Others update #3 – "war for the dawn" (Patreon)

Melisandre says the world is divided into good and evil:

"The way the world is made ... The night is dark and full of terrors, the day bright and beautiful and full of hope. One is black, the other white. There is ice and there is fire. Hate and love. Bitter and sweet. Male and female. Pain and pleasure. Winter and summer. Evil and good ... Death and life. Everywhere, opposites." (Melisandre, in Davos III, ASOS)

She says that good and evil are at war:

"The war has been waged since time began, and before it is done, all men must choose where they will stand. On one side is R’hllor, the Lord of Light, the Heart of Fire, the God of Flame and Shadow. Against him stands the Great Other whose name may not be spoken, the Lord of Darkness, the Soul of Ice, the God of Night and Terror. Ours is not a choice between Baratheon and Lannister, between Greyjoy and Stark. It is death we choose, or life. Darkness, or light." 

(Melisandre, in Davos III, ASOS)

She anticipates a "great battle" between "the Great Other" and the "chosen of R'hllor":

 "the great battle ... The one whose name may not be spoken is marshaling his power ... a power fell and evil and strong beyond measure. Soon comes the cold, and the night that never ends
...
the battle is begun ... The sand is running through the glass more quickly now, and man’s hour on earth is almost done. We must act boldly, or all hope is lost. Westeros must unite beneath her one true king, the prince that was promised, Lord of Dragonstone and chosen of R’hllor." (Melisandre, in Davos IV, ASOS)

Aemon Targaryen names this conflict "the war for the dawn" (Samwell V, ASOS).

So will ASOIAF end with a "great battle", with the Others' army of the dead on one side and Jon Snow as Azor Ahai with Daenerys and her dragons on the other? Maybe not.
George R. R. Martin has criticised this Tolkein-style good-versus-evil conflict:

"The war that Tolkien wrote about was a war for the fate of civilization and the future of humanity, and that's become the template. I'm not sure that it's a good template, though. The Tolkien model led generations of fantasy writers to produce these endless series of dark lords and their evil minions who are all very ugly and wear black clothes. But the vast majority of wars throughout history are not like that." (George R.R. Martin: The Rolling Stone Interview)

And David Benioff, co-creator of the Game of Thrones TV show, has said:

"You don’t know where it’s going, and one thing is for sure, it’s not going to be your classic good-versus-evil conflict" (““The Rains of Castamere” Unveiled”, Game of Thrones Season 3 Special Feature)

So while we're told to expect a "great battle" between the Others and Westeros, things will probably be more complex than that...

The script for the Others video is coming along nicely. I hope to begin work on the video itself by next week. It takes a lot of time to bring together all the relevant information and ideas for such a big topic like this, but I think it'll result in a great video (:

Thanks for your support!
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