Perhaps the weirwoods aren't as much a natural part of the arcane-ecosystem as we've previously believed... Death is an essential part of life and the COTF believe this strongly. As Bran notes, the COTF do not rail and cry against their decline into night the way that men would; for it is men who fail to come to terms with their own mortality and thus seek ever to break the laws of nature. If we consider the weirwoods from this perspective then we can see what unnatural creations they really are. They do not die, except through external malevolence, and if and when they do "die" it is not to fertilize and nourish the soil beneath them with their "death" but to petrify and beget no new life. Their function as repositories for all the souls whom have have joined with them, in one fashion or another, make them essentially tombs. And what comes out of tombs? The undead, of course. For the weirwoods are a place of undeath as they are neither dead or alive. Animated, surely, but not alive. This is most evident in the fact that they beget no seed. You may be thinking, "what of the weirwood paste? Don't they mention weirwood seeds then?", but it seems to me that "Jojen paste" is more likely and thus the only mention we get of "weirwood seeds" is when Bran is clearly being lied to. If the "Jojen paste" theory is true then that would mean that even that which is referred to as the 'seed' of the weirwood is death itself. The weirwoods thus beget no new life even when they "die" and stand totally outside of the natural order of death, rebirth and life. They stand as an other to the natural order of life and death, where death serves life in perpetual balance. In the world of the weirwoods life serves death, "I know, I know. Oh, oh, oh." We must ask ourselves then... why would the COTF worship such "demon trees" that stand in absolute antithesis to their strongest convictions? Perhaps they didn't originally. Perhaps in teaching the First Men of their arcane knowledge, in the hopes that men would come peacefully to live within the knowledge of life and death, they gave man an opportunity he could not resist. The opportunity to cheat death. I would propose, then, that the weirwoods are a creation of men and not the original tree of life for the COTF. If we follow the successors of Garth of the Green, perhaps not as individual offspring but as dynasties, kingdoms and tribes, then we eventually see the culmination of man's relations to the COTF being the rape and slaughter at red lake. It is naive to think that the pax achieved at the Isle of Faces would last and that the First Men became faithful friends to the COTF ever after. More realistic, and more fitting to the story, is that men grew hungrier and hungrier for the children's powers as time passed and sought ever to break the cycle for their own 'ascendance'. I would go even further in suggesting that it was man's attainment of this power, and the creation of the weirwood net that ushered in, or was a product of, the Long Night. This would eventually leave the COTF, with no other place to turn in this world of death and darkness, to shelter under those corrupted powers that were once their own and that had brought down this doom upon them.

"You can't ride an elk without magic powers" as a Canadian, I can confirm this.

I imagine the burning of either bran or blood ravens cave, being so big and manifest full that it becomes the sun that rises on the west in Daenerys prophecy

I hope George sees your channel and videos, and feel proud of your work

"Bottom-line is, wizards are attacking you with animals!" words to live by

Before Rose was of Red Lake, she would have been Rose of Blue Lake, hinting at an idea of a blue rose that has turned red.

Bran's little face overlaid with Cernunnos leaves is the gift none of us knew we needed. 😍 Great artwork throughout! Also, after reading this a few weeks back it's been on my mind quite a lot. Excellent work ser!

I believe GRRM is highly influenced by Dune and also wanted to have his omniscient god emperor for Westeros.

Absolutely love your enthusiasm!!! The ending of the show just got me more hype for TWOW because I know George won’t allow his character development and world building to just fall through the cracks!!! Thank you for not losing hope

I'm around the 30 min mark right now and sometimes I feel like people could form cults based on Martin's symbolic mythology 😂

The best part was Old Nan’s impersonation ☺️ Great work as always!

What a great video. A thought, aren't all Garth children's symbols of the continuity of life? Not quite Spring and not quite Summer, but elements of the cycle of life? The polinization of the bees, the bull fertility, the golden new apples, the woman sacrificed in to a tree as a mother. I don't know, I just got that vibe...

Listen I'm 100% a Daenerys fangirl BUT I do love these videos and this whole idea of Bran as a Greenseer King. I think it's brilliant.

I wonder if there is a connection between Ygritte and Rose of Red Lake? I've always thought Ygritte was an adaptation of Egret, like the bird. Egrets and Cranes are from the same family. Maybe I just need some coffee this morning.

great video! also, about the oak tree, in greek myhtology Zeus is sitting in the roοt of an oak tree in Dodona and people interpret his oracles by the moving of the leaves, the sound of wind and water etc. (and the oracle was established there when a black dove told humans to do so)

I called you "nerd" a while back and I wanted to say I didn't mean it in a mean way. I think you understood that because you gave it heart but I wanted to make sure. I don't take it back or anything for obvious reasons lol but you're also somewhat of a literary genius. Your content is very interesting and more important you're not boring. Some people make this kind of thing sound like lectures but you really pull it off, especially in your longer videos. Keep it up my man and nerd out as hard as you feel lol

I've always been pretty meh on the King Bran stuff, but you've sold me on it with these videos.

Great video! Enjoyed the Jethro Tull singing.

Have you ever thought of writing your own fantasy series? You definitely have the type of creative mind to do your own version of something like this

I was watching a video of AltShiftX the other day and geeked out when he dropped your name. May your winters be short and your summers bountiful

Right before the harvest feast, Bran sees warships with his “minds eye”, and wonders if a cripple ever captained a ship. Is he seeing Bran the shipwright, or is it foreshadowing how Bran might get back to winterfell?

I appreciate what you do. Thank you

Awesome as always dude!

17:13 "Don't blame me, it's right in the book." Meanwhile, *image missing* 😂🤣

Boomshakalaka!!! Yesssss!!! Thanks LML, as always love your analysis, humor and reminder of your awesomeness. Thank you

This was brilliant dude, thanks! Has inspired some disturbingly dark musings involving Hodor, Meera and Summer on the Isle of Faces which I may have to write up on reddit :)

These videos are great! Can‘t wait for part 3!!

an hour of LML yeahhhhh time to bust out the good smoke

Just a comment to support your channel. Keep it up man, it's great content!!

Whenever I, a happy Michigander, with a legal blessing to praise Garth, spend time doing so, this is always my go-to spot for brain food. My brain dancing with the flowers of the Greenhand is a potentially terrifying place without meat for it to chew on, else it just bends the wall of madness philosophizing random concepts like we do. Yes, "we" is how I refer to my inner monolog and my external; it's a whole thing, I'm weird. I quipped and mocked the shrinks when they said I "suffer from" high IQ, in that it was so high, it made understanding normal people hard for me, but when I spend time with Garth, I understand the machinery between my ears and that my consciousness can become a destructive storm in my head, chewing up whatever it finds and deconstructing it. It isn't awful, but there's definitely a feeling of loss of control over a giant that is currently rampaging through Aristotle's lost work, while I helplessly sigh and roll my eyes at the giant's delight that everything it thinks is profound, when, upon later observation, those thoughts are either lost in fog or weren't that impressive, really, just me being my overly analytical self, on mega-steroids (lol I studied chemistry for four years with a med school approved GPA, and I just unironically said "mega-steroids"; kill me). It almost feels as if I am going mad, but always temporarily. It's a bit what I imagine riding a dragon feels like, just clinging on so you don't fall, while the big nuke lizard does its thing. Anyway, yeah, I appreciate how esoteric this channel is. It's perfect for this particular problem, because "we" can gobble up the concepts you, LML, are feeding me instead. I cannot even sleep at night. Even when sober as a nun, I cannot make my inner monolog stfu. I have to drug myself silly to sleep at all, to the point where I may sleep a night and a day, but I must. I cannot give my brain a choice, as it will always choose wakefulness and look for something to calculate, imagine, deconstruct, build up, and so on. I have a random text file on my phone for a whole new system of governance. Unfortunately, my first way of doing this was almost my end: benzodiazepines. I knew the risks, and feared them, but I was desperate. It had been two months of, at best, just less than a day of sleep per month, when I got really lucky. I had to put my whole life on pause. After two instances of Grand Mal seizures, on the strongest RC benzo known to man, on a massive dose, 5x the highest "safe" dose, I've been fighting my way to lower doses in hopes that, maybe next year, two years after I started carefully lowering my dose, I will be free, and, yes, I have a replacement already in use, as I can't even tell I took the benzos anymore, a functional and much safer sedative, in the form of the many wonderful sleep terpines with which Garth has blessed us. Also, "All magic in ASoIaF is blood magic" is a theory I've been all over lately. Doesn't even really seem like a theory anymore, but simply a statement of fact. Oh man, now think of Robert, soon to be the summer king, wanting to take the daughter of the Winter king, Lyanna, who, instead, chose to wed a fire prince instead. She is especially of the North and winter, because she has what Ned calls The Wolf's Blood. The same is true of Ned and Lyanna's brother, Brandon, and with Brandon's fuccboi, I mean, "fertile" (He's definitely got bastards out there. I expect we will meet one someday, or, at least, I wouldn't be surprised... I'd put the probability at some 54%, so, slightly more likely than not.) nature, ability as a warrior, which we've all heard about. He seems much like Robert, a Summer king, while solemn, honorable Ned is all ice and winter.

thought provoking stuff, as always.

The Gallah is clearly the brains of this outfit! the Mastermind of ALLLLLL!

Great content as always

46:40 the song serves as a reminder of the use of the Horn of Winter, by the Nights Watch when they go forth to meet the Others. There is always the duality, fire and ice : for communication/information... The dragon glass candles and the Weirwood trees; And if the stories of the horn that can bind dragons (fire) is true, we could deduce that the Horn of winter is also use to bind (control) the deads (ice). Also for the weapons, valerian steel which contains dragon glass (fire) can battle the Others weapons (looks like ice) and kill the others. I think that the wildfire that the Mad King was stocking was in preparation for the Others.

Thank you, David this was so enjoyable, I listen to it all the way to work today

Great stuff

Have you made any more progress on your children of Garth/12 (or 13) astrological signs comparison? I found that quite an interesting catch.

Wow this is the best yet!!

Wonderful. Means that I need to read the books again. Especially "Ice and Fire" which I own but have yet yo read. Thank you🌹

Great vid

perfect birthday gift :D

King Bran 2: Skinchanger Boogaloo

Thanks

Went back to watch Part One...

Thank you!💕

If Kings Landing gets devastated like it did in the show, i could see Bran making Harrenhal his new capital. A way to undo the curse of the place, it's the geographical centre of westeros and it's right next to the isle of faces.

I've watched 3 times as I was so interested in the Artwork...was amazing of course..but I need Starry Wisdom Church 😂 i miss you and my communion 💜💛 ty also for the Dark recommend.i really enjoyed it ...ty hope to See you soon

Branch Stark!! Spat my juice out when I heard that.

Perfect... Love this

I made this separately because, LML, I really want you to see this, when you wake up... Check out Armored Skeptic's Green Man stuff, in his Tell Me More and especially History is a Lie series. They really gave me a foundation for what you're laying down, so this feels like home, sweet home. I bet Greg would love your channel too, if he's into ASoIaF. He's more of a Star Wars (Pre Disney, obviously) guy, so maybe it isn't his thing... That said, this channel might change his mind.

Intro remembered me "Star Wars" ❤️

So, Jon is the Holly King, Santa Clause, the Winter King a Fire Weight Night King. No wonder he didn't burn when Dany blasted him. And Bran can likely still have children. Cool. I mean he's GOT to be massively fertile, right?

Great stuff! Amazing work

Well done! I'd like to add, though, that the mythology of the Sacred King always involves a Priestess-Queen, who owns the land and the Sacred King "rules" and is sacrificed in her name. This could mean Bran will act as some sort of shadow king for Dany - wich I doubt - OR, that he will rule at Dany's behest.

Could Garth be the God on Earth from Empire of the Dawn? One of his children (Bloodstone Emperor) brought about the long night?

Love your old nan voice ^^

Rewatch binge 🎉🎉

LML's theories are the most solid and well developed Westerosi lore out there. But I don't see how you can talk about Garth the Green and First men in Westeros without finding a way to blend in the Great Empire of the Dawn and the existence of dragonlords in the same place and time.

The story continues :)

the old nan voice is hilarious

This is very good!

Summer vs ghost! Bran vs Jon in the future

This is no crazy revalation to anyone, but I'm gonna spout my thoughts here anyway: So, people have always been talking about who Azor Ahai is and because it's George, the answer is - a lot of people are, but if I was gonna stick to only one person I'd go with Rhaegar. Rhaegar "forged" three "swords" through his children. Two of them broke, the last one is Lightbringer. Jon is Lightbringer. Listening to this video it'd be kinda cool if it is the case that Jon IS the one to bring Bran back to the world, maybe even "pass his flame" to Bran if Bran ends up giving his life to the children of the forest. I dunno. This is just jumbled thoughts but I like the idea of Jon being the one to bring summer back in the form of Bran. How that's gonna happen I have no idea. Great video btw. It's super nice to listen to while I work! Love that you and Quinn are making so many videos together these days as well!

Awesome video

Robert is an oak king, and Bran will become the next oak king, then who is the holly king, Jon Snow?

i think garth are related to tom bombadil..

Riding an Elk is not that hard IRL, getting off of them is. You gotta wait till you find one crossing a river then get on its back as it crosses, thats how Teddy Roosevelt did it. Pictures exist.

Real world folklore = Instalike Lotsa channels can talk fan theories or lit structure in asoiaf. But when it comes to mythspiration, no one does it better :D

Golden apples are also evocative of Eris & the apple that started the Trojan war - which has a lot of Rheagar & Lyanna/Robert’s Rebellion parallels.

this supports my bran in jon's body theory, i assume.

I had to listen to Jethro Tull for the rest of the day

Old Nan is metal as fuck.

D&D: Bran will be king because... ah who cares. Just have Dinklage read the lines.

What does it imply that the summer king is infertile?

solid botany ash/ mountain ash different trees.

What does GRRM mean by a bittersweet ending? King Bran is the best end. 👌

Wjat about both broken princes of Winterfell, Bran and Theon, are nearly an anagram of Baratheon?

I find it funny/interesting that you insist on the Bran=cereal association when the more obvious one is a direct translation from the Welsh: Bran literally means crow or raven and Bran is basically a god/king in the Mabinogion, with all-seeing powers once he dies/has his head chopped off (if I recall correctly, my memory's a bit fuzzy). Although, I'm pretty sure you're aware of this, and perhaps you delve into that aspect of his mythological etymology in parts 3 and 4, and I'm just too impatient lol. Anyway, great content! :)

great vid thanks bruv

He's named Bran because it means raven, in a few Gaelic languages..... more or less

Bees thing seems like an allusion to a hive mind

So, I was thinking. see if you can follow me here..... 1) Bran is the Summer/wierwood/oak king...and he was told that he wouldn't walk again but he would fly...the show was left with Bran searching for Drogon. 2) Jon is a resurrected (immortal??) and now resides in the north beyond the wall. Is he on his way to becoming the new knight king, the holly king. 3) The story of the Oak and Holly kings ay that the 2 were brothers. 3) What caused the red waste? Meteor crash? Dragons? Or a never ending Summer? Is it possible that Bran and Jon will showdown with one another with Jon as the new knight king and Bran the wierwood king. I think that if Bran is able to keep the summer going for too long or if he warg drogon and goes insane, his Brother may have to intervene. After all it is about balance.

the golden apple is a refrence to the tree of hera wich grew golden apples that gave the consumer immortality

10:31 lol

I've got to say here that many of the male aspects of winter kings has been taken from the Cailleach. Oh and she has 1 eye and a connection to stags, wolves and crows/ravens. I most likely will feather connections of the myth of the Cailleach around your comments. To help fix the algorithm, not to overly bug you. And since it's Bran I am finding my connections to yours so I can "see" Bran as not a Negative Nancy.

I dont like to nitpik, but Elk dont grow too "10ft at the shoulder" its about 5ft. Elk and moose have also historically been tamed and ridden particularly in Russia.

you made an interesting point about Brandon of the Bloody blade killing and raping the CotF. Made me think about the only CotF we see are females, do you think BB may have killed all the men, leaving only women and is why they nearly went extinct?

oakheart is actually just an older way to refer to an oak tree.

👍👏

🔥

I think Garth the Green is the head god of the old god pantheon. the new religion of the seven must have transformed it.

Ten foot tall at the shoulder elk?

Branch Stark 😂😂

Your intro music finishes off so... Suddenly.

Caesar was right F the druids

George RR MARTIN is a King of symbolism??? Yes or no and why?

13:24 oh oh black mirror

you are a beautiful man

13:20 skin-change the dogs, and the bees, and then you have dogs with bees in their mouth so that when they bark they shoot bees at you 19:50 is that the dude from Portlandia??? #tooperfecttopassup

Let this s*** go man!!