#tragedy of summerhall

[sansas-amythest-hairnet]

Queen Betha Blackwood, wife of King Aegon V Targaryen, while Betha married her husband for love she arranged politically advantageous betrothals for her children, but her children would break all of these betrothals angering many great houses. She was known as Black Betha for her dark eyes and hair and it is unknown if she died in the Tragedy of Summerhall.

#a song of ice and fire #asoiaf #asoif/got #game of thrones #asoif fanart #asoiaf fanart #house targaryen #house of the dragon #betha blackwood #aegon v targaryen #tragedy of summerhall #summerhall #Black Betha

[kei-yuki]

The more I think about Summerhall the more I realized about the parallelism between Rhaella and Daenerys and how the daughter accomplished a destiny that maybe her mother could but couldn't due to circumstances.

The girl with an abusive brother-spouse: Viserys sells Dany to Drogo and maybe magic is acting here because Dany will become free beggining her path from the very bottom. But I can't stop thinking that she becomes free mainly because she didn't marry Viserys.

The girl with the destiny of the world on her shoulders: mother and daughter must give continuity to the lineage; mother and daughter must give birth a Chosen One; mother and daughter must awake the dragons (Egg's dream and Summerhall).

Their paths fully fork the moment they give birth their first child: perhaps if Rhaegar had died the dragons could wake. The case is that Rhaegar had to die for the dragons to be born.

And that's the true Tragedy of Summerhall: the elements of the Prophecy were all there. But they did not fulfill their function.

#tragedy of summerhall #queen rhaella #daenerys targaryen #viserys targaryen #rhaegar targaryen

[goodqueenaly]

Could Selwyn Tarth have been at Summerhall? If so wouldn’t that make him one of the only actual survivors ( at least of those taller than four foot)? This of course assumes that Selwyn survived Tarths encounter with the Golden Company.

The evidence is virtually nonexistent either way, but I tend to think Selwyn was not at Summerhall. The very little we know about Summerhall is that, according to Yandel, the tragedy left “very few witnesses alive”. If we already know of four confirmed or nearly guaranteed witnesses - Princess Rhaella (plus, technically, the newborn Rhaegar, although he couldn’t really be called a true witness) Prince Aerys, Prince Jaehaerys, and Princess Shaera - then I hesitate to keep adding to the list with known survivors, lest we get to a point where there are more speculated survivors than there are presumed victims.

On top of that, would Aegon V have seen young Selwyn of Tarth as a necessary addition to “the blood of the dragon gathered in one”? Again, we have no insight into his thinking here, but if our Egg started down the path of adding those who merely claimed Targaryen descent (especially those, as Selwyn likely was, who were separated by a generation or more from their Targaryen ancestor), he might have wondered when any given descendant ceases to be “the blood of the dragon”. Whatever place Selwyn might have had in the Targaryen succession (especially in the aftermath of the Tragedy of Summerhall), he might have not been seen in the preparations for it as close enough a Targaryen kinsman to be present for the gathering of “the blood of the dragon” with the specific intent of hatching dragon eggs.

Again, though, we simply have no idea. The most we can say is that it’s not a possibility GRRM has seemed interested in hinting or exploring (via Brienne’s memories of her father) up to this point. Indeed, Brienne has not at all mused upon her own descent from the Targaryens (which, admittedly, GRRM may only have fully decided upon by the time of TWOIAF), much less the impact of the royal dynasty on the history of the Tarths of the third century AC. Whether we get more on this point from Brienne in terms of Selwyn and the Targaryens now that we are post-TWOIAF, who’s to say. (I do have an amusing image in my mind, since you mention Tarth and the Golden Company, of Lord Selwyn at the court of Aegon VI, perhaps greeted as “cousin” by a king who may be (purportedly) Selwyn’s second cousin twice removed.)

#asoiaf meta #Tarth Targaryen theory #selwyn tarth #tragedy of summerhall

[agentrouka-blog]

if 'only death pays for life' and rhaego and irri and drogo's deaths gave life to rhaegal, viserion and drogon then why didn't any dragons hatch during summerhall? so many lives were lost and yet not a single dragon?

Something obviously went very wrong there.

I don't think it's something just anyone can do. Dany obviously had a strong magical bend before she attempted the ritual. She had prophetic dreams about it, was already somewhat resistant to heat.

#tragedy at summerhall #blood magic #anti targaryen #anti daenerys targaryen #only death can pay for life

[horizon-verizon]

Where did the targaryens get the idea of drinking wildfire = turning into a dragon? Or juat that wildfire can hatch an egg?

Aerion "Brightflame" Targaryen is the only Targ who drank wildfire and believed he could literally become/transform into one.

Aerys II became obsessed with wildfire once he realized how vulnerable he was against rebellion (Battle of the Bells and the Defiance at Duskendale) and would later surround King's Landing with it in a mass murder-suicide if threatened. Wildfire, to him, was an extension and mimicry of using actual dragons, showing his desperation for power. Aerys II's regard for wildfire was more metaphorical than it was for Aerion. He was still insane, though, like Aerion. He was of the paranoid sort, gone to a place of no recovery from him believing he would lose power at any moment after years of trying and failing to sire children.

Other Targaryens like Aegon IV, Aegon V, & those at Summerhall, used wildfire while sane. Not to "become" dragons but just use it as a simple device. There was no madness and no twisting wildfire to be something that it is not. Aegon IV for warfare. Aegon V, Maester Corso, Duncan the Tall, and Prince Duncan all wished to restore dragons by using wildfire to heat up and “activate” some eggs that never hatched. Even Aegon III and Viserys tried together by bringing in some sorcerers and the like from Essos (though not with wildfire).

#asoiaf asks to me #wildfire #asoiaf wildfire #tragedy at summerhall #aerion targaryen #aerion brightflame #aerys ii #aerys ii targaryen #aegon iv #aegon iv targaryen #aegon v targaryen #aegon v #duncan targaryen #duncan the tall #maester corso #defiance at duskendale #battle of the bells #targ madness #the targaryens

[jeyneofpoole]

asoiaf dash simulator

🥀 fool4you

ohhhhhh my goddd……. florian and the fools concert in kl opened with jonquil fucking flashing the audience?????? ohhhhmmfnf my gofifhddd??????? cannot believe she’s straight truly a tragedy for the ladies loving ladies community

🫀weirdwoodd

imagine believing in the doctrine of exceptionalism….. no hope for this realm i fear

🐉 fyre-and-blood

hey guys op actually worships the old gods so i would just go ahead and block them before they overtake your mind with hideous blood magicks. stay safe out there!!!!!

🌊 salt3dwif3

bro you can always tell when someone paid the gold price for their baubles 😭 this greenlander does NOT reave or raid like come onnnn where did you get that finely crafted dirk because it sure as hell wasn’t the cooling corpse of your enemy lmao

🎇 rhaegars-cervix

if i see any of you making fun of the tragedy at summerhall on the anniversary i will block you immediately. people lost their lives it’s not fucking funny.

⚡️dondarriugh

ok tumblaeyr user rhaegars-cervix

❄️ thelastofthegiants

thinking about Her (brave danny flint)

🐁 rat-cook-rave

me when i’m literally wandering the nightfort’s shadowy halls

🍂 barwench

if you’ve ever apprenticed for a trade or eaten a high lords castoffs you have no place in the serf rebellion how many times do we have to say it. uplift actual smallfolk voices how hard is that to grasp

🪱 leeching-loving

didn’t you grow up within sight of a holdfast 💀

❤️‍🔥 rhollorslight

cannot believe the sheer amount of heathenry on this site…. WAKE UP!!!!!

Blazed Post

☀️ martellmesweetlies

you’re on the wrong side of the narrow sea lmao

💫 mothers-tears

hey i know you mean well but it’s really important not to engage with r’hollor cultists, they thrive off of engagement and all you’re doing is giving them exposure. just block and move on

#hey guys. is this anything. #asoiaf #a song of ice and fire #valyrianscrolls

[vivacissimx]

The puzzle piece about Rhaegar that is really interesting but unfortunately often overlooked is that he was relieved when he realized he was not TPTWP. Yes, relieved. Conflicted too which I will get into. And I believe it is obvious that when Rhaegar first read about Aegon's prophecy, he was not enthused— It seems I must be a warrior is trotted out to talk about Rhaegar's gender expression, his disconnect with capital m Masculinity that is purposely contrasted to Robert Baratheon reveling in it (indeed only making sense within the context of violence, battle, war) but there is more to the compulsion involved in the words It seems and I must than just It seems I must become an archetype. Socially becoming a fighter was already expected of him but he was not, presumably, in compliance with this expectation. The prophecy motivated him in a different way than you will be socially rewarded for acting as a man does.

Which brings me to another point i.e. how Rhaegar perceived himself prior to reading what he read; his connection to the tragedy of his birth and the grief, the resentment, the awkward dynamics between members of his family. "Oh he was a child" yes but we're told that Rhaegar did not act like, think like, or even particularly get along with others his age. So it's safe to say he was aware of Summerhall and felt it's shadow surrounding him from a young age. And Aegon's prophecy, combined with the Ghost of High Heart's prophecy, the events of Summerhall, put this weight on his shoulders completely into context. It was not that Rhaegar desired to be TPTWP because he took to it with determination but no particular joy. Every indicator just seemed to demand he give himself over to fulfilling this role. TPTWP was coming from Aerys and Rhaella's line? Well, he was their only child. Consult Maester Aemon on the matter? Yeah kid it's you. Ancient scrolls? Dusty, but they agree. Dead ancestors? Oh wait, they died so YOU could live. Woah.

This understanding basically necessitates us looking to ASOS Daenerys who also has some knowledge of TPTWP prophecy, and thanks to the Rhaegar-Daenerys pipeline, we can imagine that Rhaegar had similar thoughts to Daenerys, such as when she asks herself: The dragon has three heads. There are two men in the world who I can trust, if I can find them. I will not be alone then. We will be three against the world, like Aegon and his sisters. Who are Rhaegar's fellow two heads? Daenerys wonders at this, telling Jorah that her brothers are dead. Well Rhaegar's brothers die too, right in front of him. Rhaella suffers miscarriage after stillbirth after crib death. She is punished for this by Aerys via isolation and presumably Rhaegar is also kept separate from her— textually we know that Rhaegar was expected to take a sister to bride, i.e. further targcest was going to be enforced by Aerys, and to Rhaegar the loss would have also been of the other two people who would have fulfilled the requirements of the prophecy. Yes that's true. However, it was also the loss of his mother.

Rhaella was 13 when she had Rhaegar so it would be ridiculous to even think that she, a child, a Queen from when Rhaegar was 3, was this grand maternal figure to him. Of course she wasn't. There was too much on her shoulders. Too much on Aerys's shoulders as well, to be any sort of father except the kind who trotted Rhaegar out as an impressive little heir from time to time. Rhaegar was Aerys's success (it's the duty of the patriarch to sire sons who will continue the line) but as Rhaegar's siblings failed to survive, that success became a dicey thing. So when Viserys was born & survived, there is a thought that Rhaegar would latch onto such a sibling. This isn't the case— in fact, Viserys is Rhaella's. She coddles him. Keeps him close. Safe from Aerys (who already has Rhaegar). Viserys tells Dany stories about Rhaegar but this is done in the sense that he does not truly know Rhaegar. Why wouldn't Rhaegar have spent more time with Viserys, if he was motivated by fulfillment of the prophecy?

Because Viserys was Rhaella's, perhaps. Rhaegar never truly got to be his mother's son. To leech Viserys away from her... there's something in that. When Rhaella warmly welcomed Rhaegar's daughter, too. Rhaella's was Aerys's wife and property, which Rhaegar knew because he was also Aerys's property. Rhaella was mother to his brother. Rhaella was a grandmother to his daughter. She was everything but the woman who raised him.

"Rhaegar was a lonely man anyway due to his depression" yes that's true. There is an asceticism to Rhaegar Targaryen. The places he enjoys are bare and stripped, places he can keep his own company: Summerhall, the place of his birth, haunted, full of magic. Dragonstone where he retreats after his marriage, a place where the last embers of Valyria's magic died. Later the Tower of Joy is in a barren desert. But he finds a beauty in these places. He writes music that pushes him back into the shared world, songs he shares with people, about people, about lovers and those who sacrificed and who he is deeply moved by— almost like he's motivating himself. People are drawn to him.

Despite his lack of connection to Rhaella and Viserys he does bond with people. Arthur Dayne, who for all we can try and complicate, apply horseshoe theory to, is meant as the juxtaposition to characters such as the Smiling Knight. Brave as brass Myles Mooton whose memory his people still call upon. Richard Lonmouth and Jon Connington, both technically vassals to Robert Baratheon, funny little irony there. Princess Elia his wife who he is fond of along with the Dornishmen she comes to court with, "particularly" Prince Lewyn of the Kingsguard, who is in Rhaegar's confidence (per AWOIAF). These bonds seem strong because not a whiff of possible disloyalty on Rhaegar's part ever reaches Aerys despite it definitely existing and Aerys actively looking for it (again per AWOIAF). Do these confidantes know about Aegon's prophecy? IDK. At least in JonCon's case the answer seems to be no. However we also know JonCon wasn't actually the closest to Rhaegar. Nonetheless, I think we can assume that outside of Arthur Myles and Richard most of these were political relationships which Rhaegar pursued and all were concerned about Aerys's instability— there is also Tywin who Rhaegar performs certain overtures towards (such as knighting Gregor, Tywin's man, at a time when the Aerys-Tywin relationship had just grown particularly sour) indicating he'd like him as an ally. This is all straying away from TPTWP but I think it's important, it shows that even imbued with purpose, Rhaegar was in a position that did not lend itself towards him being able to take much action...

Then winter breaks. Spring comes. Nobody knows it's false yet. Rhaegar's whole deal is this coming Long Night. Everyone takes, quite literally, a breath of fresh air, and the tourney of Harrenhal commences, with Rhaegar as a shadow sponsor, thinking to call an informal Great Council which will begin to deal with Aerys (step 1)(step 1 failed).

This is where matters of prophecy come back into focus. I've covered Rhaegar's various relationships, the shallowness of them, the stagnancy in Developments due to Aerys's paranoia, etc. Harrenhal is not a solitary place but it is flush with magic in a way similar to Summerhall and Dragonstone— all places where dragons have died Harrenhal is thematically the cannibal dragon let's not get into that. And this is important to Rhaegar's characterization because of how things unfold with Lyanna Stark in several ways: 1) Lyanna cries to his song. Before they formally meet Lyanna is touched by the magic and purpose and sacrifice and yes, love, of which Rhaegar sings. It speaks to her. Of course, many others likely cried too. Common occurrence, see: A song of love and doom, Jon Connington recalled, and every woman in the hall was weeping when he put down the harp. Not the men, of course. Rhaegar gender moment but I digress. 2) Rhaegar's discovery of her as the KOTLT despite Robert & Richard Lonmouth both vowing to do so, those raucous manly men, both of whom failed; Rhaegar's subsequent hiding of her identity to unknown consequence for himself if any. All he produces is her shield which is painted with a tree on it, a purposeful callback to Duncan the Tall's shield, both Lyanna and Dunk being 'false knights' yet, in their actions, true ones. Sorry I love Lyanna so much I can't resist plugging her greatest hits 3) Rhaegar winning the tourney, the only tourney he's ever won... and immediately tainting his victory by awarding it to Lyanna instead.

I bring this all up and frame it because here we see that Rhaegar is not really invested in his own victory or legacy or even really his honor. His wife Princess Elia is there and she is pregnant with his son, something he could commemorate in the same vein that Aerys "honored" Rhaegar by showcasing him at various tourneys, an ode to a future warrior king, but Rhaegar doesn't do that. It's not his victory as a Man. It's never been about his victory as a Man. It doesn't even need to be his victory.

Neither does Aegon's prophecy. Rhaegar rapidly realizes that on two fronts: second, the false spring ends. It wasn't real! Rhaegar's spring isn't the lasting one. First, though, is that Rhaegar and Elia's son Aegon is born, a difficult birth in which Elia is rendered infertile. Who does this remind you of? Oh right, Aerys with Rhaella— only Rhaegar does not go about trying to impregnate Elia again. Rhaegar becomes convinced Aegon is TPTWP— something he was already thinking, prior. Rhaegar was never so invested in himself being TPTWP that he could not be convinced otherwise. Maester Aemon: Rhaegar, I thought... the smoke was from the fire that devoured Summerhall on the day of his birth, the salt from the tears shed for those who died. He shared my belief when he was young, but later he became persuaded that it was his own son who fulfilled the prophecy, for a comet had been seen above King's Landing on the night Aegon was conceived, and Rhaegar was certain the bleeding star had to be a comet. Rhaegar agreeing "when he was young" and being "certain the bleeding star had to be a comet" all indicate that he had been looking into the possibility that TPTWP was Not Him for a while. The visits to Summerhall— maybe they were a search for proof by encasing himself in the lingering magic of the place? He still messed up the prince/princess translation presumably because baby Rhaenys never seemed to be in the conversation. (The bleeding star was in fact a comet, funnily enough, a little consolation prize for the pretty boy.) Here's what we know: in Daenerys's vision, Elia asks if Rhaegar will write Aegon a son, we can assume because he wrote their firstborn Rhaenys a song, but Rhaegar says no, he already has one. The song of ice and fire. Aegon doesn't get a song. Why? Rhaegar believes he must be a warrior.

Yet, he sings for him anyway.

Rhaegar's "it seems" and "I must" and distance from Viserys and inner conflict about Aerys and doubt about his own place in the grand scheme of things all come to fruition with Aegon's birth. Rhaegar isn't TPTWP— and it spurs him into action. A weight is off his shoulders so now he can act. As in the case of crowning Lyanna, when the purpose of a task is not to honor or elevate him, we see Rhaegar able to perform in ways he could not before.

Namely there are two veins: acting against Aerys and seeking out information of the prophecy, but Rhaegar's general direction (through the Riverlands past Harrenhal) seems to indicate that he was headed towards the Ghost of High Heart. Not Summerhall, a place of mysticism meant to soothe Rhaegar. Rather a place of pain. The Ghost of High Heart who gorged on grief at Summerhall, who only ever demands Jenny's song (which Rhaegar seems to have wrote), who sees in Arya who looks like Lyanna, who looks like Jon, death. But instead of ever making it there... Rhaegar meets Lyanna.

And then they disappear. There are the Rhaegarwars to consider so I'm just going to say that, at the least, Lyanna did not want to marry Robert though society dictated that she must, and in removing her, she was removed from this. From there she came to be in Dorne in a place that was desolate desert, but similar to Summerhall, which was also abandoned, held something of magic in that it was near where Those Who Sing The Song of the Earth had split the Arm of Dorne. We can say a lot more about this but that's not the point of the post. I have explained Rhaegar as a person disconnected from his mother, later a person who in several manners refuses to act as Aerys did towards Rhaella, indicating that disconnect troubled him — Rhaegar's limited amount of close relationships with people he admired and the deep loyalty shown to him, presumably for a reason — Rhaegar's willingness to interrogate himself & his assumptions about the world.

So when I say Rhaegar was relieved what I mean is that upon suspecting and, to his mind, confirming that he was not the fulfillment of Aegon's prophecy, Rhaegar became proactive in ways he had yearned for but not been able to before. The Rhaegar that died with Lyanna's name as his last word was not a Rhaegar who died thinking the world was doomed without him. I think the Rhaegar that died on the Trident was a Rhaegar who had escaped the shadow of fate only to meet it, face to face.

#rhaegar targaryen #asoiaf #valyrian scrolls #text #lyanna stark #gender in asoiaf #daenerys targaryen #rhaella targaryen #aerys targaryen #once again the tags are for my ownnn organization #rhaegarposting

[bardsansa]

princess shaera targaryen, 259 AC, prior to the tragedy at summerhall, the deaths of which made her queen consort to her brother, king jaehaerys ii

visenya and rhaenys, alyssa velaryon, the six wives of maegor, alysanne, aemma arryn, alicent hightower and rhaenyra i, helaena, jaehaera, daenaera velaryon, daena the defiant, naerys, myriah nymeros martell, aelinor penrose, betha blackwood

#mine #my art #procreate art #artists on tumblr #digital art #procreate #asoiaf #valyrianscrolls #a song of ice and fire #f&b #shaera targaryen #queen shaera targaryen #jaehaerys ii targaryen

[rise-my-angel]

Why yes literally everything about Mirri Maz Duur is what causes me to call everything Dany does, especially in relation to slavery, into question because what Dany does or does not do to help slaves has always led to her recieving great amounts of power for herself and no one else.

Why was it alright for Dany to encite slaves to rebel against their masters but it wasn't alright for Mirri?

If Dany was sure Mirri did it on purpose why do they both seem to talk around the issue as if one of them is avoiding the truth and which one of them ultimately dies in the most, cruel, horrific of manners before that truth is revealed?

Why should Mirri care about Rhaego when his would be parents are still Mirri's masters/enslavers?

Why if Mirri didn't want to help did she give specific instructions to Drogo and Dany which are explicitly not followed and thus it gets worse naturally?

If Mirri wanted to always do this why did she try and warn Dany that allowing Drogo to die naturally would be a cleaner way, and only did it after her master told her to do it?

If burning Mirri was only about justice why does it seem to match terrifyingly close to the tragedy at Summerhall except she actually doesn't actually suffer ANY of the loses that Aegon did and she ONLY gets exactly what she wanted out of it? Which was dragons.

This isn't a fair execution of a criminal. This is Dany sacrificing her slave in a horrific fashion in order to try and recreate the attempt of reviving Dragons of Summerhall, under the guise of getting vengeance on her own slave who at worst, rebelled against her masters.

Mirri wasn't Dany getting vengeance. Dany used Mirri as an excuse to use blood magic to succeed where Aegon at Summerhall failed.

#game of thrones #a song of ice and fire #asoiaf #anti daenerys targaryen #anti dany stans #anti targaryen #anti targ stans #mirri maz duur #mirri maz duur did nothing wrong

[kentstoji]

yandere rhaegar targaryen who grew up shrouded in a blanket of melancholy, akin to the trauma from the great fire of summerhall, a tragedy that marked his birth. his mind remained consistently immersed in fantasy clouds. an attempt to distance himself from the demons haunting house targaryen.

he developed an appreciation for songs and literature. and so, the prophecies were presented to him.

his imaginative mind created scenarios based on the words that led aegon iv to perdition. and when he met you — the only daughter of jon arryn that come of age without succumbing to illness — his obsession with completing the song of ice and fire intensified.

you, on the other hand, only harbored the ambition to take care of your father and ensure the stability of house arryn.

#ch:. rhaegar targaryen #book:. aoiaf #rhaegar targaryen x reader #asoiaf x reader #yandere asoiaf #yandere game of thrones #yandere hotd #yandere rhaegar targaryen #arryn!reader verse #arryn!reader #self indulgence hc. #a song of ice and fire

[strangesmallbard]

i do wish we’d see an adaptation of jaehaerys i’s era bc it’s like. gyldayn depicts it as the Golden Age of Targaryen Rule—the king’s road, alysanne’s influence abolishing the first night law, general prosperity across westeros, etc. meanwhile all of jaehaerys’ daughters experience patriarchal horror upon patriarchal horror before most die horribly (except for maegelle, who becomes a septa, and saera, who escapes) while rhaena the lesbian is roaming harrenhal and the specter of aerea targaryen’s trip to old valyria haunts the entire red keep.

what does that juxtaposition tell us about the targaryen family’s propensity for both doom and survival? how empire functions in asoiaf and on general? perhaps some foreshadowing to the tragedy at summerhall and dany’s rebirth in the flames years later? the adaptation should be gothic horror obviously

#a song of ice and fire #asoiaf #valyrianscrolls #yell.txt

[corviids]

Rereading misty dream for like the nth time and in that part where Aemond is all Yes we have to go to court and not appear weak only for 2 weeks later be like… 🤡 I shouldn’t have come here. Poor Aemond he really didn’t see the upcoming tragedy. Lucerys is way perceptive than him. He sensed the weird vibes and didn’t want their family to go anywhere near that keep 😭😭

aemond thought he was so cool after saying that to lucerys only to be a wet, shaking cat running back to summerhall after like a day and a half back at the red keep 💀

#asks

[kei-yuki]

Another thought about the Tragedy of Summerhall:

The belief that Egg became "mad" or, at least, "too much obsessed" with dragons and this was the cause of the tragedy is only a belief that can be questioned if we read correctly "The world of ice and fire":

In 258 AC on Essos, another challenge rose to Aegon's reign, when nine outlaws, exiles, pirates, and sellsword captains met in the Disputed Lands beneath the Tree of Crowns to form an unholy alliance. The Band of Nine swore their oath of mutual aid and support in carving out kingdoms for each of their members. Amongst them was the last Blackfyre, Maelys the Monstrous, who had command of the Golden Company, and the kingdom they pledged to win for him was the Seven Kingdoms. Prince Duncan, when told of the pact, famously remarked that crowns were being sold nine a penny; thereafter the Band of Nine became known as the Ninepenny Kings in Westeros. It was thought at first that the Free Cities of Essos would surely bring their power against them and put an end to their pretensions, but nonetheless preparations were made, should Maelys and his allies turn on the Seven Kingdoms. But there was no great urgency to them, and King Aegon remained intent on his reign.

And intent on one more thing: dragons. As he grew older, Aegon V had come to dream of dragons flying once more above the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros. In this, he was not unlike his predecessors, who brought septons to pray over the last eggs, mages to work spells over them, and maesters to pore over them. Though friends and counselors sought to dissuade him, King Aegon grew ever more convinced that only with dragons would he ever wield sufficient power to make the changes he wished to make in the realm and force the proud and stubborn lords of the Seven Kingdoms to accept his decrees.

The world of ice and fire. The Targaryen Kings: Aegon V

If we read with attention, it could be that the origin of the fire was an attempt of Maelys Blackfyre to kill the principle members of the Targaryen dinasty:

What became of the dream of dragons was a grievous tragedy born in a moment of joy. In the fateful year 259 AC, the king summoned many of those closest to him to Summerhall, his favorite castle, there to celebrate the impending birth of his first great-grandchild, a boy later named Rhaegar, to his grandson Aerys and granddaughter Rhaella, the children of Prince Jaehaerys.

The world of ice and fire. The Targaryen Kings: Aegon V

Egg's idea of getting the whole family together in Summerhall could easily become an unique opportunity for Maelys to attack Westeros producing a moment of weakness: a power vacuum.

Without a Targaryen King why not a Blackfyre Pretender?

But he underestimated Jaehaerys II, his Hand and, above all, a young Barristan Selmy:

Jaehaerys had known that the Band of Nine meant to win the Seven Kingdoms for Maelys the Monstrous, who had declared himself King Maelys I Blackfyre, but like his father, Aegon, Jaehaerys had hoped the alliance of rogues would founder in Essos, or fall at the hands of some alliance amongst the Free Cities. Now the moment was at hand, and King Aegon V was gone, as was the Prince of Dragonflies. Prince Daeron, that splendid knight, had died years before, leaving only Jaehaerys, the least martial of Aegon's three sons.

The new king was four-and-thirty years of age as he ascended the Iron Throne. No one would have called him formidable. Unlike his brothers, Jaehaerys II Targaryen was thin and scrawny, and had battled various ailments all his life. Yet he did not lack for courage, or intelligence. Drawing on his father's plans, His Grace put aside his grief, called his lords bannermen, and resolved to meet the Ninepenny Kings upon the Stepstones, choosing to take the war to them rather than awaiting their landing on the shores of the Seven Kingdoms.

King Jaehaerys had intended to lead the attack upon the Ninepenny Kings himself, but his Hand, Lord Ormund Baratheon, persuaded him that would be unwise. The king was unused to the rigors of campaign and not skilled in arms, the Hand pointed out, and it would be folly to risk losing him in battle so soon after the tragedy of Summerhall. Jaehaerys finally allowed himself to be persuaded to remain at King's Landing with his queen. Command of the host was given to Lord Ormund, as King's Hand.

In 260 AC, his lordship landed Targaryen armies upon three of the Stepstones, and the War of the Ninepenny Kings turned bloody. Battle raged across the islands and the channels between for most of that year. Maester Eon's Account of the War of the Ninepenny Kings, one of the finest works of its kind, is a splendid source for the details of the fighting, with its many battles on land and sea and notable feats of arms. Lord Ormund Baratheon, the Westerosi commander, was amongst the first to perish. Cut down by the hand of Maelys the Monstrous, he died in the arms of his son and heir, Steffon Baratheon.

Command of the Targaryen host passed to the new young Lord Commander of the Kingsguard, Ser Gerold Hightower, the White Bull. Hightower and his men were hard-pressed for a time, but as the war hung in the balance, a young knight named Ser Barristan Selmy slew Maelys in single combat, winning undying renown and deciding the issue in a stroke, for the remainder of the Ninepenny Kings had little or no interest in Westeros and soon fell back to their own domains. Maelys the Monstrous was the fifth and last of the Blackfyre Pretenders; with his death, the curse that Aegon the Unworthy had inflicted on the Seven Kingdoms by giving his sword to his bastard son was finally ended.

Half a year of hard fighting remained before the Stepstones and the Disputed Lands were freed from the remaining Band of Nine, and it would be six years before Alequo Adarys, the Tyrant of Tyrosh, was poisoned by his queen and the Archon of Tyrosh was restored. For the Seven Kingdoms, it had been a grand victory, though not without cost in lives or suffering.

The world of ice and fire. The Targaryen Kings: Jaehaerys II

#tragedy of summerhall #blackfyre rebellion #maelys blackfyre #aegon v targaryen #egg #dunk and egg #jaehaerys ii targaryen #barristan selmy #rhaegar targaryen #rhaella targaryen #asoiaf #the world of ice and fire

[homophobiagoals]

i loveeee the asoiaf blood magic theorising sooo much i think its so delicious and disturbing but i am particularly obsessed with how it works with the targaryens. because the valyrians did awful blood magic, and the doom of valyria was almost definitely some kind of magical event that killed them all to punish them for it. but the targaryens escaped. and then they spent the next 400ish years becoming more and more convinced of their own exceptionalism and going madder and madder and then one tragedy after another happens to them. the dance of dragons, blackfyre rebellions, summerhall, eventually robert's rebellion wiping them out almost entirely. like they escaped punishment when they left valyria but asoiaf's equivalent of karma has just been slowly creeping up on them for centuries. they get weaker and lose their dragons and so many targs have crazy and tragic deaths until literally all that’s left of their house is a little girl entirely alone on the other side of the world.

#game of thrones #a song of ice and fire #asoiaf #got #daenerys targaryen #house targaryen #fire and blood #house of the dragon #hotd

[bbygirl-aemond]

Cursed Targaryen Names

Hello everyone! I think by this point we've all heard the theory that the name Visenya is cursed in ASoIaF, and I recently received this ask here that drew my attention to the fact that the name Aegon doesn't have the greatest track record, either. One realization later, and I arrived at my new theory: All three names from the Conquering trio have been cursed. Maybe by Visenya (I hope by Visenya). So let's go through what happens to all the poor kids that get saddled with these names, shall we?

Visenya

Visenya, who Rhaenyra wanted as a sister when Aemma was pregnant, but who was actually a boy named Baelon. Still, at one point Rhaenyra had declared the baby's name would be Visenya. As we all know, the baby died, and took its mother with it.

Visenya, the stillborn daughter of Rhaenyra. Born with birth defects, with scales on her skin, and with a tail.

Aegon

Aegon the Uncrowned, who was usurped by his uncle Maegor despite being the trueborn and eldest son of the late king, and who was later killed by Maegor at just seventeen.

Aegon, son of Jaehaerys and Alysanne, who died three days after he was born

Aegon, son of Baelon and Alyssa, whose birth killed his mother and who died days before his first birthday, also managing to ruin Viserys and Daemon's childhood

Aegon II, who watched all of his siblings and most of his children die before him in a war they were forced into, who spent his final years disfigured and in agony, and who died in his twenties

Aegon III, who traumatically lost his dragon and thought he'd abandoned his brother to die, whose older half-brothers all died, who watched his mother be eaten alive as a child, and who spent the rest of his life depressed as a result

Aegon IV, who was probably actually insane

Aegon V, who killed not only himself but also his own children and heir in his desperation to uncover the magic of the dragons in the Tragedy at Summerhall

And finally, poor baby Aegon, whose head was bashed in against a wall in front of his mother, Elia

Rhaenys

Rhaenys, daughter of Aemon and Jocelyn, who outlived her two beloved children and was burned alive after being sent on a suicide mission by the same woman she thought killed her son

Rhaenys, the three-year-old daughter of Elia and Rhaegar, who was ripped from beneath her bed and stabbed to death so viciously that Tywin Lannister had to cover her body with a cloak before presenting her to the King.

Also, as a note, there's one instance of one of these three names popping up pre-Conquest: Aegon Targaryen, son of Gaemon and Daenys, who happily married his sister, ruled Dragonstone, and passed it down to his son with no problems. Whose children all survived to adulthood, whose wife did not die in childbirth, and who is not noted to have a particularly gruesome death. This just adds to my theory that this name was not cursed pre-Conquest hehe.

#asoiaf meta #asoiaf #hotd #house of the dragon #aegon targaryen #aegon i targaryen #visenya targaryen #rhaenys targaryen #aegon ii targaryen #aegon iii targaryen #aegon iv targaryen #aegon v targaryen #aegon the conqueror #aegon the uncrowned #hotd meta #meta

[gwenllian-in-the-abbey]

What do you think of Rhaegar as a character? I kinda like him in a sense that he is enigma and you could interpret his character in many different ways, however i feel he is an incompetent fool bc no matter how hard Grrm tries to paint him as this diligent , smart figure the choice of kidnapping/running away with Lyanna was stupid af , and shows how much of an idiot & short-sighted he is 😭

I think Rhaegar is one of those characters whose importance is in the impact he has and the impression he leaves, rather than him being anything particularly special in and of himself. GRRM paints him less as an actual character who inhabits the world, but more as a romantic figure, a sad ghost of who haunts the page. Rhaegar exists only in memory, and while that memory takes many shapes, they're always tragic. For Cersei and Robert, he's tied to the memory of what might have been. Robert hates him for taking Lyanna Stark from him, imagining that all of his troubles spring from that loss. For Cersei, he is the better, kinder, more worthy husband she might have had. For Dany, he is her heroic brother tragically slain, the embodiment of the Targaryen legacy she chases. For Jaime, Rhaegar is a ghost that reminds him of his broken oath to protect the innocent. For Jon Connington, he represents regret and failed duty. The memory of Rhaegar is inseparable from their personal tragedies, and Rhaegar himself is the culmination of the Targaryen family tragedy, born the day of the fire at Summerhall, and ultimately dooming his house and himself when his attempts to fulfill a prophesy start a war. Barristan Selmy tells Dany, when she's asking about her brother, that he was born with a sense of doom, with a "shadow that hung over him all his days," and I think this is really the thesis when it comes to Rhaegar. He's the "last dragon," the embodiment of Targaryen doom, and that shadow is the legacy of Old Valyria, the doom they tried to outrun but instead carried inside of them. They can chase prophesies and bring back the dragons but the Targaryens fatal flaw is that cannot break with the past, and so it's a sad twist that Rhaegar himself becomes the anchor to the past that drags others backwards.

#asks #rhaegar targaryen #anti targaryen #i don't think rhaegar is a normal character #who he actually was is less interesting than what he represents both in world and for the narrative