'Catspaw Dagger' Importance?
Posted: Tue Aug 15, 2017 7:24 pm
Ok, so, in the run-up to Season 7 there was a lot of hype about the ‘Catspaw Dagger’, we seemed to be seeing hints about it everywhere telling us “this thing is important!”
After watching Alt Shift X’s video “Game of Thrones S7E04 Explained” on YouTube, where he briefly went through the history of the so-called ‘Catspaw Dagger’ on the show/in the books, I questioned why Robert Baratheon would have the dagger to begin with, which led to this theory and after watching S7E05 "Eastwatch" I’m even more convinced.
Thanks to S7E05 we know 2 things:
1. Drogon is quite happy to let Jon touch him, even though as far as everyone in Westeros is concerned (except Bran and perhaps Howland Reed) he’s not a Targaryen and dragons and Targaryens are known to have a deep and mystical connection
2. Jon's real father, Prince Rhaegar Targaryen had his marriage to Elia Martell annulled and secretly married "someone" else in Dorne. Literally, the ONLY person that this could be referring to (considering we all saw her at the Tower of Joy, in Dorne) is Lyanna Stark. Which means... Jon Snow/Stark/Targaryen is the true heir to the Iron Throne, NOT Daenerys.
All of which links to my theory about the mystery surrounding the 'Catspaw Dagger'.
At the beginning of the show the dagger belongs to Robert Baratheon. His "son" Joffrey steals it to arm the assassin he sends to kill Bran, in a twisted attempt to impress Robert. After the failed assassination, Catelyn takes the dagger to King's Landing and leaves it with Ned. After he is betrayed we don't know what happens to the blade... until Season 7, when we find out that all this time, Littlefinger has had it, most likely nabbing it after betraying Ned. He gives it to Bran, as possibly the worst gift ever and Bran then gives it to Arya. Now, as we saw from the book Sam was reading in S7E1 "Dragonstone", the dagger has been around for many years. This is supported by the fact that it has a dragonbone hilt and dragons hadn't been around for centuries until Daenerys came along.
Now, what reason could Robert Baratheon have for owning a dagger made out of two things that are distinctly Targaryen: Valyrian steel and dragonbone? He supposedly hates everything Targaryen. My guess is, that he claimed the blade as a trophy from his greatest victory: the day he defeated Rhaegar Targaryen at the Battle of the Trident.
And why would Rhaegar have such a dagger? On face value, it makes sense; he's a Targaryen, so he owns a Targaryen blade. It could have been a gift, he could have had it made for himself but I think, it belonged to Rhaegar Targaryen because it was an heirloom. One that had been passed down through the generations of the Targaryen dynasty, always passing from the King... to the rightful heir to the throne (I wouldn’t be surprised if we see another flashback scene, showing Rhaegar with the dagger).
Who is now the rightful heir to the throne? Jon.
Who currently has the blade? Arya.
And they both live at Winterfell, where it just so happens that Bran/The Three Eyed Raven is waiting to tell Jon the truth about his parentage.
We can speculate about the circumstances surrounding how/when the dagger will be passed to Jon but I have a very strong suspicion that part of the significance and mystery of the 'Catspaw Dagger’ is that it relates to one of the biggest mysteries of the whole story, and could be a key component of Jons true heritage is revealed to the rest of Westeros.
After watching Alt Shift X’s video “Game of Thrones S7E04 Explained” on YouTube, where he briefly went through the history of the so-called ‘Catspaw Dagger’ on the show/in the books, I questioned why Robert Baratheon would have the dagger to begin with, which led to this theory and after watching S7E05 "Eastwatch" I’m even more convinced.
Thanks to S7E05 we know 2 things:
1. Drogon is quite happy to let Jon touch him, even though as far as everyone in Westeros is concerned (except Bran and perhaps Howland Reed) he’s not a Targaryen and dragons and Targaryens are known to have a deep and mystical connection
2. Jon's real father, Prince Rhaegar Targaryen had his marriage to Elia Martell annulled and secretly married "someone" else in Dorne. Literally, the ONLY person that this could be referring to (considering we all saw her at the Tower of Joy, in Dorne) is Lyanna Stark. Which means... Jon Snow/Stark/Targaryen is the true heir to the Iron Throne, NOT Daenerys.
All of which links to my theory about the mystery surrounding the 'Catspaw Dagger'.
At the beginning of the show the dagger belongs to Robert Baratheon. His "son" Joffrey steals it to arm the assassin he sends to kill Bran, in a twisted attempt to impress Robert. After the failed assassination, Catelyn takes the dagger to King's Landing and leaves it with Ned. After he is betrayed we don't know what happens to the blade... until Season 7, when we find out that all this time, Littlefinger has had it, most likely nabbing it after betraying Ned. He gives it to Bran, as possibly the worst gift ever and Bran then gives it to Arya. Now, as we saw from the book Sam was reading in S7E1 "Dragonstone", the dagger has been around for many years. This is supported by the fact that it has a dragonbone hilt and dragons hadn't been around for centuries until Daenerys came along.
Now, what reason could Robert Baratheon have for owning a dagger made out of two things that are distinctly Targaryen: Valyrian steel and dragonbone? He supposedly hates everything Targaryen. My guess is, that he claimed the blade as a trophy from his greatest victory: the day he defeated Rhaegar Targaryen at the Battle of the Trident.
And why would Rhaegar have such a dagger? On face value, it makes sense; he's a Targaryen, so he owns a Targaryen blade. It could have been a gift, he could have had it made for himself but I think, it belonged to Rhaegar Targaryen because it was an heirloom. One that had been passed down through the generations of the Targaryen dynasty, always passing from the King... to the rightful heir to the throne (I wouldn’t be surprised if we see another flashback scene, showing Rhaegar with the dagger).
Who is now the rightful heir to the throne? Jon.
Who currently has the blade? Arya.
And they both live at Winterfell, where it just so happens that Bran/The Three Eyed Raven is waiting to tell Jon the truth about his parentage.
We can speculate about the circumstances surrounding how/when the dagger will be passed to Jon but I have a very strong suspicion that part of the significance and mystery of the 'Catspaw Dagger’ is that it relates to one of the biggest mysteries of the whole story, and could be a key component of Jons true heritage is revealed to the rest of Westeros.