CLOCKS AND DRAGONS : (SOMETHING LIKE) AN ESSAY
Ok, before I start: my english SUCK. It’s not my first language, my syntax is probably shitty, my grammar even worse ☹ I really, really wanted to write this meta, so I decided to go for it but… I’m sooorrryyy about any eyes-burning english mistakes below, please forgive me, I really did my best!
I’ve been itching to write down something related to GOT/ASOIAF and Gilbert Durand’s theories about the representations of time within the human mind. The book I’m referring to is called (if my translation is correct) “anthropological structures of the imaginary”. It revolves around a basic hypothesis according to which human’s greatest fear and enemy is Time itself: the constant fear of death expresses itself in this fear – as time is what, ultimately, pushes us towards death – and human imagination have since created hundreds of figures, creations, monsters and places, which are all meant to “incarnate” Time, turn it into something concrete that can be challenged, killed or destroyed. Most fairy tales, and a great deal of myths as well, contain some of what Durand identified as anthropological structures of the imaginary; basically, a fancy word quintet for “concepts or creatures personifying time”.
Just to give you a bit of context before we dive in with GOT/ASOIAF, I’ll briefly resume Durand’ theory, with examples from Lord of the rings, since those were the examples used when I first heard of Durand’s theory. It may sound awfully nerdy, but fear not, it’s simpler than it looks. P.S: to abbreviate, ASI = anthropological structures of the imaginary. Got it? Let’s go:
1) Durand distinguishes three categories of ASI: diurnal, nocturnal and synthetic. The ASI falling into the diurnal category represent the most frightening type of time: deadly, monstrous, voracious and blood thirsty. Think of Kronos, the titan who ate his children. Some common ASI in the diurnal category includes wolves and, Durand’s favorite, dragons. The diurnal ASI’s antagonist (usually the hero in myths and fairy tales) is often a knight in shining armor, brandishing a sword of light (Durand’s words, not mines), AKA Aragorn and Anduril. By killing the monster, the knight is triumphing of time. So R’hollor and his champion, Azor Ahai, are straight out of Durand’s textbook. Other common imagery associated with diurnal ASI include: black holes, precipices, never ending falls (the ASI) and swords, fire, sun, light, strength (the diurnal hero’s attributes)
1) The nocturnal ASI is generally viewed as less frightening and less threatening than his diurnal counterpart. The nocturnal ASI antagonist isn’t a knight with a flaming sword, and time isn’t annihilated by being slaughtered. Instead of slaying the time, the nocturnal hero will enclose it, lock it away, surround it, engulf it, even – according to Durand – eat it. Some imagery invoked here include: the hut, the hole, the egg, the shell, the shack, the hideout, the closed-lid tomb, the stomach, womb, urn, receptacle, etc. LotR examples of this includes: the hobbits living in heir holes and eating twice as much as normal people would.
2) The synthetic ASI is the more positive depiction of time: it represents cycle, continuity and regeneration. It is expressed via notions such as rhythm, musicality, dance, movements and sexuality. LotR examples includes: the hobbits’ love of poetry and music, and the fact that post LotR Sam has a lot of children.
And now that we’ve gotten past the nitty gritty…
Where does that all stand within GOT/ASOIAF?
Time is represented in complicated ways in GOT/ASOIAF. Dragons represent time – the monstrous, famished and blood-thirsty time that wants to chomp you off.
WIGHTS, on the other side, represent an utmost absence of time, or at the very least, fundamental transgressions within the law of Time (dead shouldn’t be “raised” and “livings” such as WW shouldn’t be immortal). Ironically, it’s that absence of time that makes them so monstrous and frightening – even more than dragons, perhaps. The Wights are devouring beasts: they claw and bite and rip apart, and even the sounds they make resemble those of growling monsters.
Monarchy and nobility in Westeros are largely built on legacies and the general prospect of one’s name to live on for generations – basically, an indirect way of pursuing immortality. Nobles houses restlessly fight the metaphorical “dragon” to attain this, unaware of the fact that by doing so, they turn themselves into little more than wights. The utmost irony here being that the only immortal “humans” in GOT/ASOIAF are wights and WW. An absence of time can devour you just as much as a dragon.
The realm is split in two: South of the Wall is the realm of time and where the “wheel” turns (the wheel being a metaphor of time). North of the Wall, the wheel is broken, and time stands still. Danger comes from both ways.
So now for a first round of predictions:
1) The dead crossed the Wall because they wanted to die. For good. They can’t die North of the Wall because time doesn’t exist North of the Wall. The same might apply to the WW.
2) The Wall itself is responsible for the imbalance in the cycle of seasons in Westeros: change of seasons marks the passage of time. The slower it goes (aka: the longer each season stretches), the more time slows down. After the battle for the Dawn is won (or lost), the realm will either be plunged into an eternal winter, where Time would be completely and forever stopped; or the normal cycle of seasons will resume, with the arrival of spring and winters of normal lengths. But what the Wall is currently doing (or WAS doing) is splitting a realm in such way that time goes on on one side, and not on the other, and that just can’t work. So, it causes a disbalance.
3) Daenerys won’t be able to break the wheel, at least not completely. First, from a political perspective, that’s an utopia. From a symbolic perspective, breaking the wheel = breaking time.
4) There MIGHT still be a dragon or two (or eggs) at the end, because Time isn’t something that can be truly killed, unless you want to root for a successful ice zombies apocalypse in Westeros.
Onto the “3 heads of the dragon”/ the three-headed dragon:
And how each head might correlate with the diurnal, nocturnal and synthetic ASI:
1) The diurnal dragon: frightening, deadly, voracious
2) The nocturnal dragon: time enclosed (in an eggshell, a cave or a mother’s womb)
3) The “synthetic” dragon: time turned into something positive; music, rhythm, sexuality. Time humanized/human “dragons” (Targaryen)
How characters face dragons mirror how they face the underlying presence of time. Time can be viewed as a threat and fought, but it can also be embraced. So far, the character most closely related to Azor Ahai, according to this theory, would be the Night King: he “successfully” defeated time by being immortal, as well as by remaining (for now) the only dragon-slayer in the show:
In the same line of thoughts, I’ll predict that neither Daenerys, nor Jon are Azor Ahai (the story presented them as dragon riders, not dragon slayers, although we could get a twist on that in season 8. We’ll see.) Moreover, I’d say neither Daenerys nor Jon SHOULD be Azor Ahai: what AA stands for is the complete annihilation of time itself, which would result in this:
I heard of that theory on YouTube once, where R’hollor was the Night King. I must say, I’m buying into this theory more and more.
So, if Jon/Dany aren’t diurnal heroes, what are they?
At this point, they mostly gravitate toward the nocturnal hero figure**. Remember that nocturnal ASI tropes include: vases, urns, grottoes, huts and shacks, close-lidded chests and boxes, etc. It’s all about enveloping time, hiding it, locking it – or, alternatively, to hid oneself from time (in a box, in a shack, in a grotto…) I’d like to talk about 2 scenes specifically, both strongly linked to the concept of time being locked, or hidden:
1) Tyrion visits Rhaegal and Viserion:
2) Jon and Dany in the dragonglass cave:
What’s so interesting with these scenes is 1) how it aligns Tyrion, Jon and Dany as nocturnal heroes, and 2) how time only becomes monstrous (the diurnal ASI) when you give in to fear of it. If we compare both scenes, we’ll notice that:
1) The same color tones are used
2) Tensions are palpable in both: tensions from fear in Tyrion’s case, sexual tension in the cave scene between Jon and Dany
3) Both the catacombs and the cave hide something (or the story of something) potentially monstrous and very frightening
4) Those “monstrous” beings came back from the past: they weren’t supposed to exist anymore. (Hence the visual of the cave and the cloistering of the stone walls, as it “preserves” things from the past, as much as it hides it and lock it away)
5) Entering the catacombs/the cave is risky in both cases: Tyrion could become a yummy snack for Drogon and Rhaegal, and Dany make the choice to enter it alongside a rival king, without her Dothraki bodyguards.
6) Tyrion dares to touch a dragon; Jon dares to touch Dany
7) The exit scene is shown in both cases (I don’t know if it matters, but oh well) Aka: both scenes end “well”.
These scenes portray the protagonists as they decide to face time with caution and openness rather than (as would the diurnal hero do) aggressively. It’s understood by now that the chances of survival and success, when one steps into the time’s territory, are much higher for the nocturnal hero than for the diurnal one (who’ll respond with fear and aggression). This isn’t as much evident in the show, but the book is clear about what happens to “heroes” who try to slay or dominate dragons (R.I.P Quentyn Martell, R.I.P the “hero” from the Daznak’s pit who tries to kill Drogon with a spear.) Except if you’re the NK, of course.
** Note: this is never clear cut. I’m talking in general. Nocturnal ASI will sometime slip to diurnal ASI and vice versa. The same could be argued of diurnal/nocturnal heroes: for instance, in Dany’s last ADWD chapter, there’s clearly a doubt/a slight fright in her mind that Drogon could hunt down and eat her, thus turning into a diurnal monster even for her. And Jon does come back from the dead, which is obviously a time law transgression à la Night King.
If GOT/ASOIAF was a fairy tale, the hero would be a dragon slayer in shining armor. The NK would do with a few adjustments, like a makeover and a more attractive face. But GOT/ASOIAF isn’t a fairy tale, and the NK won’t be the hero. The GOT/ASOIAF hero won’t be a diurnal one. A nocturnal one? Perhaps.
But what’s even better than a nocturnal hero? A synthetic one. A hero who embrace time and use it to create rather than destroy. I’m not 100% sure what Durand had in mind when he chose the term synthetic, but to me, it rings with creation and creativity. It’s the creation of something new. You can’t separate creation from time and temporality: they’re interwoven in one another. It rings with music: every song has a beginning and an end. It rings with eros (wink to you @violet-eyes-silver-hair 😉) and sexual love: you can’t create life without also creating death, because whatever life you give birth to is bound to die one day. Only when you accept that there will be an end can you create a beginning.
A synthesis is also a mix of something. A result of two or several elements that came and merged together. A synthesis is a conclusion, a result.
It brings me to some more predictions (shipper goggles warning):
1) Jon and Daenerys are endgame (it’s synthetic folks, see the pic above TT)
(**Taking off the goggle** : a Jon/Dany endgame would hold a great deal of symbolism if the story was indeed pointing toward a reconciliation with time and/or an opening toward a more “fruitful”/positive/organic relationship between time and humanity, which I think is the case)
2) Jon and Daenerys will have a baby (no kidding)
3) My disputed theory: both the Stark name and Targaryen name will die. Jon is neither really a Stark, nor a Targaryen. He’ll always be lingering in between. Bran probably can’t have kids. Now, don’t know where I read this – it doesn’t come from me anyway – but someone pointed out that it’s very possible that neither Arya, nor Sansa will be able to have kids. Arya got stabbed multiple times in the stomach by the waif. Sansa… well, didn’t get pregnant from you know who (thank god, btw). And that’s assuming they all make it to the end. If Daenerys marries Jon, she might take his last name, whatever that last name will be. My point is, it isn’t only the Targaryen surname that’s in jeopardy. The Stark name stands on brittle grounds as well. And the thing is… both names lack in hybridity. They’re too pure to be viable. It’s too black and white. Whenever I hear the surname Stark, I think of the expression “a stark contrast”. Too clear cut, like the Wall itself. And Targaryen? If we break it down, we get:
According to my BF Wikipedia, a “targe” is a “type of shield”, so literally, an “aryan shield”. Again, that idea of racial purity that just does no good. Dany is already subverting this by aligning herself with Dothraki, unsullieds, dwarves and bastards. She’ll subvert it even more by marrying a man who represent (within the story trope) the opposite of what she is – ice to fire. When mixed together, ice and fire don’t make more ice and more fire. It turns into something else, like water or smoke. So, no more Stark and no more Targaryen. But something more “viable”.
For those of you who’d be interested, here’s a sample of Durand’s chart. Unfortunately, I could only find it in French, but I figured you guys could use Google Translate if you’re really interested 😉 Or, ask me!
