5 insane Game of Thrones theories that may come true in The Winds of Winter

Sweetrobin, the Greenseer

"Those you call the children of the forest have eyes as golden as the sun, but once in a great while one is born amongst them with eyes as red as blood, or green as the moss on a tree in the heart of the forest. By these signs do the gods mark those they have chosen to receive the gift. The chosen ones are not robust, and their quick years upon the earth are few, for every song must have its balance. But once inside the wood they linger long indeed. A thousand eyes, a hundred skins, wisdom deep as the roots of ancient trees. Greenseers. (Bran III, ADwD)"

The boy-lord of the Vale, Robin Arryn, isn’t a character one would consider powerful. He is six years old, small and thin for his age. Robin is remarkably pale, with brown hair and big eyes that are always runny. He is not robust, cursed with spindly arms and legs, a soft concave chest, a little belly, and splotchy skin.

The Three-Eyed Crow says that if the gods give someone the gift of greensight, they also give them other misfortunes to balance the scales. It could be that Sweetrobin’s illness is a curse from the gods in exchange for his gift. The theory is more plausible than the others, but the implications are insane. A possible evil twin to rival Bran.

Let’s look at the evidence, such as it is, starting with the first time we see Sweetrobin resting upon his weirwood throne in the Eyrie and breastfeeding from his mother Lysa Tully. “She opened her robe and drew out a pale, heavy breast, tipped with red.” The weirwoods, white trees veined with red, are the source of power for a Greenseer. The Three-Eyed Crow Brynden Rivers is suspended in life by the roots of a great weirwood tree.

The colors of Lysa’s breasts match those of the weirwood, white and red. And the situation of a child depending on his mother for nourishment recalls Lord Brynden in a symbiotic relationship with the trees. “Before them a pale lord in ebon finery sat dreaming in a tangled nest of roots, a woven weirwood throne that embraced his withered limbs as a mother does a child.”

Robin (in the books his name is actually Robert, but we’re sticking with Robin because it helps differentiate him from other Roberts) is afflicted with a disease that causes frequent seizures. Maester Colemon bleeds him with leeches and administers dreamwine and milk of the poppy to help him sleep. Sweetmilk helps Robin with the shaking, but Colemon is cautious because continuous use of sweetsleep can be dangerous. Likewise, Jojen Reed, who himself has the greensight, has seizures when he has visions, but only in the show.

"Robert Arryn’s shaking sickness was nothing new to the people of the Eyrie, and Lady Lysa had trained them all to come rushing at the boy’s first cry. The maester held the little lord’s head and gave him half a cup of dreamwine, murmuring soothing words. Slowly the violence of the fit seemed to ebb away, till nothing remained but a small shaking of the hands. “Help him to my chambers,” Colemon told the guards. “A leeching will help calm him.”"

It seems crazy. Sweetrobin could end up awakening his third eye like Bran did during his visions of the Three-Eyed Crow after his fall.

Robin Arryn is introduced surprisingly early in the story. It happens in the crypts of Winterfell when Ned and Robert Baratheon are talking about the important events of the realm. All this makes me inclined to believe that the Lord of the Eyrie is not likely to die soon, and that he at least has a greater role to play.

It’s worrying to think what he could do with the power of a Greenseer: a hundred skins, a thousand eyes and a wisdom as deep as the roots of the trees. It’s interesting now to look back at Bran’s fall, and the discussion about whether he should be allowed to live. It was obvious for us that he should live. And note that Littlefinger, too, thinks Robin will die soon. But perhaps he will survive, and become a dark mirror to Bran.