Tinfoil: Targaryen and Blackfyre Reconciliation

[caravaggio]

This is definitely as work in progress as I have very little of it worked out, but I had an idea today I wanted to get some feedback on. Hopefully there will be some things to build on here.

 

Illyrio and Varys are working towards a Targaryen and Blackfyre reconciliation.

 

Aegon is in fact a Targaryen, just not the one you thought he was.

 

Okay, so many have speculated that Illyrio and/or Varys are actually Blackfyres and that they are trying to seat a Blackfyre on the throne. This is the theory I generally always subscribed to. A similar idea has one of them being a descendent of Aerion Brightflame. This is also an interesting idea. What I propose is that they are both.

 

I’m not sure which is which, but I think Illyrio has either a Blackfyre or Brightflame connection (through himself or his wife) and Varys is either a Blackfyre or a Brightflame. They meet in Essos, befriend one another, and find success. They decide they want to go home and restore themselves, but they truly believe in peace and the good of the people. They believe they can raise a Blackfyre/Brigthflame heir to be a good king. However, they do not wish to use the brute force approach the Blackfyre Rebellions did, which never worked and cost countless lives. As Littlefinger might say, that is their game, their rules. Varys and Illyrio plan to win by playing their way.

 

Plan 1

I’m not sure what the exact details of their first plan would be, but I have two rough ideas:

1. Varys plants the idea of finding a bride for Rhaegar in Essos in Aerys mind. Steffon goes to Essos where Illyrio floats the idea to him. Steffon reacts badly (maybe he even cuts off Serra’s hands) and makes to spill the beans to Aerys. Varys and Illyrio find a way to kill them all abroad their ship before it reaches shore.
2. Steffon goes to Essos in search of a bride for Rhaegar, while there he discovers something of the plot. Illyrio finds out, and they have him killed.

 

Personally, I like idea 1 better because it gives them a little more drive to be vindictive towards Aerys.

 

They adjust their plan.

 

Plan 2

Elia becomes pregnant with Aegon and they get a pregnancy of their own started, but theirs of course is descended from the Blackfyre/Brightflame line. They want Mad Aerys out of power and to restore their families, but they can do this in a number of ways by doing this.

1. If it is a girl, find a way to marry the girl to one of Rhaegar’s heirs.
2. If it is a girl, find a way to marry her to Rhaegar in time.
3. If it is a boy, find a way to marry him to one of Rhaegar’s heirs.
4. Replace Elia’s baby.

The way things unfolded, obviously, they had to go with option 4.  I think it is possible they even hatched the plan for the baby after Aegon’s death. They only needed the ages to be reasonably close.

 

Dany

That brings us to Dany and Viserys. I’ve always had the suspicion that they were out to do harm to these two, but I honestly think to start they were indifferent. I think Illyrio was honest (to a point) with Tyrion. He thought Viserys was somewhat of a mad turd and Dany was just a weak little girl.

 

I don’t think they mean them harm though. I believe they are both in a position to empathize with displaced Targaryens. So, they set them up, but in a way that could be useful.

 

They plan for Viserys and Drogo to meet up with Aegon and the Golden Company before heading to Westeros. If Viserys turns out to be an ass, they can go with Dany instead or dispose of them both.

Besides making the deal with Drogo for them, Illyrio gives them Jorah and the Eggs.

 

The eggs have always been a question mark for me, and I’m still not completely satisfied with this, I think they are truly a gift. For one, if Illyrio and Varys are Blackfyre/Brigthflame descendants they might have a whole cache of eggs they’ve accumulated and they may still have one for Aegon. Illyrio would also know that if things went bad, he’d most likely be getting them back anyway (if they die or have to be killed, the khalasar is still meeting with the GC).

 

Of course, for Illyrio, things never go according to plan…

 

Plan 3.

Dany has hatched the eggs making her a more important player. Aegon with the dragons cannot be denied.

Illyrio sends her Barristan, Belwas, and ships. They will marry Aegon to Dany, or at the very least have the dragons.

 

Plan 4

Instead of turning to Pentos, Dany turns to Slaver’s Bay and Meereen. Illyrio expects she will soon leave and tells the Golden Company to move to Volantis where she will have to stop on her way to Westeros for supplies. The time is ripe. He sends Aegon to meet the Golden Company and set the full plan in motion.

 

But again, the plan goes wrong. Dany decides to stay and Aegon met Tyrion and decided to leave for Westeros without her.

 

I also think it is possible that Illyrio is still trying to help get Dany to Westeros to join Aegon and that he may have sent Jhaqo there to help her with the sellswords at Meereen and to speed her on her way. (Maybe)

 

So, there you have it. Illyrio and Varys are the descendants of the Blackfyre and Brightflame lines. At first they were indifferent to Dany and used her, but now she has value and joining Aegon to her does not take anything away from their idea of returning a their lines to power, it only enhances it.

 

I also think it works thematically. The horrors of vengefulness play out in a lot of different stories throughout the books.  But, I believe the Illyrio/Varys story is more than a story of another Blackfyre Rebellion. They have reconciled the houses and raised a Targaryen/Blackfyre king to be the best king for the realm. They don’t want Dany to die, they want to join her to their house, deepen the reconciliation, and strengthen their position.

 

TL;DR Varys and Illyrio are connected to both the Blackfyre and Brightflame lines, have joined the Targaryen and Blackfyre houses, and are working to put Aegon (A Blackfyre and Targaryen) on the throne. They want Dany to join them to further the reconciliation and to strengthen their position.

[Mithras]

They do not want Dany. They only want her recognition of fAegon and her dragons. Once they have that, they would surely poison her.

[caravaggio]

I don't know. I definitely see what you are saying and that is what I've always thought, but looking back it seems like Illyrio is trying to help Dany a lot.

Though, maybe he is just teying to get her. Still, I think what you heard from the Golden Company was true; the plans they are aware of always had them joining with Viserys/Dany.

[Mithras]

If Illyrio really wanted to help the Targaryens, he would introduce them to fAegon and keep them at his manse until fAegon became ready.

[caravaggio]

You are right, I don't think it was their goal. As I said above, I think they were indifferent to Viserys and Dany at first, though they thought they could possibly use them. It isn't until the dragons that Dany becomes a priority. Marrying her to Aegon doesn't take anything away from their goal of putting Aegon, the Blackfyre/Brightflame heir, on the throne.

[Mithras]

Indifferent might be an understatement. Drogo-Dany marriage was a safe way to remove Viserys and Dany off the board. Illyrio played reverse psychology on Viserys to get him killed. Dany would either die or join the dosh khaleen if Drogo predeceased her. Therefore, fAegon was going to be the only "Targaryen". 

 

To the surprise of Illyrio, Dany survived, did not join the dosh khaleen and hatched dragons. Only then she became an asset for them.

[Lady Blizzardborn]

If Illyrio really wanted to help the Targaryens, he would introduce them to fAegon and keep them at his manse until fAegon became ready.

Have you ever heard the expression "don't put all your eggs in one basket?"  That aside, Viserys was just crazy enough to have tried to kill Aegon because the boy had a better claim than he did and he wouldn't be able to stand the humiliation of not only being "the beggar king" but being demoted to "the beggar prince." 

[Mithras]

 

Have you ever heard the expression "don't put all your eggs in one basket?"  That aside, Viserys was just crazy enough to have tried to kill Aegon because the boy had a better claim than he did and he wouldn't be able to stand the humiliation of not only being "the beggar king" but being demoted to "the beggar prince." 

 

I don't think Illyrio has anything to fear at his manse. Viserys could have moved his finger if Illyrio didnot allow him. If he gave such an impression, Illyrio would feed him some of those mushrooms.

[aryagonnakill#2]

Actually Viserys still had the better claim because Aerys declared him his heir, at least its ambiguous, Aegons claim is certainly not stronger, its a remake of the Dance and basically everyone on this forum agrees Rhaenys claim was the right 1.

[caravaggio]

Actually Viserys still had the better claim because Aerys declared him his heir, at least its ambiguous, Aegons claim is certainly not stronger, its a remake of the Dance and basically everyone on this forum agrees Rhaenys claim was the right 1.

 

I'm not sure if that is really true other than from the point of view of any Aerys supporters. I think if Aegon had survived and Viserys had disputed his claim, no one would have listened to Viserys. Aerys own KG were basically following Rhaegar more so than Aerys by the end, so no one would take Aerys declaration seriously.

[Lord Wraith]

Indifferent might be an understatement. Drogo-Dany marriage was a safe way to remove Viserys and Dany off the board. Illyrio played reverse psychology on Viserys to get him killed. Dany would either die or join the dosh khaleen if Drogo predeceased her. Therefore, fAegon was going to be the only "Targaryen". 

 

To the surprise of Illyrio, Dany survived, did not join the dosh khaleen and hatched dragons. Only then she became an asset for them.

 

Anyone else think that Illyrio was attempting to get them to go to Asshai in order to get the dragons hatched.  After they had the dragons they would have no need for Dany or Viserys.

[Lady Blizzardborn]

 

 

 

I don't think Illyrio has anything to fear at his manse. Viserys could have moved his finger if Illyrio didnot allow him. If he gave such an impression, Illyrio would feed him some of those mushrooms.

 

Not if he needed the crazy to cause a situation that would make Aegon look like the savior of Westeros.

[Lord Varys]

If Illyrio had wanted Viserys or Daenerys dead they would have been dead a long time ago. Varys and Illyrio wanted a Dothraki invasion, and they did not want to kill Daenerys in the phase preparing for it. Jorah makes that clear, and he also makes clear in AGoT that he did not want Viserys to be killed as he quite forcefully tries to dissuade Viserys from his folly. It is actually the changed Dany-Viserys dynamic that gets Viserys into trouble, beginning with the humiliation Viserys suffers from Dany's hands. I'm not sure Illyrio did foresee any of that.

 

The Dothraki invasion would have never worked without a living Targaryen - Viserys or Daenerys, but most likely Daenerys - connected to Drogo. The man wouldn't have invaded Westeros to avenge Daenerys or to seat his son on the Iron Throne if Dany hadn't been there.

 

It may be that Illyrio thought he could continue the Viserys-Drogo deal with Aegon and Drogo, but there is no hint for that yet.

 

In regards to Aegon's legitimacy a later marriage of a widowed Daenerys and Aegon could always have worked - or Viserys vouching for his nephew after he had been presented to Aegon and Connington. The idea that Aegon, Connington, and the Golden Company would be enough to convince Westeros makes not all that much sense.

 

But with the dragons Varys and Illyrio would be utterly stupid to kill Daenerys after she had married to Aegon. They would lose a dragonrider, and if Dany hadn't given birth to Aegon's heir by then Aegon's children by a second wife might not have enough Targaryen blood to ever ride a dragon - assuming Aegon himself has enough (if he is some obscure Blackfyre descendant he may actually have not enough, especially if the Blackfyres didn't not continue to marry sisters or cousins).

 

Varys and Illyrio don't seem to sing the hymn of the Black Dragon when they are alone, nor do they seem madly cackling villains who want to avenge themselves on two poor orphans who actually had nothing to do with the predicament of their family.

[Good Guy Garlan]

That would be like Microsoft merging with Apple. Me no likey.

[Victor227]

To be fair, Illyrio's insistence upon Viserys staying put in Pentos was an awful lot like Cersei's insistence that Robert not join the melee.

 

But right! Aegon being both a Targaryen and Blackfyre would make sense from a lot of angles. For one, it fulfills the 'Bright and Dark' aspects of that whole Quaithe prophecy, with Illyrio/Varys as dragons.For another, it would explain why they're not interested in Aegon Blackfyre taking the throne rather than Aegon Targaryen. If he's of both lines, it's no longer about the whole pride aspect and rebellion, it's about their family taking the throne. It also works with that whole 'black dragon sign turning red with rust', as the Blackfyre line, and all the support associated such as the Golden Company, would be converting from black to red with the reunification of dynasties.