What was the Doom?

[RhaegarTarg]

This may have already been on another thread but im just going to bring it up now.

Was it a Volcanic erruption?

Was it an attack from another city/kingdom?

Was it their own powers blowing up on them ie. Atlantis?

There are so many possibilities! what are your opinions?

[genisis2]

I dont remember"The Doom". Which book was it in?

[YOSSARIAN]

The Doom is the the catastrophe that destroyed Valyria long before the time of ASoIaF. The Doom is referenced throughout the story as part of the history of the world; I couldn't really say in which book it is or is not mentioned. Volcanic activity seems to be the culprit, but supernatural forces probably played a part.

[genisis2]

Originally Posted by YOSSARIAN

The Doom is the the catastrophe that destroyed Valyria long before the time of ASoIaF. The Doom is referenced throughout the story as part of the history of the world; I couldn't really say in which book it is or is not mentioned. Volcanic activity seems to be the culprit, but supernatural forces probably played a part.

thanx. I still cant remember that reference.Cripes im gonna have to reread the bloody books agian! Not that I mind but I have read all of them boody twice already & you would think something would stick in my tiny noggin.

[RhaegarTarg]

I know it was a big catatstrophie, but what?

Were they visted by Adolf hitler?

A big volcanic erruption would have made the waters around it poisonous and acidic, but for 400 years? i think not, the volcano would have gone dormant by then. it must have been something more.... magic Maybe they killed themselves with their own power.

[the smiling weirwood]

it is mentioned in AFFC that the land of Valyria is cursed and haunted by demons. I think it was probably something more along the lines of their own power backfiring.

[TK-421]

Is the Doom even important? Does anyone really care about Valyria or treat the stories as legends like mythology almost. It may be if people believe Euron Crow's Eye's tala of visiting Valyria.

[the smiling weirwood]

it may be important if Dany visits Valyria to learn more about her dragons and herself

[the smiling weirwood]

you must remember, all Dany knows about dragons is what is common knowledge in the Seven Kingdoms and what she has been able to learn from experience. Any special knowledge about dragons or how to train them died with the early Targaryens after their dragons died. If you have read the spoiler POV from ADWD then you know what I'm talking about when I say training dragons might be harder than just 'fetch boy' or 'dracarys'.

[the smiling weirwood]

also the doom is important as background info and a lesson to those who might use magic carelessly, remember Gilly quoting that sorcery is a sword without a hilt? it is going to come into play later, just you watch

[TK-421]

I don't remember Gilly's words (not that she is all that important except for Sam's sake), but you do have a good point about Dany visiting Valyria. Never thought of that and generally dismissed most of the talk of old Valyria as fantasy and something Sansa would daydream about. I did read the preview chapter and it has really stuck in my mind. That may be the only way she could learn to control her dragons. However, I am sure Victarion (and maybe even Euron) will play an important role in her learning to master this control. Didn't Euron say he's been to Valyria and that was where he got the dragon horn and didn't Victarion say that he would take Dany for himself and the only way she would go with him would be if he took her to Valyria first. We could then read about Euron frying to a crisp. Asha's role here is also unclear as I do believe she will team up with Dany as Dany will undoubtedly promise her the Iron Islands...Asha and Dany would be much better than Cersei and Teana...

[JohnSnow]

Originally Posted by TK-421

....Asha and Dany would be much better than Cersei and Teana...

heh!

*snow*

[the smiling weirwood]

uhhh huhh(rolls eyes)

[RhaegarTarg]

Well i think if not Dany then one of the main characters, maybe evern Tyrion would go to Valyria. Tyrion has all the reason to. The Doom of it is important because those who forget history are doomed to repeatit

[Werthead]

Ahh, the Doom of Valyria. Always an interesting topic. Here is what we know:

The Doom is said to have descended on Valyria and destroyed it in a single night. However, it is also said that the Doom continues to hold Valyria in its grasp. So the Doom itself took place on a single night but it's after-effects continue to linger. The City of Valyria is uninhabited and in ruins, but not completely destroyed according to AGoT, ASoS and AFFC. We are also told that the Smoking Sea between Valyria and the mainland is 'demon-haunted'. The Doom is also said to have ended the existence of magic in the western world and destroyed the Valyrian dragons. According to an old (abandoned) pre-release blurb for A Feast for Crows, the Doom 'shattered the Valyrian Peninsula'. The Faceless Men also apparently started life working in the Valyrian slave-mines under the Fourteen Fires (where dragons laired) and vowed vengeance upon Valyria.

Conclusion:
The Doom of Valyria was a colossal super-volcanic eruption when fourteen massive volcanos stretching across the neck of the Valyrian Peninsula exploded. The Valyrians somehow built mines under these volcanos without killing the slave-workers (although the conditions were not pleasent), suggesting magic was used. The theory is that the vengeful Faceless Men somehow deactivated or switched off the magic protecting the mines, causing the volcanos to erupt one after the other. Such an explosion would probably exceed anything seen on Earth in recent millennia: imagine an eruption ten times the power of Vesuvius or Krakatoa. The Valyrian Peninsula was shattered, the burnt-out remnants of the volcanos tumbling into the newly-formed Smoking Sea. Such a calamity could easily lead to the seabed in the area remaining volcanically active even 400 years later, leading to boiling waters and steam drifting acrosss the surface (the 'demons' reported by sailors; poisonous volcanic fumes would kill sailors, strengthening the reports of evil magic at work in the region).

Valyria is far enough away from the volcanos (300 miles+, assuming the ASoS Slaver's Bay map is to the same scale as the Westeros ones) not to have been destroyed by the initial explosion, but close enough to have been laid waste by the dust and volcanic debris tumbling out of the atmosphere. Like with Pompeii, there was probably enough time for some people to escape the Doom (explaining the paintings of it that exist from first-hand sources).

Naturally, if the Valyrian dragons lair on the Fourteen Fires, they would have been slain in the volcanic eruption, explaining the deaths of the Valyrian dragons save those few (or possibly their eggs) in safekeeping on distant Dragonstone, which had been a Targaryen holding for a century by that point. This would also have removed magic from the western world (although, again, some magic would have returned once the Targaryen eggs had hatched).