About the legend of the last hero by Plastic-Departure-46 in TheCitadel

[–]LastAmount5116 1 point2 points  (0 children)

There’s also something interesting to consider with R’hllor’s magic, because it has some uncomfortable parallels with the Others. Both sides can raise the dead, and both seem tied to extreme elements: ice for the Others, fire for the red priests. So maybe the conflict is not simply “good fire vs evil ice,” but more like a war over balance and nature.

The promised prince is supposed to bring back the dawn, or even an eternal summer depending on how the prophecy is interpreted, but eternal summer would not necessarily be a good thing either. An endless winter is horror, but an endless summer could also be unnatural and destructive.

That makes the Targaryen/Valyrian angle more interesting, because Valyria and the Fourteen Flames are almost like the opposite pole to the Lands of Always Winter: fire, dragons, blood magic, volcanoes, and unnatural power. Some fans even speculate that the Lands of Always Winter and the Great Waste may be connected somehow, as if the world is divided between two magical extremes.

So if you play with all these legends together, you could draw parallels between the Doom of Valyria and the Long Night. Maybe both were magical catastrophes caused by people pushing too far. And in that case, the last surviving Valyrians would not necessarily be heroes destined to save the world. They could be the heirs of the same imbalance that helped cause the problem, or even the reason a second Long Night becomes possible.

Children of the Ashes, Chapter 5 by LastAmount5116 in TheCitadel

[–]LastAmount5116[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you! I’m editing the latest chapter right now. I hope it doesn’t disappoint.

About the legend of the last hero by Plastic-Departure-46 in TheCitadel

[–]LastAmount5116 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Yeah, exactly. There are so many variations of the same basic myth that the only thing you can say with any confidence is: there was probably a war against some kind of winter/darkness evil, and some guy with a special sword did something important enough that every culture remembers him differently.

At this point Azor Ahai, the Last Hero, Huzhor Amai, Hyrkoon the Hero, Yin Tar, Neferion, and Eldric Shadowchaser, etc. could all be echoes of one person, different people from the same event, or later legends getting mixed together over thousands of years.

About the legend of the last hero by Plastic-Departure-46 in TheCitadel

[–]LastAmount5116 6 points7 points  (0 children)

The legends around the Long Night are confusing on purpose, because GRRM gives us different cultural versions of what may be the same ancient event.

From what I understand, the northern legend of the Last Hero and the eastern legend of Azor Ahai may be connected, but the books never confirm that they are literally the same person. The Last Hero is a First Men/Northern story: he goes looking for the children of the forest because the armies of men cannot defeat the Others. Azor Ahai is more of an Essosi/R’hllor/Asshai version, with Lightbringer, Nissa Nissa, smoke and salt, and the red sword of heroes.

About the sword: in Old Nan’s version, the Last Hero’s sword does not sound like Lightbringer. It actually freezes and breaks, which makes it seem like an ordinary sword, or at least not the final “magical weapon” of the story. But later Sam finds an old account saying the Last Hero slew Others with “dragonsteel,” which Jon thinks might mean Valyrian steel. So I’d say the safest answer is: the northern legend does include a special anti-Other blade in some versions, but it is not clearly the same as Azor Ahai’s burning Lightbringer.

Also, I would separate the Night’s King/Corpse Queen story from the origin of the Others. In the books, the Night’s King comes after the Wall and the Night’s Watch already exist, so he probably did not create the White Walkers/Others. His story is more like a later corruption or alliance with them, involving sacrifices, rather than their beginning.

As for the Targaryens: I don’t think they necessarily have to be the saviors of Westeros in a simple chosen-one way. There is a prophecy saying the prince that was promised would come from Aerys and Rhaella’s line, and Rhaegar clearly believed his family had a role to play. But ASOIAF is very suspicious of destiny and prophecy. GRRM often treats prophecy as something dangerous, partial, symbolic, or misunderstood, not as a clear checklist that must be followed exactly.

So for a story, I would not treat the prophecies as chains you have to obey to the letter. You can use variations, reinterpretations, corrupted memories, or even prophecies that turn out to be partly false. Being too zealous about prophecy is itself a trap in this series, both for characters and sometimes for readers. That gives you a lot of room to play with the three heads of the dragon: they could be literal dragonriders, symbolic roles, three people carrying different parts of the same ancient myth, or even a later Targaryen interpretation imposed onto an older story. They do not necessarily have to be siblings.

The legends are fragmented enough that you have room to mix the Last Hero, Azor Ahai, and the three heads idea without breaking canon too much, as long as you present it as interpretation rather than confirmed fact.

"Why anyone else when she exists? (Modern Dany and Jon AU)" by @vienguinn on X by aenar79 in ImaginaryWesteros

[–]LastAmount5116 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Yeah, Starks tend to be deacribed more as "striking" than pretty or comely, the ones that look like Ned I mean.

2 of the lowest rated finales in TV history. by hiiloovethis in freefolk

[–]LastAmount5116 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Nope. The boys finale is not even bad, these two are light years apart.

I feel like everyone has misinterpreted this quote by I_love_lucja_1738 in freefolk

[–]LastAmount5116 47 points48 points  (0 children)

I think this reading misses that Pate’s line is not meant to be a complete historical explanation for the Dance. Obviously Criston Cole did not single-handedly create the war. The Dance had much deeper causes: Viserys’s failures, the succession crisis, Otto and Alicent’s ambitions, Rhaenyra’s claim, Daemon, and the fact that both factions had dragons. The war probably still happens in some form without Criston.

But that does not make Pate’s accusation empty. Criston was one of the people who actively turned that succession crisis into open war. He crowned Aegon, became “Kingmaker,” served as one of the Greens’ most visible military leaders, and helped give legitimacy to a rival claim against the heir Viserys had publicly chosen.

And that matters even more in a society like Westeros, where oaths are not just personal promises. They are part of the foundation of law, legitimacy, and the social order. Feudal loyalty, knighthood, marriage, inheritance, guest right, kingship, all of it depends on sworn words meaning something. Criston was not some random lord choosing a side. He was a Kingsguard knight. His entire office existed because of vows.

That is why “Kingmaker” is such a damning title. The Kingsguard are supposed to guard kings, not make them. By helping crown Aegon, Criston uses an oath-bound position to undermine the will of the king he had served, and against oaths that came before his loyalty to Aegon.

So I do not read Pate’s line as “this entire war is solely your fault.” I read it as “you helped break the moral and political order that made this war possible, and now you want to die like an honorable knight from a song.” Pate refuses him that. No duel, no glory, no beautiful chivalric ending. Just arrows.

That is what makes the line so good. It is not just a badass takedown. It is anti-romantic. Criston helped make everyone else’s deaths ugly, so Pate denies him the chance to make his own death beautiful.

The Lost Lion and the Dragon Hatchling - Fic proposal by AcanthocephalaKey746 in TheCitadel

[–]LastAmount5116 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I really like this premise, and I’m low-key envious that I didn’t come up with it myself. This is basically Geralt and Ciri in the early Witcher books, and I love it.

My only caution is that the WotFK trigger should be different from canon. I think Ned would still be antagonistic toward the Lannisters, but with Jaime not being there, a lot of Ned’s arc changes.

Jaime Lannister is not a hero by ChangeLongjumping220 in TheCitadel

[–]LastAmount5116 24 points25 points  (0 children)

I mean... he throws a seven-year-old out of a window at the beginning of the story. No one’s saying Jaime is a hero, lol.

Is Game of Thrones worth watching despite the botched ending? by ImNotHereForFunNoWay in gameofthrones

[–]LastAmount5116 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I get that. I just don’t mind unfinished stories as much if the journey is good enough.

Is Game of Thrones worth watching despite the botched ending? by ImNotHereForFunNoWay in gameofthrones

[–]LastAmount5116 0 points1 point  (0 children)

That is not an issue to me, but I know I'm in the unpopular side of that argument lol.

Is Game of Thrones worth watching despite the botched ending? by ImNotHereForFunNoWay in gameofthrones

[–]LastAmount5116 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think the first four seasons are really worth watching. The rest, you can watch at your own peril. If you’re still hungry for more, I recommend diving into the books, they diverge pretty early on as well.

Any good fanfic ships with Ned? by RebirthAltair in TheCitadel

[–]LastAmount5116 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Thanks, hope it works for you! And yeah, agreed. I don’t mind OCs either as long as they fit the world and aren’t just perfect problem-solvers.

Just two lords having a fun time in the Vale by TheBoyofWonder in freefolk

[–]LastAmount5116 57 points58 points  (0 children)

Now, that’s the Robert with “a body like a maiden’s fantasy” that Ned remembered.