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asongofsilks · 2 years

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ASOIAF FANCASTING --> EVERY NAMED FEMALE CHARACTER ABOVE THE AGE OF FIVE, PART VI

Goodwife Amabel (main series era): A servant from Lady Shella Whent's household in Harrenhal. She is friends with Goodwife Harra, and they oversee the prisoners brought to Harrenhal by Gregor Clegane's men. When Harra is executed by Lord Bolton after Arya sets the northmen free, Amabel is distraught. By the time Jaime arrives at Harrenhal on his way to lift the siege of Riverrun, Amabel is gone. Fancast: Glenis Levistam.

Amanda Arryn (b. approx. 74 AC): Daughter of Lord Rodrik Arryn of the Eyrie and his first wife. Princess Daella Targaryen became her stepmother. Amanda welcomed her and wrote letters on her behalf. Fancast: Alexandrea Owens-Sarno.

Amarei Crakehall (c. 230-264 AC): Third wife of Lord Walder Frey and mother to seven of his children. Fancast: Alexandra Tydings.

Septa Amarys (lived around 131 AC): She was tasked with the religious instruction of Baela Targaryen, daughter of Prince Daemon Targaryen, but did not succeed in taming her wild nature. Fancast: Julie Andrews.

Amerei Frey (b. 282 AC): Daughter of Merrett Frey, Lord Walder's ninth son, and his wife Mariya Darry. She is the granddaughter of Amarei Crakehall. After being caught with three grooms in the stables, Amerei is married off to a hedge knight, who is later slain by Gregor Clegane. She is then married to Lancel Lannister in order to strengthen his hold on Darry lands, but Lancel dissolves the marriage. Fancast: Hudson Leick.

The Amethyst Empress (Age of Heroes): Legendary eighth ruler of the Great Empire of the Dawn and descendant of the gods. She was usurped and slain by her brother, the treacherous Bloodstone Emperor. According to the annals of the Further East, this act ushered in the Long Night and ended the Empire of the Dawn. Fancast: Li Bingbing.

Annara Farring (c. 270-298 AC): Lord Walder Frey's seventh wife and mother to six of his children. Fancast: Erin Cummings.

Anya Waynwood (main series era): Lady of Ironoaks and Head of House Waynwood. She has three sons and many daughters and grandchildren. Harrold Hardyng, the heir to the Vale, is her cousin and ward. She is one of the Lords Declarant who swear to drive Petyr Baelish out of the Vale after Lysa Arryn's death. However, Petyr manages to manipulate the situation to his advantage and even persuades Anya to allow Harrold to marry his bastard daughter, Alayne Stone, who is really Sansa Stark in disguise. Fancast: Maggie Smith.

Anya Weatherwax (b. 126 AC): She was presented to King Aegon III Targaryen at the Maiden's Day Ball after the death of his first wife. She told the king of her horse Twinklehoof, whom she loved very much. Fancast: Aubrey Elise.

Aregelle Stark (b. approx. 180 AC): Second daughter of Serena Stark and her husband Edric Stark, who was also her uncle. Serena was the younger daughter of Rickon Stark, who was the heir to Winterfell before his death, but none of Rickon's descendants inherited Winterfell. Aregelle's older twin brothers, Cregard and Torrhen, probably died young. Aregelle was married to Lord Robard Cerwyn and bore him children. Fancast: Lily Sullivan.

#asoiaf fancast #valyrianscrolls #amerei frey #amarei crakehall #septa amarys #aregelle stark #anya weatherwax #anya waynwood #annara farring #the amethyst empress #amanda arryn #goodwife amabel #asoiaf fashion #allfancasts

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princesssszzzz · 1 year

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Fire & Blood (HOTD) // A Game of Thrones (GOT) Imagery & Parallels

Sansa is your sister. You may be as different as the sun and the moon, but the same blood flows through both your hearts." "Arya learns to fight in the Braavosi water dancer style with Needle." (AGOT, Arya II)

“Baela’s dragon, the slender pale green Moondancer would soon be large enough to bear the girl upon her back." “... a pale pink hatchling with black horns and crest, Rhaena named her Morning.” (Fire and Blood, 432 & 593)

“[Baela] is wild, willful, and wanton, as we feared,” (Fire and Blood, 648)

“[Baela] was as wild and willful a young woman as any in the realm” (Fire and Blood, 645)

“[Arya’s] long horsey face got the stubborn look that meant she was going to do something willful.” (AGOT, Sansa I)

“And Arya … he missed her....so fierce and willful.” (AGOT, Jon III)

“Septa Amarys, who had been given charge of her religious and moral instruction, despaired of her, and even Septon Eustace could not seem to curb her wild ways.” (Fire and Blood, 646)

“Rhaena’s egg had hatched a broken thing that died within hours of emerging from the egg” (Fire and Blood, 432-3)

“Lady was dead” (ASOS, Sansa IV)

“Rhaena enjoyed a life of comfort and privilege, with maids brushing her hair and drawing her baths. Singers composed odes to her beauty, and knights jousted for her favor (Fire and Blood)

“She loved King's Landing; the pageantry of the court, the high lords and ladies in their velvets and silks and gemstones, the great city with all its people.” (AGOT, Sansa III)

“It would please me if he was not so old he could not give me children, nor so fat that he would crush me when we are abed. So long as he is kind and gentle and noble, I know that I shall love him.” (Fire and Blood, 649)

“When you're old enough, I will make you a match with a high lord who's worthy of you, someone brave and gentle and strong.”(AGOT, Sansa II)

"He's just stupid. He likes to polish helmets and beat on swords with hammers." Arya about the (legitimized bastard) Gendry

"You fool, you thrice-damned fool. If I dared, I would have your bloody head off." Unwin Peake to (legitimized bastard) Alyn

“Baela's dragon brought down our late king. There are many in the realm who will not have forgotten that. Crown her and we will rip all the old wounds open once again”(Fire and Blood)

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laurellerual · 1 year

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I'm finally reading Fire and Blood, and I have to say: Baela -> Arya... Also why do the people Baela takes home with her sound so much like the people Arya meets on her journey?

Even more gravely, Baela Arya had a taste for unsuitable companions. Like stray dogs, she brought them home with her to the Red Keep, insisting that they be given positions in the castle, or be made part of her own retinue. These pets of hers included a comely young juggler Tagganaro with Casso, a blacksmith's apprentice Gendry whose muscles she admired, a legless beggar Lommy she took pity on, a conjurer of cheap tricks Jaqen and Thoros she took for an actual sorcerer, a hedge knight's homely squire Edric, even a pair of young girls from a brothel the Peach and the Happy harbor girls., twins, "like us, Rhae Sansa." Once she turned up with an entire troupe of mummers The Gate. Septa Amarys Septa Mordane, who had been given charge of her religious and moral instruction, despaired of her.

#arya stark #baela targaryen #asoiaf

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lavlav-lavender · 7 months

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Threads of Black, Threads of Green -Alicent's Household

Alerie Redwyne

Gemma Lefford

Sybell Fossoway

Jana Swyft

Marianne Vance

Alysanne Thorne

Septa Amarys

#midjourney #story inspiration

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ippoliya · 2 years

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Rhaena Targaryen and Sansa Stark: Parallels and Speculation

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly’s James Hibberd, George R.R. Martin responds as follows when asked whether Fire and Blood would tease what is to come in A Song of Ice and Fire:

Are there any hints here in terms of what’s to come in your Ice and Fire saga? There are a few that are definitely important, but I’m not going to flag them. Readers will have to find them and puzzle out whether they’re hints or red herrings. (x)

The distinct similarities between Sansa Stark in A Song of Ice and Fire and Rhaena Targaryen in Fire and Blood lead me to conclude that Rhaena’s life provides us with some “hints” from which we can predict Sansa’s endgame.

I. The Wild and Willful Sisters

A pertinent connection between Rhaena and Sansa are their wild and willful sisters. Below, I catalogue several similarities between Baela Targaryen and Arya Stark.

First, Baela and Arya are known for their willful behaviour:

“[Baela] is wild, willful, and wanton, as we feared,” (Fire and Blood, 648) “[Baela] was as wild and willful a young woman as any in the realm” (Fire and Blood, 645) “[Arya’s] long horsey face got the stubborn look that meant she was going to do something willful.” (AGOT, Sansa I) “And Arya … he missed her even more than Robb, skinny little thing that she was, all scraped knees and tangled hair and torn clothes, so fierce and willful.” (AGOT, Jon III)

Second, Baela and Arya commonly consort with the small folk:

“Time and time again she would escape her ladies to seek adventure in the streets. She took part in drunken horse races along the Street of the Sisters, engaged in moonlight swims across the Blackwater Rush (whose powerful currents had been known to drown many a strong swimmer), drank with the gold cloaks in their barracks, wagered coin and sometimes clothing in the rat pits of Flea Bottom.” (Fire and Blood, 645) “Sansa knew all about the sorts of people Arya liked to talk to: squires and grooms and serving girls, old men and naked children, rough-spoken freeriders of uncertain birth. Arya would make friends with anybody. This Mycah was the worst; a butcher's boy, thirteen and wild, he slept in the meat wagon and smelled of the slaughtering block. Just the sight of him was enough to make Sansa feel sick, but Arya seemed to prefer his company to hers.” (AGOT, Sansa I)

Third, Baela and Arya’s rejection of gender and class restrictions is a source of tension for their teachers' that strive to inculcate gender and class norms:

“Septa Amarys, who had been given charge of her religious and moral instruction, despaired of her, and even Septon Eustace could not seem to curb her wild ways.” (Fire and Blood, 646) “I despaired of ever making a lady of [Arya].” (ACOK, Catelyn VII) "Sansa's work is as pretty as she is," Septa Mordane told their lady mother once. "She has such fine, delicate hands." When Lady Catelyn had asked about Arya, the septa had sniffed. "Arya has the hands of a blacksmith." (AGOT, Arya I)

Fourth, Baela and Arya are romantically involved with bastards. Baela marries Alyn of Hull, later known as Lord Velayron, and Arya's relationship with Gendy, the bastard son of an alehouse worker and Robert Baratheon, is replete with romantic undertones*.

Finally, Baela/Rhaena and Arya/Sansa have strong sun and moon imagery*.

Sansa is your sister. You may be as different as the sun and the moon, but the same blood flows through both your hearts. You need her, as she needs you … and I need both of you, gods help me." (AGOT, Arya II) “Baela’s dragon, the slender pale green Moondancer would soon be large enough to bear the girl upon her back/“ “Baela’s twin had brought a dragon’s egg with her to the Vale … and egg that had proved fertile, bringing forth a pale pink hatchling with black horns and crest, Rhaena named her Morning.” (Fire and Blood, 432 & 593)

In short, the first similarity Rhaena Targaryen and Sansa Stark share is their wilful sisters. Baela Targaryen and Arya Stark challenge the status quo by undermining inherent gender, social, and class restriction; have romantic ties to bastards, and share sun and moon imagery with their respective sisters.

*Arya Stark was initially romantically tied to another bastard, her half-brother Jon Snow, as was revealed in the 1993 ASOIAF outline. Jon Snow is theorized to be the bastard son of Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark.

*Although Ned’s “sun and the moon” quote does not specify which of the Stark sisters is the sun and which is the moon, I speculate that Arya is the moon and Sansa is the sun. For one, Baela’s “moondancer” brings to mind Arya’s expertise in sword dancing. Second, as this essay (x) demonstrates, the moon plays a larger role in Aryas narrative than it does in Sansa's.

II. The Dutiful Daughters

It should be acknowledged that there are fewer connections between Rhaena and Sansa than there are between Baela and Arya. This is due to the Rhaena’s minor role in the Dance translating to limited information about her character. Nevertheless, the few mentions of Rhaena strike a compelling comparison to Sansa.

To begin, both Rhaena and Sansa lose their pets soon after bonding with them. Rhaena’s first dragon egg hatches but dies shortly after emerging from the egg. Similarly, Sansa’s dire wolf, Lady, is killed roughly three months after bonding with Sansa.

“Rhaena’s egg had hatched a broken thing that died within hours of emerging from the egg” (Fire and Blood, 432-3) “Lady was dead” (ASOS, Sansa IV)

Second, in contrast to their willful sisters, Rhaena and Sansa embrace and conform to the traditional feminine traits of their milieu:

“Lady Rhaena proved to be as tractable as her sister had been willful.” (Fire and Blood, 649) “[Sansa] was the good girl, the obedient girl …” (AGOT, Sansa IV) "Sansa was a lady at three, always so courteous and eager to please.” (ACOK, Catelyn VII)

Relatedly, Rhaena and Sansa enjoy by pomp and spectacle of the court:

“… Rhaena delighted in being the centre of court life” (Fire and Blood, 645) “She loved King's Landing; the pageantry of the court, the high lords and ladies in their velvets and silks and gemstones, the great city with all its people.” (AGOT, Sansa III) “Sansa would shine in the south, Catelyn thought” (AGOT, Catelyn II)

Finally, the Vale of Arryn establishes a pertinent connection between Rhaena and Sansa. During the Dance, Rhaena accompanies her cousin, Prince Joffrey, to the Vale where she spends the remainder of the war as a ward of Lady Arryn. Comparably, Sansa is smuggled from King’s Landing to the Vale where she adopts the identity of Alayne Stone and takes care of her cousin, Robert Arryn*.

In short, Rhaena and Sansa share three notable connections: the death of their bonded animals, embodiment and embrace of traditional feminine and Southron ideals as it relates to behaviour and activities, and spending their formative years at the Vale.

*Rhaena and Sansa led somewhat different lives at the Vale. Rhaena is said to have “enjoy[ed] a life of comfort and privilege as Lady Jeyne’s ward” whereas Sansa, while enjoying the comfort and privileges of being the alleged daughter of the Lord Protector, is embroiled in problematic political schemes and experiences sexual harassment at the hands of her alleged father.

III. Kind, Gentle, Noble versus Brave, Gentle, Strong

“There are a few [hints] that are definitely important,” says Martin. Given these connections, what does Rhaena’s story “hint” about Sansa’s endgame?

Perhaps Rhaena eventually hatching another dragon, Morning, is meant to hint at Sansa eventually receiving a second dire wolf. Perhaps Rhaena’s role in solving a succession crisis is teasing Sansa’s involvement in solving a potential Arryn or Stark succession crisis? These are all compelling answers, but a third captures my attention: Rhaena’s marriage.

After the Dance, King Aegon the Third's regents attempt to secure a successor for the young king by marrying off his half-sisters, Baela and Rhaena. However, Baela defies the regents by marrying Alyn Velayron. Incensed, the regents attempt to prevent Baela from being the first to provide the Crown with a suitable successor and thus quickly order Rhaena to marry a man of her choosing.

Assessing her options, Rhaena requests that her potential husband meet the following criteria:

“[I]t would please me if he was not so old he could not give me children, nor so fat that he would crush me when we are abed. So long as he is kind and gentle and noble, I know that I shall love him.” (Fire and Blood, 649)

She chooses to marry a man that she is “especially fond” of, Ser Corwyn Corbray. Rhaena’s decision is considered “far from an ideal choice” for several reasons. In particular, Ser Corwyn is thirty-two years old (sixteen years Rhaena’s elder), a second son, and has two daughters from a previous marriage. Nevertheless, the marriage is accepted not in the least part due to Lord Corbray’s influence as Lord Protector of the Realm.

—

I believe Rhaena’s marriage to Ser Corwyn is meant to “hint” at a future marriage between Sansa and Sandor Clegane. For one, Rhaena’s request that her husband is “kind and gentle and noble” echoes a promise Ned Stark made to Sansa:

When you're old enough, I will make you a match with a high lord who's worthy of you, someone brave and gentle and strong. (AGOT, Sansa II)

Although, Sansa characterizes several characters as brave, gentle, and strong, Sandor is the only character that Sansa describes using all three adjectives:

“To thank you, for . . . for saving me . . . you were so brave." (ACOK, Sansa IV) “The Hound gave her a push, oddly gentle” (ACOK, Sansa II) “He pushed her toward her wardrobe, almost gently.” (AGOT, Sansa VI) “The Hound pulled her to her feet, not ungently.” (ACOK, Sansa III) “Strong hands grasped her by the shoulders,” (AGOT, Sansa I) “She might have fallen, but a shadow moved suddenly, and strong fingers grabbed her arm and steadied her.” (ACOK, Sansa IV)

The quotes listed above are not the only moments where Sansa describes Sandor as such. Qveenofthorns created a graph illustrating the occasions where Sansa describes a character using those specific adjectives and finds that Sandor dominates the graph (illustrated here).

In addition to similar phrasing regarding what Rhaena and Sansa want in a husband, Ser Corwyn and Sandor share a few similarities. Ser Corwyn and Sandor are in their thirties, share a similar age gap of sixteen years with their romantic interests, and are second sons. However, there are some notable differences. Ser Corwyn was a previously married father and a knight of great renown … whereas Sandor has never experienced marriage and fatherhood, nor is he a knight — much less one of great renown. Nevertheless, these connections between Fire and Blood characters and ASOIAF characters are not meant to be a consistent one-to-one match but complementary.

*Ser Corwyn is Rhaena’s first husband. He dies attempting to settle a succession dispute between different Arryn claimants. Rhaena later marries an unnamed Hightower.

Conclusion

The distinct attitudes, interests, and experiences that characterise Rhaena Targaryen in Fire and Blood reappear in A Song of Ice and Fire through Sansa Stark. The compelling similarities between the two characters, which include the loss of a bonded pet, conformity to feminine ideals, and dwelling in the Vale under the wardship of Lady Arryn, indicate that Martin intends for Rhaena to be a "hint[] in terms of what's to come," as Hibberd puts it. Extrapolating from Rhaena’s narrative provides a crucial hint from which we can predict Sansa’s endgame. Specifically, given the similarities between Ser Corwyn Corbray and Sandor Clegane, Rhaena’s first marriage to the former may hint at Sansa’s impending relationship with the latter. Ser Corwyn and Sandor are second sons, in their thirties, and have a sixteen-year age difference with their romantic partners. In addition to these cursory similarities, Eddard Stark’s promise to Sansa that he will find her a husband who is "brave and gentle and strong" is oddly reminiscent of Rhaena’s request to the Council that her husband be "kind and gentle and noble." While Rhaena chooses to marry Ser Corwyn, who, by all accounts, meets her criteria, Sandor Clegane is the only character in the series that matches Eddard Stark's requirements.

#sansa stark #arya stark #rhaena targaryen #baela targaryen #sandor clegane #sansan #edited for clarity #hotd spoilers #fire and blood spoilers #sansan meta

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butterflies-dragons · 4 years

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You may be as different as the sun and the moon, but the same blood flows through both your hearts.

I always thought that both, Sansa and Arya have sun and moon imagery around them. But if I have to choose then I would say that Sansa is the sun and Arya is the moon; and after my last re-read of Fire & Blood, I just confirmed it.

As I said before, several Targaryen sisters duos described in Fire and Blood are very similar to Sansa and Arya, as if George wanted for us to have the Stark sisters in mind while discovering all these Targaryen ladies:

Visenya and Rhaenys

Rhaena and Alysanne

Aerea and Rhaella

Baela and Rhaena

Let’s talk about the last ones, the twin daughters of Daemon Targaryen and his second wife Lady Laena Velaryon: Baela and Rhaena.

In 116 AC, in the Free City of Pentos, Lady Laena gave birth to twin daughters, Prince Daemon’s first trueborn children. Prince Daemon named the girls Baela (after his father) and Rhaena (after her mother).

—Fire & Blood

Baela’s description matches Arya Stark

At ten-and-four, Baela was a wild and willful young maiden, more boyish than ladylike, and very much her father’s daughter. Though slim and short of stature, she knew naught of fear, and lived to dance and hawk and ride. As a younger girl she had oft been chastised for wrestling with squires in the yard, but of late she had taken to playing kissing games with them instead. Not long after the queen’s court removed to King’s Landing (whilst leaving Lady Baela on Dragonstone), Baela had been caught allowing a kitchen scullion to slip his hand inside her jerkin. Ser Robert, outraged, had sent the boy to the block to have the offending hand removed. Only the girl’s tearful intercession had saved him.

(...)

Baela’s time on Dragonstone had been more troubled, ending with fire and blood. By the time she came to court, she was as wild and willful a young woman as any in the realm. (...) Baela lived to ride…and to fly, though that had been taken from her when her dragon died. She kept her silver hair cropped as short as a boy’s, so it would not whip about her face when she was riding. Time and time again she would escape her ladies to seek adventure in the streets. She took part in drunken horse races along the Street of the Sisters, engaged in moonlight swims across the Blackwater Rush (whose powerful currents had been known to drown many a strong swimmer), drank with the gold cloaks in their barracks, wagered coin and sometimes clothing in the rat pits of Flea Bottom. Once she vanished for three days and refused to say where she had been when she returned.

Even more gravely, Baela had a taste for unsuitable companions. Like stray dogs, she brought them home with her to the Red Keep, insisting that they be given positions in the castle, or be made part of her own retinue. These pets of hers included a comely young juggler, a blacksmith’s apprentice whose muscles she admired, a legless beggar she took pity on, a conjurer of cheap tricks she took for an actual sorcerer, a hedge knight’s homely squire, even a pair of young girls from a brothel, twins, “like us, Rhae.” Once she turned up with an entire troupe of mummers. Septa Amarys, who had been given charge of her religious and moral instruction, despaired of her, and even Septon Eustace could not seem to curb her wild ways. “The girl must be wed, and soon,” he told the King’s Hand, “else I fear that she may bring dishonor down upon House Targaryen, and shame His Grace, her brother.

—Fire & Blood

As you can see Baela and Arya shared a lot of similarities, both are wild and willful, both short of stature, both wear short hair, both like riding, both prefer the company of the common folk instead of the courtly life, both admire the muscles of a young blacksmith’s apprentice, both seek adventures, both make their Septa’s despair, etc.

Later Rhaena will marry her cousin Alyn Velaryon, born Alyn of Hull, a legitimized bastard, but the marriage was stormy.

Rhaena description matches Sansa Stark

As young girls, the twins had been inseparable, and impossible to tell apart, but once parted, their experiences had shaped them in very different ways. In the Vale, Rhaena had enjoyed a life of comfort and privilege as Lady Jeyne’s ward. Maids had brushed her hair and drawn her baths, whilst singers composed odes to her beauty and knights jousted for her favor. The same was true at King’s Landing, where dozens of gallant young lords competed for her smiles, artists begged leave to draw or paint her, and the city’s finest dressmakers sought the honor of making her gowns.

(...)

It was Jace who came to the fore now, late in the year 129 AC. Mindful of the promise he had made to the Maiden of the Vale, he ordered Prince Joffrey to fly to Gulltown with Tyraxes. Munkun suggests that Jace’s desire to keep his brother far from the fighting was paramount in this decision. This did not sit well with Joffrey, who was determined to prove himself in battle. Only when told that he was being sent to defend the Vale against King Aegon’s dragons did his brother grudgingly consent to go. Rhaena, the thirteen-year-old daughter of Prince Daemon by Laena Velaryon, was chosen to accompany him.

(...)

She would of course wed whomever the king and council wished, she allowed, though “it would please me if he was not so old he could not give me children, nor so fat that he would crush me when we are abed. So long as he is kind and gentle and noble, I know that I shall love him.” When the Hand asked if she had any favorites amongst the lords and knights who had paid her suit, she confessed that she was “especially fond” of Ser Corwyn Corbray, whom she had first met in the Vale whilst a ward of Lady Arryn. Ser Corwyn was far from an ideal choice. A second son, he had two daughters from a previous marriage. At thirty-two, he was a man, not a green boy.

—Fire & Blood

As you can see Rhaena and Sansa shared a lot of similarities, both are ladylike, both love the courtly life, both are linked with a (bastard) Joffrey, both lived at the Vale, both are linked with singers, both are linked with Knights and Tourneys, both are dutiful, both are betrothed with a Knight of the Vale, that already had two daughters, etc.

As Ned promised Sansa a betrothal with a high lord, kind, gentle and strong, Rhaena asked for a not too old, not too fat, kind, gentle and noble husband. She married Ser Corwyn Corbray, who had a great reputation as a warrior, so much so that his father gave him the ancient Valyrian steel longsword of House Corbray, Lady Forlorn.

Later Rhaena will lost her husband, Ser Corwyn Corbray. He would be killed during some succession war at the Vale, which is kind of similar to the events developing at the Vale with Alayne Stone, Harrold Hardynd and Robert Arryn.

Much later Rhaena will marry Garmund Hightower, the younger brother of Lord Lyonel Hightower, by whom she will have six daughters.

The Sun and The Moon: The Contrasts between Baela and Rhaena

The contrasts between Baela and Rhaena are very similar to the contrasts between Sansa and Arya:

Rhaena was slender and graceful; Baela was lean and quick.

Rhaena loved to dance; Baela lived to ride…and to fly, though that had been taken from her when her dragon died.

Yet even here, the council encountered difficulty and division. When Leowyn Corbray said, “Lady Rhaena would make a splendid queen,” Ser Tyland pointed out that Baela had been the first from her mother’s womb.

“Baela is too wild,” countered Ser Torrhen Manderly. “How can she rule the realm when she cannot rule herself?” Ser Willis Fell agreed. “It must be Rhaena. She has a dragon, her sister does not.”

When Lord Corbray answered, “Baela flew a dragon, Rhaena only has the hatchling,” Roland Westerling replied, “Baela’s dragon brought down our late king. There are many in the realm who will not have forgotten that. Crown her and we will rip all the old wounds open once again.

The sisters reacted to these lickspittles in vastly different ways. Where Rhaena delighted in being the center of court life, Baela bristled at praise, and seemed to take pleasure in mocking and tormenting the suitors who fluttered around her like moths.

Lady Rhaena proved to be as tractable as her sister had been willful.

But despite their differences and living separated for years, the twins never had a bad relationships, it seems they were good friends, worked together and comforted each other.

The good relationship between Baela and Rhaena also gives me hope about a reconciliation and the development of a better and close relationship between Sansa and Arya.

Baela’s Dragon

Baela’s dragon, the slender pale green Moondancer, would soon be large enough to bear the girl upon her back…

(...)

Even more than boys, however, Lady Baela loved to fly. Since first riding her dragon Moondancer into the sky not half a year past, she had flown every day, ranging freely to every part of Dragonstone and even across the sea to Driftmark.

(...)

So it came to pass that when King Aegon II flew Sunfyre over Dragonmont’s smoking peak and made his descent, expecting to make a triumphant entrance into a castle safely in the hands of his own men, with the queen’s loyalists slain or captured, up to meet him rose Baela Targaryen, Prince Daemon’s daughter by the Lady Laena, as fearless as her father.

Moondancer was a young dragon, pale green, with horns and crest and wingbones of pearl. Aside from her great wings, she was no larger than a warhorse, and weighed less. She was very quick, however, and Sunfyre, though much larger, still struggled with a malformed wing and had taken fresh wounds from Grey Ghost.

—Fire & Blood

Baela’s dragon Moondancer “danced” with Aegon II’s dragon Sunfyre. Despite Aegon II’s win against Baela, before dying and being eaten by Sunfyre, Moondancer wounded Aegon II’s dragon so much that it never flew again and died not far later. Moondancer sounds as fierce as Nymeria, Arya’s direwolf has no fear of other wolves and men and became a savage killer.

So, Baela Targaryen being so similar to Arya Stark and having a dragon named Moondancer, and Arya being a water dancer, convinced me that Arya is the Moon.

Rhaena’s Dragon

Rhaena’s egg had hatched a broken thing that died within hours of emerging from the egg, Syrax had recently produced another clutch. One of her eggs had been given to Rhaena, and it was said that the girl slept with it every night, and prayed for a dragon to match her sister’s.

(...)

Known as Rhaena of Pentos, for the city of her birth, she was no dragonrider, her hatchling having died some years before, but she brought three dragon’s eggs with her to the Vale, where she prayed nightly for their hatching.

(...)

Even more grave were the tidings from the Vale, where Lady Jeyne Arryn had assembled fifteen hundred knights and eight thousand men-at-arms, and sent envoys to the Braavosi to arrange for ships to bring them down upon King’s Landing. With them would come a dragon. Lady Rhaena of House Targaryen, brave Baela’s twin, had brought a dragon’s egg with her to the Vale…an egg that had proved fertile, bringing forth a pale pink hatchling with black horns and crest. Rhaena named her Morning.

(...)

And everywhere that Rhaena went came Morning, her young dragon, oft as not coiled about her shoulders like a stole.

(...)

During the first quarter of 135 AC, two momentous events were the occasion of great joy throughout the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros. On the third day of the third moon of that year, the people of King’s Landing woke to a sight that had not been seen since the dark days of the Dance: a dragon in the skies above the city. Lady Rhaena, at the age of nineteen, was flying her dragon, Morning, for the first time. That first day she circled once around the city before returning to the Dragonpit, but every day thereafter she grew bolder and flew farther.

—Fire & Blood

Rhaena lost her first dragon the same way Sansa lost her direwolf Lady, but later Rhaena got another dragon that she named “Morning”.

Sansa is heavily associated with Dawn, the moment immediately before the Sun comes. I wrote about it here.

So, Rhaena Targaryen being so similar to Sansa Stark, having lost her first dragon but getting another one that she named Morning, and Sansa being heavily associated with the Dawn, convinced me that Sansa is the Sun. This lovely parallel also gives me hope that Sansa will have another direwolf in the future, that maybe she will name Dawn.

#Sansa Stark #Arya Stark

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