Robert Baratheon resurrected theory analysis: маски, колокола и архетип «Стронга»

Первая зацепка проста и дерзка: мы никогда не видели его тело. Более того, мы даже не видели его похорон. Но это не то, что важно. Важно то, что никто не видел его похорон. Это открывает пространство для гипотезы о том, что «смерть» Роберта - политическая инсценировка и нарративная маскировка.

One would think that anyone who have seen his wound would know the way he died. But let us continue. There was no death. We know, that when king dies, the bells are rung. Yet, this time, the bells rang to trick and provoke Ned. This means: Robert did not die. One could possibly say, that he was mortally wounded. But this is mistake.

Куда мог исчезнуть Роберт и чья честь ведет к ответу

But, if Robert is alive, where would he go? In this question, the answer will be given to us by the most possibly trusted source. The most noble and honorable knight of the Kingsguard - Barristan Selmy. As we all remember, Barristan has left Kings Landing, promising to serve the king by right. Many fans accepted that this king was Dany. Yet, it goes without explanation, that the king by right is Stannis. Ser Barristan, person, who despised Kingslayer for betraying his oaths so hard, would never turn his back to his oaths to Baratheons, by running to Targariens.

But, if not Stannis, who does he serve? I think, many people have already guessed, whose mask Robert is wearing. Yet, I will give you another clue, that will clear away any doubts that have left.

Маска силы: Роберт как Стронг Белвас

Yes, Strong Belwas if Robert Baratheon. They share the same constitution. They are both capable fighters, who allow their opponent to wound them, before beating them. Both are served by Barristan Selmy (one would imagine, why would Barristan squire some pit fighter). Even in pit of Daznak Belwas mentions how one should be fighting boars.

One could argue, that Robert was a well knowng whoremonger, while Belwas is eunuch. It has given many doubts to me. The answer was found in TV show. The bard, whose tongue was cut off by Joffrey, revealed this secret to us: "The lion ripped his balls apart, and boar did all the rest". Finally, Robert as Belwas finally gives meaning to mereenise locusts.

Архетип «Стронга» и нежданные отзвуки

So even if Strong Belwas is not literally Robert Baratheon in disguise, I think you may have uncovered a previously undiscovered important archetype in the series. Or, who knows? Robert Baratheon tells Ned that he never felt so alive as when he was winning the throne, and never so dead as after he gained it. Symbolically, Robert "comes alive" again when he can be part of the fight to take the Iron Throne again.

On my first reading of your OP, in fact, I immediately thought you were going to connect this theory to Ser Robert Strong, the (apparent) Frankenstein monster that Qyburn created with Cersei's help. Although you didn't mention him, I think he is certainly part of the same symbolic character type. The name certainly would hint at a connection to both Robert Baratheon and Strong Belwas. We have seen Cersei trying to "become" Robert when she is in bed with Lady Merryweather, wondering what it would feel like to inflict rough sex on her bedwarmer. There is a very interesting pattern at work here, and it will be fun to explore it.

Колокола, подмена и параллели: «теперь» против «тогда»

At times you are left wondering whether Ned is talking of the girl Ned visited at the whorehouse or his dead sister. It is thus little surprise that Ned dreams the old dream about his confrontation with the Kingsguard again, shortly after a similar confrontation with Jaime, also involving an abduction. The parallel is more than a gimmick. Ned wakes from his dream weak as a kitten six days and seven nights after his confrontation with Jaime, like Lyanna was weak from fever related to childbirth complications (most likely puerperal fever).

Not only is the structure of the dream paralleled with the events in Ned’s room, the same numbers of are repeated too: seven and three. The present (now) parallels the past (then), and actually may give us clues about the past. The reversal in number of people dying on each side, suggest that Jaime takes Ned’s part of the past.

• “And now it begins,” said Ser Arthur Dayne, the Sword of the Morning. He unsheathed Dawn and held it with both hands.
• “No,” Ned said with sadness in his voice. “Now it ends.”
• They were seven, facing three. In the dream as it had been in life.

Though Ned wakes from the dream, the rest of that chapter repeats several features of the dream, revealing that in fact the waking life is a repeat of Melinoe nightmare. It is still night and Persephone’s moon daughter is still hard at work. “Six days and seven nights.” The voice was Vayon Poole’s.

Обеты, тайны и цена обещаний

“Whatever happens,” Ned said, “I want my daughters kept safe. “I gave them to the silent sisters, to be sent north to Winterfell. “I will,” Ned had promised her. That was his curse. Robert would swear undying love and forget them before evenfall, but Ned Stark kept his vows. He thought of the promises he’d made Lyanna as she lay dying, and the price he’d paid to keep them.

So, what type of promises did he make to Lyanna and what was the price for them? “I was with her when she died,” Ned reminded the king. The likeliest promise that most people have surmised is to care or guard her child as his own, exactly as he promises Robert on his deathbed. He did so by claiming her child to be his bastard and he paid the price for it in his marriage - Jon1. However, the fact that so often Ned keeps his vows in a manner the other person did not exactly intend it, should make us cautious about the assumption that Lyanna wanted Ned Stark to adopt her son as his bastard.

Хтоническая рамка: Персефона, Мелинойя и воины-проводники

As I have shown in Persephone of the Winterfell Crypts, George has Lyanna tied and surrounded with basically every possible symbol and feature of the mythical Persephone who was abducted by Hades and made Queen of the Underworld. Persephone’s task as Queen of the Underworld was to ensure that a soul’s curses were visited upon. This frozen hell cannot but be a reference to the crypts of Winterfell. Hell is another name for the Underworld. It is up in the North, cold, and related to winter.

While Ned interpretes these as dreams of longing for Winterfell, the dream contains five chthonic references we are already acquainted with since his visit to the crypts: snow, silence, wolves, forest, darkness. His most famous and most analyzed dream is the one about his confrontation with the Kingsguard at the Tower of Joy.

In the dream his friends rode with him, as they had in life…Lord Dustin on his great red stallion. Ned had known their faces as well as he knew his own once, but the years leech at a man’s memories, even those he has vowed never to forget. They waited before the round tower, the red mountains of Dorne at their backs, their white cloaks blowing in the wind.

Persephone belonged to both the Underworld as that of the living, never a permanent resident at either one of them. Arthur Dayne is twice referred to as the Sword of the Morning who wields the pale greatsword Dawn, which is alive with light in the darkness. Like, dusk, dawn is the moment that does not belong to either night and day. It heralds the end of the night and the start of the day, and yet belongs to neither - an in between moment.

• Oswald Whent’s black bat is a chthonic symbol of Persephone and stands for death and rebirth.
• Dionysus’ followers, the maenads, would celebrate this rebirth into Zagreus in a mad frenzy by shredding and pulling a bull to pieces in the woods.
• They were an order of nine armored men who worshiped the “Great Mother” Cybele with a ritual armed dance of shields and swords.

Twice Ned’s dream mentions seven against three, which adds to ten people. But only nine of those ten actually have a guarding role - the Kingsguard and Ned’s personal bodyguard. So, we have in fact nine Korybantes who dance the dance of swords, clashing and making ruckus, drowning out the cries of George’s secret infant in the tower.

Где искать Стражей и чью волю они служат

The locations Ned mentions can be grouped in another symbolic way: mythologically. The Trident and Dragonstone can be seen as a reference to Poseidon’s domain, while Storm’s End and King’s Landing are Zeus’s. Hence, Ned is symbolically saying that he looked for the Kingsguard in Zeus’s realm as well as Poseidon’s, but could not find them there. This only leaves the Underworld where the Kingsguard can be found.

“Ser Willem Darry is fled to Dragonstone, with your queen and Prince Viserys. “But not of the Kingsguard,” Ser Gerold pointed out. “Then or now,” said Ser Arhur. This does reinforce the idea that the Kingsguard and Ned had a discussion about who the Kingsguard regarded as their king.

От бора к кабану: след «кабаньей» дуги

In battle of Bells, he was wounded, yet, he arose and crushed his enemy. In battle of Trident Robert was wounded, yet he still got Rhaegar. Even in pit of Daznak Belwas mentions how one should be fighting boars. The bard, whose tongue was cut off by Joffrey, revealed this secret to us: "The lion ripped his balls apart, and boar did all the rest".

As Viserys said, the usurper's dogs will always hunt down the rightfull king. And he was right. The usurpers dogs (and there was no less than four userpers) have finally got him. Symbolically, Robert "comes alive" again when he can be part of the fight to take the Iron Throne again.

Диалог с Королевской Гаванью: власть, кровь, числа

“Keep the king’s peace, you say. Is this how you keep my peace, Ned? “Eight,” the queen corrected. “Abductions on the kingsroad and drunken slaughter in my streets,” the king said. “Three of my men were butchered before my eyes, because Jaime Lannister wished to chasten me. “Some whorehouse? Damn your eyes, Robert, I went there to have a look at your daughter! Her mother has named her Barra. […] Robert flushed. “Barra,” he grumbled. “Is that supposed to please me? Damn the girl.

“She cannot be more than fifteen, and a whore, and you thought she had sense?” Ned said, incredulous. The king swirled the wine in his cup, brooding. He took a swallow. “No,” he said. “I want no more of this. Jaime slew three of your men, and you five of his. Purple with rage, the king lashed out, a vicious backhand blow to the side of the head. She stumbled against the table and fell hard, yet Cersei did not cry out.

Сводка аргументов: швы теории «Роберт жив»

1. First of all: we have never seen his corpse. Moreover, we have not even seen his funeral. But that is not that matters. What matters, is the fact that noone have seen his funeral.
2. We know, that when king dies, the bells are rung. Yet, this time, the bells rang to trick and provoke Ned. This means: Robert did not die.
3. As we all remember, Barristan has left Kings Landing, promising to serve the king by right… Ser Barristan… would never turn his back to his oaths to Baratheons, by running to Targariens.
4. Yes, Strong Belwas if Robert Baratheon… They are both capable fighters, who allow their opponent to wound them, before beating them… Both are served by Barristan Selmy.
5. Even in pit of Daznak Belwas mentions how one should be fighting boars… "The lion ripped his balls apart, and boar did all the rest".
6. So even if Strong Belwas is not literally Robert Baratheon in disguise, I think you may have uncovered a previously undiscovered important archetype in the series… Ser Robert Strong… is certainly part of the same symbolic character type.

Who are they? Ser Arthur Dayne, the Sword of the Morning, had a sad smile on his lips. The hilt of the greatsword Dawn poked up over his right shoulder. Ser Oswell Whent was on one knee, sharpening his blade with a whetstone. Across his white-enameled helm, the black bat of his House spread its wings.

Curiously, most life and underworld references throughout the dream switch between Ned and his men and the Kingsguard. And yet, these Kingsguard claim they can only be found in the Underworld and have several symbols tying them to the chthonic Dionysus. The likeliest answer is that it is set between life and death, neither in the Underworld, nor in the world of the living, an in-between realm.

Мини-таблица мотивов

• Колокола - сигнал власти и обмана: Yet, this time, the bells rang to trick and provoke Ned.
• Маска/двойник - Yes, Strong Belwas if Robert Baratheon… Ser Robert Strong… part of the same symbolic character type.
• Кабан - Even in pit of Daznak Belwas mentions how one should be fighting boars.
• Числа 7 и 3 - They were seven, facing three… The same numbers are repeated too: seven and three.
• Подземное - Persephone… Queen of the Underworld… black bat… an in-between moment.

He ought never have left. His sons were waiting there. Perhaps he and Catelyn would make a new son together when he returned, they were not so old yet. And of late he had often found himself dreaming of snow, of the deep quiet of the wolfswood at night.

tags: #robert #baratheon #resucitado