The Horns in Games of Throne

  What's the point of introducing the horns into A Song of Ice and Fire story?

The first horn we get introduced to via character plot is the Horn of Winter aka Joramun's Horn.  It is first referenced in A Clash of Kings- Jon III where Jeor Mormont name drops Joramun,  legendary King Beyond The Wall, who blew the Horn of Winter and "woke up giants from the earth." The next time the Horn is referenced is in A Storm of Swords - Jon VI. Ygritte gives Jon Snow the 411 on Mance Rayder's mission of finding the Horn of Winter and where he's been looking for it. At this point it becomes apparent that Mance, and the Free Folk for that matter, are of the opinion that the Horn of Winter can tear down The Wall. Essentially GRRM's idea for the Horn of Winter canon is based on the Walls of Jericho from the Book of Joshua. In that, the Israelites circled the town for 6 days and then on the 7th they blew their horns and the walls came crumbling down.

Fast forward to A Storm of Swords- Jon X, Mance Rayder and the Free Folk have arrived for the Battle Beneath the Wall. Jon Snow is sent out to parlay with Mance and is shown the "Horn of Winter". Mance talks about having no interest in blowing the horn as he wants the Wall up to protect the Free Folk from The Others. The parlay becomes meaningless as Stannis Baratheon shows up and puts an end to the Battle Beneath the Wall. In A Dance With Dragons- Jon III, Mance Rayder and the horn are lit on fire by Melisandre. Pretty anti-climatic end to the horn or so it seems. Later on in A Dance of Dragons- Jon XII, Tormund has the last word on the horn telling Jon it was a fake all along. So the Horn of Winter is still a myth and/or if real is still missing in action. Too bad Mance Rayder died along with it...oh wait no he didn't die either.

What's with the deal that Mance Rayder made with Melisandre? Clearly Mance didn't want to die and was still on a quest for the Horn of Winter so his side is straightforward in that way. However looking at what his "goals' ' of getting the Free Folk south of the wall aka saved, so what exactly would he still need the Horn of Winter for?  What exactly was in it for Melisandre? For someone all about King's blood and a love for sacrifices, why spare Mance?  And if she was sparing him, did Stannis know and that's why Rattleshirt was sacrificed? Or did Stannis not know and Rattleshirt was sacrificed to fool/appease him? One would think if Melisandre told him R'hllor told her to spare Mance Rayder he would have been fine with it if he was a devout follower. Add to the fact that "Mance'' died in front of everyone meaning he gave up his "kingdom" and is no longer the King Beyond the Wall. He's sacrificed himself for the Horn of Winter? Does Mance even want to stop The Others? How is the horn even important any more?  I think only if it does more than what we are of but that's to be determined. Overall the Horn of Winter is a myth that is highly sought after by only one person.

The other horn that was introduced to the series was a dragon horn known as Dragonbinder which has the opposite narrative of not really being sought after/important. We first see the horn in A Feast for Crows- The Drowned Man (Aeron's POV chapter). Balon Greyjoy is dead so the Iron Islands needs a new leader and has a kingsmoot. This marks the return of Euron Greyjoy to claim the Seastone Chair. The crowd was getting rowdy and Euron wanted to make a big entrance, so one of his men blows Dragonbinder which stops the crowd from fighting. You would think the horn would be sought after but the guy who blew it dies so that's a big dissuasion to everyone else. Unlike Mance Rayder, Euron is clearly aware of what Dragonbinder does and how it works. In addition, we get confirmation from Daenerys that the Valyarians controlled dragons via spells and "sorcerous horns'' (A Dance with Dragons- Daenerys X). So we've seen the horn in action and two separate accounts of what the horn does so Dragonbinder is legit.

What is interesting about Euron is the fact that he doesn't seem obsessed with Dragonbinder how Mance Rayder was with the Horn of Winter. Look at his game plan for proof of this. He returns to the Iron Islands after being banished for impregnating Victarion's wife. No reconciliation at all but Euron gives over Dragonbinder to Victarion to get Daenerys and her dragons in Essos. So you have this powerful horn with the potential to acquire one of the, if not the most, destructive forces on the planet and you hand it over to your brother who hates your guts to get the job done? For a man who goes above and beyond to get his way, like cutting out the tongues of his crew so they don't spill his secrets, seems pretty reckless.  On top of that he has four warlocks from Qarth including Pyat Pree who wants Daenerys dead. I would say it's a safe assumption that Euron is up-to-date on all their info regarding her.  Add that his whole speech during the kingsmoot was about conquering all of Westeros using dragons, why would Euron send Victarion to carry it out? This really doesn't add up given what we know of Euron.  The only payoff for Euron is it removes all claims to the Seastone Chair out of the Iron Islands leaving him the only leader there. I think it's a safe bet Euron is expecting Victarion to be killed off either through the infection of his hand or from blowing Dragonbinder in an attempt to secure a dragon. Whether he loses Dragonbinder or Daenerys gets it is the price Euron is willing to pay for that. 

So we have two horns with two separate narratives. Appears both in some form or fashion will be in the spotlight in The Winds of Winter- hell the book cover has a horn on it. That being said it's time to predict what each horn will potentially end up doing/be a part of. 

So let's start with The Horn of Winter. The only person in search of it or remotely interested in it will be the one to find the horn in Winterfell- Mance Rayder.  The King Beyond The Wall was not reluctant to blow the "Horn of Winter"  at the wall  because of his fear of The Others.  The truth as pointed out earlier was that he never found the true Horn of Winter. Had Mance blown the horn and nothing happened, the Free Folk would have abandoned his fight and that is the only reason he would not blow the horn he had. I feel Mance Rayder will find the Horn of Winter at Winterfell while all the chaos around him. His intention will be to head back to the Wall and find more chaos from the traitorous Crows. At this point Mance Rayder will be even more encouraged and will blow The Horn of Winter which will do what it was rumored to do and send The Wall crashing down. The subsequent consequence being it will also signal to the Others that the magical barrier is gone and they can come on down. Much like at the kingsmoot, this is what happens when a horn is used by those who aren't supposed to use it. Essentially Mance Rayder will have triggered the Long Night part 2.

So who or what is the right way to use the Horn of Winter? Pure speculation but I believe it must be used by those who created it or are a part of the pact- The Starks.  I believe the actual true use of the horn is one of two likely events. The most speculated outcome of blowing the Horn of Winter at Winterfell will be raising and calling the dead Starks from the crypt into battle to fight off The Others. The "There Must Always be  A Stark at Winterfell" is not only part of that spell/pact placed upon that horn and because it is located somewhere in the crypts. My other thought would be that blowing the Horn of Winter a second time will be a notice to The Others that the pact is back on and they should call off their attack.  

I'm leaning towards the Horn of Winter summoning the dead Starks from the crypts of Winterfell to come back to life and do their sworn duty.  Of the Starks to blow the Horn of Winter, the obvious choice would be Jon Snow. My dark horse candidate guess is that it will be Sansa Stark who does the deed. This is based on the whole "slaying a giant in a castle built of snow".  We know the original horn blast will tear down the Wall but it will also supposedly raise giants from the earth. One would have to assume said giants are headed towards Winterfell.  If Sansa calls upon the dead Starks to fight off the others, they more than likely will be facing giants. Definitely have a lot of time before we see the Horn of Winter blown again as more than likely will be in the final book.

Dragonbinder will have a more straightforward approach and come into play first. The horn will fall into Daenerys hands causing two important things to transpire. First and foremost it will have the dragons fully submit to Daenerys in terms of control.  Current day they know she's their mom/leader however they are not in her control. To the point that two of them are locked up to prevent them from destroying things.  Dragonbinder will tighten the connection between Daenerys and her dragons and make them more easy to control for her. The second thing the horn will do is have the same effect as it did in the kingsmoot and end the war at Meereen. Both events if not at the same time will happen relatively close to each other. Full control of the dragons and an end to the war will also signal that Daenerys is ready to head over to Westeros.  This is the first half for Dragonbinder's part in the story.

Going forward I believe Dragonbinder will be important to none other than Jon Snow.  As we know and have speculated for decades, Jon Snow is the son of Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark.  Unlike the show and generic story for Sam, I don't believe the Citadel will have a record of some "secret marriage" between Rhaegar and Lyanna. It makes zero sense and more than likely wouldn't be condoned due to Rhaegar was still married to Elia Martell. The Citadel would more than likely have frowned upon any maestaer who helped with polygamy. Jon Snow's birthright will be discovered by him blowing Dragonbinder.  

It's a safe assumption that like Euron, Daenerys and her crew will discover how the dragon horn actually works. I do believe the Citadel does have records on dragon horns based on their restricted section, glass candle, Marwin, and various other things. It is my speculation that blowing Dragonbinder will only be successful when done by whoever the spell / blood magic is tied to aka Targaryens/Valyarian bloodline. So how do we get to Jon Snow blowing Dragonbinder?

Potentially Jon Snow will come across the dragon horn in a moment of sacrifice.  The first likely person to put him in that spot is Euron.  In some form or fashion he will capture Daenerys and by default her dragons.  In order to free them, a cocky Euron will tell Jon Snow to blow Dragonbinder thinking that he's going to drop dead just like other folks he has seen/ordered to do it. So outside of being a Targaryen, Jon Snow will also be saved due to being a fire wight. Him blowing Dragonbinder will both indicate he is a Targaryen to those who know and bind him to a dragon if not all three of them to save the day. 

The second possibility to Jon Snow having Dragonbinder in front of him will be the Battle For The Dawn/Long Night. We'll get the stereotypical scenario where the heroes are losing with Daenerys falling behind enemy lines- no worries no stupid ice javelin involved.  Seeing no other way to get the dragons to stay in control, Jon Snow goes for Dragonbinder. Being a fire wight amplifies the power of it and he saves the day by turning the tide of battle with the dragons. This of course will confirm to those who know that he is a Targaryen. 

In the same way Jon Snow is revealed to be a Targaryen, Dragonbinder will prove that Aegon "Faegon" Targaryen is an imposter. At some point with Daenerys arrival to Westeros, Faegon is going to want a dragon for himself believing it is a birthright of his. Similar to Quentin Martell and one of his namesakes Egg, Faegon is going to go up in flames. Faegon was raised believing he is the son of Rhaegar so he won't have any reservations approaching the dragons or Dragonbinder. Given the dragons more than likely will not take to him, Faegon will give the dragon horn a try. He could see himself in the same spot during the Battle for the Dawn where he attempts Dragonbinder to be the hero of the day and finds out quickly he's not even a Targaryen by dying.

So to summarize important points in cliff note fashion-

Horn of Winter:

• Will bring down the Wall and let the Others into civilized Westeros

• The horn will raise the fallen Starks from the dead to fight the Others

• Sansa will be the one to blow the Horn of Winter at Winterfell

Dragonbinder:

• Will help Daenerys fully bind to all three dragons

• Will end the war of Meereen 

• Will confirm Jon Snow is a Targaryen

• Will confirm Aegon Targaryen really is Faegon