The Narrative Importance of Greyscale in the Burning of King's Landing | ASoIaF Analysis & Theory 

Just a quick note: the theory about Jon Connington and Cersei burning King's Landing isn't my original idea, obviously. This theory has been circulating within the fandom for quite some time. This video is an analysis and discussion on why this theory is so compelling, how the presence of greyscale significantly supports its narrative, and why a Cersei vs. Jon Connington confrontation would provide great closure for their characters, even though they never interacted before. Side note: I didn't mention it in the video, but if indeed the kid is not Targaryen (as it seems), then a fake Baratheon (Tommen) vs. a fake Targaryen (Young Griff) makes this event even more ironic and tragic. Thanks for watching, and I hope you enjoy the video! Feel free to share your thoughts and theories in the comments below. 🔥🦠

When we needed her the most, she returned.

Now if you think about it Tyrion convincing Jon Con to go to Westeros and him encircling Cersei feels like a weird way they could fulfill the prophecy.

"The hand is already in a relationship with greyscale." That's a pretty good reason to turn down a marriage.

aight im watching it now cause i had to go to sleep (I WAS STILL FIRST THO) and its still kinda baffling how it's spelled out right that KL in TWOW will be bubbling with dangerous people full of resentment (one of them with a disease that makes someone crazy and the other directly compared to the Mad King several times) & most of the fandom just sort of agrees that they will pause whatever they're doing to wait for Dany to speedrun her Essos arc and teleport from Meereen to Westeros (a journey that took Tyrion a whole book and he was travelling on his own, without armies and dragons)... reminds me of this tweet that was like "ao3 writers always try and squeeze in all members in the narrative like their life depends on it FUKKKK ... why hoseok da bus driver all of da sudden 😐" exactly, why Daenerys the bus driver in those predictions? 😭

If you think about it, Jon Con contracting greyscale on his right hand is even more tragic than it even seems at first, because what the hell is he supposed to do now whenever he's thinking of Rhaegar? 😩 I now fully understand why he's going mad.

No, "welcome or welcome back" catch phrase during the intro? I am now sad :( ...but I've always liked the Cersei burning down KL notion in the form of the ultimate temper tantrum too. It works on so many levels from paralleling Tyrion's experience with wildfire, to the green of her eyes("Jealousy is the Green Eyed Monster"), to the notion of fire "cauterizing"/cleansing disease, like greyscale. It's s also a feasible way to get rid of lots of extra characters as well as turning Dany's prize of KL into a pile of literal ashes. Fire & Blood, but not by her hands. Having "a heart of stone", literally, is a very GRRMy thing to do and appears all over the books from the statues in the crypts to LSH, the "gargoyle" Tyrion, to the "bloodstone"/heartstone imagery in the East. Both Lannisters and Griffins are Leonid symbols, which makes Pride going before their Fall all the more fitting. Cheers & Tschüss!

Your ending for Cersei, JonCon and Jaime is my headcannon now, so fitting!

Wooooooo Jon Con video!!!!!!

I love these videos, I wish had to opportunity to bounce ideas off you. Certain parallels just jump out even when you don't intend them. You've reframed the valoncar prophecy. A fire lord being drowned with stone hands wrapped around her neck. Like Tyrion in the Rhoyne. The defeat of KL is a variation on the Rhoynar defeat. This explains why they need Storm's End first and why Catelyn previously described it as a fist. It's a repeat of the hand reaching up out of the water. Griff is sort of a drowned firelord turned to cold and stone. Sorry, this is a complex thought and I don't want to upset you with a novel. I think I also understand the significance of the Fist of the First Men now.

David lightbringer (amongst many others, yourself included) often note Danys deep desire for family which is one thing that could bring her to king's landing with aegon and connington etc. From there i think it's easy to think of a number of scenarios where the city is burned though there's no way dany will be responsible.

I genuinely don’t understand how people can read about Cersei getting off to Wildfire and being compared to Aerys every other paragraph while JonCon spends both his chapters crying about how he wishes he burnt Stoney Sept (explicitly invoking “Burn Them All” and talks about how he wants to kill Robert’s children before he dies of the disease that’s known to cause insanity and not think these two burn KL. Like I understand that the ASOIAF fandom isn’t exactly known for its literacy, but like even by their standards this is an impressive level of cognitive dissonance.

The show is the worst thing that have happened to this fandom, I swear.

The only thing that looks questionabsle is how Jaime can get to King's Landing after his future encounter with Lady Stoneheart, but I do think that Cersei and JonCon will die with the Wildfire around the city. Maybe Tommen can fit the Valonqar? (He is her and Jaime's son, so almost like a clon of them both) Great video

Woohoo! I was rewatching your videos all morning, hoping a new one would be released today and got so excited when I saw the notification, but was bummed that I was busy with family and couldn't watch it immediately.... I'm here for it now though!!! Lol

Personally- for me I thought , when watching the show, as someone who hadn’t read the books; that Westeros would fall because it too rotted and corrupt to unite and so they’d lose and flee from Westeros to Essos which would become the stable continent after Dany had taken it over and that was the point of her Essos campaign.

Hmm yes, metaphor - fire is not defeated by ice in this case but by water. Fire can be drowned.

your accent is just fine! enjoyed this, thank you

Jaime held his silence the first time, now the second go around he wont stay silent BUT everyone will be too plague ridden to stop the dominos once the fires start to catch - half a million people, half of them immobile and the other half clogging the gates, watching the flames rise higher and higher until BOOM... when he had the chance to warn the city, he stayed silent; when he's finally willing to speak, no one will be there to listen... if Cersei has a hand in starting the fires, especially if Jaime can't stop them and can only escape with her while everyone else cooks alive? yeah, thats a big, big step toward becoming the valonqar

I had to read the captions to realize you were saying Wildfire instead of Wi-Fi. I guess that is what I get for listening to everything at more than double speed.

I do think you're analysis here is spot-on, insofar as this being about Jon-Con's revenge/redemption and channeling Tywin. I know we should be hesitant to point to anything the show does/did but one thing that I think the books even illustrate to some degree is Dany's vision at the HOTU where she's in the throne room and there's what appears to be snow falling. I've always thought that was a fairly significant element to the vision and what it could/might mean. In one interpretation we could say that what she saw was her arriving too late and the throne is already lost/meaningless as the city is destroyed, or even that when she arrives it's too late because Winter has come and thus the throne is pointless next to the battle she must now face. That then also led me to thinking, is that really snow falling or, could it be ash? If it is ash, that would fit with KL being blown up, or burned, but it also leaves the battle vague and obscured enough that we could be misled as to how it happens. I think most presumed/assumed it was Dany that had burned KL and surely the show's choice of endings only supports those theory's more, but I do think that you're completely right; this will all occur before she sets sail or at least simultaneously, such that the throne is lost by the time she arrives, which then leaves us to puzzle out how KL can blow without Dany being the source. Another dragon, possibly, no doubt, but not really likely yet, no other rider has even emerged yet. Of course Euron is the first candidate, etc., but until that happens, the most likely scenario is what we know already, Aegon closing in, the wildfyre caches already in-play and a Fel-Queen just itching to light it up. Whether or not Cersei's arc end there or she escapes back to The Rock is still seemingly up to some debate but I do like this theory. It'd take a lil too long I think for an epidemic to begin, but that's also another possibility too, where Jon-Con infects others and an epidemic breaks out and some "method" is used to isolate them and do "the humane thing" and it goes badly. That may be a bit tinfoil-y, but, we've seen quite a few instances of characters discussing/commenting on what should be done with the afflicted and commonly, just killing them to end their misery/suffering is mentioned. I'm curious if we see something like that play out ever in the series, where one or more are killed arbitrarily in that vein. Not that we necessarily NEED that lol, but it could add an element to the KL issue and also play into how the city goes up, but generally I do think you're correct that Jon-Con will just order the sacking almost straight-away.

Would just love to say how beautiful and relaxing your voice is. So informative too

Sorry I’m late! I was traveling when this came out. And I wanted to give this video the attention it deserves. By being in my favorite spot on my couch with a snack and my cat in my lap. 🐈

This is very well thought out

Great stuff as always, Cat! ❤🧡💛💚💙💜 The fact that (at the time of writing this comment) you have fewer than 5k subs is either criminally absurd or absurdly criminal. I've never heard you or your theories described any other way than positively - "based," is the word I see most. 😃 Well I, being one of the smart ones, will be here when you reach 10k subs and hopefully when you get to 100k subs as well.

Siete bendiciones para usted, mi Lady. ¡Gran trabajo!

Yes, this is Jon Con's story.

Recently discovered your channel and I am enjoying binging all your videos! Great work, and I usually don't make such comments but I have to say I love your accent! Subbed :D

You know, now that I think about it over again. It might be important that (f)Aegon will die in battle. Likely against one of the Tyrell Armies, winning the battle outright but losing his life leading a cavalry charge to some random foot soldier.

Thankyou for this! Another great video. I loved your analysis of Joncon's character and symbolism, and you read those haunting passages from aDwD so well. The early section (re GoT) was very cathartic for me to hear! I'm trying to cleanse myself of HBO, but i repeatedly slip up and let the show influence my thinking in various ways.. Like recently i left a comment referring to Daenerys being currently "en route to Vaes Dothrak", which of course isn't true 😭

Very insightful thank you, you have been missed

The problem with this theory is that Varys is well aware of the red keeps passageways, several members of the golden company in the red keep, and the captain of the city watch’s (Addam Marbrand) nephew (Tyrek Lannister) likely being held captive.

Good Video as always and your Accent gives your readings Character and makes them unique, I really like it. Thank you for this Video. I still think that Daenerys will be blamed for the burning, I mean we are talking Wildfire, that burns and burns and burns, until it has nothing anymore to consume, reminds me a little of that Coalmine in the US that still burns today, since 1962 and the Authorities are still unsure why that fire happened. However according to Urban Legend, it was some Miners who threw a burning Decauville wagon into the Mine to demonstrate better working Conditions. I don't know how much of this Urban Legend is true, but I work as a Saleswoman and sometimes I can't deny that I have a lot of confidence about that Urban Legend, I can see that happened. Anyway, just because Daenerys doesn't do it, doesn't mean that People who come to Kings Landing after the burning, don't blame her because they don't know what happen and see a big flying firebreathing Monster over the burning City. It would be the easiest answer and People tend to believe the easiest explanation. I even think because she is blamed and sees how much fear her Dragons bring to the Common People, IF she survives her Battle with the Others, she will leave Westeros again. I still believe she and her Dragons will die in that Battle mostly because she is a Child and until recently she didn't fly her Dragons into Battle and she also has no Sattle so the possibility that she falls from her Dragons is not that far fetched.

Thank you for another amazing speculation video and such a massive background on Griff, that i feel a bit overwhelmed. Yet, somehow - you said something that made me think of a very un-related thing... Do you think that Lady Stoneheart will be the one to kill Stannis? Afterall, he was on her mind alot while she lived as a major threat to Robb, im still thinking about it and trying to figure out how it can fit the story. Also, i might have missed it if you addressed this, but in many fantasy depictions the "Menticore" is a lion with the tale of a Scorpion and sometimes wings of a bat... Dont know if that matters though 😅

Yet still, many questions remain unanswered. Will everyone die in the absolute chaos and destruction? Cersei still needs to be killed according to the prophecy, and Jaime doing it will make sense but will not really fit his redemption arc that he seems to be going through. Aegon still needs to meet Daenerys in order to fit her dreams and maybe start the next dance of dragons that George has announced will happen (but that could also happen very likely between Dany and Jon against Euron after he will probably steal Viserion). And Aegon not dying before Jon doesn’t feel like the completed tragic arc for Griff that seems to be coming. The simultaneous destruction of the largest human settlements in Westeros even before the coming of the others (because Oldtown will also most probably be destroyed by Euron) will fit very well the narrative of humans corruption and terrible efects of war. With Kings Landing and Oldtown being annihilated and with the battle of Winterfell being actually lost in the books not won, I also see the final battles being fought in A dream of Spring around Gods Eye, Harrenhal and the Trident, just like Dany foresaw in her dream, for the reason that will be the safest and easiest place to defend even as the ruin that it is and in order to finally take Bran to the isle of faces. Then above the gods eye a new dragons showdown will take place paralleling those between Maegor and Prince Aegon as well as the more famous one between Daemon and Aemond. That’s what I think will happen…

well said!

listening while i paint

FIRST

I just saw your recent appearance on the disputed lands! You were amazing, and so pretty aswell 😔

But yeah the show didn’t help in making Essos be seen with not much importance past being a stepping stone. It does seem that the show did a very compacted version of Young Grif and Cersei battle with Cersei/ Dany and Jon. It does make sense that the city Dany does burn down is the slavers city instead of King’s Landing. Just feels like King’s Landing will get destroyed by its conflicts of its own power games

Personally I hope that Denaerys goes East to Asshai and forgets about going to Westeros.

When did kings landing burn? I haven’t read that?

I agree with you that Dany will have nothing to do with the burning of kings landing. It was revealed that, in the original script of season 8 episode 5, it was the wildfire that burned kings landing and not Dany.

And I’m not sure that JonCon sacks KL. The city, particularly the Faith and Sparrows, aren’t happy with the Lannisters as we see in AFFC. Take into account UnGregor’s inevitable reveal and the Rosby blockade theory and I don’t think they use guile to take KL too. (I’m also fairly sure Aegon is mentioned in the ADWD Epilogue so I think that’s out). I think the parallel between JonCon and Tywin comes from the gates being thrown open for him by the Sparrows/ Varys aligned agents. This is also the cheering mummer’s dragon bit. I also think that Myrcella will be captured by JonCon (probably betrayed to him by Nymeria and the Dornish), and that she will be executed Missandei style to end the Baratheon regime. JonCon explicitly says “I want to kill Robert’s children before I die” and I don’t think that could be more on the nose. Additionally, I think Cersei could try and use the wildfire strategically and just fail as a cause for the run away burning. JonCon might also cause it somehow himself. I also think that Jaime killing Cersei has no possibility of not being icky so I hope that doesn’t happen. I think their show death of Jaime skirting the siege lines to get to her and holding each other as they die to the wildfire and smoke is accurate honestly. I’ve made a similar theory on Reddit and other videos before but I wholeheartedly agree that it’s these two. I completely glossed over all the JonCon connections to ice and stone so great job there.

I had to listen to the beginning like 5 times cos I was just waking up and kept zoning out 🥴 Well at least u get watch time lol

Honestly, HTF is the people of westeros suposed to survive after all of this?

I bet "Septon Lenore(?)" Le'more? I bet she has Greyscale too.

He probably got shit for Jhogo Aggo and Rakharo as well as the Unsullied having no distinct personalities and being essentially clones of each other so he made Hizdahr Skahaz Reznak and The Green Grace so complicated

Hey you wrote Buring instead of burning in the title

This is a great video idea Also i hope youre not still mad at me ❤❤❤❤❤❤

At the begginnig you affirm that the slavery story line is more important than the Iron Throne Storyline, and Martin wouldn't fail to resolve the slavery storyline. I think this is fundamentally the wrong way to look at the storylines. I think the larger theme here is how the individual is controlled by larger collective forces - and how that relationship can be evil, magical, ambiguous, or good. We see the same theme of the individual versus the collective in every characters story. Daenerys versus slavery - where we meet the unsullied, individuals stripped of their slefhood to become automatons. Jon and the Nights Watch - where men give away their identity to serve a collective cause, vowing never to have children or love. Kill the boy. Arya and the faceless men - where the individual must give up their identity to serve a collective. Theon versus reek - where the identity is subsumed by a false servile identity. Female characters and marriage - where the woman identity is overridden by the husbands family idenitty. Jaime, Brienne and knighthood - where the position of solidering and knighthood is explored in terms of the way it binds the free will of individuals to a code of ethics, or to the orders of superiors, and exploring how freely chosen vows can be morally good, and also when the free will of individuals must supersede their vows - when to break out of the automisation of the self. Bran and other weircult - where the individual wishes to escape the self and become another creature, or transcend their self by entering a mystic collective - the weirnet. And ultimately the Others - where individuals are made into undead - without free will - by supeiros who may be part of a mystic collective themselves. That theme - individual versus collective - is what is being explored - probably ultimately with the Others. Therefore, I think Daneaerrs cannot really end the slavery plotline - there isn't time and that isn't what this is about - she will have to leave to be drawn into the Others War - which does indeed bring her involvement in the 'slavery' theme to its fruition - freeing the Wights, the enslaved souls.

Mioaw mioaw mioaw mioaw

something random but are you greek by any means?

The Connington/pretender and the Euron Greyjoy arcs will likely turn the story well away from the show. But the only fight that matters is the fight against the others. Once that was accomplished, the only matter left to settle was establishing the ruler of Westros. It was all in on that goal. Dany never lost sight of this goal once it became her goal. Why would she turn away from that for Essos?

I can never get enough of trashing Season 8.

Please try to talk more clearly,i would totally watch your whole long vids if I could understand 100%.. besides that you are great!

You sound very greek

your accent is hella cute

Disagree (somewhat). I do think Dany will burn KL, but because of Cersei & JonCon 1) the showrunners had limited imagination when it came to changing the storylines. 3 events we can expect, but with specifics changed: - cersei makes a wildfire trap for her enemies in Baelor's sept - Dany via Tyrion tricked into a fake parley with the side controlling the Iron Throne - Dany on a dragon, burning KL triggered by bells ringing. 2) i don't have space here to explain, but there are clues for everything in GRRM's Shakespeare influences. Dany and Tyrion will arrive to KL walls with an army, ready to conquer. Tyrion will be tempted into peace/parley by a figure from his past (Coriolanus/Timon of Athens means mother/wife/loyal servant, which in this case means our candidates are Jaime or Cersei, a Sansa that has joined FAegon's court instead of going North, and/or Podrick saved at the last minute by Brienne choosing the sword) 3) timeline: while Dany goes through Essos, FAegon's conquest will be quick and mirror actual Aegon's conquest, but much less bloody and rely on treachery and marriage alliances. One big battle results in the defeat of most Tyrell/Lannister forces (probably because of betrayal by a House of the Reach). FAegon does not wait for Dany and takes one or two wives (Arianne most likely, but I insist on Sansa not going North). KL is mostly spared. Then Dany arrives to Westeros. 4) Dany is in her 2nd stage. Slayer of lies, betrayal for gold, mount of dread (Drogon), fire of death. She enters KL to parley in the sept of Baelor (place possibly suggested by a "repented" Cersei to JonCon), not wanting to be queen of the Ashes. While "peace talks" are going on, JonCon orders the bells to ring. This is a signal to a) the mercenaries of Dany outside the walls, that surprise attack her other forces (I am thinking Daario betrayal in particular). B) attack those at the sept, killing Missandei, maybe killing or capturing Tyrion. Like Gavin (and Missandei in the series), they cry to their Mother for revenge. Dany escapes on Drogon, starts raining fire, wildfire goes off, Cersei watches from a safe distance while her enemies seemingly kill each other. Except Dany obviously survives. The fire spreads through KL. 5) your own video about Targaryen kings dreams and obsessions supports this. I think Baelon ordered the sept made because he dreamt of Drogon arriving to the sept. Equally the Targs that dreamt of wildfire and dragons were seeing this moment