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Who is Quaithe and what does she want? | In Deep Geek | YouTubeToText
YouTube Transcript: Who is Quaithe and what does she want?
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The content analyzes the mysterious character Quai from "A Song of Ice and Fire," exploring her cryptic prophecies to Daenerys Targaryen and theorizing her true identity and motivations, suggesting she is Shiera Seastar, a Targaryen sorceress.
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who is Quai she's been sending Daenerys
visions and cryptic messages since book
two but what do they mean and what does
she want from Dany hi everyone this is
Robert welcome to indeep geek on this
channel we cover A Song of Ice and Fire
In Depth as well as the Lord of the
Rings and The Witcher
welcome we first meet Quai when she is
part of the honor guard that escorts
Daenerys into kth with her newly hatched
dragons one of three dignitaries along
with Pat PR and zaro x and daxos she
doesn't say much then just warning Danny
to beware everyone basically because
they will try to take her dragons from
her qu follows this up later by telling
Dany that she should leave the city
while she still can Danny asks where
else she might go and Quai says to go
north you must Journey South to reach
the West you must go east to go forward
you must go back and to touch the light
you must pass Beneath The Shadow
asai Danny thought she would have me go to
to
asai will the asay give me an army she
demanded will there be gold for me in a
Shai will there be ships what is there
in a Shai that I will not find in
kth truth said the woman in the mask and
bowing she faded back into the
crowd Danny's mind here goes to a shy
because qu tells her that in order to go
north and west which is the direction of
Westeros from where she is she must go
south and east and the only place of any
real note in that direction is asai or
to give it its full name asai by the
shadow which ties in with the idea of
passing beneath the shadow it's a quite
literal interpretation of what Quai says
but Quai noticeably doesn't correct Dany
instead she allows her to go on thinking
that that's where she should go even
telling her a reason why she might want
to go there and that's the last we see
of Quai in person as far as we know she
stay in C but she appears to Dany three
more times as Visions perhaps through
the use of glass candles she first just
repeats the same advice she gave before
probably as a way to identify herself
but then when Danny is in Marine Quai
appears again to say the glass candles
are burning soon comes the pale Mare and
after her the others caken and dark
flame lion and Griffin the son's son and
the Mama's Dragon Trust none of them
remember the undying beware the perfumed
cachell now at the time this seemed
quite confusing to Dany but with the
knowledge of what's going on in The
Wider world we can see that this is
actually quite an accurate list of who
or what will come to her in Marine the
pale May is the name of the plague that
hits the city later in the story then
there is a list of people who are
currently trying to get to Dany mostly
unbeknownst to her the kren is
presumably Victorian Greyjoy who has
been sent by yuron the dark flame is
presumably Moro the Red Priest The Lion
presumably Tyrion the Griffin John
connington the son's son Quentin Martell
and the M's Dragon aegon I 6 or young
Griff if you prefer this is new
information but the message is the same
like before Quai wants Dany not to trust
any of them she also wants her to
remember the undying who Dany trusted
and then they tried to kill her and we
assume Steal Her Dragons and also throws
in someone else the perfumed cell who
could be any one of two or three
different people that Danny shouldn't
trust so qu's interactions with Dany
thus far were about building trust with
her by telling her things that were yet
to happen telling her not to trust
anyone else and telling her that there's
a truth in the Shai that she needs to
hear all Clues to what Quai might want
but we'll come back to that in a moment
because then we come to the final and
most sign ific vision from Quai it
happens right at the end of A Dance with
Dragons Dany is out alone in the dothi
sea with drogon then qu appears with a
mask made of Starlight saying remember
who you are Daenerys the dragons know do
you what follows which may or may not
also be from Quai are visions of viseris
the only other Targaryen she ever knew
and Jorah Mormont telling her to get to
West Ros already the message is clear
Dany should be more targaryan again
because she hadn't been she'd spent most
of the last book ruling in Marine not
going to Westeros and making compromise
after compromise chaining up her dragons
marrying someone she didn't love
reopening the fighting pits and so on
and then taken out into the Dothraki Sea
by drogon she is symbolically purged of
all that was Marine her hair her titles
even the contents of her stomach after
she ate some dodgy berries she's just a
Targaryen on her own with a dragon in a
cave that she calls Dragon Stone and
then she encounters the dothi again she
really is about to go back to the start
of her story in order to move forwards
and this seems to be qu doing or at
least she's happy to encourage Dany down
this path there's quite a rabbit hole
here to go down if you wish but one of
the few times George Aram Martin has
ained on online content about his work
was a decade or so ago when he said that
the mirin blot blog just got it in
saying that the a dance with dragon's
Daenerys plot line was about her
choosing between two paths or aspects of
her personality and landing on Fire and
Blood so given all of this what does it
seem that qu wants from Dany or wants
her to do well she wants her to survive
she warns her about some real present
threats people wanting to steal her
dragons in kth the pale mare in Marine
she wants her to trust no one else
outside of her own close Circle and qu
herself she wants her to be truly
targaryan she wants her to get to
Westeros with her dragons and she wants
her to know the truth from asai let's
deal with the asai thing first because
clearly Danny doesn't go to asai despite
qu's apparent urgings the boring
literary answer is probably that this
fell victim to George's Gardener writing
style and his decision not to include a
5-year time Jump between books but in
World Dany not going to a Shai is easily
understood as her simply not taking qu's
advice Quai told her she should go there
and learn some truth and Dany decided to
do something
different why did Quai want Danny to go
to asai for knowledge presumably when
Aon the F wanted to hatch dragon eggs he
sent for pyromancers from asai The
Legend of Azora High seems to have come
from asai and qu herself obviously also
at least spent some time there might qu
believe that Dany is aor High reborn it
seems to fit the facts and it could well
fit in with some other dreams that Dany
had about destroying an army dressed in
ice with Dragonfire or trying to escape
something cold for example but let's
come back to that and first look at who
Quai might
be the fact that she is masked all the
time does raise a question in our minds
as well as the fact that she can speak
fluent westerosi odd for a woman from a
Shai living in kth and she is clearly a
magic user and sear of vision from the
future in some way and seems to be
wanting to advise Dany rather than steal
her dragon say the boring
straightforward answer here is that she
is what she presents herself to be a
shadow binder from kth who sees
something in Dany and is trying to help
but that doesn't explain why in
particular why she wants Dany to lean
into her targaryan self not trust people
and so on might it be that the mask
hides someone we the reader might know
know I'll admit that I usually dislike
this line of thought my view is that the
world is often a much larger and more
complex place if not everyone is
secretly someone else but this time I
think that there might be something in
it because why would a random magic user
from the other side of the world be so
keen on Dany remembering who she is a
Targaryen unless she also had an
interest in targaryens and why does she
care so much about Dany personally so
let's go back to those Clues a magic
user speaks fluent Wester Rosie hides
her face so perhaps something about that
might be a clue wants Dany to reclaim
her targaryan Fire and Blood approach to
life and not trust anyone and apparently
comes from a Shai that rules out a lot
of possible candidates a targaryan
linked magic user who was probably in
West Ross at some point and then headed
east oh and connected to stars because
stars are mentioned a lot in connection
with qu
some in the asang of isce and fire
Community have suggested asara danan the
star symbolism would certainly work and
she is missing presumed dead but there
was never a hint that she was a magic
user or that she particularly knew or
cared about her ladies husbands young
sister Dany and there's no particular
reason why she might have escaped all
the way to a Shai it's possible but
seems to be driven more by a desire for
ashara D to reappear in the story than
the clues we already have to qu's
Identity so let's look at the other name
that has often been suggested Shira sear
she was one of the great Bastards of Aon
the fourth along with Blood Rave and
bittersteel and Damon Blackfire though
of the four she's definitely the one we
know least about her mother was from OS
and was reputedly a sorceress and this
is how Georg ARA Martin described her
for amok an artist whose excellent work
often appears on this channel to help
with a picture there's a link to ok's
work in the description this is what
George said she was the greatest beauty
of her age a slender and elegant woman
slim of waist and full of breast she had
the silver gold hair of the targaryens
thick and curling and wore it very long
she had a heartshaped face full lips and
her mismatched eyes were strangely large
and full of mischief her Rivals said she
used them to melt men's hearts even at
an early age she was a great reader she
spoke a dozen tongues and surrounded
herself with ancient Scrolls like her
mother she was reputed to practice the dark
dark
arts so immediately we have someone who
might wish to cover their face to avoid
being recognized has a link to OS
through her mother is multilingual and a
magic user and as a Targaryen closely
associated with blood Raven and the
search for the prince that was promised
her fascination with Dany makes a lot of
sense we even have a confident assertion
from a young egg that she bathes in
blood to keep her youthful looks and as
a literary mirror in different ways to
blood Raven and Melisandre it makes
thematic sense if she has managed to
live a long life through magical means
but why might she be in a shy if she was
born in Westeros well I'll be honest
that this was for a long time the
missing link for me she seemed to fit
the clues we had but I couldn't link her
across to a Shai in truth she rather
disappears from The Narrative we have in
the world of Ice and Fire
we get no explanation of what happened
to her she was definitely around while
blood Raven was hand of the king to arys
I first we read about that in the Duncan
egg stories but then it all goes a bit
quiet then I noticed that just a few
years later we had a clear link across
from the targaryens to asai aegon I
that's egg when he becomes king became
obsessed with trying to hatch dragon
eggs and we read that he commissioned
Journeys to to places as far away as a
shy by the Shadow with the hopes of
finding texts and knowledge that had not
been preserved in
Westeros we have no more detail than
that but who might he send this was
clearly important to him so he needed
someone he could trust who perhaps
shared his desire to hatch dragons
someone who could speak the language and
would be able to distinguish between
real magic and charlatans Shir seista
seems easily the most obvious choice she
was family she was from OS spoke many
languages was magically inclined spent
her time surrounded by ancient Scrolls
yes unless there was a rift we don't
know anything about it would be a
surprise if he didn't send her so it
makes sense for Shara to be there in a
shy and as she was obsessed with magical
Toms and the like it makes sense that
she might have stayed there for a time
though a shy with its constant gloom and
lack of fresh water and fresh food may
not be somewhere you want to stay for a
long time hence K and thus far I think
we can say that all this makes logical
sense and fits the facts though we don't
have any specific supporting evidence
but when we meet qu that changes
immediately because the sea star
supporting evidence is almost
overwhelming the first time she appears
magically to Dany she hears seawater
lapping against her boat the second she
is in water in a bath and Moonlight
shines from qu's eyes the Third time we
get this repeated language the Stars
wheeled around her and whispered secrets
in her ear qu Danny called Where Are You
qu then she saw her mask is made of
Starlight so qu's mask the thing that
hides her identity is made of Starlight
like sheer a sea star and then we get to
what Quai clearly wants from Dany she
wants to keep her safe to prevent others
from stealing her dragon for her not to
trust the Myriad of voices around her
and ultimately to embrace her targaryan
nature remember who you are Daenerys the
Stars whispered in a woman's voice the
dragons know do
you let's say Shira sear did travel to
asai read their ancient prophecies and
learn their magic then headed to the
comfort of K as all seems very possible
how would she react if Dany suddenly
emerged out of the red waste with three
dragon hatchlings I think exactly how
she did react warning her about the
dangers of kth all the people who would
try to take her dragons or trick her try
to get her to embrace her in a Targaryen
not just become a foreign Queen ruling
over Marine through compromise she may
even get a bit emotional at seeing Dany
when she thought all of her family were
dead and Magic gone forever and Dragons
gone forever and sure enough when Dany
does see her she sees is this yet there
she stood eyes wet and shiny behind the
implacable red lacer mask was that qu
crying and all this might be exacerbated
if Shear had by this point also come to
the conclusion that Dany was a Zora High
reborn which she may have done we're
told that Legend comes from a Shai and I
don't think it's a coincidence that's
just before Quai magically appears to
Dany the first time Dany gets a vision
of her riding Bion and burning or
melting an army of ice Dany wakes to
think that this is how it was meant to
be and then Quai appears pretty on the
nose and it's also an echo of a dream
that Jon gets we think from blood Raven
of him seemingly as the same Prince that
was promised figure with a flaming sword
at top the wall killing the undead which
brings me to the literary irony of all
this and why I consider that George Aram
Martin would love the idea of Quai being
Shear sea star blood Raven and Shir were
close very close they were lovers and
magical collaborators in the most
magical era of targaryan rule there is
every reason to believe that they were
together trying to identify or bring
about somehow the birth of the prince
that was promised through the targaryan
line in Westeros the most important and
Central task for both of them saving the
world from the threat of the others long
story short blood Raven went to the wall
then north of the wall then became a
tree Wizard and decided that JN as the
son of rhaegar and lyanna must be the
prince that was promised it's too much
of a digression for this video but he
guides him protects him sends him
weapons to use against the others gives
him Visions Etc how ironic would it be
if Shira sear his lover and Confidant
had left for esos a bit later fell out
of contact with him then stumbled across
Dany and decided that she was the prince
that was promised both of them unknown
to the other as they had fallen out of
contact blood Raven even tells bran that
he tried to contact her and failed were
now guiding their candidate towards
their fate as they saw it and at some
point in the next two books they will
finally meet it just works at a literary
and emotional level who is the real
Prince or princess that was
promised if you'd like to see more
videos like this one diving deep into
Georg ARA Martin's world there's a
playlist appearing now on the left of
your screen or if you'd like to support
this channel thank you there's a link
now on the right of your screen to my
patreon page thanks for watching that's
all for this time I'll see you again soon
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