Inconsistencies

[zatoichi]

Hi. Just hoping to clarify some inconsistencies I noted when reading tPatQ.

(1) Aegon II was two-and-twenty, quick to anger and slow to forgive. Rhaenyra’s refusal to accept his rule enraged him. “I offered her an honorable peace, and the whore spat in my face,” he declared. “What happens now is on her own head.” from tPatQ

and in aGoT

129-131 Aegon II

Eldest son of Viserys,
[Aegon II’s ascent was disputed by his sister Rhaenyra, a year his elder. Both perished in the war between them, called by singers the Dance of the Dragons.]

So Rhaenyra would be 23 in year 129 thus was born in 106 (or 105). But her eldest child is already 15 years old (tPatQ) so she must have been a mother at the preposterous age of 8. She was also already named successor as early as 105 (tPatQ), as an infant before any other child could rival her claim.

(2) Dorne was not yet part of the Realm but

Three hundred sets of eyes looked on as Prince Daemon Targaryen placed the Old King’s crown on the head of his wife, proclaiming her Rhaenyra of House Targaryen, First of Her Name, Queen of the Andals, the Rhoynar, and the First Men. from tPatQ

Thoughts?

[Leonardo]

The second one got me as well. They also frequently refer to it as the seven kingdoms when dorne has not at all joined the fold, and the rhoynar part struck me as odd as well though I guess the dornish marches and parts of north dorne count.

In the last few lines they also claim Criston Cole was a champion for the blacks when he famously sided with the greens, or they alluded to something odd in that scene. All in all it had a good deal more small mistakes than the rest of grrms body of work.

[Lord Varys]

1. That tidbit from the AGoT appendix has been suspended by the new version of events (or rather, by GRRM actually envisioning the events that took place during the Dance of the Dragons) in which Rhaenyra is Aegon's half-sister, and ten years older than her brother.

Rhaenyra was born in the 97 AC, and died in 130 AC at the age of thirty-three.

I don't know when this happened exactly, but it has been 'new canon' for years now - since GRRM gave Amok a description of Rhaenyra Targaryen for a portrait.

2. It seems as if the Targaryen kings styled themselves 'Kings of the Andals, the Rhoynar, and the First Men' since Aegon I. Aegon declared himself King of all lands of Westeros even before he conquered it, and he seems to have stuck to that styling even after he failed to actually conquer Dorne.

3. Criston Cole is a champion for the Blacks back in a tourney in 111 AC, where the terms 'Greens' and 'Blacks' originate. Ser Criston was originally a member of the black party, but ended joining the Greens due to (as of yet) unknown circumstances. In AFfC it was hinted that Ser Criston later crowned Aegon II because he once had an affair with Rhaenyra but was spurned by her. Whether or not that's true remains to be seen.

[Leonardo]

3. Yes but still highly confusing when that isn't at all explained or given any real thought to, plus they use the words seven kingdoms a lot.

[DNDM]

All this just means that archmaester Gyldayn's TP&TQ is not a very good historical work. ;-)

[Lord Varys]

Considering that Gyldayn is writing a history of the Targaryen at the end of Egg's reign/during the reign of Jaehaerys II (Ran said the whole thing covers the Targaryen reign up until the end of Aegon V), it's very likely that he always considered the Targaryens to be the rightful rulers of Dorne, since he wrote from a POV where Dorne had been a part of the Realm for nearly a century.

And just as I've said, the Targaryen kings probably considered themselves the kings of the Rhoynar despite the fact that they did not actually rule them for nearly two centuries. It's all about styling, not necessarily about reality. The present King of Spain styles himself still 'King of Jerusalem' despite the fact that the Kingdom of Jerusalem does not exists since the days of the crusaders...