"'After the long summer, the stars weep blood' - this is clearly the blood-colored comet in the sky. How it came into being, why it hung in the air, neither moving nor disappearing, no one can say. ”

"'Icy darkness will cover the world' undoubtedly refers to the coming winter and the ensuing arrival of strange spirits. ”

"'In this hour of terror, a hero will be reborn in the land of smoke and salt. 'Nonsense, it's the same as not saying it - where is there no smoke and salt? ”

"There is finally some substance, and a lot of controversy, is the following: 'He will awaken the dragon in the stone and draw the flaming sword in the flames—that sword is the Lightbringer, the red sword of heroes,'" Bran rubbed against the armrest, "This sentence can be both a description of facts and a complex metaphor. Before we begin, it's important to accept that what appears in a prophecy isn't necessarily what it is—the dragon in the stone isn't necessarily the real dragon, and the flaming sword isn't necessarily the fiery sword, they can also be a symbol and a reference. ”

After seeing Egger nod in understanding, the boy continued: "If you want to say that Stannis Baratheon is the child of prophecy, then the dragon in the stone refers to the dragon-shaped statue on Dragonstone Island, the 'Lightbringer', a glowing sword can be filled. And if someone thinks that Daenerys Targaryen is the child of prophecy, then the dragon in the stone is the real dragon hatched from the fossil dragon egg, and the burning sword can completely refer to the fire breath that erupts from the dragon's mouth. Speaking of this, he suddenly raised his eyes to look at Egg, and his words changed: "But if who wants to say-you, the commander-in-chief, are the son of prophecy? The magic dragon in the stone can be wildfire, because this kind of blending as a combustible substance uses oil, and the burning sword is naturally the raging flame produced after the wildfire is ignited!"

Iger raised his hand and interrupted the little green prophet's tirade: "I see what you mean, the ambiguity of the prophetic statement makes the interpretation extremely subjective and malleable. Anyone can be a child of prophecy as long as they dare to make it up, so what?"

"You quickly grasped one of the key points. Bran's expression did not change, but the approval in his tone was quite obvious, "But have you noticed the subtle discrepancy between the order of the prophecy and the actual fulfillment?"

"What?" Egger finally lost his breath.

"This is an ancient prophecy from Asha, both in space and in time, so distant and ancient that even I cannot trace the original origin. And it is such a prophecy that has been baptized for a long time, but it has finally begun to become a reality. It seems that this is a very magical and accurate prediction...... But with a little attention to detail, you can find something that isn't 'accurate' enough. ”

"For example?"

"After the long summer, the stars will weep blood, and the cold darkness will cover the world. Bran recited the first three lines of the prophecy, "Notice the order between these three events? The end of summer—the appearance of the Scarlet Comet—and the return of the Alien at the end." But in reality, the Wraiths have been active outside the Cypriot for more than a year before you have encountered them, and the appearance of the Scarlet Comet has been more than a year since you killed the first Wraith...... This is a gap of two years, and this long summer will not be recognized until more than a year after the appearance of the Scarlet Comet. So, the correct order is: the cold darkness awakens, the stars weep blood, and the long summer ends. ”

Egger was a night watchman, and even more than most night watchmen had direct access to some of the major events, and he didn't need to think about it to know that Bran was right. But for the public who live in a muddle, two or three years have passed in a flash, and they have passed unconsciously. Besides, what does this subtle difference indicate?

......

"I don't understand, the order of the first paragraph of the prophecy is a little bit wrong, so what? It could be a distortion caused by word of mouth, or it could be that the person who made the prophecy was an unruly person, and it would be too far-fetched for you to deny the prophecy because of that. ”

"No, I'm not going to deny the prophecy, I'm just trying to offer a new idea: Have you ever thought that this subtle difference in order could essentially be due to the 'hindsight' of not being quick enough to react?" Bran shook his head and denied Egger's accusation, "If 'Stars Weep Blood' represents the beginning of the fulfillment of the prophecy, or the return of the resurrection of magic, then the strange ghost should be at the same time as the dragon and the blood-colored comet. At least it was about the same time, but the truth is: the latter two didn't suddenly pop up overnight until the news spread that you had encountered a strange ghost and the Night's Watch began planning a Ranger expedition north but eventually gave up, more than two years in between!

"You mean......" Iger snapped.

"Rather than 'the prophecy began to come true,' it was more like 'a being finally realized that the adversary was beginning to act, and only then did something hastily to create a celestial phenomenon and make the prophecy begin to come true.' ”

Iger narrowed his eyes, finally understanding what the so-called "third type of prophecy" meant.

"You are saying that this prophecy is not actually a 'prediction' at all, but a guarantee. It is not a magical superpower such as predicting the future or saying what is going on, but a powerful existence - with strength and means, to ensure that it will all be fulfilled into reality?"

"It's just speculation, but it explains a lot. Bran confirmed Egger's guess and asked him a question: "Let's assume now that this guess is true, and you are the one behind the prophecy that will make it come true - will you start arranging and cultivating the Children of Prophecy dozens or hundreds of years in advance, just to finally fight a battle and 'drive away' the darkness?"

......

How can Egger be a mortal to emulate the way of thinking of a character like a "god"? He wanted to refuse to think about it, but on second thought, he could actually take on the role of "boss of a private company" - and he happened to have experienced this taste in the founding of the Night's Watch industry:

The operation and development of the industry and the implementation of various policies, strategies and ideas of the leaders inevitably require a variety of talents to really do things...... Could it be that these talents are cultivated by the night watchman industry from sperm, eggs, embryos, and even parents and grandparents?

Of course not, society operates in a dynamic self-adjustment, and as long as human beings do not die, there will always be ordinary, excellent and better, suitable and unsuitable...... No matter what kind of boss, the employees you want can always be found in some corner of the world, but there is only a difference between abundant or scarce, how much time it takes, and how much it costs to find and hire.

He quickly came up with the answer by switching states and thinking: "No, I won't spend more energy on layout and cultivation in advance, but will accumulate resources and strength, and first ensure that I don't fall behind in the general trend." When I really need a character like a hero, I just need to find one or a few suitable candidates within a certain range of time and space, and provide them with resources, covert help, and opportunities, so that they can win this war against the cold god for me. ”

Before he finished answering, Iger himself suddenly realized: Isn't his answer a typical idea of the great powers looking for a suitable chess piece to fight a proxy war? Bran wants to express the meaning: The child of prophecy is not born, whoever fulfills the prophecy by chance, or is chosen to drive out the darkness with the help, is the hero in the prophecy!

As for the places where this person "coincides" with the ambiguous narratives of the prophecy, it is natural that good deeds and later generations will write and fill in them.

Then, the dragon mother set herself on fire and hatched the dragon, then went all the way to kill and finally returned to Westeros with the army, and successfully established the Night's Watch logistics department and successfully became the commander-in-chief after some turmoil, strengthening the defense of the Great Wall...... Are there all Rahlo behind their backs, secretly helping, and they are only agents?

This conjecture was a great challenge to his freedom of will, and it made Iger feel bad: no one liked to be a marionette.

"This ancient prophecy is actually a warning from the Lord of Light, who is an old enemy of the god of cold, to another similar being: 'Fight against me, and someone will come to clean you up'. The key is not really in the child of prophecy at all, its core is the last sentence, that is, the result: the hero will drive away the darkness. After a long backlash, Bran finally returned to the logic of his narrative: "As for who the hero is and how to drive it away, it doesn't matter at all, what the Lord of Light wants is the result come true." ”

How do you make two legendary gods look like thugs fighting in the streets? Egger couldn't help but think of this in his mind—a being on fire, threatening another man made of ice-like matter in a vicious tone: "Dare to move, cut you to death." ”

He quickly understood where his inexplicable familiarity came from: wasn't this well-known prophecy of Asha the Otherworldly, Magical, Extended, and God-only version of "Don't Say It Unpredictably"!

......

"The gods of cold have strange spirits, and the Lord of Light has prophetic heroes—maybe they can't, maybe they don't want to, maybe they have made a deal with each other. In short, the only two true gods in the mouths of the Red God priests chose to divide the victory and defeat through air wrestling. "This means, although none of us know what these two gods are or what they look like...... But that doesn't affect our actions. As humans, our opponents are the strangers on the chessboard, not the cold gods outside the chessboard. ”

After a big circle, Bran not only did not solve Egger's puzzles, but made his mind even more confused: according to this theory, he has become the de facto lord of the land grant, and he has barely begun to get rid of his identity as a pawn in Game of Thrones, but he has just jumped from a lower-level chessboard to a higher-level chessboard, and his dream of becoming a chess player is far from being realized.

If he abandons the defense of the Great Wall and allows the strange spirits to invade the Seven Kingdoms, will he be able to force the Lord of Light behind him to come to the stage?Egger could not contain this thought in his mind, but reason told him that what Bran said was only a conjecture and an idea of his own after all, and he could not use the lives of all the living people in Westeros as guinea pigs to verify its authenticity.

——

。 m.