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The Shadow of Summerhall: Aerys & Rhaegar (spoilers)

This episode delves deep into Aerys, Rhaella, and Rhaegar Targaryen, and we also discuss other characters impacted by Summerhall. There’s talk of how the Mad King could wreak havoc on the Seven Kingdoms even now. Of course, our main focus is 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? You can listen to the previous episode in this series here. Stay tuned past the credits for a short after episode chat. We’ll talk a bit more about dragon eggs, pyromancers, Summerhall art, toss out a few random facts. 

Anyway, here’s Summerhall.

“Summerhall.” The word was fraught with doom.

Credits

Thank you to yolkboy of Radio Westeros, Nina Friel, and Rhaenys_Targaryen for their contributions.

The primary topics in this episode are:

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

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


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.


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


Rhaegar


He would go there from time to time, with only his harp for company. Even the knights of the Kingsguard did not attend him there. He liked to sleep in the ruined hall, beneath the moon and stars, and whenever he came back he would bring a song. When you heard him play his high harp with the silver strings and sing of twilights and tears and the death of kings, you could not but feel that he was singing of himself and those he loved.


Who is the Prince that was Promised?

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


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


“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!”


Filed Under: Episodes Tagged With: aerys ii targaryen, aerys targaryen, audio, barristan selmy, brandon stark, davos seaworth, duncan the tall, ghost of high heart, jaehaerys ii targaryen, jaime lannister, jenny of oldstones, joanna lannister, lyanna stark, maester aemon targaryen, post traumatic stress disorder, prince that was promised, ptsd, pyromancers, rhaegar targaryen, rhaella targaryen, rhaelle targaryen, rickard stark, shaera targaryen, steffon baratheon, summerhall, the mad king, tywin lannister, video, wildfire

The Tragedy of Summerhall

The Tragedy of Summerhall was a spectacular attempt by Aegon V to hatch dragon eggs, and it failed spectacularly, killing most to all of the participants plus at least some, probably most of, the witnesses. Summerhall has some really surprising aspects to it, and explains quite a lot more than we could’ve hoped it would, despite so much of it still remaining mysterious. Not just in what happened, but in how it impacts the more recent, and even the current, ASOIAF storyline.

This episode will have a second (shorter) part focusing on the aftermath of Summerhall, examining the effects on Aerys, Rhaegar, and the realm… Listen to part 2 here!

The primary topics in this episode:

  1. History of Summerhall
  2. The Realm of Aegon V, Treason & Turmoil
  3. Dragon Dreams
  4. Enablers: The Wisdom & the Ghost
  5. The Ritual

What became of the dream of dragons was a grievous tragedy born in a moment of joy. In the fateful year 259 AC, the king summoned many of those closest to him to Summerhall, his favorite castle, there to celebrate the impending birth of his first great-grandchild, a boy later named Rhaegar, to his grandson Aerys and granddaughter Rhaella, the children of Prince Jaehaerys.


“Treason and turmoil followed, as night follows day, ending at Summerhall in sorcery, fire, and grief.”


The last years of Aegon’s reign were consumed by a search for ancient lore about the dragon breeding of Valyria, and it was said that Aegon commissioned journeys to places as far away as Asshai-by-the-Shadow with the hopes of finding texts and knowledge that had not been preserved in Westeros.


Dreams

“My brothers dreamed of dragons too, and the dreams killed them, every one.”


As he grew older, Aegon V had come to dream of dragons flying once more above the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros. In this, he was not unlike his predecessors, who brought septons to pray over the last eggs, mages to work spells over them, and maesters to pore over them.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yK25XfDFsIM

The dragons are done. The Targaryens tried to bring them back half a dozen times. And made fools of themselves, or corpses.

Filed Under: Episodes Tagged With: aegon the unlikely, aegon v targaryen, aemon targaryen, aerion targaryen, aerys ii targaryen, archmaester gyldayn, audio, betha blackwood, black betha, brynden rivers, daemon ii blackfyre, daenora targaryen, daeron ii the good, dragon eggs, dreams, duncan the tall, ghost of high heart, hallyne, house targaryen, jaehaerys targaryen, jenny of oldstones, prince duncan the small, pyromancers, rhaegar targaryen, rhaella targaryen, rhaelle targaryen, robert baratheon, shaera targaryen, shiera seastar, summerhall, the citadel, the mad king, the tales of dunk and egg, the tragedy of summerhall, video, wildfire

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