Fire & Blood – Destruction of Family Lines

I started reading a lot of books to take my mind off things when I was dealing with a lot of stress and aches and pains. (The stress seems to still be there considering the muscle spasm I’ve been having recently.) So I took a break from the series I was reading regularly to pick up something longer, thus I returned to Westeros.

Many of you might have noticed that I took down all my Game of Thrones content on this blog after the utter disappointment that the show’s final season was where tons of character arcs were just thrown out the window in so many anticlimactic ways, (not just Dany but even Cersei was given a cheap death) just for the sake of the writers in a goddamn rush to finish because they were eagerly anticipating their next project. (Hell, some interviews I read said they didn’t know what they were dealing with when they were given the reins of this franchise so it makes me wish someone else with more knowledge of GRRM’s universe took over)

Anyway, I still had some interest in the lore, so I gave House of the Dragon a chance when it aired and then picked up the book that was the inspiration for the show.

It’s not written like the ASOIAF series that GRRM has done (where we are supposed to get two more books out of), instead, it’s more like a lore book, summarizing the events of the rise and fall of House Targaryen, starting with Aegon I the Conqueror and his two wives as they take over Westeros and King’s Landing was no more than just a small village at that time until it grew larger and the Dragon Pit was built, as well as the Red Keep.

The first character I liked was Rhaena who rode the dragon Dreamfyre, she seemed like a very proud woman who spent her time on her own. I imagined her dragon to be beautiful and silver. But as she got older, her mental health seemed to decline in my eyes, especially after her husband Prince Aegon the Uncrowned was killed in the battle of God’s Eye, during the reign of Maegor who usurped Aenys. (there are so many Aegons in the family tree that it’s easy to lose track!)

I’ll admit, the way Maegor dies is creepy, it was like the Iron Throne impaled him or something. Then again, it is made out of swords and daggers.

There were lots of times when the Crown was in conflict with the Faith, especially with House Targaryen’s need to wed brother to sister, aunt to nephew, vice versa, etc. to keep the bloodline pure. You hear that pyjaks? It happened all the time so yes it does seem gross but it was a tradition in this House for centuries! So reading about each septon or whatever, it just didn’t seem to interest me as much.

When I read about the reign of King Jaehaerys I and his queen Alysanne, by the Sun, that woman was fertile as hell because she gave the king more than five children, several daughters, and sons. It seemed like a time of joy, but sadly, one by one, their children either perished or went down a path that would not continue the line. Some of them managed to give them grandchildren but it did not last for them after.

One of their daughters, Daella, was extremely timid, and I hated how impatient Jaehaerys grew when she reached the age of sixteen and still hadn’t chosen a suitor to marry, like give the girl some time! Sadly she died giving birth to her daughter Aemma in the Eyrie after marrying Rodrik. Unfortunately, this was very common for women to die after childbirth due to complications since this is the Middle Ages and we didn’t have treatment at that time for such complications following delivery.

Their daughters Maegelle and Saera followed different paths the former became a septa and the latter decided to run away, she clearly enjoyed sex and didn’t want to live like a proper princess, let’s just say. One of their sons, Vaegon, he reminded me a lot of Claude Frollo in his youth, spending all his time learning and reading, and then he went to the Citadel to become a maester.

This eventually led to conflict on who would get the Iron Throne next after Jaehaerys and it seemed that Alysanne could do little to convince them to keep an open mind, and it appears she passed away just as the council formed and the law. I’ll never forget what she said though:

A ruler needs a good head and a true heart. A cock is not essential. If Your Grace truly believes that women lack the wit to rule, plainly you have no further need of me.

Damn straight, your Grace, like having a penis makes NO difference as to how good of a ruler someone is going to be. A good king or queen should have compassion, power, and wits. Unfortunately, it seems that the majority of the realm (except the kingdom of Dorne) believed that only the male line should be considered when it comes to succession. I know that GRRM is trying to make this historical but it isn’t always hard to see in this universe because while it is during a time of the past, it also has fantasy elements like dragons so we are almost meant to think that we shouldn’t always have to play by the books here. So yeah, while I do like the lore and all the dragons in this story, it still enrages me that there’s a lot of sexism present that anyone without a dick can’t inherit well, anything. Women in Westeros are basically just meant to be married off and bear children and they have to fight to have more rights. Dorne on the other hand, sex does not matter, as the eldest child inherits regardless and I like that, it makes me wish that we had more lore exploring House Martell as well.

That’s why it often makes me mad when the characters talk about how they hope when say, the current queen gets pregnant, they hope with her fertility, she’ll bring strong sons into the world. Let me just stop you right there gentlemen, scientifically speaking, we women don’t have control over what gender the baby will be once an egg is fertilized because every sperm contains a different chromosome, one might be a Y and the other could be an X, whichever one reaches the egg first determines what the baby’s sex will be and that is final. What if you get a daughter instead? Will you be pissed and not honor her with a feast? God, I hope not.

At least women and girls of House Targaryen are not barred from getting their own dragons! That would have been the last straw for me! That’s why I do like it that whenever a new prince or princess is born, each of them gets a dragon egg.

Anyway, my ADHD has made me ramble again so let’s get back to the story here.

Rhaenys who wed Lord Corlys Velaryon was another interesting character, she in fact was very headstrong and did whatever it took to survive despite her claim never being acknowledged. The throne was basically passed over her to Viserys I when the council came to a decision. It’s funny, in the TV show, all the Velaryons are cast by black actors, not sure why other than to be diverse, and I’m not being racist but they do look strange with the silver hair. Then again, I have a crush on the Arishok from Dragon Age II, who has long white hair and his skin is pretty dark too.

I feel sorry for Rhaenys, the throne should have been rightfully hers at that time, but this I think is one thing that planted the first seed of the civil war, otherwise known as the Dance of Dragons.

Now we get to the root of this book and the events of its TV adaptation. As soon as this book introduced King Viserys daughter, Rhaenyra, I loved her right away as she was just as I remembered from the show, she was close to her father, being his cupbearer and all and they were seen together a lot. Then tragedy struck when Queen Aemma died giving birth to a son, and in the show, they make it more brutal than it is in this book which I found disturbing to watch.

Viserys declares his daughter as his heir and if nothing else got in the way, Rhaenyra would have made history as the first woman to rule Westeros, but I blame it all on the Hightowers who still maintained their sexist ways of thinking. It tore apart the friendship between Rhaenyra and Alicent (daughter of Otto Hightower and Hand of the King), especially when he made the latter woo Viserys and then they wed when he was barely done grieving and she gave him several sons. Otto was sexist as fuck in the TV show and Alicent basically accepted her role as his pawn, but she was just equally as annoying in this book. Stop believing chaos will come from Rhaenyra being queen just because she’s a woman! Maybe she will be a good queen, don’t assume she won’t be, maybe it’s time for a change! Those words I was screaming internally every time doubts about her were mentioned in this book and the show.

I want to say that I was developing a crush on Daemon Targaryen in this book. I pictured him as a badass with long silver hair and a handsome face from scratch without the face of Matt Smith. He is also cute in the show too. But I have to remind myself that in this universe, no one is safe from betrayal or death, so what’s the point of getting too attached to any characters? Why do I say that now? Well, after Rhaenyra did take the Iron Throne by force, it only proved to be her undoing as she wasn’t popular with the common folk which soon led to riots and she had to eventually flee. Daemon was eventually gone too, so there.

Rhaenyra’s final fate, I’d say, was absolutely, horrifying, and something no one of House Targaryen would want to die from and I didn’t want to imagine it as I read but my brain did so anyway. Now it makes me wonder if the show is going to do the same thing to her. I still supported her though until the end and at the same time, I went into this book with an attitude knowing that eventually everyone dies since this takes place before the events of ASOIAF. I don’t know if that will encourage me to rewatch GOT though, if I did, I’d probably only watch up until season 4, skip certain parts of season 5, watch season 6, and then stop. Part of me even believes today that Dany should have just stayed in Essos at this point.

After her reign ended and the war was declared over, Aegon II did not last and everything else that followed was really slow. I was hoping it would at least end with the introduction of Aerys II but instead, I was left with some sudden cliffhanger I did not expect regarding Aegon III’s reign when he came of age, by that time there were almost no dragons left.

It was still a good book though, hard to put down despite my gripes with the existing sexism. If I was in Westeros I would live on Dragonstone and fly all the time with my dragon. Despite all the conflict and betrayal, I love all the dragons in this book, well, except you Sunfyre, you know why.

Will I continue to watch HOTD, probably, it’s not a bad show, as long as you approach it knowing that okay, there’s no point latching onto anyone. You can choose a side to root for but remember, that no one is safe. Also, fuck you Otto Hightower and Alicent too, once she became queen, that is.

Good book, not perfect, but the lore is still interesting even if it has very notable flaws.

👽Emily