That bolded reminds me more of fAegon--trying to take out Usurpers/betrayers--and planning to piece together an army to take the Iron Throne. More so than of Jon. . .
But, given Leaf's talk of walking in the time of the dragon, the idea that the Green Men would take an interest in the Dance, that they might try to minimize the damage or something--that is an interesting concept indeed.
I had not thought about Aegon, but yes he could be the target; he is far from the story now, but not for long.
The green men, or those they protect, could have called in the Targaryens - by feeding the pre-Doom dream - to bring some unity to westeros. If that is the case, having opened the dragon box, they'd need to keep it under some control.
Last Edit: Aug 10, 2016 22:26:54 GMT by arrysfleas
"Arya did not dare take a bath, even though she smelled as bad as Yoren by now, all sour and stinky. Some of the creatures living in her clothes had come all the way from Flea Bottom with her; it didn’t seem right to drown them."
Post by Dornish Neck Tie on Aug 12, 2016 5:17:01 GMT
This is awesome. One addition:
How forgotten is the origin of the crannogmen? We seem to know that they came from a union between humans and CotF? Perhaps it was the Night's King and his Other bride, whose names have been erased from history.
Any living descendant(s) would have had to come up with a new name. "Reed" is one of a few Westerosi names which sound rather like bastard names, almost as if they are names taken by bastards or commoners upon the acquisition of lordship, as a sort of middle finger to the bastard haters. Houses with geographic names fit the bill, like Blackwood, Manderly, Flint.
"No true knight would condone such wanton butchery." "True knights see worse every time they ride to war, wench," said Jaime. "And do worse, yes." Brienne turned the rudder toward the shore. "I'll leave no innocents to be food for crows." "A heartless wench. Crows need to eat as well. Stay to the river and leave the dead alone, woman."
How forgotten is the origin of the crannogmen? We seem to know that they came from a union between humans and CotF? Perhaps it was the Night's King and his Other bride, whose names have been erased from history.
Any living descendant(s) would have had to come up with a new name. "Reed" is one of a few Westerosi names which sound rather like bastard names, almost as if they are names taken by bastards or commoners upon the acquisition of lordship, as a sort of middle finger to the bastard haters. Houses with geographic names fit the bill, like Blackwood, Manderly, Flint.
How forgotten is the origin of the crannogmen?
all we have to go on is this cryptic (aren't they all?) phrase from Jojen:
'We remember the First Men in the Neck, and the children of the forest who were their friends'
I have a theory about their origin but it is not ready yet, so it is staying wrapped in the tinfoil provided by the Modheartherators.
However, we can expect that not all FM's warred with the children, some would have been their friends. The name Reed may relate to their surroundings as you mention, just like the Blackwoods or the Flints.Also you'd think that there is more than one family of crannogmen! (there are some on the Isle of Faces but we do not know their name either....they are silent).
"Arya did not dare take a bath, even though she smelled as bad as Yoren by now, all sour and stinky. Some of the creatures living in her clothes had come all the way from Flea Bottom with her; it didn’t seem right to drown them."
How forgotten is the origin of the crannogmen? We seem to know that they came from a union between humans and CotF? Perhaps it was the Night's King and his Other bride, whose names have been erased from history.
Any living descendant(s) would have had to come up with a new name. "Reed" is one of a few Westerosi names which sound rather like bastard names, almost as if they are names taken by bastards or commoners upon the acquisition of lordship, as a sort of middle finger to the bastard haters. Houses with geographic names fit the bill, like Blackwood, Manderly, Flint.
How forgotten is the origin of the crannogmen?
all we have to go on is this cryptic (aren't they all?) phrase from Jojen:
'We remember the First Men in the Neck, and the children of the forest who were their friends'
I have a theory about their origin but it is not ready yet, so it is staying wrapped in the tinfoil provided by the Modheartherators.
However, we can expect that not all FM's warred with the children, some would have been their friends. The name Reed may relate to their surroundings as you mention, just like the Blackwoods or the Flints.Also you'd think that there is more than one family of crannogmen! (there are some on the Isle of Faces but we do not know their name either....they are silent).
Right on, can't wait to hear your fully fleshed out thoughts.
With regards to the existence of "other" crannogmen on the Isle of Faces, you have me fully convinced on that front, which leaves me with another question. If we assume this to be true for the sake of argument, do you think these crannogmen will have any bearing on a certain line from GRRM's leaked story outline? The one describing "maester and greenseer" working together to combat the Others and the Dragons.
You've given some pretty compelling evidence that whoever inhabits the Isle of Faces had something to do with eradicating the original Targaryen dragons. Meanwhile, the maesters' anti-dragon conspiracy theory is so well-documented that even our in-story characters seem to be up to speed with the most heretical of fans. The Green Men and the maesters seem to be the two largest factions whose roles have not yet been fully revealed. Do you think the last two books will contain revelations of an old conflict between the two groups? A conflict that may bear some responsibility for the instability currently making Westeros so vulnerable to invaders. Among POV characters, Sam is particularly well-positioned to follow this path, so long as he is able to access what is probably highly classified information. This is going even more out on a limb, but there is also the possibility that the Green Men and friends will recognize in Sam a potential ally at the Citadel, and decide to contact him themselves.
Also, thanks for creating this thread. The issues surrounding the more southern (summer-y?) human/CotF relationships have become by far my favorite topic of discussion, now that we have a decent idea of where the White Walkers came from. (I believe that HBO showed us a dumbed-down but roughly accurate depiction. The books, I think, will likely give us something a bit more nuanced and analogous to voice 's theory.)
Last Edit: Aug 12, 2016 20:57:48 GMT by Dornish Neck Tie: Grammar
"No true knight would condone such wanton butchery." "True knights see worse every time they ride to war, wench," said Jaime. "And do worse, yes." Brienne turned the rudder toward the shore. "I'll leave no innocents to be food for crows." "A heartless wench. Crows need to eat as well. Stay to the river and leave the dead alone, woman."
With regards to the existence of "other" crannogmen on the Isle of Faces, you have me fully convinced on that front, which leaves me with another question. If we assume this to be true for the sake of argument, do you think these crannogmen will have any bearing on a certain line from GRRM's leaked story outline? The one describing "maester and greenseer" working together to combat the Others and the Dragons.
The crannomen are there to protect the Isle and its weirwoods which enable the greenseers to witness the Pact between children and men, Pact which is all about stopping the destruction of weirwoods, no further destruction of memories (or of feeding the miasma.. ).
So, i would expect them to stick to this particular task, in particular if conflict once again centres on the Gods Eye; the dragons have already been there in the past, perhaps the Others will get there to; unless the Others are children in which case they are probably already there. As far as maesters and greenseers working together, i guess Martin is saying that unity gives the best chance of survival. The maesters have a citadel full of their accumulated learnings and a glass candle, the greenseers have greensight and weirwoods memories. That is a powerful combination of knowledge and communication.
You've given some pretty compelling evidence that whoever inhabits the Isle of Faces had something to do with eradicating the original Targaryen dragons.
hmm, not sure that i did that! certainly a lot of fighting happens near the Gods Eye. Recall that it was Aegon and Balerion who put an end to the tyranny - and weirwood cutting - of Harren the Black.
The Green Men and the maesters seem to be the two largest factions whose roles have not yet been fully revealed. Do you think the last two books will contain revelations of an old conflict between the two groups? A conflict that may bear some responsibility for the instability currently making Westeros so vulnerable to invaders.
an old conflict between the 2 groups? that is a good question. If you take it that the green men are crannognmen and maesters are First Men, the both people would have come originally from Essos and lived most likely in the general area where civilisation first started. However that does not mean there would have been a conflict.
Is there a conflict between maesters and green men now?
"Arya did not dare take a bath, even though she smelled as bad as Yoren by now, all sour and stinky. Some of the creatures living in her clothes had come all the way from Flea Bottom with her; it didn’t seem right to drown them."
Nice Essay, arrysfleas! Great work! Have you put any thought into how the Baratheons might possibly fit into the picture. I just find the description of Renly's green armor with his golden antlers quite interesting. Plus Renly is suggested to be the spitting image of a young Robert who was also known to wear an antlered helm. this also seems especially fitting considering some of the assumptions in your Storms End thread.
Why must I always be the isle of crazy alone in an ocean of sensibility? The should to everybody else’s shouldn’t? The I-will to their better-nots?
Nice Essay, arrysfleas! Great work! Have you put any thought into how the Baratheons might possibly fit into the picture. I just find the description of Renly's green armor with his golden antlers quite interesting. Plus Renly is suggested to be the spitting image of a young Robert who was also known to wear an antlered helm. this also seems especially fitting considering some of the assumptions in your Storms End thread.
thank you Milady.
I have to admit, there is no room for Renly, the green Baratheon and his antlers; Baratheons are way too much violent for this most peaceful place.
But it is quite possible, that there is a different origin to the green Baras, which I think LML, iirc, has mentioned (Horned lords). see the following quote:
WIF - The Reach: Garth Greenhand A thousand tales are told of Garth, in the Reach and beyond. Most are implausible, and many contradictory. In some he is a contemporary of Bran the Builder, Lann the Clever, Durran Godsgrief, and the other colorful figures of the Age of Heroes.
which hints at the Durrandons being possibly kin to Garth the Green, eventhough they are not directly listed in his descendance. However, in that list there are:
Harlon the Hunter and Herndon of the Horn, twin brothers who built their castle atop Horn Hill and took to wife the beautiful woods witch who dwelled there, sharing her favors for a hundred years (for the brothers did not age so long as they embraced her whenever the moon was full).
which talks about Herndon, Herne being a name which means 'mythical hunter', there is a horn, there is a woods witch and a full moon....similar ingredients to the tale of the first Durrandon and his fair Eleini. But I think I am seeing things now!!
"Arya did not dare take a bath, even though she smelled as bad as Yoren by now, all sour and stinky. Some of the creatures living in her clothes had come all the way from Flea Bottom with her; it didn’t seem right to drown them."
I'd say the introduction of dragons to Westeros, if they were invited by someone, ended up something like the WW creation in that whoever called upon them in desperation almost immediately regretted unleashing such terrible weapons.
As for a greenseer-maester conflict, I'd mark the turning point (if there is one) as the Citadel's mastery of the ravens, despite their ancient and well-documented special friendships with the CotF. Did the maesters take advantage of the declining numbers and power of the CotF and their weirwood collective, and the birds came to need a more numerous species of partners? It certainly fits with how the maesters prefer to build their influence.
"No true knight would condone such wanton butchery." "True knights see worse every time they ride to war, wench," said Jaime. "And do worse, yes." Brienne turned the rudder toward the shore. "I'll leave no innocents to be food for crows." "A heartless wench. Crows need to eat as well. Stay to the river and leave the dead alone, woman."
I'd say the introduction of dragons to Westeros, if they were invited by someone, ended up something like the WW creation in that whoever called upon them in desperation almost immediately regretted unleashing such terrible weapons.
As for a greenseer-maester conflict, I'd mark the turning point (if there is one) as the Citadel's mastery of the ravens, despite their ancient and well-documented special friendships with the CotF. Did the maesters take advantage of the declining numbers and power of the CotF and their weirwood collective, and the birds came to need a more numerous species of partners? It certainly fits with how the maesters prefer to build their influence.
'despite their ancient and well-documented special friendships with the CotF.'
i am not sure if I get you here, whose special friendship with the children? the maesters' or the ravens'?
I think the ravens in their overwhelming majority are with the magic side. They flock in huge numbers on weirwood trees. And probably spy on the maesters' messages. Bloodraven's 1001 eyes...
"Arya did not dare take a bath, even though she smelled as bad as Yoren by now, all sour and stinky. Some of the creatures living in her clothes had come all the way from Flea Bottom with her; it didn’t seem right to drown them."
I'd say the introduction of dragons to Westeros, if they were invited by someone, ended up something like the WW creation in that whoever called upon them in desperation almost immediately regretted unleashing such terrible weapons.
As for a greenseer-maester conflict, I'd mark the turning point (if there is one) as the Citadel's mastery of the ravens, despite their ancient and well-documented special friendships with the CotF. Did the maesters take advantage of the declining numbers and power of the CotF and their weirwood collective, and the birds came to need a more numerous species of partners? It certainly fits with how the maesters prefer to build their influence.
'despite their ancient and well-documented special friendships with the CotF.'
i am not sure if I get you here, whose special friendship with the children? the maesters' or the ravens'?
I think the ravens in their overwhelming majority are with the magic side. They flock in huge numbers on weirwood trees. And probably spy on the maesters' messages. Bloodraven's 1001 eyes...
i
Whoops, my bad, should have been more clear about that. I was referring to the special friendship between the Children and the ravens. I think it has been corrupted by the introduction of humans, and the ravens have cleverly been playing both sides of this coin for some time now. While it's certainly true that the ravens have retained some affinity for the weirwood collective, I think the population as a whole is well aware that humans are the alpha dogs in Westeros' ecosystems. Carnivorous scavenger species such as crows and ravens have a clear interest in maintaining an abundant source of edible corpses, and I think Martin's creatures have the intelligence to manipulate this to some extent.
"No true knight would condone such wanton butchery." "True knights see worse every time they ride to war, wench," said Jaime. "And do worse, yes." Brienne turned the rudder toward the shore. "I'll leave no innocents to be food for crows." "A heartless wench. Crows need to eat as well. Stay to the river and leave the dead alone, woman."
I had not thought about Aegon, but yes he could be the target; he is far from the story now, but not for long.
Not quite sure how I missed this, but
The green men, or those they protect, could have called in the Targaryens - by feeding the pre-Doom dream - to bring some unity to westeros. If that is the case, having opened the dragon box, they'd need to keep it under some control.
Agreed--though I also wonder about the glass candles--if the Dream came to Daenys before the Doom (as is reported), then the Green men might have trouble sending a vision via weirwoods (I'm WAY out on a speculative limb at present).
But a glass candle--that might be able to influence such a dream.
Though that might be more "maesters" than green men.
Which could be a very interesting dynamic.
All art is at once surface and symbol. Those who go beneath the surface do so at their peril. Those who read the symbol do so at their peril. It is the spectator, and not life, that art really mirrors. Oscar Wilde.
Agreed--though I also wonder about the glass candles--if the Dream came to Daenys before the Doom (as is reported), then the Green men might have trouble sending a vision via weirwoods (I'm WAY out on a speculative limb at present).
But a glass candle--that might be able to influence such a dream.
Though that might be more "maesters" than green men.
Which could be a very interesting dynamic.
Daenys could have received a greendream from a greenseer. Jojen gets greendreams and their is no mention of weirwoods involved.
not sure if i follow you Maester comment: why would the maesters want the Valyrians to come to Westeros? aren't they suspected to want their demise?
"Arya did not dare take a bath, even though she smelled as bad as Yoren by now, all sour and stinky. Some of the creatures living in her clothes had come all the way from Flea Bottom with her; it didn’t seem right to drown them."
Wow, wow, wow! Lot's to take in here. I have only looked at the OP and not any comments so far, so if any this has already been addressed, I apologize.
and this one from Jojen (Storm Bran 1): 'We remember the First Men in the Neck, and the children of the forest who were their friends'
This implies that the crannogmen are not First Men. However these First Men were friends of the children.
So, I have certainly never thought about the distinction in this quote, but this almost indicates to me that the crannogmen are neither First Men or Children of the Forest. "We remember...them" is almost as if it separates them some how. I can see how you are thinking this means they are descended from both races, but I am not sure I read it that way. The crannogmen are certainly small of stature, but this could be related to diet and sunlight and environment. It could mean that they have CotF blood, also! I see that. But we have only Bran and Meera to base our concepts of crannogmen on. And what little we know of Howland, and that is from a story told by Meera, so there is room for skewed perception.
Can the races of man and children and giants interbreed? I am not sold, either way!
Do we hear about the other crannogmen being small of nature? Any hints that the crannonmen that attack the Iron Born at Moat Cailin are hobbit sized people? It's implied that the crannogman of the Harrenhal story is Howland, but how small could he be? So small that people would not think he was human? I suppose he could be as small as Gregor Clegane is large and still be a regular human.
IF the crannogmen were descended from either man or children of the forest, than why isn't Jojen a greenseer. Simply because he is not a skinchanger? I admit that Jojen's abilities are perplexing to me. Is there a reason that Jojen (or Meera) cannot be a skinchanger? Maybe because they are neither human or children! Kind of thinking on the spot about this, so it might not make any sense.
As it appears that the crannogmen descend from both the First Men and the children, it is another excellent reasons why they would have been chosen by the wise men of both races to guard the Isle of Faces.
So you think that only crannogmen can be green men? Because it's implied in the story that the green men are men. If they are also descended from the children, then that doesn't exactly fit the requirement of being a man that seems to be applied to the the green man. Although it is interesting that only Jojen and Meera ride that elk. There are things about the two of them, as you have pointed out, that hint at CotF or greenmen!
"Your blood makes you a greenseer," said Lord Brynden.
Bran may have inherited blood from the children. One in a million.
So, how does Bran get his "blood" that he needs. Does he have to be descended from the children? We are never told how many skinchangers spring from the children of the forest, only the numbers in mankind. I think that could be an important distinction. I would guess all of the children of the forest have the ability, and they either chose to be a greenseer or a wood dancer. I will admit that Jojen does fit the idea of a greenseer (a dreamer) while Meera fit's the concept of a wood dancer (a hunter, a warrior) that does seem to be how the children of the forest are categorized. But then does that make them children, and not human at all? And both of them having moss green eyes, but not being "gifted" with being a greenseer is odd, to me!
I am just not sure that a skinchanger needs to have blood from the children of the forest. The wording from Brynden has always been oddly vague.
Do you see being a warg and a skinchanger as different things? We are told by GRRM that all the Stark children are wargs. But we are told by Lord Brynden of the Tree Roots that only one man in 1000 is a skinchanger, and only one skinchanger in a thousand can be (not is, which I think is an important distinction) can be a greenseer.
The story seems to be telling us that Bran is a warg, a skinchanger, and a greenseer! But is that really what is going on? How does he fit all these things, as well as come from a pack of six that all manifest aspects of these same gifts. And it's Jon and Rickon's wolves who have the red and green eyes. This blows those number that we are given clean out of the water. It doesn't really make sense.
The Gods Eye is a huge, placid, calm, gentle lake, with good fish within. It was calling to Arya as she looked at it just before she was about to meet the worst of humanity as she fled the Lannisters. Was it also calling to Lyanna?
Arya was thinking of swimming/bathing in the water, correct? What do you think might have happened if she had entered those waters. Is there something different about the water than the Isle of Faces that it surrounds?
What to you think happened when Lyanna was close to the water of the God's Eye? What about Ned or Brandon or Benjen, if they all share the ame blood? Do you think the water called to them, as well? Who was at the water's edge to hear Howland's prayer? And was he manipulating that person or was in accidental/fortuitous?
Those you call the children of the forest have eyes as golden as the sun, but once in a great while one is born amongst themwith eyes as red as blood, or green as the moss on a tree in the heart of the forest. By these signs do the gods mark those they have chosen to receive the gift.
This so strongly hints at the direwolves it's hard to ignore. Four with golden eyes, one with red, one with green (although Shaggydog's eyes are more often described as green fire than green moss, so I am not sure what that could indicate). Perhaps the Stark's don't have any children of the forest blood, but the direwolves do?
Grigg the Goat, leads Jon and the wildlings in the Gift past villages and knows where Queenscrown is; Styr, the Magnar does not hesitate in following him. He is good humoured, adventurous – he is the good shepherd. He probably acquired his nickname from being a good climber; he was the first of Jon's wildling party to reach the top of the Wall (Storm Jon 4). He yearned to visit the green men on the Isle of Faces and is named after a comet which produces meteor showers.
There is a certain parallel between Grigg and Bran:
both like to climb and are good at it
both are good natured
both are young and thirst for adventure
both want to visit the green men.
I think this connection of Grigg and Bran is great. Certainly something I have never even given one thought to. Grigg the Goat never was on my radar at all!
The purpose of the order is to keep watch over the Isle of Faces; the WIF also mentions tending the trees, but weirwoods are not known to require tending, so the intent is to guard the island.
If weirwoods don't need tending, and the greenmen are meant to "tend", then perhaps the greenmen are not connected to the weirwoods at all?
When the wise men, i.e. the greenseers of the First Men and of the children, managed to prevail on the warring factions, they forged the Pact; an order of men, called the green men, was established to protect the Isle of Faces where the carved faces of the weirwoods would bear witness.
I will say, I question what tree's that had faces carved in them on the Isle of Faces. Does this island only contain weirwoods? I think it has all sorts of types of tree's. And that they all have faces. The idea of the "greenmen" watching the Isle of Faces hints at sentinel tree's to me, and we hear about them A LOT in the story. We also see the wildlings carving faces in an ash, a chestnut and an oak. It's not just weirwoods that get carved.
There is nothing green in the symbolism of the weirwood. Red and white and black (when the leaves fall and rot). Why call an order that is connected to a red and white and black tree the Greenmen? I don't know if they are connected to the weirwoods at all, or at least not specifically. It's more a connection to green trees or the forest in general.
I plan to read through the OP again, and then the comments. I just wanted to put a few thoughts down while they were fresh in my mind. Really great analysis arrysfleas !
Their father understood as well. "You want no pup for yourself, Jon?" he asked softly.
this almost indicates to me that the crannogmen are neither First Men or Children of the Forest.
Agreed. I should have edited the post since eventually i came to believe the crannogmen came from Essos (Migration of the wood walkers) same as the FM. But originally a very different human group. So i would no longer say that Bran has children blood.
But i still believe the crannogmen were the suitable race, to both FM and children, to preserve the Pact.
This so strongly hints at the direwolves it's hard to ignore. Four with golden eyes, one with red, one with green (although Shaggydog's eyes are more often described as green fire than green moss, so I am not sure what that could indicate). Perhaps the Stark's don't have any children of the forest blood, but the direwolves do?
excellent pick-up, red and green eyes; and after all the direwolves are an ancient race. And at some stage must have dieted on weirwood paste too.
What do you think happened when Lyanna was close to the water of the God's Eye? What about Ned or Brandon or Benjen, if they all share the ame blood? Do you think the water called to them, as well?
perhaps the spirits on the Isle were calling Arya. As her warg talent is emerging.
Perhaps the same thing happened to Lyanna and she hid there for sometime - didn't she disappear?
Both Arya and Lyanna were in a stressful state when reaching the lake, certainly Arya was. As for Ned or Brandon or Benjen, were they ever in that state in that location, ie facing the Isle.
There is nothing green in the symbolism of the weirwood. Red and white and black (when the leaves fall and rot). Why call an order that is connected to a red and white and black tree the Greenmen? I don't know if they are connected to the weirwoods at all, or at least not specifically. It's more a connection to green trees or the forest in general.
Green eyes in the children, green eyes in the crannogmen?
Certainly the crannogmen appear to care for the earth, greenies!
Listen to Jojen:
"The secrets of the old gods," said Jojen Reed. … We live closer to the green in our bogs and crannogs, and we remember. Earth and water, soil and stone, oaks and elms and willows, they were here before us all and will still remain when we are gone." [Dance, Bran III].
"Arya did not dare take a bath, even though she smelled as bad as Yoren by now, all sour and stinky. Some of the creatures living in her clothes had come all the way from Flea Bottom with her; it didn’t seem right to drown them."
Agreed. I should have edited the post since eventually i came to believe the crannogmen came from Essos (Migration of the wood walkers) same as the FM. But originally a very different human group. So i would no longer say that Bran has children blood.
But i still believe the crannogmen were the suitable race, to both FM and children, to preserve the Pact.
I see the OP was from a couple years ago. It's funny how our ideas can change or reshape themselves over a little time. I know you put a lot of thought into the migration patterns of the people of Planetos.
I do wonder if CotF and giants can breed with humans, or if that is something that GRRM would not do, just based on genetic differences? I don't know if we will ever get a sure answer on that.
One thing that is interesting to me is that traditionally the crannogmen don't consider the lands around the God's Eye home. They might be "suitable" but the most southern area of the Neck is still twice as far from the God's Eye as King's Landing is to it. I so see the "green" connections to the crannogmen that fit nicely with the "greenmen" that Bran and Luwin and Old Nan talk about, but we only have a physical description of two crannogmen to go by in our main story, Meera and Bran. We have no idea what Howland's coloring might be, or any features. Small is the only physical description we get about this group of people.
Sometimes I think Petyr Baelish fit's the crannogman general description pretty well. He is small of stature, has a slight build, is short and slender, has grey-green eyes, is clever and bold, is unafraid of poisons and sneaking about, he can climb well. Does he wear green much? I need to pay attention to that. Much of his description fit's the idea of the crannogmen, and I wonder if he shares some descent from these people. Who was his mother? If Ned didn't know Howland and Petyr, I would tinfoil up an idea that they were the same person.
But back to the crannogmen, if they are to be the guardians of the Isle of Faces, then I agree they are men and not CotF. It is interesting that when the Pact was settled, it doesn't seem like CotF were included in this guardianship. It is a pact between both races? And what the hell happened to the giants in this war? Why would the children be left out/not included in being partly responsible for guarding the pact? Because the God's Eye doesn't fall in the territory they were given? Or some other reason we don't know about yet?
perhaps the spirits on the Isle were calling Arya. As her warg talent is emerging.
Perhaps the same thing happened to Lyanna and she hid there for sometime - didn't she disappear?
Both Arya and Lyanna were in a stressful state when reaching the lake, certainly Arya was. As for Ned or Brandon or Benjen, were they ever in that state in that location, ie facing the Isle.
Do we really know that Lyanna was in a stressful state when reaching the locations of the banks of the God's Eye? We don't have any text telling us that she stood on it's banks? We do know that all four of Rickard Stark's children were at the Harrenhal tourney, and any one of them, or all of them, might have stood on the bank of the lake and felt a "call" or pull of some sorts, or none at all. Of what we know of the events of the tourney, it seems to be Brandon Stark that exhibited the most stressful reaction of all, one that was so obvious it made a world history book.
Arya has "disappeared" for a long time, but she never made it to the Isle of Faces but she did spend time at several occasions around the God's Eye. If we are to take something from Arya's story about Lyanna, I would say this is mirrored. Although it is possible that Lyanna did seek the Isle of Faces, and that could contribute to her time missing. I guess it depends on if Arya's story is a mirror of Lyanna's or an inversion? And then we can't forget Sansa, who is also telling us something of Lyanna's story (at least I think so) and she so far has no connection to the God's Eye. Her story is captivity in multiple places, but the most recent has given her a new identity and Sansa Stark is thought to be missing, lost or dead, which does finally sound a bit like Lyanna's story. Except Sansa is no where near the God's Eye when this happens.
A distinction that I see from Arya is that she felt the "water" was calling to her, not the Isle. Or that is how I read that passage.
The air was full of birds, crows mostly. From afar, they were no larger than flies as they wheeled and flapped above the thatched roofs. To the east, Gods Eye was a sheet of sun-hammered blue that filled half the world. Some days, as they made their slow way up the muddy shore (Gendry wanted no part of any roads, and even Hot Pie and Lommy saw the sense in that), Arya felt as though the lake were calling her. She wanted to leap into those placid blue waters, to feel clean again, to swim and splash and bask in the sun. But she dare not take off her clothes where the others could see, not even to wash them. At the end of the day she would often sit on a rock and dangle her feet in the cool water. She had finally thrown away her cracked and rotted shoes. Walking barefoot was hard at first, but the blisters had finally broken, the cuts had healed, and her soles had turned to leather. The mud was nice between her toes, and she liked to feel the earth underfoot when she walked.
From up here, she could see a small wooded island off to the northeast. Thirty yards from shore, three black swans were gliding over the water, so serene . . . no one had told them that war had come, and they cared nothing for burning towns and butchered men. She stared at them with yearning. Part of her wanted to be a swan. The other part wanted to eat one. ACOK-Arya V
It is the water that calls to Arya, not the island. Or that is what she thinks is going on. She could be wrong about what is calling her. She wants to be cleansed by the water, and doesn't think about getting to the island. She settles for cleansing her feet.
The underlined hints to me that Arya might have some crannogman tendencies! Perhaps some of their blood?
The other part of this passage I find so interesting is the three black swans. She yearns for these swans, and part of her wanted to "be" a swan. Perhaps it is the swan's that are calling to her? This is probably very odd, but Arya is a warg, and might be able to skinchange many other animals, too. We know she will have a talent for skinchanging cat's but that comes later in our story, so what about swans?
There is some speculation, which I do buy, that the Stark's are in part descended from Rose of Red Lake (Blue Lake), one of the children of the legendary Garth Greenhand. Rose is tied to a skinchanger ability and cranes. Cranes and swans are not that different, and I wonder if this could be what is going on here. I also wonder about the nods to heron's in our story. I started thinking about this in the spring here when we had more blue heron's around than I have seen in my whole life. There are no Blue Heron's in this story, but multiple heron nods. Sometimes in food, sometimes in hunting, sometimes in standing on the river banks and watching, sometimes in flight, sometimes as slave soldiers, sometimes as masks the Brazen Beast's wear, but heron's pop of several times in the story. Granted, it could mean nothing but I think of herons, cranes, swans, pelican's, belonging to a group of larger, long winged, water bird.
Green eyes in the children, green eyes in the crannogmen?
Certainly the crannogmen appear to care for the earth, greenies!
Listen to Jojen:
"The secrets of the old gods," said Jojen Reed. … We live closer to the green in our bogs and crannogs, and we remember. Earth and water, soil and stone, oaks and elms and willows, they were here before us all and will still remain when we are gone." [Dance, Bran III].
I agree on the symbolism on the crannogs and green men, but I find that clashes a bit with the weirwoods and the coloring of these trees. I almost see a conflict in the green imagery with the red, white and black (of rotting leaves) of the weirwoods. So, is the Isle of Faces covered in weirwoods? Are there no other tree's there? And if so, why "green men" for the red/white tree's? Or perhaps there are no weirwoods on the Isle of Faces and the common assuption that weirwoods exist at that location is incorrect? What if the Isle is covered in green tree's only?
Their father understood as well. "You want no pup for yourself, Jon?" he asked softly.