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"Dracarys," or, "Be careful with that word ..."


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A bit OT, but an interesting byproduct of the dragon fire translation of dracarys is that Targaryen names ending in -ys literally end in fire. Not that I'm claiming it's a code telling us that "Dany will end (die) in fire" or anything. Though that does seem like a distinct possibility.

This is a cool catch, I like it!

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A bit OT, but an interesting byproduct of the dragon fire translation of dracarys is that Targaryen names ending in -ys literally end in fire. Not that I'm claiming it's a code telling us that "Dany will end (die) in fire" or anything. Though that does seem like a distinct possibility.

Yeah, I don't think it really foreshadows anything (plenty of non-ys Targs have died in fire), but it's interesting from an etymological standpoint. Makes you wonder if, for example, the Dae, Mae, Rhae, Vis, Ae, Bae and Jae roots each separately have specific meanings, and the suffices each have separate specific meanings (-ys, -lor, -enya, -gon, -or, -na, whatever), so that every Targaryen name is just a a mix-and-match of two root meanings.

This isn't exactly pertinent to the topic (hence cordoning it off), but ...

Speaking of fun etymology, someone (probably Tze, it seems like one of her brainchildren) pointed out that Dany named her son Rhaego. Viserys's nickname among the Dothraki was Khal Rhae Mhar, the Sorefoot King. Khal is obviously king. Since the adjectives come after the noun, if we go from broad adjective to the word that modifies that adjective in order, then Rhae is foot and Mhar is sore. So in Dothraki, the root of Rhaego is "foot." And traveling by foot/association with being on foot is an embarrassment and a sign of weakness. The kid pegged as the Stallion That Mounts The World had quite possibly the absolute worst name he could have had in Dothraki. Not sure if it's intentional or foreshadowing or a play on words or maybe nothing, but it's kind of funny.

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Are you kidding? Jorah says "dracarys," which has been established as the "fire" command, and Viserion breathes fire (and as Tze hypothesized, it's possible that if Drogon and Rhaegal would have too if they hadn't so recently done it; they do "react"). Gee, I wonder what could we possibly draw from that incident?

Weren't you the one bitching about snow and kings and whatnot? And yet you're arguing this? Come on.

What does the Snow - King part has to do with this? I do't see any metaphors involved here.

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What does the Snow - King part has to do with this? I do't see any metaphors involved here.

I'm saying it's a bit rich to refuse to see any other layers of meaning in the Snow-King exchange while thinking that Viserion was acting in any other capacity than obeying the buzzword he heard.

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I'm saying it's a bit rich to refuse to see any other layers of meaning in the Snow-King exchange while thinking that Viserion was acting in any other capacity than obeying the buzzword he heard.

I accepted it on that thread, iirc, that we are sometimes driven by are personal bias while making comments. I try not to, but if it has come off that way then I'll try to be more objective in the future. I expect the same from everyone else too of course.

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Yeah, I don't think it really foreshadows anything (plenty of non-ys Targs have died in fire), but it's interesting from an etymological standpoint. Makes you wonder if, for example, the Dae, Mae, Rhae, Vis, Ae, Bae and Jae roots each separately have specific meanings, and the suffices each have separate specific meanings (-ys, -lor, -enya, -gon, -or, -na, whatever), so that every Targaryen name is just a a mix-and-match of two root meanings.

This isn't exactly pertinent to the topic (hence cordoning it off), but ...

Speaking of fun etymology, someone (probably Tze, it seems like one of her brainchildren) pointed out that Dany named her son Rhaego. Viserys's nickname among the Dothraki was Khal Rhae Mhar, the Sorefoot King. Khal is obviously king. Since the adjectives come after the noun, if we go from broad adjective to the word that modifies that adjective in order, then Rhae is foot and Mhar is sore. So in Dothraki, the root of Rhaego is "foot." And traveling by foot/association with being on foot is an embarrassment and a sign of weakness. The kid pegged as the Stallion That Mounts The World had quite possibly the absolute worst name he could have had in Dothraki. Not sure if it's intentional or foreshadowing or a play on words or maybe nothing, but it's kind of funny.

I speculated a while back that GRRM based the name Rhaegar (Ray-gar) on his father's name, Raymond. Rhae - gar even rhymes with the first syllable in his first and last names;

Raymond Martin. From this you can maybe even see where he got the name Waymar Royce.

GRRM's father was a dock worker, so I wouldn't be too surprised if he came home complaining of sore feet every now and then. Did little George ever think of his dad as: Raymond Martin, the King of Sore Feet? – Khal Rhae Mar

Getting back to the name Rhaegar, it's interesting that GRRM apparently named the probable hero's father after his own. After all, we are all the hero of our own fantasies.

Concerning Tze's speculation about Rhaego, I don't know if it's intentional or coincidental, but it's hilarious either way.

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I would imagine the theory comes with the implication that as per TPATQ, Danys dragons would be considered young for quite some time (the rest of the series) and not considered battle ready by the original dragon riders. As such, the conclusion you are referring to isn't flawed, it's actually supported by the text.

Nah, dude. It's super flawed. It's based on past developments. So much has happened since Ser Jorah said "dracarys" and the dragons were like "wot?" that the OP's questions don't even fit anymore. We're dealing with three completely different (see: older) dragons.

Dany has officially made Drogon her mount. Viserion and Rhaegal are free roaming. We know from TPATQ:

no rider can command more than one dragon. We knew that already but the text just makes it officially official.

So would it really be surprising if someone else taught those two how to use dragonfire? Not really. But with Drogon? Not a chance.

Basically, all this speculation is late to the game. If these questions were asked post-CoK/SoS then they would be valid.

Conversely, the idea that Danys dragons won't behave the same (and by that I refer to their learned behaviour, 'dracarys') as they age IS unsupported by the text and is supposition on the behalf of those suggesting it.

How is it unsupported by text? With age they get bigger and have to learn how to endure the commands of mounted riders. And first they have to endure being mounted. This is learned behavior. Come on.

We are discussing the learned behaviour of the dragons and the likeliness that the learned behaviour will be exploited, or more specifically, whether or not other people will be able to use 'dracarys' to illicit a response.

You have to be more specific at this point. Based on the text, Drogon is officially Dany's mount. Based on the text, Viserion and Rhaegal should be considered free game. If someone exploits Viserion or Rhaegal's ability to breathe fire then that wouldn't be surprising at all.

ETA: Just bringing up something I mentioned before... The entire idea that someone can effectively troll Dany's dragons by running by screaming, "Dracarys" is a silly notion in and of itself. It's not as if she brings her dragons to court.

Also:

Dany names Rhaego something akin to "foot" and no Dothraki notices this, not even Drogo who asks her about the name? Oh, you

guise...

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I feel like its not so cut and dry that Dany won't be able to ride all three. Good or bad mother, they still see her with that affection. I think its a possibility.

No, it doesnt work that way. In PatQ, I think it was Joffrey who tried to ride his mother's dragon and got thrown off. One rider to each dragon. Dany can only ride Drogon.

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No, it doesnt work that way. In PatQ, I think it was Joffrey who tried to ride his mother's dragon and got thrown off. One rider to each dragon. Dany can only ride Drogon.

Joffrey wasn't close to Syrax like Dany is with all three of hers. I just think its not 100% sure that Dany can only ride Drogon/One Dragon.

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