Like okay. Unsure of the popular opinion (on tumblr, at least) bc im only on my first read but it's VERY clear to me that Lemongate (intentional or not) doesn't function as an actual conspiracy or "plot twist" like some people think. Like I don't believe it "means something deeper" along the lines of a Dornish or Tyroshi or whoever conspiracy. Like I feel like that's pretty obvious at least from my own interpretation. I also don't think it's too terribly far out of the realm of possibility to suggest that it arose out of a mistake or firstbookism (and the rumored scrapped idea of Dany growing up in Tyrosh) but i also very much believe there's something to be said that the 'no lemon trees in braavos' thing has been doubled-down on in more recent stuff. And it's not like the red door & lemon tree line is some one-off. It's a very significant piece of character motivation. Which is why lemongate is significant to CHARACTER MOTIVATION & Dany's journey rather than some plot conspiracy thing like ive seen predicted.
Like maybe I've just spent too much time on asoiaf reddit recently where the only form of subtext or symbolism or authorial intention they've heard of comes as plot foreshadowing but like. It's very clear to me lemongate is about Dany as a character, not some plot point. Like she longs for the house in braavos with the red door and the lemon tree growing outside her window -- in short, a home. Yet Dany is an exile, and this dream of home in her head is just that: a dream, because just as lemon trees don't grow in braavos, Dany has never truly had a home anywhere. THATS what lemongate is about. It's about how the only home Dany will ever have she will have to make herself. "Dragons don't plant trees" -- but they will have to learn to if she ever wants to make that dream a reality.
