The Source of Magic in Westeros Explained | HOTD/ASOIAF Theory

What is the Source of Magic in A Song of Ice and Fire? ... I think I may know.
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Gray Area's video on Dragon Control: • How do the Targaryen's...
Joe Magician's Video on GRRM's past work influencing the creation of the White Walkers: • 🧙 The Surprising Sourc...
Disputed Lands Valyrian Steel Video: • Creating VALYRIAN STEE...
Disputed Lands Video on the location of the soul: • This Explains So Much ...
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CHANNEL ART by Michael Klarfeld
Link to Michael Klarfeld's art website-- www.klaradox.de/en
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Art Credited:
Azor Ahai thrusts Lightbringer into Nissa Nissa's breast, by Amok
Weirwood: The Heart Tree fan art by Wolverrain
The Gathering Wilderness by Enthing
Bran Stark by TeiIkuWatch
SOUL ENLIGHTENMENT Aronvisuals
Ruby of Rhllor by R-Valle
White Walkers Redesign by Kevin Jick Design
Bran Stark by TeiIku on DeviantArt
Ice and Fire by AliceMeichi
Ancient Valyria by megaduce
Dragonlord art by - Magali Villeneuve
Bran Stark by Stanley Lau
Varamyr Sixskins and his animals, by Elena María Vacas
Sage X by rafalnguyenkhac
Ghost by Artem Demura
Night's King and his Queen by Curtana,
King Of A Frozen World by BenjaminHaley
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Keywords: Weirwood, soul, Game of Thrones, House of the dragon, hotd, TWOW, A Song of Ice and Fire, fire and blood, Fire & blood, asoiaf, asoiaf theory, asoiaf theories, targaryen, Azor Ahai, Nissa Nissa, season 2, episode 1, George RR Martin, white walkers, long night, GRRM, ASOIAF History, ASOIAF Mystery, Valyria, history and lore, Dance of the Dragons, premiere, on July 16, Rhaenyra, Aegon, Targaryen, Harrenhal, Criston, Dragonstone, Oldtown, hotd season 2, hotd season two, house of the dragon season 2, team black, team green, house of the dragon lore,
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[@TheDisputedLands]

‼PLEASE Leave a LIKE and a COMMENT... it REALLY DOES HELP‼Let me know your thoughts or just leave an emoji to let me know you were here. After you comment, CHECK OUT MY NEWEST VIDEO here ---> kzbin.info/www/bejne/aKaboox7gqimi7s

[@last7509]

same place it comes from in our world. "the gods"

[@arkyark8]

Fantastic video, thank you! I'd like to add that Carl Jung talks about the Shadow Self. Although he speaks of the shadow in relation to the psyche, I think it's worth noting.

[@worldadventuretravel]

Between this show and other fan channels talking about how terrible the reigns of all the subsequent Aegons after the Dance were, the whole story is really about how the Targaryens and the world of Westeros continually regressed all the way until GOT season 8 when Dany decides to burn it all down and start over. Ultimately, I wonder how long I'm even going to keep watching series based in this world. HOTD is interesting for now, but it's a story that we all know the ending to already. Then HBO is doing yet another two spinoffs of the same Targaryen storyline after that, also stories we already know the ending to. It's not like any of this ever gets better. Personally, I'd rather have shows about Essos. It's a far more interesting continentk with even cooler magic. With material like Asshai and Yi Ti, it really seems like a missed opportunity that HBO isn't directing its resources to more robust storylines, including more than just one family, and that don't all just end in disaster. Or at least give us something about The Long Night or the Children of the Forest. The Targaryens are a dumpster fire from start to finish.

[@shaharbarnett]

1

[@JoeMagician]

It's not everyday someone recommends that old video on the Night King's power, but it's a welcome one. Should probably remake it at some point, especially after watching this.

[@TheDisputedLands]

Its a great vid.... and important to understand when examining GRRM's conceptualization of how magic is applied. Its an important contribution to the fandom and Im grateful you made it!

[@leokaptra]

It's an incredible video. The research and presentation are EVERYTHING HUNTY 😚🤌❤️

[@highjinx6519]

Link please?

[@highjinx6519]

Is that the one linked in the description? Sorry hadn’t gotten that far yet.

[@prurido]

​@@highjinx6519 it is 👍

[@eric2500]

One thing I will always love about the main series is how the magic levels rise gradually in a world of skepticism about magic. Weird stuff happens with out explanation. What does it mean? We wonder, ritght along with the POV characters. It's elegant.

[@TheDisputedLands]

subdued and elegant... completely agree!

[@eric2500]

Company of the Cat has a good one postulating that the mutant stillborns among the dragon riding families is a sort of downpayment sacrifice for the dragon affinity.

[@unavela]

Did the dragon rider families do incest like the targaryens or was that just a targ thing? Bc if they did it too it would probably just be genetics

[@totsheh1207]

@@unavela it’s all dragon lord families! They talk about it in fire and blood, it’s just kind of a Old Valeria thing. They wanted to keep the dragon blood “pure”

[@unavela]

@@totsheh1207 oh, so yeah, definitely not magic those fucked up babies, just genetics

[@misanthropicservitorofmars2116]

Doing blood magic can’t have positive effects on your genetics.

[@Knight-Bishop]

I always liked the theory that dragons aren't natural, they were created by crossing the animalistic, dinosaur-like wyverns from Sothoryos with the fire wyrms beneath Valyria, and humans themselves, with blood magic. That the bond is because they are genuinely related to Valyrians by blood, that maybe the first dragons were literally birthed from human Valyrians like Melissandre's shadow baby, and that it came at a cost of permanent changes like the eyes and hair, but also defects, like occasionally causing draconic stillbirths, particularly when there are too many inbred generations in a row. Like they want to stay "pure" to keep whatever power or bond is in their blood, but they also have to go outside the family tree every so often just to keep their lines going.

[@Hochspitz]

"Only life pays for death." Magic is dangerous, it does seems to require souls. The prologues are all so revealing.

[@last7509]

it comes from the same place as our world. possession....

[@saymyname2417]

Human sacrifice.

[@eldric.stoneskin]

I completely agree that all magic is based on the transfer of the spirt/soul into another being or object and you presented it very well, and I think the most interesting suggestion is the transfer of the soul into stone: - The Children say their spirit goes "into the stones and into the trees" - The Children have "Gods of Forrest and stone" as well, suggesting souls inside stone which are seen as Old Gods too - And the Children do have stone columns with faces (suggesting souls inside) beneath the Rainwood which could be these Old Gods of Stone - The Weirwoods even turn into stone, suggesting souls residing inside stone yet again - And even Danys waking of her dragons implies the transfer of life into stone eggs too And I think this ability to transfer the soul into stone, in addition to the kiss of life transferring the soul explains: - the Shrouded Lord who was stone statue and was kissed to life - The Grey King and the Iron born drowning ritual in which people are blessed with stone and kissed to life - Berric who is described as “Still as stone” and is kissed to life - Catelyn who came back as Lady STONEheart when she was kissed to life Suggesting to me a soul could be transferred into a stone body (eg, a Greyscaled body) and allow them to rise again harder and stronger... Amazing video again Amanda, once again proving your the best out there mate 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

[@TheDisputedLands]

Check out Joe Magician's video on Whisper Jewels, gems are basically stones and Martin utilized the concept of souls in stones in Nightflyers BIG TIME.

[@KarlKarsnark]

...and how does GRRM describe being "soulless"?....by having a "Stone Heart"., an expression we use IRL. Then there's all the "heart stone", "heart tree", play on words, as well. See you at the upcoming all-star Livestream! \m/

[@Americandragonrider333.]

I love that George Martin made magic something you have to work for, and not everyone can have control of it! It makes it more powerful and even spiritual! It’s awesome!

[@TheDisputedLands]

absolutely!

[@viniciusvyller9458]

Some other interesting stones in ASOIAF: -Dawn is forged from a meteor, a stone that fell from the sky; -The Gemstone Emperors of Yi Ti, and the "black stone that fell from the sky"; -All the items made of oily black stone, special attention to Yeen in Sothoryos, "a place so evil not even the jungle will enter".

[@TheDisputedLands]

definitely check out Joe Magician's whisper jewels video... very enlightening regarding the use of stones in GRRM's past works.

[@SantomPh]

Asshai is also made of the greasy black stone, and seems eerily evil 24/7

[@LNGD_46]

The varamyr sixskins chapter where his soul took a rollercoaster after he tried to warg thistle is one of my favourite chapter.

[@TheDisputedLands]

It's like a skinchanger user manual without the weird diagrams!!

[@LNGD_46]

@@TheDisputedLands can't wait for Jon to take the same rollercoaster 😂

[@thomasj3701]

Videos like this are why this is one of my very favorite channels overall and my very favorite ASOIAF channel.

[@TheDisputedLands]

Awe! thank you so much!

[@KarlKarsnark]

EPIC! as usual. GRRM loves his wordplay and the interchangeable use of terms like "stone heart", "heart stone", "heart wood", "petrified wood", "living rock/stone", "stone men", "stone statues that are "alive" within the crypts", etc....etc....clearly demonstrates the connection between these two seemingly opposing symbols (ice and fire, if you will). The concept of the "Soul Tree" crops up in many IRL myths and plays a huge roll in the "Elden Ring" video game where the "Erdtree"(Earth tree) houses many powerful souls, and Tolkien's use of his twin trees and the white tree of Gondor also act as "soul symbols", not to mention all of the Norse and Biblical mythological allusions, as well. Jewels like rubies, sapphires, obsidian, crystal, etc....indicate especially powerful/magical items. Virtually all of the "Big Magic" seems to incorporate them, or use gem-based language in some way. The White Walkers themselves are even said to be crystalline and "shatter" like glass/gems when killed and ice has many similar properties to stone/crystal, while obsidian is "solidified fire" a "fire stone", so to speak(Feurstein in German, which is itself a version of "Ruby"/Rubenstein...."Bloodstones") (Ice and Fire). Many "special" also characters have "gem eyes" and the glass candles are uber-magical cut glass/gem/crystals in their own right. Even all of the "oily black stone" and "fused black stone" are indicative of "supernatural"/magical forces at work on "rocks". The depictions of Old Valyria in the World Book also show very "crystalline" structures and architecture, which I assume GRRM had to sign off on to some extent, and the High Septon has a staff with a crystal prism atop it. Clearly special rocks have special powers and are vital to many magical processes. Metals, including various forms of steel, are technically crystalline structures, as well, which makes them more similar to gems/rocks than something like wood, or plastics, and it does seem clear that blood is one of the required ingredients to create VS from scratch. (Get it? "scratch", bleeding, magic....) Using a term like "blood magic" is major clue as to the connection between souls(living energy/blood energy) and magic itself. When Dany consumes the raw, bloody horse heart, her soul is also "re-born" as Khaleesi, proving once again "You are what you eat" ;) The entire concept of "Only Death can pay for Life", reflects this same basic principal of blood/soul based magic. "You cant get something for nothing.", especially magic. The more powerful the magic, the more blood/soul is required to pay for it. As you noted, The House of the Undying is based almost entirely on people willingly giving up their soul/life, so that the Faceless Men can use them for their various magical purposes, and it seems to require constant replenishment. Valar Morghulis....(or the FM are out of business). White Walkers also need living babies to perpetuate their magic/create more WWs. Only Life can pay for Death, so to speak. Can't wait for the upcoming All-Star Livestream on the 22nd! 3 of my favs together at last. \m// Cheers & Tschuss!

[@TheDisputedLands]

Your comments always have so much meat, I need to digest them, love it. exactly its all how everything is harnessed and the ways the soul is used. I too am very excited for the livestream, we are birds of a feather so it should be some great discussion for sure.

[@eric2500]

Karl, wait, what? the FM offer an ez death with their poisoned pool, that's their source, not the House of the Undying, where the shall we call it the "intake" of souls to feed their sorcery seems far less voluntary! AS in people seeking knowlege of the future in order to gain power have some or all of their souls sucked away to give soul power to the ancient vampires who perhaps were once people of great political power, great wealth, or both, Dany's vision on the vampires is of them as they once were as living people, perhaps. Tschuss from the Ooo Ess Ah!

[@pyramidion5911]

The guy who reforges Ice has a sapphire the size of a pigeon egg. Cersei has a emerald pendant, Daenerys is given an amethyst amulet, Mel has her ruby, and I think the Dragon on Dorans cyvasse board is an onyx gemstone with magical properties (maybe it's even the toad stone but that's another story) there are more characters with gems and I think the gems are actually changing the people using them, just like valyrian steel makes it's user's blood thirsty.

[@KarlKarsnark]

@@pyramidion5911 Great catch! There are tons of magic stones/gems once you start looking. I didn't even get to all the stuff in the East either. Cheers!

[@KarlKarsnark]

@@TheDisputedLands I've been hoping you and CC would do a collab at some point, and the Gods have made it so. Should be good fun. Cheers!

[@Marjoss1]

13:00 love the shoutout to Grey Area! When two queens link up to maximize their joint slay

[@TheDisputedLands]

absolutely!

[@Hawkenshmire]

Hotd season 2 has brought me back to watching lore vids and this is a good start 😊

[@TheDisputedLands]

Glad you enjoyed it and welcome back to the world of Westeros!

[@AndrewK23777]

Great vid as always Amanda. You continually show you are one of the best minds in this community. Very interesting stuff as usual , the "soul" connection between magical mediums - be it the Weirwood Network as a soul collective & skin-changing and green sight , FM magic via the faces , the Others' magic (which fittingly seems like dark versions of the CotF magic and makes all the more sense if CotF created) , dragon-bonding , shadow-binding , R'hllorist magic , blood magic and beyond. To me really plays into the idea that magic is commonly sourced and a magical nexus of sorts in GRRM's universe. There seems so many genuine inter-connections and overlap between the differing magical mediums. Many of them there is a blood component (nearly all of them tbh) , all feature sacrifice / cost , numerous offer types of resurrections and many are prophetic vehicles etc. Those with prophetic abilities via different magical mediums often foresee the same things and often the practitioners can even see each other in those visions even via different types of magic. Many similarities between other magical abilities from different types of magic as well, a lot of which discussed in this vid. The soul as a prevalent component via different types of magic and varying magical abilities gives further credence to the commonly sourced / magical nexus concept in ASoIaF. Well done as usual , you are one of the best discovering such evidence for a concept and being able to expand upon it. Great vid as usual and look forward to more of your content on the way.

[@TheDisputedLands]

awesome! thank you for checking it out. Its all soul magic the only differences being how it is harnessed.

[@AndrewK23777]

@@TheDisputedLands agreed , it seems a magical nexus ,commonly sourced and considerable overlap ; the different types of magic are essentially different ways to tap into and use that same shared magical source.

[@TheDisputedLands]

@@AndrewK23777 exactly!

[@dontrunlikethat]

this is already one of my favourite ASOIAF videos

[@TheDisputedLands]

Yay! Thank you

[@GreyWasteTim]

Jon is having wolf dreams as well. He is having the same issues opening his third eye that Bran had. Jon doesn't even know he has a third eye to open. But death and resurrection may be the thing to pry it open and Jon will go Super Saiyan.

[@TheDisputedLands]

Exactly. His soul will go the ringer so to speak, and he will come back transformed its just how GRRM says, his characters lose a piece of themselves. He will come back changed.

[@CompanyOfTheCat]

Great video❤ I am of the same beliefs about magic, and I think that is why the religion of R'hllor is so fascinating to me. Melisandre's fear of death and how she truly believes that they have to beat death so they can live eternally, but death is the only way for their magic. Souls and spirits look like they almost "feed" the elements, fire included, remove that and their power is heavily diminishes.

[@CompanyOfTheCat]

To be completely honest the Lightbringer I think is Drogon. The moon is something we see often when eggs are involved and a cracked moon sounds like a cracked egg. The "Wake dragons from stone " also parallels Excalibur and the sword in the stone, all in all, I think that VS for sure traps the soul but Lightbringer sounds much more unique than that and dragonsteel is still not as strong as dragons or fire, plus Drogon's egg was placed next to Drogo's heart.

[@TheDisputedLands]

I'm working on something about fire and souls, its so important especially with the hatching of Danny's dragon and even blackfyre in aegon's pyre!!

[@eric2500]

@@TheDisputedLands It grieves me to differ from either of you, it just seems as if the blood magic/ soul magic works with ANY element at all - ice, fire, water, earth, stone, wood (weirwood)!

[@Magmafrost13]

Something Ive been thinking about in the potential link between green dreams and dragon dreams: Every dragon dream prophecy from Daenys onward was leading towards stopping a second Long Night, so presumably that goes backwards in time from Daenys as well (Daenys was taken seriously, so presumably the Old Varyians knew about dragon dreams). But why would a Valyian magical phenomenon be so focused on a Children of the Forest issue, unless there was some now-forgotten connection between the Children and Valyria. I suspect the Children who used to exist in Essos may have played a role in the creation of dragons and Valyrians for the specific purpose of stopping the Others, and thus Valyrian magic is a divergent subset of Old Gods magic

[@TheDisputedLands]

Actually, I can answer that, but its an upcoming video. Take a look at where a soul goes when a body is cremated then read Danny's wake the dragon dream and you will have your answer.

[@noahh2338]

Great video, it's criminal that you don't have at least 100k subs! You deserve it, high quality content!.

[@TheDisputedLands]

Thank you so much!

[@jrod5504]

I wonder if the magic is changed somehow when a soul is taken/used against its will. Valyrian steel swords clashing together are supposed to sound like screams. Obviously this could be the souls in the blades screaming in pain, but I wonder if it would be different if the souls in the blades were given freely and willingly. Great video.

[@TheDisputedLands]

I think it is another hint Lightbringer was made with a magic similar to valyrian steel as it was said the she had a cry of anguish and ectasy

[@jrod5504]

@@TheDisputedLands I agree, but according to the story she gave herself up freely to create Lightbringer. That could be what makes Lightbringer special and separate from other Valyrian steel swords. The Valyrians certainly used the souls of their slaves to make their steel and all their other magic in an attempt to re-create Lightbringer but they couldn't get it right because those souls were taken by force. At least that's my theory.

[@TheDisputedLands]

yes, but the fact that she did is put into question in the story... "she did this thing, why I cannot say"

[@SteveOnTheEastCoast]

Great analysis as always! GRRM being a former hippie would naturally lead him honoring the SOUL ✌🏾

[@TheDisputedLands]

love it!

[@J_Mock92]

So happy you've been posting again! Definitely one of my favorite ASOIAF channels, and I rewatch/listen to your videos often. I was about to go back to sleep for a bit before work, but I guess that's not happening now... Lol worth it though! ❤

[@TheDisputedLands]

Wow, thank you!

[@J_Mock92]

Also love that you shout out GrayArea and Joe Magician. It's so nice when creators lift up other creators (and I appreciated the image of Willow from BtVS when talking about the "eyes turning" in regards to a change in the soul. No matter how much some people take issue with it, Season 6 has always been my favorite season of Buffy lol)

[@J_Mock92]

​​@@TheDisputedLands of course! It sparks joy in me to see you posting more regularly again, and I'm super pumped for Season 2 of House of the Dragon on Sunday! Woohoo! 😂

[@elliecoffin616]

The only thing worth writing about is the heart in conflict, which really translates beautifully to, The Soul in conflict ❤

[@TheDisputedLands]

exactly!

[@rodneyford6660]

I’ve watched so many videos about magic in asoiaf , this is by far the best one I’ve seen yet.

[@TheDisputedLands]

Thank you!!!

[@saviourly3186]

One thing to add is Mel says that sleep is a little death. Which makes sense if the third eye is more easily opened when asleep

[@TheDisputedLands]

Great observation!

[@julieloucalcote1368]

You are amazing! Your knowledge is ever growing and you explain things so well! Thank you for your devotion to the World of Ice and Fire and for sharing your knowledge with the rest of us!

[@TheDisputedLands]

you are so welcome! Thank you for watching!!!

[@seanhanning1700]

You have the best and most informative ASOIAF videos, always happy to see and hear your insights!

[@TheDisputedLands]

Awe shucks! Thank you!!!

[@TheBigHatLegion]

Just the thing I needed to start my day. Thank you, Crowfoodz Girl. Your videos and work have given me so much. Thank you, from the depths of my old heart.

[@TheDisputedLands]

You are so welcome!

[@matthewperales9912]

Skinchangers don't necessarily become part of everything. When they die their spirit goes into the Weirwood then seeks out and melds with the animal that they were bonded to. In the same prologue you quoted Varamyr muses on his mortality and the "second life" that awaits skinchangers. The soul of the skinchanger and their animal meld and the skinchanger eventually forgets that they were once human. We see this happen with the skinchanger that Jon kills named Orell. His soul lived on in his eagle. Varamyr tells Jon "the bird hates you he was once a man". Varamyr's soul goes into One-eye his oldest wolf after in the prologue it happens right after the quote you mentioned.

[@conniesuper9892]

Thank you for all you do❤ It is always an oasis from a stressful day 💜 watching your videos🎉

[@TheDisputedLands]

Thank you Connie! 🤗

[@zetgeh7210]

Great video as always! This is really breaking down the magic to its basics.

[@TheDisputedLands]

Thank you!

[@CADYALLISON]

Incredible video analysis. Thank you.

[@TheDisputedLands]

My pleasure!

[@krismeaney2841]

One of the best vids on ASOIAF magic! Thank you! You also have a wonderful voice for story telling

[@TheDisputedLands]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@roddammit5510]

Always here for The Disputed Lands. Top shelf as always. Thank you for trying to answer the question all us overthinkers have chewed on. Pretty sure Crowfoods Daughter is tapped into the Weirwood net.

[@TheDisputedLands]

thank you Rod!

[@madnessshipton4235]

This video is truly amazing and well done, thank you for making it!!!

[@TheDisputedLands]

Thank you so much!

[@ronaldmccomb8301]

Informative video as always, Miss Amanda.

[@TheDisputedLands]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@ronaldmccomb8301]

@@TheDisputedLands Always. I do subscribe to the theory all Magic is soul magic in one form or another.

[@reirawho6174]

Thank you CD for this great video! It made me think of Lady Catelyn. When she is resurrected she goes by the name of Lady Stoneheart.

[@TheDisputedLands]

You are so welcome!

[@rid8606]

Great videos, as always. Thanks for the recommendations :)

[@BaldingClamydia]

Earliest I've been to one of your videos! I'm excited for it, your videos are exceptional :D

[@TheDisputedLands]

Yay, thank you!

[@alancastillo7932]

"Like fighting fire with fire"... Got chills from that, fantastic as always!!

[@TheDisputedLands]

Thanks for listening and commenting!!

[@eric2500]

chills? you should have felt a hot flash! 😁

[@yensid4294]

I see magic in Westereros working on 2 different levels. Consciousness (soul) & lifeforce (blood/breath) Blood magic works on lifeforce. Warging works on projecting your consciousness into another living being. Polytheistic pagans did not have a Christian concept of a soul as a single unit but conceieved of it as having multiple parts or aspects. (Some of which stayed in the physcial body after death as an "essence" & that body needed to be preserved in some way & revered as a ritual object to contact the consciousness or spirit of that person for protection, wisdom, etc. Basically ancester worship.) Animism & shamanism believe in a life force that permeates, animates & connects everything. Some, probably most, belief systems have both concepts of a soul & a lifeforce. I think that's what's happening in ASOIAF. The weirwoods become a depository of a collective consciousness that needs to be fed lifeforce. Other magic seems to work on the alchemical principals of mutual exchange (aka sacrifice) like Blood Magic & resurrection. Theoretically you can resurrect or heal someone by giving them lifeforce but not consciousness/soul. In otherwords you can re- animate them but not give them their soul back. Hope this made sense 😅

[@LightningBoltJpS]

Good video. I like how your presentation style has evolved from your earlier videos when you would use that voice effect for reading directly from the text - I always found that kind of disconcerting. Your presentation is much smoother without that or any music playing in the background, sometimes that stuff works but other times it’s just distracting.

[@TheDisputedLands]

I appreciate that! I've definitely been listening to feedback and taking what I can, the comments do help in the evolution of the channel.

[@sit-insforsithis1568]

Thanks again for the gift at Joe magician channel ❤

[@TheDisputedLands]

you are so welcome and thank you for watching and commenting!

[@eric2500]

It seems you can make valerian steel with conventional blood magic, but you cannot make LIGHTBRINGER without a WILLING sacrifice. Watch for that theme to find its way into WOW or DOS.

[@kadymiddleton6699]

So nice to see you posting more videos

[@TheDisputedLands]

Thank you!! More to come!

[@user-xp2gc9dn2g]

George put his face on the trees with magic . Love it .

[@cherylbaxter8986]

3:16 the Wierwood tree looks like George ive not noticed it before as i probably wasn't looking for it Thank you for this enlightening video

[@TheDisputedLands]

funny how he finds his way into the show

[@viridianveritas]

So happy to see a new video! Love your theories.

[@TheDisputedLands]

Yay, thank you!

[@edwardmartin5860]

In tha shadow of tha moon her sarrows bleed.Man Amanda love your vids so much your style of breaking down your theories is totally your own so good.Maya when they sacrificed their victims they would pull out there heart/soul/essence. Heart in vain is a heart in pain.It is often said our children is our heart & soul ❤️ 💯. Thank you 4 your wonderful and awsome vid Amanda your tha best.

[@TheDisputedLands]

Thank you so much Edward!

[@amandaofhouserobinson6707]

Excellent video as always! Thankyou ❤😊

[@bc269]

Another great video. And thanks for highlighting Grey and Joe's videos. I will check them out.

[@TheDisputedLands]

Joe Magician just released another video discussing Dragon Bond as well, definitely a great time to be in the fandom.

[@hfwrose6797]

This is where my thinking is concerning the magic. It’s all blood/soul magic.

[@kmcd3020]

Yay more Amanda vids 🎉

[@JamesPerry-qq1tn]

That was more comprehension than a college class. ❤

[@rikinhouston]

No joke

[@juleswinnfield8556]

Best explanation of the lore I've seen or heard! Thank you! 💜

[@TheDisputedLands]

Wow, thank you!

[@LadyJocelynsBreakfast]

Love it! Thank you for your amazing insight ❤

[@TheDisputedLands]

You are so welcome

[@eric2500]

Most of the cold undeads seem soulless, unlike say, Mel -or even Beric, who seems aware he loses himself a bit each time.

[@amandaofhouserobinson6707]

I wonder if that's because the cold soul less are being controlled. By the WW. ???

[@iitzjellyy]

I love your breakdown. Definitely subscribing.

[@TheDisputedLands]

great! Welcome to the disputed lands!

[@stevex1943]

I'm glad the fantasy elements aren't in your face, makes for a more grounded world to delve into and more relatable in a way as oppose to everyone just spouting magical terms and chucking spells at one another. The characters and the world of Game of Thrones feel more real.

[@eric2500]

Most people in this world only realize that their souls are part of nature when they die the final death, wargs have at least A CHANCE to realize it beforehand.

[@acuteoctogon9303]

Great video as always

[@TheDisputedLands]

Glad you enjoyed!!!

[@MrMobius010]

I wonder how all this ties into Dragons making magic easier? I think there is a second part to it. The soul and a focus. The focus is usually elements like fire for valerian magic or water for the ryonish. But with Dragons even the warlocks had the boost despite not being fire based.

[@TheDisputedLands]

Im going to be doing a video that discusses the comet soon, it should be helpful. I believe most fire magic died after doom. The Targaryen Dragons were the remnants, but the magic of the Old Gods never died out, bloodraven was still doing his thing as the three eyed raven, the faceless men were still doing their thing, Craster had been giving his sons to the white walkers for years, Bloodraven was using glamors, and seemed to have foresight even before becoming the three eyed raven the fire magic died out, but not all magic.

[@Asafdavidson]

Great video again

[@illCMAC]

The magic in ASoIaF is blood magic. Magic is paid for in blood.

[@badpexalpha2873]

Great stuff!

[@TheDisputedLands]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@Skebetine]

Great video!

[@TheDisputedLands]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@eric2500]

All the souls are also the souls of the beasts and the trees themselves...it is known!

[@mrpocock]

I still lean towards the idea that the magic is what's left of the technology of a previous age. An ecosystem-wide nanotech ai. Magic wielders are just people alive who retain some limited ability to interact with the remaining scraps of tech.

[@benfreeman7131]

All your videos are the shit you always get it right on the money great work

[@TheDisputedLands]

Thank you so much!!

[@gustavobarretopassos1020]

I never saw anyone doing a video about it, but most people think about the same magic is the same or connected. So I just thought that is the same dragon dream greensight dragon knight = warg and weirwood= dragons as they keep old souls to reach immortality the difference is the objects used as medium to achive magic

[@SeanLKearns]

I'm encline to believe Syrio never lied to arya, which would mean that death is the root of all magica

[@sarahl7348]

Wooooooowwwww great video!!!!

[@TheDisputedLands]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@maesterzen1046]

great stuff as always! i think this speaks well to the idea that magic could be inherently evil act of power over others - It's like the opposite of the lord of the rings, it's not sad and tragic that magic dies out, but something necessary for progress.

[@TheDisputedLands]

well said!

[@BlantronA]

How has YT never suggested this channel?! What do you think the differences are between blood and soul sacrifice? They seem different. I can't imagine Euron's upcomimg bloodbath being the same as Nissa Nissa's sacrifice. I could listen to you read the back of a cereal box

[@TheDisputedLands]

Euron's Blood bath is a soul sacrifice in return for another soul. I do have videos on both topics... Enjoy! kzbin.info/www/bejne/m57FenufhZuJmqs kzbin.info/www/bejne/maTKgYOmp8mGh6c

[@BDnevernind]

I think you mixed some show lore into the section about white walkers' control of wights, no? It hasn't been established in the books that killing a walker eliminates it's wights, and in fact if I'm not mistaken doesn't Sam kill a walker and then like a dozen wights still surround him? Great video I just can't tell if you're mixing canons.

[@BDnevernind]

Hmmm I think I'm mixing up Sam's incidents, in the case whee he gets surrounded and needs saving by cold hands he kills a wight. But I'm still not sure the book cannon includes this dependency connection.

[@YarPirates-vy7iv]

Good point. In the book Sam kills a solo white walker on the march from the Fist to Craster's. He is surrounded by wights later, after he and Gilly head out from Craster's, no white walker visible. Maybe they were unrelated, as it was a bit of time between the events. We just don't know really.

[@corro202]

Awesome video.

[@TheDisputedLands]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@rikinhouston]

So great, thank you 👌

[@TheDisputedLands]

Thank you too!

[@CrimsonTemplar2]

Excellent video. Also… Weirwood paste is people!

[@TheDisputedLands]

weirwood paste is absolutely people! cheers!

[@eric2500]

Well, after all Jojen's dreams were (soylent) green...

[@Coretnor]

"Another name for a weirwood is a 'heart tree' which isn't the most straightforward name." Ummmm that is like the most literally straightforward name possible.....

[@Loreweavver]

Its nanomachines, son. I'm not even joking. This will never be revealed but this is the answer of all the magic in weteros. Extra terrestrial nanomachines.

[@Karsielatee]

Great theory 👍🏿

[@TheDisputedLands]

Thank you!

[@jrvanvoo]

Damn I never thought about ASOIAF universe being soul magic but the universe I've been building for a decade has similar magic. In my universe all magic done must consume some soul energy whether that be through the casters themselves or by the sacrifice of another's essence.

[@andrewpequita6569]

Amazing content here

[@TheDisputedLands]

thank you!

[@alhadparashtekar1314]

That deatil about children from Unnatural history was amazing. Are you on Patreon?

[@TheDisputedLands]

Hey thank you! I dont have patreon, but I do have channel memberships available! Members get my videos three days in advance 😊

[@hobbes1887]

We don't have many insights about Martin knowledge on real psychology and psychotherapy. Yes, he is an author capable of good PoV writing. Yes he probably knows a lot about Campbell and the hero's journey. However here i am to point my finger on some deep, queer similarities between ASOIAF magic systems/religions and Jung's theory of the psyche... and possibly the endgame of the series. Let's start with dreams. Deams and symbolic visions (greendreams, dragon dreams, prophetic dreams, glass candle dreams, etc) are a huge part of the ASOIAF magic system. But they are also a fundamental part of Jung studies. Jung noted that the unconscious has a timeless quality. It contains the past, still in living form and reaching far back beyond our conscious memory; it also shapes the future through its inscrutably purposive quality. Vaster than consciousness, which neatly separates events in some presumed causality, the unconscious is always pregnant with a yet to be conscious future - even if that future is at odds with our conscious desires. With his concept of synchronicity, he noted that events separated in space and time are yet related by meaning. And so manifested in dreams through symbols, which are hardly grasped by ego/consciousness. So we can now go and explore the Ego, the conscious realm. The interesting thing is that a domain of pure Ego/Consciousness is present in ASOIAF, and it is the realm of skinchanging (personal consciousness ) and the weirwood net (collective consciousness) . Skinchangers are migrating Egos that can posses other bodies as their own. The Old Gods on the other hand are the disembodied and collective Ego of the Children of the Forest (children, which name is also a reference to the Puer Aeternus, the archetypal immortal god child inside everyone). Than we have the Faceless Men, the men that can assume the PERSONA of anyone ( PERSONA is a kind of mask, the face, designed to make a definite impression upon others, and on the others, to conceal the true nature of the person). Faceless men steal role, looks, mannerism, but inside have no ego, they are hollow, literally "No One". They aren't moving their egos, only wearing the look. Hidden beneath the awareness of the consciousness lies the unconscious. The contents of the unconscious are anything that has been forgotten and or repressed; anything not permitted to integrate into the conscious personality - and these can be positive as well as negative psychic components such as personal qualities, talents, dreams, desires, nightmares, fears, terrors, hatreds, psychic toxins. The darker aspects form ‘The Shadow", the lighter is the Mana. Shadows, in Jung, can be Personal Shadows and Collective Shadows. Personal Shadows resemble really close the shadowbabies created by the shadowbinders. They are psychological projections of the darkest, deepest desires of the person. Like the BLACK shadow of stannis who kills Renly. The shadow personifies everything that the subject refuses to acknowledge about himself. Shadowbinding is a process that brings with it "the danger of falling victim to the shadow ... the black shadow which everybody carries with him, the inferior and therefore hidden aspect of the personality"-resulting in a merger with the shadow. According to Jung, the shadow sometimes overwhelms a person's actions; for example, when the conscious mind is shocked, confused, or paralyzed by indecision. "A man who is possessed by his shadow is always standing in his own light and falling into his own traps" But we also have a Collective Shadow. The Shadow of society, the shadow of human race. The Collective Shadow is humanity's dark side. It is the sum total of past and present atrocities, cruelties, tragedies, and horrors perpetrated by humankind and stored at a deep, unconscious level. To me, the Collective shadow of Men are... The Others . The WHITE Shadows. Or, if you want, the GREAT OTHER. They are in-human, alien, not of flesh and blood but of ice. Nevertheless they look human, they skinchange (not living things but dead bodies), they talk, laugh and fight. In essence, the collective shadow is the combined projection of the shadow of every human ever lived. And it has remained in darkness and growing deeper, darker and larger for a very long time. Imagine the collective shadow as an invisible but very real potent energy force made up by the antithesis of humanity. Imagine this, locked up, removed from westeros. Not in the underworld, not under the earth, but in the far North, removed, isolated, brooding by a barrier. Like a HUGE magical ice wall that divides physically and mentally (jon struggles to sense Ghost while the wall stands in the middle) a continent. The majority of the population are oblivious to its existence and potential danger, going about their daily lives with no awareness of what is on the other side and what is about to occur. Sooner or later, the pressure builds to such a level that it can no longer be contained, and the wall explodes - leaving everyone in complete shock, and catastrophic death and destruction in its wake. And when the collective shadow is huge enough, it casts a LONG NIGHT. Sensitive people can feel the collective shadow; are aware of its existence. This is why many people have had feelings, insights, dreams, that something big was coming this year. Jung himself viewed the World Wars as expressions/projections of the collective shadow and he was so intuitive that he dreamt of and sensed the war drawing near way before it was evident to others. Those attuned to Mother Nature, the environment and the animal kingdom, knew that we were reaching a tolerance point. And so are a lot of men in Planetos. And now we are arrinving to the last, but not least, part. The Manic aspect of the unconscious psyche. The most famous of Jung's concepts: the Archetypes. And yes i'm talking about the Faith of the seven. The Father, the Mother, the Warrior, the Maiden, the Smith, the Crone, and the Stranger are 100% junghian archetypes. The role of the Faith was to stop the Ego driven Old Religion, to encourage the Men to discover their true selves. Sadly septons became politicians and the Faith lost its way. But what does it mean, why GRRM would ever structure is supernatural world like that? Well, we know that his preferred narratives are anti-war narratives. And for Jung, the psychological process to overcome the conflicts between the ego, the shadow, the mana, and the dreams is the process of acceptance and INTEGRATION.

[@TheDisputedLands]

that's very interesting, I reaserched some of Jung's writings when writing this video. thank you for the thoughtful comment, definitely something to chew on. Thank you for watching!

[@hobbes1887]

@@TheDisputedLands thank you too for the kind answer

[@Eres1984]

Yes! 💯

[@DarrenMoore-le6pg]

I personally would like to know more about the water wizards of the Rhoynar.

[@Americandragonrider333.]

You should do an episode about Septon Barth! The best Hand of the King ever, in my opinion!

[@TheDisputedLands]

History of Westeros has the Best Septon Barth Episode its a must see!

[@Americandragonrider333.]

Very good idea! I’m checking him out now, and I’ve subscribed to him to!

[@TheDisputedLands]

@@Americandragonrider333. Radio westeros is also amazing, their doom of Valyria episode is chef's kiss!

[@ndus3us214]

IF you read the books, you'll realize the Martin is not consistent in his magic. He would drop entire storylines because he could not rectify the magic involved with it with magic in other storylines. He cannot keep his magic ordered, thus he says he like to keep it mysterious (makes it easy to keep changing its boundaries). Martin needed a good editor to really make his books better. The books as written are just got messier with each book in the series.

[@TheDisputedLands]

I definitely try reading the books next time, great suggestion. Thanks for the feedback and thanks for watching and commenting.😉🤗

[@shanenolan5625]

Thanks Amanda haven't had time to watch, till

[@stephaniecruz4153]

Ouuu I’m wat hung this again in a quiet house haha. This is meaty 🙌🏽🙌🏽🙌🏽

[@TheDisputedLands]

Hope you enjoyed it! Tried to make it as short as possible and its over 30 minutes.

[@stephaniecruz4153]

Can you tell I was still waking up? 😅 no! I love your longer videos!!! Deep dives are everything 🙌🏽

[@MrBriguy99]

Best channel

[@TheDisputedLands]

Thank you sir!

[@DD-ok2pt]

So Ned was sacrificed in order to reforge Ice into two swords.

[@TheDisputedLands]

Not quite. Definitely check out my vid on valyrian steel

[@godKiller.369]

The whole concept of the Faith of the Seven seem to be to facilitate the "low magic" setting by supressing general interest in magic among the population and hinder the masters`s study in it - conveniently both centered historically in Oldtown.

[@TheDisputedLands]

you should watch my vid on leyton hightower. I think you'd like it.

[@DarkSunGwyn]

very interesting video! which got me thinking, if souls can willingly be given to pay the price for power, maybe they can also be forcibly taken? which could explain the scaly stillbirths targaryens sometimes experience, or the targaryen madness. maybe they're cruel and, ehem, heartless, because those very hearts are missing a soul. maybe that's why half the dragon eggs never hatch, their souls being already spent.

[@TheDisputedLands]

Hey, thanks for watching and commenting. Ive got a question because you are the second person to mention willing sacrifices and was wondering if this is stemming from a video or theory about lightbringer.

[@DarkSunGwyn]

@@TheDisputedLands no I just worded that pretty poorly, my bad. I meant people who willingly sacrifice their loyal subjects or part of their own soul, or their own daughter. like our boy stannis baratheon! so I think it's fair to say they are sacrifices willingly given

[@TheDisputedLands]

I believe Magic may play a part... if you recall, Visenya had a really hard time getting pregnant, but she was also a reputed sorceress and maegor's conception was a little sketch... right? Then ALL of his kids he tried to conceive were dragonbabies. Danny had the "bloodmagic" done on Rhaego and what happened... dragonbaby. Rhaenyra is uncertain but there is a weird tie in because what did she name her child?... Visenya. So I think there was some magic stuff going on around even though we dont know what that might have been... If the Valyrians are the product of bloodmagic it makes other magic going on might mess up the equation and make things come out wrong.

[@eric2500]

Upcoming al star live stream? (mentioned by Karl Karlsnark) WHERE/ WHEN?

[@TheDisputedLands]

june 22nd 8am central, me eldric stoneskin and company of the cat.

[@leokaptra]

FUCK YEAH A NEW DISPUTED LANDS VIDEO 🔥🤘😆🤘🔥 I really appreciate GRRM's magic system I feel that it's a mixture of both hard and soft systems and I find it very refreshing tbh

[@TheDisputedLands]

thank you!!!

[@rushnafwadud]

I doubt Barth’s excerpt on the Children and ravens is from Unnatural Histories. He wrote more than one book.

[@TheDisputedLands]

"Though considered disreputable in this, our present day, a fragment of Septon Barth's Unnatural History has proved a source of controversy in the halls of the Citadel. Claiming to have consulted with texts said to be preserved at Castle Black, Septon Barth put forth that the children of the forest could speak with ravens and could make them repeat their words." The World of Ice and Fire - Ancient History: The Dawn Age

[@rushnafwadud]

@@TheDisputedLands ah. Thank you for clearing that up. Wow, this makes things so much more chaotic.

[@ms.anthropik]

Can someone tell me how dragon glass can be used against the white walkers when dragon glass is what made the first walker?

[@TheDisputedLands]

Hi there! Joe Magician covers this in his video I recommended!

[@privatechannel8462]

I really enjoyed the books,but, as a fantasy it's week. It only includes minor fantasy when it remembers.