Rhaenys Blood for Dark Magic: the Dornish Letter

[LmL]

Queen Rhaenys, younger sister and most beloved of Aegon the Conqueror, famously "died" in Dorne at the Hellholt with her dragon Meraxes in 10 AC. For the next two years, the "Years of the Dragon's Wroth," King Aegon and Queen Visenya "set ablaze every castle, keep, and holdfast in Dorn at least once... save for Sunspear and shadow city." There were countless assassinations and reports of atrocities, including the mysterious deeds of Wyl of Wyl, "whose deeds we need not recount; they are infamous enough and still remembered, especially in Fawnton and Old Oak." That's the same Lord Wyl who captured Orros Baratheon and his army and held them for several years, releasing them only after cutting off their sword hands. King Aegon and Queen Visenya were both attacked in the streets by Dornish assassins. Then, in 13 AC, Meria Martel, "the Yellow toad of Dorne," dies and the throne passes to her son, prince Nymor. Nymor immediately begins negotiating for peace, sending a delegation to Kings Landing led by his daughter Deria. Dorne wanted peace, but as equals. Aegon was determined to refuse, until Deria hands him the infamous "Dornish Letter" from her father. What happens next is really weird - Aegon clutches the letter so tightly, his hands bleed. He immediately flys to Dragonstone, returns the next day, and takes the peace offer. Aegon never again so much as thinks about aggression towards Dorne.

So what the Hellholt was in that letter? I think we are given all the clues we need to suss it out. We need to take a look at the (not so) good folks at the Hellholt, the Ullers, as well as those wascally Wyls, the the Quorgyles of Sandstone, and the Blackmonts of Blackmont, who gave us the Vulture King. There's something infernal going on here with all of these families in near the foothills of Dorne.

The WOIAF gives a big hint that perhaps Rhaenys did not die, saying that "a few accounts claim the queen survived her dragon's fall, only to die a slow death by torment at the hands of the Ullers." The Ullers of Hellholt are not a nice lot. They "raised a grim, stinking seat besides the sulfurous yellow waters of the Brimstone." Elsewhere we are told of the Brimstone and it's sulfurous waters again, and that "the plants that grow along its banks are strange and stunted things. Of the men who live along the selfsame banks we shall not speak." Apparently, something is going on that so foul that it is unspeakable, reminiscent of whatever the Wyl of Wyl did to the Oakhearts. The Hellholt itself gets it's name from another atrocity, where some Lord Uller of the past invited his rivals to the castle, only to lock them in and burn them alive. Cheerful, ay?

The Ullers were Andals, as were the Qorgyles, who fortified the only well for 50 leagues around. (They were the ones who treacherously killed Lord Tyrell in a bed of scorpions in 159 AC). We are told that few Andals decided to make Dorne their home, and those that did chose the choice lands watered by the green blood. From TWOAIF:

"Others established themselves in places where no man had gone before them."

We are told of the Ullers and Qorgyles in the very next sentence - so I think the use of the word "Others" here may be meant to have a double meaning, implying a dark magic or similarity to the Others. Obviously there's no ice in Dorne, so they aren't "The Others," but we are about to hear about sacrificing babies over at nearby Blackmont, so I think there a similarity going on.

The Blackmonts of Blackmont have a curious coat of arms: a giant black vulture on a yellow field, clutching a baby. The Blackmonts are the house which would give us the Vulture King about 25 years later, shortly after Aenys Targaryen took the throne in 37 AC. We are never specifically told that the Vulture King is a Blackmont, but we are told about one of the six petty kings which Nymeria sent to the wall after conquering Dorne, a certain Benedict of House Blackmont, who “worshipped a dark god and was said to have the power to transform himself into a vulture of enormous size." That's quite interesting, because Bendict Blackmont lived long before the Vulture King. Presumably, the coat of arms dates back to before the Vulture King of 37 AC. Unless the stories are totally wrong, the Blackmonts have been worshipping a dark god, transforming into Vultures, and stealing babies for a long time.

We've already talked about the Wyls and their unspeakable acts, as well as their capture and mutilation of Orys Baratheon and his army. The Wyls actually fought beside the Vulture King in his rebellion. Then they pop up again in the story of Baelor the Blessed and the Young Dragon. In 161 AC, the Young Dragon returned to Dorne a second time to put down rebellions, and was eventually murdered under a peace banner somewhere in the Boneway, where the Wyls make their seat. His cousin Aemon the Dragonknight was captured and held by Lord Wyl. When Baelor came through on his walking journey to Dorne, Lord Wyl refused his pleas to release Aemon. On Baelor's way back, after securing a peace and a command from the Dornish prince to Lord Wyl to release the Dragonknight, he came again to the Boneway. Lord Wyl agreed and gave Baelor the keys to free the Dragonknight... but he was, famously, suspended in a cage over a pit of vipers. Baelor freed the Dragonknight but was bitten many times - this gives the Wyls their current coat of arms, a black viper biting a heel.

So, dark gods and burning people alive, murderous treachery, scorpion and viper poisoning, warging and stealing babies, unspeakable acts and unspeakable people, and sulfurous waters which stunts the growth of plants. Pretty grim stuff. But let's return to 10 AC and the Hellholt, where the dark Lord Uller, quite possibly some kind of necromancer or black sorcerer, suddenly find himself in possession of Kings blood (Rhaenys) and a dead dragon. Ask yourself - if you're a dark sorcerer of Westeros, what do you do with such gifts? Probably some blood magic, right? Your country is being scourged by dragon fire, going on several years now, and your countrymen have no way to stop them. Was there a way for Lord Uller to cause some kind of mischief with Rhaenys' kings blood?

Well, of course there was. Melisandre seems to have caused or partially caused the deaths of Robb, Joffrey, and Balon Greyjoy with only the leech blood, and says she can do more with king's blood. The central mystery of the Dornish letter revolves around Aegon's trip to Dragonstone. What could he have been hoping to verify there? TWOIAF gives us a clue, suggesting three possibilities:

- perhaps Rhaenys still lived, broken and mutilated, in Uller's dungeon, and Nymor promised to end her suffering
- the letter was ensorceled
- Nymor threatened to hire faceless men to kill Aegon's son, Aenys

I am proposing that that all three reasons have part of the truth. Rhaenys was to tortured and held captive, with Lord Uller collecting her blood, or possibly killing her before he sent the letter to perform sorcery. Either way, Uller used her blood to strike out in some way at either young Aenys (six at the time) or newborn prince Maegor on Dragonstone. Perhaps a small wound, or just some bloody sign that Uller did in fact have the power to strike at Aenys or Maegor in the future. Perhaps Lord Uller murdered a different babe on Dragonstone, to prove that he could. In any case, Aenys was a sickly babe and child, and although he did better after bonding with his dragon Quicksilver, he suffered poor health through his life, dying at age 35 but "looking like a man of 60," and Maesters despaired at their inability to improve his health. Maegor, meanwhile, was Maegor the Cruel, and insane psychopath. Could the blood magic performed by Lord Uller have something to do with either?

As for Aegon gripping the letter so tightly that his hand bled, let's think about that. Unless you have long, sharp nails, like mad King Aerys, I cannot fathom a way for this to occur. Go ahead - give it a try at home. Doesn't work. So, either the letter was ensorceled, perhaps to release a bit of Rhaenys' blood for, you know, impact; or the letter contained a small, sharp object capable of cutting Aegon's hands when he gripped it - perhaps tricking Aegon into more bloodmagic. As to what that object would be, I do not know. It would have had to be small, to hide inconspicuously in the folds of a letter. I think sorcery is more likely.

So that's it. I don't know exactly what Lord Uller caused to happen at Dragonstone, but by studying the dark nature of the houses in this area of Dorne, I think it's pretty apparent that he used Rhaenys' blood to perform dark sorcery. Really, it's harder to think a person like Lord Uller WOULDN'T try to do something nefarious with Rhaenys' king's blood, seeing as how the Targaryen dragons were laying waste to Dorne.

I don't think the letter was simply a promise to end Rhaenys' suffering - how would Aegon know if Uller kept his word? How would he verify that on Dragonstone? We aren't given any magical way for Targaryens to know from afar when another Targ is dead - there's no precedent for that. As for hiring faceless men... They were already sending boatloads of assassins, and I don't see Aegon being afraid of the FM. He would think that he can protect against assassins, even skilled ones like the FM. It took awhile for Visenya to even convince Aegon that he needed a Kingsguard. Remote blood magic though - how do you stop that? It must have been a chilling threat indeed, coming from the only person in Westeros at this point who's killed a dragon. Imagine reading a letter from a dark sorcerer threatening blood magic harm to your children, who are on an island somewhere else. What would you do? Fly your ass back to Dragonstone ASAP, with all alacrity. Whatever he found proved the threat credible - and Aegon agreed to peace the next day and left Dorne alone.

If anyone has further ideas about the specifics of the blood magic Lord Uller may have performed.... well I'm sure you'll comment, this being the Westeros forums and all. Thanks for reading everyone!

P.S. I'm still not suite sure about what is appropriate for this TWOIAF forum vs. the general forum... This theory is mostly built out of material from TWOIAF, does that mean is has to go here? I did read the "purpose of this forum" thread, but it was written before TWOIAF came out, so I'm not exactly sure what the delineation is. If anyone wants to fill me in... :)

[Durran Durrandon]

Ask yourself - if you're a dark sorcerer of Westeros, what do you do with such gifts? Probably some blood magic, right? Your country is being scourged by dragon fire, going on several years now, and your countrymen have no way to stop them. Was there a way for Lord Uller to cause some kind of mischief with Rhaenys' kings blood?

Melisandre would have been willing to do some very bad things to get that kind of an opportunity.

As for Aegon gripping the letter so tightly that his hand bled, let's think about that. Unless you have long, sharp nails, like mad King Aerys, I cannot fathom a way for this to occur. Go ahead - give it a try at home. Doesn't work. So, either the letter was ensorceled, perhaps to release a bit of Rhaenys' blood for, you know, impact; or the letter contained a small, sharp object capable of cutting Aegon's hands when he gripped it - perhaps tricking Aegon into more bloodmagic. As to what that object would be, I do not know. It would have had to be small, to hide inconspicuously in the folds of a letter. I think sorcery is more likely.

He could have been resting his hand holding the letter on the arm of Iron Throne. It could be dramatic licence.

Your larger point remains. He was blackmailed with something wicked, something that would be indefensible. I am thinking of the last Czar of Russia, who had the son with hemophilia, and the control Rasputin managed to hold over his family.

[LmL]

I've always thought there was a general similarity between Melissandre and Rasputin, at least as far as Rasputin ingratiating himself with the Czarina forst, and then Czar Nicholas. Of course, as you said, the key to Rasputin's hold on the royal family was his ability to heal their son when no one else could. Reportedly, one time after he had been exiled for a year or so, the prince was injured and supposedly Rasputin was able to simply send them a LETTER with a couple instructions, and the boy got better.

Seems like George may be doing a spin on that, I can definitely see how he might have gotten the idea for the Dornish letter from that story. Instead of the letter healing from afar, it's the opposite.

I wonder if there's any other info regarding Aegon or Aenys to give hints about this - we should look for any other interaction with Dorne or sudden change of mind. I know during Aenys reign, there're was a ton of rebellions. Perhaps something is buried in one of them.

[Durran Durrandon]

Perhaps we have figured out why Doran Martel thinks Darkstar, seemingly incompetent as he is, is the most dangerous man in Dorne. (I hate the character of Darkstar, mostly for his name.) I do think the Daynes have some connection to the Bloodstone Emperor and the forging of Lightbringer, after all.

[LmL]

Perhaps we have figured out why Doran Martel thinks Darkstar, seemingly incompetent as he is, is the most dangerous man in Dorne. (I hate the character of Darkstar, mostly for his name.) I do think the Daynes have some connection to the Bloodstone Emperor and the forging of Lightbringer, after all.

I don't think Doran knows this, but the double meaning suggested by Geroge is that Darkstar is more dangerous than we think. I am guessing this is because there is no sword of the morning, and perhaps if Darkstar gets his hands on it, something bad will happen... like magically. Kind if like there always has to be a stark in Winterfell - we know there isn't always a sword of the morning, but what if the sword of the morning was defiled or stolen? Kind of like Winterfell was stolen?

[oursisthefury69]

I found this part to be very interesting.

The letter probably wasnt ensorcled though, Aegon went to Dragonstone and brooded on it for a day

[Durran Durrandon]

Incidentally, I think this is a vastly underrated OP.

[aryagonnakill#2]

When I think about this I think the trip to Dragonstone is key. Why would he have done this? I can think of only 1 reason and that is to confirm something, perhaps Rhaenys described something in her childhood bedroom, perhaps he was simply comparing her handwriting to an existing sample, but that's the only reason he would have gone to Dragonstone for a short period like that. With that in mind I actually think its much simpler than many people make it out to be. Rhaenys was alive when Aegon got that letter, and I don't think there is any rumor Dorne could have started that Aegon could not have denied.

[Mrs.Grumpy]

I think the unspeakable deeds of the Ullers and the Wyls are their tortures that varies from burning alive to throwing people into snake pits. The only Dornish family that might be dabbling in sorcery is House Blackmont imo. And maybe Dayne and Toland.

I think you pushed too hard with saying starting the sentence with "Others" means they are dabbling in dark magic...

Mel didn't cause Robb, Joff and Balon's death, she just saw their deaths in her fires and showed that as if her mighty god killed the fake kings.

Ok but where do we know that the Uller lord was a dark sorcerer? O.o