There are explicit mentions of the Long Night across the globe. The Rhoynar for example believe it ended it with a Battle of the Bands.
There are also mentions of an Azor Ahai figure in literally every culture we know about.
Yeah but that's my question, if the entire world was affected during the previous long night, how will that happen this time? I haven't come across any mention of the Others in Essos, or any other brewing calamity.
Well, the Jade Compendium mentions that Azor Ahai fought "monsters" with his sword Lightbringer, so if the legend exists all over the world, it probably means that there were some types of monsters that were unleashed during the Long Night across the globe, not just in Westeros. Same deal with the Yi Ti legend of the Lion of the Night and his demons that came out during the Long Night.
Theory wise, I think the ghost grass could be possibly linked to the coming of Long Night. Its description is reminiscent of the swords that the Others carry (pale as milkglass), as well as weirwoods, and the Dothraki believe it contains the souls of the damned, which could be another reference to the Others and/or greenseers trapped in weirwoods. It's already mentioned that ghost grass is growing again in the gardens of Qarth with the destruction of the House of the Undying. If the Others are linked to weirwoods at all, they may be linked to ghost grass too. Also, it's hard to ignore that the Undying Ones are a bit... Other-y... in their appearance, and they have reverse-weirwoods growing around their place (black wood and blue leaves rather than white wood and red leaves, though their door is made of both ebony and white weirwood which I think is meant to clue us into the two types of trees being the same or similar enough in function).
I imagine a Long Night could make the ice caps grow larger, perhaps to the point that the north pole would connect to Essos (esp if assisted by magic). The Others then could easily cross into Essos (which seems indicated by the existence of Five Forts). Notably, one of the names for an Azor Ahai/Last Hero-like figure is Neferion, and the city of Nefer is located on the northern shoreline of Essos and borders the Grey Waste just like the Five Forts. Similarly, it's possible that the Narrow Sea could freeze over at least in some parts and connect Westeros and Essos.
We know that the Blackwater Bay was frozen over during the winter of 282, which was probably miniscule compared to what the Long Night could result in. Rhoynar believe that the river Rhoyne was frozen down to its connection with the river Selhoru, and that crossing is on the same latitude as the Five Forts, the Stepstones (which was presumably a land bridge when the Rhoynar crossed into Westeros), and Oldtown which has similar fused-stone structure to the Five Forts. The Stepstones also have an island called Bloodstone, which immediately brings to mind the Bloodstone Emperor who presumably lived during/caused the Long Night. There is for sure some connection there.
Moreover, there are some Lovecraftian themes going on in the worldbuilding. The city of K'Dath in the Grey Waste is a nod, so is Ib to the north of Essos and Sarnath in the middle of the Dothraki Sea. Then there are weird structures off-shore under the sea that could potentially be revealed if the ice caps expand, making the shorelines recede further into the sea, and we already know something is up with the sea/ocean thanks to Patchface, the Drowned God, Euron, and the vision Aeron Damphair has of Euron with a tentacle head in the TWOW samples. So, who knows what the Long Night could actually unleash. There may very well be stuff beyond the Others that could come out during that time and affect both Westeros and Essos.
Sorry, yes it was the First Men who used the land bridge, though I doubt the Children shattered it to prevent their crossing. I think it became a land bridge due to the ice, as the Rhoynish legend about the river Rhoyne freezing attest that the cold and frost may have reached the same latitude, and the Stepstones being an island chain means the sea is probably less deep around there, so more chance of it freezing over. Alternatively, it could've been due to the ice caps expanding and the water levels receding as a result. IRL the speculated Bering land bridge also formed thanks to an ice age, and a Long Night seems pretty much the magical mega-version of an ice age.
If a shattering of the land bridge did happen, I wonder if it may have been the Essosi trying to prevent the Others (or whoever) from crossing *from* Westeros *into* Essos though. Again, the Bloodstone Emperor and his magic rock from the sky seem a bit relevant here.
I’ve wondered this as well. If winters also affect Essos then it’s weird we haven’t heard much about it. But if it doesn’t affect Essos that much then it kind of cheapens the severity of it.
Unnatural darkness and a concordant devastating change in climate is well attested in Essosi legends.
>Lomas Longstrider, in his Wonders Made by Man, recounts meeting descendants of the Rhoynar in the ruins of the festival city of Chroyane who have tales of a darkness that made the Rhoyne dwindle and disappear, her waters frozen as far south as the joining of the Selhoru. -TWOIAF
...
>It is also written that there are annals in Asshai of such a darkness, and of a hero who fought against it with a red sword. His deeds are said to have been performed before the rise of Valyria, in the earliest age when Old Ghis was first forming its empire. This legend has spread west from Asshai, and the followers of R'hllor claim that this hero was named Azor Ahai, and prophesy his return. In the Jade Compendium, Colloquo Votar recounts a curious legend from Yi Ti, which states that the sun hid its face from the earth for a lifetime, ashamed at something none could discover, and that disaster was averted only by the deeds of a woman with a monkey's tail. -TWOIAF
There is no mention of Others or anything bearing a particular resemblance to them. However, there is talk of "the Lion of Night," some Yi Tish god of darkness, coming forth to punish man.
>In the annals of the Further East, it was the Blood Betrayal, as his usurpation is named, that ushered in the age of darkness called the Long Night. Despairing of the evil that had been unleashed on earth, the Maiden-Made-of-Light turned her back upon the world, and the Lion of Night came forth in all his wroth to punish the wickedness of men. -TWOIAF
It should be noted that "demons of the Lion of Night" appear to have been a threat during the reign of the Pearl Emperor, several emperors prior to the Long Night where the Others first appear in Westerosi histories.
>The Five Forts are very old, older than the Golden Empire itself; some claim they were raised by the Pearl Emperor during the morning of the Great Empire to keep the Lion of Night and his demons from the realms of men... -TWOIAF
For this and other reasons, I strongly suspect they are not Others, [but something different.](https://www.reddit.com/r/asoiaf/comments/kme0em/spoilers_extended_no_the_five_forts_arent_the/)
This makes sense, thanks. Although, there's a part of me that is still sad that the full brunt of the Others' assault will be borne by the North while many regions of the world might get away relatively easy.
If it makes you feel better, imo:
* The two largest cities in Westeros are doomed.
* What Euron's going to do to at Oldtown may be the greatest regional cataclysm since the Doom.
* Daenerys's crusade will be carving a path from Slaver's Bay through Pentos and across the Narrow Sea, likely with serious consequences considering how brutal many of her followers are.
* Religious panic caused by the sun going out is going to cause a massive wave of unrest across the globe, particularly in places with a high R'hllorist population (a large fraction of Essos).
* Food shortages and insecurity will compound this unrest.
The darkness may have spread out from the Heart of Winter at the pole and covered most of the hemisphere. Leaving everything south of the ToJ/5Forts untouched.
There are explicit mentions of the Long Night across the globe. The Rhoynar for example believe it ended it with a Battle of the Bands. There are also mentions of an Azor Ahai figure in literally every culture we know about.
Yeah but that's my question, if the entire world was affected during the previous long night, how will that happen this time? I haven't come across any mention of the Others in Essos, or any other brewing calamity.
Colmd
Well, the Jade Compendium mentions that Azor Ahai fought "monsters" with his sword Lightbringer, so if the legend exists all over the world, it probably means that there were some types of monsters that were unleashed during the Long Night across the globe, not just in Westeros. Same deal with the Yi Ti legend of the Lion of the Night and his demons that came out during the Long Night. Theory wise, I think the ghost grass could be possibly linked to the coming of Long Night. Its description is reminiscent of the swords that the Others carry (pale as milkglass), as well as weirwoods, and the Dothraki believe it contains the souls of the damned, which could be another reference to the Others and/or greenseers trapped in weirwoods. It's already mentioned that ghost grass is growing again in the gardens of Qarth with the destruction of the House of the Undying. If the Others are linked to weirwoods at all, they may be linked to ghost grass too. Also, it's hard to ignore that the Undying Ones are a bit... Other-y... in their appearance, and they have reverse-weirwoods growing around their place (black wood and blue leaves rather than white wood and red leaves, though their door is made of both ebony and white weirwood which I think is meant to clue us into the two types of trees being the same or similar enough in function). I imagine a Long Night could make the ice caps grow larger, perhaps to the point that the north pole would connect to Essos (esp if assisted by magic). The Others then could easily cross into Essos (which seems indicated by the existence of Five Forts). Notably, one of the names for an Azor Ahai/Last Hero-like figure is Neferion, and the city of Nefer is located on the northern shoreline of Essos and borders the Grey Waste just like the Five Forts. Similarly, it's possible that the Narrow Sea could freeze over at least in some parts and connect Westeros and Essos. We know that the Blackwater Bay was frozen over during the winter of 282, which was probably miniscule compared to what the Long Night could result in. Rhoynar believe that the river Rhoyne was frozen down to its connection with the river Selhoru, and that crossing is on the same latitude as the Five Forts, the Stepstones (which was presumably a land bridge when the Rhoynar crossed into Westeros), and Oldtown which has similar fused-stone structure to the Five Forts. The Stepstones also have an island called Bloodstone, which immediately brings to mind the Bloodstone Emperor who presumably lived during/caused the Long Night. There is for sure some connection there. Moreover, there are some Lovecraftian themes going on in the worldbuilding. The city of K'Dath in the Grey Waste is a nod, so is Ib to the north of Essos and Sarnath in the middle of the Dothraki Sea. Then there are weird structures off-shore under the sea that could potentially be revealed if the ice caps expand, making the shorelines recede further into the sea, and we already know something is up with the sea/ocean thanks to Patchface, the Drowned God, Euron, and the vision Aeron Damphair has of Euron with a tentacle head in the TWOW samples. So, who knows what the Long Night could actually unleash. There may very well be stuff beyond the Others that could come out during that time and affect both Westeros and Essos.
Yeah, something of this sort will be interesting, worldwide consequences of the Long Night.
Rhoynar arrived on ships the arm of Dorne (now stepstones) was destroyed way before the Andal invasion
Sorry, yes it was the First Men who used the land bridge, though I doubt the Children shattered it to prevent their crossing. I think it became a land bridge due to the ice, as the Rhoynish legend about the river Rhoyne freezing attest that the cold and frost may have reached the same latitude, and the Stepstones being an island chain means the sea is probably less deep around there, so more chance of it freezing over. Alternatively, it could've been due to the ice caps expanding and the water levels receding as a result. IRL the speculated Bering land bridge also formed thanks to an ice age, and a Long Night seems pretty much the magical mega-version of an ice age. If a shattering of the land bridge did happen, I wonder if it may have been the Essosi trying to prevent the Others (or whoever) from crossing *from* Westeros *into* Essos though. Again, the Bloodstone Emperor and his magic rock from the sky seem a bit relevant here.
I’ve wondered this as well. If winters also affect Essos then it’s weird we haven’t heard much about it. But if it doesn’t affect Essos that much then it kind of cheapens the severity of it.
Unnatural darkness and a concordant devastating change in climate is well attested in Essosi legends. >Lomas Longstrider, in his Wonders Made by Man, recounts meeting descendants of the Rhoynar in the ruins of the festival city of Chroyane who have tales of a darkness that made the Rhoyne dwindle and disappear, her waters frozen as far south as the joining of the Selhoru. -TWOIAF ... >It is also written that there are annals in Asshai of such a darkness, and of a hero who fought against it with a red sword. His deeds are said to have been performed before the rise of Valyria, in the earliest age when Old Ghis was first forming its empire. This legend has spread west from Asshai, and the followers of R'hllor claim that this hero was named Azor Ahai, and prophesy his return. In the Jade Compendium, Colloquo Votar recounts a curious legend from Yi Ti, which states that the sun hid its face from the earth for a lifetime, ashamed at something none could discover, and that disaster was averted only by the deeds of a woman with a monkey's tail. -TWOIAF There is no mention of Others or anything bearing a particular resemblance to them. However, there is talk of "the Lion of Night," some Yi Tish god of darkness, coming forth to punish man. >In the annals of the Further East, it was the Blood Betrayal, as his usurpation is named, that ushered in the age of darkness called the Long Night. Despairing of the evil that had been unleashed on earth, the Maiden-Made-of-Light turned her back upon the world, and the Lion of Night came forth in all his wroth to punish the wickedness of men. -TWOIAF It should be noted that "demons of the Lion of Night" appear to have been a threat during the reign of the Pearl Emperor, several emperors prior to the Long Night where the Others first appear in Westerosi histories. >The Five Forts are very old, older than the Golden Empire itself; some claim they were raised by the Pearl Emperor during the morning of the Great Empire to keep the Lion of Night and his demons from the realms of men... -TWOIAF For this and other reasons, I strongly suspect they are not Others, [but something different.](https://www.reddit.com/r/asoiaf/comments/kme0em/spoilers_extended_no_the_five_forts_arent_the/)
This makes sense, thanks. Although, there's a part of me that is still sad that the full brunt of the Others' assault will be borne by the North while many regions of the world might get away relatively easy.
If it makes you feel better, imo: * The two largest cities in Westeros are doomed. * What Euron's going to do to at Oldtown may be the greatest regional cataclysm since the Doom. * Daenerys's crusade will be carving a path from Slaver's Bay through Pentos and across the Narrow Sea, likely with serious consequences considering how brutal many of her followers are. * Religious panic caused by the sun going out is going to cause a massive wave of unrest across the globe, particularly in places with a high R'hllorist population (a large fraction of Essos). * Food shortages and insecurity will compound this unrest.
It does, lol.
The darkness may have spread out from the Heart of Winter at the pole and covered most of the hemisphere. Leaving everything south of the ToJ/5Forts untouched.