“…What did Bran see in the heart of winter?…”
I ask myself that very thing.

The heart of winter and the vision of the stone giant were the two things that stayed with me after reading this chapter.
What do these visions mean?
Would love to share theories and future discoveries with you, but not yet.

@Jay SPOILERS & WILD SPECULATION!!

This chapter is very similar to the house of the undying for me.
Lots of clues/hints/promises as to what may/will come.

We know that Bran dreams true, because we already know some of these visions are true.

The Three eyed crow is obviously a brother of the Nights Watch. One that has powers of the mind (the third eye) and is obviously trying to awaken Bran’s abilities. The fact that Bran must live tells me that the Black Brother also has prophetic dreams and that Bran is much stronger than the 3 eyed crow. A Dead brother perhaps (cold hands)? Or a live brother warging a Wight? Interesting possibilities here.

The moment I read that Gregor’s head was sent south to Dorne I figured that the giant of stone with the empty helmet was Gregor. After hearing in AFFC that Gregor was now invincible in battle, I have very little doubt. Franken_Gregor… An invulnerable headless giant indeed. Quite a challenge for the Hound. For we know Gregor belongs to the Hound, in the end.

Finally, Bran and the heart of winter.

GRRM wrote this tale called “The Ice Dragon.” That is what came to mind when I read abut the heart of winter. I LOVE the image of a gigantic Ice Dragon.
Bran will be the key. From AFFC, we know that Bran can Warg into humans (Hodor). So I dream now of Bran warging into Dany’s Black Dragon and diving to the heart of winter.
I don’t know what GRRM has in mind.

But, I hope it is something like that.

I have never listened to an audiobook in my life specifically because I feel like I’d get obsessed.

Not telling! 😛

@DarthRachel
Once I started getting into Audiobooks (yay 45min commute each way each day) the fatigue really let up. I agree, there’s a lot to process, and some of the “poorly read” books can just compound that problem, but man are the AGOT audiobooks (the ones read by Roy Dotrice *wink*) are just tremendous. He has great voices, really brings you into the book. He’s the voice of Hodor… No matter what Hodor says *grin*. But Audiobooks are realtively slowly paced, so it actually forces me to listen(read) slower and I catch stuff I didn’t catch through the text.

I still read text to some extent but I find myself more and more wanting to get it on Audio for pacing and for convenience. You should try and find the audiobooks for GRRM books, they are awesome (at least the first 3)

HA! I can understand both impetuses (impeti?) equally. I’ve found a couple books where I had to jump forward to same storyline and go back to the others. I might here, too, except for breaking up my reading to analyze like I am, anyway.

That was a really great line about her. I too have felt that way. Probably most people have at one time or another…even people like Sansa. Right? Surely? 🙂

And yes, that is about all there is to say about this chapter!

Dany has a bit of a lifeline because she is at least an issue to the main plot of this book, though I did struggle with later Dany because I felt like it was overkill to give her something to do before she does something that matter to any others of import in the book.

Today, I’d say there is zero chance we are doing Mash of Kings.

That’s a good point since is destiny, while possibly more big picture than anyone else, isn’t perceived that way to the world we know and interact with.

I totally agree with you, Bran very much takes away from the juice of what I’m (more) enjoying and offers very little to those threads for me.

oddly, I did like Bran when The Reeds show up and it’s specifically because they offered a possible revelation regarding past events of characters I do more enjoy.

Over with? Nooooo!

This is the most interesting thing on this site. Once your done with GoT, you should go on to CoK, ASoS, AFFC and DwD. It will be glorious!

As for this chapter, Bran is my least favourite POV. He is too much of a child for me, and whiny as well. Even his prophecies are bland…

SPOILERS:

..compared to The House of the Undying this is just meh. Now, THAT is some prophecy with meat on it. Creepy too.

I actually enjoy Bran’s POV quite a bit, but I agree with you that his chapters are not the easiest to read. I don’t really think it has anything to do with the fantastical elements. It’s more the fact that Bran is so isolated from the rest of the story, holding down the fort in the north after everyone else is scattered to the seven winds. We’re reading along, caught up in all the various political machinations winding through all the plot threads, and then suddenly we’re back in Winterfell, in the only POV that is still innocent/wise enough to not care about any of the politics that seem to ensnare everyone else. It’s jarring to be wrenched out of that, but at the same time it can be refreshing to step away from the turmoil in the south and look at the bigger picture. And of course, in the very big picture, Bran is the character most focused on the one threat that really matters.

Another area that sets him apart is that, whereas we see most characters reacting to situations and events and other characters beyond their control, Bran for the most part is the master of his own fate. His story is less about the character development and interaction that drives most of the POVs, and more about his personal struggles with both his disability and his ability. To that end, the other characters in his POV seem to focus all their attention on Bran himself, which makes them fairly one-dimensional. On the one hand, this may just be a child’s perspective on the people around him, but on the other hand, the Reeds do come all the way from the Neck for the sole purpose of following Bran around.

As the POV most removed from the game of thrones, Bran stands as the quiet reminder that winter is coming, and everything else is just a distraction. Until winter does come though, Bran is pretty much just a hero in training. And that kind of story has certain inevitable steps that need to happen along the way, which can make it feel a little tedious at times. Overall I think Martin does a good job of moving it along, and given that it’s just one plot thread among many, I’m happy to take the Bran chapters as quick breathers in between the more exciting bits. I think what makes him hard to read is that, for a great many readers, the depth of the political intrigue is what sets aSoIaF apart from most fantasy, and so to be reminded that there is this bigger, more traditional fantasy threat looming over everything that renders the politics irrelevant is a little disappointing. But I’m withholding judgment until we see how the fantasy showdown plays out.

I’ll make shirts!!

Oh no you didn’t just diss on the Reeds!

#teamMeera

I totally do the soundtrack thing. I also find the books a little fatiguing, not because I’m bored, there’s just a lot to process. I’ve never been able to power thru, I have to take my time. I think that’s why I also get frustrated at the jumping around, I have been known to just flip to the next “character” chapter of whoever’s storyline I’m interested in… don’t tell. (mostly I just want to skip Sansa chapters hahaha)

***SPOILERS***

@Jay

Yea.. I actually really like Bran. I think it’s because he’s a bit more elevated on a plot level, we the reader can use him as a breathing point, a place to update our inner maps and catch where we might be slipping up on detail recall. The child’s perspective helps. It’s like Arya’s, pretty black and white. A resting point for a reader attempting to keep up. Plus he can talk to animals. Yay! ( am poisoned by Narnia)

But I’ve never really liked the Reeds. We could lose them. If it were just Bran and Hodor and Osha I would have been pretty stoked. Instead we’ve got these annoying kids being all “wise”. Esp Jojen. He is sooo lame.

Aww, but I love this sharing of thoughts! 🙂

Still, I see what you mean. There’s a zillion things happening on G-Mash as it is, and the tv show will be here soon. might as well stuff this down the gullet!

SPOILERS!!!

Plus, I want to eventually throw out R+L=J to Elena, and after AGOT I think it’s ok.

I wouldn’t say you are in the minority as I wouldn’t have any data to say you were or weren’t. I actually suspect that Bran would at the very least be given some slack and be liked by most.

I for one am glad we are past this chapter, I suspect we will be quicker because getting this project over with has vaulted to the top of my things to do list.

Elena: oh and I forgot to say, nice catch about him talking to crows before he fell…I never thought of that…

btw I mentioned the two of you in my podcast, just thought I’d let you know…but Elena can’t listen to it, cuz it’s very spoilery…sorry Elena…

and speaking of spoilers:
***spoilers***

This chapter really reminds me of that Dany’s chapter where she gets those visions behind all those doors…just thought I’d mention it, since there’s not much to talk about here that hasn’t been talked about already…

Raquel,

If there are other thoughts I probably would have skipped them because if there were discussions/threads etc that I skipped they’d probably be ones dealing with Bran (for reasons I stated above). It should be noted that my ‘general knowledge’ of current ASOIAF fan discussion probably stops at like 2007, so there may be many aspects that I tackle as if they are still in question that may have already gained some measure of consensus. I don’t really have the time to keep up.

Your thought is interesting because I never really considered the visions, not because I don’t find them interesting, but moreso because they never seemed to matter after the fact. I can’t think of any circumstance that would make this chapter more valuable.

This chapter I sense will be very commentor weighted because Elena is new and I really have a hard time caring about Bran from her on out. Maybe the struggle will be interesting and fruitful though!

Dang, there’s really nothing else to say, except “Yay, Bran!” and “Behold, Summer!” lol!

@Jay SPOILERS!!
Man crushes aside, I STILL wonder about the three images and ask myself if my assumptions are wrong. Someone made the point somewhere that Bran was only seeing the people who were with the party, and so the assertion that it’s Ilyn is reasonable…but the claim on Gregor Clegane is also reasonable because of the black blood and no head reference. Still, he wasn’t there except in The Hound’s messed up psyche. Hmm…your belief that it’s Robert is intriguing, but I can’t see where the symbology fits. If it is him, then being dead means his part in that vision came to pass already, and I missed it.

But even more important, what were the ash hound and golden figure doing? What was THEIR symologiocal significance, and do they really represent Sandor Clegane and Jaime Lannister? I admit that part seems pretty cut and dried, but I hate to assume anything with Martin!

Do you have any idea what the vision, that part of it, anyway, even pertained to? Has anyone speculated beyond who it might be?