Viserys, Darkstar and Doran's game: a theory

[The Fourth Head]

The idea is they both dye their hair to look like the other. Is it me or is that not really simple?

After all, Aegon died his hair blue to try and not look like the guy he was pretending to be for Tyrion's benefit. I mean, If GRRM can pull that off, I think this is fairly prosaic problem solving. As for making it readable, I'm not about to try and propose chapter POV structuring etc- I could, but I would be accused of "fan fic". Simple solution- Viserys has been in Dorne the whole time and will make his play in the future. GRRM has already started feeding Darkstar into the story, and Viserys continues to be mentioned. Dany is the character it affects most of all and who makes it all human and emotional, and relevant. Aegon does not do this to the same extent IMO because she never thought she knew him, so just as she ended up sending away her best man for crimes committed in the past, so she may end up killing her brother for a deception committed in the past due to confused identity, as the "slayer of lies". Tragic- ironic as Aegon is fake and she would have picked the wrong one to "slay"- and serves Doran right for playing people too much- his children included. This is just one potential though. There are literally thousands of possibilities.

[SunflashJT]

Interesting theory, guess we will have to wait and see if it is confirmed.

[DipMeInGoldAndCallMeAegor]

I would love this. It would show that Doran didn't just work at a plan that had no purpose for however many years.

Is there any prophecies that can go along with this? Perhaps something in the House of the Undying or the Quaithe prophecy?

[Osha13]

This could be plausible. Maybe when Oberyn went to the free cities again to sign the marriage pact, he was really there to bring Viserys back for Doran. Or maybe there is some other reasonable explanation on how they got him but Oberyn fighting for the Golden Company in the past and going back to sign the marriage pact sticks out to me.

Also, if you do intend on marrying Arianne to the real Viserys, why have him stuffed all the way in Essos when he can hide in plain sight as a member of a cadet branch of house dayne. His eyes are dark, almost purple.

In addition, Aegons landing in Storms end fits in with the fact that we haven't seen Darkstar since he disappeared. I read a theory once that said Darkstar could help Aegon take Storms End under the guise of Gerold Dayne, and then reveal his true self and possibly kill Aegon and assume control of the Golden Company and the Castle. It is definitely a stretch, but I still don't have a real reasoning for Doran calling him the most dangerous man in Dorne, so this idea is interesting. However, one thing that I also can't figure out about Darkstar, is that Oberyn said he was poison at one point. So why would he refer to him as poison if he was once or still was such an integral part of the Martell's plan? Is it because they didn't know about Aegon at first, and once they found out, they wanted to support Aegon instead because they think he is actually Elia's son?

[Winterfell is Burning]

That's not bad. I don't believe it, but it's not that bad.

[WilliamWesterosiWallace]

Congratulations, man. The theory is more polished than ever, and now everything you discussed in the first thread is here. I told you back on the other thread and tell you here again, this theory gets better at every post.

I now actually started to believe that this theory is really out of plotholes. Now all you need to do is hope that the Winds of Winter prologue is made by Viserys III Targaryen, disguised as Darkstar.

[Mithras]

If Darkstar is Viserys, then he took his role very seriously. Darkstar is obsessed with Arthur Dayne. He can't stand the fact that he is the only Dayne ever remembered.

[Winterfell is Burning]

If Darkstar is Viserys, then he took his role very seriously. Darkstar is obsessed with Arthur Dayne. He can't stand the fact that he is the only Dayne ever remembered.

That could be explained by Dayne being a glorified sentry for a 15 year old girl that might not have been there willingly while Viserys/Darkstar's father, mother, brother, sister-in-law, nephew and niece were killed during the war.

[Juan_Snow]

My biggest problem with this is that Viserys died right in front of Dany believing he was the Targaryan heir. Visery's was old enough to know what was happening during Roberts Rebellion and the events that followed. You'd have to brain wash an 8 or 9 year old boy into believing the Iron Throne should be his to the point where his actions get him killed.

Not only that but it was pretty clear to me at least after reading the Arianne chapter from WoW that

Doran had no idea that Aegon had lived

[Maester Pedant]

My biggest problem with this is that Viserys died right in front of Dany believing he was the Targaryan heir. Visery's was old enough to know what was happening during Roberts Rebellion and the events that followed. You'd have to brain wash an 8 or 9 year old boy into believing the Iron Throne should be his to the point where his actions get him killed.

Not only that but it was pretty clear to me at least after reading the Arianne chapter from WoW that

Doran had no idea that Aegon had lived

That can be easily explained. After years and years of pretending to be Viserys, Gerold Dayne started to actually believe he was him. He went mad.

[Dorian Martell]

1: Oberyn would not have a squire that was 7 to 9 years old. A page maybe.
2: The Daynes do not have strong Valyrian looks. Some have similar eyes. Otherwise they are stony dornishmen.
3: Where does it say that Gerold was the head of house dayne of High Hermitage?

4: Where does it say that the Dayne Cadet branch was recently created?
5: If Gerold is Viserys and participating in Doran's long game, why would he try to kill Myrcella after Doran's main axe showed up and stopped the plan to crown her
6: If Gerold is Viserys and is planning to marry Arianne, why would he make himself a wanted man?

7: Why did Doran say straight up to Arianne that Viserys was dead and now she was once again the heir to Sunspear and that Quentyn was now going off to try and marry the last living Targ, and "because she has dragons" is not a valid answer. Dany is thousands of miles away in through pirates, barbarians and wars. Dragons would be nice but if Doran had the rightful heir to the IT in his stable why wouldn't he put everything into supporting what he already had?

8: If Viserys, who is Gerold, knew the whole time he was a fake, why did he freak out over his sister getting married, getting gifts and leaving pentos at the head of the largest Khalasar the world has ever known? Why did he act like such a whiny bitch when things didn't go his way? Why didn't he just stay in pentos with the food and hookers provided to him?

[Mithras]

1: Oberyn would not have a squire that was 7 to 9 years old. A page maybe.

2: The Daynes do not have strong Valyrian looks. Some have similar eyes. Otherwise they are stony dornishmen.

3: Where does it say that Gerold was the head of house dayne of High Hermitage?

4: Where does it say that the Dayne Cadet branch was recently created?

5: If Gerold is Viserys and participating in Doran's long game, why would he try to kill Myrcella after Doran's main axe showed up and stopped the plan to crown her

6: If Gerold is Viserys and is planning to marry Arianne, why would he make himself a wanted man?

7: Why did Doran say straight up to Arianne that Viserys was dead and now she was once again the heir to Sunspear and that Quentyn was now going off to try and marry the last living Targ, and "because she has dragons" is not a valid answer. Dany is thousands of miles away in through pirates, barbarians and wars. Dragons would be nice but if Doran had the rightful heir to the IT in his stable why wouldn't he put everything into supporting what he already had?

8: If Viserys, who is Gerold, knew the whole time he was a fake, why did he freak out over his sister getting married, getting gifts and leaving pentos at the head of the largest Khalasar the world has ever known? Why did he act like such a whiny bitch when things didn't go his way? Why didn't he just stay in pentos with the food and hookers provided to him?

That can be easily explained. Viserys was warging Darkstar and vice versa.

[Modesty Lannister]

With all due respect for your undeniable effort, I think this guy has more or less nailed it in four parts. Take a look:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6TBfdd_xNVo

[Dorian Martell]

That can be easily explained. Viserys was warging Darkstar and vice versa.

That's legit

[Osha13]

Another interesting idea could be that Darkstar isn't the real Viserys but he was raised thinking he was Viserys and that he had to keep it secret, and now that Doran wants to declare for Aegon and not him, Oberyn thought of Darkstar as poison, and Doran thinks of him as the most dangerous man in Dorne. Kind of like what people think is happening with Aegon being that he could be a fake. So Darkstar could have been the Martells back up plan for a while to be Viserys should anything happen to the real one.

[Dorian Martell]

A really interesting Idea would be that darkstar is a mean, psychotic warmonger that has a chip on his shoulder because he comes from a lesser branch of an ancient great house and he grew up under the shadow of a famous distant cousin and felt he never got his due because of it. I know it is really effin crackpot but that's my theory

[Osha13]

A really interesting Idea would be that darkstar is a mean, psychotic warmonger that has a chip on his shoulder because he comes from a lesser branch of an ancient great house and he grew up under the shadow of a famous distant cousin and felt he never got his due because of it. I know it is really effin crackpot but that's my theory

That is a very plausible scenario and it is also the one that is presented to readers thus far, I do get that. I'm just trying to think of different possible reasons why Oberyn thought he was poison and Doran thought he was the most dangerous man in Dorne. The descriptions of poison and most dangerous man in Dorne are interesting I think, but it very well may be the simple situation which you described, and which GRRM has presented to readers up until this point.

[Lord Damian]

Darkstar is the most dangerous man in Dorne according to Doran Martell. There must be a reason for this.

[Blazfemur]

Ok, after much confusing hijacking of other people's threads, I have decided to start my own thread to challenge posters to put my new theory through the ringer. It may sound crackpot, but curiously, the theory has stood up until now.

Please try to keep an open mind, and search for the most sensible and foolproof reasons for not believing it. If a sufficiently compelling argument for why it is not possible is found- I will ditch it, but I have put a lot of effort in, and would appreciate the same effort in response.

A brief history of Dorne after Robert's Rebellion- and why the story we have been given doesn't seem plausible when we scratch beneath the surface.

1) After the Targaryans were defeated, Oberyn tried to raise Dorne for Viserys- seemingly with no allies. This was quashed after Jon had some words with Doran. Tywin from Casterly Rock knew about this attempt as well, so it was a badly kept secret. Oberyn was caught rashly shouting it in the streets. The venture would never have succeeded as Dorne has fewer than 50,000 spears- a figure which is, according to Doran, grossly exaggerated. So this action was very rash and foolhardy, implying discord between Doran and Oberyn, and further, the back-down was very odd- Jon threw them a bone (Lewys), and they backed down, despite still seething about Elia's death 17 years later. So why they U-turn? It can't have been because they had given up on revenge- they hadn't. It can't have been because they were rumbled, because no efforts were made to keep it secret by Oberyn, so what could have persuaded Oberyn to back down, other than them losing the element of surprise (which he never sought out) and gaining Lewyn's bones?

- Perhaps it was this: Doran persuaded Oberyn to try a different tack. An indeterminate amount of time later, Oberyn and Willem Darry met in Braavos and formed a secret pact, witnessed by the Sealord of Braavos to marry Viserys to Arianne. According to Dany, had he known of the pact, Viserys would have crossed the narrow sea to marry Arianne. That did not happen, so presumably, Viserys did not know, and this secrecy safeguarded Doran from having his hand forced prematurely. Further, according to GRRM Varys did not know about the pact either, so in this instance, Oberyn and Doran stole a march on Varys and found a blind spot in his informant network. Varys is fallible. 1 - 0 to Doran and Oberyn. We can assume Doran soothed Oberyn into complying with Jon's request for peace because of this plan, and that Oberyn would be charged with actively seeking out allies for when Viserys came of age- which seems- very remote and restrained by the heretofore senseless Oberyn.

- Doran then apparently, did very little whilst Oberyn did the legwork. Oberyn was involved in a sellsword company, and Viserys sought the GC's support, but both plans didn't amount to anything. So presumably, we are meant to believe that Oberyn was bent on revenge, almost raised Dorne, but was persuaded to stay cool for 17 years for little reason other than a secret pact and a few aborted efforts to gather allies that didn't amount to anything. I suppose we are to assume the man had just grown up quickly after Doran had some words with him- words that fell on deaf ears prior to Jons visit. Hmmm,

- Even more curious, many years later, when Viserys came of age, nothing happened. Viserys did not learn of the pact, he did not come to Dorne, and Oberyn did not do anything either. Time kept on ticking. Where was all this patience coming from if Viserys was of age and nothing was developing? Where were the allies the had afforded themselves so much time to win? Quentyn, Trystane- both could have forged powerful marriage pacts geared towards this, but it's Tyrion's idea to send Myrcella to Dorne, and Quentyn's plan seems a reactive one to the emergence of Dany in Meereen, so it smacks of a lack of forethought- of reactive behaviour which doesn't match our impression of the man as a skilled Cyvasse player harbouring a powerful grudge.

- At some point, Doran arranged for Arianne to meet her betrothed, a green haired girl appeared in the water gardens, but Doran's wife threatened to harm herself if she lost another child (the plan was only to meet her betrothed in Tyrosh) and so yet another plan was aborted- but the Archon of Tyrosh still sent his daughter? Later, inconsistently, Mellario returned to Norvos and abandoned all three of her children- which is why I'm shining a red light on all of this as deliberate misinformation.

-Finally, incredibly, it's Varys and Ilyrio that come up with a plan first- and for Dany. Despite waiting for a younger man (Aegon) to come of age, they get the jump on Doran who had an 8 year head start with his Targaryan claimant and came up with the Dothraki idea. Viserys then chooses to go off to Vaes Dothrak and dies, and all Doran's long term patience was utterly ruined because he didn't go to the effort of putting a few anonymous guards and advisors around his most valuable asset and waited too long doing nothing. How can we not judge this man harshly given his burning desire for revenge and his love of Cyvasse?

The theory

We know Oberyn was in Braavos where Viserys was residing initially, and he forged the pact without Varys knowledge. We don't know exactly how old Dany was, but she was very young, with only a few vague memories of a red door, and those memories may have come towards the end of their stay there as she got older. Would Doran really engage his eldest daughter to the last remaining male Targaryan, then leave the boy to gallivant around westeros chased by assassins? Wouldn't it be best to bring the boy back to Dorne in secret, and set up a false identity that have him conspicuously running the gauntlet begging everyone for armies in the free cities?

Step forward Gerold Dayne. This boy, of similar age to Viserys would be set up as a decoy. It would be possible based on Dany being too young to know the difference, and with Willem Darry's consent that it was in the boy's best interest. Just as Lewin advised Bran and Rickon to separate, so it was prudent to separate the Targaryans. Gerold Dayne and Dany would travel the free cities conspicuously, Gerold was advised that Viserys was a hotheaded in nature, Gerold had the same understanding of the Targaryans and westerosi lords as Viserys would have had, and noone in the free cities was an expert in Viserys precise appearance- nor did they really care. Gerold became frustrated with his role, impatient, and slightly unhinged playing a hotheaded king 24/7 and treated Dany with contempt. He wanted an army of his own and had major inadequacy issues- if his identity was discovered, he would be killed, adding to his desperation to gain respect and recognition. Dany expressly tells us "He was no Dragon" and Jorah describes him as "the shadow of a snake". Dragons are commonly associated with worms "the shadow of a worm" would have worked as well, but "snake" is perhaps a reference to Oberyns' dealings.

So in short, Viserys was back in Dorne long before he was old enough to marry Alysanne.

The Daynes, as we know, have strong Valyrian looks. Edric has dark blue eyes that appear purple, Viserys had purple eyes according to Dany, Gerold Dayne has dark purple angry eyes, and purple, as we know, is a strong Targaryan trait and almost exclusive to them- the Daynes are the only family that share very similar looks.

Further, they are of similar ages. After GRRM was asked in an interview that Ran wanted to know of Darkstar's age, he said he normally asked Ran that sort of thing- (ho ho) he was then asked to clarify certain facts for the westeros app run by Ran and Lynda, and he presumably sat down, thought about this question- and told them that he was "in his late twenties in 300AC" No other character has a delta as far as I recall. The most dangerous man in Dorne is given a delta, and thousands of other minor characters are given specific dates of birth. In 300AC, Viserys would have been 25. But depending on when his name-day was, he may have turned 26 within the 300AC year- meaning that factually, they could be of exactly the same age.

But if they had swapped identities, closeness is enough because Gerold Dayne and Viserys are two different people who were swapped aged 8/9.

So to continue the explanation, Oberyn carried Viserys back to Dorne having taken Gerold out on a mission to squire for him in the free cities. "Darkstar" (Viserys) is then rewarded for his services, given lands and a keep- high Hermitage- and made head of a Cadet Branch. Now I'm speculating that this Cadet Branch was formed during Darkstar's lifetime because he is the head of it. There are no older family members in charge- no parents. If the house was established on Darkstar's arrival, then the household would be new, the new household would know nothing of Gerold Daynes precise appearance, and therefore, would not need paying off or keeping quiet. They would accept Viserys on face value. So what looks like a cadet branch forming as a reward for an orphan Dayne for services granted to the Prince in Dorne s actually a hidden king's retreat, (a hermit king living high up in the mountains- High Hermitage) This would enable him to stay away from the other Daynes who could have identified him as an imposter had he returned to Starfall. With a bad attitude, he could pretend to not get on with the remaining Daynes in Dorne (that seems to amount to 1 aunt at this stage!) or simply be busy whenever occasion called for them to be together. As time drags on, the risk decreases that the 27 year old man would be identified as someone other than the 8 year old boy to a casual observer over the table. People change.

Further, he either imitates Gerold's dark streak with black dye, whereas Gerold dyes the black streak out as silver in Essos. Alternatively, both had silvery hair, and it's part of his new "Dark" image on returning from Essos as his new "head of the cadet branch" identity, and he dyes the streak in as an emo vanity thing- whereas really, it's to throw people off the scent that he is Viserys, and it really symbolises that he is a king in hiding- black streak for concealment, his star is yet to shine. He is of the night because he is incognito.

Now obviously, Darkstar has a few issues- he has no supporters bar Doran who he is entirely indebted to and who he needs to corroborate his story. As an 8 year old, I would imagine there is some identifying feature on his body that would be recorded in the Red Keep that identifies Viserys. Indeed, it would be easier to prove the identity of someone who was last known as an 8 year old in westeros, than, for instance Aegon as a baby, but the subtlety of the plan is, noone was looking too closely as "Viserys" was allegedly gallivanting around Essos drawing attention and knives, and unsubtly begging for support.

Darkstar spent some of his time getting to know Arianne- his betrothed. If they had children, Arianne thinks they would be as beautiful as Dragonlords (ho ho) but he doesn't reveal his identity because Arianne is young and rash.

So why, when Myrcella is almost crowned, does he do nothing about his own claim and slash her face?

Because he is indebted to Doran, he needs Doran's support, and he has been made to understand that Dorne alone will fail so to be patient. However, when discovering that crowning Myrcella would grant Trystane- Doran's son- the IT, he becomes anxious- a Lannister / Martell alliance with his son on the throne would not work from a feud POV, but if he suspected Doran of forgiving the Lannisters on Tywin's death, then that would be a rival proposition to the Viserys / Arianne on the throne idea, so Viserys put paid to any risk of a Lannister / Martell alliance by slashing Myrcella's face. HJe didn't want to kill her as that would have brought war on Dorne and forced Doran to sell Viserys out to save himself- but he did feel threatened, and didn't want Myrcella to be crowned in secret behind his back again. Crowning her would have made her injury public and put paid to any alliance with the Lannisters.

So this would make Darkstar the most dangerous man in Dorne. If he reveals himself, by extension, he reveals Doran as a traitor to Robert, Joffrey, Tommen, Stannis, or Aegon depending on who ever holds more power than him.

Part 2 of the theory will cover how this fits in with Doran's plans, and how it works from a literary POV.

Part 2

Ok, so why has Doran waited so long t make his move it he has had Viserys in his pocket the whole time, and how does he know, in advance, about Aegon?

My theory is, that Illyrio and Varys conceived of the Aegon plan very early. His upbringing has been consistent, the boy clearly seems to believe he is Aegon, so if he is a Blackfyre, and Ilyrio's son, then for a long time, he has not been under that impression.

With that plan in mind, what, in Varys' shoes, would you do? Doran is proving to be patient, nursing his grievance, Oberyn has flagged up their Targaryan loyalties with his aborted Viserys uprising stunt, and he doesn't want Doran as an enemy when Aegon makes his bid. So, he let's Doran in on the plan- but only tells him that Aergon is a Targaryan, he is Doran's nephew, and that revenge will be his if he can only be patient, to sit back and allow Varys to weaken and undermine Robert's rebellion allies, and patiently wait for Varys to bring more allies to their cause. He may have implied that Arianne would be a suitable marriage alliance.

So Doran is faced with Aegon, or Viserys. Aegon has the better claim, but why trust the master of whisperers that he smuggled his nephew out, but failed to spare his sister and niece? The baby swap story is plausible, but not beyond suspicion. Now Doran has extensive contacts and knowledge of Essos. He is one of the first Westerosi to play Cyvasse, his people are of the Rhoyne and share traits and characteristics, he as close links with the ruler of Tyrosh, his wife and captain of the Guards are from Norvos, Oberyns daughter Nymeria is of the Oldest blood of Volantis, and perhaps most tellingly, Tyene's mother was a septa who presumably broke her vows with Oberyn. So it is no surprise that Doran knew of Aegon's presence on the Rhoyne, and I theorise that Septa Lemore is a spy, otherwise, her presence and focus of attention was unnecessary padding to the story. Futher- that she is Doran's spy, and either Tyene's mother, or (less likely) that she is Mellario, and that was the real reason she abandoned her children- to check out this boy on the Rhoyne acting suspicious.

Whether Tyene's mother or Mellario was the septa, if you believe this possible, then i believe that Doran- convinced of putting his plans on the backburner- quickly discovered the truth that Ilyrio and Aegons' company was too close, and perhaps knew of some identifying trait that a Dornish nephew would posess, and that Lemore uncovered as absent from the boy. Further, if Ilyrio is a Blackfyre, or if Varys is a Blackfyre or Targaryan, then who else but Doran and Oberyn would find out and rumble them?

Whether Doran knew Aegon was real or fake, he clearly knew of his presence in advance based on his comment to Arianne about concealing young dragons, so I'm fairly confident Doran's patience is down to Aegon.

But what if he is a fake and Doran discovered it?

Well, from Varys POV, I would speculate he underestimated Doran just as we are being widely encouraged to do based on his ever growing failed attempts. We know that Varys is unaware of the Viserys / Arianne pact. We know that this was an ideal window to do a swap as Varys was blind to Oberyn' presence in Braavos. From there, Doran, IMO, has gained the initiative.

The Arianne / Viserys secret meeting never happened not because Mellario got all womanly, It never happened because there was no point sending Arianne off to Tyrosh to meet a man who wasn't Viserys. Instead, the Archon of Tyrosh- still sends his daughter- with, presumably, an adult or 3, and they would be in Dorne. To check out the real Viserys? Either the Archon was in on the plan, or, even more subtly, the Melliaro excuse was given to him to put Varys off the scent. It would continue the sharade that they believed Viserys was in Essos and they were still considering him as an option, and it would throw Varys off the scent of suspecting that Doran's inertial was suspicious. It would put the High Hermit beyond suspicion.

Instead of Doran being the duped one, the Targaryan loyalisty waiting for Ilyrio to rally the GC (when Viserys could not!) to the "Targaryan" before calling his swords to the boy he believes to be his nephew, now Varys is the duped one. Because, by weakening Westeros before committing Blackfyre loyalists at a moment when westeros is divided, it is Varys' Blackfyre forces sticking their neck on the line. Without Varys, Doran was stuck to take on Robert's armies, or the Tyrells and Lannisters- alone. With Varys' plot, he can let Aegon take all the risks, and ally the Blackfyres in the vacuum of power Varys will have engineered.

From there, Doran can use Arianne to reveal Aegon's true identity. If she has been told of some trait- some eye colour, some freckle or birthmark that his nephew would possess, and knows already that Aegon is fake, then this is quintessential foot dragging, setting Arianne out on a mission she has no idea she will fail on, in the same way he allowed Arianne to get Myrcella half way to Hellholt before rumbling her through Darkstar's intel. This would turn the whole battle for power into another Dance of the Dragons- an imposter, posing as Aegon, having taken risks fighting Tyrells and Stormlords and weakneing his armies, being revealed by Arianne, and Doran choosing this moment to reveal Viserys and win over all the former Targaryan loyalists as Blackfyre / Targaryan divisions are reestablished- to which the Targaryans presumbly have much more support . He who laughs last, laughs loudest, as it were, and this is the reason, IMO, behind Doran's patience- his knowledge of Aegon, his knowledge of his Blackfyre origins, and his secret knowledge that Viserys is still alive.

Why this works from a Literary perspective?

Ok- secret identity theorys have gone into overdrive of late, but the Mystery Knight, and ADWD really cranks up the suspicions that what we see is not what is.

If Aegon was genuine, he would have been a baby we assumed died long before the story began, only to pop up in book 5 of 7 to trump Dany's claim. That is amusing, but it feels a bit...hollow. The later a major character is introduced, the harder it is to accept them. Viserys was introduced as one of the original characters. We all formed opinions on his character, on his failings, his shortcomings, were all wrongfooted that this king claimant could die so soon and so meekly, that he as a false start, and we are reminded of his abject failings every time Viserion is named, an ever present character, and remeinded, even in Dany's last chapter- of him as an influencing character on Dany. So to pull the rug out and reveal that Viserys LIVES, that he could easily claim the throne after all, that our assumptions about him were wrong- to some extent (Darkstar still seems a bit of a knob) and giving Dany FURTHER cause to feel betrayed, paranoid, mistrustful etc would be good story telling. We spend the whole time believing Aegon to be fake that we miss the fact that someone else is really Viserys.

this works better, for me, that theorising that a REAL Aegon is out there, because for 5 books, and many years before, he was dead. He is a non character. For 2 to pop up at the same time is a bit like "why do I care?" whereas for Dany to have to determine the resolution of the second Dance by choose between her real brother, despite believing she knew him as someone else, and a fake Nephew, without any knwledge of Blackfyre history and house allegiances etc could involve a tragic intervention by the slayer of lies.

...you are going to get SO much shit for even bringing up a sore subject like a secret Targ.

People get offended at the mere mention of "secret targ."

In the wiki, under House Dayne, Gerold Dayne is in fact by himself, no branches to stem out. This doesnt conclude anything, and i actually want and have always wanted Gerold to be a Targ, bastard or no. To assimilate the name of "Dayne," i would assume, unless his entire history is a lie, that a male Dayne, would need a female Targaryen, and they'd need to be married, unless he was legitimized later on by some means of legitimization.

Now this isn't at all out of the question considering he's in the Dorne area, and they acknowledge themselves by their old rights as people in power, so it is possible someone there could legitimize him if he was to be a secret weapon of someone there.

I want Gerold Darkstar to be a targaryen. do i believe he really is? not at the moment, not to put down your theory, i just dont have enough book paper time for gerold to make ANY decision on him.

I want more. I need more. I'd LOVE for him to be targ. while normally im not a fan of secret targaryen theories (other than Varys, they NEVER get into his eye color in the book), i think since we've had Aegon, bigger news for me would be a hidden Reyne. No, i dont subscribe to Petyr Baelish Reyne, but somewhere a Reyne plotting revenge is just delicious.

I want for Gerold to be a Targaryen, for Arianne's comments of him looking a proper dragon-prince in their time together, there's been foreshadowing all over.

It hasnt been unheard of for people to assimilate a different name, either.

[Blazfemur]

I would love this. It would show that Doran didn't just work at a plan that had no purpose for however many years.

Is there any prophecies that can go along with this? Perhaps something in the House of the Undying or the Quaithe prophecy?

mummer's dragon?

i always thought Stone Beast (and it is in fact Beast, not "dragon") flying from smoking tower breathing shadow fire, was, Jon Connington (griffin=beast, greyscale=stone), breathing shadow fire (using Aegon "Blackfyre" as a weapon, a shadow fire would be, black) took flight (ascending with aegon) from a smoking tower (griffin's roost), tower smoking perhaps because of an impending battle between red ronnet connington (fighting for cersei), and jon connington.

and that the Mummer's Dragon prophecy, was soemthing more. either varys, or perhaps a developing Targstar theory ;)