As his fans eagerly await the release of The Winds of Winter—the next installment in George R.R. Martins A Song of Ice and Fire saga—the author has dropped a little holiday treat to tide us all over.
Set 300 years before Game of Thrones, his new, 736-page Targaryen history—titled Fire & Blood—may not contain any of the characters fans of the HBO series have come to know and love. But it does have several hints and telling details sprinkled throughout, which may well shed some light on what the future holds for your favorite Targaryens, Lannisters, and Starks—not only in Martins books, but on HBOs Game of Thrones as well. Here, well explore a few of them—including a potential source for Danys dragons, Tyrions parentage, and some new rules about The Wall. This should not be used as a replacement for reading the book itself, but rather as a gentle tease of some of the treasures hidden in Martins latest work. If youre the sort to be squeamish about spoiling the history of a dragon-riding family hundreds of years before Daenerys set foot on Westeros, though, then consider this moment your chance to go finish the book before diving into the details below.
Unlike Martins A Song of Ice and Fire—which is narrated by a rotating cast of characters, including Tyrion, Arya, Jon, etc.— Fire & Blood has just one narrator: an Archmaester named Gyldayn. He is also potentially unreliable—a trope that dates back to 2014s A World of Ice and Fire, which was written by Martin, Elio Garcia, and Linda Antonsson, but narrated by another biased and politically-motivated Maester. The technique was designed to avoid committing Martin to any one version of a history that he might have to tweak later, in order to fit the narrative of his unfinished works: The Winds of Winter, A Dream of Spring, and the Dunk and Egg stories.
Fire & Bloods narrator, Archmaester Gyldayn, actually made his debut in A World of Ice and Fire. He could comment with knowledge on the Targaryen past—but because he was presumed dead at the Summerhall tragedy (where Rhaeger, Danys brother and Jons father, was born), he couldnt comment on any current Ice and Fire events. That strategy allowed Martin to keep some of his remaining secrets. (Including what, exactly, happened at Summerhall.) In a brand-new post on the Song of Ice and Fire message boards he moderates, Garcia explained that Fire & Blood retcons Gyldayns history so that he survives up until King Robert Baratheons reign. Future editions of A World of Ice and Fire, Garcia says, will have to be edited to reflect this change.
Thats a long way of saying that the narrator in Fire & Blood cannot always necessarily be taken at his word—and Martin has the option of reworking anything, including when his narrators lived and died, at any point. Martin went so far as to say in a recent Entertainment Weekly interview that while there are “important” hints in Fire & Blood for Game of Thrones fans, readers will have to discover them on their own—and determine “whether theyre hints or red herrings.” So its up to you to decide whether the tidbits below are true hints, red herrings, or merely easter eggs. Speaking of eggs:
Where Did Daeneryss Dragon Eggs Come From? Way back during her wedding to Khal Drogo, Daenerys received the worlds best wedding gift: three fossilized dragon eggs, which her protector, the Pentoshi Magister Illyrio Mopatis, told her were “from the Shadow Lands beyond Asshai. The eons have turned them to stone, yet still they burn bright with beauty.” But Fire & Blood potentially complicates the magisters story. In the text, we learn that Lady Elissa Farman (a favorite of Queen Rhaena Targaryen) brazenly stole three dragon eggs from her queen in order to finance a trip away from boring old Westeros. As it turns out, she made her way to Pentos and the Braavos, where she sold the eggs to the Sealord there. Her action threw the Queen into a rage; after all, she had committed the Westerosi equivalent of stealing three weapons of mass destruction and selling them to the highest bidder.
But the Queens brother, King Jaehaerys, remained unconcerned, given how difficult it can be to hatch a dragon egg. “Some spicemonger in Pentos will find himself possessed of three very costly stones,” he said dismissively. “Elsewise. . .the birth of three young dragons is not a thing that can easily be kept secret. Whoever has them will want to crow.” And crow Daenerys would, but not for hundreds of years later.
If this tidbit is not Martin winking broadly at the camera, its hard to know what is. But the author has already been quick to temper expectations here. When his publisher promised that Fire & Blood would reveal the source of Danys dragons, Martin said in the comments section of his own blog: “Uh… I never said anything about Dany, that was added by Bantam. Please disregard.” And then: “In the case of things like Valyria and the dragon eggs, it is all possible answers, not meant to be definitive.”
Lets just imagine for a minute, though, that Queen Rhaenas missing three dragons are also Daeneryss dragons. What does that mean? It means that Drogon, Rhaegal, and the late Viserion (RIP) are descendents of Rhaenas dragon Dreamfyre—the strongest of all the beasts killed when the smallfolk rushed the Dragonpit during the Dance of Dragons, with the hope of exterminating the Targaryen pets. Dreamfyre was the only one to break free of her chains; she flew up to the top of the domed pit, cracking it. She died as a result, but so did all the humans who tried to capture her as the ceiling caved in. Ah, so thats where Drogon gets it.
Dragons and The Wall: Speaking of dragons and architecture, one of the most startling moments in Fire & Blood comes when Queen Alysanne Targaryen tries to fly her dragon Silverwing over The Wall with no success:
“Thrice I flew Silverwing high above Castle Black, and thrice I tried to take her north beyond the Wall,” Alysanne wrote to Jaehaerys, “but every time she veered back south again and refused to go. Never before has she refused to take me where I wished to go. I laughed about it when I came down again, so the black brothers would not realize anything was amiss, but it troubled me then and it troubles me still.”
There is no mention of “The Others” in Fire & Blood, so this is one of the few nods we get of the threat from the North. Its interesting that Alysannes dragon got too spooked to fly over the Wall while in the HBO series, Daenerys and her flock zipped over it with ease. This passage may confirm a strong book reader suspicion that the shows big rescue of Jon north of the Wall will never happen in Martins books. If Martins magical, icy book creatures (like Coldhands, who became Uncle Benjen in the show) cant go south of the Wall, it would make sense that magical fire creatures cant go north. (In the books, Jon Snow also loses his psychic connection with his direwolf, Ghost, when they are separated by the Wall.) Alyssanes disturbing adventure would also explain why the Targaryen dragonriders never explored the snowy region in the years following Aegons conquest; their dragons simply refused to go. And knowing what happens to dragons beyond the Wall, who can blame them?
The rather sweet outcome of this perturbing interlude is that Alysanne became one of the Nights Watchs most enthusiastic champions. To paraphrase Jack Nicholson in A Few Good Men, she knew how much Westeros needed men on that Wall. The Queen personally funded the construction of a new castle on the Wall, and convinced King Jaehaerys to double the land awarded to the Watch. In her honor, the Nights Watch built a statue of her outside Castle Deep Lake, and re-named Snowgate the Queensgate.
The Tyrion Targaryen Theory Lives On: A favorite book reader theory thats as old as the hills posits that Tyrion Lannister is actually the bastard son of Joanna Lannister and King Aerys Targaryen, a.k.a. Danys brother. This would make Tyrion, like Jon, a secret Targaryen—and might explain why, on the show, he was able to get so close to Danys dragons without being roasted alive.
There are plenty of hints in A Song of Ice and Fire to back this theory up, though I personally dont like it. (I think, for instance, it ruins the whole Tywin/Tyrion tragedy if, in the end, Tyrion is not actually Tywins son. It matters that Tyrion is actually a Lannister, even if his own family has rejected him.) Whether or not the theory is true, though, Martin certainly has fun with it in Fire & Blood. Consider this description of Alyssa Targaryen:
Her hair was a dirty blond tangle with no hint of silver to evoke the dragonlords of old, and she had been born with mismatched eyes, one violet, the other a startling green. Her ears were too big and her smile lopsided, and when she was sic playing in the yard a whack across the face from a wooden sword broke her nose. It healed crooked.
Compare it to Tyrion—who in Martins text has blond hair, mismatched green and black eyes, and a seriously damaged nose from a blow he took during the Battle of the Blackwater. Like Tyrion, Alyssa also has a very healthy sexual appetite. Is this meant to be confirmation that Tyrion is indeed a Targaryen, descended from his Great Great Great Great Grandsomething Alyssa? Oh, I wouldnt say so. But its certainly meant to keep us guessing.
History Repeating: History is always worth studying, because its always repeating itself. Though Martin is endlessly creative with the centuries of Targaryen exploits he concocts, he cant avoid a few (likely intentional) echoes of history. For example: Aemond Targaryen, who went into hiding at Harrenhal with his pregnant lover Alys Rivers by his side, certainly recalls Rhaegar Targaryen being holed up in the Tower of Joy with Lyanna Stark. Unlike poor Lyanna, Alys then turned into the vengeful “witch queen” of Harrenhal, and demanded all bow down to her infant son. Similarly, at the Oakheart wedding, Martin describes “the most infamous act of that bloody age”—a ceremony that ended in slaughter, the gelding of the groom, the rape of the bride and her attendants, and the victims being sold off to a Myrish slaver. All told, it sounds rather worse than the Red Wedding, which came nearly three hundred years later.
On a slightly more upbeat note, Lord Alaric Starks wife will sound familiar to fans of little Lyanna Mormont from the HBO series. As he describes her to Queen Alysanne: “She was a Mormont of Bear Isle, and no lady by your lights, but she took an axe to a pack of wolves when she was twelve, killed two of them, and sewed a cloak from their skins. She gave me two strong sons as well, and a daughter as sweet to look upon as any of your southron ladies.”
But the most instructional tale for our purposes likely belongs to Queen Alicent Targaryen. Readers versed in previously published tidbits of Targaryen lore have already been quick to point out the similarities between Alicent and Queen Cersei. Both women threw the kingdom into chaos and civil war by flouting the laws of succession in order to plant their own sons on the throne. Both women were captured and imprisoned for their crimes. Cersei managed to free herself and, on the show at least, install herself on the throne. No such luck for Alicent, after her children died in the civil war known as The Dance of the Dragons. Its possible Martin is foreshadowing Cerseis end when he writes about this disgraced and lonely queen:
She had outlived all of her children and spent the last year of her life confined to her apartments with no company but her septa, the serving girls who brought her food, and the guards outside her door. . .In her last days the Queen Dowager seemed to become more lucid. “I want to see my sons again.”
Its a little hard to imagine either Martin or the HBO series giving Cersei such a gentle exit. But all alone, out of her mind, and missing her family? That does seem a rather fitting ending for a Queen willing to let a war consume her children to feed her own ambition.
The Horn: When it never really manifested on the HBO series, some book readers gave up hope of seeing the book plot of a magical horn called Dragonbinder, which Euron Greyjoy claims will control Daeneryss three beasts. If it were at all important to the endgame and not, as some assume, a fake-out, then surely, the HBO adaptation would be forced to include it.
The instrument, also known as a “hellhorn,” gets one mention in Fire & Blood when discussing King Jaehaerys I; the death of his first son, Prince Aemon; and all the people who died avenging their prince: “The Old King never dreamed that Aemons death in 92 AC would be like the hellhorns of Valyrian legend, bringing death and destruction down on all those who heard their sound.” Its unclear what, exactly, is meant here about the efficacy of the horn, but its worth noting that even hundreds of years ago, these instruments had already passed into legend.
Minor Changes: A good portion of Fire & Blood comprises published text from The World of Ice & Fire, as well as Martins anthology works: The Sons of the Dragon, Princess and the Queen, and The Rogue Prince. So when there are small slight changes in the text, some readers might wonder what brought them about. Why, for example, does The World of Ice & Fire have Aegon marching “northeast, to the Gods Eye and Harrenhal, the gargantuan fortress that was the pride and obsession of King Harren the Black,” while Fire & Blood contains the same sentence—only with Aegon marching “northwest?”
The simplest answer here is likely the best one, and it brings us back to where we started: Martins saga of blood and fire and ice is an ongoing work in progress, constantly in need of tweaking and updating in order to suit the needs of his narrative. Tiny changes and improvements are the authors prerogative, as is his right to say that anything you read in this book about secret Targaryens, missing eggs, or dragons spooked by the Wall was simply rumor, or legend—or a red herring.
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Get Vanity Fairs HWD NewsletterSign up for essential industry and award news from Hollywood.Joanna RobinsonJoanna Robinson is a Hollywood writer covering TV and film for VanityFair.com.
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