#BloodRaven actually does something

[visenyaism]

Share with us your Shiera headcanons please 🙏

since shiera is such a nothing character who just happens to have a really cool premise i do have a lot because you can just make stuff up (apart from my goofy shiera hightower theory). so here’s a big ol list under the cut:

-raised primarily by her half brother daeron since her mother died having her and her father died when she was an infant and seeing as how her mom had dubious origins (maybe from lys but no family, maybe a witch) she had literally nowhere else to go. Also because as a GIRL bastard she was just less of a threat. Because she’s just there on the goodwill of her brother the king, internalized from a young age that the only way to get what she wanted was to be extremely self-interested and perform her part very well.

-spent most of her childhood in the library reading political theory and trying to Learn Real Magic to get closer to her mother. fixation on appearance and performance led to her picking glamour magicks as her primary field of study, which is also what she heard they’re into in Lys.

-Spent a lot of time with Aerys I as a result because they had similar special interests and his general disinterest in women meant he was one of the few people who was not Weird to her as a teenager so they just stayed research buddies.

-Everyone at court’s preoccupation with her physical appearance from a weirdly young age (thank u george rr martin very normal and cool) led to teenage shiera just deciding she can say or do pretty much whatever she wants within the confines of the social role she’s been assigned. None of it matters unless she wants it to so the worst thing she can be is bored.

-So as a result of that she manipulates people when she gets bored but can you blame her if it’s the only way to get what she wants as a bastard and they’re probably not listening to what she has to say anyways and also making people fight is really entertaining?

-Not being taken seriously as a bastard AND a girl helps her realize that the entire game of thrones is in fact a made up game—one she enjoys her and her loved ones winning, but not something to stake her whole personhood in—and her family are not literal dragons or serious people.

-Unlike the other great bastards shiera is not wrapped up in the existential identity crisis about whether or not she is a True Targaryen because she’s never been interested in being anyone other than herself. Terminally bored whenever Bloodraven or Aegor or Daemon start doing this.

-Blackfyre rébellion happened when she was sixteen so of course she backed Daeron over her annoying other brother. Definitely made Bloodraven’s arrows that took him and his kids out.

-the blood magic thing WAS true. shiera was maybe not as practiced in it as her notable sisterniece danelle lothston but she did partake

-Eventually fell out with Bloodraven because it was really fun at first to be cooking up schemes nonstop to hold the realm down under Aerys, but then she realized that’s the only thing he wanted to do for the entire rest of his life. and the game is just going to repeat itself over and over again so she got out of there because that’s soooooo critically boring and there are other things in the world.

-accelerationist in that she does not believe things can actually get better for people under a targaryen king unless circumstances get bad enough that the people rise up and take back power, but not in the sense that she’s interested in being the one sparking that. She just has very little faith in the system at large.

-i don’t think she’s quaithe but definitely she spent the rest of her life travelling learning new magic and stuff. Not alive by the main series but no known records of death, she just sort of fell off the map eventually.

[novembermorgon]

Not really a serious question but ive been wondering, do any of aerion and myrielle kids actually end up on the throne?😭 for the irony of it it'd be funny if they all end up dying somehow someway (pookie bloodraven being good at his job) or getting passed out of the line of succession.

LOL bloodraven gonna have a field day with this family drama . or he's going to start tearing his hair out over it your pick

i think realistically yeah no way . even in a situation where aerion lives long enough for maekar to die and for the throne to pass to him i fear it would end up being a case of every person at court being like this

understandably so . don't get me wrong .

and i don't think anyone would want one of his kids on the throne after him either . maegor is pretty frail and shy and aenys is basically aerion but wider . takes after grandpa . so they were kind of always doomed to go down with the sinking ship that is aerion's mental state 💔

maegor im not sure about but he probably just kind of lays down and dies one day or something & aenys .... ive mentioned like Once before that he gets a real nasty head + leg injury while jousting when he's like 15 which i think eventually does him in a couple years down the line. you spiral mentally and then it starts to impacts you physically . maybe it was planned . who knows . probably for the better because neither of them would be good kings and i would not have liked to see it

[goodqueenaly]

Hello! Do you see parallels between Daemon II Blackfyre and Aegon6? They look like the perfect hero-prince-- handsome, well-spoken, great origin story-- but are actually ineffective and unskilled. They also have an unshakeable belief that they are destined to win, which goes splat in Daemon's face and will in Aegon's. Do you think GRRM deliberately set them up as parallels, for a prince who looks great and has a sense of destiny, but is actually ill-suited to their role and doomed for failure?

I don’t think they’re particularly similar, myself. While Daemon the Younger certainly believed - thanks in no small part to his prophetic visions - that he would succeed in hatching a dragon and rallying supporters at Whitewalls, his plan of actually achieving the thorn was, to put it extremely charitably, naively optimistic. If Daemon had accurately observed (or been informed) that Aerys I’s absenteeism and Bloodraven’s police state provided a ready stage for a pro-Blackfyre uprising, the actual operation of that uprising reflected instead the idealistic assumptions of Daemon himself - that his visions promised him a literally newly hatched dragon, that the Blackfyre old guard would quickly rally around him, and that the attendees of a wedding tourney would be ready, willing, and able to follow him into battle. Not for nothing had Bittersteel denied him both the martial backing of the Golden Company and the dynastic symbol of his paternity: Daemon the Younger was no Daemon Blackfyre, and his plan at Whitewalls was less the somewhat close-run thing of the First Blackfyre Rebellion and more “Thanos gets arrested by the local police”. 

By contrast, while our Aegon has certainly benefitted, and will likely continue to benefit, from auspicious timing in his invasion, I would say he has far more ability to establish himself as king. Aegon does not simply launch off to Westeros, as Daemon the Younger did, on a wing and a prayer; instead, it is Aegon who makes the pitch to the Golden Company, proposing a (relatively) reasonable, (immediately) successful plan of invasion (and if Tyrion was the one who had changed Aegon’s mind, in an attempt to suit his own purposes, I still give Aegon credit for recognizing the plan’s (again, immediate) value and arguing its merits to the Golden Company). Nor does Aegon appear content to sit back and watch the war happen in his name: indeed, he is the one to declare that he will lead the attack on Storm’s End after the capture of Griffin’s Roost (apparently victoriously, as Haldon reports to Arianne and her party). If Aegon seems confident in his eventual victory, remember that he seems to have been raised since early childhood with the idea that his life has been a hero’s origin story, complete with a fantastic tale of survival and an obligatory training montage - not quite the same source confidence as Daemon the Younger, who embraced his prophetic superpower as much as his cousin Daeron loathed it. 

To be clear, I don’t think Aegon on the Iron Throne is the endgame of the series. However, while I do think his destiny is to be exploded, along with the rest of King’s Landing, when Daenerys arrives, I do very much expect Aegon to have a period, however brief, of complete triumph - himself on the Iron Throne as King Aegon VI Targaryen, Arianne by his side as queen, and large swaths of Westeros (at least on the continent and south of the Neck) acknowledging him as king. That level of achievement is something Daemon did not achieve, and could not have achieved by doing what he did. 

[thaliajoy-blog]

Best Targ Women ! Needed to make my ranking for some reason.

1) Daenerys Targaryen (best girl ever may she live and prosper). She's every goddess ever.

2) Rhaena Targaryen (black bride) : iconic reserved lesbian who goes out of her mind sometimes in really impressive ways. Compares herself to the woman who ruined her life. Has tons of girlfriends (goals). Dies probably sad, almost alone. Hates most of her family anyways.

3) Rhaenyra Targaryen : So perfect in her imperfections. Loving mother, unquestionable heir to the Iron Throne, privileges gone to her head, political disaster in many aspects. Hate her, love her, she can't really leave you indifferent.

4) Aerea Targaryen : first female Targ heir, absolute teenage chaos on two foot intent on making the world a hell for those she disliked. Is living under the name of her twin sister (who lives under hers), which identity wise must be real weird for a kid. Horrifying death that will give you nightmares.

5) Elaena Targaryen : I need to know everything about her life it's criminal we don't. But she was the boss & controlled the economy. She was hot at 70.

6) Daena Targaryen : I need to know everything about her life like seriously (2). Rebellion ! Her brazen legacy haunted house Targaryen forever. Still does.

7) Alysanne Targaryen : She's not perfect, but she did a hell of a lot for Westeros and women, and stood by her principles (equality for women in matters of inheritance and education).

8) Naerys Targaryen : She just has something special. A magnificent aura of doom & religion.

9) Visenya Targaryen : love hate relationship with Visenya. She's so interesting but also she wrecked the life of my best girl Rhaena & raised her son to be a psycho tyrant misogynist (which is a great part of why she's interesting cause like WTF girl).

10) Rhaena of Pentos : cute cute cute girl. Has a pink dragon she probably named either by watching the sun rises or to make a clever metaphor (it is a clever metaphor !). Has a sense of duty. Is the opposite of her brazen twin Baela. Last dragonrider till Daenerys.

Plus, Targaryen women with potential (but not much action/info on them) :

- Aelora Targaryen whose story just begs to be told in full. Cause like, accidentelly killing your brother ? Being heir to the Iron throne afterwards anyway ? Damn.

- Jaehaera Targaryen, as the neurodivergent and ironically female heir of the famously misogynistic faction of the Dance of Dragons. Like come on.

- Baela Targaryen : Okay we do know about her and her character I just couldn't fit her in the top ; I'm mainly interested in the hypothetical/headcanon dilemna she could have had in the Velaryon succession matter. Mainly between being legally the heir to Driftmark & by it possibly independant (which suits her character), and her betrothal & fondness towards Jace (and future as queen consort). Along that of course, thoughts over women's rights & bastards' place.

- Rhaella Targaryen (sister to Aerea) cause like inside on the faith + similar identity crisis worthy situation. Like technically the legitimate heir to the throne during Jaehaerys' reign.

- Daenys the Dreamer : like OF COURSE. I have headcanons. Of course I want to know more about her prophecies & her character. Or make it all up if I can't have it.

- Shiera Seastar ; I mean we don't actually know that much about the lady. She was witchy and liked by Bloodraven. Then what ? Then what. She was maybe the Westerosi Elizabeth Báthory. Then what.

- Daenerys of Dorne : really want to know what her time in Dorne was like. After all, her marriage was of historical proportions and she's implied to have had some good notions in ruling. Also how did she feel about the Blackfyre rebellion ?

- Helaena Targaryen : I do like making up headcanon about her lately. Gentle, spineless, lonely, crazy, crazed for life but kept inside a cage. Betrayed her sister, under difficult circumstances. But where they ever sisters in any real sense ?

[daenystheedreamer]

what are your thoughts on the seven? Like, what are we to make of them as deities?

just reread the series, and on first pass (tho i plan to go back searching for this) it seems like the seven come off as... less Tangible than the Old Gods/R'hllor. like melisandre births shadow assassins. bloodraven Exists. clearly there's something to these gods. maybe not what their worshipper's think, but like. a Power, for sure.

By contrast, the seven seem to exist solely in the minds of those who believe in them. Trials by combat seem to be 50/50. Tyrion win's Lysa's but loses Cersei's. the faith of the seven are notoriously corrupt, and after the sparrow's takeover, is going full-tilt crazy fundamentalist.

Yet these gods bring a great deal of comfort to the characters who believe in them. And I can't help but think about Septon Meribald, wandering the war-torn riverlands barefoot to give out oranges and flour and alms to those in need. That kind of religious-charity seems to be exclusive to the seven.

So given all this... idk, what's their deal? Are they "gods as a reflection of humanity"? "gods as a reflection of society"? I feel like "they were always 100% fake and anyone who ever prayed to them was praying to nothing" is a little too grimdark for grrm, but idk!

Sorry for the long ask jfjsjjd

i am not a good meta poster or essayist so my apologies for what will surely be a poor answer 😭 so introduction. grrm is lapsed catholic and the seven is like soo barely removed from catholicism. also rhllor/old gods doing things in text doesnt necessarily make them, the gods, real. the magic is certainly real but that doesnt mean the gods themselves are real. and so that goes into the whole Do the gods of planetos actually exist at all. so the faith isnt actually alone in having the Are the gods real? question

the faith is based on faith right, belief without necessarily having proof. it's pretty unique actually for that. the old gods have weirwoods and dreams, rhllor has shadowbinding, but the faith doesnt even have martyrdom/saints/incorruptibility/miracles/etc. its purely a social function; hierarchy, laws, morality and life-after-death existentialism.

i think this is what grrm is exploring, another brick in the wall of Society. like how is religion used as a hammer for hierarchy and how does it interact with power, with patriarchy, with classism. yes, the faith descends into fundamentalism but its also one of the only ways the peasant class can organise and attack the establishment. its social mobility in a way they cant otherwise access.

so i guess in all my rambling, i'd agree with the assessment that its 'gods as a reflection of society/humanity'. i dont think the fact that theyre 100% fake is bleak, really. i think all religions are fake irl but that doesnt take away from the beauty and love and joy they can bring to people. for every cruel septa/on, there's a meribald who brings peace and forgiveness.

idk again i am not a good meta poster i cant pull out quotes for shit 😭 but i remember the moments of jaime earnestly praying. and you look at melisandre who uses her faith in rhllor as a desperate attempt to justify her own sense of self, her suffering, her actions. its similar in a way to the faith. melisandre's total belief in rhllor, no matter how delusional, is just as important as if rhllor himself actually existed.

so to summarise, the meaning we gain from metaphysical concepts can be just as important as the perceived power of the metaphysical concept itself. idk im sure im making a mess of the philosphical idealism vs materialism plus i am making no sense and making no actual points but i hope this communicates my personal interpretation of the faith of the seven!

[agentrouka-blog]

Hello, Rouka! I love your blog and the way your mind works. Thank you for all you contribute to the fandom. I saw your post about Jon not becoming a NK and wondered whether you think there is a possibility of Bran becoming the leader of the Others instead? What if the "King Bran" spoiler GRRM gave D&D actually meant a Night's King Bran ending instead of King of Westeros (or the south at least) Bran? I feel like he's being led toward something like that through his connection with the weirwoods, but perhaps his arc is about rejecting that type of power and choosing non-magical leadership instead?

Hello, and thank you so much for your kind words! :)

My take on the Night King is that there's more than a little of Stannis in there, a leader who succumbs to the seductive call of otherworldly power. The Night King and the Corpse Queen mentally enslave his fellow Night's Watch brothers (potentially through warg-like powers?) and make unspecified sacrifices that may or may not resemble those made by Craster. It takes an alliance of enemies to defeat them.

He brought her back to the Nightfort and proclaimed her a queen and himself her king, and with strange sorceries he bound his Sworn Brothers to his will. For thirteen years they had ruled, Night's King and his corpse queen, till finally the Stark of Winterfell and Joramun of the wildlings had joined to free the Watch from bondage. After his fall, when it was found he had been sacrificing to the Others, all records of Night's King had been destroyed, his very name forbidden. (ASOS, Bran IV)

All of this reeks of blood magic, to the point where I see the corpse queen as a metaphor for this icy version of blood magic, if she is not a priestly figure similar to Melisandre.

I don't think that this represents a concrete leadership position over the Others, certainly not in the future. (I think the ice threat will be definitively ended.) But it's a template of abuse of power that fits villains like Stannis or Dany, and it may touch on an ancient crime committed by a Stark in connection with blood magic and is likely related to the Starks' inherited warg powers.

I do think that Bran is connected to this tale, in terms of a parallel, as he too is enslaving Hodor with his mind and unable to resist the temptation of abusing his warging ability. He could become the Stark that turns evil, if he chose. He is the representation of the ancient history of House Starks that likely needs correcting. All those Brandons...

"Some say he was a Bolton," Old Nan would always end. "Some say a Magnar out of Skagos, some say Umber, Flint, or Norrey. Some would have you think he was a Woodfoot, from them who ruled Bear Island before the ironmen came. He never was. He was a Stark, the brother of the man who brought him down." She always pinched Bran on the nose then, he would never forget it. "He was a Stark of Winterfell, and who can say? Mayhaps his name was Brandon. Mayhaps he slept in this very bed in this very room." (ASOS, Bran IV)

His growing power and his ability to see and even manipulate the past may even end up leading Bran into a position that seems like a mirror to Daenerys with the Dothraki. She is more than likely going to unite the khalasars at Vaes Dothrak, or at least defeat the current leadership, cause immense destruction to their holy site and end up leading a sizable new army of dangerous warriors.

Bran seemingly taking up a position of power, leadership or influence over the wights or in collusion with the Others is a very plausible development in the lead-up to his return South and the resolution to this threat. The weirwood cave is unlikely to remain safe for long. The crone-like Bloodraven married to the tree, drawing Bran into his world, mirrors the dosh khaleen. If Vaes Dothrak faces destruction, so does this strange underworldly cave world.

It's for Bran to decide whether he wants to choose blood magic and follow that dark part of his heritage, or whether he wants to right some wrongs and sacrifice his powers and his dreams, turn away from the corpse (queen) and fight for human life.

[windriverdelta]

How did Euron survive his trip to Valyria?

One aspect of Euron Greyjoy that is often argued about is whether he has really been to Valyria. Crow's Eye claims so in the Reaver and Drowned Man AFFC chapters, while Lord Rodrik "The Reader" Harlaw voices doubt. According to TWOIAF and others, no one who went to Valyria after the Doom came back - except maybe Aerea Targaryen and her dragon Balerion, and the former died soon after return while the latter was noticeably injured despite being literally the biggest and scariest dragon known in ASOIAF. However, my understanding is that Martin himself confirmed that Euron did indeed visit Valyria, or at least this is the common interpretation of his statements.

One thing that doesn't come up often is that "Euron visited Valyria" does not have to mean "Euron set physically foot there himself". He could have flown over it, or used someone else's body.

In The Reaver AFFC, Euron makes the following claim:

"When I was a boy, I dreamt that I could fly," he announced. "When I woke, I couldn't . . . or so the maester said. But what if he lied?"

As a number of people have noted, this is eerily reminiscent of Bran's dreams of falling and flying in AGOT, while he was comatose. During these dreams - which probably are not actual dreams in the normal sense, but rather extracorporeal experiences - Bran was among other things flying over Westeros, and seeing as far as the Heart of Winter and deep into it (Bran III AGOT). If Euron had a similar experience but looked southeast, he could have seen Valyria - and into Valyria.

What's more, Bloodraven tells us that you need to be a skinchanger to become a greenseer. Jojen Reed says that he (Jojen) is only a greendreamer (Bran III ADWD) and doesn't mention any flying "dreams", indicating that they are specific to greenseers So if the flight "dreams" are a sign that Euron has the greensight, then he's also a skinchanger.

We know from Bran III ASOS, Bran I and III ADWD that he can skinchange into Hodor, and Varamyr in the ADWD prologue elaborates on the concept of skinchanging into people. There are indications in the Aeron TWOW chapter that Euron skinchanged into his brother Robin - calling his head "soft" as if Euron had been inside. Moreover Bran thinks that "No one must ever know" about the skinchanging into Hodor, Varamyr thinks "No one will ever know" about entering the spearwife Thistle; in a parallel, Euron cuts the tongues out of his ship's crew and has no moral qualms in general - a necessary condition to do something as immoral as skinchanging people. So it's possible that Euron skinchanged into some poor sod that he then sent into Valyria, while his (Euron's) own body remained at a safe distance on his Silence.

[wodania]

What are some of your favorite quotes from the main series? And what are some from Dunk & Egg?

A lot of the asoiaf quotes are gonna be A Storm of Swords because it’s the book I read digitally the most, meaning I was actually highlighting as I went along. So lots Storm representation oops. Rule of five per series so I don’t get carried away.

Dunk and Egg (this one is long because I love discussing these novellas):

Something something the wealthy huddle beneath lavish roofs and tents and leave the poor to sleep in the rain and mud, but the wealthy have created for themselves gilded cages while the poor can watch the stars fall and claim the gift of luck that comes with it. Thanks George I eat stuff like this up like I’m a starving man.

Feel like we need to mention a dragon dream if we’re discussing Dunk and Egg. My favourite dragon dream in the D&E series. Everything about it is correct: Dunk will be a Kingsguard, he’ll be famed throughout the land, he’ll live for nothing but to serve his King. Though Daemon gets one big thing wrong and that’s that he is not going to be King. Second hand embarrassment. As Bloodraven put it, “The fool just got the colour wrong.” Literally Daemon’s entire character. Spitting facts but he can’t tell red from black.

Defending myself by saying this isn’t a dragon dream. Uhhh so! King Aegon V was killed in a massive fire that burned down Summerhall on the night Rhaegar was born. Duncan the Tall, the Lord Commander, died trying to save both King Aegon and the other party guests from the fire. In this scene, Dunk dreams that he’s digging a grave and people, dead or alive, are appearing in it and speaking to him. The last to appear is Egg, who is buried in the sand even though Dunk tries to pull him out. Dunk falls into the grave and suffocates in the sand. It’s obviously supposed to represent the smoke at the fire of Summerhall. Literally wtf George?

The context is pissing contests by the way. Ignore the pissing part there’s a metaphor there I promise. Dunk is super interesting to me because his raising of Egg makes Egg the small-folk loving King that later rules Westeros. Dunk is wise in his life experience, yet he knows nothing of the struggle of women in both noble and peasant settings. Rohanne let’s him know just how difficult it is for a woman to claim any power or influence in Westeros, using the metaphor of a pissing contest, that classic male bonding activity (a woman needs to piss twice as hard).

This does a really good job of putting into perspective how notable Aegon’s kingship was. “Kings do not heap honour on the likes of you and me,” yet King Aegon V named Dunk his Lord Commander and solidified Dunk’s place as a legendary knight. By ASOIAF, Dunk is spoken about admirably. Another King might not have ever given a man like Dunk the opportunity, but Aegon did.

Asoiaf (shorter because I feel like these have been talked about way more):

Daenerys Targaryen:

Makes me tear up. I feel like it’s obvious why. Also after this she tells Jorah that the people will not hurt her, for she is their mother. And then she rides her Silver throughout the crowd while laughing because she’s so happy and in love with the world!!! This is probably one of the only quotes here that isn’t going to be miserable.

Beric Dondarrion:

“Are you my mother, Thoros?” propaganda I think about this quote so much. Beric and Thoros aren’t even on my top ten list but their conversations and dynamic is absolutely heartbreaking. Beric omg how you rot my brain.

Catelyn Tully:

Not “Ned loved.” Instead, “Ned loves.” Because perhaps in her grief and panic, she forgot her husband had even died. I’m dead.

Jon Connington:

He’s so doomed. He’s so bitter and angry. He loves his son so much and that’s exactly why he’s so doomed. Because he refuses to give his son anything but the best, even though the best is going to kill them both.

Maester Aemon Targaryen:

I am a loyal Egg girl so this killed me nine different times :)

[lemonhemlock]

Hello! Hope u are doing well.

I wanted to ask u what you think of viserys and the prophecy. The dude was king for quite a long time and in peace time as well, and he invited the northern lords to pledge allegiance to his heir. Why didn't he or his ancestors put any plans in place, like the starks with their wall to defend against the ice zombie threat? He could have even talked to the stark patriarch who was there for rhaenyra at that time and made some plans. (I guess if they show cregan in season 2 saying like "Hey Jace your grandpa talked about this with my dad...it would be interesting).

I mean the show made it seem like the triarchy is the only problem and Viserys enjoys the success from Jaehaerys' reign so if this prophecy is the most important thing to him why didn't he focus on that too and make some plans?

Also any thoughts on what was Rhaenyras big plan on this threat, coz other than increasing the number of possible promised princes and increasing confusion on who it actually be, I don't actually think she would have done anything either?

Why did aegon i not just tell everyone and let everyone prepare? I hated they made it even seem like his invasion actually had any moral basis in the show because i definitely think he just invaded because he wanted to and not for some altruistic reasons.

Is it needed for rhaenyra to be even queen for the prophecy? It seems like anyone from aegon i's line would be enough and the best course of action I think was for viserys to give a class to all his family members atleast on this "big threat".

(sorry for the long question 💚)

Hey, starstruck. 💚

I have a little bit (or more lol) of a different opinion on this topic than I've seen so far in the fandom. I think it's very likely the prophecy was one of GRRM's add-ons. Or at the very least something that he wasn't particularly bothered by, bc it... fits? I'm not very pressed by it; it doesn't really contradict the canon we have so far in any significant way? We already know Jon and/or Dany are the prime candidates for TPTWP and both of them come from Aegon's line.

I feel like GRRM is deliberately withholding information about the conquering trio for some reason. The Targaryens lived on Dragonstone for the whole Century of Blood without bothering Westeros in any particular way, content to grow their coffers on trade, even though they were the only dragonlords left in the world. Even Aegon I got himself involved with Pentos and Tyrosh against Volantis, so he seemed to have totally different preoccupations before something happened and he set his sights on Westeros. We already know some Targaryens have dragondreams so him being influenced by a prophecy doesn't strike me as outrageous. Bloodraven himself could retroactively send him those dreams to get him to move his arse over to Westeros, like a kind of medieval version of Netflix's DARK.

As far as the Conquest being morally justified because of a prophecy, IDK... does Rhaegar's abduction of Lyanna become morally justified because of the prophecies Rhaegar was studying? I'm inclined to say no, but people are still (hotly) debating that in fandom to this day. I also think sometimes fans tend to overanalyze the author's intentions and also perceive them through more of a modern (or even Americanized) lens. I know we say within fandom that Westeros was colonised (as a shorthand), but that's not exactly the definition, because what the Targaryens did in Westeros was devoid of the large-scale population movements, assimilation and deep cultural exchanges that characterised this phenomenon - as well as the nefarious elements that the colonisation of the Americas is well-remembered for, like genocide and cultural erasure or the criminal-level exploitation that the Europeans enabled in Africa.

When we are taught about the Roman Empire's expansionism and other such historical wars of conquest, it's more to press the issue of ethnogenesis and discuss diplomatic history, not to philosophically ponder whether it was "good" or "bad". "Was Roman Emperor X morally justified in annexing territory A or B?" is not really the type of question that is very prevalent when parsing through the historiography of the real world.* At some point in history, any kind of existing polity was formed as a result of some war of conquest and some bloodshed. Even each individual component kingdom of Westeros was made up by uniting several other petty kingdoms in the area. Was that morally impeachable? If not, then what should we do - go back and disintegrate that unified political structure into its component bits until we get back to tribe-level? Where does it stop? Who is to pinpoint where exactly the line in the sand is? And why are we focusing specifically on the size of this country/nation/community instead of focusing on the overall population's well-being?

This is a very rambling parenthesis, but, ultimately, I don't think the author necessarily intended for the particular act of conquest by the Targaryens to be viewed as 100% BAD or 100% GOOD. What marks the difference for me personally is the asymmetry of power between the Targaryens and the rest of Westeros, that is not borne out of any technological prowess, but out of a kind of pact-with-the-devil, selling-your-soul-to-obtain-access-to-magic type of thing. It's the Field of Fire and reigning down fire over Dorne as combat engagement. It's not something anyone else has any shot at replicating. To me, the story of the Targaryens is about gaining access to absolute power and allowing it to corrupt you, disregarding good governance and terrorizing those who oppose you in favour of keeping that power at all costs. They have these supernatural fetters around them and place themselves at the top of the hierarchical pyramid, but they have little to show for it when it comes to actually ruling the realms they wanted to conquer so much.

Perhaps their lack of planning against the ice zombie threat plays right into this dynamic and entitlement. It is notable, though, that the Starks in the main series are none-the-wiser about the ice threat as well. Nor does Ned seem to have any idea about it. Or the Night's Watch. So if information got lost along history, there is either a good in-universe explanation for it that George hasn't revealed yet or it's not the fault of one individual person who wanted to gatekeep. I get the feeling that neither Viserys, nor Rhaenyra thought that this apocalyptic threat was going to pester them specifically - more like it was more a problem for future generations than it was for them. Perhaps bolstered by the knowledge that no particularly suspicious activity had been reported north of the Wall.

As for the question - why didn't Aegon I simply dissimulate his knowledge of the prophecy and let the Westerosi decide on their own what to do about it? Well, the realistic answer is that they would have laughed and carried on. Who would entertain such a wacky notion? Who would even care about a problem that could/maybe/probably-not-though happen eons into the future, when they'd all be dead anyway? We have a hard time getting people to care about climate change right now and we have scientific evidence at our disposal, not an unprovable prophecy. My guess would be that Aegon maybe thought that, by bestowing kinghood to TPTWP, he was giving him/her the necessary tools to defeat this threat - money, resources, armies and the legal authority to make everyone else obey them, thus simplifying the process.

RE: the book endgame, coming back to the famous Robert Frost poem, my interpretation of that is that both ice and fire have the potential to be incredibly destructive and could reasonably cause the end of the world. But the idea is for them to neutralize each other out - not that fire power is the moral choice here as opposed to ice or vice-versa. IMO both of them have no place in the world and have to be snuffed out if Westeros is ever to escape this weird climate limbo it's stuck in.

Of course, the problem with meta-analyses like this is that we still have 2 full books to go until the end, so it's kind of early to be making grand, sweeping ideological commentaries like this, when we're still missing vital information. So whenever something else gets revealed, there is a real risk of us looking a little foolish in hindsight.

*not to say that you can't study history using by resorting to that paradigm, but you won't find answers that are immediate or plain, a neat little box in which to stuff this conundrum, with a neat little sticker labelled GOOD or EVIL. Similarly, I don't think the author intends to solve that moral dilemma either - making us question it is the entire point.

[nightswatchdisbandmentera]

IMO people's theories predicting Bran will die in the cave by bloodraven stealing his body or by something else or the theories he'll just stay in the cave seem as ridiculous as Jon never being resurrected or Dany never stepping foot in Westeros.

Oh for sure. Bran’s time in that cave is his training arc. Same as Arya in Braavos or Sansa in the Vale or Jon at the Wall. They’re all headed for a big climax so they won’t stay stagnant, that’s not how character development works. They’re bound to leave those places at some point. Bran remaining a tree is like saying that Arya joins that theatre troupe forever and ever.

A lot of asoiaf fans aren’t really thinking about character progression or narrative structure, right? So a lot of the theories you see about the endgame can be summed up with “but how does that relate to the themes in the story?” or better yet “how is that even remotely satisfying for the character?” Bran turning evil is one such theory. It doesn’t make sense given what we’ve seen of the character and his journey. So anything with “Bran goes evil and becomes a tyrant king” is really unsatisfactory and would actually be a terrible ending. And believe it or not, Reddit is full of theories about how Bran becomes king because he’ll warg into Jon’s corpse and install a proto-Targ restoration that way….which is an infinitely worse ending than what D&D gave us. Not only does that suck for Bran but how does that even make sense for Jon?

[alannybunnue]

Bracken reader

One time bloodraven joked that his wife was such a good mom that he was gonna to make the baby a big brother and the baby would have to share his momma love and time if a sibling the baby cried HOURS nonstop until his father yell that ok his momma would be just his and then he stopped

Jokes on Bennie actually.

Cuz his momma is already pregnant with his little sister, Melissa

He is those kinds of brothers who first feel disgusted with their baby sibling, until the baby does something cute to them and now the boy is in love.

[opinions-about-tiaras]

Were the Blackfyre Rebellions at all justified, in your opinion?

Excellent question!

I'm going to take a somewhat different tack than @racefortheironthrone has done in his own answer to this question here.

I'll put my cards on the table right at the beginning: fuck House Blackfyre. But you probably want a lot more than that. So first, lets define terms here:

For me, for a rebellion to be justified in the context of Westeros, you have to answer three questions.

First, what are the grievances of those rebelling? Two different actors in the same rebellion can have different grievances or no grievance at all; some are purely opportunistically venal. Someone raising rebellion against tyranny and oppression is justified; someone doing it to get paid or for power is not, even if they're taking part in the precise same uprising.

Second, how grounded in reality are these grievances, and what ability and responsibility do those holding them have to discern this?

Third, are these grievances sufficient to justify the war, wrack, and ruin caused by raising swords in rebellion against the Iron Throne?

So lets take these in order:

So let’s take the Blackfyre Rebellions in order:

First Blackfyre: I'm going to be blunt; there just isn't any there there.

The only way the First Blackyre could be at all justified is if those participants really, truly believed that Daemon was Aegon IV's eldest legitimate child and that Daeron II was the Dragonknight's bastard. That is the grievance they present to the kingdom at large; that Daeron has usurped the throne.

And that's a lie. That's a nakedly transparent, opportunistic lie, perpetrated by Daemon, Bittersteel, Daemon's children, and their sundry supporters. It is a grievance not grounded in reality. When you're predicating your entire rebellion, something that is going to soak the kingdom in blood, on a lie, you are probably not about to embark upon a justified course of action.

The actual grievance of Daemon Blackfyre and Bittersteel seems to have been "fuck you, we want the throne, and we're tough enough to take it, 'cos Daemon is the Conquerer come again and Daeron is a bookish loser."

So you have a terrible grievance that is nowhere near sufficient to justify the war it is going to cause.

Others who backed the black dragon were motivated by anti-Dornish animus, a feeling of resentment that as part of his deal to bring Dorne into the realm peacefully, Daeron II had given away too much, was showing them too much favor. The problem there is that even if this is true (and it doesn't appear to be; Daeron seems to have ruled fairly and with an even hand, which means someone hewing to this is bad at discerning reality) it does not, in my eyes, rise to the level of justifying rebellion, especially given the hypocrisy involved.

Aegon IV's reign was a carnival of misrule from stem to stern, and yet his lords remained loyal to him. For lords who bent the knee to Aegon IV without deciding he needed to be deposed in a war to suddenly declare that Daeron II is not just an incompetent, but SO incompetent, ruling so poorly, has served the realm so badly, that their oaths to him mean nothing makes me think "those lords are either liars, or so idiotic that it rises to a level rendering them unfit for their station rather than Daeron."

The First Blackfyre was not at all justified. It was an act of greedy, malicious usurpation from top to bottom. The very best people involved in it were people like Ser Eustace Osgrey... and Ser Eustace freely admits that he violated his oaths to the Iron Throne based more or less on vibes and on Daemon's rock-hard abs. If those are your best, what are your worst like?

Second Blackfyre: This one comes so close but doesn't quite make the mark.

The conditions abroad in the land at the time of the Second Blackfyre are absolutely sufficient for a justified rebellion. Bloodraven is ruling poorly while Aerys declines to rule at all and Maekar sulks at Summerhall. Bloodraven, in fact, is not only ruling poorly, but is abrogating all sorts of traditional freedoms, establishing to the best of his power a pre-modern police state, and most critical of all, he is not defending the Realm.

There is already a rebellion against the Iron Throne taking place at this time; Dagon Greyjoy has betrayed his oaths, placed himself outside of the King's Justice, and is making war upon Westeros. And the Iron Throne's response to this is... nothing. Neglect. They don't invest their Wardens of the North, South, and West with power and authority to deal with this. They don't dispatch Maekar to organize a counterstroke. They basically declare its a problem for the Lords Paramount and then do jack all.

ASOIAF has taught us one crucial, vital requirement that any who would seek to sit the Iron Throne must fulfill:

The king defends the kingdom. Or he is no king at all.

Aerys and Bloodraven are not fulfilling this most basic test of kingship.

So you have all the ingredients for an entirely justified rebellion.

There's only one problem here, which is that the ringleaders don't actually give a shit about any of this.

Some of their followers do, the hedge knights we see at the wedding, and of course people like Glendon Ball. They have legitimate grievances and if they were to raise their swords for the reasons enumerated above, that would absolutely be a justified rebellion.

The ringleaders, though? Well... almost to a man, they seem to basically be motivated by greed and resentment. To the extent they actually care about Bloodraven's misrule and the various problems plaguing Westeros, its only because that opens the way to the throne for them.

Gormon Peake doesn't give a shit that the ironborn are raiding up and down the kingdom and despoiling the land. What Gormon Peake gives a shit about is getting his castles back. Lord Butterwell is little better and is a coward to boot. Daemon is somewhat better than his mentors, but frankly he doesn't much seem to care either; he is courteous and chivalrous and even to an extent just, and under other circumstances might have made a good king... but his motivation to the throne isn't much deeper than "that throne is mine by rights." I have trouble believing in any more noble or altruistic motive than this.

So the Second Blackfyre rebellion could have been justified... but the actual rebellion we got wasn't, I don't think.

Third Blackfyre: This is basically the Second, but even less justified. Bloodraven has righted the ship of state by this point, but even if he hadn't, House Blackfyre, again, seems to have little more motivation for wanting the throne than "we wants it, precious." There is no indication of any better justification for it than that.

Fourth Blackfyre: Oddly, this might be the best-justified of all the Blackfyre Rebellions!

The end of the Third Blackfyre and the treatment of Aenys Blackfyre (the dude Bloodraven suckered to King's Landing and then murdered) involved shocking breaches of honor on the part of House Targaryen that they made zero attempt to apologize for or to make amends for. House Targaryen had, finally, at long last, provided House Blackfyre with both a legitimate grievance that is ALSO a grievance they care about. It is not at all unjustified to rise in rebellion against people who have proven repeatedly that even if you bend the knee, they're just going to thank you for making it that much easier to strike your head off.

The main issue here, though, in a practical sense, is that this grievance is a personal one between two families that not a lot of other folks are going to care about. This is a problem if you're the less-powerful family, which House Blackfyre is, by a LOT. By this point the "rebellion" is more in the nature of a private war, the royal equivalent of the Brackens and Blackwoods going at it.

The Fourth Blackfyre is very, very narrowly justified. However, its justified in the sense that this a legitimate feud between the two Houses (finally.) Its political justifications are... on somewhat less firm footing. Westeros has now gone through four supposedly illegitimate kings since the black dragon standard was raised, and Aegon V, critically, has the imprimatur of a Great Council.

That's important. The lords of Westeros collectively took counsel with one another and declared that Aegon V Targaryen would be their king. The Blackfyres can no longer claim that House Targaryen occupies its throne by dint of tyranny and force of arms while the lords of the realm sew black dragon banners and secretly toast the memory of Daemon. This political fact makes the larger rebellion harder to justify.

The War of the Ninepenny Kings: Ahahahahahahahaha. Not even a Blackfyre Rebellion, and I won't dignify it with the name!

At this point they're just brigands.

So yeah, those are the Blackfyre Rebellions. In my mind, the poisoned fruit of the first go-round corrupted the entire enterprise going forward; House Blackfyre's first rising was founded out of ambition, pride, greed, and resentment. It should come as no surprise that the fruit of this tree was not sweet.

[wild-as-a-winter-storm]

HOTD season finale thoughts! 

Okay, so more Lannister content, yay! It was fun seeing Tyland’s stuff in essos, so sad remembering what’s to come for him though! 

Ooh aemond looking down on a burning sharp point! More ordinary people being destroyed by house Targaryen’s civil war! This is what it's about!

Oh dear, poor Jace! Ulf saying exactly the wrong things to him (though in fairness he doesn’t realise it). Ulf is generally really fun though, “Silverwing’s a goer” haha 

Another amazing Aegon and Larys scene, loved it! “Aegon the Realm’s Delight” haha (Tom Glynn Carney’s acting has been so good this season) 

Criston and Gwayne’s scene was actually really good, and no one's talking about it!

Daemon’s weirwood vision gave me a little bit too much of a GOT ick but there were some cool elements, seeing Bloodraven, the blood going down Daemon’s hands, him falling. The best Daemon thing for me though was him and rhaenyra’s reunion and him bringing his army to her side, great scene!

Corlys renaming his ship after rhaenys <3 

I actually really liked the scene with aemond, alicent and Helaena! Aemond’s a cool character, and I quite enjoy seeing him having these more horrible moments. 

Ooh and “I was happier before I was queen!” You know alicent was thinking “me too!” 

And then the scene with just Helaena and aemond was interesting too, I liked her standing up for aegon and holding aemond accountable for what he’s done and not being pushed around by him into doing something she doesn’t want to do! Also Helaena looked beautiful in that scene haha. One thing though, was that what she said about the god’s eye was a little too obvious imo. I don’t mind her giving away little bits of foreshadowing but that was going too far. 

Exciting that rhaena finally found sheepstealer, that was something I’d been hoping for for a while, though at the same time it is a shame that nettles is all but confirmed to not be in it now.

And finally, time to address the alicent and rhaenyra meeting… first of all, it's funny, at the beginning of that scene I was thinking why is daemon not in that bed with her, there’s no way they’re not fucking after that reunion! but then I realised this is probably not that night, it's later on, and she is in fact on dragonstone, haha. 

And also a nitpicky thing… why is rhaenyra in that hairstyle in bed? That is not a do that people would sleep in, and it is far too neat for someone who’s just got out of bed. 

But onto the more important things. The acting was amazing in this scene, Olivia and Emma are great together and there were some cool moments- I liked seeing Alicent biting her fingernails again like when she was young, and just generally rhaenyra’s attitude towards her was fun (she is FINALLY wanting her brother’s head, yes!!). But in general, a lot of the things they were saying just seemed so silly, particularly alicent. And the question of “why are you here??” did feel like the key one. This meeting would not happen. They are at war. (I have more thoughts about this specific element but I think I'm going to save them for a separate post).

And Alicent would never give up Aegon, just as Rhaenyra would never give up one of her sons if Alicent asked that of her. And it felt like a diminishing of Rhaenyra (and Daemon’s) accomplishment in taking King’s Landing if it’s going to just be because Alicent gave it to Rhaenyra.

And it was an interesting place to end it- on the one hand, I am glad that Jace isn’t gone yet, but on the other hand, as I said, the battle of the gullet would have been a good point to end this season, and I am still attached to the idea I had of one of rhaenyra’s sons dying at the end of each season (Luke, then Jace, then Joffrey) and finally for the forth, one of her sons becoming king. (Aegon iii). 

I did like those shots at the end of the different parties ready to go to war, they looked stunning, but again it does kind of go against the fact that the war should already have started ages ago. Including, of course, the shot of the Hightower force and tessarion… it was what I was kind of expecting, actually, that they would give us a glimpse of tessarion without showing or casting daeron. I was keenly watching the rider on her back though!

And I am already eagerly awaiting season 3, despite having some problems with this season. There was a lot I liked too, and there’s going to be a lot of exciting stuff, it'll be really interesting to see how they handle it! 

[sanjuno]

BloodRaven Actually Does Something

What if the resurgence of magic was more drastic?

(By which I mean I re-read The Great Northern Alliance on a03 and it’s hilarious and brilliant and I couldn’t stop imagining stuff about it)

Like, imagine that the children born after a certain point (perhaps BloodRaven saw all his remaining relatives go nuts/start getting kicked out and decided to tip the scales a bit) start manifesting magic traits and potential. The highborn have been selectively breeding themselves and accidentally keeping the magic blood strong, but there’s also a lot of small folk, either descended from bastards/demoted families or just genetic luck, who get “tricks”. Like a pair of twins who can share their senses with each other. Or a toddler who’s dolls move. Or a little boy is attacked by his drunken father and his bottle shatters against his glass-glimmer skin.

But the focus the instigator has is on the people he actually wants to have strong abilities-everyone else is just from a ripple effect- aka his relatives (Targaryens) and the Houses who will actually prepare for winter (Major Northern Houses). Starks actually fall into both categories, and so basically all the children from Roberts Rebellion onwards in Winterfell-shire can do something weird. (And in the free cities there are rumours of unnatural children being born, and a Dornish girl hisses to snakes in the shadow of the Tower of Joy).

Stark children “talents”. I’m thinking they can all warg, at least a little. It’s the baseline manifestation of magic. Not a lot, but as the talent ripples out it becomes a boon to sending messages.

Robb picked up his “template” from the far ancient intermarriage the First Men had with the Children of the Forest. Roots climb up his boots if he stands still too long, plants flourish under his gaze. The weirwood trees whisper to him, and let him give them new faces and children. It’s not particularly useful in a fight, but an army under Robb Stark will never go hungry. And if he has a slight green tinge to his skin, and eats a little less than he should, who will know?

Jon Snow may look like his mother, but his many times grand uncle made sure that it was his father’s blood that shaped the awakening magic. The Valerians had children with their siblings do you really think they wouldn’t try and weave the dragons in there somehow as well? Jon doesn’t burn, has never been hurt by heat, and when his rage builds so does the fire in his lungs. Scales sleep under his skin, ready to protect him. No blade seems to do more than well up a tiny amount of blood when Jon Snow wades into battle.

Theon Greyjoy was an accident. An accident that turned out for the best, but still an accident. He came into his abilities late, it taking a year or so exposed to Brynden Rivers’ best efforts before there were results, and even then it wasn’t noticed till Theon dived into a river to save a Bran that was too young to know how to swim. The first Greyjoy took a mermaid to wife, and her blood resurged in her descendent. Water is like air to Theon, and no matter the depth to which he dives, pressure will never be a problem. Less useful is understanding the creatures of the water. That doesn’t mean obey, and they cannot understand any human other than Theon. It does help his claim to heirship when he returns to the Iron Islands with a pod of kracken.

Sansa Stark is a … difficult case. The White Walkers are tied to the Starks, in ways that only they know. But Sansa can walk barefoot through the snow, and haarfrost forms on her fingertips when a presumptive Southron sees a pretty Northern maid travelling to meet her mother’s kin. When the Northern armies cannot win, they fall back into the deep forest, and Sansa Stark steps onto the field, ice woven like lace through her blood red hair, and her Tully eyes burn bright. The Heiress to the Night King smiles like her wolf as every dead man on the field stands up.

Arya Stark actually pulls from her mother’s line. The Tully’s are Andals, and have been devout every since their first crossed the sea with a seven pointed star on their sails. Now a way has been opened for the seven-who-are-one and this child has the potential for any of their faces. Arya Stark can pull on one of the faces of her patron(s), and gains almost impossible skill in that concept. If one did not know how old she was, it could be attributed to a lifetime of study and practice. Arya Stark dislikes stepping into her mother’s sept. The light and statues that turn to face her draw too much attention. The travelling Septon bows to her on the road, and he doesn’t know why he listens to her arguments.

Bran Stark has two Uncle Bryndens. One of them isn’t actually related to him, and he’s never met the other, but they are still his Uncles. Bran has been drifting from mind to mind since he was four, and has been the apprentice to the Three eyed Raven for almost as long. Every creature could have him hiding behind its eyes, listening. Everything ever spoken near a weirwood tree is ready for his perusal. When the North goes goes to war, Bran makes sure his Brothers know everything. And their enemies never think about the rat crouched under their chair. Listening.

Rickon Stark is still young, but his talent for learning languages is already catching attention. Things he writes in the surviving words of the Old Tongue seem strange somehow. Things become much clearer when he recreates a miniature of the Wall from snow, paper, and bloodied ink. His first project is a war table for his elder brother, with the everfrozen ice taking pride of place.

(I have more for other Northern Houses, “wild” talents for the small folk, and what’s happening with and around Viserys and Daenaerys. Also does anyone know where all the Sand Snakes were prior to Oberon picking them up and training them to kill?)

The first idea with much crazier powers could be a ton of fun, but at a glance I worry that it’s too skewed in the North’s favor. I get that it’s Brynden influencing the people he thinks will play the greatest role in the War for the Dawn, but it feels off to have so much of the powers concentrated among characters who already get so much in the fanfiction community. I really dig the Seven being at play with Arya, and I’d probably just take that further to other gods and faiths. Have some of the Rhoynish stuff in Dorne, maybe have Shireen with Rh'llor powers. If the Lannisters have any sort of magic blood, then naturally it would be strong as hell in Joffrey, Myrcella, and Tommen, since they’re inbred beyond the norm.

Maybe have him focus on the Ruling families, the Strong families (plus his)? or have it as a ripple effect down from whatever cave he’s huddling in, spreading South? Admittedly I do like giving the North a little help, and in universe Brynden would Want the vanguard against the Others to be strong. And I’m focusing at the characters theatre common in stories because they are the ones I know well.

But you’re right that other post rebellion children should have “talents”. What if Shireen and all Roberts Bastards all have variations on weather magic, while Cercei’s children all take after the Lannister mind manipulation or stone singing?

Anyway. I’m thinking there are baseline abilities before the quirk that ancestry or environment gave them. These were set up last time magic spread across the world. Those of First Men blood can warg a little, to a single close animal at minimum. Those of Andal blood may use Septon blessed boundaries to slow or even stop those who are against them. Valerians are fireproof, or at least resistant. And the Royinar ( nowadays Dornish) heal faster, to a varying degree, when in water.

Magic in a person is another tool of survival, and though it may be shaped by ancestry, in manifestation and power, what the wielder needs to survive, to live, is what shapes it. A starving child becomes capable of eating rot without ever sickening, an abused one skin hardens to steel. A child who is fed to the point of vomiting learns to burn fat into bursts of incredible speed and strength and thought .

[addamvelaryon]

Okay, so I need to distract myself from Moon Knight for a bit so I’ll pivot over to ASOIAF instead. Specifically thinking about Jon Snow, I wonder if he may become a fully fledged skinchanger in TWOW? 

It’s established in the books that all the Stark children are wargs with their connection to their direwolves, to varying degrees of ability. But being a warg doesn’t necessarily make one able to skinchange into other animals. [For the purpose of this post, I will refer to warging as solely having control over wolves (/and dogs) and skinchanging as having control over any and all kinds of animals; that is how the author describes it so I shall too.]

Of the siblings, Bran is clearly the most powerful: a warg, skinchanger, and greenseer too. His fall leaves him in a coma, which results in Bran experiencing his first meeting with the Three-Eyed Crow. But it’s not until the second book that Bran feels he can truly reach beyond himself, and beyond his direwolf, Summer:

He remembered who he was all too well; Bran the boy, Bran the broken. Better Bran the beastling. Was it any wonder he would sooner dream his Summer dreams, his wolf dreams? Here in the chill damp darkness of the tomb his third eye had finally opened. He could reach Summer whenever he wanted, and once he had even touched Ghost and talked to Jon.

— A Clash of Kings, Bran VII

It’s not the first time Bran has warged into Summer, so clearly something has changed this time. In ASOS and ADWD, we can see Bran further his abilities by skinchanging into different animals and even a human.

Arya is also a very powerful warg like her brother. She can reach out to Nymeria despite considerable time apart and over a large land distance. Though Pre-ADWD, she is only able to connect with her direwolf, not any other animals. It is specifically after she loses her eyesight that Arya starts being able to skinchange into cats. 

So that loss of sight (Bran being engulfed in the darkness of the crypts and Arya actually loosing her eyesight) is what seems to awaken the latent skinchanging ability. TWOIAF does make mention of something regarding this:

These new Lorathi were worshippers of Boash, the Blind God. Rejecting all other deities, the followers of Boash ate no flesh, drank no wine, and walked barefoot through the world, clad only in hair shirts and hides. Their eunuch priests wore eyeless hoods in honor of their god; only in darkness, they believed, would their third eye open, allowing them to see the "higher truths" of creation that lay concealed behind the world's illusions. The worshippers of Boash believed that all life was sacred and eternal; that men and women were equal; that lords and peasants, rich and poor, slave and master, man and beast were all alike, all equally worthy, all creatures of god.

— The World of Ice and Fire, The Free Cities: Lorath

Jojen also provides some insight on the opening of the third eye:

"How would I break the chains, Jojen?" Bran asked.

"Open your eye."

"They are open. Can't you see?"

"Two are open." Jojen pointed. "One, two."

"I only have two."

"You have three. The crow gave you the third, but you will not open it." He had a slow soft way of speaking. "With two eyes you see my face. With three you could see my heart. With two you can see that oak tree there. With three you could see the acorn the oak grew from and the stump that it will one day become. With two you see no farther than your walls. With three you would gaze south to the Summer Sea and north beyond the Wall."

— A Clash of Kings, Bran IV

Additional note by Bloodraven:

"Never fear the darkness, Bran." The lord's words were accompanied by a faint rustling of wood and leaf, a slight twisting of his head. "The strongest trees are rooted in the dark places of the earth. Darkness will be your cloak, your shield, your mother's milk. Darkness will make you strong."

— A Dance with Dragons, Bran III

The darkness, or shall I say sensory deprivation, is key here. Jojen (greendreams) and Varamyr (skinchanging) are two other characters with such supernatural abilities, and since both of them are described as being sickly in their childhood, it’s possible some kind of sensory deprivation state came about as a result of their childhood sickness.

Regarding the abilities of the other siblings, Rickon was also present in the crypts alongside Bran, but since he is a non-pov, it’s not really possible to say how exactly he is affected. Though I will say this, considering his young age, Rickon does seem to be incorporating large aspects of Shaggydog’s nature the same way Shaggydog is incorporating Rickon’s nature. In terms of describing their personalities, it’s hard to tell where one ends and the other begins. Moving on to Sansa, she is an interesting case because Lady died near the start of the story. Sansa still has warging potential but the skinchanging seems rather unlikely since I don’t see a situation in Sansa’s future where some kind of sensory deprivation could take place (who knows, it might happen, it might not).

Robb & Jon are in a similar situation where they both are somewhat aware of the connection they have with their direwolves. But both of them, over the course of their stories, start to deny this part of themselves (eg. locking up their direwolf).

The Varamyr prologue chapter introduces us to skinchanging 101, and one of the things we’re told is that Jon has great potential:

He had known what Snow was the moment he saw that great white direwolf stalking silent at his side. One skinchanger can always sense another. Mance should have let me take the direwolf. There would be a second life worthy of a king. He could have done it, he did not doubt. The gift was strong in Snow, but the youth was untaught, still fighting his nature when he should have gloried in it.

— A Dance with Dragons, Prologue

Varamyr acknowledges Jon’s latent skinchanging ability. Should a situation arise where Jon also experiences sensory deprivation, he could tap into that latent skinchanging ability he has. Though it’s not enough to simply have the ability, you need to be able to acknowledge that part of yourself. Jon does sometimes try to deny it. Robb, from what we saw of him, had a similar tendency; fluctuating between keeping Grey Wind always by his side and trying to limit their connection.

Part of the reason Bran and Arya are such powerful wargs, is that they fully embrace the nature of a human’s connection with their direwolf, and so they’re able to further that into their latent skinchanging ability easier than their siblings:

She took a deep breath, then lifted the broomstick in both hands and brought it down across her knee. It broke with a loud crack, and she threw the pieces aside. I am a direwolf, and done with wooden teeth.

— A Clash of Kings, Arya X

Yes, Arya thought. Yes, it's you who ought to run, you and Lord Tywin and the Mountain and Ser Addam and Ser Amory and stupid Ser Lyonel whoever he is, all of you better run or my brother will kill you, he's a Stark, he's more wolf than man, and so am I.

— A Clash of Kings, Arya VIII

I won't be afraid. He was the Prince of Winterfell, Eddard Stark's son, almost a man grown and a warg too, not some little baby boy like Rickon. Summer would not be afraid.

— A Storm of Swords, Bran III

"I'd sooner be a wolf. Then I could live in the wood and sleep when I wanted, and I could find Arya and Sansa. I'd smell where they were and go save them, and when Robb went to battle I'd fight beside him like Grey Wind. I'd tear out the Kingslayer's throat with my teeth, rip, and then the war would be over and everyone would come back to Winterfell. If I was a wolf . . ." He howled. "Ooo-ooo-oooooooooooo."

— A Clash of Kings, Bran I

Both of them even react in the same appreciative way to hearing about Robb's warging/connection with wolves. This is something we don’t really see with their siblings.

Jon most likely warged into Ghost upon his “death”. So that will certainly build a closer bond between the two. Depending on Jon’s internal psyche (if he has dreams in the crypts) and what state his body is kept in, he could very well be resurrected with his latent skinchanging ability awakened.

TLDR; I would like to see Jon skinchange Mormont’s raven.

[aegor-bamfsteel]

Hey! I’m glad to see more appreciation for the Blackfyres they tend to be demonised a lot in the fandom in large part due to headcanons that Daemon Blackfyre was racist,etc but when you look at him and his whole family how tragic is it that he died so young while watching one of his season be murdered in front of him?! I think one of Daemon’d greatest sins on the eyes of the fandom is him trying to subvert the status quo in a way(and we know what happens to kinfo who attempt to do that Aegon V is a good example he also has my respect for almost ordering Bloodraven’s death and then sending him to the Wall)He grew up as a bastard knew first hand what it is to be ostracised and was used by a narcissistic abuser against Daeron and Daena(possibly if she was still alive which I hope she is!I’m tired of female characters either disappearing or being killed of in childbirth!)Also I kind of hope Daemon actually isn’t Aegon’s son. It would be very poetic in a way that his claim only comes from his mother(who should have been queen instead) and would make Daena’s silence kind of make more sense because why wouldn’t she proclaim her son was the current king‘s hoping to improve his life in a way since being a bastard was already hard enough.Bit yeah some of the anti Blackfyre stuff I’ve seen like how Daenerys I couldn’t have possibly been in love with Daemon it was just propayanda and if Daemon was interested in her it was because of her being legitimate,etc. We barely know anything about that house yet they’re accused of all kinds of awful stop to justify what was done to them. Honestly I feel like they’re the Starks in this case while the Targaryens take the root of the Lannisters in how they treat them though in their case it’s even worse because they’re all family.

Thank you for the thorough ask, kindhearted-ocean! I’ve faced some pushback (some of it rather personal) due to writing some of those headcanons/metas, so it’s always good to hear they improved someone’s fandom experience. Now to talk about your other points, which will be under the cut for length/some wank:

I think it’s evident that GRRM intended Daemon Blackfyre to be a tragic character, or he wouldn’t have made him so much younger and less politically powerful than Da3ron II (he does like his underdogs) nor so sympathetic; if you consider that his possible inspirations were James Scott the Duke of Monmouth (adulterer and religious hypocrite), Henry Trastamara (antisemitic torturer), Simon Montfort (another anti Semitic pogrom starter), among others, you notice his character is much less gray, which is unusual, considering GRRM usually makes his characters darker than their historical counterparts (see for example Rhaenyra versus Empress Matilda). I think you’re right that a portion the fandom dislikes Daemon for “not Remembering his place” in Westeros, even though the treatment of illegitimate children has been criticized in the main series, and the onus would’ve been on Da3ron II—the person with all the power in the relationship—to treat Daemon (a child, since 16 is the age of majority) with something other than suspicion and contempt. One of the reasons why I became so interested in Daemon and Aegor (whose Golden Company chooses their leaders and seemingly based on merit rather than seniority) was their dedication to meritocracy; it didn’t matter the way you were born, or where, or to what family, but all great warriors were welcome. Some people vaunt Da3ron II as a reformer, but compared to what Daemon seemingly could have done, and what Aegor actually did, I don’t see how he materially made things better socially (considering the intellectual elitism and cronyism that went on in his court, quite the opposite).

Thank you for acknowledging that Aegon IV was a terrible person to everyone. In his last years, which Yandel admits he was at his worst, were the years he had acknowledged Daemon. All of his supposed “favoritism” was to use Daemon (I can’t repeat this enough, ages 12-14) against Da3ron (ages 29-31). It’s bizarre that after pages of being told how cartoonishly evil and selfish Aegon IV is, that suddenly he was the perfect doting parent who spoiled Daemon (this was after he raped and murdered Bethany Bracken). That’s just not realistic, and ignores the forms that parental abuse can take. I think Aegon’s opinions toward Daemon were narcissistic, viewing him as an extension of his legacy rather than a person. The signs of narcissistic parenting when applied to Aegon and Daemon make a chilling amount of sense. Not that he had much of a chance to be a parent. While Daena’s fate is unknown, we do know she made a sacrifice to refuse to name the father, and that must’ve had a profound effect on Daemon (possibly contributing to his own ideas of sacrifice for his children), certainly more than anything Aegon did for him emotionally.

If the Daemon/Da3nerys rumored relationship was just propaganda, then GRRM himself bought into it when he said they were “in love” (though what love could two preteens get into, I don’t know). But one wonders whose propaganda it was, since Doran Martell (Da3nerys’ descendant) and Barristan Selmy (Targaryen supporter who killed the last Blackfyre claimant) both believe it. A revolt over an impossible marriage is an easier narrative than an uprising over a corrupt ruling family that ignored systematic injustice for its own gain, since it places blame on Daemon and his heart rather than Da3ron’s misrule (similar to how the Targaryens’ crimes against the Brackens are swept under the rug for Aegor Rivers’ supposed love for Shiera). It also erases Rohanne of Tyrosh, one of the few Essosi (and coded Lebanese, considering Tyrosh is based on Tyre in Lebanon) female historical characters who didn’t die horribly, the only non-Targaryen consort to have named a child, rescuer of the Blackfyre cause after her husband’s death, to support the narrative that Daemon was an evil racist abuser and Aegor somehow worse (also someone posted in her tag that she should be killed, because if antis can’t find canon evidence that Blackfyres were terrible, they have to make it up, and if they can’t even do that, they have to resort wishing violence on tertiary characters for no reason). Then her children Aenys, Haegon, even the 12 year olds Aegon and Aemon have heinous behavior headcanoned onto them to try to retroactively justify their brutal murder by Bl00draven. The Blackfyres never killed a Targaryen, and tried to conduct themselves honorably, while the Targaryens constantly had to resort to war crimes (what has been established as such in-series: killing hostages, denying guest right, targeting squires/standard bearers) to crush already defeated enemies. I think GRRM intended us to feel at least a little sympathy for the Blackfyres in that light.