7 intriguing mysteries from A Song of Ice and Fire

What do Patchface’s visions represent?

Patchface, the fool and friend of Shireen Baratheon, remains one of the more disturbing characters in A Song of Ice and Fire. He suffers from twitches and trembles and talks in cryptic riddles. Some consider him a simpleton, but everyone knows that the wise man may play the fool.

Patchface was a jester slave in Volantis. A clever and skilled boy with an astonishing wit, his freedom was bought by an impressed Steffon Baratheon, Lord of Storm’s End. While returning to Westeros, Steffon’s ship was wrecked in Shipbreaker Bay while his eldest sons, Robert and Stannis, watched from Storm’s End. All onboard were believed killed.

But Patchface washed up among the dead three days later. His naked skin was white and wrinkled, and his flesh was clammy cold. The fool was taken for dead, but then he coughed up water and sat up. Patchface survived the shipwreck, but his renowned wit disappeared. What happened to him during those days at sea is unknown.

Patchface spends most of his time with the princess Shireen, repeating creepy sayings and singing strange songs, some of may touch on what happened to him at the bottom of the bay.

Patchface’s weird sayings:

1. The shadows come to dance, my lord, dance my lord, dance my lord. The shadows come to stay, my lord, stay my lord, stay my lord.
2. Under the sea, smoke rises in bubbles, and flames burn green and blue and black. I know, I know, oh, oh, oh.
3. Fool’s blood. King’s blood, blood on the maiden’s thigh, but chains for the guests and chains for the bridegroom, aye, aye, aye.
4. Under the sea the old fish eat the young fish. Up here the young fish teach the old fish.
5. In the dark the dead are dancing. I know, I know, oh oh oh.
6. Under the sea the mermen feast on starfish soup, and all the serving men are crabs.
7. The crow, the crow. Under the sea the crows are white as snow, I know, I know, oh, oh, oh.
8. We will march into the sea and out again. Under the waves we will ride seahorses, and mermaids will blow seashells to announce our coming, oh, oh, oh.

The third saying seems to foretell the Red Wedding, while the second may refer to the Battle of Blackwater. Patchface seems to have the gift of foretelling the future, and his prophecies have become one of the more thought-provoking mysteries in the series.