Quaithe

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Quaithe
Quaithe.jpg

Alias Quaithe of the Shadow
Books

Played by Laura Pradelska
TV series Season 2

Quaithe, also known as Quaithe of the Shadow, is a priestess of Asshai. Laura Pradelska plays Quaithe in the TV series. She is a shadowbinder.

Appearance

She is a woman who wears a red lacquered wooden mask.[1] [2] A vision of Daenerys depicts it as "dark red". [3] Her eyes are visible behind the mask, wet and shiny. [4]

Recent Events

A Clash of Kings

Quaithe is one of the three representatives from Qarth who return to Vaes Tolorro with Jhogo in search of dragons, the other two being Xaro Xhoan Daxos and Pyat Pree. [1] Quaithe introduces herself, speaking in the Common Tongue. [1] The "three seekers" escort Daenerys Targaryen and her khalasar to Qarth, then take their leave and part ways. Quaithe is the last of them to depart. Xaro and Pyat had offered Daenerys promises. In contrast, Quaithe offers only a warning; To beware "of all" (everybody). Warning that people would come day and night to see the newborn dragons (Drogon, Rhaegal, Viserion), and that these spectators would lust to own the dragons and the power connected to them. [2]

When Quaithe departs, Daenerys and Jorah Mormont briefly converse about their mysterious acquaintance. Jorah confirms the truth in Quaithe's words but still dislikes and distrusts the woman. Daenerys admits that she cannot understand Quaithe. She privately ponders the contrast between Xaro, Pyat, and Quaithe. The two men having showered Daenerys with promises and declarations of loyalty while the woman offered only "the rare cryptic word". Daenerys also finds the hidden face of Quaithe to be disturbing. She fears treachery and recalls her interaction with Mirri Maz Duur. [2]

Later Daenerys and Jhogo watch the street performance of a firemage. Jhogo comments on the "fine trick" of the performer. Quaithe speaks in the Common Tongue again, asserting that this was not a trick. Daenerys had previously failed to notice the presence of Quaithe among the crowd. Neither Daenerys nor Jhogo seem to have sensed her approach. [4] Quaithe explains that the powers of the firemage have grown over a short period of time. She claims that Daenerys herself is the cause behind this growth. While speaking, Quaithe steps closer to Daenerys and lays two fingers on Daenerys' wrist. Jhogo takes offense that a "spawn of shadows" is touching his charge. He uses the handle of his whip to brush the offending fingers away, forcing Quaithe to take a step backward. [4]

Quaithe urges Daenerys to leave Qarth as soon as possible, warning that if Daenerys lingers she will not be permitted to leave the city at all. Daenerys notices that her wrist tingled, an effect of Quaithe's touch. When Daenerys asks for a clarification on this warning, Quaithe gives a cryptic answer:[4]

To go north, you must journey south, to reach the west you must go east. To go forward you must go back and to touch the light you must pass beneath the shadow. [4]

Daenerys takes the word "shadow" to be a reference to the Shadow Lands and, by implication, Asshai. Concluding that Quaithe wants her to head towards Asshai, she starts questioning the mysterious woman about the purpose of such a journey. She asks whether the Asshai'i (people of Asshai) would offer her an army, gold, or ships. She further asks what could be available for her in Asshai and that is not in Qarth. Quaithe offers a laconic answer: "Truth". She bows and fades back into the crowd. [4] Rakharo, previously silent, snorts in contempt of Quaithe. He warns Daenerys against placing trust "in the spawn of shadows" who dare not show their face beneath the sun. Aggo agrees with his assessment of Quaithe. Xaro has a cryptic comment of his own, saying that the Asshai'i hoard "truths" but that such truths would be unlikely to make Daenerys smile. [4]

Back in her chambers Daenerys narrates this encounter to Jorah. He agrees with the notion of departing Qarth, but is against visiting Asshai. He suggests however that they should head towards the east. [4]

A Storm of Swords

JQuaithe by Paul Phillips©

While aboard the ship Balerion, Daenerys contemplates various potential enemies and their motives. Among them is Quaithe, the "strange woman" in the red lacquer mask. Daenerys cannot determine whether the woman is an enemy or "a dangerous friend". [5]

Balerion finds port in the vicinity of Astapor. Daenerys sleeps in her cabin and dreams of the Battle of the Trident. She wakes suddenly, feeling that someone else is in the cabin with her. She calls for Irri and Jhiqui. Both handmaidens fail to respond, though they sleep nearby. Daenerys listens to them breathing. She cannot see the intruder in the darkness. She suspects it could be Jorah and calls out for him. A female voice replies that they all sleep, even the dragons. Daenerys recognizes the voice as Quaithe's. Daenerys thinks that the voice came from someplace very close to her. Realizing that Quaithe must be standing over her, she peers again into the darkness. She gets the impression of seeing a shadow, the faintest outline of a shape. [6]

Daenerys asks for Quaithe to state her purpose. Quaithe replies: "Remember" and then repeats her cryptic answer to a previous question of Daenerys (see above). Daenerys springs from the bed and throws open the door. The light of a nearby lantern enters the cabin. There is no sign of Quaithe in the room. Daenerys' own movements wake up Irri, Jhiqui, and Viserion. They were all present in the cabin but none of them seems to have seen or heard Quaithe. Daenerys assures Jhiqui that she just had a dream and then asks everyone to go back to sleep. She herself is unable to sleep for the rest of the night. [6]

A Dance with Dragons

In the the Great Pyramid of Meereen Daenerys is unable to sleep. She leaves her private chambers and heads for the terrace garden where she decides to take a bath in the terrace pool.

Dany's eyes stay closed for a while as she floats until a soft rustle alerts her. She initially assumes one of her handmaidens has entered the terrace. She calls out for Missandei, Irri, and Jhiqui. She hears the voice of Quaithe reply that they are all asleep. [3]

Daenerys sees Quaithe standing under the persimmon tree, clad in a hooded robe long enough to touch the grass at her feet. [3]

Daenerys asks if this is a dream and states that she had a previous dream of Quaithe while aboard the Balerion. Quaithe replies that neither experience was a dream. Daenerys wonders how an intruder could get past her guards. Quaithe replies that she "came another way, and that the guards never saw her. Daenerys threatens to call out for the guards, who will kill the intruder. Quaithe replies that the guards will swear that she is not there. Daenerys picks up on the implication. She asks directly whether Quaithe is here, to which Quaithe replies "No". [3]

Quaithe proceeds to deliver another cryptic warning[3]:

"The glass candles are burning. Soon comes the pale mare, and after her the others. Kraken and dark flame, lion and griffin, the sun's son and the mummer's dragon. Trust none of them. Remember the Undying. Beware the perfumed seneschal. [3]

Daenerys immediately assumes that the seneschal mentioned is Reznak mo Reznak and asks why she should to fear him. She asks Quaithe to speak plainly and then questions her motivations. Quaithe replies that she only wants to show Daenerys the way. Daenerys notes the moonlight shining in Quaithe's eyes. She claims to remember the way and quotes Quaithe's instructions about passing beneath the shadow. She then claims to be growing sick of riddles and attempts to use her royal status to command Quaithe. Quaithe interrupts her before Daenerys finishes her sentence and urges her to remember who she is. Daenerys takes this as a reference to being the "blood of the dragon" and the "child of three". She starts quoting the promises (actually prophesies) of the Undying but is interrupted by Missandei. [3]

Missandei stands at the door separating the royal bedchamber from the terrace garden, holding a lantern. She asks Daenerys who is she talking to. Daenerys glances back to the persimmon tree and realizes that Quaithe has disappeared. She claims to have been praying. Privately she identifies the vision of Quaithe as "a shadow", "a memory", and "no one" at all. She wonders if this is a consequence of the taint in the blood of the dragon and if she is affected by madness like her father Aerys II Targaryen. [3]

Daenerys sends Missandei to fetch her breakfast, ensuring that she will be alone for a while. She uses the time to go all the way around the terrace garden of the Pyramid, searching for Quaithe. Burned trees and scorched earth mark a recent fight between Drogon and her men but there is no visible remnant of Quaithe's presence. The only sound in the garden is that of the wind. Animal life in the garden is represented by a few pale moths. Later she found herself recalling the warning and sniffs suspiciously at Reznak. She briefly wonders whether she should have Skahaz mo Kandaq arrest and interrogate the seneschal but then reminds herself that "prophecies are treacherous". [3]

Later Daenerys privately credits Quaithe with accurately predicting the coming of the pale mare. She wonders whether she should take the warning against Reznak seriously. Reznak attempts to convince Daenerys to marry Hizdahr zo Loraq in haste, claiming that Hizdahr could negotiate peace with the Wise Masters of Yunkai. [7]

Quentyn Martell arrives at Meereen with written evidence of a secret pact between House Targaryen and Martell signed in Braavos. Daenerys suddenly remembers something about House Martell's sigil and asks Barristan Selmy to confirm it. Barristan states that the sigil of this House depicts "a sun in splendor, transfixed by a spear". Daenerys concludes that Quentyn must be the "sun's son" in Quaithe's warning. [8]

With the identities of "the pale mare" and "the sun's son" seemingly confirmed, Daenerys privately contemplates other phrases in the warning. She recalls the "lion" but cannot identify it. The young queen recalls the "dragon", though she suspects that she herself is the dragon of the warning. She then fixates on the "perfumed seneschal" again. Frustrated, Daenerys speaks loudly about her opinion of these cryptic phrases [8]:

"Shadows and whispers. Dreams and prophecies. Why must they always be in riddles? [8]

As Meereen and Yunkai conclude a tentative truce, the so-called "Hizdahr's peace", Selmy points out that the enemy forces grow weaker due to the arrival of the "pale mare". The infection has spread to the forces of Tolos and the third legion of New Ghis. Once again Daenerys contemplates the warning of Quaithe. While the "pale mare" and the "sun's son" have been identified, she feels there is still more to this warning but she has yet to make sense of the other "riddles". [9]

Much later when Dany is wandering lost, starving, and alone in the Dothraki Sea she slips into a restless sleep and hears Quaithe's original instructions again. She then sees Quaithe, whose mask is made of starlight, and the stars whisper in a woman's voice:

Remember who you are, Daenerys, ... The dragons know. Do you?[10]

References and Notes