#maelys blackfyre

[amuelia]

Barristan Selmy had known many kings. He had been born during the troubled reign of Aegon the Unlikely, beloved by the common folk, had received his knighthood at his hands. Aegon's son Jaehaerys had bestowed the white cloak on him when he was three-and-twenty, after he slew Maelys the Monstrous during the War of the Ninepenny Kings. In that same cloak he had stood beside the Iron Throne as madness consumed Jaehaerys's son Aerys. Stood, and saw, and heard, and yet did nothing.

But no. That was not fair. He did his duty. Some nights, Ser Barristan wondered if he had not done that duty too well.

- The Queensguard, aDwD

Barristan for @mylestoyne :3 ❤❤❤❤

Pictured: Young Griff, Maelys Blackfyre, Myles Toyne, Jon Connington, Aerys II Targaryen, Daenerys Targaryen, Barristan Selmy (Background)

#asoiaf #barristan selmy #young griff #aegon targaryen #maelys blackfyre #maelys the monstrous #myles toyne #jon connington #aerys ii targaryen #daenerys targaryen #a song of ice and fire #valyrianscrolls #2023

[chic-beyond-the-wall]

What Shiera Seastar would wear

#game of thrones #asoif/got #asoiaf #a song of ice and fire #house of the dragon #headcanon #fashion #hotd #house targaryen #shiera seastar #bloodraven #brynden rivers #aegon iv targaryen #aegon the unworthy #maelys blackfyre #rhae blackfyre #aegon blackfyre #blackfyre rebellion #daemon blackfyre #daemon ii blackfyre

[a-song-of-art-and-fire]

Maelys I Blackfyre, Captain General of The Golden Company

"The captain-general's tent was made of cloth-of-gold and surrounded by a ring of pikes topped with gilded skulls. One skull was larger than the rest, grotesquely malformed. Below it was a second, no larger than a child's fist. Maelys the Monstrous and his nameless brother."

I'm ashamed to say Maelys is a character I'd largely written off as a "mummer's dragon", a cartoonishly evil horse-punching cousin-killing giant to give the Westerosi Greatest Generation a monster to slay. It was only thanks to the great analysis by @mylestoyne I really considered that Maelys is largely a character in Tyrion's chapters, so of course he's a reflection of Tyrion's themes - even with all the hallmarks of Westerosi martial masculinity, he's utterly reviled for being disabled and for "kin-slaying" in utero.

The miniature is adapted from a Bloody Mummer, presumably Zollo - I really love him for the big beefy look, George's giant characters generally give the impression of Andre the Giant style gigantism, with plenty of fat over their musculature. I of course added the second head, my sculpting skills are rusty to say the least, but I certainly prefer the vestigial look to some of the cartoony "second smaller perfectly formed head" art I've seen out there. I've also given him Blackfyre, which I always like to picture as a full fantasy type sword.

#asoiaf #asoiaf fanart #miniatures #minis #a song of ice and fire #valyrian scrolls #cmon #maelys blackfyre #maelys the monstrous #war of the ninepenny kings #annoyingly this mini was the first i got with some production defects #his hair and some of the scars are to cover for that #thw two headed blackfyre sigil ive seen in a few places and love it

[gotham-at-nightfall]

The Royal Families of The Seven Kingdoms: Part 5

By Jota Saraiva

#a song of ice and fire #kiera of tyrosh #daeron (son of maekar) targaryen #daella (daughter of maekar) targaryen #aegon v targaryen #rhae targaryen #betha blackwood #duncan targaryen #jaehaerys ii targaryen #shaera targaryen #daeron (son of aegon v) targaryen #rhaelle targaryen #maegor (son of aerion) targaryen #vaella (daughter of daeron) targaryen #daemon iii blackfyre #maelys blackfyre #daemon blackfyre #jenny of oldstones #aerys ii targaryen #rhaella targaryen #steffon baratheon #cassana estermont #rhaegar targaryen #fanart #artstation

[sabotensan]

Happy halloween @mylestoyne, here’s a Maelys Blackfyre for you ♥ Commemorative piece for the five minutes he's been king.

#maelys blackfyre #asoiaf #I used your design for your man and since his reign is based on a lot of deaths it kinda seemed fitting to put the skeleton there #it's about the symbolism.jpg #fanart #mine #valyrianscrolls

[sugarwhitedeath]

the five captain-generals of the golden company from its founding to the present day

a gift for @mylestoyne. happy birthday!! ❤️

#writing 'THE HOMELESS' on harry made me kind of cry #if this wasnt a gift i wouldve wrote 'NO HEAD' for daemon #aegor rivers #bittersteel #daemon blackfyre #maelys blackfyre #maelys the monstrous #myles toyne #harry strickland #asoiaf #the golden company #valyrianscrolls #art

[vodka-citric]

A sketch of Maëlys Blackfyre

#my art #art #artist #artists on tumblr #asoiaf #asoiaf art #valyrianscrolls #maelys blackfyre #house blackfyre

[jedimaesteryoda]

Varys, the elusive spymaster who seems to know all that goes on in King’s Landing. From when we first met him, we don’t truly know his motives, which side he is truly on if any and he dons multiple disguises. It’s underscored by his name being a homophone for “varies.” 

However, we learn by ADWD that he is effectively on Team Aegon who he likely knows is Illyrio’s son by a Blackfyre mother. That leaves the question of why does he support House Blackfyre’s cause? What is his connection to House Blackfyre?

More to the point, just exactly who is Varys?

Let’s take a look at his backstory.

"I was an orphan boy apprenticed to a traveling folly. Our master owned a fat little cog and we sailed up and down the narrow sea performing in all the Free Cities and from time to time in Oldtown and King's Landing.

-ACOK, Tyrion X

"The Lord Varys was born a slave in Lys, did you know? Put not your trust in spiders, my lord."

-AGOT, Eddard V

Varys stated that he was an orphan from apprenticed on a mummers ship, but Pycelle gives a detail that Varys was a slave in Lys. He mentions in the story to Tyrion that the master of the mummer’s boat sold him to a sorcerer, and Illyrio mentions he arrived in Pentos “one step ahead of the slavers” indicating that he likely was a slave.

Who else do we know of who was a slave in Lys?

"Serra. I found her in a Lysene pillow house and brought her home to warm my bed, but in the end I wed her.

-ADWD, Tyrion II

Varys was practically from the same city as Serra, and under the same status, but whereas Serra was sold to a pillow house, Varys was sold to a mummers’ ship. Varys likely knew her, and directed Illyrio to find her and produce a son of Blackfyre blood. That just leaves the question of how are the two people connected? How did Varys know her?

We may get a few hints in Illyrio’s mentioning of Varys’s backstory.

He [Maelys] won command of the Golden Company by fighting his cousin, Daemon Blackfyre, for it, killing his cousin's destrier with a single punch and then twisting Daemon's head until it was torn from his shoulders.

-WOIAF, Jaehaerys II

"In Myr he was a prince of thieves, until a rival thief informed on him. In Pentos his accent marked him, and once he was known for a eunuch he was despised and beaten. Why he chose me to protect him I may never know, but we came to an arrangement. Varys spied on lesser thieves and took their takings. I offered my help to their victims, promising to recover their valuables for a fee. Soon every man who had suffered a loss knew to come to me, whilst city's footpads and cutpurses sought out Varys … half to slit his throat, the other half to sell him what they'd stolen. We both grew rich, and richer still when Varys trained his mice."

-ADWD, Tyrion II

It has been stated more than once that the best lies have bits of truth in them, something a master spymaster like Varys would know. Illyrio would keep some information hidden, and give just enough to satisfy Tyrion’s curiosity but with some lies to cover up their plan and keep out details that would potentially expose it.

Maybe Varys was a kind of prince, but there are no monarchies in the Free Cities like in Westeros except for one family of claimants at the time of his birth: House Blackfyre. 

Maelys Blackfyre, the Monstrous: Captain of the Golden Company, named for his grotesquely huge torso and arms, fearsome strength, and savage nature. A second head grew from his neck, no bigger than a fist. He won command of the Golden Company by fighting his cousin, Daemon Blackfyre, for it, killing his cousin’s destrier with a single punch and then twisting Daemon’s head until it was torn from his shoulders.

-WOIAF, Jaehaerys II

Varys may have been “a prince of thieves” or a Blackfyre prince as Daemon IV’s son, until a “rival thief,” Maelys the Monstrous, overthrew him in a coup. Of course, Daemon IV lived long enough to father children: Varys and Serra. Maelys may have killed Daemon in combat, but killing his children would have potentially cost him the support of the Golden Company, so as a simple solution he sold them into slavery, or their mother was sold into slavery when she was pregnant with them at least. 

Varys and Serra’s story would sound very similar to that of Viserys and Daenerys: a pair of orphaned children of Targaryen blood in the Free Cities who lost their father in an usurpation by a distant cousin. The sorcerer that bought Varys likely knew of his dragonblood/kingsblood.  

The cut was quick, the blade sharp. By rights the metal should have been cold against her flesh, but it felt warm instead. She could feel the blood washing down her face, a rippling red curtain falling across her brow and cheeks and chin, and she understood why the priest had made her close her eyes. When it reached her lips the taste was salt and copper. She licked at it and shivered.

-ADWD, The Ugly Little Girl

If his story sounds familiar, that’s because it is Arya’s story: a child who saw their father beheaded, and lost everything their family, their home and freedom who dedicates their life in pursuit of vengeance and learns a craft to do so. Needing the mercenary Illyrio to protect him, Varys was not well-versed in combat, so he set about to become a master spymaster. 

While he would work with Illyrio in the thief-taking and espionage business for some years, he never lost sight of his true goal for the Blackfyre conquest of the Iron Throne. Look at Varys and he is the opposite of the ethos of House Blackfyre. Daemon I, Maelys and arguably many others including Bittersteel were all powerful warriors embodying the idealized, masculine warrior-king while Varys is a soft, plump eunuch with powdered hands, and wearing perfumes and silks. The contrast in appearances emphasizes the contrast in their approaches with the Blackfyres having tried to overthrow the Targaryens using hard power while Varys uses soft power. Varys is basically the Blackfyre counterpart to Bloodraven or the anti-Bloodraven:

Master of Whisperers and closest advisor to a weak king named Aerys

Dwells in tunnels of Red Keep with his children who serve as agents while Bloodraven dwells in a cave with the children of the forest

Cultivated a certain boy king for his grand plan (Aegon as opposed to Bran)

Associates with boy named Aegon raised in the country who is crowned king

Use of disguises

Uses his “little birds” as informants in place of Bloodraven’s actual birds

Son of a royal father who was the fourth of his name (Daemon IV as opposed to Aegon IV for Bloodraven)

His sigil would be a black dragon as opposed to Bloodraven’s white dragon.

Uses a crossbow to kill Kevan as opposed to weirwood bow Bloodraven used to kill Daemon I and his sons

Wizard as opposed to greenseer? (that’s best explored in another post)

He is effectively the image of everything House Blackfyre despised yet Varys managed to succeed where all his predecessors failed in overthrowing House Targaryen, and not through an invasion, but espionage and subterfuge.

Overthrowing the Targaryens was part one, but part two was installing a Blackfyre on the Iron Throne. Varys had two serious constraints concerning part two: he knew he couldn’t sit the Iron Throne due to himself being a eunuch who couldn’t sire any heirs, and he knew the realm would never rise for a Blackfyre. He came up with a solution that solved both problems: his sister Serra would produce a son of Blackfyre blood who would then be presented as the son of the late Prince of Dragonstone in a supposed restoration of the Targaryen regime. Serra like Daenerys would end up being sold as part of a marriage deal involving Illyrio in a plan to take the Iron Throne.

He was willing to do whatever it took to succeed, even at the expense of his own sister and innocent children. His story itself is a warning to Arya of what a life dedicated to vengeance could potentially lead to.

#asoiaf #varys #lord varys #maelys blackfyre #blackfyre rebellion #house blackfyre #daemon blackfyre #house targaryen #aegon vi targaryen #aegon blackfyre

[the-gilded-rose]

When I started following @mylestoyne I didn’t think I’d end up with FEELINGS about a super minor character and his son who only exists in a draft version of ADWD, BUT HERE WE ARE

#I can’t really draw and his twin is on the wrong side #maelys blackfyre #maenar blackfyre #UGH #valyrian scrolls

[of-pretty-crows-and-wild-women]

Anyone else just really not normal about the Ninepenny Kings?

I would love for anyone else obsessed with these dollar store nazgul to share their headcanons about them.

#maelys blackfyre #liomond lashare #old mother asoiaf #derrick fossoway #nine eyes asoiaf #samarro saan #spotted tom asoaif #alequo adarys #xhobar qhoqua #war of the ninepenny kings #ninepenny kings #asoiaf #game of thrones #house blackfyre

[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

[chic-beyond-the-wall]

What Shiera Seastar would wear

#game of thrones #asoif/got #asoiaf #a song of ice and fire #house of the dragon #headcanon #fashion #hotd #house targaryen #shiera seastar #brynden rivers #bloodraven #aegon iv targaryen #aegon the unworthy #maelys blackfyre #aegon blackfyre #blackfyre rebellion #daemon blackfyre #daemon ii blackfyre

[a-song-of-art-and-fire]

The War of the Ninepenny Kings

"So they called it, though I never saw a king, nor earned a penny. It was a war, though. That it was."

Another little Golden Company diorama! The Ninepenny Kings is an interesting conflict in the story - we already have the Great Offscreen War trope covered by Robert's Rebellion, and then Ninepenny Kings is the greater, offscreener, war. I always thought it's analogue was WW2, or at least the popular perception of it, as "the last great war" where the Westerosi greatest generation were united against an obvious Other (no pun intended).

The centrepiece is Barristan leading his triumphant charge against Maelys. Even though its described as very much a lone charge, I thought it would be fun to include some notables - Lord Reyne, the Red Lion, and a young Blackfish. I had a devil of a time with all three actually - Lord Reyne was going to be Tywin, I'd started the Blackfish as, well, black, until I realised this was before he took that title, and only after finishing Barristan I realised he wasn't yet a Kingsguard.

On the opposing side we have Myles Toyne as Maelys' bannerman, and a cool Dothraki looking guy. Steve Dothraki.

The basing was largely inspired by HotD's portrayal of the stepstones, I loved that brutal messy drawn-out slog through the sand.

#asoiaf #miniatures #minis #asoiaf fanart #a song of ice and fire #valyrian scrolls #cmon #golden company #essos #pre series #war of the ninepenny kings #maelys blackfyre #maelys the monstrous #barristan selmy #roger reyne #blackfish #brynden tully #myles toyne #good lord thats a lot of tags

[wpmorse]

The Blackfyre pretenders troubled the Targaryens for five generations, until Barristan the Bold slew the last of them on the Stepstones. Catelyn V - 629

Catelyn warns Rob that making Jon his heir is probably a potentially long-term problem. She reminds him of the dangers of legitimizing a bastard by pointing out the Blackfyre rebellion, a Civil War that lasted for two generations, (and possibly longer) when a Targaryen Lord legitimize his bastards, creating the black flyers, who were only finally defeated when Barristan Selmy defeated the last of them, Maelys the Monster, in single combat. Once again, flashbacks are my friends. It was fun doing this, even though there were too many horses. Designing Maelys was interesting. Though how a traditional helmet would work with his vestigial head was a puzzle. I did my best guess.

#asoiaf #a storm of swords #pen and ink #illlustration #barristan selmy #maelys blackfyre

[happychappy439]

28mm A Song of Ice and Fire: Maelys Blackfyre

Continuing Sellsword Summer, as a follow-up to the Golden Company unit I've decided to do something for Maelys Monday!  Rewinding a full 40 years before the start of the main series, I've put together a figure to represent Maelys Blackfyre, the last of the Blackfyre pretenders, was killed by Barristan Selmy during the War of the Ninepenny Kings. He's a claimant to the Iron Throne and captain general of The Golden Company (by virtue of twisting the head off his cousin to take control of it), which makes him a serious threat to House Targaryen's rule

Famously, Maelys had a small second head on his throat, and, probably having gigantism, was physically huge. So to get that size across, I've used a Warhammer Chaos Warrior as the base for the figure, on account of how much larger they are than the historical ranges I normally use

As a descendant of the Targaryens, I've given Maelys the silver-gold hair, and purple eyes of the family. Here's a slightly closer view of Blackfyre and its scabbard. Being the ancestral Valyrian Steel sword of House Targaryen passed down from all the kings since Aegon I, I've painted the scabbard in Targaryen black and red, with rubies down the length of it.

For the sword itself, given that Valyrian steel is basically magical Damascus Steel in-universe, I've tried to give it a rippled Damascus-y look and the dark grey coloration that Valyrian Steel is usually described as.

And a view of Maelys' cloak. I've given him a gold skull tied to his cloak to represent his cousin Daemon (given that Maelys pulled his head off). I feel like even though Maelys killed him and took over his sellsword company, he'd still feel a little bit of obligation, as a fellow Blackfyre, to take Daemon back to Westeros with him

And here is King Maelys I with his royal squire (and later captain-general of the Golden Company), a tiny teenage Myles Toyne.

I’m fully on board with @mylestoyne​ ‘s theory that Myles was with Maelys on the Stepstones, and I feel like in response to the ableism that Maelys would likely have faced since birth, he would put a very deliberate emphasis on his name, status and lineage to try to draw attention to his legitimacy and his claim. (Partly as a parallel to Tyrion, and the ableism he faces in the story, and has internalized)

So to reinforce that, he's styling himself as King Maelys I, carrying Aegon I’s sword Blackfyre, and taking a squire from a famous Westerosi noble house. His armour and cloak are painted in red-and-black dragon colours, with gold accenting, and a gold skull on the breastplate to highlight his rank and status in the Golden Company

Hopefully he’s come out ok! I’ll put up a separate post to showcase Myles a bit more to show the details a bit better there

#asoiaf #a song of ice and fire #28mm asoiaf #28mm a song of ice and fire #Maelys Blackfyre #Maelys the Monstrous #House Blackfyre #Blackfyre #Golden Company #House Targaryen #Sellsword #Sellswords #Myles Toyne #House Toyne

[aegor-bamfsteel]

Do you have any opinions on the headcanon that Maelys might’ve a gentle giant? I’ve seen it a couple times and just wanted to know.

I don’t think I’ve ever seen that headcanon before. While I agree in that I don’t think Maelys was a Gregor Clegane style murderer and rapist (there’s no evidence for it, and that he amassed such a large following speaks against it. Plus let’s not make the physically disabled man called “monstrous” into a moral monster to suit the T@rg narrative) what Yandel says about his duel with his cousin Daemon Blackfyre over control of the Golden Company—decapitating the horse with one punch, then twisting Daemon’s head off his shoulders (though I like to think that’s a nod to the tradition of putting the heads of the deceased captains of the Golden Company on poles)—doesn’t exactly point in the direction that he was gentle, and unfortunately that’s the best description of him we get.

#ask #maelys blackfyre #opinion