baelor breakspear Archives - History of Westeros

Blackfyre Rebellions: Part 3 – Daemon Blackfyre (spoiler free)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=voFnOoU8B8k

Aziz is joined by returning guest Steven Attewell (of Race for the Iron Throne) to discuss the legendary Daemon Blackfyre. The man, the myth, the sword, the rivalries, the immense popularity. Comparisons to Robert and Renly Baratheon, Aemon the Dragonknight and more are included. The most Daemon-tastic episode of all time!

The primary topics in this episode:

Born Under a Bad Name
Becoming Blackfyre
The Living Legend
The Black Dragon Arises

“Daemon Blackfyre, the brothers Toyne, the Vulture King, Grand Maester Hareth . . . traitors have always paid with their lives.”

“Raised at the Red Keep, this handsome youth was given the instruction of the wisest maesters and the best masters-at-arms at court, including Ser Quentyn Ball, the fiery knight called Fireball. He loved nothing better than deeds of arms and excelled at them, and many saw in him a warrior who would one day be another Dragonknight.”

“Daeron was spindly and round of shoulder, with a little belly that wobbled when he walked. Daemon stood straight and proud, and his stomach was flat and hard as an oaken shield. And he could fight. With ax or lance or flail, he was as good as any knight I ever saw, but with the sword he was the Warrior himself. When Prince Daemon had Blackfyre in his hand, there was not a man to equal him . . . not Ulrick Dayne with Dawn, no, nor even the Dragonknight with Dark Sister.”

Daemon was the name Daena gave to this child, for Prince Daemon had been the wonder and the terror of his age, and in later days that was seen as a warning of what the boy would become. Daemon Waters was his full name when he was born in 170 AC.”

“Knights and lords of the Dornish Marches came to mistrust Daeron, and Baelor as well, and began to look more and more to the old days, when Dornishmen were the enemy to fight, not rivals for the king’s attention or largesse. And then they would look at Daemon Blackfyre—grown tall and powerful, half a god among mortal men, and with the Conqueror’s sword in his possession—and wonder.”

“[Daena] even contrived, toward the end of Baelor’s reign, to get herself with child—though some might say it would have been better had she been less defiant, for all the trouble that son brought to the realm.”

“There was no final insult, no great wrong, that led Daemon Blackfyre to turn against King Daeron.”

“Why, lad? You ask me why? Because Daemon was the better man. The old king saw it, too. He gave the sword to Daemon. Blackfyre, the sword of Aegon the Conquerer, the blade that every Targaryen king had wielded since the Conquest . . . he put that sword in Daemon’s hand the day he knighted him, a boy of twelve.”

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Blackfyre Rebellions: Part 2 – Daeron II the Good (spoiler free)

The son of Aegon the Unworthy had a lot to deal with after his father’s deathbed decree. Guest Steven Attewell of Race for the Iron Throne joins Aziz in discussing Daeron II, and whether or not he actually deserved to be called “the Good”. Special attention paid to the Great Bastards, Baelor Breakspear, and Dorne.

“Daeron’s reign quickly stabilized the realm, and he soon came to be called Daeron the Good by the smallfolk and noble lords alike. He was widely seen as just and goodhearted, even if some questioned the influence of his Dornish wife. And though he was no warrior—descriptions of the era note that he was small of frame, with thin arms, round shoulders, and a scholarly disposition—two of his four sons seemed all that could be wished in a knight, lord, or heir. Yet too many men looked upon Baelor’s dark hair and eyes and muttered that he was more Martell than Targaryen, even though he proved a man who could win respect with ease and was as open-handed and just as his father. Knights and lords of the Dornish Marches came to mistrust Daeron, and Baelor as well… And then they would look at Daemon Blackfyre—grown tall and powerful, half a god among mortal men, and with the Conqueror’s sword in his possession—and wonder.”

He chose to be crowned with his father’s crown—a decision likely intended to quell any remaining doubts about his legitimacy.”

“The line of the dragonkings had almost died out during his father’s day, but it was commonly said that Daeron II and his sons had left it secure for all time.”

“The eldest, Prince Baelor, won the name Breakspear at the age of seventeen, following his famous victory at Princess Daenerys’s wedding tourney; he defeated Daemon Blackfyre in the final tilt. And his youngest son, Prince Maekar, seemed like to show a similar prowess.”

“Aegon and Prince Daeron were quarreling over the king’s plans to launch an unprovoked war against Dorne. It was also the first (but not the last) time that Aegon threatened to name one of his bastards as his heir instead of Daeron.”

“He was conscientious in his duties to the realm and sought to stabilize it in the wake of Aegon’s deathbed decree.”

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Blackfyre Rebellions: Part 1 – Aegon IV the Unworthy (spoiler free)

This episode covers the life of Aegon IV the Unworthy, the man who fathered the Blackfyre Rebellions. A King who used the Iron Throne to serve his needs, caring little for the realm. He made life miserable for his sister Naerys and brother Aemon the Dragonknight while siring Bittersteel, Bloodraven, Shiera Seastar and Daemon Blackfyre himself.

“Aegon the Fourth legitimized all his bastards on his deathbed. And how much pain, grief, war, and murder grew from that? I know you trust Jon. But can you trust his sons? Or their sons? The Blackfyre pretenders troubled the Targaryens for five generations, until Barristan the Bold slew the last of them on the Stepstones.”

“…no king before or after would practice so much willful misrule.”

“Treason . . . is only a word. When two princes fight for a chair where only one may sit, great lords and common men alike must choose. And when the battle’s done, the victors will be hailed as loyal men and true, whilst those who were defeated will be known forevermore as rebels and traitors.”

He was the son of a common blacksmith and had been given to the Faith while young. But his brilliance made itself known, and in time he came to serve in the library at the Red Keep, tending the king’s books and records. There King Jaehaerys became acquainted with him”

“…his body so swollen and obese that he could no longer lift himself from his couch, his limbs rotting and crawling with fleshworms. The maesters claimed they had never seen its like, whilst septons declared it a judgment of the gods. Aegon was given milk of the poppy to dull his pain, but elsewise little could be done for him.”

“His last act before his death, all accounts agree, was to set out his will. And in it, he left the bitterest poison the realm ever knew: he legitimized all of his natural children, from the most baseborn to the Great Bastards—the sons and daughters born to him by women of noble birth. Scores of his natural children had never been acknowledged; Aegon’s dying declaration meant nought to them. For his acknowledged bastards, however, it meant a great deal. And for the realm, it meant blood and fire for five generations.”

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HoW Progress: Daeron II the Good

We recorded our second Blackfyre Rebellions episode yesterday afternoon, continuing our progress towards the Redgrass Field. Normally we are able to release the episode to Patreon/donators the same day, but we had tickets to the Season 5 early premiere in Atlanta and that took up our evening. So editing is occurring right now, and early release folks will get the episode starting by tonight most likely, then throughout the week.

Full release will be late Sunday the 4th/early Monday the 5th!

We had Steven Attewell of Race for the Iron Throne on as a guest. He’s extremely knowledgeable about ASOIAF, medieval history and in particular the Blackfyres because he just wrote a 4 part essay series on Tower of the Hand called “The Blacks and the Reds” (part 1 here).

We were able to do more free form discussion on the topic, since Steven has plenty of podcasting experience on top of his expert level grasp of the material. So this episode has a hybrid, half-scripted/half-discussion feel to it. We had to rush a bit at the end as we’re not used to timing unscripted discussions and we ran out of time before getting to everything. But surely, like some other things, we will get better with experience. The stuff we cut at the end will simply be moved to another one of the Blackfyre Eps. I knew in advance there was a chance this would happen, so it was a simple adjustment. Ashaya is not in it, though it has nothing to do with the illness she had last time. She was scheduled to not participate in this one, and will be back for the next episode. We talked a lot about Dorne, the Great Bastards, the two Baelors (the Blessed and Breakspear), how awkward it was to be Aegon the Unworthy’s son and even Crusader Kings II and Telltale Games.

So overall it was pretty smooth and I’m happy with how the episode came out. I love that there is so much excellent material to play with before we even get to the rebellion itself.

-Aziz