Who Built Moat Cailin? (and Yeen?) Westeros Disaster Hunters - Ice and Fire Theory 

Dont know if they should be compared but the fact that moat cailin had about 20 towers with only 3 left could be linked to the Nights Watch having 19 castles but only 3 occupied at the start of the story

I don’t want to distract George more than he already is but I would love a book of all of Old Nan’s stories. I think they would add so much to the series and the lore. Probably a better source of information the the maesters anyway.

Your videos make me appreciate GRRM's work even more.

14:30 The hammer of the waters definitely hammered Moat Cailin. So hard in fact that the Drunkard's Tower is STILL hammered.

The first Cranog building in ancient Ireland can be linked with some kind of climate catastrophe because trees pulled from bogs which, have been dated to the same period, show several years of zero growth via their rings like there was some kind of Long Winter... Awesome video as always, thank you.

Something that has always stood out to me as odd is that the Night's Watch traditionally wear black; Why BLACK in a snowy environment? It would make sense that they originally wore black because they walked black walls. I dig this theory.

I like the idea of Moat Cailin being the “walls” in the Nights Watch oath. It could be that Moat Cailin was like a secondary front to the Wall up in the north. What if the north and all its inhabitants (children, giants, green men) were completely cut off at the Neck by Moat Cailin (Great Emp of Dawn), and after Moat Cailin went down (beginning of the Long Night), the Wall went up in its place in an effort to sequester the Others? Idk man I’m just riffin

I think Moat Cailin being the original post of the Night’s Watch could lean into the theory that the Others built the wall. Maybe the Others built the wall to keep the Last Hero and the first men from advancing any further north.

I’ve often heard that the Ice Wall is a fantastical version of Hadrian’s Wall, given it’s location and Westeros’s likeness to Britain (the North) and an upturned Ireland (the six Southern kingdoms). I’m part way through your video and you mentioned Moat Caitlin being a potential second wall, and this is also reflected in the real world too. Not only did the Romans build Hadrian’s Wall, they also built the Antonine Wall, a less impressive defensive wall along the much narrower central belt of Scotland, roughly from Edinburgh to Glasgow. It has a very similar geographical look as the Neck, with the Firth of Forth being analogous to the Bite. The Five Forts in the East also give me the impression of the German Limes that the Romans built in Germany to keep the barbarians at bay there too. When you consider all three defensive structures, 2 in the west, one in the east built by an ancient empire to keep out “barbarians”, it’s hard not to think that George is pointing to an ancient empire having built all three.

Some of these photoshops are hilarious. The lagoon creatures hanging off the ruins 😂😂😂😂. Man your collabs back in the day with Quinn were awesome. We need more books and seasons to dive back into. Just went back and rewatched some GoT....they really dropped the ball on the mystery/lore/prophecy stuff that made it so interesting leading up to the final season

About 950,000 years ago. A broad natural land bridge connected southeast Britain to mainland Europe. Footprints and stone tools at Happisburgh, Norfolk, were left behind by members of an unknown human species who crossed this bridge, becoming the first known Britons, This land bridge is geographically located identically to the one that Joined Westeros ro Essos. George certainly knows his tuff, respect to the man.

I’m so glad you’re back to doing long form videos!!! I have ADHD and having something interesting to listen to REALLY helps me focus and get things done! I have a hard time with the live streams for some reason though, so these longer scripted videos are fantastic! I really appreciate the amount of hard work you put into your videos!

A tidbit: the bridge that forms the entry to Breakwater (what's in a name), the seat of House Borrell, is made of black basalt. Plus the Borrells are the Keeper of the NIght Lamp (Long Night reference?). The only other place that has black basalt walls is Blackhaven of House Dondarrion.

I've always associated Moat Cailin with that Monty Python scene. Loved hearing this so much.

Perfect timing. Digging a ditch for the foundation of a greenhouse and glad to have something to listen to while I’m at it!

Fun fact!!! That bridge in the show where Euron assassinates Balon was filmed at the giants causeway. While that doesn’t impact canon at all, it does give them a further bond. Also love saying Derry, hell yeah David.

At 28:08 I’ve never heard that take before. I always thought that “Winterfell” meant the place that winter began of “fell” hence the Starks words of “winter is coming”, but it meaning where winter fell as in where the long night was felled makes a lot more sense, and definitely ties everything in much more nicely.

To add to the Lovecraftian paralells, the Yucatan Península where the meteor fell is filled with cenotes - enourmous cave systems, all supoosedly connected, and filled with clear blue sweet-water. These were sacred pools to the Mayans. Many a jade effigy, offering, and even evidence of sacrifice has been found around or deep below these underwater networks. There the Mayans worshiped gods of the underworld and shadowlands...

I'm aware of how off the mark this is but I've long been a Lovecraft fan and as such it's hard not to read everything through a lens of cosmic horror. To that I always thought the big cities of black stone in Lovecraftian stories were something that the authors really didn't understand themselves. Some of the better explainations that they were somehow created with tonal architecture or some such magic science. I like to think that Lovecraft was thinking of nano machines and the grey goop long before it was a concept. Again, this totally doesn't fit with a song of ice and fire unless, of course, it wasn't just natural meteorite falling to earth but the cosmic horrors of space that primitive man didn't understand.

There may be an unlimited supply of the oily stone below the waves. There might be entire super-cities constructed from it on the ocean floor. Spooky thought. And great video as always.

Cailin is another form of the Irish name Caitlin. Catelyn is a cat fish Tully. Ned got cat fished by squishers. Brans green sea-er end game is to hammer everything under water where the dragons cant burn people and the ice cant freeze everything. Theory fact. maybe.

Great video! The Columbia River Gorge, making up the border between Oregon and Washington has loads of the same type of columnar basalt all along it, from when fissures opened up in Eastern Oregon, Eastern Washington, and Idaho. The baslts of this formation was layed down 17-14 million years ago, its one of the younger bassalt fields of this type around. If you want more details about collumner basalt Nick Zentner a professor at Eastern Washington State, has lots of videos talking about geology and going to see examples. Sometimes he brings along local Native Americans to explain the historical context and stories about these places.

I really wasn’t a big ice and fire fan until I started watching your videos after seeing you’re stuff with Quinn. I watched the show but never read the books or had interest but I can’t get enough of it now. Awesome stuff man.

I'm glad this video was built on top of 4 burned and drowned castles and now stands! Thanks again @David Lightbringer

You talking about Ireland and my hometown Derry felt like an out of body experience, would love to hear more Ireland-Westeros connections !!

One of my only complaints about GRRM's incredible detail and realism is that he has the UPPER most headwaters of one river RIGHT NEXT to the neck. That's not how rivers and gravity work. Headlands are at a higher elevation and would have a continental divide between them. A watershed boundary. Sometimes it is relatively low lying like how tributaries to the Mississippi go almost all the way to the Chicago River which of course flows to the ocean. via the St Lawrence, a few thousand miles from Chicago. The only Revolutionary War battle that was fought in the "frontier" that is Upstate NY was near the portage between the Mohawk river's tributary and whatever river flows into Oneida Lake which ultimately flows into the Great Lakes. The Mohawk River Valley basically continues all the way across NY State. But even then, the lowlands are far downstream and the headwaters of the Mohawk are but a wee creek. And still, Lake Ontario, great she may be, is no ocean. She sits at least 260' above sea level. The Mississippi has her head waters in Lake Itasca in central northern Minnesota. That bitch sits some 1400' above sea level. But boats can go no further than St. Anthony Falls in Minneapolis. By the time the river reaches these falls, she's already descended HALF her total height to a mere 700' above sea level. The rivers flowing northward from Lake Itasca are many thousands of miles from the Atlantic. They probably freeze before reaching the arctic - idk myself bc i don't wish to go so far north. Anyway, GRRM can't explain this away as magic bc the twins would not be there. The whole thing doesn't make sense but i'm rusty and can't properly explain why any better than I have in this rambling nonsensical comment. Still this should show the level of detail in which we've analyzed this poor man's fictional world. I daresay i know more about it than our own.

Scrolling thru RU-vid finding nothing to watch and what do I know but good ol' Dave posts a video just when I need it. Thanks bro😊

32:14 thanks for the reveal you really had me there for a second. Absolute madman.

I like the idea of Moat Cailin having been some sort ancient westorosi melting pot where you’d see children of the forest, giants, green men, squisher hybrids, first men or even firstier men, and pretty much anyone that was around. Kinda sounds like theories in our world about ancient coastal cities with diverse populations that were wiped out with that mini ice age and resulting floods

This video does have the downside when discussing the idea that the neck was a "Byproduct" of the breaking of the arm of Dorne that it fails to consider that the Neck isn't uniformly low-lying. The rivers run northwest and south here, when if the land had been scoured by a tidal wave from the east into its current pestilent bog you'd expect them to flow out that way - but most of the Neck drains into the greenfork river and runs for hundreds of miles.

Actually the Younger Dryas period and Meltwater Pulse 1B suggest that sea levels rose several hundred feet in a single century with cataclysmic results around 10,000 years ago. Speed is relative when you’re talking about geological events. But yeah this one was magic.

“Those of you who have kids just think of your living room” OUCH Dave 😂 too true

The Neck reminds me of an area in the east of England called The Fens which is connected to The Wash. A low lying wetland historically prone to flooding. Great content as always 👍

just wanna say I really appreciate these structured videos

I cracked up at the Daenerys as a mermaid moment 😂 Thanks for the Squisher awareness. Squishers need more representation and empowerment in all spheres of society. Once again great video 👏👏👏

Perhaps the hammer of the waters was a tsunami caused by the melting of a previous ice wall, that maybe stood at the neck. That would make Moat Cailin a kind of five forts analogue in Westeros, and it seems very similar.

This lml guy knows what he is talking about I’ll tell ya! Great video as always and thanks for the wonderful art

No one expects the squisher inquisition!!!!

I have really enjoyed watching your growth, as a content producer 😁

We been waiting for TWOW longer than we been waiting for a new Frank Ocean album, but I can definitely see why that is the case. Such incredible world building done by Mr. George RR Martin. I can see why its taking so damn long to finish.

Really enjoy all the ASOIAF content over the years LML. A theory i thought of and hold atm is the great empire of the dawn is the originators of the fused black stone (the valyrians seem to inherit this technology/magic) but the blood stone emperor who usurped and replaced the great empire of the dawn is the originator of oily black stone and probably had asshai as his capital (and the iron born/other peoples seem to be the bloodstone emperor's tech/magic inheritors)

I think your rendition of Swamp castle was the most powerful scene in all forms of media.

Hell yeah, waiting for this video to come out

The hammer of the waters is also a reference to Big Bobby Baratheon smashing Rhaegar in the trident. This event effectively split Westeros from the Essossi ideology and culture of the Targaryens. It was a cultural splitting rather than a geographic one.

Couldn’t wait for this video. Love the series and I’m really looking forward to the next installment

I'm fully addicted to your videos man

New (kinda) Favorite channel. Commenting purely for engagement stats. Keep ‘Em coming.

The Last Hero’s surrounded by the Others reminds me of Wymar, but where the Last Hero was the one the Others wanted. The Children were also there, seems odd that the Last Hero, the Others and the Children of the Forest were all there at the same time.

Wow! Way to finish strong LML 👏👏👏 Love the new find and the excellent map analysis. Great stuff.

Great video! You laid out the pros and cons of each theory, while connecting them to your own thoughts really seemlessly, and the additional research and connection to Lovecraft really pulled it together. The Irish connection is such an interesting find, and makes sense since the Cailin is Irish/Gaelic for girl. For me I've always thought of oily black stone as essentially radioactive meteor/comet, and thus the people who touch it, or whose lands get crushed by it get the sci-fi version of mutations: fish features. I still wonder why the myth about Moat Cailin implicates the children? Maybe they were trying to stop the devastation and it got twisted to an understand that they caused it? Anyway, loved the video, can't wait for the Ironborn!

The maester vision of magic and stuff always makes me think about the French Revolution (the Reach is also very french)

The collapse of the Arm of Dorne sounds like the Doggerland destruction caused by the Storegga Slide.

Soooooo stoked!!!! Literally the first video of yours I watched said this was coming and I've been waiting, didn't much care for your content initially. Yet....I was constantly watching and sometimes agreeing and sometimes not but you clearly make great content and I appreciate that, you've earned a sub and a like my guy keep up the work man appreciate you.

Your dramatic recreation of That Scene was delightful.

An hour Moat Cailin video to help me get through my workday??? Oh I am SO ready. What a gift!!

Excellent content. It's great that you can deeply analyse so many concepts in your videos, it's unique in some cases, as other channels don't do as much.

Great content and your production quality is looking fantastic. The set and lighting look really good. Thanks, LML!

I just saw this now as I must have been asleep so I'll be watching it now

Absolutely amazing work I was waiting for this one in particular you did a fantastic job👍🏻

I've been looking forward to this : ) Thank you very much, keep up the good work, and skål 🤘

I forgot how much I love your stuff. Time to catch up on your 2023 videos!

I do enjoy how George Imploys Mythological symbolysm in this story. Its a Human thing to do, to personify in some way aspects of reality as so to better relate and understand them. George is using the Idea of the Long Night as a metaphore for worldly death and rebirth. The Night is the Death, the Dawn is the Rebirth. Like a Pheonix these worlds we occupy die and something new comes from its corpse. The Chalcolithic died for the Bronze Age and the Bronze died for the Iron. The Iron turned to the Classical era turns to the Mideval ages so on so forth. The only question one must ask. What Pheonix rises. Bright or Dark

What a great video, your theorizing is always such a treat! And the map stuff was just hilarious, awesome stuff!

1:19 these two crannogmen are super adorable. Just wondering through the swamps catching frogs and shit to eat. Keep it up little guys

Oh yeah: thought I was going to be bored today. Love watching these videos as I draw warriors from antiquity.

Fantastic video! Hope we get more info about these strange places in the books Looking forward to your Ironborn video 👏👏👏👏

Great work! Thanks LML for all the hard and excellent content!

Thank you for this. Have an early day tomorrow and cant wind down n get out of my head, seeing this first thing when i opened youtube saved me.🙏

Coincidentally a few hours ago I watched a video about a guy who was showing of his family chateau. On who built the castle, he says when the first French Pope, became the Pope, he used some of his new wealth to built seven castles for his family. And the castle he was showing off was one of them. It was a small castle fortified with a moat, looked very medieval and was in English style despite being in France because back then that land was owned by the British and the Pope had to ask the English King for permission to build the castles.

Can’t wait for the Winds of Squishers

Excited to get this video! Thanks for your dedication to it!

You are very charismatic and drop the perfect amount of comic relief along with some excellent esoteric observations. Best ASIOF channel on YT IMHO.

All your different sunglasses are so fun!

Can I just say I love your wall so much, they almost distract me from your videos.

The land bridge discussion reminded me of you and tim talking about pike possibly connecting to the mainland in the past and being severed by the hammer..another banger video!

I really enjoyed this video. As always thoroughly researched and produced. Thank you!

Overall great, and also very informative on so many subjects that you manage to connect so very well. I really enjoyed the visuals in this one especially the perspective of Panama and that one art to mirror the broken arm of Dorne. Excited for the Pike video, and the continued exploration of your take on "what is going on with the squishers here?".

Fantastic video David, well worth the wait!

Incredible long form vid, homie! Love your work!!

Mention the City of Yeen. You immediately have my interest. For me figuring out what that city is about as much of a fantasy mystery obsession as figuring out why there is a random skeleton in moat around Dragonsreach in Skyrim. Nobody knows for certain why it's there, but it is, and it invites all sorts of speculation. My personal theory is that a civilization of demon worshippers built Yeen out of stone brought from Hell itself, but that's just a theory on my part. Real origins are never going to be known as George said "The Mysteries of Yeen will stay hidden" which has me going I REALLY want to have a story about that, it's like a Chekov's Gun you don't just mention a giant ancient city that nobody can resettle as everyone that tries ends up being missing 401 case as in vanished without at trace and expect me not to want to know exactly why people go missing there. Any attempt to shed light on that particular shadowy city is always welcome in my book; I swear it was learning about Yeen that made me think Westeros is boring I want to explore Essos and Sothoryos instead, way more fantastical and interesting.

can’t wait for the pyke and ironborn videos!!!!

Been waiting for this one for a long time. Thanks dude

Always excellent content! Thank you for all the great work!

Awesome! LML thank you 🙏🏻 for sharing this video, great work, very interesting topic, I loved it! 👌🏻👌🏻👌🏻🙋🏼‍♀️🇨🇦♥️🤩

Hey LML been awhile for me due to life changes, but i'm glad to see you are still making great content. Happy to be back.

I always felt really interested in the Moat since the first reading of AGOT. Super in depth excellent video!

I can't believe I'm almost caught up with this playlist! I first got into this channel around this time last year when working on the mythological connections in my own writings- usually going in the background when I was drawing. Sadly my computer decided to die on me, and I ended up avoiding the channel because I was depressed about not having access to my art and writing. However I've lateley I found myself clicking a video at random, and listening has helped me feel less depressed than I have in a while, and the writers block feel a little less insurmountable. Idk why, but its been a genuine relief to be able to vibe with what inspires me, even if I can't get utilize said inspiration like I want to. Gonna have to make some sick ass fan art inspired by this channel when I finally get my shit back.

NIce work David , really enjoyed this one , cheers

Thanks for covering all the topics!

Squishin' awsome good Ser Lightbringer!🤘🐺🔥🌱💨🤍

Monty Python, Squishers, Nimble Dick, and even a little Lion King in one clip. Youre a gosh darn genius.

Thanks again for another Awesome video. Nice One :)

Long awaited! Nice one David!

The Maesters pushing slow, gradual change as the answer to clearly catestrophic events is an amusing inversion of the the early debates in Geologist circles about how the Earth was made. Catastrophism VS Plutonism or 'Disasters did it all!' VS 'Slow and steady did it all!' where IRL Catastrophism was more popular it's the other way around for the Maesters. Bless their hearts XD EDIT: 'Isthmus' pronunciation cheat/workaround- try saying it like 'iss-muss', rhymes with 'Chris(t)-muss'

I'm late watching this. Thanks for the shout outs. I'm happy I could contribute to this. As for the froggy men of Ib - their stone idol is mentioned. Its described as a water lizard so possibly a salamander which is a lizard-looking amphibian.

Is there a possible timeline where oily stone is from a pre-dragon period in the GEOTD? They build Asshai, Yeen, and Moat Cailin in the time before they have the dragonfire to turn it to fused stone? Yeen may have been part of grabbing wyverns to breed dragons; Cailin trying to grab skinchanger magic? (From the lizard-lions of Reed, speaking of gator-filled swamps.)

Best birthday present I could ever ask for, LML theory and a bowl I think the lizard men might be a nod to the Serpent Men in kull by robert e howard who worked with Lovecraft on a few stories together.

I'd LOVE to see you do a video/make a playlist covering all the real-world inspirations for landmarks in Planetos. Super cool!!

I really loved the visuals and concept art in this video it really helps paint the picture of the beautiful and interesting world of ASOIAF

Thank you for another insightful video!