Been reading a lot of other fantasy over the past 3 years during the wait, and i have yet to find a single author who matches George in terms of making his world feel lived in and providing us that "haze of history" that makes the world feel that much more real.

The frenemy relationship between the Holly and Oak Kings reminds me of how winter wheat is grown. It's planted in the fall so it can establish roots and begin to sprout. In the winter the snow covers it and makes the wheat go dormant ("killing it"), but the snow actually also provides protection during those months. In the spring the snow melts and moistens the soil to help the wheat grow ("reviving it").

The start of every LML subject: Today we're going to talk about X. In order to understand X, first, let's give some background on moon meteors.

The Children of the Forest telling Bran that they're going to go quietly into the (long) night and that their time is over gives me HEAVY Lord of the Rings vibes. The elves are fading away to usher in the Age of Man, and magic fades along with them. I'm also a massive fan of Indo-European history and mythology so hearing the links between them and ASoIaF is awesome. Dan Davis is a really good channel on info about prehistoric humanity, same with History Time and The Histocrat

Just a note about adopting your enemy's religion: this is actually what happened in England; the Vikings adopted Christianity as they invaded and settled the region. I read an interesting theory that this may have been somewhat common in Scandinavia to just bring in conquered people's religions into the Norse religion and just slowly let them meld into one (which may be why so many gods have multiple names and a variety of personalities depending on the story being told), but with Christianity it didn't combine so well and happened to dominate over the other myths. The whole "worship no god before me" thing may have helped keep God & Christ from merging into Odin & Thor. However, there was still some "pagan" rituals that still made its way into Christianity, like tree worship at Christmas or fertility worship at Easter.

Not sure if it's been mentioned, but when I read about the red lady not needing to eat and barely needing to sleep, it reminds me of those Buddhist monks that self mummify. Like the man the had found inside a statue of the budda

Excellent. Since the "first men" may not have been one homogenous group, they probably brought a variety of gods.

I full heartedly agree with your take on sources of magic being interpreted as gods. George has spent his writing career pointing out the flaws of organized religions. He wouldn't make gods a central role in the events of his magnum opus. (Check out his short story "Sand Kings" for a great story about religion and man having to move beyond it)

Great stream. I think George gives us enough to make a realistic and revealing timeline of prehistoric events and I think you nailed it. Thanks, LmL!

Excellent stream. May Garth grant fertility to your fields and make your grapes seedless and your buds stemless.

Haven't finished the rewatch yet. I'm guessing John was referring to our discussion about houses like Dayne and Hightower who get lumped in with the FM despite evidence suggesting they came from the GEotD from the east. When empires fall people groups tend to scatter in all directions, not just one. While the dothraki ancestors fled west over the Bones, it's possible that the people living in the eastern borders of the empire fled further east; into the unknown wilderness, into the Grey Waste, or (like Dayne, Hightower, and the first ironborn) in boats across the sunset sea.

David I have the feeling your channel is going to blow the F up this year. You deserve dude. Such great content thank you 🙏🏻

Thinking about ancient fire magic of the first men reminded me of the Pyromancers Guild. They've been there forever and only recently have been overshadowed by the maesters of the citadel.

Another great stream David thanks for all the work you put into your streams. Your the man!

The new setup is nice bro! I like the way you can highlight comments alot better then before. Anyways happy you got the computer figured out now we get Chloe in 1080p lol. And for the stream I'm excited for this one always thought the first men were the coolest group in planetos. Cheers comrade thank you for all you do for our community.

These rabbit holes are so deep and satisfying. I start got in 2015 January by November I was halfway through DwG but honestly rushed so much of the reading to get to the peaks of season four that I didn't retain, for true, anything I read. I put book five down and didn't finish it til 2020 right before i got fire and blood gifted to me. I read Fire and blood and knight of seven kingdoms and now I'm recapping and rereading the original books and am alrdy on book three again. But this time the journey is more legendary than ever before and my passion for asoiaf is at an all time personally unprecedented peak. Everyone get ready for a fresh golden age for asoiaf. This lore is platinum. House of dragon with winds of winter gonna see this lore go super saiyan 3 on all y'all! Oh and this time I actually remembering and retaining all I'm reading and there are no words to describe the unfathomable depth of which my mind has been blown back to back to back.

Do you think the sistermen's lady of the waves could be referencing the moon and it's effects on the tides? They're "mating" producing storms could be another wink and a nudge towards eclipses and moon meteors

I really loved this stream, it was packed with a lot of good tid bits! Starry Wisdom, indeed. 🔥✨

thanks for another great stream, glad the techy stuff is working out for you

Yo, I would love to watch an episode about the war between The First Men and The Andals! Like seriously, that sounds like a great video :)

Very interesting stream, thank you David!

had to play catchup on this one just wanted to add regarding fire magic, we can look at the clans from the mountain of the moon, the burned men probably believe that fire has power when they sacrifice parts of themselves to it.

So glad you're hanging in there, Mr. Lightbringer These vids are still a god(s)send : )

Great stream! Funny, I *just* rewatched the timeline heresies streams (pact/hammer and first men were green) so this was kinda like a sequel to those videos.

maybe the "merlings" in TWOIAF are like water wights. the same way that transformed ice wights can withstand freezing temperatures, water wights gain the ability to breathe and live under water. Patchface in that case might be only partially transformed, much like Melisandre is only partway through her fire wight transformation.

Damn, I got really engrossed in cleaning my kitchen and missed the stream 😭 here for the rewatch tho! Hope everyone’s having a good night 😊

Have you read «The Tritonian Ring» by L. Sprague de Camp? Essentially it is his take on mixing the historical/mythical sources of Atlantis and the Iliad, with the S&S of Conan/Kull, the Cthulhu Mythos and especially Clark Ashton Smith’s take on Atlantis, “Poseidonis” for the Nation of “Pusad” in the story. There is no doubt in my mind that GRRM must have read it, especially the Gorgon Isles from that story seems to have some inspiration for the Iron Islands (though with a mix of Viking influences instead of the Barbary Pirates/Corsairs for the Gorgons): >When their King visit their Lovecraftian Octopus-headed god in his dreams, their god is sitting on his black basalt throne. >Their sails are marked with a Gorgon-head, which is mentioned by the Protagonist as looking-like an upside down Octopus. Other possible references to the Ring in “ASOIAF”: The use of Meteorite Iron by Pusad (which not only is a military revolution in the Psuedo-Bronze Age of the story, but also weakens the power of the old gods similar to fairies in folklore, who then plan to destroy Pusad through their Gorgan Corsairs Proxies) and the warring dual nations of the Amazons and the Tritonians ride zebras.

Great video as always! Can't wait for your Jaime Lannister Book vs Show video!

“Shuttin’ the stable once the horses have bolted” is the phrase here in England.

Great stream

Forest-dwelling First Men in the south: we appreciate the warmth and bounty that summer brings. We will seat our king on a throne of summer oak. Forest-dwelling First Men in the north: winter is necessary to refresh the land. We worship the Weirwood trees of winter. Ancient Dragon-Lord First Men: say, if we cut all these Weirwoods down, can we just skip winter?

Happy Sunday! Thanks for the stream!

Great stream as always! Can't wait for the ice spiders content

I thought the theremin was my smoke alarm and nearly wet my pants. P.S great stream as always. X

It seems logical that, when magic is around, people build their religions around it. In fact, when there was little magic or even no magic in the story of ASOIAF, we have the faith of the seven! Which is a no-magic based religion. And, in the story, when the dragons are born and the magic start to rise again, the R'hllor religion rises stronger in the east, where fire magic is been used. So, it seems right that in the ancient westeros, when magic was present in the society, people built religions around the different forms of it. Great stream LmL! Sorry for the bad english hahahahaha.

I do like the idea of water regelion bying a massief thing and during the long night the ice came beating the water make way for new regelion.

I know I'm watching and commenting long after this livestream took place (so maybe you've since been convinced to finish the show, but I wanted to passionately (but firmly) say that 'Avatar: The Last Airbender' is, as an adult, the best therapy I have ever received. It is a show aimed at kids in the sense that it is clearly kid-friendly, but honestly... it's just as satisfying for adults if not more so. I watched it as a kid originally and thought of it as simply fun. Watched it again as adult and it helped me and changed me and saved me. And it's loaded with themes that will fly right over most kids' heads, so it's clear the writers intended it for adults too. Best. Show. Ever.

Been missing quite a few streams recently, but I hope you’re doing well LmL and community!! Thanks for all your hard work 💚

thank you for another great stream!

Sounds like you're saying that when the First men were sore beset and friendless, hounded from their homes and in peril of their lives, the Children took them in and nourished them and protected them against their enemies. In return the First Men swore that they should always be their men.

Great stream. One of the things I’m most looking forward to is finding out what really happened at the pact and potential green men understanding 🤩

Great stream again! I also see the number of subscribers creeping up. Good!

Let's go new computer! Had a love/hate relationship with this year's Packers team but happy for your Niners (and some other Niners fans in my life)

Thanks man, love the content!

I have speculated that maybe Garth came from Qarth. But maybe the Qaathi came from Corcosa. The Dothraki call the Qaathi -The Milk Men, because of there pale skin. In eastern Essos lives The Blodless Men, also called so for there pale skin.

Leaving a comment for the Old Gods and the New (despite being being to ill too feel like participating ) Praise Garth the Green and the whole community

Has anyone brought up the possibility that Bran may represent the "Broken Sword" from the last hero story?

Hello LML🙋🏼‍♀️ Thank you again for this awesome stream🙏🏻I know, I’m 6 videos behind😏but I like to watch your videos in order so…yeah!😊😆BTW, I just want to say that I’m a very anxious person and each time I’m watching your videos, it relax 😌 me and I feel less anxious afterwards so A Big Thanks for that as well LML🙏🏻🥰Happy Valentine’s Day to you and Minty♥️🌹🌹😄🙋🏼‍♀️🇨🇦

You just went up Ten notches in my book of Ice And Fire for being a 49ers Fan my friend. Bang Bang!!!! #TreyArea. Love it!!!

interested in discussing your fantasy series as it has similar themes to my own. to summarize: my world is as old as it needs to be for many "atlantis" type civilizations to have existed and exists in cycles. thats all you get for now lol keep up the good work brotha

"- riding around on koalas' Did any other Australians get an image of using one as a skateboard at that moment..? No..? Just me then, huh... XD

Enjoyed the stream!! Love all the world building & historical info.

Yay for the new computer!

love your streams, bud!!

When he said that the last hero might have Dayne blood, my obsession with bloodlines and family trees kicked in and I remembered that Dany is part Dayne through her great-great-grandmother Dyanna Dayne, the wife of Maekar I. Maybe that could be important somehow? Just speculating 🤷‍♀️

I'm genuinely sorry for your loss with regards to the Last Airbender. It's a shame such a fruitful show is going to go unconsumed. I urge you to try again the payoff is well worth the setup.

1:44:33 hehe just leaving this here for myself

Awesome stream!

I love that GRRM wasn't light on the settler colonial analogues here. The invaders/colonizers even coming to be called "The First Men" as if they showed up to an empty continent and/or were justified and/or have some natural right to be there, just like many in settler colony states like Canada, the US, much of Central and South America, the Caribbean, Australia and New Zealand, several African nations, areas that Japan colonized, etc, etc, etc. The list is long looking back through history around the globe. The settlers glorified themselves and their history while the aboriginal peoples are othered and demonized as "savages". What I didn't anticipate was how few people would see it because all the biases we're raised indoctrinated into causes most of us to identify with the colonizers, not the colonized. And thank you for differentiating between our good (A)narchy and "anarchy" 😂🏴

Honestly reading about Atlantean Trump sounds grimly hilarious. 💀

Another awesome stream

Wow! LmL, thanks a ton for the shout out! Really appreciate it! I have no way of matching your output, but I'm trying to keep up on quality :D

Your coughing seemingly has gotten better. Congrats!

Adding comments for the algorithms. Always a fan lml.

Congrats on the new computer! Hope it serves you well for years to come!

Very interesting subject 👌 And you just made me remember that I actually discovered your channel a while ago through An American Thinks' videos !

Even she dies too, is putting it very lightly. Septon Barth was Traumatized of eyes melting out and “Her flesh grew darker until it resembled pork cracklings” the man was ready to cast his Faith aside after seeing such Horrors

Fantastic stream. Lots of good conversations.

Love the Jeff Garcia throwback jersey. I'm a NY Giants fan but the niners are my dad's favorite team and I have a soft spot for them.

So that whole take on raw ice and fire magic, Azor Ahai followers vs. Nights Queen followers, it reminds me of the factionalism happening among those who have declared for Stannis - the King's Men of Stannis (a cold, icy NK figure) and the Queen's Men of Melisandre. An inverse with the male representing ice and female as fire in this case.

Shit I missed it, I was asleep like a baby 🍼 I hadn't slept in like 3 days it's been so cold and my body reacts very badly due to all my spinal injuries plus I got the flu. It was 20 degrees in Texas winter is here!

You just need pre recorded "sponsorships" of characters like Bobby b or old nan selling me whatever tea you're making while it plays.

fantastic stream, love it!

I know this is off-topic but I couldn’t help but notice Oldtown, the first settlement of an ancient magical sea-faring people is about to be sacked by pirates, while Umbar, the first foothold of the Numenoreans in the Middle Earth, was also sacked by pirates… This is yet another sound proof of something…(not to mention the parallel between Glass Candles and the Palantírs… and a certain towers and magical swords. lol

GRRM , watching this channel : “shit I didn’t think of that “

good stuff. the separation between south-garth and north-gore especially.

Love this kind of thing

Crazy idea: as part of your dracomorph theory/the commenter talking about their being firewyrms in Makoro’s hand. Could fire wights have been used to help gestate the wrym babies? Like after the host dies, resurrecting them to prolong their proximity to a human’s shadow. I guess it depends on how magical vs. how biological the process is… 🤔

Steve buscemi is shadrich the mad mouse. And Enron is Jeff goldbloom. Read it that way and it's perfect Bill Murray as stannis. Dan akroyd is alister thorn and Rick morenus is janos slynt. Tell me that isn't an awesome setup. Chris farly is ser davos. David spade is patchface. Theonn would be Michael cera and Ramsay Bolton is mclovin from superbad. Tywin is the same actor. But his kids are Jersey shore people.

Hey !! Awesome! new stream, new computer!!! Great!

As a Bears fan, I was beyond stoked to see Robbie take down the Packers. GOOD AS GOULD!!! 🖤

Awesome jersey

Anyone here have to watch these videos multiple times?😂😂

A LOT of material to get through, yeppers. Worth every minute though. :)

yay we missed you lml

Damn, heart broken about you not liking Avatar....I actually think you should have pushed through. The first season is amazing but once they get to the Water tribe it's damn good. THEY EVEN HAVE A SWORD FORGED FROM A METEOR

I think the books talk of dragon steel, or Dragon blades, durning the Empire of the Dawn, I also think they where Dragon Riders, as history seems to repeat it's self , I also like the idea that the empire had an out post or trade port in westros, as the firstmen were not the first in westros, something about the river folk or fish folk near old town or in the river lands not sure, the Blackstone base in old town maybe that outpost as it's a good spot for a trade port, also Dragon Riders in the books have gone exploring with there Dragons, like Sythros, there were mentions of Dragon Hunters or heros that faced a Dragon in the lore of westros as well, the wall in the north I think has Blackstone as it's foundation or they added to it, similar to Hadrian's wall I think the empire of the Dawn had settled people there and that was meant to protect them from the children of the forest or the people already living there, those people later mixed with the first men or died out , I don't think Garth the Gardener king was a first man, he maybe from the people that lived there before, or a children of the forest mixed bloodline, just like Britannia was a melting pot of the old world, do to invaders and merchants, as well as because of the Roman empire, I think the Empire of the Dawn did this as well , and I think the Iron born maybe descendants of the fisher king, as the large lake dried they moved west, something thing like that, the hairy men are kin of the people ib. And may have mixed with the fisher king people, creating the first men , I know tin foil on some of this but for sure I think Dragon Riders and outpost in westros did exist durning the Empire of the Dawn

Who was first to comment on the stream, the Great Empire of the Dawn, the First Men, or the Andals?

Awesome art I don’t often get a chance to dig it

Gee that thumbnail is spooky

Rewatch binge 🎉

23:13 so are the Others spirits of the weirwood net that have used trees to become corporeal?

I remember her quote about the bag of fingerbones made me very suspicious. What you doing with Davos woman.

I wonder if they adopted the religion after they invaded the Weirwoodnet, as part of their taking of the network.

Let's go Rams! We'll finally overcome our losing streak to the 9ers and make it to the Superbowl

I think the children didn’t do the breaking of the arm bc the cost to do it might have been too great (sacrificing themselves)

Is there an argument to be made for, or against, the idea that the land bridge was formed just like Doggerland or Beringia? In this theory, instead of an earthquake destroying the bridge, the bridge was at one point a NEW thing, and only existed due to a huge drop in ocean levels across Planetos due to a huge increase in northern glaciation up North (how could that have ever happened?!? Wink wink!) that would have trapped water from returning to the sea. I think the advantage of this theory is that it explains why the First Men came at all--why hadn't they come to Westeros earlier? Perhaps because there wasn't a land bridge yet. Such a bridge would explain why the Children of the Forest and Giants were able to live unmolested for ages before the arrival of the First Men. And then, of course, the land bridge would have been swallowed up again by the sea once the Long Night was ended by Azor Ahai. Perhaps the irony here is that if it was actually the Others being defeated that caused the seas to rise again--and the final victor against the Others were Azor Ahai and his human buddies, then it was NOT the Children who destroyed the Arm of Drone at all--it was the actions of the First Men. The humans did this to themselves. Of course this would mess with the chronology of legendary events which say the land bridge was destroyed BEFORE the Long Night. Instead the Arm of Dorne would be destroyed roughly CONCURRENTLY with the end of the Long Night. So perhaps this means it could be compatible in some way with the comet theory? Maybe the comets didn't just smack straight into the Arm of Dorne but nonetheless brought about its destruction by warming the earth? Perhaps they could have even pierced an ice sheet and caused a cataclysmic rush of water to break out of an icy dam like what happened with Lake Agassiz on Earth about 12,800 years ago. Hence, the Arm of Dorne is gone!

ooooo I was just thinking Stannis kind of has the same hair as the night king. Thats all i got.

I think that is totally possible that the First Men decided to follow the faith of the Children of the Forest. Apperently they werent extremist as the Andals.

I don't think they were various peoples with different cultures and gods, i think they were one people that scattered around westeros for hope of land and prosperity. My argument for that is that every house that has their blood seems to have unanimous physical features (like all the andal houses being blond of hair and fairly skinned) like black hair and stern hard faces, if they were a number of tribes coming from different places, they would vary right? Unless all the tribe died off and just one of them prevailed and they're the ancestors of all the fist men houses, but that's unlikely in my opinion.