The Role of Skagos in the Winds of Winter

Hello everyone! Today I'm discussing the history and future role of Skagos in #asongoficeandfire. What do you think? Is there anything I missed? What do you think of #houseofthedragon so far? Be sure to leave a comment, as well as like the video and subscribe if you enjoy. More #asoiaf content is on the way!

Thank you all for watching! Art in this video is by TheMico!

00:00 Introduction
00:30 Skagos History and Legends
02:07 Sam's Perception of Skagos
02:44 Skagos and Bias
03:30 Unicorns on Skagos
04:10 Why is Skagos Important?
04:52 Rickon on Skagos
05:35 Davos' Journey
06:59 Rickon's Potential Fate
08:10 Theory Corner (patent pending)
10:55 Conclusion

[misskate]

I have this cracked out theory that the Skagosi are just… completely chill. They have no idea about any of those stories about them, they just think ppl on the mainland seem pretty shy. They’re just hanging out, petting their unicorns, happy as pigs in mud.

[baldbeardedbassist]

I think the three youngest Stark kids are going to be an absolute horror show as the series comes to an end. They're all super-wargs, they're all SO deeply traumatized, and as far as I can remember, none of them have even heard of the concept of "abominations" they could be committing, Bran having already done more than a couple of those. AND THEN there's the whole issue of the greenseer magic he's downloading from Bloodraven. It's gonna be a wild ride I really cannot wait.

[indigo]

A little bit of me hopes that Davos steals a unicorn from skagos and rides it into battle with Stannis, a woman can dream...

[alexkonoff]

Honestly Davis in Winds might be what I’m looking forward to most. His chapters were so good in Storm and Dance

[Methuslah]

The point about the shaggy dog story is interesting. However, I interpret shaggydog’s name as showing the story from Rickon’s perspective.

In the beginning, the Starks aren’t exactly a perfect family, but 3-year-old Rickon would certainly think that life is generally pretty good. And then, a bunch of strange people come to visit. And then his brother is sleeping for a long time. And then his dad, sisters, and half-brother leave, never to return. His mom won’t stop crying next to his sleeping brother, and his oldest brother is too busy to play. And then his mom leaves, and his sleeping brother wakes up…

The point is, none of this makes sense to a child that age. From his point of view, everyone is being weird and sad and disappearing, and he doesn’t know why.

Think of it this way: When I was three, my parents separated. I would cry for hours after leaving one parent’s house. I couldn’t understand why my dad lived somewhere else.

What Rickon is going through is a thousand times worse, and nobody’s giving him any answers. Everything is pointless and meandering and dumb from his view, and that’s the real shaggy dog.

[samlasalle]

I think that Rickon is essentially completely feral at this point after warging shaggy dog for so long when he is so young. I think Davos will probably find him alive and well on Skagos but decide to leave him there. If Rickon is brought back to claim the north, I think everyone will have to pretend that this wolf-child is completely normal and a viable heir to winterfell and totally not a crazy wolf human warg hybrid.

[princefrostburn]

It's relatively minor but both The Cannibal and Shaggydog have very similar descriptions both being coal black and with bright green eyes

[leotamer]

It is hard to tell without knowing what the motivations of the people of Skagos are, but if they First Men Traditionalist, a young Stark warg that you can raise with First Men traditions seems like a prefect opportunity to bring the rest of the south more in line with First Men culture.

[whyareyoureadingmynickname]

I think that idea behind Rickon was to show how dangerous warging actually is. Unlike with Jon, Bran and Varamyr who all seem to have at least some control over their wolves, Rickon is way too young to do anything like that. In fact, it seems somewhat obvious from text that it is Shaggydog who is the dominant persona. Thus, I think that Rickon will be "dead" when Davos finds him - not physically, but his humanity will be gone forever and he will just be a feral child. That might even serve up as a bit of foreshadowing of what could happen to Bran.

Also, as cool as it is, that Cannibal theory makes no sense for three reasons: first, like you said, he would be way too old; second, it was mentioned that dragons can't handle cold; third, someone would have noticed him since he's a ginormous dragon. However, I'm willing to subscribe to the possibility that he did flew to the North and died there, and that we might see his skeleton.

[niofalpha]

I feel like Davos sees a happy Rickon and decide to Leave him there as to not expose the boy to the intrigues of court.

[ashleyofnaath]

It's an interesting observation that Rickon shared Shaggydog's kill in that cut Jon chapter because it's loosely implied that that still happens anyway; only it's more subtle and happens in a Bran chapter rather than Jon's, so we see it through a child's perception rather than an adult's.

In AGOT Bran VII, after Rickon and Shaggy were found in the crypts and Shaggy bites Maester Luwin, Bran notes: ...Rickon patted Shaggydog's muzzle, damp with blood...He licked at his fingers...

George is a tricksy bird! Does that mean Shaggy licked at Rickon's fingers? Or does it mean Rickon licked at his own fingers? Those have very different connotations. Remember, Rickon's fingers were covered in Luwin's blood after he touched Shaggy's muzzle; so if Rickon licked his own fingers, that means he tasted Luwin's blood and engaged in a loose form of cannibalism. Which could foreshadow what you mentioned Rickon may be doing on Skagos to enhance his warging.

Had this occurred in a Jon POV, I don't think the wording would've been so ambiguous; Jon being an adult would've specified who licked at whose fingers and likely would've expressed discomfort had it been Rickon that licked Luwin's blood from his (Rickon's) own fingers. Nice video, as always.

[cliffordsymons]

I would be totally sold on Rickon getting back to his deep Statk/First Men roots on Skagos as a major plot point if George had kept the Five Year Gap. I feel like it would be rushed without it, but if he'd spent literally half his life up there with Osha then it's a lot more plausible. We'll hopefully see how George reconciles this (or doesn't)

[TriuneWorshipper]

“When the winds of winter is released” wishful thinking never hurt anybody!😂

[heythere]

My own theory: we may not get a POV chapter of Davos in Skagos. GRRM likes to have battles where one side is about to lose and then at the last minute, a third army arrives as a surprise and turns the tide of the battle (the Tyrells and Tywin in the Battle of the Blackwater, the Boltons save Theon from Rodrik Cassels army, Stannis saves the Nights Watch, Victarion's fleet in the Battle of Fire). Perhaps Davos has not only got Rickon, but he got the entire Skagossi army to join Stannis' cause, and they'll arrive last minute in the Battle of Ice to save Stannis, (causing Wyman Manderly to switch sides too as he promised.) This would be interesting + it would save precious TWOW pages + we could hear about Davos' Skagos adventure in past tense in a Davos POV chapter. But IDK, I'd like to see a POV chapter in Skagos to satisfy my curiosity

P.S. This could set up a conflict for control of the North: Stannis, Rickon, and his new Skagossi army on one side VS. ressurected Jon Snow (soon to be Jon Stark when Robbs will is revealed) and his wildling army?

[Mrryn]

The foundation of the theory may be shaky, but the idea of the people of Skagos being labeled cannibals and them correcting others by saying that they practice Cannabilism - as in a religion where they venerate Cannibal the now-ancient dragon - would be a hilarious and awesome twist imo.

[Rosie-ytnd]

I like your point about how the Skagosi would hate Rickon if they find out his heritage! i think thats very plausible. I can see it going two ways: the way you described, they kill him. OR Davos is warned in time and makes the hard decision to keep Rickon's secret. All the turmoil on his way there, the plots resting on Rickon claiming his identity... he throws them away. There is this boy and he is living a strange live but he seems happy. and safe. If Davos takes him back, the only thing waiting is to be used as a pawn and constat peril, likely even death. So he makes a decision only Davos could: he leaves Rickon where he is and tells everyone back in Westeros that he is dead, maybe forges some kind of "proof". Leaves him in this strange place, a nobody but happy. It would be a nice foil to characters like Dany and (f)Aegon who's lives revolve around legacy. they are facing grief and struggle and causing misery, all for claiming a birth right, an interitance. This storyline would showcase that maybe thats not everything. The way to win the game is not to play at all.

[nealfirstofhisname]

1. Davos doesn't speak the Old Tongue, and the Skagosi likely don't speak the Common Tongue. So Osha has to do the translating.

2. Rickon is a skinchanger with Wildling blood (Bael the Bard). He might be preferable to the Skagosi as lord of the North, as he represents the true First Man. He even has red hair.

3. The Skagosi might want to fight the house Frey. They broke guest right, which we know the First Men take extremely seriously, and they are an Andal house that slaughtered hundreds of First Men.

4. Sending ships to Eastwatch is never considered dangerous because of the Skagosi, so they don't seem to raid much. Despite the weakness of the North, neither the Umbers nor the Karstarks have mentioned their coastline being raided.

[jasonparrish]

While the other Stark children are being inculcated into the various cultures of the South or the East, and Bran is being turned into something more than human, Rickon seems to be going full old-school in the only place where the old traditions of the First Men are being kept alive... no pun intended. While we might see the whole rumor/tradition of the Skagosi eating their opponents heart and liver as cannibalism, it wouldn't be the first time George turned the Southern/colonizer perspective on it's head by conferring real/magical power to the Skagosi... enough to keep the island from ever being colonized by the Seven Kingdoms or even the original Andals.

I would also expect Skagos to still be a place of power for the Greenseers and for wargs and the like to be honored and raised up even more than Beyond the Wall. My hope is he'll come back completely OP and totally demented by any Southern standards, but more like the Starks of old, and ready to dive fangs-first into the battle at the side of Azor Ahai.

[Levacque]

That's **Lord** Davos, tyvm!😋

Edit: I really appreciate your content that's written on screen but not spoken! I also find Flement Brax's absurd helm to be amazing.

[tylercruse]

Wex is going to become the de facto squire for Davos. He'll teach him more use things than Theon. They are both recently literate, so they may bond over that. Wex is still learning to read