#Aegon was meant to be the hero NOT Jon

[nightswatchdisbandmentera]

It’s about the second sons finishing what the elder sons couldn’t. It’s about the unlikely candidate rising from the uncertainty that comes with a young heir’s death and destruction. And look how that’s reflected with Jon and Bran, two characters who put a spin on king Arthur’s tale. Sure they’re going to be kings, but they weren’t meant to be. Not initially. Their older brothers were. Aegon was meant to be the king, he was meant to be the promised prince. Yet he was cut down before he could even live. Robb was the honorable king, the valiant hero destined to save House Stark. Yet, like Prince Aegon, he was cut down before his prime - a sixteen year old boy. In any other tale, Aegon would live and Robb would win. But not in this one. Aegon died, and Robb died after him. But their legacies and the hope they carried remained, to be picked up by their younger brothers - their unlikely heirs. Aegon can’t be the promised prince because he died, but Jon can. Robb can’t rebuild House Stark, but Bran will. Aegon and Robb were born to be destined for greatness, but Jon and Bran had greatness thrust upon them. And see how they rise to the occasion!

[agentrouka-blog]

Do you think that the Dance is also meant to be a foreshadowing for the books like D vs fA or Jon? Because I feel like with how the story is centered to the Starks, whoever gains their support (obv Jon if he joins 😂) will win and we get to have a second hour of the wolf

Let's put it this way: The main novel series is the point, and the Dance of Dragons is a result of its existence, it is fictional historical backstory that is meant to inform, illustrate and foreshadow the events of the main series.

The first book of the main novel series was published in 1996. It already contained references to the Dance of the Dragons, and they reappear sprinkled through the series, increasing in detail and relevance.

What is interesting is that the thing most emphasized about the Dance in the main series is the intra-family strife. Brother v. sister - and transcribed into the kingsguard: brother against brother, metaphorical and literal.

Bran was going to be a knight himself someday, one of the Kingsguard. [...] Bran knew all the stories. [...] The twins Ser Erryk and Ser Arryk, who had died on one another's swords hundreds of years ago, when brother fought sister in the war the singers called the Dance of the Dragons. (AGOT, Bran II)

It's a popular, high-culture piece of music that plays on the multiple perspectives of the historical event.

Later, while Sansa was off listening to a troupe of singers perform the complex round of interwoven ballads called the "Dance of the Dragons," Ned inspected the bruise himself. (AGOT, Eddard VII)

A Clash of Kings (1998) contains no reference, though you could consider the entire developing civil war to be an answer to that first reference.

A Storm of Swords (2000) picks it up again in much greater detail.

Stannis - notably having killed his brother over the throne - emphasizes the aspect of treason while discussing the fate of his wife's uncle Alester Florent.

"It has always been so. I am not . . . I am not a cruel man, Ser Davos. You know me. Have known me long. This is not my decree. It has always been so, since Aegon's day and before. Daemon Blackfyre, the brothers Toyne, the Vulture King, Grand Maester Hareth . . . traitors have always paid with their lives . . . even Rhaenyra Targaryen. She was daughter to one king and mother to two more, yet she died a traitor's death for trying to usurp her brother's crown. It is law. Law, Davos. Not cruelty." (ASOS, Davos IV)

The song makes another appearance at Joffrey's wedding, once again emphasizing that it is a complex story from multiple perspectives. Also setting up the inter-Lannister collapse that has been brewing for a while and explodes with Joffrey's murder.

Collio began with his version of "The Dance of the Dragons," which was more properly a song for two singers, male and female.  (ASOS, Tyrion VIII)

Jaime brings it back around to the kingsguard pseudo-brotherhood, which mirrors the inter-family aspect of the civil war.

The old and the new. Jaime wondered if that meant anything. There had been times during its history where the Kingsguard had been divided against itself, most notably and bitterly during the Dance of the Dragons. Was that something he needed to fear as well? (ASOS, Jaime VIII)

Given the mess that is made of the kingsguard in the coming book in KL and in Dorne... yes, Jaime.

By AFFC (2005) GRRM firmly establishes the Dance as a historical reference for destructive civil war over feuding siblings.

And the songs he chose . . . He sang of the Dance of the Dragons, of fair Jonquil and her fool, of Jenny of Oldstones and the Prince of Dragonflies. He sang of betrayals, and murders most foul, of hanged men and bloody vengeance. He sang of grief and sadness. (AFFC, Sansa I)

It also turns the focus on Criston Cole as an alleged external engineer of such strife. Interestingly, his arms resemble a ladybug, Targaryen colors but not Targaryen.

"Most deserve to be forgotten. The heroes will always be remembered. The best." "The best and the worst." So one of us is like to live in song. "And a few who were a bit of both. Like him." He tapped the page he had been reading. "Who?" Ser Loras craned his head around to see. "Ten black pellets on a scarlet field. I do not know those arms." "They belonged to Criston Cole, who served the first Viserys and the second Aegon." Jaime closed the White Book. "They called him Kingmaker." (AFFC, Jaime II)

Contrasting to Stannis, Arianne uses the Dance as an example of treason from the other side, trying to manipulate kingsguard Arys Oakheart into supporting her coup against her father and brother, even though by Dornish custom her role would more rightly resemble that of Aegon II because she is the legal heir and believes her father to favor second-born Quentyn. Notably, Criston Cole is blamed over all Targaryen's involved. Ridiculous but probably significant.

Ser Criston Cole. Criston the Kingmaker had set brother against sister and divided the Kingsguard against itself, bringing on the terrible war the singers named the Dance of the Dragons. Some claimed he acted from ambition, for Prince Aegon was more tractable than his willful older sister. Others allowed him nobler motives, and argued that he was defending ancient Andal custom. A few whispered that Ser Criston had been Princess Rhaenyra's lover before he took the white and wanted vengeance on the woman who had spurned him. "The Kingmaker wrought grave harm," Ser Arys said, "and gravely did he pay for it, but . . ." (AFFC, The Soiled Knight)

Quite fittingly, Arianne's own little "dance" ends with horror and death and deep regret on her side, while poor Quentyn is busy on the other side of the planet.

Meanwhile, GRRM keeps the subject current in ADWD (2011) after Tyrion joins the entourage of "Young Griff", mixing in a reminder of different perspective on historical events. And some dragonslaying. Clearly, he has compiled a lot of detailed backstory for this civil war by now.

Haldon was unimpressed. "Even Duck knows that tale. Can you tell me the name of the knight who tried the same ploy with Vhagar during the Dance of the Dragons?" Tyrion grinned. "Ser Byron Swann. He was roasted for his trouble … only the dragon was Syrax, not Vhagar." "I fear that you're mistaken. In The Dance of the Dragons, A True Telling, Maester Munkun writes—" "—that it was Vhagar. Grand Maester Munkun errs. Ser Byron's squire saw his master die, and wrote his daughter of the manner of it. His account says it was Syrax, Rhaenyra's she-dragon, which makes more sense than Munken's version. Swann was the son of a marcher lord, and Storm's End was for Aegon. Vhagar was ridden by Prince Aemond, Aegon's brother. Why should Swann want to slay her?" (ADWD, Tyrion III)

Dragonslaying comes up again in the context of Hazzea and the effects of dragons in general.

If I look back, I am doomed, Dany told herself … but how could she not look back? I should have seen it coming. Was I so blind, or did I close my eyes willfully, so I would not have to see the price of power? Viserys had told her all the tales when she was little. He loved to talk of dragons. She knew how Harrenhal had fallen. She knew about the Field of Fire and the Dance of the Dragons. One of her forebears, the third Aegon, had seen his own mother devoured by his uncle's dragon. And there were songs beyond count of villages and kingdoms that lived in dread of dragons till some brave dragonslayer rescued them. At Astapor the slaver's eyes had melted. On the road to Yunkai, when Daario tossed the heads of Sallor the Bald and Prendahl na Ghezn at her feet, her children made a feast of them. Dragons had no fear of men. And a dragon large enough to gorge on sheep could take a child just as easily. (ADWD, Daenerys II)

In a telling twist on the name that pulls it directly into the present and likely future, we look at burned Quentyn:

After the girl was gone, the old knight peeled back the coverlet for one last look at Quentyn Martell's face, or what remained of it. So much of the prince's flesh had sloughed away that he could see the skull beneath. His eyes were pools of pus. He should have stayed in Dorne. He should have stayed a frog. Not all men are meant to dance with dragons. (ADWD, The Queen's Hand)

Which echoes again with Arianne in her TWOW sample chapters (2010-ish), which (interestingly) also flesh out her relationship with Daemon Sand, an intentional reference to a prominent character in the dance linked to Rhaenyra.

"Once we know beyond a doubt whether these be friends or foes, my father will know what to do," the princess said. It was then that pasty, pudgy Teora raised her eyes from the creamcakes on her plate. "It is dragons." "Dragons?" said her mother. "Teora, don't be mad." "I'm not. They're coming." "How could you possibly know that?" her sister asked, with a note of scorn in her voice. "One of your little dreams?" Teora gave a tiny nod, chin trembling. "They were dancing. In my dream. And everywhere the dragons danced the people died."

Much like with Daenerys, this reference emphasizes the destructive effects of the dragon-based civil war.

Since Arianne's little stint as pseudo-Rhaenyra went nowhere, but the Dance references remain thick and strong, we can likely look at her upcoming connection to Aegon as the point of it all.

Incidentally, GRRM has already set up their future conflict:

Now, how do you suppose this queen will react when you turn up with your begging bowl in hand and say, 'Good morrow to you, Auntie. I am your nephew, Aegon, returned from the dead. I've been hiding on a poleboat all my life, but now I've washed the blue dye from my hair and I'd like a dragon, please … and oh, did I mention, my claim to the Iron Throne is stronger than your own?' " (ADWD, Tyrion VI)

This places Tyrion into the role of a Cole-figure, hilariously, having pushed Aegon into changing direction to claim the throne directly without Dany.

There's the strife between family members, kingsguards, factions, and manipulative third parties, all over a throne that really isn't worth it, told from multiple perspectives, bringing misery and destruction to the smallfolk.

All the extra material on the Dance of Dragons was published after ADWD, from A World of Ice and Fire (2014) to the novellas (2013-2024) to Fire and Blood (2018), with one small reference to the extinction of the dragons after the Dance in The Mystery Knight (2010). So all this backstory was compiled and built up in the service of of the main story GRRM is telling.

You rightfully bring up Jon, Daenerys and Aegon all together, but it's extremely unlikely that Jon Snow is going to be a driving factor in a Dance of Dragons 2.0 because he will only just find out that he has Targaryen ancestry, and in a way that puts him it in conflict with her Stark ancestry.

No, this war is going to be between two established family members who both have claims and means alongside the ambition to ascend the Iron Throne. Not quite brother v. sister but aunt v. nephew. Tragic, destructive, self-destructive. Much like what the Baratheon brothers have served us before. Only with dragons involved on Dany's side, while Aegon mixes it up by simultaneously representing the Dornish side of the story, through his mother Elia - which is a whole different kettle of fish.

Jon's presence in there is probably going to be a very interesting complicating factor that might go in many different directions, with mirrors to Robb's Will and Stannis' offer of legitimization (another theme in the Dance), to accusations of manipulation and ambition (Criston Cole). The role of the prophecy is also going to be explored in all its myopic self-destructive emptiness.

This won't be a copy of the first Dance, though.

If there is an Hour of the Wolf, it's going to preside not over scarred survivors, but over the ashes and corpses of King's Landing and the Targaryen legacy in Westeros.

[horizon-verizon]

This is gonna be controversial, but MANY theories on here and Reddit essentially boil down to “everything Daenerys achieved by herself was there so that she can, at the very last moment, give it to Jon Snow so that he’s a true hero of the story”. And barely anyone realizes how weird, misogynistic and anticlimactic all of this would be. I’d say the majority of the fandom actually believes it with no questioning.

Daenerys fulfilling the prophecy of Azor Ahai before we even know about it, being the only candidate who actually woke dragons from stone as the prophecy requires ? Her having prophetic dragon dreams where she witnesses dead kings holding swords of pale fire as she runs from icy breath that would cause her a death worse than death ? Drogo clearly being her Nissa Nissa and Drogon being Lightbringer (she puts Drogon’s egg next to his heart) ? Her being the one to hear of all the prophecies like the dragon has three heads ? Her anti-slavery campaign being a very obvious precedence for her liberating those enslaved to the army of the dead (she has a dream about being Rhaegar on the Trident and seeing Robert’s host MADE OUT OF ICE right before her maneuver with Kraznys ???) ? Her being compared to Aegon the Conqueror, clearly putting her in the centre of the three heads of the dragon ? Maester Aemon lamenting that no one ever looked for a girl ?

Nope, scratch that, prophecy is tricky and it’s too obvious for it to be Daenerys, hence it’s going to happen verbatim, Jon will skewer her on his sword and be the true hero because he has a right set of genetics.

People may hate what I’m about to say, but GRRM talked extensively about how he wanted to play with gendered expectations and subversions with her character: he made her into a female khal who has bloodriders and wears bells in her hair; the crones in the Dosh Khaleen likely saw HER in their prophecies but wrongfully announced her son Rhaego to be the Stallion because of their patriarchal views; she is called Aegon the Conqueror with Teats... but all of this was meant to be one giant red herring and he’s going to reverse it one last moment and have her be another woman killed so that a man can be sad/become a hero ?

I despise it with a passion. “No one ever looked for a girl” ? Well, apparently they were right to do so.

People would rather take really bad writing than accept that a woman/girl is the magical heart (if not the primary) of the series they really like, esp if they thought it was a "manly" series. It is known.

[dragonsfromthemoon]

There are three names I think are the likeliest to be Jon’s birth name: Jaehaerys (after Rhaegar’s grand father and the first one), Daeron (after the Young Dragon whom Jon admires very much), and Aemon (after Maester Aemon and the Dragon Knight). These are the three I think are the likeliest though it could be something totally different. Imagine if his name were Jacaerys after Jacaerys Velarion. Not impossible. Jacaerys was the one who helped form the Pact of Ice and Fire with Cregan Stark. Imagine that. Jacaerys has a nice ring to it. I am very sure however that it is not Aegon. I know some people who think (and I mean are very stubborn about it) that Jon’s name is Aegon but I really don’t think it is. Rhaegar already had a son named Aegon (I am sure Dumb&Dumber forgot that) and I am sure he and Lyanna discussed names and considering he already had an Aegon, I am sure they picked something else. I wonder if we will know Jon’s birth name in Winds.

Those are all beautiful Valyrian names!

Well, personally, I think if Jon does have a Valyrian name (we can never discard the possibility he does not, and that's okay), it is Aemon. Period.

1. Rhaegar corresponded with Maester Aemon. They were close enough to discuss prophecies and share knowledge. So it is not far-fetched to think Rhaegar might have mentioned his uncle to Lyanna, and together they decided to honor him.

2. Jon is paralleled to Maester Aemon by the text itself. It was a deliberate narrative choice.

It made him feel odd. "My lord, why have you told me this, about Maester Aemon?"

"Must I have a reason?" Mormont shifted in his seat, frowning. "Your brother Robb has been crowned King in the North. You and Aemon have that in common. A king for a brother."

"And this too," said Jon. "A vow." [Jon I, ACOK]

Both of them faced the same heart in conflict with itself, love versus duty, as well. Three times they are tested in their Night Watch's vows, three times they have to make choices.

3. Also...

But he had not left the Wall for that; he had left because he was after all his father's son, and Robb's brother. The gift of a sword, even a sword as fine as Longclaw, did not make him a Mormont. Nor was he Aemon Targaryen. Three times the old man had chosen, and three times he had chosen honor, but that was him. Even now, Jon could not decide whether the maester had stayed because he was weak and craven, or because he was strong and true. Yet he understood what the old man had meant, about the pain of choosing; he understood that all too well. [Jon IX, AGOT]

They were not little boys when they fought, but knights and mighty heroes. "I'm Prince Aemon the Dragonknight," Jon would call out, and Robb would shout back, "Well, I'm Florian the Fool." Or Robb would say, "I'm the Young Dragon," and Jon would reply, "I'm Ser Ryam Redwyne."

That morning he called it first. "I'm Lord of Winterfell!" he cried, as he had a hundred times before. Only this time, this time, Robb had answered, "You can't be Lord of Winterfell, you're bastard-born. My lady mother says you can't ever be the Lord of Winterfell." [Jon XII, ASOS]

lol.

4. Jon builds a bond with Maester Aemon. He comes to respect and value the wisdom of the old maester, much like his father Rhaegar before him. Maester Aemon grows to appreciate Jon as well. He praises Jon, saying Jon's mind is as deft as his blade. When Jon comes back from his time with the Free Folk, despite of his advanced age, Maester Aemon is there and defends him fervently. Maester Aemon gives Jon the same counsil he gave his brother Egg, many years ago: kill the boy and let the man be born.

A few quotes to showcase what I have been saying:

"Aye," Slynt said. "A blind man with a chain about his neck, who does he think he is?"

Aemon Targaryen, Jon thought, a king's son and a king's brother and a king who might have been. But he said nothing. [Jon X, ASOS]

"If you ask the Citadel for more maesters …"

"I mean to. We'll have need of every one. Aemon Targaryen is not so easily replaced, however." [Jon II, ADWD]

The odors of smoke and burned flesh still clung to Jon's blacks. He knew he had to eat, but it was company he craved, not food. A cup of wine with Maester Aemon, some quiet words with Sam, a few laughs with Pyp and Grenn and Toad. Aemon and Sam were gone, though, and his other friends … "I will take supper with the men this evening." [Jon III, ADWD]

So, apart from the parallels, Jon also shares an emotional bond with Maester Aemon. Being named in his honor would give Jon all sorts of feelings — and I can see GRRM exploring that!

Not to mention Maester Aemon had family right in front of him, but unfortunately did not know. A boy that might have been named after him, no less! This kind of tragic irony is GRRM's cup of tea.

[esther-dot]

What is your opinion on why fAegon was left out of Game of Thrones? I've always thought it's because the true endgame will be between Jon and Dany, so the showrunners were fine with leaving him out.

I agree with you. It's very odd to me how many book fans insisted D&D took the story in a totally different direction overall, when I thought the streamlining of the series (cutting cast, settings) is a natural part of adapting a work. I've seen very simple stories (in comparison to ASOIAF) get paired down to nothing, but the nothing that is left, the endpoints are generally the same. Just think of any classic literature that's been adapted. Sometimes, even with the endpoints, the movie tries to make a point that's in defiance of the author's sentiments, but even so, usually, the characters still arrive at the same spot.

Obviously, how far off D&D were with interpreting characters, how often they simply reassigned storylines, how badly written the later seasons were gave a lot of support to people who believed this, but I've often thought there was a lot of wishful thinking behind it when it came to people saying actually, Stannis isn't gonna burn his daughter, Cersei is the mad queen, Jon Con will burn KL, it's Arya who will reunite with Jon and become QitN, etc etc.

To me, D&D didn't understand the core ideas or just valued hype more, and therefore, doing justice to Dorne and Arianne and Aegon seemed unnecessary. It probably just seemed to add confusion where they desperately needed to start coalescing the story in order to bring it to an end.

Also, having Aegon is a big indicator that Dany is not the hero everyone makes her out to be because whether he is or isn't who he believes he is, Dany is going to decide that she must rule, and she will go to war with another Targ (or someone people accept as one), to do so which makes her actions not about benefiting anyone but herself. So, perhaps the major reason they needed to not do Aegon was to preserve the surprise? The Lannisters were very popular too, so if he is the one that ends them (and I think that is more satisfying than Dany doing it), including him would have meant a loss they weren't sure his presence would compensate for. I've suggested that if they ever do another remake, they need to include Dorne/Aegon from very early on and that the tension needs to be about the inevitability of our three Targs (Jon, Dany, Aegon) coming into conflict, not an attempt to pretend like that wont happen. Maybe someday!

[hamliet]

Daenerys Targaryen: The Romantic Hero

In which I dissect more thoughts on ASOIAF brought on by House of the Dragon and my reread of Fire & Blood, and in which I make the argument that, despite the flaws of HotD as a show and F&B as a novel, its pure existence backs up this main idea:

Daenerys Targaryen is not and will never be a villain. She's a goddamn romantic hero with a bittersweet--not tragic--ending. In the books. If we ever get the books.

Jon and Tyrion are also Romantic heroes, by the way.

Okay, sure, that's not exactly a new take. But what exactly do these terms mean?

Literary Tropes and Archetypes

Obviously, when you're talking about something as subjective as literature (subjective in the sense that we all bring our outside baggage, experiences, and assumptions to our reading experience), you're going to get some variation on what terms mean. That's even without considering inherent linguistic shifts.

However, there are general consensuses of what these terms mean. I'm going off the general consensus.

So going forward, before I delve into analysis, let's look at the terms and how they are generally understood, and indeed understood in this meta.

Nihilism and cynicism: Nihilism at its philosophical core is not necessarily hopeless (positive nihilism does exist). However, the colloquial use of "nihilism" does mean hopeless and bleak, and even positive nihilism asserts that nothing exists with meaning, not even concepts like free will. What I'm working off here is the colloquial association of nihilism with grimdark cynicism. That's technically reductive for nihilism, so I'm going to use cynicism more for grimdark pessimism, but nihilism for the literal "nothing matters."

Tragedy: I wrote a long elaboration of what tragedy consists of for RWBY here. The basics apply to this meta, as well. Tragedy is usually not equivalent to nihilism, nor is it pessimistic. There are a million different variations, but the point is to stimulate grief and satisfaction (catharsis) in the audience.

Tragic Hero: Again, this differs depending on the type of tragedy you're writing. I'll just quote what I said in the RWBY piece:

Tragic heroes are great people. They are more than just their worst traits, and yet in the end we, the audience who have access to their complex legacy in ways most characters don’t, are left with the grief that comes with things ending in a sad way when they could have ended so triumphantly. 

In ASOIAF, I've argued before that Arianne and f!Aegon are classic tragic heroes, as is Stannis Baratheon.

Villain: An antagonistic character who, despite how sympathetic they may be, is always destined for destruction and for whom we don't see much other option. We're meant to root against them, unlike tragic heroes, in which we're meant to be torn at worst and rooting for in other sense.

The perfect example here is Cersei Lannister. We care about Cersei, we can see why she became the way she is, but there's no hope for her. A tragic hero can admittedly become a villain (see: RWBY's Ironwood), but their crossing the line completely depends on framing.

Antagonist: A character who opposes the goal of a protagonist. They may be villains, but they are also fairly likely not to be, especially in a morally gray world like ASOIAF. The role is easily slipped in and out of.

Romantic Hero: A Romantic hero is a societal outcast who... yeah I'm just gonna quote Northrop Frye, a literary critic:

[The Romantic Hero is] placed outside the structure of civilization and therefore represents the force of physical nature, amoral or ruthless, yet with a sense of power, and often leadership, that society has impoverished itself by rejecting.

This is very clearly Jon, Dany, and Tyrion, far more so than the other three obvious protagonists (Sansa, Arya, and Bran). A bastard, an exile, a dwarf. All three are leaders with moral different than the society's they're raised in and society is poorer for it. Jon is the most Ned Stark-like of his siblings, but has been rejected. Dany is anti-slavery. Tyrion is practical and actually good at ruling unlike pretty much everyone else in King's Landing.

Of course, their rejection has all three heading for straight amoralism by the end of ADWD. Jon's already taken an infant from his mother, and the baby's probably going to die as a result. Plus, he is not gonna come back from the dead caring about duty anymore. Dany's embracing "fire and blood." Tyrion's full-on plotting savage revenge. When Dany lands on Westeros in The Winds of Winter, she's going to be a literal force of nature (fire).

Romanticism: Romantic doesn't mean romance as in kiss kiss fall in love. I mean, it often does involve that, but when I say romanticism I'm referring to the literary movement. Romanticism focuses on the internal even more so than the external, on the individual development of a character. It focuses on free will, on beauty, which in some ways does indeed make it opposite to nihilism at its most technical. It suggests there is meaning to be found in our experiences and in the world beyond us, too.

A Song of Ice and Fire is a Romantic work. That's not debatable. Why? Well, George RR Martin has said it. Twice. At least.

The human heart against itself is Romanticism at its core.

Also, Martin himself has insisted he is not a nihilist:

My worldview is anything but nihilistic. I was always intensely Romantic, even when I was too young to understand what that meant. But Romanticism has its dark side, as any Romantic soon discovers… which is where the melancholy comes in, I suppose.

I mean, that's explicit. There you go. Thanks George. Fight yourself and finish the books, I beg of you. The events in his story matter, therefore.

Deconstruction: This gets tricky because general consensus does actually differ more so than the other terms (besides maybe nihilism). It's literally defined as:

a philosophical or critical method which asserts that meanings, metaphysical constructs, and hierarchical oppositions (as between key terms in a philosophical or literary work) are always rendered unstable by their dependence on ultimately arbitrary signifiers

Deconstruction can mean the complete and utter decimation of a literary trope to show why what's good is bad and what's bad is good, actually.

Or, it can mean the dismantling of tropes to get to what the core of the trope is, and decide whether or not that trope is worth affirming. As in, maybe as we unravel the various parts of a trope or genre, we uncover a stable foundation.

Hunter x Hunter is a great example of this for shonen manga, as is Attack on Titan. Both ultimately affirm the main cores of friendship and love in shonen, but they do that through taking different angles to look at common tropes. For example, Gon's self-reliance is actually a trauma response that we're supposed to be horrified by as it destroys our plucky protagonist, and Eren becomes a villain protagonist but his core motives never change. He's always wanted to kill the enemy, every last one, from chapter one.

Tragic Heroes and House of the Dragon

House of the Dragon has some interesting ideas, albeit its taking a very flawed approach to them (dare I say, a reactionary approach in which they're leaning too hard in the other direction from what GoT did and whitewashing their female characters... which makes them seem less human, not more so).

Still, despite its flaws, HOTD is carrying the tragic arc that Dany-villain theorists argue she'll have. Rhaenyra and Alicent both go mad, even if not in terms of mental illness, and Rhaenyra is determined to rule whatever the cost. Innocents pay the price. However, I see issues with this argument.

Repeating this arc with Daenerys in the main saga then is cynical and nihilistic, because it renders the entire existence of Fire & Blood pointless.

So then, why did Martin write Fire & Blood? Besides procrastinating on The Winds of Winter, anyways? Regardless of his intent, Rhaenyra's story is Daenerys's if she becomes a tragic hero (arguably a villain, but with a well-written fall from grace that makes her more tragic), give or take a century. Why tell the same story twice, the past story instead of the future?

Yeah, parallels are a thing in literature. I've even talked about how Daenerys does parallel Rhaenyra, and that's intentional. So does Stannis, so does Arianne, so does Cersei. But parallels are not 1=1 copies, or that becomes repetitive writing.

Unless Martin is trying to reinforce that nothing changes and nothing ever will (thanks, D&D, for your discussion of brothels as a priority in the very last five minutes of season 8!), so it doesn't even matter to try, there's got to be a reason for the parallel that isn't just lazy writing. Don't get me wrong, lazy writing exists even for the best of writers, but then why would you write Fire & Blood as a full story and go on to produce a story about it unless you're a cynical nihilist who truly, truly, truly hates women and thinks they can never, ever rule?

Female Leaders Bad: Misogyny in Fire and Blood

Yes, admittedly George RR Martin has issues with how he writes women. There's some subtle sexism in his works. No doubt.

That said, he also seems largely aware of other aspects of misogyny in society, and particularly of societal misogyny driving tragedy. If he hadn't written Cersei's chapters in A Feast for Crows, we might have a different story, but he did write those. Cersei's a villain, but she's so undeniably human and complex in her chapters that we can't help but see her as a person and appreciate her, even if we still want her stopped.

What makes Cersei sympathetic is precisely that misogyny. We see how her father's expectations of Jaime and even Tyrion differ from his of her. She was sold off to the highest bidder, in essence, and subjected to Robert's humiliating and public affairs, marital r*pe, and abuse. Is it any wonder she sought comfort where she could find it? Any other man would have been caught and Cersei executed for betraying the king who's doing the same thing and in public, but her twin brother has plausible deniability for being close to her.

As much as Cersei's actions are "ew" at best, we feel for her. During her walk of shame, we're outraged on her behalf even if we know she's going to plot a revenge that will destroy innocents, and indeed that her ending up having to take that walk is a result of her scheming against an innocent sixteen year old girl (Margaery Tyrell).

Fire & Blood only expounds on the concept of misogyny ruining lives and the realm. Rhaena. Aerea. Rhaenys. Laena. All passed over for the throne on account of their sex, and noted to be upset by it.

In fact, Alysanne, one of the few queens who does maintain equal power with her husband, has her attempts to educate women and protect her daughters from being married off too young (and then dying in childbirth) thwarted, and this thwarting is framed as wrong. Throughout Alysanne and Jaeherys' reign, the question of letting females rule as queens is a major point of contention between Alysanne and Jaeherys. The treatment of female rulers as "lesser" is honestly one of the longest-running motifs in this story, and it's never once held up as positive or justified.

Of course, the most clear "misogyny bad" characters are Rhaenyra and Alicent.

Alicent does everything the realm asks of a woman of good breeding, and she expects a reward for it: power and her legacy of her children sitting on the throne. Her legacy is literally only to arrange the power for the men in her life: her father, her husband, her sons.

And then you have Rhaenyra. She lives like a modern woman. She sleeps with whom she wants when she wants, and upon being forced into marriage with a gay man, lets him pursue men. She has a relationship in the books that is romantic/sexual with Laena as well as with Daemon. In other words, Rhaenyra has a consensual open marriage with poly elements. Laenor loves her sons as his; in fact, they are his, even if not in blood. Very modern indeed.

But society doesn't see it that way. Society, traditional, homophobic, and misogynistic, says Laenor's sons are bastards despite his loving and raising them. It says Rhaenyra pursuing her sexuality far less openly than certain past kings who sat on the Iron Throne makes her unfit. And the tragedy is that it does, but it shouldn't be this way. It's not her actions but her ignorance about how her actions will be perceived, her hubris in assuming she is exempt from society's strict rules for women.

One of the TV show's better decisions was to intercut Rhaenyra and Daemon's first almost-sex scene with Alicent and Viserys. Rhaenyra's pursuing what she wants. It's consensual. They're both into it, aware, and Daemon doesn't have power over her--in fact, that's the point. In Viserys and Alicent's scene, where they're married, Alicent so does not want to be there. Intercutting Daemon and Rhaenyra's passion with Alicent's misery reminds the audience that Rhaenyra doing this is not going to end well.

It's not fair. It's not right. It's tragic.

Tragic Heroes and Fantasy Deconstruction

Okay, so now we're going to discuss fantasy tropes.

Let's start by addressing Martin's statements on fantasy and tropes. A lot of ASOIAF's tropes pull at least in part from exactly what most modern fantasies draw from: The Lord of the Rings, the same work Martin has said he wants to pull apart and explore what its ideals mean.

Ruling is hard. This was maybe my answer to Tolkien, whom, as much as I admire him, I do quibble with. Lord of the Rings had a very medieval philosophy: that if the king was a good man, the land would prosper. We look at real history and it’s not that simple. Tolkien can say that Aragorn became king and reigned for a hundred years, and he was wise and good. But Tolkien doesn’t ask the question: What was Aragorn’s tax policy? Did he maintain a standing army? What did he do in times of flood and famine? And what about all these orcs? By the end of the war, Sauron is gone but all of the orcs aren’t gone – they’re in the mountains. Did Aragorn pursue a policy of systematic genocide and kill them? Even the little baby orcs, in their little orc cradles?

I think this quote gets grotesquely taken out of context, honestly. I really don't think this is Martin saying that he literally wants to explore tax policies or only what happens after someone becomes king. Instead, he's speaking of how he wants the reader to look between the lines, look at how a good person can be a terrible leader precisely because of the goodness (Robb Stark) while a more morally dark person can be a great leader (Tyrion). Martin's saying that his works are messy and ask the questions, not that he literally wants to destroy everything Tolkien upholds because he thinks it's bullshit or because he thinks good people can't be good rulers without going insane.

In other words, he wants to deconstruct it and examine what makes someone a good or a bad ruler, what makes someone a good or a bad fantasy hero. Which he then literally said:

The battle between good and evil is a legitimate theme for a fantasy (or for any work of fiction, for that matter), but in real life that battle is fought chiefly in the individual human heart. Too many contemporary fantasies take the easy way out by externalizing the struggle, so the heroic protagonists need only smite the evil minions of the dark power to win the day. And you can tell the evil minions, because they're inevitably ugly and they all wear black. I wanted to stand much of that on its head. In real life, the hardest aspect of the battle between good and evil is determining which is which.

Okay, yay. Now that's done. Let's look at some actual tropes.

What is Aragorn's? He's the long lost heir coming to claim their throne after their heroic mission. This is the most classic fantasy arc.

It's the same archetype both Daenerys and Aegon are based on.

I talked about this at length here, but in short: Aegon is the stereotype of this trope. But it's deconstructed. How?

Because while Aegon truly believes he's a long-lost prince come to claim his birthright, he's wrong. Being wrong doesn't make him a bad person. It doesn't make him a villain. It just makes him wrong.

This is a far more interesting and thematically rich development than Daenerys finding out she's not the real trope and getting mad about it. She's the one with dragons and she wasn't alone for years (Viserys).

Aegon embodies another trope, too: that of the long-lost secret prince/princess/hero who grew up not knowing that they were special. Think Harry Potter. Also think about Jon Snow, who is Rhaegar's actual son.

But rather than Jon Snow's heritage mattering to him because of a claim to the throne, Jon's heritage will likely matter far more for his internal self-perception. Romanticism, baby. That's what it's all about.

And then you have Arianne.

Arianne is the princess who wants to rule/fight and is righteously angry at sexism. This is another common fantasy trope (see, Eowyn). Daenerys is also this. However, Arianne finds out she's a pawn. Not so for Dany, who has to struggle and face abuse and numerous betrayals. This isn't to say Arianne doesn't struggle and that her pain isn't valid because it is, but Arianne is the more typical embodiment of these tropes. Daenerys is them pulled apart and looked at from new angles. Dany wants to be a savior when she rules, to set people free, not just because of her birthright (though that's a part of it for sure!) but because she knows what it's like to be bought and sold. Arianne wants to rule because of her birthright. Arianne's motives are far less internally explored; she just doesn't want to bow. Which is valid! But not quite up to Romantic standards.

Lastly, Arianne and Jon both have daddy issues, and I'm not talking about Rhaegar for Jon. Ned's his dad even if not in blood. The "my father's not whom I thought he was!" trope is present in both of them: literally for Jon, and for Arianne, in terms of Doran actually planning for a Targaryen restoration.

But again, Arianne's trope points outwards more than it does inward. Her goal is still simply to rule as queen. Aegon's is to restore the Targaryen dynasty. These are pretty typical goals for characters in fantasies. They're external.

Jon's goal, however, is to save people from the Others, the undead. Daenerys's goal is to save people from slavery. See how there's a difference?

Plus, there's development towards both of Jon and Dany having to take long, hard looks inward in order to accomplish these goals. Now Jon's dead, temporarily. I'm pretty sure that's gonna give him a complex even though he won't be an Other when he's resurrected. Pretty likely she's going to end up killing a lot of people at King's Landing, even if she doesn't intend it to have as far-reaching of consequences as it does, to get her to consider who she is and who she wants to be.

The tragic irony of focusing on restoration and rule without considering what that means is that Arianne and Aegon are likely to go up in flames. Martin's not saying that these tropes are bad, but he is saying that they're shallow (the tropes not the characters) and don't fully capture the human heart against itself struggle. He's not wrong, either.

Hence, you already have characters whose desires to restore Targaryen rule and to be queen of the Seven Kingdoms gets them killed, even if they are good people who do not deserve what happens to them. Why repeat this with Daenerys? That doesn't offer us much of anything in terms of literary parallels.

But, if we want to talk about literary parallels, let's turn again to Fire & Blood, where there's another Princess Daenerys born to Jaeherys and Alysanne. She's described as a loving, kind child who adores her siblings, her parents, animals, and more. She dies of the Shivers, a disease that manifests through symptoms of cold that kill you. Gee, I wonder what that's foreshadowing. It's not like Dany's facing off with an army of the living embodiment of Cold and Ice... oh wait.

Dany's Tropes Deconstructed

It's also true that as the Chosen One, Daenerys fulfills many villain tropes too. She's leading an outside force to invade a kingdom. She's also the daughter of a mad King who terrorized the land years before, come back to seek what is hers with fire and blood. The assumption seems to be that because she has these tropes, she must be a villain.

Listen, Martin does not play tropes straight. Ever.

Think about Sansa, and how her arc is dismantling her fairy tale simplistic ideas of what knights and chivalry and kings are like. However, Sansa maintains compassion at the core of her character in the books. She still loves. Martin's not saying that chivalry and believe in love are stupid little girl ideas. He's critiquing simplistic ideas, while showing that someone can maintain her compassion while being a shrewd politician. Through Sansa, we have cynical knights like Sandor learning how to become the courageous knights of old. That's idealistic more than anything else.

Why would Dany's supposed villain tropes be played straight? What if... the invading force is actually the saving force? I mean, I do think that Daenerys will do Bad Things in Westeros with her dragons and invading forces. But does that make her a villain?

"Everyone is the hero of their own story!" Well, sure. Yes. Very true. Martin even said this. That's not a novel idea, nor is it a terribly interesting deconstruction by itself. "Our hero is actually a villain" already exists in the series, because Martin has zero problem narrating through villains (see, Cersei).

What if that question is precisely what we're supposed to be asking: what makes a hero from a villain? What if the keyword from "everyone is their own hero" isn't the word that's never mentioned--villain--and instead "hero?" As in, the question is how someone can become a hero regardless of perception, rather than how readers' perceptions are actually warped?

In other words, the onus might be on the character's journey, not the reader's perception.

Bittersweet Romanticism

Dany's motives have always been wanting to free people. That's a far cry from Arianne's desire to be queen and an even farer cry from Eren Jaeger's "I want to kill all the enemies." In Daenerys's first chapter, she thinks about how she wants to be home and safe, and how she wants to please people.

Dany giving her all to save the world after burning the people she wanted to help, and doing it knowing that she won't be remembered well except by those who loved her and she'll be thought of as a villain--what could be more heroic in the scheme of the world? To know you will gain absolutely nothing from saving the world, and to do it anyways?

Of course, people in King's Landing who think her a villain for their losses aren't going to be entirely wrong, either. It depends on perspective, indeed.

Still, this gets to the heart of what it means to be a hero in principle, and what makes a hero heroic. It's beautiful, haunting, and cathartic. It doesn't taunt the reader with what they didn't realize, but instead satisfies with Dany achieving her goals: to create a safe-ish world to live in, a world with freedom and possibilities.

Even if she won't be a hero in the eyes of history, she will be in her core, in her heart of hearts. The individual focus, the heart against itself--readers will be privileged to know her story of heroism, even if her world doesn't.

That's Romantic to a T. That sounds like Martin to me. And, it sounds peak "bittersweet," the word Martin used to describe the broad strokes of his planned ending.

There's an additional beautiful aspect here, in that Dany would comment on her ancestor's legacy. Let's not forget that Valyria was a slave society founded upon mass human sacrifice. Daenerys as a liberator who destroys not just slavery, but who leaves room for progress away from feudalism and who saves the world from the Others whose primary value is seeking to destroy human life and turning everyone into a mass army of corpses (sounds like extreme slavery to me)... that means she destroys her family's legacy in all the right ways.

It should burn. But Dany won't be Mirra Maz Duur tied to a pyre for the Starks to ignite like in the show. She'll be doing what she did at the beginning: lighting the pyre. Her beloved won't be lying in the flames to be consumed, but instead supporting her. And this time what emerges from death will be not dragons, but human life.

[sayruq]

I absolutely love the fact that the same Aria stans that say people in this fandom only have a superficial understanding of the text think that the KeY FivE are all going to be besties and heroes of the story, and think Jon and Aria will just loveee Despacito because of a handful of dragon mentions in their chapters lmaooooooo, which are meant to show that those characters are FOILS but anyway lmao.

They're always like, 'Stansas don't understand ASOIAF at all' before turning back to their Queen Arya, Jon/Dany/Arya threesome a la Aegon the Conqueror and his sisters, Curtain of Light at the End of the World, Tyrion getting a dragon fanfic they insist is serious analysis of the story

[sailorshadzter]

Varys sets a plan in motion after figuring out Jon's Targaryen heritage. He realizes that Jon's in love with Sansa after seeing Jon and Sansa hugging fiercely after the Battle of Winterfell.

great prompt! thanks anon!

send me prompts

He’s been watching. 

Ever since their arrival North, he’s been watching.

The first sign was the look Jon Snow wore as they traveled in from the harbor- anxious, a man waiting for something. He could not quite place it, but it did not look like the face of a man simply anxious to return home. No… He was anxious for someone.  Someone he loved. 

The second sign was his reunion with his sister, the Lady of Winterfell. It’s been years since he last saw the young woman, she’s grown from a glowing child into a beautiful winter queen. She would have dazzled as the golden queen of Westeros, if only fate had allowed it. But the way Jon rushed to her that morning, taking her into his arms like a lover might only do- quite a different embrace than he’s ever shared with the dragon queen. Though, now that Varys thinks about it, he’s never even seen them embrace. 

There’s many signs that come after that first morning, secret looks nobody else surely sees, or ones they play off as nothing more than loving affection between two siblings. Cersei and Jaime had been good at this game, too. Varys chuckles, thinking of those old days, when King’s Landing had been rampant with the rumors- never more, never less. He wonders how long Winterfell has been the same. 

But now, he lingers in the hallway long after Jon and Daenerys have gone. He’s done as he always does, waiting in the shadows, listening to words never meant for him. My real name is Aegon Targaryen, he’s heard Jon Snow whisper, surprising him. This is one secret that even Varys hasn’t heard of. However, he certainly knows what this secret means to the world and to the realm… That Daenerys Targaryen was not the last living Targaryen, in fact, she wasn’t even heir to the kingdom like she thinks herself to be. And in Jon Snow, certainly they would find a much better king than queen in Daenerys. 

So, his brain begins to whirl, every possibility he’s thought of in the past suddenly feeling far more real than ever before. 

[ x x x ]

When the battle ends and they’ve come up from the crypts, Varys scans the living to see who is left among them. 

Of course, he sees the silver-haired dragon queen, though she’s stained crimson with blood, like a warrior queen, some might even say. He does not see Ser Jorah Mormont among the scattered crowd and for a moment, he feels the prickle of pain for the loss of a good man. But, this was war, and he would not be the last good man they would lose. His eyes continue to sweep through the crowd and there comes the Stark boy and the sister they would all call a hero for the rest of her life, their savior from the Night King. She’s nursing a few injuries, but she would live to certainly build a famed life for herself.

Who Varys doesn’t yet see would be Jon Snow himself, or in fact, the Lady of Winterfell that had shot out of the crypts when the door had been opened. He glances around, but that red hair is nowhere to be seen. And so, he makes his way towards the center of the courtyard, glancing every which way, thinking he might have just overlooked them in the darkness of the night. But then… Just as he goes to turn back, he catches the whisper of voices, coming just from the garden gate a short distance away. 

So, of course he carefully approaches, rounding the corner and there he sees them, the lady and her “brother” locked into an embrace that said everything he needed to know. Jon is stroking her long red hair and she’s buried her face into the crook of his shoulder, uncaring of the ash and blood that stains her skin. “Sansa…” Jon is whispering her name and she’s lifting her face to look him in the eyes, his hand gently cradling the curve of her cheek. He’s leaning in then, kissing her tenderly, the kiss of love, of pure affection. 

A smile slowly spreads across his face and Varys steps back, having seen enough.

He seeks out one person and that one person is still yet at the center of the courtyard, surveying the dead as they’re brought in from the battlefield. “Varys,” Tyrion greets as he approaches, unsurprised that his old friend had come and gone so very quickly. 

“We must speak,” he says and continues on, knowing the imp would follow after him. 

Now, they could set a plan into motion that would change everything.

[first-of-her-nxme]

It's been a while since I last stopped by your blog so hello again! Reading your analysis posts ks always really fun, I'm not a game of thrones fan and most of what I know comes from video essays but it's still really interesting to me in terms of writing to read the theories you've posted, they're very detailed. I was wondering, and I hope this is okay to ask because I genuinely don't mean to imply anything, it's more curiosity as someone that only knows surface level information of the story you talk about, but if your theories about Jaqen being Aegon and also the entire thing between him and Arya turn out to be incorrect, how do you think that would affect your view and interpretation of the story?

I apologize if this is rude in any way.

Hello dear Anon! Thank you for the ask.

First, I need to say that I'm 100% sure that Jaqen is Aegon and that he will fall for Arya. I would bet my money on this. I would even bet my favorite shoes! Even if I'm not sure if every single detail of my writings is correct. You know what GRRM says: different roads lead to the same castle ;) So there might be some minor changes but the outcome is still the same.

I also want to stress that I haven't covered everything yet. It's because I am a bit bored with ASOIAF - completing the story takes way too long to stay so invested! Also revealing certain things will make people depressed. George is such a sadist :(

I do wish I was wrong about some of the aspects of the books because Arya's and Aegon's story will be a very sad one. And since I adore these characters I would love them to be happy, never mind together or apart, doesn't matter whether they are royals or peasant assassins.

One of the themes of the book is the way medieval poetry glamorizes war. It is very clear in Sansa's POV. Young Sansa loves songs and stories about great heroes and doomed love. When Sansa leaves her northern shelter, she is slowly and painfully learning the reality of a knight's life. She learns that war is rape and murder and not romantic at all. The songs she loves so much make children dream about becoming knights like legendary heroes or "queens of love and beauty." Kids try to pursue that dream, ignoring the fact that the lives of the heroes and ladies made immortal by the songs were tragic. And since these songs are so sad and the book gets a song title, A Song of Ice and Fire, this song must be the greatest and the saddest of all the songs that Sansa has ever heard. And this is Arya's and Aegon's story. I wanted their "song" to be sweet, so I really would appreciate GRRM taking a different direction. But I know he will not do this.

I must admit that on my first reading I believed Jaqen was just a random assassin who came out of his way to help Arya. I always "knew" that they would meet again and that he would be her love interest. Though I didn't quite like the idea that Jaqen could be a hidden Targaryen. I wanted him to be a Lorathi. I thought that it was a great plot twist to introduce such a meaningful character that existed outside the corrupt nobility circle. I used to think Jaqen would be Arya's escape, a way to break free from a lady's obligations and pave her own path in life. I thought it would be fun to read. It would have given them a happier outcome too.

Then you see that Jaqen's royal origins is not something I require in order to enjoy the books. It's just something that I and other readers have discovered on the way.

EDIT: Because I forgot the reinterpretation part of the question. If Jaqen wouldn't have been Aegon then it would have only meant one thing: George choosing to stick to the original outline of the story. In the original draft of ASOIAF Jon Snow was Arya's love interest and the hidden heir to the Iron Throne. Naturally, Jon is still a hidden prince in the final version but he is not the only heir and not the first in line to the throne. In the early version Jon's and Arya's romance was at the center of the story. Therefore, the song of ice and fire would have been Jon's song. The song means the command of both elements, fire and ice, which translates to the command of dragons and the winter/white walkers. It also means the romance with a Targaryen queen, Daenerys, and the Stark princess, Arya. Fire stands for life, love and passion while ice represents death and revenge. It means that in that scenario, Jon and Arya, would have done things that Jaqen and Arya will do.

As we know George abandoned the idea of pairing Arya with her cousin and he created Jaqen for her instead. The song of love and revenge is his song now. It is worth noting that in both versions, Arya is the central character.

I hope it answers your question.

Cheers!

[forestcat222]

Chapter 3 Aemon

before you start the new chapter i just wanted to say for this au I redesigned Jon/Aemon because in this au i am not bound by the rules of canon, I gave him more Targaryen features,

His hair is a mix of black and white, he has heterochromia, one eye is his normal eye color in the books, black, his right eye is a light purple color. Btw just clarifying in this Jon/Aemon is still a bastard.

Chapter 3 Aemon

Aemon was sitting outside of Rhaegar’s office waiting for Aegon to get out of his lessons. Aegon had lessons every three days, it used to be every two days but Elia made Rhaegar add the extra day to give Aegon a better break. Aemon was basically staring into nothingness, he was thinking of a story Rhaenys told him yesterday, about a bastard prince who saved his true love. Whenever Rhaenys would find a story about a heroic bastard she would tell it to him, Aemon usually had a hard time keeping a focus on stories, his mind always wondered, except when Rhaenys told him about the hero bastards who brought peace to the realm, then his mind would absorb every little detail, the names, the battles, everything.

Rhaenys was always trying to make Aemon happier, whether it be about his birth, family or skills Rhaenys tried to make him smile. 

His siblings always tried to make him happy, Aegon taught him the things that father taught him that Aemon wasn’t involved in, Aegon taught him Valyrian so he would feel like part of the family, Aegon taught him to play instruments, Aegon taught him many things and Aemon valued all of them. Aegon was Aemon’s best friend, his mentor and his closest confidant, which is why Aemon was rarely away from Aegon. 

Aemon was shaken from his thoughts by something furry on his arm, he looked down and saw one of Rhaenys’ cats rubbing against his arm, Rhaenys had many cats, so many cats in fact she had entire rooms of the castle made for her cats, Aemon thought it was a bit much but as long as she’s happy it didn't matter. Aemon looked at the cat more, if he remembered correctly this one’s name is Meria, named after Meria Martell. 

Aemon started petting the cat, he didn’t like cats as much as Rhaenys but he thought they were cute so he didn’t mind the many cats. “She was trying to get your attention for a few minutes, I honestly assumed you were just ignoring her.” Aemon looked up and saw one of the kings guard looking at him, it was Jaime Lannister, Aemon always admired him, he was an amazing knight, he won nearly every turney he was in, not to mention his looks, In all the stories he heard about strong good kings this is what he imagined not his grandfather or as he heard some people call him the mad king, Jaime looked like a king. 

Aemon slightly smiled at him before looking back down at the cat, most may have found Aemon’s silence rude but it wasn’t meant to be, Aemon had a hard time talking to most people, Aemon only ever talked to his siblings and even that was at times difficult for him, he could only talk to them when they were completely alone, if he tried to speak in public he would usually end up sounding like nails being dragged across stone. 

Aemon continued to play with the cat while occasionally looking up at Jaime before quickly looking down again, there was a good chance if he could he would just stare at Jaime but Aemon has been told that he has a bad habit of looking at people for long with no emotions on his face, making people uncomfortable, he honestly didn’t notice he did that until his grandmother Queen Rhaella pointed it out to him after he stared at Arthur Dayne for to long. 

After a few minutes of playing with the cat and her purring loudly she stopped and bit him before running away. Aemon gasped before putting his bloody cut to his mouth to suck the blood from it. “Heh, they give you love and affection and make you trust them before they suddenly claw your heart out.” Aemon looked up again at Jaime and nodded. Jaime had a slight smirk on his his face, he seemed to think something about Aemon was funny, perhaps Jaime thought the way Aemon reacted was funny, or perhaps it was the fact he didn’t talk, maybe it was how he stared, there were many things people found odd or funny about Aemon. 

After a few seconds the doors to Rhaegar's study opened and Aegon walked out, It honestly surprised Aemon that he was out of lessons so soon, he had only been there for 4 hours, usually he was there for at least two more.

Aegon looked at Aemon and smiled. “Come on, we must leave before father changes his mind about me leaving early.” Aegon spoke. 

[nightswatchdisbandmentera]

Thinking about poor, doomed Young Griff and how it’s not even important if he is or isn’t Rhaegar’s real son. Because what makes him a fake goes beyond blood - it’s really down to intent and experience. He’s a poor rich man’s Aegon V, but like without the organic hero’s journey.

He’s a lab experiment pretty much. However well intentioned he is, there isn’t much indication that his journey has been authentic. Varys and Illyrio are trying to recreate Aegon V with a fake...literally down to the “let’s hide his hair” scheme. They even gave the boy Aegon’s freaking name (it’s a king’s name after all so I can’t blame them). But they missed like the biggest, most important lesson of all. Aegon V CHOSE to go out. HE made himself, no one else did. His journey was organic as it was derived out of his own autonomous decisions, not manufactured down to the smallest detail (does YG really know what it means to starve and be homeless and hunted?). And there was no promise of a reward (I.e., kingship). Egg didn’t know that he’d be king and even after his dad rose to the throne, there were a ton of people ahead of him. FFS he’s called Aegon the Unlikely. Bro just woke up one day and was like “ay wouldn’t it be nice to actually experience this realm from the perspective of a disenfranchised person?”

Meanwhile, our poor Young Griff is being made to go through all this with the expectation that it’s all going to pay off when he becomes king. BUT (big but!), who’s to say that he actually gets it? Like does he really get why he needs to see how this horrible feudalistic society preys on the smallfolk and makes corpses out of them? Wait, does he even know or recognize that the system needs changing? Like did Varys and Illyrio just tell him “people poor” and leave it at that? Why are they poor Young Griff? How did they get there?! Do Varys and Illyrio even get it? Do they understand that Aegon V was a radical change maker?

How hollow is it that it’s not Young Griff making the conscious decision to actually try and see how his subjects live. He’s not making the conscious decision to be a change maker, no matter what Varys and Illyrio say. People in this fandom will talk about how Young Griff will be the perfect king but…perfect for whom? In what way? In a series that critiques this entire system, what about YG screams that he’s going to actually tackle some of the systemic issues that need tackling - the systemic issues that Aegon V tried to tackle after organically going through his own journey?

WELLLLL….isn’t it cool that Jon and Dany are the true heirs to Aegon V’s legacy not because of blood, but because they actually get to the heart of Aegon V’s journey? Say what you want about them but they are radical as it gets (Jon at the Wall and Dany all over Slaver’s Bay). No one manufactured them. No one told them they had to care about people. No one told them they had to do this lab experiment to become king/queen. They actually did their own thing, while themselves being disenfranchised (GRRM identifies both as outsiders). And without the expectation of a reward (like Jon is literally told that his entire life will basically amount to nothing).

And it’s even better that they were unlikely. Young Griff is meant to happen - well someone is pulling the strings to make sure he works. He’s taking the role of someone who was always meant to be king - for Rhaegar’s son was meant to be king. But Jon and Dany are actually following the Aegon V blueprint because they weren’t meant to happen. Jon is a second son who is presumably a bastard with a contentious claim, and Dany is a daughter who was never meant to survive being sold off to slavery let alone rise to queenship. Neither one of them was meant to be on the throne. No one told them to do the things they did. No one took them and placed them in the positions they’re in. They rose to the occasion by themselves and made changes by their own volition - just as it was with Aegon V. And what makes it even better is that just as Aegon V was chosen to be king, so were Jon and Dany (Jon was literally elected into office and basically won over the wildlings while Dany was dubbed “mhysa” because of her actions in Slaver’s Bay).

[swordsandarms]

Remember I read a meme yesterday meant to be a GOTCHA about whether the Starks should be seen as the "good guys whose actions are for the better good specifically" and the conclusion was yes because they are against the Lannisters who are doing evil things, and hence by default fighting against Lannisters by any means is rendered moral.

But pfff, they accidentally proved the opposite, in a sense. Because, yes, the narrative manages to still frame Starks as THE heroes by virtue of their adversaries being a corrupt faction doing evil things.

But if the Lannisters were not plain evil... then we would watch LAWFULLY honourable Jon Arryn or Ned Stark put a woman and her young children on the run because she didn't give birth to her rapist's children instead (or straight up have them executed for treason, as I am not so sure Arryn would have had the heart to tell Cersei to run; he was all straight forward about the "necessary" murder of Aegon and Rhaenys).

[kellyvela]

I posted 1,954 times in 2022

That's 36 more posts than 2021!

782 posts created (40%)

1,172 posts reblogged (60%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@butterflies-dragons

@powderpowderblue

@kellyvela

@kitnjon

@alicenthightcwer

I tagged 931 of my posts in 2022

#anon asks - 545 posts

#sansa stark - 203 posts

#asoiaf - 178 posts

#jonsa - 162 posts

#grrm - 156 posts

#targies show - 142 posts

#asks - 63 posts

#game of thrones - 61 posts

#jon snow - 40 posts

#lol - 37 posts

Longest Tag: 137 characters

#que alguien te diga que por ti - influenciada por ti y por las cosas que tú escribes - decidió leer cinco libros enormes... qué maravilla

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

If anyone can find that quote from Kit about wanting to work with Sophie again I know you would be the one to find it! Put that quote out there in the universe now that we’ve gotten a possible Jon Snow sequel. Pleasepleaseplease!

You know, I’d love to work with Sophie [Turner] on something, but are people only going to see Jon and Sansa? It’s gonna be hard to get away from that.

—Kit Harington

298 notes - Posted June 17, 2022

#4

So, I don't know about you, but that *targ prophecy* made my day.

I mean, they are no special for dreaming about a future cataclysm, that happened before with Daenys the Dreamer, and they just ran away from their country to settle in Dragonstone. They saved themselves and no one else.

But since they thought themselves special and above ordinary men and closer to gods, they believe they dreamed about the Long Night because they were destined to be the heroes and saviors. "If there is an Ice threat, we will defeated it because we are Fire" or something like that....

But also, the Last Hero and the Children of the Forest are right there!!! They are *legends* from 8000 years ago or even before. And we all know about that from Bran Stark's chapters.

The *ordinary* men of Westeros defeated the Long Night in ancient times and they did that without any *special* Targaryen or dragon.

So a dream of Aegon just from 300 years ago, it's nothing but a new warning, a warning that they keep to themselves, because *of course* they needed to be the only heroes.

In contrast, "Winter is Coming" is right there!!! Right in the open as a perpetual warning, as is the fucking Wall that was built by Brandon the Builder, and not a secret of a single family that believe themselves the grand heroes, and did almost nothing to prevent the future extinction. Instead of that, during their certainly short reign, they conquered, killed and burned the realms of men or simply killed each other and their dragons for an ugly chair, made from the weapons of all their killed enemies...

They really dreamed about one threat and thought themselves the saviors when in reality they were the second threat.

A Song of Ice and Fire always meant a clash, not some romance.

And even in the show(s) canon, they showed a Stark, a Lord of Winterfell, in the middle of a targ king passing the secret to his heir, and we watch said king talking about unifying the kingdom and touching certain dagger.

Well, Jon Snow did that, he started to spread the word about the Ice threat and asked help of all the Houses of Westeros, friends or foes.

And that dagger was the one they tried to kill Bran with, the same dagger that Arya Stark stuck in the Night King's heart.

And please let's not forget about what George always say, prophecies are dangerous and misleading.

Having said that, I wish you all a nice Sunday!

343 notes - Posted August 21, 2022

#3

the only true born male targies and the rightful heirs

344 notes - Posted October 4, 2022

#2

345 notes - Posted May 25, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

So the prophecy...

Aegon foresaw the end of the world of men. 'Tis to begin with a terrible winter gusting out of the distant north.

[I, Rickon Stark, Lord of Winterfell….]

Aegon saw absolute darkness riding on those winds. And whatever dwells within will destroy the world of the living.

When this Great Winter comes, Rhaenyra, all of Westeros must stand against it. And if the world of the men is to survive, a Targaryen must be seated on the Iron Throne. A king or queen strong enough to unite the realm against the cold and the dark.

Aegon called this dream "The Song of Ice and Fire". This secret it's been passed from king to heir since Aegon's time. And now you must promise to carry it and protect it.

...

I can't with the mention of a Lord of Winterfell in the middle of all that...

AND THE DAGGER!!!!!!!!!!

1,123 notes - Posted August 21, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[herodut1998]

Prologue: Rebirth and betrayal

Small note for clarity as you read this story.

‘inner thought’ – and quoting someone.

“Speaking aloud”

“Dragon-Tong”

Written text

Info points

Jon Snow/Aemon Targaryen (Year 304 A.C.)

Kingslanding

There he lay dying, betrayed once again by someone he thought wouldn’t. This time, it was his brother, just like his black brothers before. “Bran, why?” he choked as he looked up at his cousin-brother. He had been waiting to attend the council to decide what would be next for Westeros and him. As of now, no king or queen has been there to lead them. As Daenerys was dead, killed by his own hands, what marked him a kin and a queenslayer. He couldn’t fathom why Grey Worm hadn’t killed him. He was perhaps waiting to prolong his agony. The man wasn’t wrong; his heart had been aching with guilt since that moment.

Now, in this cell, he lay dying, killed by his own sweet Bran. He stood out of his wheelchair, still unmoving. It shocked him first when Bran stood on his legs. Not much later, Bran had slit his throat. He looked into his eyes for an answer to why Bran did what he had done. Then he saw a glint of blue – those cold blue eyes he had seen at Hardhome and Winterfell. The last thing he saw was the smirk of the Night King staring back at him. As life escaped out of the boy, everything went black.

He wasn’t sure where he was, only that it was black, and he knew he was dead, although he felt partly still alive. Perhaps this was the hell the septas and septons spoke about, although it wasn’t fiery, just utter darkness. Or was it where he was sent to the last time he died? He couldn’t remember anything after his first death.

Then, the darkness was pierced by voices. “Ah, our dragonwolf. You haven’t lost yet. We, the Old Gods and those of Valyria can hopefully give you a chance to prevent the darkness that is about to descend on the world. The children of fire weren’t meant to die out prematurely. To fight against the cold, to  prepare the realm as it should have been?” The voices in the dark explained. ‘What!! The gods of Valyria and Old gods spoke to him.’ He thought in shock.

“To maintain balance in the world, we sent out our herald, a balance against the influences of the great other. The first of both your peoples, the first hero Azor Ahai, initiated the bloodlines – one of ice and one of fire. The blood of forty dragon lords descends from fire, drawn to dragons and heat. The Starks, blood of ice, are drawn to direwolves and cold. The Valyrians forgot their original purpose and were destroyed. Some of their bloodlines escaped due to the dreams we sent to Daenys.

Similarly, we influenced Aegon so he would unite Westeros against the impending storm. This song was referred to as the Song of Ice and Fire. You were meant to be the one who could have sent the great others champion back to its prison in the Lands of Always Winter to restart the cycle,” the voice said.

“But when your sister killed him, he was forced back wasn’t forced back into his prison. Instead, his essence was sent to the nearest link. Your brother, it was his plan all along. He lured Bran with a vision, a trap – the same vision that allowed Bran to see the Night King, which resulted in your brother being marked. From that moment, your brother was partly influenced by the Night King, although he did not know it.” the voice explained. His thoughts were deeply absorbed in this revelation. ‘It all made so much sense – why else would he be brought back to life? He felt as if something had been tugging at him since his resurrection as if he wasn’t entirely himself.’

“Your thoughts are accurate. The Night King orchestrated it all. He can now work in the shadows while the winter gripping Westeros gradually consumes it. There will be no one left to stop him. The world will become one of darkness, cold, and death, as the line meant to send him back is no more.” the voices said sorrowfully.

“There was another problem during the Long Night, including you and Daenerys. The Night King reveals your heritage just before the battle, throwing you into a crisis of self-doubt and acceptance. Then there was Daenerys, her inter-image of herself broken by the reveal of your parentage as you were the true heir to the throne. Causing her to fall into the same crisis as you did. Which was partly broke her, as did many other factors.” He sucked in a breath when he heard that. He had played with him that way, using information he wanted his whole to sow chaos.

“So when you will return, accepting who you are is of paramount importance. You are a Targaryen, but you are also a Stark, the song of fire and fire. Be both in what comes next, and perhaps the winds of winter can change into a dream of spring.” The voice spoke sternly. 

“So, child of fire and ice, do you accept to return? To change the future and give life a chance? Remember, this will be your final opportunity, giving us all one last chance. After this, we won’t have the power to send you back again a second time. As the old gods and the Valyrian gods have been forgotten in favor of false idols,” the voice murmured.

“What? The Seven are false gods?” He exclaimed, shaken by the thought.

“Yes, a cruel ploy by the Great Other to make men ignorant of its true nature. The same goes for the Black Goat. Those gods are not real – only the god of death, the Many-Faced God, and the old gods and Valyrian gods represent different aspects of life,” the voices murmured. ‘Their mode of communication was peculiar and unsettling. They have all different voices, but all sound like one. It’s a song of life. An interesting though.’ He thought with half a smile.

“Now, champion, will you again fight for the world of men? Or will you choose the tranquility of darkness, letting everything wither away?” the voices asked in a deep murmur.

“I will fight again, as an old foe once said, ‘I will be fighting their battles forever.’ I shall be both my bloodlines and fire and fight for life to give it a fighting chance. What happens now?” Then, everything turned white, and a blinking light appeared before him.

The man formerly known as Jon Snow or Aemon Targaryen emerged into the world. It was the year 92 AC., the second moon, and the third child of Baelon Targaryen and Lyanna Stark.

“Damn, where am I?” He said, but it came out as he cried out like an infant. A woman with black-brown raven hair and grey eyes cradled him. He recognized the eyes of Arya and his uncle. Remembering them brought a pang of emotion.

“Lyanna, you’ve done well. After Aegon, I never thought I’d have another child,” a man with silver-blonde hair appeared. His eyes were purple.

“Thank you, Baelon, my love. It seems the little one has your hair and my eyes,” the woman, Lyanna, said. ‘It was odd. Could the gods have granted him the blessing of having his mother this time? It seemed Rhaegar wouldn’t be a part of this life. But he would honor him all the same as his other father, Eddard Stark, even if he lied to him about his truth. Perhaps even a father as well, he wasn’t sure. The man seemed to love his mother. Were they married?’ His thoughts ran through his head, the possibilities.

“Do you have a name in mind, my she-wolf?” The man named Baelon inquired. ‘Was he her husband, or was he a bastard? Was he reborn a true bastard this time? Or was trueborn like last time?’  He hoped the latter.’ He thought as he looked at the man.

“I do, if you’re in agreement, my dragon. How about Aemon Targaryen, named after your brother?” His mother suggested, her smile radiant. Baelon nodded and kissed her. ‘Thank the gods, he wasn’t a bastard, even if he wasn’t in his last life. Still, a confront to know he didn’t need to go living like one again.’ He thought.

“Come now, little Aemon. How about some milk?” His mother asked, bringing her breast to his mouth. ‘I suppose I’m a little hungry,’ he thought as he suckled at his mother’s breast. It was a somewhat embarrassing experience, a twenty namedays old man trapped in a baby’s body. He was suckling at his mother’s breast.

Thus began the rebirth of Aemon Targaryen in the second moon of the year 92 A.C.

Notes:

Thank you for reading. Please share your thoughts on it when you can. Regarding the series, Season 8, let's just say I despise it. Season 7 was disappointing, and Seasons 5 and 6 marked the point where the series took a downturn. The story will incorporate elements from both the Game of Thrones books and the show, encompassing Game of Thrones and House Dragon. Changes will be made, but throughout the story, there will also be returns to the Game of Thrones world. I'm excited about the story. If you have a comment please do and if have criticisms, let me know but be constructive in them. Thanks for the read.   End Note : I wish to formally declare that I hold no ownership over any lines, worldbuilding aspects, or characters derived from the following works: "Game of Thrones," "House of the Dragon" TV show, or the broader "A Song of Ice and Fire" universe. The credit for the creation of these literary elements rightfully belongs to HBO and George R.R. Martin for their contribution in crafting this rich and immersive world. The narrative presented herein utilizes elements from these works solely for the purpose of constructing a new story. I hold the rights solely to the original elements introduced within the context of the story I've created. This includes new characters, plot developments, and any unique narrative elements that are not directly derived from pre-existing works such as "Game of Thrones," "House of the Dragon," or the broader "A Song of Ice and Fire" universe. Thanks for the read, and don't repost this story. If not given permission.

[targaryenssurvive]

Before you start the new chapter i just wanted to say for this au I redesigned Jon/Aemon because in this au i am not bound by the rules of canon, I gave him more Targaryen features,

His hair is a mix of black and white, he has heterochromia, one eye is his normal black colored eye color in the books, his right eye is a light purple color. Btw just clarifying in this Jon/Aemon is a bastard.

Chapter 3 Aemon

Aemon was sitting outside of Rhaegar’s office waiting for Aegon to get out of his lessons. Aegon had lessons every three days, it used to be every two days but Elia made Rhaegar add the extra day to give Aegon a better break. Aemon was basically staring into nothingness, he was thinking of a story Rhaenys told him yesterday, about a bastard prince who saved his true love. Whenever Rhaenys would find a story about a heroic bastard she would tell it to him, Aemon usually had a hard time keeping a focus on stories, his mind always wondered, except when Rhaenys told him about the hero bastards who brought peace to the realm, then his mind would absorb every little detail, the names, the battles, everything.

Rhaenys was always trying to make Aemon happier, whether it be about his birth, family or skills Rhaenys tried to make him smile.

His siblings always tried to make him happy, Aegon taught him the things that father taught him that Aemon wasn’t involved in, Aegon taught him Valyrian so he would feel like part of the family, Aegon taught him to play instruments, Aegon taught him many things and Aemon valued all of them. Aegon was Aemon’s best friend, his mentor and his closest confidant, which is why Aemon was rarely away from Aegon.

Aemon was shaken from his thoughts by something furry on his arm, he looked down and saw one of Rhaenys’ cats rubbing against his arm, Rhaenys had many cats, so many cats in fact she had entire rooms of the castle made for her cats, Aemon thought it was a bit much but as long as she’s happy it didn't matter. Aemon looked at the cat more, if he remembered correctly this one’s name is Meria, named after Meria Martell.

Aemon started petting the cat, he didn’t like cats as much as Rhaenys but he thought they were cute so he didn’t mind the many cats. “She was trying to get your attention for a few minutes, I honestly assumed you were just ignoring her.” Aemon looked up and saw one of the kings guard looking at him, it was Jaime Lannister, Aemon always admired him, he was an amazing knight, he won nearly every turney he was in, not to mention his looks, In all the stories he heard about strong good kings this is what he imagined not his grandfather or as he heard some people call him the mad king, Jaime looked like a king.

Aemon slightly smiled at him before looking back down at the cat, most may have found Aemon’s silence rude but it wasn’t meant to be, Aemon had a hard time talking to most people, Aemon only ever talked to his siblings and even that was at times difficult for him, he could only talk to them when they were completely alone, if he tried to speak in public he would usually end up sounding like nails being dragged across stone.

Aemon continued to play with the cat while occasionally looking up at Jaime before quickly looking down again, there was a good chance if he could he would just stare at Jaime but Aemon has been told that he has a bad habit of looking at people for long with no emotions on his face, making people uncomfortable, he honestly didn’t notice he did that until his grandmother Queen Rhaella pointed it out to him after he stared at Arthur Dayne for to long.

After a few minutes of playing with the cat and her purring loudly she stopped and bit him before running away. Aemon gasped before putting his bloody cut to his mouth to suck the blood from it. “Heh, they give you love and affection and make you trust them before they suddenly claw your heart out.” Aemon looked up again at Jaime and nodded. Jaime had a slight smirk on his his face, he seemed to think something about Aemon was funny, perhaps Jaime thought the way Aemon reacted was funny, or perhaps it was the fact he didn’t talk, maybe it was how he stared, there were many things people found odd or funny about Aemon.

After a few seconds the doors to Rhaegar's study opened and Aegon walked out, It honestly surprised Aemon that he was out of lessons so soon, he had only been there for 4 hours, usually he was there for at least two more.

Aegon looked at Aemon and smiled. “Come on, we must leave before father changes his mind about me leaving early.” Aegon spoke.

[istumpysk]

Operation Stumpy Re-Read

AFFC: Samwell IV (Chapter 35)

Sam donned his blacks to say the words, though the afternoon was warm and muggy, with nary a breath of wind. "He was a good man," he began . . . but as soon as he had said the words he knew that they were wrong. "No. He was a great man. A maester of the Citadel, chained and sworn, and Sworn Brother of the Night's Watch, ever faithful.

For the record I have no qualms about disrespecting the dead.

+.+.+

When he was born they named him for a hero who had died too young, but though he lived a long long time, his own life was no less heroic. No man was wiser, or gentler, or kinder. At the Wall, a dozen lords commander came and went during his years of service, but he was always there to counsel them. He counseled kings as well. He could have been a king himself, but when they offered him the crown he told them they should give it to his younger brother. How many men would do that?"

I know one? Same name too.

He's not exiled! They wouldn't offer him the crown if he was being exiled! You can't possibly believe the younger brother thing is a coincidence.

+.+.+

Sam felt the tears welling in his eyes, and knew he could not go on much longer. "He was the blood of the dragon, but now his fire has gone out. He was Aemon Targaryen. And now his watch is ended.

Can't wait to do this again in the future.

I love how George skipped over Samwell learning he's Aemon Targaryen.

Remember this? Everyone clowns this scene so much, as if the author doesn't do it all the time.

+.+.+

On Braavos, it had seemed possible that Aemon might recover. Xhondo's talk of dragons had almost seemed to restore the old man to himself. That night he ate every bite Sam put before him. "No one ever looked for a girl," he said. "It was a prince that was promised, not a princess. Rhaegar, I thought . . . the smoke was from the fire that devoured Summerhall on the day of his birth, the salt from the tears shed for those who died. He shared my belief when he was young, but later he became persuaded that it was his own son who fulfilled the prophecy, for a comet had been seen above King's Landing on the night Aegon was conceived, and Rhaegar was certain the bleeding star had to be a comet. What fools we were, who thought ourselves so wise! The error crept in from the translation. Dragons are neither male nor female, Barth saw the truth of that, but now one and now the other, as changeable as flame. The language misled us all for a thousand years. Daenerys is the one, born amidst salt and smoke. The dragons prove it." 

Oh, it's Daenerys alright.

The smoke was the fire that devoured Summerhall, the salt was from the tears shed for those who died? What a donkey. I could find a better theory on Reddit.

He's also wrong about Barth, because of course he is.

As Archmaester Gyldayn notes in his fragmentary history, there is no record that Vermax ever laid so much as a single egg, suggesting the dragon was male. The belief that dragons could change sex at need is erroneous, according to Maester Anson's Truth, rooted in a misunderstanding of the esoteric metaphor that Barth preferred when discussing the higher mysteries. - TWoIaF

The stupid is hard coded in Targaryen DNA. Pray for Jon and Aegon.

+.+.+

Just talking of her seemed to make him stronger. "I must go to her. I must. Would that I was even ten years younger."

[...]

Soon after that, his wits began to wander once again. By the time the Cinnamon Wind swept past the Bleeding Tower into Tyrosh harbor, Aemon no longer spoke of trying to find a ship to take him east.

I'm sorry, what was this guy saying about duty over family in book one?

+.+.+

He had already given his sword and scabbard to Xhondo, to repay the big mate for the feathered cloak he'd ruined saving Sam from drowning. The only things of value that still remained to them were the books they had brought from the vaults of Castle Black. Sam parted with them glumly. "They were meant for the Citadel," he said, when Xhondo asked him what was wrong. When the mate translated those words, the captain laughed. "Quhuru Mo says the grey men will be having these books still," Xhondo told him, "only they will be buying them from Quhuru Mo. The maesters give good silver for books they are not having, and sometimes red and yellow gold."

They'll still get the books. The books are safe!

+.+.+

By the time the dealing was done, Sam was down to his boots and blacks and smallclothes, and the broken horn Jon Snow had found on the Fist of First Men. 

Horn!

+.+.+

Tell them, Sam . . . tell them how it is upon the Wall . . . the wights and the white walkers, the creeping cold . . ."

"I will," Sam promised. "I will add my voice to yours, maester. We will both tell them, the two of us together."

"No," the old man said. "It must be you. Tell them. The prophecy . . . my brother's dream . . . Lady Melisandre has misread the signs. Stannis . . . Stannis has some of the dragon blood in him, yes. His brothers did as well. Rhaelle, Egg's little girl, she was how they came by it . . . their father's mother . . . she used to call me Uncle Maester when she was a little girl. I remembered that, so I allowed myself to hope . . . perhaps I wanted to . . . we all deceive ourselves, when we want to believe. Melisandre most of all, I think. The sword is wrong, she has to know that . . . light without heat . . . an empty glamor . . . the sword is wrong, and the false light can only lead us deeper into darkness, Sam. Daenerys is our hope. Tell them that, at the Citadel. Make them listen. They must send her a maester. Daenerys must be counseled, taught, protected.

Are you laughing as hard as I am?

If only Melisandre was as enlightened as Aemon Targaryen.

+.+.+

For all these years I've lingered, waiting, watching, and now that the day has dawned I am too old. I am dying, Sam." Tears ran from his blind white eyes at that admission.

Watching and waiting for what exactly? You belong to the Night's Watch, remember?

+.+.+

"Death should hold no fear for a man as old as me, but it does. Isn't that silly? It is always dark where I am, so why should I fear the darkness? Yet I cannot help but wonder what will follow, when the last warmth leaves my body. Will I feast forever in the Father's golden hall as the septons say? Will I talk with Egg again, find Dareon whole and happy, hear my sisters singing to their children? What if the horselords have the truth of it? Will I ride through the night sky forever on a stallion made of flame? Or must I return again to this vale of sorrow? Who can say, truly? Who has been beyond the wall of death to see? Only the wights, and we know what they are like. We know."

I thought Beric said there was nothing but darkness, but I can't find the quote. I might be confusing the books with the show.

+.+.+

There was little and less that Sam could say to that, but he had given the old man what little comfort he could. And Gilly came in afterward and sang a song for him, a nonsense song thing that she learned from some of Craster's other wives. It made the old man smile and helped him go to sleep.

I'm so far gone, I can't even read about a nonsense song without thinking it's important.

+.+.+

When he woke he'd call for Sam, insisting that he had to tell him something, but oft as not he would have forgotten what he meant to say by the time that Sam arrived. Even when he did recall, his talk was all a jumble. He spoke of dreams and never named the dreamer, of a glass candle that could not be lit and eggs that would not hatch. He said the sphinx was the riddle, not the riddler, whatever that meant. He asked Sam to read for him from a book by Septon Barth, whose writings had been burned during the reign of Baelor the Blessed. Once he woke up weeping. 

I don't have any answers for you, but Samwell will meet Alleras the Sphinx (Sarella Sand) at the end of this book.

Sam chewed on the question for a moment, wondering how much he ought to say. The sphinx is the riddle, not the riddler. Could Maester Aemon have meant this Sphinx? It seemed unlikely. - Samwell V, AFFC

+.+.+

"The dragon must have three heads," he wailed, "but I am too old and frail to be one of them. I should be with her, showing her the way, but my body has betrayed me."

How could a maester, chained and sworn, and Sworn Brother of the Night's Watch, be one of the three heads?

Can't believe I had to sit through this clown lecturing Jon about duty.

+.+.+

Even here, a thousand leagues from the Wall, Gilly was reluctant to say Lady Melisandre's name aloud. "She wanted king's blood for her fires. Val knew she did. Lord Snow too. That was why they made me take Dalla's babe away and leave my own behind in his place. Maester Aemon went to sleep and didn't wake up, but if he had stayed, she would have burned him."

Jon may be gone, but the base cabinet is fully aware that baby does not have king's blood. I think we're safe?

Shireeeeenn. :(

+.+.+

He will still burn, Sam thought miserably, only now I have to do it. The Targaryens always gave their fallen to the flames. Quhuru Mo would not allow a funeral pyre aboard the Cinnamon Wind, so Aemon's corpse had been stuffed inside a cask of blackbelly rum to preserve it until the ship reached Oldtown.

Burned in Oldtown? Nahhhh. I don't think so.

It would be more appropriate if you sent him to the ancestral home of the Targaryens.

+.+.+

"We could name the little one Maester, if you like. When he's old enough, not now. We could."

"Maester is not a name. You could call him Aemon, though."

Gilly thought about that. "Dalla brought him forth during battle, as the swords sang all around her. That should be his name. Aemon Battleborn. Aemon Steelsong."

Jon's name is a song!

I wonder how Mance and Dalla would feel about their son being given a royal name.

+.+.+

A name even my lord father might like. A warrior's name. The boy was Mance Rayder's son and Craster's grandson, after all. He had none of Sam's craven blood. "Yes. Call him that."

Huh?? Last time I checked Craster was not the father of Mance or Dalla.

Unless he's referring to Gilly "adopting" the boy?

Dalla's babe began to cry. Gilly pulled open her tunic and gave the boy her breast. She smiled as he nursed, and stroked his soft brown hair. She has come to love this one as much as the one she left behind, Sam realized. - Samwell V, AFFC

I wouldn't like this sort of talk if I was a fan of Mance or the roll-top desk. Kind of feels like that baby is going to be Gilly's full-time responsibility by the end of this series.

+.+.+

Kojja Mo was the captain's daughter, taller than Sam and slender as a spear, with skin as black and smooth as polished jet. She captained the ship's red archers too, and pulled a double-curved goldenheart bow that could send a shaft four hundred yards. When the pirates had attacked them in the Stepstones, Kojja's arrows had slain a dozen of them whilst Sam's own shafts were falling in the water. The only thing Kojja Mo loved better than her bow was bouncing Dalla's boy upon her knee and singing to him in the Summer Tongue. 

You already know I'm always going to highlight Sam shooting arrows.

I'm reminded of Sarella Sand, good with arrows, and the daughter of a Summer Islander. Is the Sphinx the riddle?

+.+.+

Gilly said that the drink was making the ship spin round, so Sam helped her down the ladder to the women's quarters in the bow of the ship.

There was a lantern hanging just inside the cabin, and he managed to bang his head on it going in. "Ow," he said, and Gilly said, "Are you hurt? Let me see." She leaned close . . .

. . . and kissed his mouth.

Sam found himself kissing her back. 

Aw, that's sweet.

Let's stop there.

+.+.+

I said the words, Sam thought again, but one of her nipples found its way between his lips. It was pink and hard and when he sucked on it her milk filled his mouth, mingling with the taste of rum, and he had never tasted anything so fine and sweet and good.

+.+.+

And suddenly his cock was out, jutting upward from his breeches like a fat pink mast. 

I want to die.

+.+.+

It looked so silly standing there that he might have laughed, but Gilly pushed him back onto her pallet, hiked her skirts up around her thighs, and lowered herself onto him with a little whimpery sound. That was even better than her nipples. She's so wet, he thought, gasping. I never knew a woman could get so wet down there. "I am your wife now," she whispered, sliding up and down on him. And Sam groaned and thought, No, no, you can't be, I said the words, I said the words, but the only word he said was, "Yes."

If we start a petition maybe he'll stop writing these scenes.

+.+.+

Even the Crone herself could not lead me safely out of this. The best thing he could do would be to slip away and jump into the sea. If I'm drowned, no one need ever know that I shamed myself and broke my vows, and Gilly can find herself a better man, one who is not some big fat coward.

Good plan, Arys Oakheart.

The Jon/Ygritte is strong, but I treat them like foils.

+.+.+

It was a long hot sticky day, made longer by his pounding head. Sam busied himself with ropes and sails and the other tasks that Xhondo set him, and tried not to let his eyes wander to the cask of rum that held old Maester Aemon's body . . . or to Gilly. 

This counts as an undignified exit.

+.+.+

"You do not understand. Last night we . . ."

". . . honored your dead, and the gods who made you both. Xhondo did the same. I had the child, else I would have been with him. All you Westerosi make a shame of loving. There is no shame in loving. If your septons say there is, your seven gods must be demons. In the isles we know better. Our gods gave us legs to run with, noses to smell with, hands to touch and feel. What mad cruel god would give a man eyes and tell him he must forever keep them shut, and never look at all the beauty in the world? Only a monster god, a demon of the darkness." Kojja put her hand between Sam's legs. "The gods gave you this for a reason too, for . . . what is your Westerosi word?"

"Fucking," Xhondo offered helpfully.

"Yes, for fucking. For the giving of pleasure and the making of children. There is no shame in that."

I like Summer Islanders!

+.+.+

He went to Gilly. "What we did . . . if I could take a wife, I would sooner have you than any princess or highborn maiden, but I can't. I am still a crow. I said the words, Gilly. I went with Jon into the woods and said the words before a heart tree."

"The trees watch over us," Gilly whispered, brushing the tears from his cheeks. "In the forest, they see all . . . but there are no trees here. Only water, Sam. Only water."

Laughed out loud at the thought of Bran watching two people have sex.

The trees may not be watching them have sex, but is Marwyn?

"Tell me all you told our Dornish sphinx. I know much of it and more, but some small parts may have escaped my notice."

[...]

"Where has he gone?" asked Sam, bewildered.

"To the docks. The Mage is not a man who believes in wasting time." Alleras smiled. "I have a confession. Ours was no chance encounter, Sam. The Mage sent me to snatch you up before you spoke to Theobald. He knew that you were coming."

"How?"

Alleras nodded at the glass candle. - Samwell V, AFFC

Pervert.

Final thoughts:

There, I fixed it. It's finally canon compliant.

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