What are your thoughts about Patchface’s various creepy/cryptic rhymes? I’ve always assumed the “fool’s blood, king’s blood” one was a reference to the Red Wedding, but most of the others — particularly his fascination with things occurring ‘under the sea,’ mermaids, and seahorses — stump me. Can you explain any of them?

poorquentyn:

Hiya! I’m of the school that says when Patches went down with the Windproud, he encountered the Drowned God beneath the waves, and became Its prophet. Of course, we know from WOIAF that said God is a Lovecraftian abomination, and so the sight of It drove Patches mad even as It kept him miraculously alive before returning him to the surface world: “no one ever explained those two days the fool had been lost in the sea.” (I expect It will drive Damphair mad as well when he summons It in TWOW by praying for Its help against Euron before the Seastone Chair built by Its children the Deep Ones, although I do hope Aeron retains enough sanity to ride It into battle against his by-then-dragonriding abuser. C’mon, tell me with a straight face you don’t want to see C’thulhu fight a dragon while Sam runs around underneath trying to save his books. “My atlas!” he cries as Sarella literally drags him away.)

As for the individual prophecies, you’re right on about the Red Wedding. The one about smoke under the water and flames burning green is pretty clearly referring to the Blackwater, and “in the dark the dead are dancing” is a chilling vision of the Others’ reign. But while I’m sure the rest have specific “answers,” I see them all collectively as evidence of how thoroughly direct contact with the divine screws with your brain. Being a prophet means, to paraphrase Jaeherys II, walking a line between greatness and madness, and I think what poor Patches went through “under the sea” pushed him far over that line. When he says “I know, I know, I know,” it’s not a brag. The revelation, the knowledge, of the Drowned God is a crippling curse, not an empowering blessing. 

Finally, I think Patches’ prophecies are meant in part to undercut Melisandre’s messianic certitude. As @racefortheironthrone put it regarding the aforementioned vision of the Blackwater, “even as Melisandre pushes forward her religious mission, metaphysical events are happening below her nose that she cannot see coming.” 

I would also add that Patchface contrasts strongly with Aeron Damphair. Aeron believes himself to be a true prophet of the Drowned God, but ultimately he’s the same weak man he’s always been who’s listening to the voices in his own head and confusing them with the divine, and lacks the true conviction of his faith. 

Reminds me a lot of Deacon Vorbis from Small Gods – on the outside, a fanatic, on the inside a solipsist.