Who Is Controlling Mormont's Raven?

Many people subscribe to the idea that Lord Commander Mormont's Raven is being warged into by someone. Is it Bloodraven, time travelling Bran or someone else? If it is bloodraven how does he get into the bird from the opposite side of the wall when we see the wall has the ability to cut off warging? Today we try look at the evidence and get to the bottom of this.

[rodrigovaccari]

Ser Pounce has been really quiet since this dropped

[taco]

The Raven is a bird, a bird that mocks people, a mocking bird. He also likes to cause confusion and chaos. Mormont's Bird is Little Finger confirmed.

[ashleyofnaath]

For some reason, this video only bolsters my suspicion that Varys' monologue in the ADWD prologue was directed at the raven which was in Pycelle's office rather than Ser Kevan. I've always thought Bloodraven was in there, and Varys was taunting him about his inability to stop this Blackfyre Rebellion because of his predicament. Wow. Great video man!!

[Jonjzi]

An interesting tidbit I learned about obsidian the other day: the Aztecs used to use obsidian daggers to cut out the hearts of their human sacrifices because they believed it caused the sun to continue to rise, which sounds an awful lot like they were trying to prevent the night from lasting forever, lest they fail to carry this out.

[EbonKim]

"Corn" sounds like "Qhorin", doesn't it?

[laurawilliams]

I usually think the list of things that 'time travelling bran' could do is vastly overestimated. Like, explaining complex architecture is a far cry from one
or two words squawked by a bird. You'd need someone to be able to listen and understand weirdwood or greenseer voices, and have enough sway to be listened to by those around them. But that got me thinking about the Tower of Joy and Howland Reed. Reed visited the Isle of faces, so could potentially be able to hear Bran. It could be that the 'I would have died but for Howland Reed' thing has something to do with Bran talking to Reed there, passing on some information that would change the fight. My personal TOJ headcannon is that Arthur Dayne switched sides (for unknown reasons) and was fatally injured due to that, hence the extreme action of taking the sword home with a newborn in tow. This seems a far more likely place Bran to be injected into the story than him being every person named bran who ever existed.

[alcyonae]

You might be my favorite ASOIAF channel

[phnompenhandy]

I distinguish the Three-Eyed Crow as Bran, and Mormont's raven as Bloodraven warging. The problem of the Wall being a barrier to magical beings is removed when you remember they can cross with the permission of a member of the NW. LC Mormont gives his raven permission to cross the Wall when he ranges. If it has permission to cross the Wall physically, the permission extends to crossing the Wall mentally/psychically.

[ScarlitWidow]

Another lovely Saturday started with a great lore video

[DavidLightbringer]

cool video Michael, and I agree that the other big possibility is that there could be a child of the forest spirit in the Raven doing some of this stuff. That's a really interesting idea. I'm also glad you touched on the very curious notion that all of the Ravens have dead children of the forest spirits in them, which has always seemed weird to me since children of the Forest live much longer than Ravens! It really makes no sense to be honest, and I've wondered if maybe it was something Martin wrote without thinking about it deep enough. your proposing that all of the birds form a sort of soul network that the children of the forest spirits can inhabit in a collective way, and I think you could be onto something here. people have proposed that the wolves have something like that going on as well that might be separate from the weirwood network. I suspect this is the case, because I think humans had access to skin changing magic long before they started becoming greenseers.

[gtjoe]

For the algo, you deserve more coverage, your channel is amazing.

[snocades]

I think because Mormont's Raven is so cognizant that it's likely to be someone who died recently living inside it, they haven't been dead long enough to forget all their human speech. They would also be someone familiar with Bloodraven for obvious reasons. As to who it may be, I honestly don't know, but I do think there's a good chance it's a Blackwood from Raventree Hall.

[golgarisoul]

I think ravens in ASOIAF are really cool and this bird, while very ominous, and easily a vessel for magical shenanigans, I also enjoy the idea that all of its ominous stuff is largely just the bird being silly.

[MDMDMDMDMDMDMDMDMD]

6:00 i also wonder if you can use tree warging to move into a convenient tree first, then use it as a node

[daveydubs]

I think the weirwoods (deep roots, caves into winterfell, rivers) are the reason bloodraven can communicate across the wall. It would make sense if that's cotf magic that they have a workaround only they know how to use, and this might be their magic that helped the last hero originally to end the first long night. If there are weirwoods in the castles on the wall, and I'm all in on the castle black theory, then that might be how the nights watch could be communicated with, the current vessel being Mormont's raven. The weirwoods are the secret back door in other words. And I could totally see it being whatever is on the Isle of faces that is pulling the strings, some original greenseer that we've only heard about as legend from the age of heroes!

[CJusticeHappen]

Woah, what if the Ravens aren't saying Corn? What if they're saying "Khorne?"
Blood for the Blood God!
Skulls for the Skull Throne!

[kurtringwalt]

What if BR's warging isnt blocked by the wall and other wargs are because he's physically plugged into the weirwood network Yeah you said this now. I like the weirwood antennae idea

[WatashiMachineFullCycle]

THANK YOU for making mention of time traveling Bran. IDK why, if it's just the limited spaces I occupy in this fandom, but with all the popular theories floating around I never ever see anybody talk much about time traveling Bran. Jon's dream-warging in Clash where he both sees and speaks with Bran in the weirwood WELL before Bran even finds the cave absolutely blew my mind when I first read it, and yet I never see anybody mention it. I still think it's Bloodraven in there, but who knows? Time travel is wonky, it could be that BOTH of them have influenced Mormont's raven at various points.

[KarlKarsnark]

I assume BR has been in raven form and hanging out at the Nitghtfort for years. The ravens are just one example of his "(thousand) eyes and one." They're literally used as "messengers" throughout the rest of Westeros, as well, so it makes sense they could'/would do the same for BR. They can simply transmit their info "magically", rather than by carrying physical notes, but the concept is the same; Ravens = Information. Perhaps, "regular" critters can pass under the Wall, like Direwolves, or because they are born/raised in/of the North, they're willing and able to cross the Wall more easily than a "foreign, magical, fire being", like a Dragon or a "Colhands" type of "un-natural" being. Ravens can "speak" naturally IRL, so they wouldn't need to be "magical", per se.

Etymologically, "cornus", is from the Latin word cornu, which means "horn." Every time the raven says "corn", substitute "Horn" and they work just as well ("Snow!, King!, Horn!" : Corn King = Horn King = Fisher King, etc...The King is the Land motif). We still use "corn" as "horn" in words like "unicorn"(one-horned), or "Cornucopia" ("Horn-o-Plenty"), English, "Corn" historically meant any sort of cereal grain, like wheat, not North American maize, like we think of it today, but GRRM may be allowing for "con on the cob" in "Westeros"/New World they same way Tolkien allowed for potatoes and tobacco in LotR, despite them not being native to Europe either. GRRM never limits himself when it comes to food, but I don't think the point of the ravens cawing the word "Corn" so much is because they're literally hungry all the time. Never mind the fact that ravens are carnivores/scavengers/carrion eaters and not a herbivorous species that prefer nuts, seeds, etc....Ravens want blood and Bloodraven wants ravens.

There's no doubt that horns and the Wall are intimately related. Not only are they used to announce arrivals at the Wall itself, but they are also used in binding dragons and likely bringing down the Wall in some way. Having the ravens say "Corn-Horn" most often is also a big clue that they will be vital to the end game.

Cheers & Tschuss!

[davidjuby]

I always believed that numerous individuals were warging into the crow at different times. I think it was Jojen who told Bran that it was not a good idea to stay too long in an animal because you run the risk of losing yourself and become that animal. That is why I do not think anyone has constant control but it theoretically would be possible for numerous individuals to monitor something without actually warging into it and taking control which blocks others from entering that animal.