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I had a bunch of thoughts while listening to episode 78 (The Children of the Forest) of the Radio Westeros podcast and I wanted to share them with anyone who cares to read. ☺️

-In the episode, Lady Gwyn and Yolkboy do a really good job of explaining the difference between wargs and skinchangers, how wargs can change into dogs/wolves and skinchangers cannot. They talked about how rare bonding with dogs, wolves and direwolves is among skinchangers and it got me to thinking: were the Starks made kings because they could skin change into direwolves? The direwolf would be the king above dogs and regular wolves, in fact we see this with Nymeria and Summer. Nymeria becomes the head of a great wolf pack and Bran, while inside of Summer, takes control of another wolf pack. 

-On the topic of the Children breaking the Arm of Dorne: I really get the feeling Valyria or whatever it was called before it became an empire actually did have a presence on Westeros much earlier than we’ve been told. If Valyria is supposed to be Rome, they have an earlier history than what we are being told, likely because the maesters a long time ago had something to hide. It seems likely to me that there was a republic version of the Valyrian Empire and the history we have been told is just the empire’s history, not whatever existed before. I also have a working theory that I will expand upon in its own post about the Proto-Valyrians (we’ll call them PVs) presence in Westeros before the breaking of the Arm. In a very brief summary, the idea is that the Amethyst Empress is a parallel to Cleopatra/Egypt and the Bloodstone Emperor is really just Rome, the Bloodstone Empire. I think the black stone that they worshipped is just the oily black stone that they built with. I believe the oily black stone is just basalt that has been infused with some sort of magic, likely bloodmagic, and they oily appearance is just its magical charge. We have evidence there was a culture in Westeros pre-breaking of the Arm that liked to build with sorcery and oily black stone present in some buildings. It seems likely to me that this was the work of the PVs and that they had to pull back to protect the heart of Valyria from the rising threat of the Dothraki from the East. If this is true, it is also possible that they CotF broke the Arm to keep either the Dothraki out (most likely) or even to keep the PVs armies from easily coming back into Westeros. I have essays worth of thoughts on this though so I will save that for another time. 

-The way the Northern Mountain Clans call Ned Stark “The Ned” makes me wonder, was Brandon a title that the Kings of Winter used to adopt when they became king? The Brandon becomes the Bran? Is it like the title of The Merlin where it passes on almost like it is the same person? Is that how Brandon the Builder supposedly did so much? (This one is just kind of a random thought but I figured why not include it.)

-We are told that Brandon the Builder came to the Stormlands to help Durran Godsgrief build Storm's End as a child but what if they actually meant he was a Child of the Forest? I think it’s likely Brandon the Builder was half CotF and this would help explain him possibly living a long time. His father is said to be Brandon of the Bloody Blade, a son of Garth Greenhand, and the moniker he’s given reminds me of how Barbrey Dustin talks about Ned’s older brother Brandon. 

“My father had great ambitions for House Ryswell. He would have served up my maidenhead to any Stark who happened by, but there was no need. Brandon was never shy about taking what he wanted. I am old now, a dried-up thing, too long a widow, but I still remeber the look of my maiden’s blood on his cock the night he claimed me. I think Brandon liked the sight as well. A bloody sword is a beautiful thing, yes. It hurt, but it was a sweet pain.” ADWD, The Turncloak

So is the Bloody Blade in the first Brandon’s name actually about him following in his father’s footsteps and spreading his seed throughout the lands of Westeros? If that is the case, I find it to be highly likely he came across a Child and had a baby with her, possibly Brandon the Builder. 

-The idea of the Dothraki fighting the Ifequevron is really interesting to me. Imagine a battle between the two: the Ifequevron could take over the Dothraki horses and wipe them out almost instantly. The Dothraki definitely would mess with an enemy with that sort of power over their strongest asset. No other real thoughts to add to this point, I just thought it was really interesting. 

-Is it possible the first Valyrian was a child of Garth? Are the ancestors to the Daynes also descendants of Garth? Garth was said to have walked Westeros before any other men; did he learn anything from the CotF? Did the PVs or first Valyrian learn bloodmagic from the CotF?

-The Green Men on the Isle of Faces remind me of the priestesses on the Isle of Avalon from The Mists of Avalon series with the Isle of Faces being Avalon. Could it actually be women on the Isle? Bran sees a priestess of the Old Gods in his vision so we know that there were women leading at least some of the religious ceremonies. The priestesses in both stories also have bronze weapons to use for their rituals, a knife like weapon for Mists and a sickle in ASoiaF. 

-Is Snowylocks a hint that the Valyrians might have had some CotF blood? We actually don’t really know what the CotF want or how Bloodraven came to be in the cave with them with a tree growing through his body. It makes me wonder if he’s maybe been lured there and trapped for some reason like Merlin was trapped.