You know how the Lord of the Rings is a major inspiration for George? And how Gondor has a white tree at its centre? And how that tree’s death symbolizes Gondor’s decline? And at the end of the story Aragorn discovers a living asking descended from the now dead tree and replaces the dead tree with it, ushering in a new age of prosperity? Tracks pretty well with your theory here as a possible inspiration.

banger after banger

Found your channel a couple days ago from your Wall theory video and I’ve been obsessed since! Love these videos and these conversations! Keep it coming

I've been thinking about the Isle of Faces as being more like a "central controller" or "central power source". Or maybe even a big "router" for Weirnet, etc. It's also entirely possible that Daemon Targaryan is there on the island, if he didn't die during the Dance, he could easily be attached to a tree. And then Alys Rivers, who apparently had all sorts of magical powers and was considered a "witch queen" was camped out right next to the God's Eye for a while. She never had a meaningful conclusion in the books as far as I'm aware. There's more going on there, on the God's Eye and Isle of Faces, than just being a seed vault.

On Real World seed vaults, I once watched a documentary about English food history, and one of the things that came up was that mustard trees were starting to fail. The thing is, the British company most well-known for mustard kept stocks of seed from every mustard crop for decades, dating back to at least the 1800s. They were able to revitalise the mustard crops by using seed from that storehouse. So seed vaults have existed before the Norwegian one, but may not as ecumenical in what seed stock is kept.

There are several possibilities for the identity of the Green Men. We also have to take into account certain things such as the fact that Garth the Green seems to be one of them. It's possible that they are the male counterparts of the Children of the Forest. Also, it's interesting to note that the trio of Others/White Walkers, Green Men and Valyrians/Geodawnians seem to correspond to the 3 types of Elves in fantasy fiction. The Others/Whitewalkers correspond to Dark Elves, or Orks as Tolkien envisioned them corrupted and mutilated Elves. The Valyrians/Geodawnians with their arrogance and know of magic/technology seem to correspond to High Elves. While the Green Men are obviously Wood Elves. My point as that all 3 groups seem to be conterparts of one another and were created possibly as a result of this conflict. Think about, the Bloodstone Emperor/Azor Ahai/Last Hero/Grey King brought about the Long Night by learning to tap into the Weir Wood net and possibly beginning its corruption, or he did that in response to the actions of the Children of the Forest. All 3 groups have some connection with the Bloodstone Emperor/Azor Ahai/Last Hero/Grey King and his brother Garth the Green.

I always thought there was more to the line "all the trees were given faces". That maybe the rumors of mass sacrifice were to put their population in the trees, the men swore to protect them. But if this was more of an intentional corruption it's even more interesting.

This dovetails with another theory I've seen regarding how the Planetos' desertification will be reversed at the end of the series. A song of ice and fire is a song of water.

I must say you've just about got me convinced on your theory man. I'm not gonna say completely yet as your series of videos is still ongoing... I appreciate and respect how much work you have put in this and it's very expanded and he gets along with real historic events just like g r r m is famous for doing. So keep up the good work!

Tuf Voyaging is a great series, and I love seeing it woven into ASoIaF

Best ASOIAF theories

Green Men, Green Magic, Green Seers I believe that GRRM put all the "answers" in the first book way before they were even asked. Considering that he worked intensely on season one, I also see that he has put the "answers" in the first two seasons but hidden in his way. There is so much foreshadowing. I had been yelling for years that Arya would cast the deciding blow. In the courtyard scene, she appears out of nowhere and shoots a bullseye. One thing that hasn't been "asked" yet, but all the answers are there, is that Sansa is NOT a Stark. - The entire family is in the courtyard except Sansa - Robert tells Ned, "You have a daughter, I have a son, let's join our families." Later, we find out that Joffrey is not his son. Ergo, Sansa is not Ned's daughter. - Sansa dreams of going to Kingslanding. No Stark wants to go south. Okay, all this is to say GRRM "answers" the Isle of Faces in the first 10 minutes. It's not my theory; I saw it years ago; if I can find the video, I will post it. The ranger comes upon dead bodies cut up. They are arranged in a circle with the heads on sticks. It looks like an island of faces. When the ranger turns around, there is a child impaled on a tree ... Children of the Forest; This is the message the Others wanted to send, but dumb Ned cut off the messenger's head. No one is good or bad in the GRRM world., however, I believe that the Others are the good guys. They will be the ones to save mankind from the Children and the Trees.

If the explanation for why Howland hasn't shown up is needing to play a part in this, that might make his absence so far acceptable.

I like your seed vault theory. I guess I mis read and was thinking the green men and isle of faces predated the pact. Anyway, the mysterious forces that repel men from the isle could be an interesting plot point for HOD to add to the battle above the gods eye (Aemond and Vhagar being distracted by a flock of Ravens, perhaps?). I hope we see that.

My pet theory is the Green Men are the giant version of the Children, when Leaf calls the giants "their bane and their brothers" she's referring to them. Then It would parallel how giants like Mag and Wun Wun appear to be a giant relative of the Ibbish (maybe the Brindled Men too) only with their development of technology reversed. Abnormally large human men like Dunk and Clarence Crabb have hybrid ancestry akin to the Lengii and Tagaez Fen.

Love your videos. Best asoiaf out there

Okay. Let's go. A green man morning.

Great video! Weird random facts about Longyearbyen (where the seed vault is) that might connect to this idea: 1. You don't need a GREEN card to work or live there 2. No CATS are allowed on the island Just sayin.

You’re going to hit it big dude keep making these longform videos keep going. I love your videos. If I could give you some advice, maybe some AI pictures from Game of Thrones would be great or something like that. I like that you put the text in there put some nice AGOT pictures to go along with the text would be great

Generally, people who grow their own grow food keep a "seed vault" for themselves. GRRM wouldn't have needed to know about the big seed vault to think of seed perversion.

Why doesn’t anyone ever mention the cutting down of the trees in the south of Westeros?

The seed is strong...Clearly, Howland is a magical badass too. Not sure if he's "controlling"/bending Nature to his will, or simply "accepted"/allowed on to the Island because he's an "initiate", of some kind. Both, mayhaps. He seems to be more than a typical Crannogman though. If so, then I would assume he's about as powerful as Mel, Marwyn, Merri, Moqqorro, etc...(lots of "Magical M-names", isn't it?) We hear about awesome water magic back among the Rhoynar. Mayhaps, they're both drawing from the same magical "well", as it were. The idea of a "Magical Isle" and "Magical Eyes" ("Isle-Eyes") is a very GRRMy bit wordplay, as well as a classic mythical/fantasy motif (i.e. Avalon, Atlantis, The Grey Havens, etc...). He constantly describes them as looking like "Eyes" from a third-person omniscient aerial perspective (i.e. Bird/Dragon's eye view), which makes me think the Dragons will arrive there too at some point. Mayhaps they'll be used to keep Winter/Ice off the Island to protect the WWs. Otherwise, when/if the lake freezes, it seems like anyone could presumably walk over to the Isle and invade, "Magical Forcefields" notwithstanding. Clearly, everyone from all over Westeros would like to "see" what is going on at the God's Eye. Cheers!

Another great video, as always.

Heart of spring, Axis Mundi.

It seems like Green Men are a lot more plentiful around the world and history and seem to be a race of their own, I don't think they're a small faction of men just on the Isle of Faces. Leng (sacred island), the Grey King, The Isle of Faces (sacred island), Garth the Green. These legendary figures are usually mariners that do blood sacrifice, live a very long time, are very tall, are very prodigious. I do like the idea of the Isle of Faces as an isolated "seed vault" that is isolated from the rest of the weirwood network, or a back-up server. I always just thought of it as a sacred island and stronger connection to the weirwood network, but a separate and isolated back-up makes sense too

What are seeds but the children of the forest?

Loving your stuff Michael!!! Keep it up

So you’re saying the God’s Eye is really more of a God’s Egg (seed vault). It kinda does look like an ovum. However, I always thought that those who lived there were naughty and at opposition to mankind. In New Mexico, a God’s Eye is a relic that represents seeing what the human eye cannot see. Like a greenseer. If “white walkers” are from the white wall, then are “greenseers” from the green sea? Or maybe the Jade Sea. Or maybe the Dothraki sea was once green and perhaps had a great lake of its own.

Another great video! Loving your content!

If green magic is relevant to the endgame, then the Tyrells, descendants of Garth Greenhand through the Gardeners, should have a role to play.

Very interesting. I like the seed vault notion. If the white walkers are the, I don't know, manifestation of the ice side of things and Melisandre is, or is evolving to, a fire other which would be the manifestation of that side of the things then per your holy trinity idea wouldn't the Green Men be the manifestation of the green magic? Sort of living trees with leaves for hair and not antlers but branches. Maybe the green sight comes from them and all the greenseers and skinchangers as well? Something like a spriggan maybe. I want to link them with the woods walkers of essos but they're described as timid and I'm not sure that fits.

I find you all theory globally very interesting, because you see sacrifice as a root part of the system. And I restarted the prologue, and the faces of the tree, and their links to blood seems to fit with a whole Girard The Violence and the sacred theory. In the Prologue, the others are regrouping around the victim, there's a duel and then a collective onslaught. Then the victim become like a god ... or more like a wight. This sound primal. The danger that every society face : coming back to crowd murder, like in king landing. South of the wall, its already more ritual, and the weirwood is at the heart of that. The King slay the victim in front of everyone, and rinse his blood in front of the altar : the hearttree, who is a victim inside a tree. Which needs bloos to perpetuate the system, the kingdom and the wall to separate from the wildlings. So I have a problem with this video only : there was no nice magic before. The murder is the root of the heartree. And of the King in North system, the old gods. The practice of the children of the forest where probably more violents even. In the serie, it is them who practice the first sacrifice, that the starks ritualised afterwards.

as always WOOOOO!

Russia had a seed vault in Leningrad, which started in the 1920s. It had a pretty storied history, including scientists there starving themselves (to death in some cases) rather than eating the foodstuffs they had stored during the siege of the city in World War 2.

This is a topic I would give my right arm to pick apart with one of the big names in theories. There are a number of parallels to the Isle of Faces. Contextually how do we look at it. Is it Westeros or the Isle itself that fit the the Asgard/Midgard parallel? Is there a parallel to the Aesir and Vanir to consider (something along the lines of Meerareads thoughts)? With the Wall being salty it gives a sense of connecting the Narrow and Sunset sea making everything south of it an island with Asgard nested in Midgard. Break the Wall and the Jormungand's mouth and tail are seperated. I like the seed vault idea, I'm just not sure quite as literally. like Vaes Dothrak and the Isle of forgotten gods in Braavos, the Isle of faces presents something very interesting in the sense of preserving something. There is also a Summer Isle parallel that dovetails with your Nan/Nettles idea. A figure from a summer isle influencing the world. Like the Summer Islander in KL trying to convice Robert to help him win back his former position. It might make sense then to consider the Green Men as Knights of Summer. It begs a question about the meaning of the red and green. Is there a meaningful connection for Red Men as Knight of Fall/Autumn?

Algormancy!

It's called the WEIRwood but what is it a weir for? A metaphorical river of information and consciousness?

The God’s eye is the eye of a giant named Mecumber 😄 No, just kidding 😄 The Isle of Faces though is a sacred place indeed, and it is possible that the children on the island are different from the ones over the wall. That wall is not there to protect humans from (only) the Others in my opinion. It is there to keep the Three Eyed Raven out. I believe that the Three Eyed Raven was a child of the forest, perhaps the chief at that time, who led the war against the First Men and created the white walkers by bounding his fellow children of the forest to that tree (Bran sees them when he is wandering off in Hodor’s body). The last hero defeated him with the help of the children from the island, and may have killed the original body of the Raven (who was then probably known as the Warg King mentioned in the books), who warged himself into someone, and with the help of his followers got attached to the tree in the cave, thus becoming kind of immortal himself. The problem is that he needs to be attached to the tree in order to survive, and hasn’t found the perfect body to escape from his prison… yet. That is why he has been looking for a warg with special blood, such as Bloodraven, Euron Greyjoy and Bran Stark, to be able to go through the wall to the South. Bloodraven was too old, Euron gone mad, Bran is broken. But! If he can pass the wall, either through the gate or around the wall, the Others can too, and all the wights and remaining children with them. That is why it is crucial to protect the trees on the Isle of faces. And I bet that Daemon Targaryen’s body is also in one of the heart trees on the island, though we don’t know if he was a warg or not (he was a dragonrider nevertheless). Those trees with faces on the island have children inside and not humans, Daemon might be the only exception. The Raven has been corrupting the tree in the cave by using human (and children of the forest) bodies to preserve himself and be able to be carried through the wall by a special blooded warg, eg. Bran Stark. It is also possible that the children’s body in the roots of the heart tree are the ones who were used to create the white walkers… I know it’s a bit complicated and confusing, but as I see it, the Isle of Faces has been and will be very crucial in the story. I might be wrong (probably am) but I think it is not a two sided war, but a three sided one: the Children in the North/White Walkers, the Children in the south, and human kind. This three sided thing is a reoccurring theme in Martin’s work: the Three Eyed Raven, the three heads of the dragon, Three Daughters, currently three castles manned at the wall, three kids of Tywin Lannister, Rhaegar-Lyanna-Robert, society-black brothers-wildlings, three gates of the Eyrie, and so on. And! Don’t forget that “Once there were two moons in the sky, but one wandered too close to the sun and cracked from the heat. A thousand thousand dragons poured forth, and drunk the fire of the sun. That is why dragons breathe flame”, which also depicts a triangle. 😇

What if the greenmen are actually the greenmagic version of immortality, similar to Melisandre being a fire magic immortal.

As long as the Green Men are NOT " By your powers combined, I am Captain Planet(cheesy intro music)" Lol

I created the OOTGM and COTF (trust me bro)

Thanks for the video! I think it's interesting that when Harren Hoare built Harrenhall he did not use materials/resources from the Isle of Faces. And that the Green Men did not leave the island to protect the hundreds of weirwood trees Harren cut down and used in his build. It makes me think that they can't leave the island. I wonder if the Green Men act as protectors like how the Night's Watch does. Those trees, and the Green Men, are the only living beings that will still know the details of the Long Night-specifically, what ended it and how. I wonder if Harrenhall is "cursed" because that is all the Green Men could do...make sure that only misery came to anyone holding it for all the misery it's construction caused. Those island trees witnessed the pact-I wonder if The Others will make a bee-line for the Isle of Faces once they're over the wall? To me, it feels like The Others might not even screw with Winterfell...IF Winterfell is even there after the battle. But I get the feels they might be wary of Winterfell. At least certain sections of it. But they will definately want to prevent the Green Men from doing whatever it is they are supposed to do. Why hasn't Jon, or anyone else at the wall, thought about sending a couple of people to warn the Green Men and ask for some advice? They probably don't need a warning but they can clear a lot up for everyone else. I bet those Green Men have some crazy spoilers. And I bet SOMEONE goes there SOON or else having them be such an obvious go-to just becomes just sadly lame. Or maybe the Green Men are working with The Others!!??! OoOoOOo😮

Hmm what direction does the riverkand currents move? 🤔 pretty sure Cat floated southward after the red wedding and if so, the gods eye may actually be a giant nexus for collecting blood from the rivers! We know the Riverlands is a hotspot for warfare and perhaps thats why the gods eye is there. To collect all the blood and death thats taken by the current after war, further strenghtening the blood magic for the wall

A dead world tree causing the long night is also stupid...they have summers and winters that last years if a world tree was regulating seasons before the long night then that wouldn't be the case

Damn...what a lame theory

The idea of a seed vault is not new and was a thing long before the Svalbard Seed Vault came to fruition