Crackpot: Oberyn, Oberon, and a Changeling Child

And Martin has clearly used external name references for his characters. IE:
        o Arthur Dayne and his magic sword—echoes King Arthur and Excalibur.
        o Ashara echoes “Astarte,” a fertility goddess tied to Evening/Morningstar.

• Martin uses names for fun—but he makes meaningful references, too.

Where are the Daynes?
• House Dayne of Starfall is not at Doran’s big feast in Dance

voice , Wraith , and whitewolfstark (since you all seem to be the ones who move things around)--I'm not sure if this should go in General or in the Parentage Subform--if it needs moving, my apologies for putting it here.


Very Short Version:

• Shakespeare’s Oberon is driven by his fight over a changeling. He uses poisons/potions to steal the changeling child and thus gain his revenge.

• G.R.R. Martin’s Oberyn is also known for tricking and poisoning people—though he’s much more deadly than Oberon. Given his very famous name—is Oberyn also involved with a stolen, changeling child?

• Oberyn has sufficient motive to seek revenge against the Lannisters and Baratheons. Stealing “Dany” and inserting her as a replacement for Rhaella’s (potentially) dead child could bolster Viserys’ ability to take back the throne.

• And there’s precedent in the novels for stolen, hidden, children.

• This may help explain why on earth Oberyn has that name.

• And why the Daynes don’t attend the Martells’ big feast in Dance.


Caveat: This crackpot works under the premise that it’s plausible that:

    • Current Dany is not the original child that Rhaella Targaryen died giving birth to.

    • Dany could be Ashara’s daughter, most likely via Rhaegar or Aerys.


Oberon and Oberyn

• I can’t find anyone who’s gone into this name connection and its potential implications. If you have done so, let me know, and I’ll amend the OP.

• There’s passing mention here, but not much discussion on any potential connection between Oberyn and Oberon.
   • asoiaf.westeros.org/index.php?/topic/784-references-and-homages/&do=findComment&comment=5819326
    • asoiaf.westeros.org/index.php?/topic/137740-your-top-5-asoiaf-character-names/&do=findComment&comment=7479907

• But Oberon is a very well-known character in a very well-known play.

• And Martin has clearly used external name references for his characters. IE:
        o Arthur Dayne and his magic sword—echoes King Arthur and Excalibur.
        o Ashara echoes “Astarte,” a fertility goddess tied to Evening/Morningstar.

• Martin uses names for fun—but he makes meaningful references, too.

• So what does Oberon do in A Midsummer Night's Dream?


Changeling is Key

• While Puck’s mischief gets the audience’s focus, that mischief is driven by Oberon’s feud with Titania over a changeling child.

• Oberon wants the child as his henchman. So he seeks revenge on Titania for denying him the child. It’s all about power and vengeance.

• Titania wants the boy because he’s the child of her recently deceased devotee—an emotional attachment. But she also wants the child as her follower.

• Furthermore, Oberon drugs/poisons people to get what he wants—he distracts flower-drugged Titania with Bottom while Oberon steals her changeling child.

• Granted, Oberon’s “poison” is more silly than deadly. And Oberon and Titania unite at the end. But still: poisons/potions, revenge plots—and a stolen child.

How might this potentially tie to Oberyn?
• Oberyn is NOT over what happened to Elia and her children.

• He collects his bastard children into a weird cadre one could argue is a dark version of Oberon’s fairy band. (Tyene could be a really scary version of Puck).

• He’s definitely known for poisoning people for revenge.

• And he’s willing to take his kids from their mothers to raise as his followers—not caring much for the mothers’ needs (except perhaps for Ellaria’s).


What’s missing? A changeling. So could Dany be a stolen changeling?

• markg171 ’s essay does a great job on evidence for Dany’s potentially not being Dany. thelasthearth.com/thread/572/dany

• Victarion Chainbreaker, Rippounet, and others on Westeros have made strong arguments on the Lemongate issue.

• @superunknown5 has made the case that Dany is Ashara’s. thelasthearth.com/thread/1489/ashara-supertheory

• But Oberyn? It’s nowhere near a sure thing, but that name seems like a marker.

• And then there’s the poison—Dany’s Darry dies in a way that sounds like it could be poison. And the novels repeatedly connect sweet smells with death, corruption, and even with poison.

• If Dany’s protector was poisoned and she was taken, that could fit.


CONTINUED IN ONE MORE POST

1. Excellent catch.

2. I struggle with the idea that Rhaegar's crown was anything other than an insult. Bael's flower-leaving-stunt was a blatant insult.

Instead, it was the Bael Maid and her father (Brandon the Daughterless) who made her child the heir--"crowned" him in a sense. And never told him about his father (according to Ygritte's real end of the tale).

Thus, seems like the blue roses had one meaning for the giver--and another for the victims/survivors.

3. On the "tower of joy part"--are you assuming he intended a sacrifice for the child?

But there is another interesting thing I took from A Midsummer Night’s Dream.  More specifically from the play within the play, the tale of Pyramus and Thisbe.

The tale of Pyramus and Thisby is a Greek tale from Ovid. The inspiration for Romeo and Juliet, two star crossed lovers living in seperate houses joined by a common wall, only able to communicate through a chink in the wall.

Now does this ring a bell?

It’s the Bael tale.  Bael and the Stark daughter find a chink in the Wall of ice seperating the wildlings from the kneelers.  And out of this chink in the wall of ice was born a blue flower.