#dragonkeeping

[syndrossi]

For anyone who wanted to know how it's going in Gulltown right now...

“She doesn’t want it slimy,” Raymar said, forehead scrunched in outrage as he stared at the plate of mutton that had been provided for his hatchling. The meat, which up to now had been cooked, was raw this time, to Lord Grafton’s smug proclamation that according to his maester, hatchlings should be fed uncooked flesh. “It is better for your dragons, young prince,” Lord Grafton said. “She hates it!” Raymar said in a voice so severe that even Willam found himself straightening. Jon, who had been poking the bloody cubes of meat on Shadow’s plate with a finger, picked one up. Willam moved quickly to intercept his hand before it could bring the meat to his lips, casting a glare at Lord Grafton. “Cooked meat did not trouble the hatchlings before. Perhaps it is best that you serve their dragons nothing you would not serve the princes themselves?”

[youleavethetardisbrakeson]

I love the collective headcanon that dragons just love Rhaenys (as much as dragons can have affection for people that aren't their riders).

Meleys? Obvs.

Seasmoke? That's his mama.

Moondancer? Rhaenys probably taught her and Baela how to fly.

Caraxes? He's grumpy, but he still likes her, and that annoys the absolute shit out of Daemon.

Vhagar is... Vhagar. Can't be helped, that one 😆

[backjustforberena]

I really like the idea that Rhaenys gets just... steamed whenever someone dehumanises Meleys or trivialises her - treats her as a pawn or just an asset.

So instances like when Meleys is imprisoned by the Greens just for what she is and what she could mean for the war, when Daemon just counts Meleys amongst the fighting dragons for Team Black, or he tries to order Rhaenys to take her "mount" and fly with him, or whenever ANY of the men on the Black Council say they should use dragons, send dragons, press their advantage (dragons).

All of those times, I feel like Rhaenys is, to various degrees, outraged.

I think whenever Rhaenys councils against dragon warfare and the bloodiness of it and when she responds to suggestions of attacking with dragons (like side-eying Alfred Broome and wishing his head would catch fire) or the inevitably of it... it's with a personal stake.

Because it's not just unleashing hell. It has specific implications and a specific role and specific risk for a creature that Rhaenys loves.

When they talk about sending dragons to war, it's sending Meleys to war.

[light-miracles]

'Silverwing chose Ulf' okay but have you considered that Silverwing has been 35 years inside the house?? All those memes about Caraxes losing it in Harrenhal as he waits for Daemon are nothing compared to poor Silverwing's situation. She would have chosen anyone she needed to GET OUT

[addamvelaryon]

Time to talk about the Dragonpit again…

The doors of the Dragonpit were made of bronze and iron. It’s an odd dichotomy that the metals of winter served as protection to the creatures of the long summer. During the Storming of the Dragonpit, when the rioters tried to break into the structure, they could not bypass those doors. Instead, they had to find other means of getting to the dragons inside:

Bronze and iron were the metals of winter, dark and strong to fight against the cold.

.

The Shepherd’s lambs smashed through the doors (the towering main gates, sheathed in bronze and iron, were too strong to assault, but the building had a score of lesser entrances) and came clambering through windows.

I’ve often mentioned that the Dragonpit exists in juxtaposition with the Wall, so this is a very neat detail to me. The purpose of the Dragonpit was to house and protect the creatures of fire inside from dangers outside. Whereas, the Wall serves to protect those behind it from the dangers of the creatures of ice on the other side.

Protection of the realm is the ultimate objective for the black clad sentinels of the Wall, the Night’s Watch. Their vows, which liken them to fire, state as much:

“Night gathers, and now my watch begins. It shall not end until my death. I shall take no wife, hold no lands, father no children. I shall wear no crowns and win no glory. I shall live and die at my post. I am the sword in the darkness. I am the watcher on the walls. I am the fire that burns against the cold, the light that brings the dawn, the horn that wakes the sleepers, the shield that guards the realms of men. I pledge my life and honor to the Night’s Watch, for this night and all the nights to come.”

Just like the Night’s Watch, the Dragonkeepers are protectors who armor themselves in black:

The king decreed that all the dragons should be guarded night and day, regardless of where they laired. A new order of guards was created for this purpose: the Dragonkeepers, seventy-seven strong and clad in suits of gleaming black armor, their helms crested by a row of dragon scales that continued, diminishing, down their backs.

.

Empty suits of armor stood sentinel along the walls. They were relics of the Targaryens, black steel with dragon scales cresting their helms, now dusty and forgotten.

Just as the Night’s Watch is willing to give their life in order to protect the realm, the Dragonkeepers do the same for the dragons. But both groups have their numbers greatly reduced so they are no longer able to keep their watch to their full ability:

The Dragonpit had its own contingent of guards, the Dragonkeepers, but those proud warriors were only seven-and-seventy in number, and fewer than fifty had the watch that night. Though their swords drank deep of the blood of the attackers, the numbers were against them.

Service in the Dragonpit concerns protecting the dragons. It is also simultaneously about protecting the city (aka the realm):

It had long been the custom for at least one dragonrider to reside at the pit, so as to be able to rise to the defense of the city should the need arise. As Rhaenyra preferred to keep her sons by her side, that duty fell to Addam Velaryon.

GRRM is so on the nose describing the Dragonkeepers as “stood sentinel along the walls” and “had the watch that night”. I'm not even going to get into all the parallels between Addam and Lord Commander of the Night’s Watch, Jon Snow, because those are obvious enough.

When the Dragonpit fell, the Dragonkeepers were slaughtered by an uncontrollable violent mass of people (wights) who were led by a sinister figure (White Walker) determined to destroy the creatures of fire. When the Wall falls, the members of the Night’s Watch will probably be killed in like manner.

At the end of the war, all the dragons were dead except for Morning (the false dawn). Shortly afterwards, Westeros was subjected to the onset of a cruel winter that swept over the realm:

This period was soon known as the False Dawn.

[…]

And a terrible, hard winter—first declared by the Conclave in Oldtown in 130 AC, on Maiden’s Day—had taken a firm grip on the realm, and would last for six cruel years.

I believe it’s very deliberate that the dragons are connected to the state of the realm.

After all, the Dance of the Dragons is just Song of Ice and Fire writ small. What happened before will perforce happen again.

[book--brackets]

Dragonkeeper Chronicles by Donita K. Paul (2004-2008)

When Kale, a slave girl, finds a dragon egg, she is given the unexpected opportunity to become a servant to Paladin. But on her way to The Hall, where she was to be trained, Kale runs into danger. Rescued by a small band of Paladin's servants, Kale is turned from her destination. 

Feeling afraid and unprepared, Kale embarks on a perilous quest to find the meech dragon egg stolen by the foul Wizard Risto. But their journey is threatened when a key member of the party is captured, leaving the remaining companions to find the Wizard Fenworth, attempt an impossible rescue, and recover the egg--whose true value they have not begun to suspect.

Clocktaur War by T. Kingfisher (2017-2018)

A paladin, an assassin, a forger, and a scholar ride out of town. It's not the start of a joke, but rather an espionage mission with deadly serious stakes. T. Kingfisher's new novel begins the tale of a murderous band of criminals (and a scholar), thrown together in an attempt to unravel the secret of the Clockwork Boys, mechanical soldiers from a neighboring kingdom that promise ruin to the Dowager's city.

If they succeed, rewards and pardons await, but that requires a long journey through enemy territory, directly into the capital. It also requires them to refrain from killing each other along the way At turns darkly comic and touching, Clockwork Boys puts together a broken group of people trying to make the most of the rest of their lives as they drive forward on their suicide mission.

The Deed of Paksenarrion by Elizabeth Moon (1988-1989)

Paksenarrion — Paks for short — is somebody special. She knows it, even if nobody else does yet. No way will she follow her father's orders to marry the pig farmer down the road. She's off to join the army, even if it means she can never see her family again.

And so her adventure begins... the adventure that transforms her into a hero remembered in songs, chosen by the gods to restore a lost ruler to his throne.

Here is her tale as she lived it.

Paks is trained as a mercenary, blooded, and introduced to the life of a soldier . . . and to the followers of Gird, the soldier's god.

Chronicles of the Imaginarium Geographica by James A. Owen (2006-2016)

An unusual murder brings together three strangers, John, Jack, and Charles, on a rainy night in London during the first World War. An eccentric little man called Bert tells them that they are now the caretakers of the Imaginarium Geographica -- an atlas of all the lands that have ever existed in myth and legend, fable and fairy tale. These lands, Bert claims, can be traveled to in his ship the Indigo Dragon, one of only seven vessels that is able to cross the Frontier between worlds into the Archipelago of Dreams.

Pursued by strange and terrifying creatures, the companions flee London aboard the Dragonship. Traveling to the very realm of the imagination itself, they must learn to overcome their fears and trust in one another if they are to defeat the dark forces that threaten the destiny of two worlds. And in the process, they will share a great adventure filled with clues that lead readers to the surprise revelation of the legendary storytellers these men will one day become.

Dragon Jousters by Mercedes Lackey (2003-2006)

The first book in this thrilling new series introduces us to a young slave who dreams of becoming a jouster-one of the few warriors who can actually ride a flying dragon. And so, in secret, he begins to raise his own dragon...

Frontier Magic by Patricia C. Wrede (2009-2012)

Eff was born a thirteenth child. Her twin brother, Lan, is the seventh son of a seventh son. This means he's supposed to possess amazing talent -- and she's supposed to bring only bad things to her family and her town. Undeterred, her family moves to the frontier, where her father will be a professor of magic at a school perilously close to the magical divide that separates settlers from the beasts of the wild.

In Other Lands by Sarah Rees Brennan (2017)

The Borderlands aren’t like anywhere else. Don’t try to smuggle a phone or any other piece of technology over the wall that marks the Border ― unless you enjoy a fireworks display in your backpack. (Ballpoint pens are okay.) There are elves, harpies, and ― best of all as far as Elliot is concerned ― mermaids.  "Serene," said Serene. "My full name is Serene-Heart-in-the-Chaos-of-Battle." Elliot? Who’s Elliot? Elliot is thirteen years old. He’s smart and just a tiny bit obnoxious. Sometimes more than a tiny bit. When his class goes on a field trip and he can see a wall that no one else can see, he is given the chance to go to school in the Borderlands. It turns out that on the other side of the wall, classes involve a lot more weaponry and fitness training and fewer mermaids than he expected. On the other hand, there’s Serene-Heart-in-the-Chaos-of-Battle, an elven warrior who is more beautiful than anyone Elliot has ever seen, and then there’s her human friend Luke: sunny, blond, and annoyingly likeable. There are lots of interesting books. There’s even the chance Elliot might be able to change the world. In Other Lands is the exhilarating new book from beloved and bestselling author Sarah Rees Brennan. It’s a novel about surviving four years in the most unusual of schools, about friendship, falling in love, diplomacy, and finding your own place in the world ― even if it means giving up your phone.

Iron Butterfly by Chanda Hahn (2012-2014)

Imprisoned, starved and left with no memories, Thalia awakens to find herself at the mercy of an evil cult known as the Septori. Their leader has chosen Thalia as the test subject for a torture device of untold power, designed to change and twist her into something that is neither human nor Denai.

Escaping, Thalia finds an unwilling warrior to protect her and an unlikely Denai to befriend her. After finding a home at the Citadel as a servant, Thalia’s worst nightmare comes to life and she begins to show signs of power. Scared and unable to control her gifts, she tries to hide her past to fit in among the Denai. But the Septori want their latest test subject back and will stop at nothing to retrieve her, dead or alive.

Old Magic by Marianna Curley (2000)

Jarrod Thornton is mesmerizing, but Kate Warren doesn’t know why.

Jarrod is the clumsy new boy at school that Kate can’t take her eyes off, and it’s not just because he has amazing eyes, but because she senses something different about him, and when he inadvertently blows up the classroom, she knows exactly what it is. He has powers like her, except he doesn’t know it and Kate sets out to show him. On their journey of discovery Kate learns Jarrod has an ancient curse on his family that will keep hurting his little brother and parents if they don’t do something to remove it.

Faerie Tale by Raymond E. Feist (1988)

Successful screenwriter Phil Hastings decides to move his family from sunny California to a ramshackle farmhouse in New York State. The idea is to take some time out, relax and pick up the threads of his career as a novelist. Good plan, bad choice. The place they choose is surrounded by ancient woodland. The house they choose is the centrepoint of a centuries-old evil intent on making its presence felt to intruders.

[horizon-verizon]

I read this thread that I found quite interesting if you want to check it out

https://x.com/darksvster/status/1817785978708480244

Rhaenyra is in a way turning into a cult leader a la Paul Atreides, believing herself to be the prince who was promised, recruiting smallfolk who have nothing to lose and sending them to their deaths to fight in her name, its a very prevalent theme actually. The dragon keepers being appalled by the massacre this will cause but her insisting on it, its a descent into self glory and obsession. The more she gets closer to the Iron Throne the more it corrupts her which is why I’m absolutely sure they will include her getting cut as soon as she sits on it. Let’s face it, as much as I hate to admit it, misogyny isn’t a main theme in HOTD.

When I heard Ryan described this scene as cult behaviour and Rhaenyra acting as a “pastor”, my mind went straight to the Shepherd (a strong follower of the Faith of the Seven), they’d be the different sides of the same coin, Rhaenyra brought down these gods, here they slaughtered the smallfolk but at the Storming of Dragonpit, it’s the smallfolk destroying them.

And if you take into consideration that the prophecy was proven false in GOT and how HOTD is trying to hammer down the idea that monarchies and especially Targaryen ones are terrible, it leads you to the idea that anyone who thinks them selves as the savior is a false prophet. Viserys told her about the prophecy to make her pursuit of the throne more legitimate and peaceful, however it ended up making her more unhinged because she now believes herself a prophet when its all a farce, neither she nor her descendants will be the saviors IN SHOW LORE (please don’t misunderstand me, I know that in the books, the prince that was promised and Azor Ahai are Daenerys and no one else).

Didn't watch the episode, so this is pretty helpful and explains a lot why I kept seeing Rhaenys-cult leader in my Twitter timeline. How interesting...

Always remember that Condal came from a Catholic school (I also did but you don't see me trying to make a canonically family/woman who never really had much enthusiasm for religion religiously cultish...)

Rhaenyra never tried to build any sort of cult around herself or dragons

dragons always choose their own rider, so the dragonkeepers protesting Rhaenyra having lowborns have access to dragons is more classism than religiousness still wouldn't make any sense besides bc 1) they'd be going against their dragon-gods' wishes/authority 2) there's no proof of them even coming from Valyrian families... unlike in the orig lore, in the show they seem to be randos who can speak Old Valyrian and have ritualistic practices concerning dragons as literal gods/reps of gods

Old Valyrian dragonlords were never particularly religiously "devoted" or defined themselves through gods even with them having their own gods as they had a multireligious state in Old Valyria....at least comparatively to other peoples, inlcu the andals, who are actually the ones who you'd say were religiously cultish with their carving Seven symbols in their foreheads and later talking something close to Manifest destiny to explain how/why the fled Essos (when it was more liekly bc of the Valyrians)

the dragonkeepers have never in all of history been in the authority to deny a Targ anything based on any sort of separate and independent authority OR religious beliefs bc their role was just to guard dragons/their eggs/their lairs

AND

that he's mainly trying to create a story he's always wanted to see as a fan of GRRM's work (BigThink article):

So, yeah, all this matters for the exact direction you predict and I dislike this concept.

[muadweeb]

one of my fav parts of this episode is how the dragonkeepers were so scandalised and angry that rhaenyra was breaking a holy tradition....once again proving the difference of dragonLORDS and dragonKEEPERS...like these are the ONLY ppl showing the proper reverence these beasts deserve!!! the last true worshippers of the old gods of valyria if u think about it!!! imagine how they would've felt when the all the dragons died....fuck!!!!

[roxxywolf-multiversa]

⭐️Dragonkeeper fanart: Ping doing Qi ⭐️

[mozart-the-meerkitten]

me: okay so I'm writing a Wingfeather Saga/Dragonkeeper movie crossover. but what about the Dragonkeeper book? what do I cross that over with?

chaotic part of my brain: the HTTYD books

me:... okay, but-

chaotic brain: Hiccup trying to understand Danzi's dialect of dragonese

me: oh my gosh you're right that's hilarious

I'm imagining this going like:

Ping: Oh, so you can understand Danzi too?

Hiccup: Well... yes... but he has the weirdest dialect I've ever heard in my LIFE.

Meanwhile Danzi and the Wodensfang are discussing these small chosen children they now have to look after and how the world has changed in the thousands of years they've lived

and then:

Hiccup: Oh yeah, I had a dragon stone I had to keep safe too. It turned out to have the power to destroy all the dragons.

Ping: wait- DANZI IS THAT WHY YOU WANTED ME TO TAKE GOOD CARE OF IT?! DANZI!

Hiccup, hearing how Danzi instructed Ping to take care of the stone: ohhh, no, nope that is, um, that is a dragon egg. that's definitely a dragon egg.

Ping: IT'S AN EGG?! DANZI WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME

(and truly that is the question. why DON'T you tell her, Danzi, stop getting mad at her for not taking care of it, she literally thinks you have an unhealthy attachment to a ROCK, not ONCE have you told her it's a dragon egg. this would LITERALLY fix all your miscommunication errors.)

[daenysthedreamer101]

Not at all the dragonkeepers being like fuck this, this is an abomination we're not doing this

I'm sorry but I chuckled

[valyrianheirs]

Dragonkeeper | 2x6

[silvixel]

The best thing about this show is the dragons, the dragons make this season worth watching, but the best scene and dialogue was when the dragonkeepers were so angry at handing over the only thing left of old valyria to the andals, despite the possibility that they had valyrian blood.

[kaalavg]

Dragonkeeper

Guardiana de dragones

Film // película

[addamvelaryon]

Addam - Black & Green

At the Dragonpit (Black):

The king decreed that all the dragons should be guarded night and day, regardless of where they laired. A new order of guards was created for this purpose: the Dragonkeepers, seventy-seven strong and clad in suits of gleaming black armor, their helms crested by a row of dragon scales that continued, diminishing, down their backs.

— Fire & Blood, Jaehaerys and Alysanne

Empty suits of armor stood sentinel along the walls. They were relics of the Targaryens, black steel with dragon scales cresting their helms, now dusty and forgotten.

— A Game of Thrones, Eddard IV

It had long been the custom for at least one dragonrider to reside at the pit, so as to be able to rise to the defense of the city should the need arise. As Rhaenyra preferred to keep her sons by her side, that duty fell to Addam Velaryon.

— Fire & Blood, The Dying of the Dragons

At the Isle of Faces (Green):

The wisest of both races prevailed, and the chief heroes and rulers of both sides met upon the isle in the Gods Eye to form the Pact. Giving up all the lands of Westeros save for the deep forests, the children won from the First Men the promise that they would no longer cut down the weirwoods. All the weirwoods of the isle on which the Pact was forged were then carved with faces so that the gods could witness the Pact, and the order of green men was made afterward to tend to the weirwoods and protect the isle.

— The World of Ice & Fire, The Coming of the First Men

The nursery tales claiming that they are horned and have dark, green skin is a corruption of the likely truth, which is that the green men wore green garments and horned headdresses.

— The World of Ice & Fire, The Coming of the First Men

Singers say Ser Addam had flown from King’s Landing to the Gods Eye, where he landed on the sacred Isle of Faces and took counsel with the Green Men.

— Fire & Blood, The Dying of the Dragons

The black clad guardians existed to watch over the dragons (Valyrian fire magic) and the green cloaked ones are the caretakers of the weirwood trees (Old Gods earth magic). It's a neat detail that Addam is connected to two different groups of sentinels, with opposing colours, that also match the colours of the warring factions in the Dance.

[dragonkeeper19600]

'Till all are One.

Transformers: One is the highest quality Transformers film to date. With enjoyable characters, solid world building, striking visuals, and an engaging, dramatic story, Transformers: One is a compelling prequel and a fine celebration of the Transformers franchise befitting the brand's 40th anniversary. While the film's plot does make use of familiar tropes, the character arc of D-16 is especially compelling, and the film's positive qualities keep the audience engaged even through the story's more formulaic elements. The fight scenes are also surprisingly brutal, so while this film is more fitting for families than the live-action movies directed by Michael Bay, there is an edge to the story, visuals, and violence that gives the movie a darker feel than what you might expect from a kid's movie. Overall, this film is sure to be a hit with both fans and lovers of sci-fi.