Post by DarkSister1001 on May 25, 2018 23:07:26 GMT
Something is nagging at me. The term "white shadow". It describes the Kingsguard, Ghost and mostly the Others.
The Kings/Queensguard:
Ser Mandon Moore - Brought to KL by Jon Arryn and made a member of the KG by Robert Baratheon, he tried to kill Tyrion during the battle of the blackwater. Not well loved or respected.
Ser Balon Swann - He's appeared in all the books. By all accounts he's honest and a "true" knight. He even speaks up for Tyrion. He is tasked with sneaking Myrcella back from Dorne.
Ser Barristan Selmy - Served Areys, Robert and Dany. Tried to tell Dany that Ned Stark gave up handship over an argument with Robert regarding her. Loved Ashara Dayne.
Ghost:
The Others:
Kings/Queensguard are protectors. Ghost protects Jon. Can we guess, within reason, that the Others are protecting someone/something?
Sers Moore, Swann and Selmy could technically all be called betrayers. Will Ghost betray Jon? Was there a betrayal with the Others?
KG/QG protect royalty. The Others may have done the same with their Night King (possible brother to the KitN). R+L=J (bastard or not, he'd have kingsblood).
Is it about their purity?
Is there something that these 3 share that helps us better understand the story and possibly the future? Or is it simply the chosen adjectives?
The Kings/Queensguard:
Tyrion drove into the gap hard on the king's hooves. Bronn kept pace, sword in hand. A jagged rock flew past his head as he rode, and a rotten cabbage exploded against Ser Mandon's shield. To their left, three gold cloaks went down under the surge, and then the crowd was rushing forward, trampling the fallen men. The Hound had vanished behind, though his riderless horse galloped beside them. Tyrion saw Aron Santagar pulled from the saddle, the gold-and-black Baratheon stag torn from his grasp. Ser Balon Swann dropped the Lannister lion to draw his longsword. He slashed right and left as the fallen banner was ripped apart, the thousand ragged pieces swirling away like crimson leaves in a stormwind. In an instant they were gone. Someone staggered in front of Joffrey's horse and shrieked as the king rode him down. Whether it had been man, woman, or child Tyrion could not have said. Joffrey was galloping at his side, whey-faced, with Ser Mandon Moore a white shadow on his left. ACoK, Tyrion IX
Madness followed. His horse had broken a leg and was screaming horribly. Somehow he managed to draw his dagger, and slit the poor creature's throat. The blood gushed out in a scarlet fountain, drenching his arms and chest. He found his feet again and lurched to the rail, and then he was fighting, staggering and splashing across crooked decks awash with water. Men came at him. Some he killed, some he wounded, and some went away, but always there were more. He lost his knife and gained a broken spear, he could not have said how. He clutched it and stabbed, shrieking curses. Men ran from him and he ran after them, clambering up over the rail to the next ship and then the next. His two white shadows were always with him; Balon Swann and Mandon Moore, beautiful in their pale plate. Surrounded by a circle of Velaryon spearmen, they fought back to back; they made battle as graceful as a dance. ACoK, Tyrion XIV
When he raised his head, his eyes were red and raw as open sores. Dany glimpsed Ser Barristan sliding closer, a white shadow at her side. The man approached in a stumbling shuffle, one step and then another, clutching his sack. Is he drunk, or ill? she wondered. There was dirt beneath his cracked yellow fingernails. ADwD, Dany I
Ser Balon Swann - He's appeared in all the books. By all accounts he's honest and a "true" knight. He even speaks up for Tyrion. He is tasked with sneaking Myrcella back from Dorne.
Ser Barristan Selmy - Served Areys, Robert and Dany. Tried to tell Dany that Ned Stark gave up handship over an argument with Robert regarding her. Loved Ashara Dayne.
Ghost:
"The watch commander tells me I must walk, to keep my blood from freezing, but he never said how fast."
They walked, with Ghost pacing along beside Jon like a white shadow. "I leave on the morrow," Tyrion said.
"I know." Jon sounded strangely sad. AGoT, Tyrion III
They walked, with Ghost pacing along beside Jon like a white shadow. "I leave on the morrow," Tyrion said.
"I know." Jon sounded strangely sad. AGoT, Tyrion III
Jon donned his cloak and strode outside. He made the rounds of Castle Black each day, visiting the men on watch and hearing their reports first hand, watching Ulmer and his charges at the archery butts, talking with king's men and queen's men alike, walking the ice atop the Wall to have a look at the forest. Ghost padded after him, a white shadow at his side. ADwD, Jon II
Ahead he glimpsed a pale white trunk that could only be a weirwood, crowned with a head of dark red leaves. Jon Snow reached back and pulled Longclaw from his sheath. He looked to right and left, gave Satin and Horse a nod, watched them pass it on to the men beyond. They rushed the grove together, kicking through drifts of old snow with no sound but their breathing. Ghost ran with them, a white shadow at Jon's side. ADwD, Jon VII
The Others:
Will saw movement from the corner of his eye. Pale shapes gliding through the wood. He turned his head, glimpsed a white shadow in the darkness. Then it was gone. Branches stirred gently in the wind, scratching at one another with wooden fingers. Will opened his mouth to call down a warning, and the words seemed to freeze in his throat. Perhaps he was wrong. Perhaps it had only been a bird, a reflection on the snow, some trick of the moonlight. What had he seen, after all? AGoT, Prologue
The Lord Commander reached up to pinch its beak shut, but the raven hopped up on his head, fluttered its wings, and flew across the chamber to light above a window. "Grief and noise," Mormont grumbled. "That's all they're good for, ravens. Why I put up with that pestilential bird … if there was news of Lord Eddard, don't you think I would have sent for you? Bastard or no, you're still his blood. The message concerned Ser Barristan Selmy. It seems he's been removed from the Kingsguard. They gave his place to that black dog Clegane, and now Selmy's wanted for treason. The fools sent some watchmen to seize him, but he slew two of them and escaped." Mormont snorted, leaving no doubt of his view of men who'd send gold cloaks against a knight as renowed as Barristan the Bold. "We have white shadows in the woods and unquiet dead stalking our halls, and a boy sits the Iron Throne," he said in disgust. AGoT, Jon VIII
"What gods?" Jon was remembering that they'd seen no boys in Craster's Keep, nor men either, save Craster himself.
"The cold gods," she said. "The ones in the night. The white shadows." ACoK, Jon III
"The cold gods," she said. "The ones in the night. The white shadows." ACoK, Jon III
"We do not ride for the Wall. We ride north, after Mance Rayder and these Others, these white shadows and their wights. We seek them, Gilly. Your babe would not be safe with us." ACoK, Jon III
"Come with me," said Sam. "Maester Aemon's woken up and wants to hear about these dragons. He's talking about bleeding stars and white shadows and dreams and . . . if we could find out more about these dragons, it might help give him ease. Help me." AFfC, Sam III
Kings/Queensguard are protectors. Ghost protects Jon. Can we guess, within reason, that the Others are protecting someone/something?
Sers Moore, Swann and Selmy could technically all be called betrayers. Will Ghost betray Jon? Was there a betrayal with the Others?
KG/QG protect royalty. The Others may have done the same with their Night King (possible brother to the KitN). R+L=J (bastard or not, he'd have kingsblood).
Is it about their purity?
Is there something that these 3 share that helps us better understand the story and possibly the future? Or is it simply the chosen adjectives?