History of Westeros

Blackfyre Rebellions: Part 8 – Bloodraven 2

The second of THREE Bloodraven episodes and part 8 of our Blackfyre Rebellions series. This one covers Bloodraven’s time as Hand up to the point where he takes the Black. A full accounting of the reigns of Aerys I and Maekar, plus Aerion Brightflame, Daeron the Drunkard, Egg, Maester Aemon, Blackfyres and so much more including the discovery of the Prince That Was Promised prophecy. Big thanks to Camille Stoner and Valkyrist (who you can catch on the Vassals of Kingsgrave pod) for the voices, and to all the art contributors, particularly Klaradox for the maps, as always.

Bloodraven proved to be a capable Hand, but also a master of whispers who rivaled Lady Misery, and there were those who thought he and his half sister and paramour, Shiera Seastar, used sorcery to ferret out secrets. It became common to refer to his “thousand eyes and one,” and men both high and low began to distrust their neighbor for fear of their being a spy in Bloodraven’s employ. Yet Aerys had need of spies, given the trouble that followed the Great Spring Sickness. Summer came, and with it a drought that lasted more than two years. Many blamed the king, and many more accused Bloodraven. There were poor brothers who preached treason, and knights and lords as well. And amongst those were some who whispered a specific treason: that the Black Dragon must return from across the narrow sea and take its rightful place. – The World of Ice and Fire.

The Life of Joanna Lannister

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwNc6NvVLYM


When considering his mother Joanna Lannister, Tyrion thinks: “It all goes back and back, Tyrion thought, to our mothers and fathers and theirs before them. We are puppets dancing on the strings of those who came before us”

That’s true, Tyrion! Which is a big part of why we made an episode on your mother. Our latest contains a long look at the political setting during her life, which included Tywin’s rise as Hand, Aerys’ crowning, Summerhall, the Rains of Castamere, the War of Ninepenny Kings (her father led the Westerlands army) and more. Of course we also take a look at her personality and relationships with other powerful people, and of course consider “interactions” with the Mad King, and certain parentage theories.

Credits
Our introduction and the Westeros and Essos maps were created by Michael Klarfeld (Klaradox), with the cyvasse pieces created by dutchmogul. Check out the episode on YouTube or the Acast player below to see those images, as well as the newest art of Mazzalicartho, by Azany.

The primary topics in this episode:

Part 1 – The Joannameta
Part 2 – Early Years
Part 3 – From the Rock to the Red Keep
Part 4 – The Princess and the Queen… and the King
Part 5 – The Lioness In Her Den
Part 6 – A Coat of Gold, a Bed of Blood
Outro

In 263 AC, after a year as the King’s Hand, Ser Tywin married his beautiful young cousin Joanna Lannister, who had come to King’s Landing in 259 AC for the coronation of King Jaehaerys II and remained thereafter as a lady in-waiting to Princess (later Queen) Rhaella. The bride and groom had known each other since they were children together at Casterly Rock.” – TWOIAF

“In those days, his father had been Aerys’s Hand, and many people said that Lord Tywin Lannister ruled the Seven Kingdoms, but Lady Joanna ruled Lord Tywin.” – ASOS, Tyrion V

“…though she turned a blind eye to most of the king’s infidelities, the queen did not approve of his “turning my ladies into his whores.” (Joanna Lannister was not the first lady to be dismissed abruptly from Her Grace’s service, nor was she the last).” – TWOIAF

“Though Tywin Lannister was not a man given to public display, it is said that his love for his lady wife was deep and long-abiding. “Only Lady Joanna truly knows the man beneath the armor,” Grand Maester Pycelle wrote the Citadel, “and all his smiles belong to her and her alone. I do avow that I have even observed her make him laugh, not once, but upon three separate occasions!”” – TWOIAF

House Dayne: Part 1 – Characters


Aziz & Ashaya break down the major characters from House Dayne. Theories, background and predictions!

Thanks to Lucifer Means Lightbringer of Astronomy of Ice and Fire for the quotes!

The primary topics in this episode:

  1. Overview: Stereotypes/Archetypes
  2. Part 1 – The Meta History of House Dayne
  3. Part 2 – Ser Arthur Dayne, the Sword of the Morning
  4. Part 3 – Ashara Dayne: Tragedy, Conflict & Mystery
  5. Part 4 – The Current Daynes of Starfall
  6. Part 5 – The Sword of the Evening
  7. Outtro
  8. Trivia

“The finest knight I ever saw was Ser Arthur Dayne, who fought with a blade called Dawn, forged from the heart of a fallen star. They called him the Sword of the Morning, and he would have killed me but for Howland Reed.”

“Men call me Darkstar, and I am of the night.”

“He wondered what Ser Arthur Dayne would have to say of this lot. “How is it that the Kingsguard has fallen so low,” most like.”

“The Prince of Dragonstone had never trusted him as he had trusted Arthur Dayne. Harrenhal was proof of that. The year of the false spring. The memory was still bitter.”

“And these were no shadows; their faces burned clear, even now. Ser Arthur Dayne, the Sword of the Morning, had a sad smile on his lips.”

There was Little Lord Lazyeye, Squire Squishlips, one I named the Whale That Walks, that sort of thing. The only one who was even halfway presentable was young Baelor Hightower.”

“The Dornishmen who had come to court with the Princess Elia were in the prince’s confidence as well, particularly Prince Lewyn Martell, Elia’s uncle and a Sworn Brother of the Kingsguard. But the most formidable of all Rhaegar’s friends and allies in King’s Landing was surely Ser Arthur Dayne, the Sword of the Morning.”

“She is stronger than I am. The realization chilled him. Robert had been stronger than him, to be sure. The White Bull Gerold Hightower as well, in his heyday, and Ser Arthur Dayne.”

“Continuing the most ambitious and imaginative epic fantasy since The Lord of the Rings The action in Book Four of A Song of Ice and Fire begins the day after the end of A STORM OF SWORDS. While the remaining northern lords war endlessly with each other and the ironmen of the isles attack the Dreadfort, Sansa becomes a skilled player in the game of thrones with Littlefinger as her mentor, Arya a skilled assassin, and Bran a magician and shapeshifter of great power. All seek to gain revenge for the death of their parents and Robb Stark, whose head was cut off and replaced with the head of his direwolf. Valar morghulis. All men must die, and wolves, too. Danerys trains her growing dragons and learns from Barristan the secrets of her father, her brother Rhaegar, and other matters that will culminate at Starfell. And Jon Snow is the nine-hundredth-and-ninety-eighth lord commander of the Night’s Watch. The Wall is his. The night is dark, and he has King Stannis to face. The cold wind is rising, and still there are inhuman powers gathering in the north.”

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The Shadow of Summerhall: Aerys & Rhaegar (spoilers)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbgMl0LgNn0

This episode delves deep into Aerys, Rhaella, and Rhaegar Targaryen, as well as other characters who were impacted by Summerhall. There’s talk of how the Mad King could wreak havoc on the Seven Kingdoms even now…though our main focus is, of course, the Aftermath of Summerhall. Why didn’t it work? Who tried to capitalize on the instability? What impact did the event have on the survivors? What impact does it have on the current ASOIAF storyline?

The primary topics in this episode:

  1. The Day After
  2. Jaehaerys Ascends, Blackfyres Descend
  3. Aerys Ascends, Madness Descends
  4. Dragons in the Shadow
  5. Rhaegar, Who Thought Himself So Wise
  6. The Mad King’s Revenge

“Once it takes fire, the substance will burn fiercely until it is no more.”

“…many of the accounts written of Harrenhal speak of his hysterical laughter, long silences, bouts of weeping, and sudden rages.”

“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.”

Your grandsire commanded it. A woods witch had told him that the prince that was promised would be born of their line.”

 

“High in the halls of the kings who are gone, Jenny would dance with her ghosts.”

 

“It was a prince that was promised, not a princess. Rhaegar, I thought… the smoke was from the fire that devoured Summerhall on the day of his birth, the salt from the tears shed for those who died. He shared my belief when he was young, but later he became persuaded that it was his own son who fulfilled the prophecy, for a comet had been seen above King’s Landing on the night Aegon was conceived, and Rhaegar was certain the bleeding star had to be a comet. What fools we were, who thought ourselves so wise!”

 

“It was the shadow of Summerhall that haunted him, was it not?” “Yes. And yet Summerhall was the place the prince loved best.”

 

“He is the prince that was promised, and his is the song of ice and fire.”

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History: The Kingsguard (spoiler free)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O7RYYWJzX_w

Learn more about famous Kingsguard members like Prince Aemon the Dragonknight, Barristan the Bold, and Ser Arthur Dayne. There are no spoilers past A Storm of Swords.
Some had been heroes, some weaklings, knaves, or cravens. Most were only men.

There are some technical difficulties in this episode that are edited out of the audio version. Please listen to that for a better experience, or go ahead and laugh at the video when one of us forgets to unmute our mic!

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