#rhaegel

From Daeron II to Aegon V

-> a little Dreamfyre at the bottom of the family tree

-> I tried to have the dornish a look close to the people of Spain during the Al-Andalus period

-> at that point in the timeline, the Targaryens tend to follow westerosi fashion, highborn ladies wearing "modest" headpieces (headdress, hair nets, crown braid), similar to European medieval era, reflecting the weight of the Faith of the Seven

-> men tend to wear simpler fashion and jewelry too, donning an earring here and there but nothing extravagant (except Aerion)

-> Aegon V's attire reflects his reign and his will to bring back the Targaryen to their past glory (ending badly in Summerhall) and so his look and Betha Blackwood's are more "Targaryen" coded, this wish is/was also followed in a way by his siblings, Aerion and Rhea

Dragons are cats.

Daeron II’s wife and The wives of his sons

In the tent, Mirri conducted the blood ritual to transfer the life-force of Drogo’s horse into Drogo’s lifeless body. She was completely aware that a horse’s life was insufficient to bring a man to full consciousness. 

Jorah disobeyed Mirri’s clear instructions not to bring Dany into the tent and brought Dany into the tent. Dany’s unborn son, Rhaego, was unwittingly involved in the blood ritual. The Drogo-horse swap went as planned. However, Rhaego’s life-force was transferred into the dragon eggs. 

In Dany’s dream, she sees her son Rhaego, who looks so strong and healthy. Then, he vomits fire and crumbles away to ashes. When Dany wakes up, she sees her stillborn son. He took on the form of the petrified dragon eggs: His corpse was deformed and monstrous and rotten as if he’d been dead for centuries. However, he was alive and kicking up a storm inside Dany before she entered the tent. In terms of his physical form: He was “scaled like a lizard,” had a “stub of a tail,” and “small leather wings like the wings of a bat.” He looked like a dead baby dragon.

After she wakes up, Dany feels “something twist and stretch” in the stone eggs, and they feel warm to her. Rhaego’s life-force already revived them, and they were alive for the first time in centuries.

When they were lit by flames, the eggs-- which were now alive-- hatched.

Dany didn’t need to step into the funeral pyre for the dragon eggs to hatch. She stood before the fire, and she heard the crack of “shattering stone” and saw the shell, which was “pale and veined with gold,” on the ground. Viserion already broke out of his shell. Then, there was the second crack, which was “loud and sharp as thunder.” That was Rhaegel hatching. After the first two dragons hatched, Dany “stepped forward into the firestorm.” That was Drogon. This is why Drogon bonded to Dany more than the other two and he eventually became the one she rode: He was the only one who hatched in her presence in the fire.

Both Mirri and Dany made the incorrect assumption that Rhaego’s life force transferred into Drogo. Mirri assumed that the unborn baby’s lifeforce was not enough to grant full consciousness to Drogo. She believed that Rhaego’s monstrous appearance was a reflection of Drogo’s monstrous actions. Dany believed that Mirri deliberately killed Rhaego to make Drogo comatose: She stated, “show me what I bought with my son’s life” and was horrified that Drogo was still comatose.

Dany doesn’t consciously know that Rhaego’s life-force revived the eggs, but she subconsciously senses it. Even before she wakes up, Dany knew that her son was dead. She doesn’t explain how she knows this or why he died, but she instinctively does. After she wakes up, Dany doesn’t ask to see her son, whom she had a terrible dream about. She immediately asks her handmaids to bring her the dragon eggs. She holds onto them and hugs them as she sleeps, reminding me of a mother doing skin-to-skin contact with her newborn baby. As they hatch, Dany “call[s] to her children.” She views the dragons as her children, which is different than every other Targaryen’s relationship to their dragon. She even breast-feeds them, which no other Targaryen has ever done. The dragons are carnivores, so they only eat sheep, lambs, pork, etc, so they shouldn’t want to drink human breast milk. Yet, they do. There is a part of Rhaego inside them that recognizes Dany as their mother.

I should have known better. 

After all, the author of A Song of Ice and Fire killed off the best character (Ned Stark) in the first book. 

And now everything is pointing to GRRM having set up an ending for Game of Thrones that is far more bitter than sweet.

One thing after another in episode 804 pointed to the possible “bitter” aspects of the final ending.

Because there were many “endings” in this episode but none that were particularly happy

The Funeral Pyre

Of course, the episode started with a funeral pyre for the many who died in the Battle of Winterfell including Jorah Mormont, Lyanna Mormont, Beric Dondarrion, Theon Greyjoy and Dolorous Edd.

No happy endings for them. (Although they all went out as heroes, so perhaps that was a “bittersweet” ending for each of them.)

Gendry and Aria Part Ways

In what looked like good news, Gendry was made the Lord of Storm’s End by Daenerys who also recognized him as Robert Baratheon’s true son.

He thought that would mean he could finally be worthy of Aria, so he proposed to her. But despite the fact that Gendry and Aria clearly love each other, theirs does not look like it will be a happy ending (at least not with each other).

Aria lets Gendry know he’s wonderful, but she will never be a “lady” of a great house. That’s just not who she is.

So Arya remains true to herself and I suppose that is a good thing. Still, it was sad that Arya and Gendry’s story appears to have come to an end.

When Your “Friends” Want to Kill You

Then the one “friend” that Jamie and Tyrion shared (Bronn) turns up--but not in a good way. Bronn lets them both know he was hired by Cersei to kill them. And it is clear he would probably do it except for the fact that he is worried that Cersei will lose and he won’t be paid.

So Tyrion offered him Highgarden as a counter to Cersei’s offer of River Run and Bronn took the offer. 

I guess it’s a good day in the Game of Thrones universe when your “friend” doesn’t kill you--because you bribed him sufficiently not to do so. 

Jon and Daenerys: Falling Apart 

A few weeks ago, before Jon told Daenerys that he was Aegon Targaryen, I wrote a parody where Daenerys still expected Jon to bend the knee anyway. My parody Jon and Daenerys worked out their differences but it looks like “show Daenerys” has even more character flaws than my parody has.

It doesn’t seem promising that Daenerys is meant to actually win the Iron Throne. It is heartbreaking to see her start to be torn internally by jealousy and self-doubt.

And of course the “open secret” that Jon is Aegon is now fueling all sorts of doubts about Daenerys in the community surrounding her, including in some of her most loyal supporters, like Tyrion.

Brienne and Jamie: Coming Together to Fall Apart

Well, it finally happened. Brienne and Jamie came together as a couple at long last.

And then Jamie left her to go to his sister, despite Brienne poignantly begging him to stay.

Jamie tells Brienne that he is not a “good man.” And he leaves her.

It seems that there is little hope for romantic happy endings in the world of Game of Thrones.

Ghost Deserved a Better Goodbye

What was going on with the animals in the Game of Thrones universe in this episode wasn’t much better. Yes, Jon nobly gave Ghost to Tormund because “a direwolf has no place in the South.”

I can understand that Jon had Ghost’s best interests at heart but couldn’t he have just given him a hug goodbye? He hugged Tormund and Sam goodbye. But no hug for Ghost?!

That just didn’t sit right with me.

But then again, it could have been worse.

Much worse...

My Heart Broke When Rhaegal Died

Rhaegal didn’t deserve that unexpected death. He was flying happily with his brother when he was cruelly shot down and fell into the sea.

This seems to be another sign of foreboding, especially for Daenerys’ chances of ascending the Iron Throne. 

Missandei’s Death Pushed Everything Over the Edge

Cercei used Missandei as a pawn in the hope that Daenerys and Grey Worm would behave rashly if she had her killed.

Once again we see true love not finding a happy ending. Missandei and Grey Worm had overcome so much and were finally finding happiness with each other.

But this is the Game of Thrones world, of course it couldn’t last.

Missandei’s last word was “Dracarys"  or “dragonfire.”

It seems to have been an apt word, since all hell appears about to break loose. 

Brace yourselves for the show’s final ending.

Forget about true love winning the day.

Forget about the “good guys” always acting like the good guys.

Forget about the “good guys” winning.

The next couple of episodes are probably going to be a very upsetting last act for this show. 

It was foolish of me to have thought otherwise.

After all, this is a universe where early on Ned Stark was unjustly and cruelly killed.

Did I really think everything would end very differently?

Posted 05.06.19; updated 05.08.19

From left to right: Rhaegal the bronze fury, Viserion the white dragon, Queen Daenerys Stormborn of House Targaryen, and Drogon the winged Shadown