How the Valyrians Tamed Dragons | Game of Thrones/ASOIAF Theory

Who taught the Valyrians to tame dragons? Who were the Shadow people? What is Stygai? Why is it called the corpse city? Why do shadowbinders wear masks? What does A Song of Ice and Fire mean? This theory answers more questions and solves more mysteries than that of the Great Empire of the Dawn.

0:00 - Who were the people from the Shadow?
0:55 - What powers did the children of the forest have?
2:02 - What are the demons in Mossovy and the Shadow Lands?
3:56 - What is ghost grass?
4:58 - Why do shadowbinders fear Stygai?
6:11 - Why is Melisandre's magic stronger at the Wall than Asshai?
7:35 - Why do shadowbinders wear masks?
8:06 - Who or what is in Stygai?
8:55 - Why is Stygai called the corpse city?
10:47 - Your Nitpicks and Strawman Arguments
13:32 - What is the meaning of A Song of Ice and Fire?
18:19 - How was dragonsteel made?
19:08 - How did the children help the last hero? How did he get dragonsteel?
19:58 - What is the bittersweet ending of A Song of Ice and Fire?
21:21 - Who or what caused the Doom of old Valyria?
22:44 - Why are the Others/white walkers marching south?
23:05 - The ghost of High Heart and Tragedy at Summerhall

Images and video from Game of Thrones are the property of their creators, used here under fair use.

Other Image Credits:
Stygai of the Shadow Lands by Justin Madden

[strawberrrylumps]

At this point I know more game of thrones history than real history

[thalmoragent]

Its interesting cause apparently, Dany had part of the dream when she was in the House of the Undying, seeing people with Silver-White Hair but with eye colors that match those of the Emperors of the Great Empire of the Dawn.

Seems White Hair is a symbol of inner fire Magic, but where Valyrians had mostly Purple eyes, these others had other special eye colors, or rather, eye colors with special shades. So fancy shades of Blue or maybe Amber, etc.

[theletterm]

Brutally good theory video connecting almost all the important "big picture" questions into one coherent whole. One thing I would add is that if the Night's King was in fact a Stark and his bride an Other, then Jon, as a descendent of House Stark might have both the blood of the Others as well as the blood of the Valyrians, making him another melding of Ice and Fire.

[KristenNicoleYT]

I'm so used to videos taking forever to get to the point that I almost thought I missed something when two minutes into the video you were already talking about the main point lol. I really appreciate how direct this video is and I think the theory holds up

[XxHizzyxX]

Great theory, if the shadowbinders really fear the greenseers then it could explain why no animals live long in Asshai.. they could've used some sort of magic to make sure they die off soon after entering the city.

[allykaman]

This theory could also suggest that the Targaryen tradition incest is a purposeful measure by the singers in order to keep the line self-contained and easier to eventually dispose of when it’s time to tie up those loose ends.

[GreyWasteTim]

I like the idea of Ghost Grass being like the weirwood of Essos. I don't think it could be referring to the Others because Xaro Xhoan Daxos tells Dany that Ghost Grass is growing in the Garden of Gehane in Qarth.

[lexj.]

Really enjoyed this video. I like the possibility of an expansion on this ancient race readers know as the children of the forest, and others of their ilk. With different wrinkles to their culture, ideas, relations to man and other aspects of nature. This is the sort of asoiaf magic and history based material that definitely speaks to me and draws my interest.

[AlbinoMutant]

I have been looking for a theory like this from someone who has gone deeper into the lore than I have for quite a while. When a world is built by a single mind, that mind is all but required to have ways of staying consistent and organized, and that means under all of this material, there must be some hidden structure that allowed GRRM to keep it all straight as he layered story upon story over it. This theory is probably the closest thing I've seen to lifting the hood on that hidden structure. I'd bet it's very close to the mark. And I think that because so much of this is obvious in retrospect. When something you didn't see before is suddenly pointed out and you wonder how you didn't see it, you can be pretty sure you're looking at something real.

And now we know why Viserys claims Aegon's invasion was the requirement of a prophecy -- a Targaryan must be on the Iron Throne when the Others come...because they are the last Valyrians

[ahluks]

You just cracked the code! Everything make a lot of sense. It also ties well with Preston Jacob's theories and LmL's

[legendsofthebravebard]

Cool vid!
As a fantasy writer, I love the immense world-building in ASOIAF

[arpitarpit]

love this
I wish we had such genuine and dedicated people like you running the seasons 5-8 of the GOT TV Series
Man, I feel such a sense of loss, watching this video and thinking about the human hubris that led to the lost (glorious) potential of the TV series
:(

[MBS]

Probably the best theories I've heard are on this channel. I feel like I now know the secrets. I've always felt everything is orchestrated behind the scenes by the Children and their Greenseers (not without mistakes of course), but never knew enough information to explain everything, until now haha. Even Euron Greyjoy I think is being manipulated by Bloodraven, in order to bring down the Wall (using the Horn of Winter at Oldtown) for the WW to come so that the Ice & Fire will destroy each other.

[bobmotto]

Really like this theory and how it would lead to the conclusion. I think nettles being a children of the forest also makes a lot of sense with this theory.

[mattvanderwiel]

unreal breakdown. The facts and correlations are mind boggling once you see them lined up beside each other. My head was spinning watching this!

Cheers man thnks for the great research

[manofhealing]

I've been saying for years that there's a connection between ghost grass and weirwoods and you're the first person I've seen mention it. My reasoning is slightly different but more of the same. We get the ghost grass story from the Dothraki, and one of the very first things we are taught about them is that they don't have words for everything, they don't have words for concepts they don't know (I think the actual explanation was that they didn't have a word for please or forgiveness or something like that", and they live in vast grasslands that is sometimes called a sea. Doesn't sound like a place with lots of trees, so it's possible they just don't have a word for trees, because well, why would they?

So running with this assumption, the logical thing to call a tree when you have no word for tree is grass. So now we take a look at how ghost grass is described. It is tall (like a tree), white like a weirwood, drains the life force of everything around it like a weirwood, magical like a weirwood, is prophecized to end the world (and while not outright stated, there is a case for the same thing happening with weirwoods if left unchecked), the magic they're tied to is dark, much like.. well, you get the idea.

[nononono]

Excellent!
I also think that Aegon was lured to destroy Harrenhal by the CotF. Harrenhal was a sort of afront to the greenmen, built right next to their HQ. But I think that again, an expected pact was broken, where the Targaryens were expected to rule over men as sort of proxies to the CotF, who wanted to bring them under the worship of the old gods. We have Jacaerys + Sara Snow which brought the "pact of ice and fire", then Duncan the Small + Jenny of Oldstones, then Rhaegar + Lyanna, and maybe eventually Jon + Daenerys. So twice the CotF may have sought to empower men with magic with which they would rule over mankind, once with ice and once with fire, and both times it backfired, as now it is likely that the red priests will champion Daenerys to destroy not only the Others but the weirwood too. The Doom of Valyria, like the destruction of Hardhome, I suspect was due to mankind researching magic. The CotF would want to prevent men from mastering magic, so they brought them down twice.

[nononono]

BTW, the signers singing "sad songs": Rhaegar's song at the Tourney was a "sad song" and Mance (as Abel) is singing a sad song in Winterfell. As for the Ghost of Highheart, she says she gorged on grief, which sounds like she wanted to cause grief. I suspect that because Aegon sought to hatch the dragon eggs, and because he was against the marriage of Duncan and Jenny, the GoHH wanted to prevent him from having the power of dragons, so she sabotaged the hatching, but in doing so accidentally caused Jenny's death. Mankind is not supposed to have power unless it is to rule over the rest of mankind under the worship of the old gods.

[maggyfrog]

the people who taught the valyrians how to tame dragons probably wanted them to be weaponized against the magic of the children of the forest up north in westeros but the valyrians got drunk on power and there's probably a safeguard put in place by the people who taught them and this could have caused the doom.

[charzanboo]

The Last Hero defeated the Others because he got a hold of the 'One Ring.' Sauron manipulated the Others and Targayrans through the Children of the Forest by his use skinchanging and forging. He forged dragonglass in the fires of Mt. Doom.