Ulthosian Stark Posted October 22, 2014 Share Posted October 22, 2014 Well there it is. Why do you guys think every dragonlord was in Valyria for the Doom? With the freehold being so large and conflicts being so common you'd think some were on campaign or garrisoning a city near hostile territory, right?I think something had to be going on to draw them all home. It just doesn't make sense all 40 (save the targs) just happened to be there. Religious gathering? Some sort of Senate-like meeting (it is after all a freehold)? A holiday? Anniversary of the taming of Dragons? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kushy Green Dreams Posted October 22, 2014 Share Posted October 22, 2014 Maybe the targs had something to do with it. It is a little fishy that they are the lone survivors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Equilibrium Posted October 22, 2014 Share Posted October 22, 2014 Because you can't exert power in Roman Republic unless you are in Rome because that is where all politics are, and Valyria is RR with dragons That is why Targ where laughed at and called pussies for fleeing to some backwater province and functional admitting defeat in political struggles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SerWalterPuffsAlot Posted October 22, 2014 Share Posted October 22, 2014 the only reason i'm not suspicious of the Targs is one of them had a dream so they left and we've seen in the books and novellas that they do have these crazy dreams that tell the future. Still makes no sense for only one outpost to survive the DOOM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Whitering Posted October 22, 2014 Share Posted October 22, 2014 the only reason i'm not suspicious of the Targs is one of them had a dream so they left and we've seen in the books and novellas that they do have these crazy dreams that tell the future. Still makes no sense for only one outpost to survive the DOOM It seems that entire peninsula is smoking and ruined though. Valyria was a city and a nation, and it's all toast. When was Italy a thing? Was Rome a city and the empire? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ulthosian Stark Posted October 23, 2014 Author Share Posted October 23, 2014 Because you can't exert power in Roman Republic unless you are in Rome because that is where all politics are, and Valyria is RR with dragons That is why Targ where laughed at and called pussies for fleeing to some backwater province and functional admitting defeat in political strugglesThis is true hence my Senate meeting guess, it could very well be that.Something just rings wrong to me though. There MIGHT have been as many as 300 dragons by an estimate in the Rhoynish Wars excerpt. Why would all of them, including hatchlings, be in Valyria for no reason?It would make sense for some Valyrian nobility to stay behind in the cities they've taken, like we have in Volantis, but AFAIK none of the Volantene nobility were dragon lords.It would make even more sense if a dragonlord stayed behind to ensure loyalty to the freehold, I mean what's a better deterrent to rebellion then a giant fire breathing monster? Hell even the second son of a dragonlord and his small dragon would likely be given new territory and would be perfect in such a situation, like we have with the Tyrells and Garlan starting his own cadet branch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ejhawman Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 I suspect it had to do with what caused the Doom, which we are led to believe the Faceless Men had something to do with. Seems like a fairly straightforward plan: Contrive some excuse to lure them all to the home city, then blow them all up. Nearly worked, they got everyone but the Targs. Or maybe they had grown soft over the centuries, were no longer pressured at their borders and took their control of the provinces for granted, and fell back on the central region to focus on politics. Or maybe they weren't all killed in the Doom; most of them died out in the century after, fighting for control of the remnants of the empire. There may be an untold story of the last dragons OUTSIDE of Westeros dying sometime after the Targs took power in Westeros. In fact, where is it made explicit that the Targs had the only dragons remaining at the time of the Conquest? I don't think I've seen this mentioned offhand. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Equilibrium Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 It would make even more sense if a dragonlord stayed behind to ensure loyalty to the freehold, I mean what's a better deterrent to rebellion then a giant fire breathing monster? Hell even the second son of a dragonlord and his small dragon would likely be given new territory and would be perfect in such a situation, like we have with the Tyrells and Garlan starting his own cadet branch. I will continue with Roman parallel, they had no need to leave dragons behind they had ruling class of second degree nobility to rule in provinces for them and they where stable, no need to have dragons or even garrisons, even legions weren't stationed in RR for administrative purposes, they had legions stationed because of further conquest, impending outside threat or in extreme case really rebellious natives and that was not the case. So they had no reason at all to leave dragons behind and maybe they had some reason to bring the dragons with them, maybe dragons thrive near volcanoes, maybe magic that binds dragons is stronger in Valyria and last but not least maybe they expected trouble, like civil war kind strife in Senate, hell maybe even one of them tried to use some powerful magic to gain advantage and instead triggered eruptions Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Free Northman Reborn Posted October 23, 2014 Share Posted October 23, 2014 The coincidence seems a bit excessive, I must admit. For example, had the Doom occurred during the War with the Rhoynish Prince Garen, there would have been 300 dragons in the Rhoynish lands at the time of the eruption, thus leaving 300 surviving dragons, instead of just the 5 Targaryen ones. Now, the Roynish campaign was a bit of an anomaly, but that doesn't mean that at any given time there might not have been 10 or 20 or 30 dragons being flown on missions outside of the Valyrian Peninsuala. Whether that be for spying, inspection, patrolling, or just leisurely or adventure activities. The idea that every single dragon other than those of the exiled House Targaryen was in the Valyrian Peninsual at the time seems quite unlikely as far as the odds are concerned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrinceHenryris Posted October 26, 2014 Share Posted October 26, 2014 Maybe the other Dragon Lords viewed the Targaryens as a little wacky? From what we know of the Targs in Westeros, there numerous examples of madness and obsession with prophecy. They could have been like that back in Valyria. While I don't subscribe to the Targs being "backwoods hicks" theory, they certainly could have been considered a bitt odd. I mean they did decide to move to the most remote corner of the Freehold based on a girl's dream.Although no other Dragon Lords went West, at lest on Valyrian family did follow them - House Velaryon. Aegon the Conqueror's mother was a Velaryon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ulthosian Stark Posted October 26, 2014 Author Share Posted October 26, 2014 Maybe the other Dragon Lords viewed the Targaryens as a little wacky? From what we know of the Targs in Westeros, there numerous examples of madness and obsession with prophecy. They could have been like that back in Valyria. While I don't subscribe to the Targs being "backwoods hicks" theory, they certainly could have been considered a bitt odd. I mean they did decide to move to the most remote corner of the Freehold based on a girl's dream.Although no other Dragon Lords went West, at lest on Valyrian family did follow them - House Velaryon. Aegon the Conqueror's mother was a Velaryon.House Celtigar and I believe one on top of em as far as Valyrian houses moving with the Targs.I don't think the Targs were a backwoods or even minor House back in Valyria. Possibly one of the main players, why would other DLs make a point of calling the Targs out for it if they weren't influential?We know the Valyrians practiced sorcery, so those dreams could have a few different sources1. As you said, random dreams2. Sorcery endured scrying or trance states3. Cracked Pot here but what if a green seer sent her the dreams? As BR did with Bran, and coerced her to convince the fam to leave.It was the smartest thing they could have done, and, if options 2-3 completely justified and not induced by Madness. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PrinceHenryris Posted October 26, 2014 Share Posted October 26, 2014 I think House Celtigar didn't follow the Targs, but were instead the last guardians on the fringe of the Freehold. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kushy Green Dreams Posted October 27, 2014 Share Posted October 27, 2014 Just out of curiosity, where did all this info come from? Is it just scattered throughout the books? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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