#pregameofthrones

★ for @queeniegoldtsein

"Rhaegar lost on the Trident. He lost the battle, he lost the war, he lost the kingdom, and he lost his life. His blood swirled downriver with the rubies from his breastplate, and Robert the Usurper rode over his corpse to steal the Iron Throne. Rhaegar fought valiantly, Rhaegar fought nobly, Rhaegar fought honorably. And Rhaegar died.”

When Viserys sold their mother's crown, the last joy had gone from him, leaving only rage.

#iceandfirecon flashback: #maidenvault #cosplays! This group was my favorite thing I've done. #preasoiaf is so amazing to read about, and i had the best brotherhusband and sister to do this with. 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 Baelor the Blessed is Monstrous Cosplayer D Elaena Targaryen is @chasingthesnitch And Daena the Defiant is me! 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 I hope we can break these out again sometime soon if not next @iceandfirecon 😎😎 🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥🔥 #asoiaf #pregot #baelortheblessed #daenathedefiant #elaenatargaryen #targaryens #housetargaryen #fireandblood #pregameofthrones

Rhaenyra had been groomed for the throne since her birth--dubbed the Realm’s Delight--even after her father, King Viserys I, would go on to bear a son, her half-brother, Aegon. Proud and stubborn, she waited patiently for her crown--until the denial of her claim by Aegon and Dowager Queen Alicent Hightower, which sparked the violent civil war known as the Dance of the Dragons. By the bloody end, during which Rhaenyra would rule a broken realm for just six months, only three out of twenty living dragons remained, and two of those three then disappeared. Rhaenyra was eventually apprehended whilst attempting to flee King’s Landing and burned alive by Aegon’s dragon, Sunfyre, as her young and last living son, Aegon III, helplessly watched.

With her death, Grand Maester Pycelle observes, the joy went out of Tywin Lannister, yet still he persisted in his duty.

Or was it the grieving sister, the Lady Ashara? She threw herself into the sea, I'm told. Why was that? For the brother you slew, or the child you stole?

At the start of the war, there were 20 living dragons. By the end of the war, all but three had died.