Game of Thronesfeatures several of the worst characters ever to grace the small screen. Most of the cast descends from one of several noble dynasties, conferring immense power and the reckless drive to maintain it. Westeros and its neighboring continents hold various nightmarish monsters, but kings and knights tend to outdo their body counts. Earlier eras might have featured more dangerous threats like the sea-dwelling Deep Ones.
Game of Thronesearned praisefor its position as a gateway fantasy. The show captured viewers who never partook inLord of the RingsorDungeons and Dragons. Other entries prohibited sex and violence, while George R. R. Martin revels in it. Elements like dragons and monsters push against the show’s accessibility. The books are free to play with the fantastical.
What are the Deep Ones?
The Deep Ones are a mythical race of humanoid fish that were said to climb forth from the sea. Martin likely took their name and general appearancefrom H. P. Lovecraft’sShadow Over Innsmouth. Most monsters inA Song of Ice and Fireshare DNA with other fantasy stories, including dragons, wyverns, and basilisks. The Deep Ones fit comfortably into that tradition, though drawing from a more contemporary source. They aren’t the only Lovecraft reference in the franchise. Fans can find the Old Ones and the Yellow King hidden in obscure lore. Most mythological elements occupied Westeros or other lands during the prehistoric eras. The Deep Ones are no exception.
The Deep Ones are the unholy result of mating between sea creatures and human women. They rise from their watery home to harass the shores. Most maintain they never existed, but some historians argue that the Deep Ones occupied the Iron Islands thousands of years ago. Humans crossed the land bridge from Essos to Westeros during the Dawn Age. The First Men encountered indigenous species on the untamed continent.The Children of the Forestand Giants lived harmoniously with the local ecosystem, worshiping the nameless spirits of every stone and tree. Settlers on the Iron Islands have no known history. Their first legend occurs thousands of years later in the Age of Heroes. That leaves endless room for invention. Historians and maesters offer wildly differing stories about the Deep Ones. The only notable quote surrounding the Deep Ones is this line from the mad former maester, Qyburn:
Didn’t one Archmaester link the fortress to the vanished mazemakers of Lorath? And another maester, to the legendary Deep Ones who inhabited the Iron Islands before the Ironborn?
How do the Deep Ones influence culture in Westeros?
Several cultures around and beyond Westeros have myths and legends surrounding the Deep Ones. Given the likelihood that all ofthose stories are false, it’s impossible to tell whether they match. The Iron Island has the most considerable narrative behind the Deep Ones. Ironborn priests argue that their compatriots are descended from the people beneath the sea. Theron, a maester of the citadel, noticed a connection between the oily black stone used to construct the Iron Islands' Seastone Chair and the ancient Blackstone Fortress beneath the Hightower. Both structures were said to predatethe First Men’s arrival. The throne and fortress had to come from somewhere, suggesting craftwork emerging from creatures that occupied those areas before humans found Westeros. Theron suggests that the First Men on the Iron Island discovered the Deep Ones and based their worship of the Drowned God on their appearance.
Outside the Iron Islands, several other seafaring societies speak of the Deep Ones. Many believe creatures likeMerlings were always Deep Ones. Their differences are aesthetic. In Lorath, mazemakers crafted a complex network of difficult arrangements. Their legends maintain that creatures from the sea destroyed their civilization, possibly implicating the Deep Ones. A peninsula called Crackaw Point tells of a species of scaled humanoids with webbed feet and needle teeth called squishers. Those who live in the region believe the squishers died when the First Men invaded, but they still use them in occasional bedtime stories. The people of the Thousand Islands sacrifice humans to mysterious fish-headed gods, immortalized in statues underneath the waves. Similar sacrifices markthe shores of Sothoryos. These stories could all be connected to the Deep Ones or all unrelated, but most maesters maintain that the Deep Ones are fictional, making that distinction difficult.
The Deep Ones are one of several monstrous species that could have existed long before the events ofGame of Thrones. The concept of fish people animates the imagination of several groups across Westeros.Game of Thronesmirrorsthe nature of mythologyin the real world. Human civilizations often create similar concepts with no basis in reality. The Deep Ones are little more than a Lovecraft reference, but their presence across the Known World could have a greater impact than most deep sea devils.
