Post by Maester Sam on May 28, 2016 22:00:52 GMT
The chronology in which we learn of the Last Hero also seems to fit the chronology of the story...
- Bran IV AGOT
So as cold and death filled the earth, the last hero determined to seek out the children, in the hopes that their ancient magics could win back what the armies of men had lost. He set out into the dead lands with a sword, a horse, a dog, and a dozen companions. For years he searched, until he despaired of ever finding the children of the forest in their secret cities. One by one his friends died, and his horse, and finally even his dog, and his sword froze so hard the blade snapped when he tried to use it. And the Others smelled the hot blood in him, and came silent on his trail, stalking him with packs of pale white spiders big as hounds—" - Later in Bran IV AGOT
All Bran could think of was Old Nan's story of the Others and the last hero, hounded through the white woods by dead men and spiders big as hounds. He was afraid for a moment, until he remembered how that story ended. "The children will help him," he blurted, "the children of the forest! - Sam I AFFC & Jon II ADWD
"I found one account of the Long Night that spoke of the last hero slaying Others with a blade of dragonsteel. Supposedly they could not stand against it."
The last hero could not stand against the Others, nor could his friends. Then, the children helped him. Then, he was slaying Others with a blade of dragonsteel that they could not stand against.
This latter sword cannot be the first, because the first could not intimidate an Other, it even froze so hard it snapped (Ser Waymar Royce). And I would argue that the mere fact the sword is known (as well as the fact that it is known that the Last Hero received aid from the cotf) suggests that the Last Hero returned to the Night's Watch.
Well when you put it that way.... it's rather convincing. In fact, I forgot why I was arguing against it. I used to be on board with LH=NK and don't remember changing my mind, so I must have gotten caught up in the argument and confused myself. There is no disagreement on this part.
By that reasoning, neither did Ygritte.
And Jon had a sword she could not stand against.
Seems to me the 13th Lord Commander, like the 998th, was chasing an enemy before loving her and joining her race.
Hmmm. So he chased her means he pursued her... like Tormund is "chasing" Brienne... and at some point he caught her.. b/c she let him? ... and then they had consensual intercourse. I suppose that works just as well as the rape of the innocent ww woman I've been imagining all this time. Of course, given what we just learned on the show- can a man willingly become a ww? Can ww's feel emotions like love in the first place? Given that they're called the Others, this suggests they are not that different from humans....
No burning swords in Westerosi accounts? Are you sure about that?
"It burns, it does. Nothing burns like the cold."
— Gared
The Other slid forward on silent feet. In its hand was a longsword like none that Will had ever seen. No human metal had gone into the forging of that blade. It was alive with moonlight, translucent, a shard of crystal so thin that it seemed almost to vanish when seen edge-on. There was a faint blue shimmer to the thing, a ghost-light that played around its edges, and somehow Will knew it was sharper than any razor.
— Will
"And now it begins," said Ser Arthur Dayne, the Sword of the Morning. He unsheathed Dawn and held it with both hands. The blade was pale as milkglass, alive with light.
— Ned
Here we still disagree. I didn't say no burning swords anywhere in Westerosi history- I said no burning swords in the LH legend, which was my argument for him not being one more AA candidate. While I am (now ) fine with saying he returned south after talking to the COTF, and he had a dragonsteel sword, the #1 attribute of AA was his burning sword. Aemon even tells us that light alone is not enough (cough cough, Dawn, cough cough), there has to also be heat. Nothing in the LH story suggests he had such a sword, so this makes me think he was probably not a Westerosi version of AA. Which then makes it unlikely that the Essosi accounts of AA/Hyrkoon etc are different versions of the LH tale, b/c if they were, where did the idea of the flaming sword come from?
That, I believe, is the point I was trying to make.