The bloody flux is a virulent, highly contagious disease that sweeps through the armies and refugee camps of Slaver's Bay during the events of A Dance with Dragons, serving as a catastrophic force that reshapes military strategy, political alliances, and the daily struggle for survival. It arrives from fallen Astapor, carried by starving refugees, and spreads with terrifying speed among the Yunkish siege camps and the freedmen outside Meereen's walls, killing indiscriminately and forcing Daenerys Targaryen to make agonizing choices between mercy and the security of her city. The disease functions as both a literal plague and a narrative instrument that exposes the fragility of peace, the limits of power, and the brutal calculus of rule in a war-torn land.
The Day They Hanged Black Robin is a song referenced in George R. R. Martin's A Dance with Dragons, sung by the bard Abel during the tense wedding feast of Ramsay Bolton and the false Arya Stark at Winterfell. Its title and content serve as a grim foreshadowing of the violence and betrayal that permeate the Bolton-held castle, where executions and murders are routine.
The Defender of the Vale is a title held by the Lord of the Eyrie, charged with protecting the Vale of Arryn from invasion. In the narrative of A Dance with Dragons, the title becomes a point of political contention after the death of Lysa Arryn, as Lord Petyr Baelish assumes the role of Lord Protector of the Vale, effectively wielding the power of the Defender while the sickly boy lord Robert Arryn remains the nominal holder. The title's significance lies in its embodiment of the Vale's precarious neutrality during the War of the Five Kings and its potential to tip the balance of power in the Seven Kingdoms.
The Doom of Valyria was the cataclysmic event that destroyed the Valyrian Freehold, shattering its empire, sinking its peninsula, and leaving only ruins and legends behind. It is the foundational rupture of the known world's history, a permanent scar that shapes politics, magic, and geography in A Dance with Dragons.
The dragon has three heads is a recurring prophecy and political maxim in A Dance with Dragons, asserting that House Targaryen requires three dragonriders to restore its dynasty. The phrase originates from the three-headed dragon sigil of House Targaryen, but in the narrative it becomes a strategic and mystical imperative: Daenerys Targaryen, the Mother of Dragons, has three dragons but only one rider, and the search for the other two heads drives the plots of Quentyn Martell, Tyrion Lannister, and the hidden prince Aegon Targaryen.
The dragon's wroth is a recurring concept in A Dance with Dragons, referring to the destructive, uncontrollable fury of Daenerys Targaryen's dragons, particularly Drogon, which manifests as a terrifying force of fire and death that cannot be reasoned with or easily controlled, and which ultimately forces Daenerys to confront the monstrous nature of her own power.
The Kingslayer is the epithet given to Ser Jaime Lannister of the Kingsguard, earned when he slew King Aerys II Targaryen at the end of Robert's Rebellion. The name follows him through the War of the Five Kings, defining his reputation as an oathbreaker and shaping his relationships with his father, his sister, and the realm. It becomes a label that both condemns him and, in the eyes of some, marks him as a man capable of hard choices.
The Lion and the Griffin is a prophetic warning delivered by the masked shadowbinder Quaithe to Daenerys Targaryen in Meereen, naming two of the many forces that will converge upon her: the lion (Tywin Lannister or his legacy) and the griffin (Jon Connington, who has taken the sigil of his house). The phrase encapsulates the theme of converging enemies and false allies that Daenerys must navigate.
The Lord of the Skies is a deity of the old gods worshiped on the Three Sisters before the Andals came, paired with the Lady of the Waves as a divine couple whose mating created storms.
The Master of Ships is a title on the small council of the Iron Throne, responsible for the royal fleet and naval affairs. In A Dance with Dragons, the office is held by Lord Paxter Redwyne, a Tyrell bannerman appointed after the arrest of Cersei Lannister, and its political significance is underscored by the character of Aurane Waters, the Bastard of Driftmark, who exploited the position for personal gain before fleeing with the fleet.
The Others are a mysterious and malevolent race of supernatural beings from the far north, the primary existential threat beyond the Wall. They are the true enemy of the living, commanding armies of wights and bringing an unnatural, killing cold. Their nature, origins, and ultimate goals remain largely unknown, but they are vulnerable to obsidian (dragonglass) and dragonsteel (Valyrian steel), and fire is a key defense against their servants.
The red god, also known as R'hllor, the Lord of Light, is a deity worshiped primarily in Essos, whose followers believe in a dualistic struggle between light and darkness and practice fire-based rituals, including human sacrifice.
The Red Viper is the epithet of Prince Oberyn Martell of Dorne, a charismatic, vengeful, and deadly warrior who sought justice for the murder of his sister Elia and her children during the Sack of King's Landing. His appearance in the series is brief but seismic: he serves as Tyrion Lannister's champion in a trial by combat, nearly defeats Ser Gregor Clegane, but dies when he pauses to extract a confession, allowing Clegane to kill him. His death reshapes Dornish policy, inflames the Sand Snakes, and sets the stage for a delayed but implacable campaign of vengeance against House Lannister.
The She-Bear is the epithet of Alysane Mormont, the heir to Bear Island, a fierce warrior woman who serves as Asha Greyjoy's gaoler during Stannis Baratheon's march on Winterfell. She embodies the martial tradition of House Mormont, where women fight as readily as men, and her presence in the narrative underscores the ironborn captive's isolation and the grim realities of the campaign.
The Song of the Ages is a recurring motif in A Dance with Dragons, a phrase that evokes the deep, layered history of Westeros and Essos, the cyclical nature of time, and the weight of memory as experienced by characters like Bran Stark and the greenseer. It represents the vast, impersonal sweep of history that dwarfs individual lives, yet also the living memory preserved in the weirwood trees, where past, present, and future are one.
The Song of the Children is the name the First Men gave to the race now called the children of the forest, who called themselves in the True Tongue 'those who sing the song of earth.' The phrase encapsulates their entire cosmology: they do not write, build cities, or wage war as men do; instead they sing their history, prayers, and spells into the weirwood trees, so that when they die they become part of the wood, leaf and limb and root, and the trees remember. The song is not a literal melody but a mode of being—a way of knowing the world through harmony with earth and stone, a form of memory that outlasts any individual life. In the caverns beneath the hollow hill, Leaf tells Bran that her people have been singing this song for ten thousand years, and that in the world men have made there is no room for them or their song.
The Song of the Doom is a legendary ballad from the Age of Heroes that recounts the cataclysmic destruction of Valyria, the capital of the ancient Valyrian Freehold, an event that reshaped the known world and left a lasting scar on the collective memory of Essos and Westeros alike.
The Song of the Everything is a legendary song of the children of the forest, sung in the True Tongue that no human can speak. It represents the deepest form of their wisdom and connection to the world, a song that encompasses all of existence—earth, water, stone, tree, wind, fire, ice, life, and death. The song is not merely a melody but a fundamental expression of the children's identity and their understanding of the universe as an interconnected, living whole. Its significance lies in its contrast to human ways: where men would fight and kill, the singers sing sad songs. The song embodies a worldview that is passing from the world, a form of knowledge that is being lost as the children of the forest dwindle and the age of men ascends.
The Song of the First Men is a legendary composition from the Age of Heroes, representing the cultural and spiritual heritage of the First Men in Westeros, and is referenced in the context of the ancient rivalry between the Blackwoods and the Brackens.
The Song of the Love is a recurring motif in A Dance with Dragons, a song whose lyrics and emotional weight haunt Tyrion Lannister throughout his journey across the narrow sea. The song, which he first heard sung by the singer he later had killed, becomes a bitter refrain tied to his memories of Shae and Tysha, encapsulating his despair, guilt, and the corrosive nature of his relationships. Its refrain, "Hands of gold are always cold, but a woman's hands are warm," serves as a thematic counterpoint to the transactional and violent nature of love and intimacy in the novel, underscoring the gap between idealized romance and the brutal realities of power, betrayal, and self-loathing.
The Song of the Mermen is a traditional ballad from the Three Sisters, a group of islands in the Bite, whose inhabitants have long been associated with the sea, piracy, and the worship of the Lady of the Waves and the Lord of the Skies. The song is referenced in the context of the Sistermen's culture and their historical identity, serving as a cultural marker that distinguishes them from mainland Westerosi.
The Song of the Stags is a traditional song from the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros, referenced in George R. R. Martin's A Dance with Dragons. It is sung by the bard Abel during the tense wedding feast of Ramsay Bolton and the false Arya Stark at Winterfell, serving as a piece of entertainment that briefly unites the hostile northern and southern lords in song before the underlying tensions erupt into violence.
The Song of the Trees is a recurring motif in A Dance with Dragons, representing the living memory of the old gods and the deep, ancient connection between the weirwoods, the children of the forest, and the greenseers. It is the song of the earth itself, sung by the children of the forest in the True Tongue, and it embodies the timeless, non-human perspective of the natural world, contrasting with the transient, violent concerns of men.
The Unburnt is the defining epithet of Daenerys Targaryen, a title she earned by emerging unscathed from the flames of Khal Drogo's funeral pyre, an event that simultaneously hatched her three dragon eggs and established her as a figure of miraculous, quasi-divine authority. The name recurs throughout her reign in Meereen as a formal component of her royal style, proclaimed by her herald before every court session, and it serves as a constant public reminder of the singular, fire-proof nature that underpins her claim to power and her identity as the Mother of Dragons.
The Warden of the West is a title held by the Lord of Casterly Rock, traditionally a member of House Lannister, signifying supreme military authority over the western region of the Seven Kingdoms. The title is a key element in the power dynamics of the realm, often used to assert influence and command loyalty.
The wights are reanimated corpses serving the Others, the primary undead threat beyond the Wall. They are animated by cold magic, vulnerable to fire and obsidian, and can be created from any dead creature, including men, animals, and giants. Their presence signals the onset of the Long Night, and they are the central foe the Night's Watch and the free folk must unite against.
Unbowed, Unbent, Unbroken is the ancient and enduring motto of House Martell of Dorne, encapsulating the principality's fierce independence, its refusal to submit to conquest, and its unyielding pride in the face of overwhelming power. The words are spoken by the Sand Snakes and Prince Doran Martell at a crucial moment of political reckoning, serving as both a declaration of identity and a binding oath that shapes Dorne's secret strategy throughout the War of the Five Kings.
What is dead may never die is a central tenet of the Drowned God faith of the Iron Islands, a creed that proclaims the eternal return of the faithful through a ritual of drowning and resurrection, and that frames death not as an end but as a transformation into something harder and stronger.
Ar Noy is a ruined city on the Upper Rhoyne, a former Qohorik outpost that marks the northern boundary of the pirate-infested stretch of river between the Qohorik-controlled waters and the Sorrows.
Long Lake is a large, frozen body of water in the northern lands beyond the Wall, best known as the site of a decisive battle where the wildling host of Raymun Redbeard was annihilated by the forces of Winterfell and the Umbers, and as a landmark that appears in Melisandre's visions of a fleeing girl.
