Jaehaerys Tyrell

I know the implication is that Elissa used the dragon eggs to pay for Sunchaser, but I do wonder if there’s any way she took the eggs to Asshai - perhaps she gave the Sealord fake eggs, or paid him by some other means. Doesn’t Bran see dragons stiring in Asshai? I’m not sure how literally the fandom interprets his visions. Regardless of the means, I like the connection of Daenerys’s dragons being descended from the original Targaryen dragons, but I have been told I’m too obsessed with bloodlines lol

That just seems to happen with the more porous aquatic eggs of fish (and perhaps some amphibians?) in real life. As far as I’m aware that there aren’t any cases of terrestrial eggs undergoing external fertilisation but I could be wrong and of course, magical fantasy. Ah, my mistake. I thought that was still canon. I wouldn’t be so sure that non-ridden dragons can’t be moved though, I really don’t seen Rhaegal and Viserion both getting riders before Westeros. I’m really not sure how helpful it is to look at real life reptiles in this situation. I’m not aware of any reptiles forming mated pairs so that could be an anthropomorphisation of dragon behaviour. It would still leave asexual reproduction a possibility, as is seen in the wonderfully named leaping lesbian lizard Edit: a google informs me that, while rare, some reptiles do form mated pairs

I didn’t think there was mention of dragons reproducing asexually but it could certainly be the case - they may just assume they mate. I think the best chance of figuring out the lineages of the dragons accurately could be to focus on the maternal line of known egg-layers. While your theory seems to work there are other possibilities of course for how dragon colouration is determined. As in humans where eye colour is fairly straight forward Mendelian inheritance there is still variation in the shades - most of my family are grey-eyed but there are lots of variation within it. And then hair colour and skin colour are from a multitude of genes, and I expect a multitude of genes are responsible for dragon colouration. One could explore an hypothesis that each aspect of a dragon’s colouration is a separate gene - eg. eyes, scales, horns, crests, wing membranes, claws. I’ll take a look and see if that is in any way workable. Of course assuming that magical creatures in a fantasy world even follow anything like our laws of inheritance! If we’re to accept that Jaehaerys and Alysanne took half a dozen dragons to Winterfell then moving around riderless dragons is possible. Presumably Daenerys and/or Drogon will have the same influence over Rhaegal and Viserion if they’re to be moved to Westeros without both having riders. On the other hands, dragons may be attracted to other dragons, or Targaryens, or familiar environments, and Dreamfyre returned from Harrenhal voluntarily after Rhaena’s death.

To whom do you attribute the black? Cannibal perhaps? This is a puzzling one. *If* Aemond Targaryen and Alys Rivers’s child has a dragon the most likely contender seems to be either the offspring of Vhagar (perhaps sired by Sunfyre?), or the Cannibal himself (if Alys Rivers has some powerful magic to summon and tame him). So the Last Dragon could be the grandchild of Vhagar, or the child of green-eyed Cannibal, explaining its colouration. Yellow and blue make green, I think, so another option might be that Sunfyre and Dreamfyre laid the Last Dragon’s egg (or had an egg that hatched shortly after the Dance and sired the Last Dragon). edited to add - Moondancer may also have laid the Last Dragon’s egg, although young she is described as female I believe (hence has laid eggs)

That’s really interesting! One of my friends mentioned paint-style colour mixing and I didn’t take it seriously. I’m still not sure if I buy it but it seems to work. A couple of notes - 1. During the Dance Syrax lays a new clutch of eggs and one is sent to Rhaena in the Vale and hatches into Morning, so I believe it is confirmed that Morning is the offspring of Syrax. I would guess from the pink colouration and Rhaenyra and Daemon’s relationship that Morning’s father is Caraxes. 2. I think Arrax’s colouration suggests Seasmoke as a contender for the father, and likely also of Vermax and Tyraxes. 3. I originally guessed that Moondancer would be the offspring of Caraxes and Vhagar, the dragons of Baela’s parents. Another option via Barth’s theory on the sex of dragons could be Vhagar and Syrax (as Laena and Rhaenyra were known to fly together). I’m not sure how these fit into your colour theory but just some thoughts. I’m assuming this includes Baela’s Moondancer then. Do you have a source for this?

Seasmoke and Syrax are strong contenders for the parentage of Arrax and his white and yellow colouring confirms this for me. More importantly I think it shows that GRRM has put thought into the heredity and colouration of the dragons which makes theorising their family tree less fruitless (theorising their family tree is a current interest of mine). @Ran do you know if GRRM has thought up the genealogy of the Targaryen dragons or if we’ll ever find out?

Just scrolling through the wiki and noticed Boros Blount is described as bandy legged. Bandy legged means bow legged, which is also known as Blount's disease.

I don’t think it’s uncommon for families to hang around court, and I never got the impression the Stokeworths were particularly egregious in doing so. Do we know for sure they actually lived at court and had done so for much more than the short time frame of the books? In regards to them being allowed to - I think it might be connected to laws of hospitality. Cersei mentions Robert’s Estermont cousins staying at court for half a year after their marriage and him “repaying the visit,” suggesting to me a sort of lighthearted acknowledgement of them taking advantage of polite hospitality. Additionally, the Stokeworths don’t strike me as particularly cheeky guests. Lady Tanda is said to host feasts, both for prospective husbands for Lollys and just for social purposes. I assume she is paying for these feasts and isn’t just at the Red Keep picking through the larders. As mentioned already, nor are they particularly minor locally - the Stokeworth and Rosby lands are vital for the supply of King’s Landing. Another thought I just had - we know some individuals have manses in King’s Landing and it could also be possible, although I can’t recall an example of it happening, for a noble family to lease out rooms in the Red Keep.

Living at court is more exciting and gives you more opportunities for the advancement of your house. The prominence of the Stokeworths at court may be influenced by them being so close if anything, as it doesn't present much issue in continuing to administer their nearby lands. Lady Tanda was also trying to find a husband for Lady Lollys, so was likely also at court especially frequently to find a match for her.

How did Rickard and Brandon Stark's bodies come to be interred in the crypts of Winterfell? I can't imagine Aerys II returning them nor bothering to give them graves.

People seem to be under the impression Rhaegar killed her. Perhaps Ned didn’t tell people he found her alive but just said, “she’s dead” and people took it to mean she’d been killed by Rhaegar or on his orders.

I think it was about halfway through AGOT that I realised Eddard and Ned were the same person haha