Cycle of Collapse in the Thousand Worlds

I have this concept of a perpetual cycle of collapse and rebirth in George R. R. Martin's Thousand Worlds Universe that I think fits thematically and has at least some support.

It goes something like this:

1) A precursor empire conquers a sufficiently large area of the galaxy that the characters in the stories we read about will never be able to escape this area's bounds.

2) At their height, this empire genetically engineers a bunch of different races or racial castes or whatever you want to call them.

3) This precursor empire (compare to ASoIAF's Empire of the Dawn) collapses. Perhaps it survives long enough to collapse in a "civil" war much like I'm about to explain.

4) The different groups left behind become isolated and evolve into what we know as Humans, Hrrangans, Fyndii, Jaenshi, and the rest of the "alien" races we see in the Thousand Worlds stories.

5) The Humans and the Hrrangans independently rediscover genetic engineering.

6) When they encounter each other again, enough time has passed that they are at least phenologically different enough that they do not recognize each other as the same species.

7) These different groups, all descended from the same common ancestor, blow each other up back into the Stone Age. This is about when we start to actually get stories to read from George.

8) The Jaenshi and Humans left on Corlos become isolated again and evolve into what we see in Westeros. If not literally, then at least in George's ideas for ASoIaF.

Notes

And Seven Times Never Kill Man! is named after the line from the poem, but it does double duty because this cycle has probably happened 7 times - once for each color of the rainbow. Killing humans (or perhaps people might be more appropriate since they are all descended from each other) leads to an inevitable arms-race that leads to a collapse and another cycle of isolation. The only way to avoid this cycle is to follow The Law of the Jungle.

The Humans, Hrrangans, and Fyndii are much more similar to each other than most probably notice. They all have some form of genetic engineering. Specifically, they all have "empty vessels" for the minds of the race to inhabit when they need to operate outside of some central location.

• Hrrangan Minds live under ground and control the Bashii.
• The Fyndii live as a hive-mind, and they have mind-mutes.
• I believe Golden Boy from Starlady is a genetic cross of a Bashii and the Esthetic Alters of Old Earth created as body for Earthers to seize.

At the end of Tuf Voyaging, Haviland genetically alters the ecosystem of the planet S'uthlam (an anagram for Malthus, as in Malthusian population control) so that it's people have to spend all of their time and effort eating a plant that outcompetes everything else on the planet. This creates a very simple ecosystem that mirrors what is on Corlos. Haviland just does it with science instead of religion/psychic power.

Is Dunk an Old Earth Esthetic Alter?

The story Starlady takes place on Thisrock, a man-made satellite built by Old Earth Imperials in orbit around the planet Prometheus. It is set after the interregnum, which followed the collapse of the Federal Empire during The Double War.

George R.R. Martin introduces a cast of characters that I will introduce before I summarize the story. I want to explore a number of similarities between The Hedge Knight and Starlady.

Janey Small is the titular Starlady from the planet Rhiannon. Shortly after arriving on Thisrock, she and her companion, called Golden Boy, are assaulted and have their identification stolen.

'With him was a young woman, or maybe just a girl... Her face was pale, scared. And dark hair fell past her shoulders, so clearly she was off-world.' Because they lack ID, they are stuck in the starslums of Thisrock.

Hairy Hal used to be a bigger player in the starslums.

'Hairy Hal’s right arm wasn’t really much of an arm. It bent and twisted in a half-dozen places where an arm ought not to bend, and it was matchstick-thin. The skin was a reddish black, the hand a shriveled claw... Hal was good once, now not so good, but still he’s better than most.' He becomes Star Lady's pimp and protector of sorts.

Side Note: The no-knife

'He reached across his body, beneath his cape, and his hand came out holding a finger-sized rod of black metal... "No-knife,” he said. He did something with his thumb, and suddenly there was a humming, and a foot-long blue

haze that stuck out from his fist. “They make them, well, not here. They come on ships. The force-blade’ll cut

anything, cept durloy, an’ it’s clean an’ quick."'

It sounds like the swords the Others use, and duralloy seems similar to Valyrian steel in ASoIaF.

Mayliss is Hal's girl.

She 'was very tall, very regal; sleek legs and big breasts and a hard, hard face with small green eyes. She painted her head bright red to let people know what she was.'

Compare her to the "washer women" of Westeros who dye their hair red to identify themselves as such. She is also a Melissa/Melisandre character.

Stumblecat is one of the Marquis' men.

'His face and hands were both completely covered by a soft gray fur. His ears were pointed, his nose was black, his eyes feline.' He says of himself, 'I don’t talk like the others because I’m not from Thisrock, and I have an education. I don’t look like the others because I was genetically altered. A game they play with the lowborn on Prometheus, you know. My alterations were not satisfactory, though, so I wound up here. Some of them work, however. I heard Hal’s last comment from quite a distance. Now, yes, that should cover it.” He smiled. His teeth were very sharp.'

Crawney is another one of the Marquis' men.

He is 'a short slim man with black and red skull stripes and a mouth full of teeth that stuck out too far.' He speaks with 'a mild slurring voice.'

The stripes are reminiscent of zorses (ASoIaF's Zebras), so he's sort of a Vargo-esque character who speaks more like Roose.

The Marquis is the leader of The Skulls, the top gang in the starslums. He 'had all of Stumblecat’s stolen grace. He wore black boots, and the robes of an insider, but he was very silent. His skull was silver... around it, covering his eyes, was a solid ring of tinted blueblack plastic... he took Dark Edward’s double stingstick and turned it on. Crawney and Stumblecat held the victim. The Marquis played for hours.' I suppose this makes him a Ramsey-analogue.

Golden Boy followed Janey off the ship.

He 'stood in shadow, but Hal could make out a slender, graceful body, and his eyes. His eyes were immense... He was like no boy Hal had ever seen. His skin was soft cream gold; his hair was a shimmery silver-white. The ears were an elf’s, pointed and delicate, the nose small and chiseled, the eyes huge. Human? Hal didn’t know... Beauty was all that mattered... and glowing innocence.' Janey says 'No one could understand him, and no one seemed to know him, or where he was from. He started following me around. I don’t know much about him, but he’s good, kind.' Hal doesn't put him to work at first. 'The youth sat around the compartment all day, eating and staring at people, never saying a word. Somehow he seemed to know what was required of him, whenever something was.'

Eventually, The Marquis sends Stumblecat and Crawney to take Golden Boy from Hal. They tell him "You can pimp all you like, girls, boys, anything. But exotics, well, you know. The Marquis has a sentimental attachment to exotics. He collects them, you might say."

After failing to convince Hal to help, Janey leaves with a plan to call out The Marquis and force him into duel.

Both Stories have a "Game of Thrones" motif

In Star Lady the characters of the starslums compete to be "emperor," while in ASoIaF the characters compete to "sit the Iron Throne," as the ruler of Westeros.

During Janey's confrontation with The Marquis at the climax of the story, Stumblecat decides to side with Janey and only pretend to completely disarm Hal.

It seems The Marquis will prevail against Janey, but then in a twist Hairy Hal kills him with the hidden kitchen knife held in his crippled hand.

In another twist, Stumblecat then kills Crawney with Hal's discarded no-knife. He wants to be emperor.

Empathic Links

In a final twist, it is revealed that Golden Boy will not listen to the Skulls and seems to have an "empathic link" with Janey. She leaves Hal to go to Stumblecat and Golden Boy. All Janey wants is to be with Golden Boy.

I find this very similar to how the Jaenshi of And Seven Times Never Kill Man! seemingly manipulate Ne'krol.

Janey Small and Egg

The Hedge Knight ends with Egg ejected from the Targaryen base of power following Dunk. Compare this with how Janey small is stranded in the Starslums, and how at the end of the story she returns to Golden Boy. There is no need to name Egg small, because instead we have Dunk the Tall.

Both Stories focus on the Theme of Class-Divide

Dunk spends a lot of time with characters who must work for a living, and the story contrasts them with the ruling-class of Westeros who don't and can take minor set-backs in stride. Lyonel Baratheon for example, can afford new armor and horse if he is forced to ransom them after a tournament loss, while Dunk cannot.

Stumblecat explains this division to Janey. “The man is one of the leading citizens of Thisrock,” the voice said, in a mellow, purring tone. “We call his kind insiders. The woman is an officer from a Promethean starship, of course; I expect that you knew that, dear. And your lesson, I’d guess, was to be that both insiders and Prometheans are to be treated with deference. They are powerful people.”

Ser Arlan and Hairy Hal Commonality: They are both washed-up shadows of themselves.

Ser Arlan says of himself "It is not every man who can boast that he broke seven lances against the finest knight in the Seven Kingdoms. I could never hope to do better, so why should I try?"

Janey tries to convince Hal to go get Golden Boy back from the Skulls, but he refuses. “I can’t, Janey,” he said, over and over, in a broken voice. “I can’t... Probly Hairy Hal could’ve taken him, he thought he could’ve, one on one, no-knife against stingstick. No chance, though. An’ now, Hal’s all crottled. Marquis’ll never face him alone anyhow.”

Dunk and Golden Boy Commonality: They are both saved from a violent confrontation.

In the show, Dunk is saved by Ser Arlan from a corrupt Gold Cloak (who seems to have inherited Hal's crippled arm instead of Arlan). Golden Boy is saved by Hairy Hal.

Dunk and Golden Boy Commonality: They are both kind.

Dunk often choses to be kind when it would be easier for himself not to be. Janey, at least seems to believe Golden Boy is good and kind, and we don't see him do anything mean or bad.

Dunk and Golden Boy Commonality: Neither are smart.

Golden Boy seems have a empathic affinity with certain individuals. He is nonverbal, and doesn't really display intelligence.

Dunk "the lunk, thick as a castle wall" has an affinity for animals, and is not very bright. He is surprisingly good at knowing what Egg needs though. We see him return to Maekar out of a motivation to help Egg be a better person.

Dunk and Golden Boy Commonality: Their bodies are saved for later exploitation.

Ser Arlan is careful to (almost) never beat Dunk. He does however train in him sword and lance, and teaches Dunk about the movers and shakers of Westeros much the way Hairy Hal takes Janey and Golden Boy under his wing.

Hal tells Mayliss to “Stay an’ feed the Golden Boy, spin him soft when he blinks, an’ don’t let him fly. Hal’s got plans for Golden Boy.” Those plans are saving his body to sell for a premium later.

Dunk could make a great provider as a tourney knight for Ser Arlan in his old age, much like how Hairy Hal intends to sell Golden Boy's body to Prometheans to escape the starslums.

The show highlights the parallel nature of sex work and professional fighting when Dunk speaks with the camp followers.

About Alters

After Hal begins putting Golden Boy to work, he buys a book from an Insider and says:

'"It’s old, you know, pre-Collapse... There’s something here, look here, about a race that might be Golden Boy’s. Look at that picture, Starlady, the same, only the hair is the wrong color. Still. They were a Hrangan slave-race before the war or the Collapse. So, probly Golden Boy is a little Bashii. Unless….” He riffled some more pages. “Here, this part about genetic alteration experiments an’ cloning an’ that stuff. The Earth Imperials were trying to clone their best pilots an’ such, duplicate them. An’ you had alters, like Stumblecat cept he’s a defect. See starlady, it has this bit about esthetic alters on Old Earth, pretty boys, being worked up. So. Maybe he’s one of those.'

Janey thinks Golden boy must be a Bashii because if he were from Old Earth, he'd be able to speak their language.

Often in George's work, any assumption (positive or negative) is proven wrong. So, perhaps he is something more complicated but Golden Boy probably is related to (or shares attributes in common with) one or both of these things.

Are Dunk and Golden Boy both Esthetic Alters:

Golden Boy isn't explicitly described as tall, but he is described as slender. The story doesn't reveal this, but I think one useful attribute for a genetically altered pleasure slave to have would be a resistance to disease.

Dunk could secretly be something similar. He's tall, and based on the rumored numbers of his progeny, we can assume he is attractive as well. He has an empathetic nature, so maybe it's not too big a leap to an empathic one.

He is injured many times in the books, and the show treats him as though he is totally immune to disease. He walks for days with a leg wound, and recovers while a similar wound kills Ser Arlan. The Maesters declare him a dying man, but he survives anyway. Could this be a trace of Esthetic Alter genetics? I certainly think it is fun to think so.

Side Note: The Fourth Wall

'We broke four lances before I finally unhorsed him. "Seven," insisted Dunk, "and that was against the Prince of Dragonstone!" No sooner were the words out than he wanted them back. Dunk the lunk, thick as a castle wall, he could hear the old man chiding. "So it was." The prince with the broken nose smiled gently. "Tales grow in the telling, I know...'

A Song of Ice and Fire grew from three stories, to four, and finally (at least when he wrote this) seven.

The opening and closing of Star Lady are uncharacteristically narrated from an omniscient POV, which is very rare for George.

Questions

I'm not actually sure how Janey gets a no-knife before the fight.

Small Thoughts

The "swaggers" at the climax of the story are basically Bravos.