Red Comet, The Thief, and the Uneven Seasons

#Theory

In the World of  Ice and Fire the seasons, primarily summer and winter, are quite uneven. Summers tend to be generally 2 to 3 years and winters are generally 1 to 2 years. However, they can last much longer. The lengths of the seasons are unpredictable, and this blog is going to explain why that is.

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The Red Comet

As we have learned in the story, there used to be 2 moons.

"Once there were two moons in the sky, but one wandered too close to the sun and cracked from the heat.”

                         A Game of Thrones - Daenerys III

A large portion of that moon went off deep into the far reaches of the solar system going into a long arc before being pulled back by the sun, becoming known as the Red Comet.

digital art by Zonka

[It should be noted here that it isn’t really a comet, but an asteroid. It only recently was referred to as The Red Comet when it’s orbit brought it so close to Earthos that it skimmed across the atmosphere, igniting it’s underbelly like a shooting star. We will, however, continue to refer to it as The Red Comet]

Two smaller portions fell to Earthos. One landed in Yi-Ti, and the other landed in the southern plain below what is now called the Trident. A large crater was made on impact, and over time, it filled with water, and is now called The God’s Eye Lake. A remnant of the moon rock remained near the center of the newly formed lake, and over time sediment and soil build-up led to it becoming a fertile island.

This happened long before the First Men arrived.

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art by shakk01

As those with wisdom are aware, each celestial body in the heavens has it’s own individual magick, and when these portions of the moon came down they introduced a new magick to the land. Hitherto, Earthos had it’s own “Gaea” magic, which merely served to amplify various forces of nature when harnessed correctly. Now there was something new—Blood magic.

As for the portion that found itself in Yi-Ti, some fool Emperor by the name of Bloodstone came up with the idea of worshipping the rock, but little else is known.

As for the one that became an island in Westeros (now called the Isle of Faces) it tended to distort that which grew upon it. One tree in particular developed a white trunk and branches bearing red leaves.

These “Weirwood” trees soon spread throughout all of Westeros.

art by HanniBee

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A great deal of time later the comet returned and became locked into an orbit with the sun between Earthos and the other known planet, the Red Wanderer.

This is where the problem begins.

It was around this time that The Long Night occurred.

As the great scholar Septon Barth ascertained many years ago, the seasons of Earthos were once evenly manifested, 3 months each.

That would now become changed.

For as it turns out, there is a strong metaphysical connection between these parts of the old moon, and they tend to “pull” upon each other to the point where Earthos’ axial tilt becomes shifted, for the island/rock constantly points in the direction of the comet wherever it is in the solar system, thus subverting the seasons.

And there is a further complication.

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The Thief

Known generally as the Red Wanderer (equates to Mars in real life) and specifically to the Andal-centric Citadel as The Smith (whose understanding goes no further than applying leeches) but the freefolk who still retain the old knowledge still call the red planet The Thief. For them its sighting signals a good opportunity to abscond with a woman (which is a better idea than the Maesters would come up with), but its presence is more meaningful than that.

For whenever the Red Comet nears the gravitational pull of the red planet, the Thief, true to its name, will attempt to “steal” the comet, consequently warping its orbital path.

Both of these irregularities cause the seasons to be of varying lengths, and quite unpredictable.

(All other edits by Game)

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Thanks for reading!

Hope you enjoyed!

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#Comet