, giant snakes and King Kong-like apes in Sothorios, which will make it a mixture between Africa and Skull Island, which will make for amazingly fun hypothesis and paleontologic speculation. Pity there's so little actual info on it.

[@Infrared01]

It was mentioned that wyverns are down there too, so maybe some relatives of the dragons still live there.

[@Ognyann]

@@Infrared01 I actually thought that the varying breeds of wyverns described could be different species of pterosaurs or something, especially with the "cruel beaks" and the "leathery wings". Kind of like lizard-lions are obviously alligator-like.

[@kseriousr]

Their resemblance is too close to hominids for them to be from an entirely different planet. They are more like experiments gone wrong, or too right. Magic does exist there, so it doesn't seem far fetched. As a side note, Preston Jacobs did a few videos on the genetics and the probability of ASOIAF being a post apocalyptic sci fi. He has some interesting, albeit unlikely, points.

[@RubelliteFae]

I came a little

[@internetduck1520]

"No animal on earth has 4 legs + wings." I think George means no vertebrate... xd

[@GarryDKing]

very likely.

[@Armendicus]

Yeah if you want a classic European dragon its gonna have to be a cross evolved insect with fused limbs filling a niche formally occupied by vertebrates .

[@miskakopperoinen8408]

In a completely hypothetical scenario, we could imagine a world where the fish species that evolved into amphibians had more fins than the ones that did in our history. Alternatively, there could be a scenario where amphibian-like creatures were formed twice independent of each other, resulting in 4-limbed and 6-limbed evolutionary paths. Given that some amphibians used to have 8 digits, I wouldn't see this as a completely impossible scenario in a fantasy or sci-fi setting.

[@markcobuzzi826]

@Miska Kopperoinen I guess that would still leave a question of what purpose the extra pair of legs/arms would serve on a large flying “hexapod” dragon... Ideally, I imagine that it would work best for the wings to be the frontmost limbs, so they can have an entire chest cavity to power them and more freedom of movement. That would leave the four other limbs to be positioned behind and under the wings, like if we were looking at an eagle with two sets of talons. Now, having two pairs of talons might end up creating more weight and drag, without adding much that could not already be done with one pair of talons, thus making them a liability for a flying creature. Then there is the classic issue of long tails in large organisms that must remain lightweight to fly (unless the tail could be uniquely designed in a way that helps generate extra lift to compensate, making it just as valid an adaptation as shrinking the tail completely). My main guess is that the flying “hexapod” might resort to having the middle pair of limbs become vestigial, similarly to a whale’s back legs, resulting in looking outwardly like a familiar tetrapod (with some individuals undergoing a rare genetic mutation, which brings back the second pair of dragon legs and could adversely affect chances of survival). As for the dragon tail, maybe a long tail could exist as the equivalent of a peacock’s tail, in which one gender specifically develops an impressive-yet-handicapping feature to show potential mates, that it is accomplished enough to easily survive and remain healthy in spite of it (if the tail cannot somehow be transformed into a unique limb that actually aids in flight).

[@guilhermecamara5628]

I personally do not know any animal species that has 4 legs and wings

[@andrewcleary9952]

"GRRM has clearly really thought this out!" WESTEROS AND ESSOS ARE BOTH JUST GIANT RECTANGLES

[@atomicwoodpecker0123]

Honestly I can forgive westeros, but essos is literally a long rectangle.

[@Aipe97]

Well, if he ever feels like retconning this, he could use the argument of unreliable and ancient map making. So in reallity Essos would be less rectangular. Westeros is probably mostly accurate considering they live there.

[@DMU555]

@@atomicwoodpecker0123 Essos resembles a big Anatolia which is a real life example of a very rectangular piece of land. It's odd but not totally unrealistic.

[@atomicwoodpecker0123]

@@DMU555 still, the rectangle of essos looks like its infinite. Like there is no end. Kinda bothers me

[@foxcheetah6035]

Honestly tho, as an author, that's a big fucken mood.

[@spoke2639]

As a Measter of the Citadel, from a scientific perspective, how would you explain the unpredictable season lengths of Westeros?

[@RubelliteFae]

They have a larger sun making their Goldilocks Zone further away and thereby increasing Planetos' orbital period

[@BretekV]

@@RubelliteFae This is good, but it doesn't entirely explain why winter on planetos happens at seemingly random lengths. Sometimes its a few months, other times its years. A slightly elliptical orbit would have more extreme winters but they would still occur in a more predictable fashion. Given the fact that they use seasons and years as a measure of time which they could only devise from a fairly stable and regular presumably earth-like orbital period. This leaves only a few possible scenarios. Perhaps weather systems in planetos, under the right circumstances can trigger a cascade change of weather. Perhaps other massive objects are orbiting inside of Planetos' orbit, blocking some of its sunlight at random (to a medieval perspective) Due to stars being so bright, it's unlikely you'd be able to see anything in front of the star with the naked eye or a basic telescope unless it was truly staggeringly massive or close (relatively). Lastly, if the 'others' truly are an alien or advanced civilization perhaps they can exert some control over the weather. It is unclear if they bring winter with them, or if they simply follow winter as it spreads south naturally.

[@RubelliteFae]

​@@BretekV Actually, my first explanation doesn't work at all because they know how long a year is and it's *always* shorter than summer and winter. TBH, I don't know how you'd even know a full year had gone by if the seasons are longer. It's not like they know about orbits. So, here's my alternative explanation: They are in the middle of an ice age. What they call winter is actually a glacial period and what they call summer is an interglacial period.

[@timothymclean]

@@RubelliteFae Same way that people who lived in the tropics can-by watching the heavens. The days get longer and shorter, the constellations change, etc etc. And there might be annual weather patterns, like rainy/dry seasons. As to the explanation for wonky seasons...there is insufficient data for a meaningful answer. We don't have access to all the scientific data that the maesters would, and none of the data that would matter for that question is plot-relevant. Unless there's some supernatural thing causing the seasons that's linked to the Others or something.

[@RubelliteFae]

@@timothymclean "Unless there's some supernatural thing causing the seasons that's linked to the Others or something." I read somewhere that is the case. Same for the dragon eggs hatching, people coming back to life, and other cases of magic getting stronger as of late. I was just challenging myself to find natural explanations

[@gymcelsocialism]

Mark Twain said, first get your facts straight, and then twist them at your leisure. Meaning that you can build fantasy only if its based in the real world, and that attempting to go full Jupiter Ascending destroy any semblance of suspension of Belief. It's easy to accept a fantasy world if it feels real to us.

[@matty9460]

Plus the real world is pretty cool no reason not to take inspiration from it

[@lonewolf209]

Here is another one from ol' Sam on the subject. "The only difference between reality and fiction is that fiction needs to be credible.”

[@jimn4315]

Which is kind of the problem with the show now, George cared about sticking to details (armies need to walk somewhere, a city cant be sieged in a single day, ships take months to construct etc.). Since the writers for the show do not understand the laws of his world they cant write the episodes in a convincing manner (armies teleporting to places they shouldn't be at, information getting to places too quickly and many other small details). While the show is still good in my opinion, it is no longer about a "real" world.

[@thefurrybastard1964]

That's how Lord of the Rings and Conan were so successful.

[@merlith4650]

i disagree with this completely, and its also completely false. are you seriously thinking that the only way to build a "fantasy" world is to copy-paste history and be unoriginal? now i am not discrediting this form of writing, but accusing other forms of writing as inferior just because they do not pander to a biased standard is just completely pompous. not to mention, this entire video is very heavily focused around selective arguments and delibrately ignores any counter-argument, information or critical view. i can assure you that the "scientific" accuracy of Game of Thrones would be completely shredded from the perspective of actual scientific critique. you can pretty much rationalize any fan-made theory if you try hard enough to make it fit. the guy theorizes at the end of this video that the white walker are aliens, however you can already completely debunk this as George Martin himself made a mocking joke about introducing aliens to surprise people, stating it to be an awful descision and he would never do such a thing

[@mavhunter8753]

I really respect his desire for scientific accuracy in his work of fantasy. Personally I wouldn't have the patience to do the same in my work a fantasy. I'd just want to go nuts and create all sorts of things!

[@WillisRude]

Martin is really good about making sure he leaves enough gaps so that he doesn't accidently explain things in ways that don't make sense. In that way it looks a lot more like a real history as opposed to the overly detailed eye of god thing you get in other fantasy worlds.

[@markcobuzzi826]

Even in certain fantasy stories, it makes sense to keep real science in mind when creating the world, if one wants it to feel even more alive. So I also think it how it is implemented has the potential to be really creative in some cases. Logically speaking, even in a world like that of the Harry Potter books/films, where we got things like mythical beasts, various spirits, literal magic, etc. there are also things present like cars, television, animals being made up of DNA, a round Earth, characters making references to prehistoric dinosaurs, etc. So it makes sense that a lot of the same laws of physics, biology, astronomy, etc. would still be relevant in some form, in terms of how the world operates in the absence of magic or was created in the first place.

[@carlosandleon]

that's just lazy

[@mavhunter8753]

@@WillisRude Yeah, I think it helps with people's suspension of disbelief. They may not know why it feel "just right", but it does.

[@aramhalamech4204]

The only problem with Martins work is geography and geology. His Map makes no sense. One of the things that anoy me the most is that Westeros is way to large compared to all cultures and languages present there. There are just to few of them. And everyone speaks the same language.

[@The_Butler_Did_It]

One small point, in our world aurochs survived until surprisingly recently, the last known example died in Poland in 1627.

[@operationjester3348]

I read somewhere that Westeros is inspired by the migration of Celts, Romans, Vikings, Danish into the British Isle. The land bridge is Doggerland, the wall is Hadrian's wall, the free folk are Scottish, etc.

[@mrdogscratch]

No the white walkers are basking sharks. It's so obvious

[@JohnRBIV]

it's unfortunate we'll probably never see the rest of "Planetos". The ASOIAF world is so interesting.

[@Mcrawf21]

After GRRM dies and his wife sells off the rights we will see a lot of Planetos in all manner of media interpretations. Most of it will be crap.

[@aceambling7685]

@@Mcrawf21 I sincerely hope it becomes public domain instead, that way nothing written is official canon but we get plenty of opportunities to explore the setting with endless authors.

[@dankuash]

Yeah. If a domains like from Alan Moore tried to lock his Watchmen to have nothing more related had a bunch of extra comics, movie, a game and even a coming HBO series.... Imagine something like game of thrones that GG martin ASOIAF domains are licensing even for bunch of mobile games. You guys just made me think that now this GoT universe will hella grow (goodly or badly)

[@kallemort]

Eh, the lack of knowledge is what makes it so interesting. Mystery engages your imagination, if you knew all the answers it wouldn't be so great.

[@RustyShackleford051]

It'll never be as cool as you imagine it 🤔

[@thegreatgoldfilms6311]

I hope he does a "Zoology of game of thrones"

[@GarryDKing]

so if the whitewalkers suddenly get a UFO in the final season and either flee the planet for losing against the united stark and targaryen forces. Or get a UFO to blow King's landing to smithereens. we'll know who to credit for being right

[@S3lunia]

after i have seen the finale i kind of wish it would have been this way :D

[@manospondylus4896]

Garry Courtney Would‘ve been better than the real finale that we got

[@SacredDaturana]

It certainly would have subverted my expectations. Which as we all know is what makes a great story.

[@aaronwiley7526]

So here I am, in my last class of school. Tired, hungry and bored, I reach my daily peek of apathy... And then I see at the corner of my screen "Trey the Explainer's "The Anthropology of Game of Thrones". My face now glows with glee.

[@nekitamocika7673]

Wait... Trey is a fan? *X-files theme song starts playing*

[@makkapakka8895]

Neki Tamo Cika yeah he has done a few videos on it already

[@anameofsomesort959]

He's made videos on asoiaf before

[@nekitamocika7673]

@@makkapakka8895 i know

[@anameofsomesort959]

@@nekitamocika7673 ok

[@oposum244]

Ne mogu da vjerujem da nadjoh nekog sa Balkana ovdje :O

[@cachetona4794]

As a Anthro major and GOT fanatic....this is bliss 😍

[@Skip6235]

I love the White Walkers are aliens theory. It reminds me of my favorite book series, Codex Alera, where the Ancient Roamn-like civilization encounters what has been confirmed by the author to be an extraterrestrial invasion. It's cool to have a sci-fi premise being described in a non-technological way

[@presidenttogekiss635]

I believe the Ibenese are mixture of fantasy dwarves and real life neanderthals.

[@post-leftluddite]

Well they can't be Neanderthal or denisovan, or hiedelbergensis, etc because it's stated in The World of Ice and Fire that when they interbreed with a person from westeros, the offspring is sterile like a mule, and we know that homo sapiens successfully interbreed with several coextant hominid species

[@AliceIsSleepy]

Brynden Rivers They were a little more further apart. Just that.

[@dogfish3373]

What a cool and interesting way to look at Planetos and ASOIF. Thanks for the video and your fascinating perspective on this topic.

[@itisWhatitis12345]

You could do one on The Elder Scrolls world as well, the world and citizens of Tamriel, Atmora, Akavir etc. Although their origins are sort of well elaborated in the books in game but and they are quite fantastical in nature. An analysis could still be done

[@RubelliteFae]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="223">3:43</a> I read somewhere that Martin took inspiration from Anglo-Saxon Great Britain, but wanted to explore what it would be like if it were the size of South America. •The North = (is based on) Pictland. Note how they are more closely related to the First Men than the Andals just as Scots have deeper Celtic than Germanic heritage •The Riverlands = Northumbria •The Iron Islands = The Isle of Man •The Westerlands = Wales, despite their Celtic roots •The Vale = East Anglia •The Reach = Mercia •The Crownlands = Essex (& northern Kent) •The Stormlands = Kent •Dorne = Sussex if it were Frankish. Note that the Dornish are from the area of the river Rhoyne, while the Franks are from Rhineland. The Dornish are also stereotyped to have excellent wine and love sex more than the average Westerosi-well-known French stereotypes This would make Essos a compacted Eurasia, so I'd guess that: •The Free Cities = Western Europe after the fall of Rome •Sarnor = The Goths, who fell to the... •The Dothraki Horde = The Huns •Former Valyria = The former Roman Empire •Slaver's Bay = Sassanian Near East, where Old Ghis = Ancient Egypt •Lhazar = Canaan •The Red Waste = The Syrian and/or Arabian? Desert •The Bone Mountains = The Urals •Qarth = the Silk Road port of Karachi •Further East = The Far East. Edit: Changed formatting for clarity. Edit2: I'd also guess the White Walkers are based on early Medieval British fear of the Vikings. I always thought of the Children of the Forest as Westeros' pixies. But, now that I think about it, pixies vs. Vikings sounds really weird. Still, Martin _has_ taken it all his own direction, so I stick by this guess.

[@dk.kapsukas2195]

The Iron Islands are definitely the vikings here. Seafaring and warlike, plus they had invaded the Riverlands before Aegons invasion, similarly to the Danelaw. Dorne doesn't really fit into anything, it's a more matriarchal, sexually liberal desert with a mixed heritage. Geographically it's more akin to the western Mediterranean, but culturally it's more similar to ancient Greece. Historically it's also more similar to Aquitaine, with Dorne being integrated into the Iron Throne only through marriage. The Free Cities are more similar to renaissance Italy, with trade and mercenaries. The bank of Bravos is also similar to the banks that emerged in northern Italy during that time.

[@RubelliteFae]

@@dk.kapsukas2195 That all sounds right. I think when I originally wrote this I must have been talking about the geographic location of the iron Islands. Culturally they are more like British caricatures of Vikings (Vikings having been a subset of a larger culture-or several related cultures, it could be argued-who went raiding). Not sure what I was on about WRT the White Walkers. Seems more like something I would have written 10 years ago than a year ago 🤷‍♀️ Still, though the geography of Dorne differs, what little I know about it reminds me more of the libertine French and it's relationship to the rest of Westeros like that of Angevin France.

[@FireBird826]

isn't dorne canonically inspired by wales...i think the coding is less geographic and more cultural/historical

[@redhippopotamus9144]

I think the North is more like Northumbria with White Harbour being Newcastle/Sunderland? with the Neck being alike the Humber and the Twins alike York or Hull, The Riverlands may represent Lindsey with elements of East Anglia with the wetland terrain these were the hearts of Westerosi battle and Danelaw-Anglian wars respectively, the Westerlands are definitely inspired by Lancashire and the North West/Rheged with mountainous terrain and the Lannisters alike Lancaster, the Merseyside cities mirror Lanisport and Casterly Rock; the Vale has parallels with East Anglia being a place where the Angles and Andals landed early in settlement, Gulltown somewhat mirrors Norwich, which was very significant throughout the middle ages more so than now, but the terrain is the complete opposite; the Reach mirrors sunny Kent and Sussex with wine and riches but has much more in common with medieval France, Oldtown is similar to Canterbury what with its religious or ex-religious importance and many stoney streets, Highgarden could be any of the large luxurious country houses in the area; the Stormlands have parallels with both Essex and the Welsh Marches, the former being small and having close cultural ties to the (later in London's case) capital and the latter in having a hilly or straight up mountainous landscape bordering and often (previously in Dorne's case) having skirmishes between armies with Dorne which is Cornwall (looks and the name sounds similar) and Wales both late parts to join England/the Seven Kingdoms with large cultural distinction, different art style or say different acceptance of queer people, led by a Prince and not a King or Lord; the Iron Islands have elements of Mann, Norway and the Hebrides raiding the Westerosi/English coast infrequently with a large urge for sovereign power (independence or invasion) and a separate religion; the Crownlands and Dragonstone represent (both) Wessex (and London) being a rich province of high power and authority in the capital Winchester/ King's Landing, after Aegon/William invades it becomes London or the previously mentioned latter. Hadrian's wall is obviously the Wall and the Lands beyond are the raiding, terrifying Pictlands.

[@sophiawilson8696]

Yi Ti is China and Sothoryos is Africa.

[@shockedgame5558]

“Magic. Mythical creatures, and a lot of sex” - Trey the explainer I cracked a lot after that

[@passthebutterrobot2600]

The real world is like that too, but without the magic & mythical creatures

[@shockedgame5558]

Pass The Butter Robot indeed

[@Sara3346]

@@passthebutterrobot2600 So ''Odd physics, extroinary creatures and lots of sex'' would work better then?

[@tomgjgj]

As a lover of anthropology I just want to say that this was a great idea. Thanks for your work.

[@dakotadexter3948]

"The Others are aliens." You sound like Preston Jacobs....I like it.

[@williamkrause5831]

Lol have ya seen The minds of wolves and Robins? It would go well with this video.

[@rachiejw]

You literally made this video for me. Anthropology and Biology are my favorite subjects and GOT is my favorite show (I plan to read the books soon too)

[@ugly_larva]

Sooo... did you read the books?

[@topiheimola69]

Yeah, did you read them? And what did you think of the final season? @rachiejw

[@SomeGuyPF]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="21">0:21</a> that dragon is probably a large basking owl

[@wakawakawakawaka8804]

You mean barn shark

[@lovepeople777]

“No animal on earth has two legs and wings” Literally every single insect in the world: i’m about to end this man’s whole career

[@NisarKhan-jm1uh]

I think what he means is that there is no tetrapod that has 6 limbs naturally.

[@clayheinzerling1852]

I believe there were giants in the bone mountains that were twice as large as their westerosi counterparts

[@RubelliteFae]

cool

[@konrad186]

YES !!! finally I won't have to rewatch two year old videos to hear the sweet sweet voice of TREY the Explainer

[@TheGreatAukGaming]

BRO TREY DO SPECULATIVE ZOOLOGY. LIKE AN ENTIRE VIDEO ABOUT THE TOPIC WITH CM KOSMEN AND DOUGAL DIXON AND OTHERS

[@cocobean0390]

**Starts playing Game of Thrones theme in head**

[@Erox006]

George: "There are no animal on earth that has 4 legs plus wings" Insects: ARE WE A JOKE TO YOU ? YOU PUT LOCUSTS IN YOUR OWN DAMN BOOKS !!

[@Moondog911]

Insects have 6 legs

[@MrWizeazz]

I’ve always found Neolithic anthropology fascinating. I’d really love to see more videos on this type of lore based subject. And did you seriously just sing the entire song at the end? Lol Altogether great job on this video. I loved it.

[@wayneparker4855]

I knew we were due a Trey the Explainer video, my Trey the Explainer sense was tingling ☺

[@JulianDanzerHAL9001]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1500">25:00</a> - possible - but if we're going to go there I would much prefer if the others turned out to be androids and/or cyborgs created by a lost human civilization - since both explanations require advanced technology but this is more consistent with appearance and motivation to be fair I might be biased - I like the whole magical/fantasy world that is actually set in the future idea - might be that most magic/unrealistic aspects are somehow explained by this actually being set in the future after the ruin of an advanced civilization long before any of the known history began

[@muticere]

I've read through the books twice and feel like a fool for never realizing they had neanderthals. I'll have to read them again with that context in mind.

[@utahraptor4729874]

I never got into GOT, now would probably be the time.

[@ovahlord1451]

do it quickly before the spoilers take over the internet

[@ottovrizo5693]

You could get into the (audio)books, the series gets kinda bad after a while like most tv series, the books are big but very light read.

[@fashionovawigs]

@@ottovrizo5693 no it's not... You think the series is bad cause you're one of those book elitists but the series is great and it's just getting better

[@Spongebrain97]

@@fashionovawigs no hes right. You dont gotta be a book elitist to know that the show did decline in quality. Right after season 4 it wasnt as great in terms of writing because the show ran out of Martin's books to adapt. The dorne subplot in the show for example is bad and characters like tyrion becoming less interesting.

[@fashionovawigs]

@@Spongebrain97 but the writing is still better than 95% of the other shows out there

[@ericconnor8251]

At <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="972">16:12</a>, it shows Martin's 1979 novelette/short story Sandkings. I was unaware he published a book with that exact piece of art by Michael Whelan, because for decades I've owned and listened to the album "Beneath the Remains" by Sepultura (1989), which has the exact same artwork but obviously used a decade later. Interesting! Also, great video. Thanks for explaining the universe of "Planetos". LOL. Kind of a generic name to be honest.

[@kaleomungin]

I think Planetos is an unofficial name

[@Sara3346]

@@kaleomungin he put quotation marks around it...so perhaps he already knew that?

[@cameronclare5084]

White walkers are probably inspired by the theories of alternative biochemistries and shadow biospheres.

[@manggkee3161]

"Long ago the planetosi live together in harmony, then the Space mari-" "FOR THE EMPEROOOOOR!!!"

[@timonrein6113]

Great video, very interesting and enjoyable. One correction, the Dothraki actually haven't been inhabitants of the Dothraki sea for very long, "only" about 400 years since the Doom of Valyria. Before that, most of the Dothraki sea was ruled by the Tall Men. I don't entirely remember what that race of humans looked like, but I believe they were tall (obviously) and white skinned. I imagine that they were closely related to the Andals, because of their height and complexion. I don't know whwre the Dothraki lived before they conquered the Tall Men's lands and turned it into the Dothraki Sea, but since the Womb of the World and Vaes Dothrak are ancient, sacred place to them, I imagine that they have been living in the eastern part of the Dothraki Sea for a while, although they may have migrated from east of the bone mountains, or maybe from the south in the Red Waste, since they have a darker complexion. I found what you said about the Qartheen and Valyrians migrating into their territories at a later time, given that their skin is pale although they live so far south, very interesting. I always imagined that the Valyrians used to have a normal, darker complexion and normal eyes, but they modified their appearance using blood magic to the extremeley pale, silver-haired, purple-eyed beautiful people that they were (and are) today. Given that they saw themselves as gods, it wouldn't surprise me if they used magic to make their appearances as mystical and beautiful as possible. The Qartheen confuse me however, especially since their history is so ancient, but it could be that only the elites are that pale because they spend little time in the sun (don't know if that's true, but Daenarys only mingled with the elites while she was in Qarth, while she was describing their tallness and paleness). Maybe the original Qartheen were Tall Men immigrants, thousands of years ago, given their proximity and similar appearance. Their isolation behind their walls would explain why they still look so different to the peoples around them.

[@Millianna777]

I came for dinoaurs. I stayed for a vast majority of interesting topics which broaden my horizon and even made me choose a biology presentation for my school finals. This is how KZbin is done. Well done, Trey. You are by far my favourite on here, and even though I never watched GoT this was still super interesting to me!

[@mattpasta2987]

Fantastic job man! Can’t imagine the work that went into this...much appreciated!

[@biffman6]

My GoT head canon has always been something like: Earth; in the far future; colonizes much of the galaxy, and places homo sapiens on Planatos as some sort of comparative experiment--in terms of the creation of intelligent life--and then subsequently their whole civilization falls apart leaving the seeded races of hominid (homo sapiens) to compete with the genetically and technologically advanced "Others (white walkers)" who remained of the original homo sapiens civilization. IDK if this makes sense but it always did to me :)?

[@Shadamachaeon]

You should really look into Martin's "Thousand Worlds" future Universe stories ( "Sand Kings, " Nightflyers "," The Plague Star", etc ), some plots are very similar to your theory (" House of the Worm"). But Martin said that he doesn't want ASOIAF to be a part of his science fiction space mythos. Yet...

[@mrevilducky]

Yes GRRM has already written a series of books that is basically exactly what you're talking about. He calls the falling apart of human society across the galaxy as The Interregnum due to an interstellar double war with 2 other species vastly different from humans.

[@guillermociolisorensen6876]

Tuff's Voyagers...

[@cashcarrillo6557]

I don't know if you've read Helliconia Spring, but that book reminds me of what's being hypothesised here: two different versions of humanity, one primitive and sharing the world with other species, the other isolated and technologically advanced, each interacting with the other group only slightly throughout the entire story.

[@gahsyt]

I dont even like game of thrones BUT DAMN IS THIS VIDEO GOOD

[@Spongebrain97]

How do you not like it?

[@principetuna]

Creepy Closet for me I’ve just never seen it, didn’t have tv and it wasn’t on Netflix. I can watch it now tho and wanna start soon, haven’t yet but this video was still cool :)

[@Spongebrain97]

@@principetuna season 1 is slow because its building up the characters and three main story arcs but once episode 10 roles around, you're ready to go

[@gahsyt]

@@Spongebrain97 shows/movies/books are just boring take to long to get to the point and are overall a hassle to watch regularly

[@Spongebrain97]

@@gahsyt where do you get your entertainment from then??

[@benselectionforcasting4172]

Oh shit, he uploaded. So what do you think is the wildest, craziest, Adaptation in biological history?

[@Postal-rt7kk]

readonlypdf I think seeing is one of the cool adaptation’s

[@ofthecaribbean]

The fact that Chameleons evolved control over the pigmentation of their bodies but use it for emotes instead of camouflage

[@bert7109]

Platypuses

[@garymeaney60]

Nitrogen fixation, the ability to swap phosphorus for arsenic in DNA, extremophily, biological immortality and cavitation bubbles (used by pistol shrimp)

[@Mcrawf21]

Some animals can literally create light.

[@MichaelRGB]

What about the fish people that live in the North Eastern archipelago? And I'm pretty sure you missed a few more. There are also the Deep Ones that may have created the Salt Throne, which should count as some sort of archaeological evidence. As well as a multitude of races from East Essos.

[@timothymclean]

Is there any evidence that the Salt Throne wasn't made by ancient inhabitants of the Iron Islands? That seems like the more parsimonious explanation.

[@MichaelRGB]

@@timothymclean It's been awhile and I could be remembering, but it was far too large and didn't seem to be made for a regular man to sit on. Could be from their for bearers, or could have been from another race. Just thought it was worth mentioning as evidence of ancient civilization and potential humanoids.

[@melodyrelody5632]

*me on my break from studying for my anthropology exam* : -_-

[@jetlag1488]

"I hope you enjoy the last season of Game of Thrones." lol

[@siddsen95]

Thank you, Trey, you informing genius. This is the perfect opiate till the final season rolls in.

[@lukegarrity3591]

“Real creatures like giants, and even mythical creatures like giants” lol

[@designate_om]

man, i watch a ton of videos about the greater worldbuilding, and they're always filled with lots of speculation and such. i really appreciate your approach to this subject, this is one of the better videos i've seen regarding the lore in a long while

[@blueshit199]

I prefer the book version of white walkers simply because of lack of explaination for them. The tv series kind of ruined the mystery in exchange for generic environmental message out of nowhere. Hearing about misunderstood villains, I think the Others might be simply trying to get away from harsher winters in order to survive, thus try migrating south, rather than wanting to whipe out humanity because they were created to do so.

[@Tosei0816]

Light skin human closer to the equator could be a hint of a subterrean society driven underground due to the ice age. Valyria had vase geothermal caves. And the Qartheen might have done the same.

[@Spongebrain97]

Maybe. That could explain the warlocks and their weird appearances

[@Celebrian666]

Or the entire ethnicity is albino which, despite being an extremely recessive gene is more present in their population due to their culture of inbreeding. Or someother type recessive gene that appears similar to albinism.

[@Tosei0816]

Valyrian features doesnt seems to be a form of albinism or recessive. Valyrian does cross breed with other people and many Valyrian bastard retain their features. Bloodraven is also specifically claasified as an albino, suggest albinism is a separate thing.

[@RubelliteFae]

Oooooo, good thinking! Especially since they are nearer to albino-a not uncommon trait in troglodytic animal-than "milky white"

[@daveharrison84]

The 13th Warrior is also about medieval people who lived among and fought against another species of human.

[@bundibird3213]

[rocks up to this vid 5 years late] Yoooooo, I LOVE THIS. This was so much fun to listen to. I loved your scientific approach to it all; it was all really well-reasoned and thought out. Great vid!!

[@gaius9240]

This was fantastic. Would love a Preston cross over ;)

[@turtletortisefilms9531]

You should do the anthropology of the Mass Effect universe!

[@RubelliteFae]

The xenoanthropology of Mass Effect. Yes, that's just the kind of nerd I am...

[@ikemadi6265]

Amazing analysis! Wish we had more science-oriented fantasy KZbinrs like you. It was a really amazing trip!

[@drartemisa21]

This was such an interesting video! Your anthropological knowledge and enthusiasm for the books combined so well and I'm living for it. Thank you!

[@anameofsomesort959]

Hopping on that GoT/asoiaf train before season 8? You at least have precedent in your Giants and Dragons videos unlike many KZbinrs... btw great work, keep it up Trey!

[@TREYtheExplainer]

Kaed Koehler XD yeah I’m kind of cashing in a little bit but I’ve been thinking about this video idea for a long while and I talk about the books more than show

[@anameofsomesort959]

@@TREYtheExplainer Hey quality content is quality content! Also, as a book reader(alright, I listened to a aCoK and SoS) I appreciate your heavier focus on the books even though its kind of necessary for the deeper lore.

[@hedgehog3180]

Aurochs weren't extinct in the middle ages and still existed in small populations in Europe, the last went extinct in the 15th century.

[@soccerjockey]

fantastic content! I loved this deep dive, as I've always been most intrigued by the ancient history of Planetos and the other races oh human that inhabit it. This was exactly the video I wanted!

[@coriklocek1841]

I'm a simple man, I see anthropology, my major, and game of thrones in a title and I click

[@captainvanhorn773]

Love the vids, keep up the good work man

[@Augustmsb]

I also think that ASOIAF has much more forgiving/bendable/adaptable DNA since all these different species have had some kind of offspring with homosapiens and all the inbreeding doesn't seem to have nearly as devastating effects as it has in our world

[@tomasvrabec1845]

Does it what about targarien madness

[@Augustmsb]

@@tomasvrabec1845 still a low price compared to generations and generations of incest

[@TheTam0613]

I just found your channel and this video. I'm so glad I did, as I'm really enjoying the lens through which you're looking! Thanks so much for your time and effort!!!

[@Sawrattan]

Does anyone think even the *known world* map might be inaccurate? It reminds me of our own medieval maps of oblong continents, and in reality Westeros and Essos might be a lot 'messier'.

[@Homunculus97]

Here is a challenge now that you try to examine fictional worlds and concepts through a scientific angle The Anthropology/Science of Vampires, Pillar men, Hamon and Stands of JoJo's Bizzarre adventure.

[@Homunculus97]

@@GargamelGold Heard lots of good stuff about both the show and the comics.

[@miquelescribanoivars5049]

YES YES YES YES YEEEES!

[@cptinvincible3223]

There would remain only two mysteries if he made that video... 1: Who is actually Dio, and who is not actually Dio. 2: Whether Speed wagon or ZA AMBULANCO, are the most powerful characters in the franchise.

[@gringocolombian9919]

I showed all my friends your channel ur my favorite KZbinr and ur subjects are interesting and inspiring

[@sleekoduck]

I love your taxonomic names for the various species of Planetos! Awesome video!

[@GustavoValdiviesso]

Humming the song at the end brought a smile to my face, a moment before you laughed yourself. Well done my friend. That's why I love you're channel.

[@QuintMarvel]

Left a like for the Preston Jacobs shout out. Boy, we haven't seen him in a while. He started writing that book, and I suspect he'll never release it. Someone should check to see if he's dead.

[@Cissablack708]

I love this video, though I was hoping you would go into the difference between humans and the humans of valyria. if you read into the world of ice and fire and fire and blood there are mentions of the fact that valyrians had problems bringing fourth issues with non-valyrians and many times valirian women would give birth to children that were scaled, winged and tailed still births. The easiest ones to point out would be with Maegor the Cruel having married more than 5 times with different women and each time his wives gave birth each child came out in this human/dragon hybrid it also happened to Rhaynes Targaryon in the dance of the dragons as well as to Daenerys when giving birth to rhaego. id love to hear what you think about that!

[@eanfowler9522]

I love your videos, no other knowledge youtube channel has as much heart as you. Keep up the good work!

[@HerohammerStudios]

This is what I love about you, Trey. I don't care about Game of Thrones, and yet you still manage to make these videos incredibly entertaining

[@ArturoParedesMexicanNerd471]

DID SOMEBODY SAY "ANTHROPOLOGY!!!"

[@kwarrior2895]

Anthrogasms!!!

[@generalgrievous2202]

Can you do a video on subnautica aliens? And are they accurate?

[@jesusonmyside44]

I anticipate your videos trey, keep up the good work I genuinely mean that.

[@JediBunny]

This is _such_ a cool video. Thank you for making it and sharing your knowledge with us!

[@YukihyoShiraki]

I absolutely looooove how much thought GRR has put into asoif! And I love pondering the mysteries hes laid out and their possible relation/inspiration of our own world!!!

[@daddyleon]

<a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="1070">17:50</a> I always thought of the giants to be gigantopithecus blacki (especially the larger Essos variety).

[@LetsGoGetThem]

That type of ape wouldn't be able to talk though, I think the giants in ASOIAF are much more intelligent or maybe their ancestors were more intelligent but they evolved to be less intelligent and become more ape-like for some reason.

[@daddyleon]

​@@LetsGoGetThem Yeah, and CotF couldn't me Floris man, because they don't have yellow-cat eyes; and and the large lizard with scythes for claws can't be a velociraptor because irl they'd have feathers and that would've been mentioned. But, I mean, you get the general idea, right?

[@RubelliteFae]

@@LetsGoGetThem Technically none of them would be able to talk. Their respective hyoid bones are in the wrong place in their throat. A Neanderthal could at best sound like a babbling infant, but in a lower register.

[@RubelliteFae]

Same

[@LetsGoGetThem]

@@RubelliteFae Depends on what you mean by talk, is it just through the mouth or communication in general? They could "talk" through other ways, but yeah. That neanderthals couldn't talk is news to me, there is evidence of some community with Neanderthals and even some cave paintings purported to be by them, so they must of had some way to communicate. Regardless we're talking about giants here, neanderthals in ASOAIF are not the same as the ones in real life by virtue of homo sapiens not being able to interbreed.

[@energeticwave5437]

Long live Preston Jacobs and the mighty Trey!

[@yensid4294]

This was really fun, thanks for taking the time to make it. 👍

[@theM4R4T]

Excellent video. It's great that you put so much thought into it, like remembering that Craster wasn't only sacrificing his sons, and that you didn't shy from the idea that the Others might not be at all like in the show. Aliens even. Btw I have no doubt aliens exist in aSoIaF, atleast in form of deities the characters worship. George RR Martin has written a great short story called "Dark, Dark were the Tunnels" that is about a post-apocalyptic human that lives beneath the ground having an encounter with what in the end turn out to be drastically different humans. Another thought I had is that the Others are more like ghosts or projections, not truly physical. They leave no foot prints, can be almost invisible and their swords are sharper than razors. This sounds almost like the shadows Melisandre gives birth to. "Perhaps it had only been a bird, a reflection on the snow, *some trick of the moonlight.* What had he seen, after all?"