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[TWOIAF SPOILERS] what was in Prince Nymor's letter to Aegon the Conqueror?


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Is there a Valyrian/Targ prohibition against kinslaying?I thought it was an Andal/First Men thing. Maegor didn't much seem to care about it, and arguably neither did Visenya.

I can't answer on Targ/Valaryrian laws of kinslaying, but I would say regardless Aegon would feel pretty bad about unknowingly killing a sister and a wife that he seemed to have both loved and preferred.

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I don't think any of the options suggested in the book are probably correct. If Rhaenys was alive in any way Aegon would have tried to get her back, if she had been tortured he would have sought revenge. Remember, he was already inclined to refuse the envoy and continue war. Learning that Rhaenys was alive would only reinforce the decision he had already made. Whatever was in that letter had to be either damaging, frightening, or binding.



Similarly, the hiring of the Faceless Men was just a continuation of what both sides were already doing. It is not a large enough change to garner the reaction that followed. Ensorclement is the most likely of the book theories, but still lacking. If the Martells could control Aegon enough to end the war, why not take it further?



Some of the other theories I've seen in this thread seem more likely to me. That the letter somehow poisoned Aegon rather than ensorcel him is intriguing. Imagine Aegon opening the letter and reading something like, "Opening this letter has poisoned you. As proof, your hand should start bleeding immediately. You only have hours to live. Fly immediately to Dragonstone and agree to end this war or you will die in agony. Last regards, Meria." Ha!



That the Martells, through capturing Rhaenys, had learned something critical or damaging about Aegon, or Targaryens in general, is also a possibility. That Rhaenys had a child somehow, either by being pregnant when she landed or living long enough to be impregnated, is is intriguing. There are lots of other possibilities that could be thought up.



My own offering: It wasn't Rhaenys that was pregnant when they crashed. The Martells reveal that they have dragon eggs, but will trade them for peace.


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Some of the other theories I've seen in this thread seem more likely to me. That the letter somehow poisoned Aegon rather than ensorcel him is intriguing. Imagine Aegon opening the letter and reading something like, "Opening this letter has poisoned you. As proof, your hand should start bleeding immediately. You only have hours to live. Fly immediately to Dragonstone and agree to end this war or you will die in agony. Last regards, Meria." Ha!

''and men say that when he rose, his hand was bleeding, so hard had he clenched it." It is very possible to break through ones own skin with one own nails if you clench hard enough. which I believe is the case here. Paper cut/poisoned letter theory overruled.

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Not if she asks him not to do it.

I highly doubt that. He might as well suspect a ruse. It does sound awfully convenient for the Dornish given they wouldn't have to provide a direct confirmation from anyone of Rhaenys being alive or having seen her, or not having to prove she is alive.

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I didn't read this entire thread, but it is possible that the letter contained info to confirm they indeed had Rhaenys alive. Pershaps she described a detail of her childhood bedroom that Aegon had to check to make sure was 100% accurate, or perhaps she wrote the letter and the only example of her hand writing was back on Dragonstone.


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I highly doubt that. He might as well suspect a ruse. It does sound awfully convenient for the Dornish given they wouldn't have to provide a direct confirmation of Rhaenys being alive, or not having to prove she is alive.

I am with FB, Aegon is man who has saw every shade of a man during his reign, the dornish tried to send assassins to kill him in his own city. A letter of his wife surprising showing up when Aegon is reigning high and supreme is flaky, her not returning for her solo son is even more. It sounds as true as Sansa's letter to the Starks. Aegon would have burned his way through Dorne to save Rhaenys.

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So, the main theories so far:

-Rhaenys wrote the letter and told him to stop the war.

-Nymor told him they had Rhaenys. She would get a quick death if they chose to stop the war.

-Some sort of threat against him, Aenys, the Targaryens, etc.

The first and second one can easily be combined. And they are my pick. Aegon's reaction is pretty much him freaking out. The only thing that could make him react like that is Rhaenys.

If Rhaenys was being subjected to torture, it would surely make more sense to offer to end the torture, but keep her in captivity for the rest of her life, so that Aegon couldn't go back on the deal.

It is pretty ... gothic. Nymos probably wrote something like "I send you a piece of Princess. Linger in my lands and share her fate."

I'm in two minds. The thought of Rhaenys being subjected to the same treatment as Theon over the course of three years is absolutely disgusting. OTOH, the Dornish had had appalling atrocities inflicted on them, were obviously not the aggressors, and were desperate.

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In my opinion, Aegon wold have never backed down at threats on him or his family (doubtless he had received many during the conquest), if Rhaenys was alive Aegon would have done anything to free her, and if the offer was a mercy kill nothing would have prevented Aegon of the cruelest revenge afterwards.



The theory I like the most is that they extracted from an agonizing Rhaenys (or at least they claim to have done so) the info that Aegon was sterile and neither Aenys nor Maegor could be his sons. If the Dornish proclaimed openly to have obtained this information from Rhaenys, Aegon's succession would have gotten uglier.


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In my opinion, Aegon wold have never backed down at threats on him or his family (doubtless he had received many durng the conquest), if Rhaenys was alive Aegon would have done anything to free her, and if the offer was a mercy kill nothing would have prevented Aegon for the cruelest revenge afterwards.

It doesn't make much sense. Once they kill her, they have no hold over Aegon. He can sign the peace, in order to end her suffering, and then break it when she's dead.

That's why (if Rhaenys was still alive) keeping her in captivity would be the better idea.

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In my opinion, Aegon wold have never backed down at threats on him or his family (doubtless he had received many during the conquest), if Rhaenys was alive Aegon would have done anything to free her, and if the offer was a mercy kill nothing would have prevented Aegon of the cruelest revenge afterwards.

The theory I like the most is that they extracted from an agonizing Rhaenys (or at least they claim to have done so) the info that Aegon was sterile and neither Aenys nor Maegor could be his sons. If the Dornish proclaimed openly to have obtained this information from Rhaenys, Aegon's succession would have gotten uglier.

Hmm.. a very interesting idea..

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If she was taken captive, why wouldn't the Martells put her on show in front of witnesses in Sunspear, and threaten to kill her (or worse) unless Aegon backed off?



It could be that the Martells only discovered late in the day that the Ullers were holding her captive. The Ullers have much the same reputation as the Boltons and might have spent years abusing her for fun, without telling their overlords. That may be the point at which the Martells could offer to "end her suffering" in return for peace. That could mean either a mercy killing, or keeping her in decent captivity for the rest of her life.

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Meh. An information like that means nothing without proof, and even if they forced Rhaenys to publicly confess it, Aegon could easily deny a confession gotten under torture/duress.

Remember that Maegor had just been born after a marriage of more than 15 years, (which, looking at Westeros, is rather long for a first child), and that there already were rumours about Aenys, though.

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In my opinion, Aegon wold have never backed down at threats on him or his family (doubtless he had received many during the conquest), if Rhaenys was alive Aegon would have done anything to free her, and if the offer was a mercy kill nothing would have prevented Aegon of the cruelest revenge afterwards.

The theory I like the most is that they extracted from an agonizing Rhaenys (or at least they claim to have done so) the info that Aegon was sterile and neither Aenys nor Maegor could be his sons. If the Dornish proclaimed openly to have obtained this information from Rhaenys, Aegon's succession would have gotten uglier.

If Rhaenys is bleeding he could easily claim they are torturing his wife and making her spit out lies, invade Dorne and take her back.

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Remember that Maegor had just been born after a marriage of more than 15 years, (which, looking at Westeros, is rather long for a first child), and that there already were rumours about Aenys, though.

even better, with Maegor Aegon can easily claim him as proof he bore a son and if it gets bad name Maegor heir.

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Remember that Maegor had just been born after a marriage of more than 15 years, (which, looking at Westeros, is rather long for a first child), and that there already were rumours about Aenys, though.

That's the problem with this theory. There were already rumors, and it's not like the Dornish could produce proof.

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even better, with Maegor Aegon can easily claim him as proof he bore a son and if it gets bad name Maegor heir.

That's the problem with this theory. There were already rumors, and it's not like the Dornish could produce proof.

If it was written in Rhaenys' hand, wouldn't that count as proof? Rhaenys was responsible for many marriages in the realm, and I suppose that there would be quite some lords and ladies in the realm with a letter in her hand in their possession, to compare the handwriting.

And Maegor... from text, especially from the Fire and Blood reading, it seems quite clear that Aegon did not want to name Maegor heir of anything..

Also, should it truly be the case that Aenys wasn't Aegon's, and the dornish manage to convince Westeros, who's going to believe that Maegor is Aegons? If Aegon can't father a child on the wife he spends almost all of his nights with, in a marriage of 12 years or more, why would anyone believe he can father a child of the wife he spends barely any time with, and to whom he had been married for 15 years at least, at that point?

It's pretty clear...the book states Aegon burned Dorne down except for Sunspear and somewhere else I don't remember. Rhaenys was probably there.

But the burning of everything in Dorne which isn't Sunspear occurs before Aegon reads the letter..

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If it was written in Rhaenys' hand, wouldn't that count as proof? Rhaenys was responsible for many marriages in the realm, and I suppose that there would be quite some lords and ladies in the realm with a letter in her hand in their possession, to compare the handwriting.

I dunno if people would take a letter from the supposedly dead Rhaenys saying "My kid is not Aegon's" as proof. Handwriting can probably be faked, and confessions obtained under torture are questionable at best.

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Yeah, my appreciation for house Martell and their bannermen/women dropped considerably whilst reading about it, essentially Mariya Martell refused fealty for her own pride, even though Aegon was willing to let the Kingdoms keep their own laws, traditions and rulers, causing her lands to burn, which in turn led to her vassals ignoring all the rules of chivalry and medieval warfare, torturing, maiming and mutilating prisoners, which in turn led to like treatment of Dornish prisoners.

200 years later it's all for nought because Dorne is under the authority of the Iron Throne under terms they mostly could have got anyway.

It looks to me as if each side performed the most revolting atrocities against the other in this war (as in the Dance of the Dragons 110 years later), but the blame is not shared 50/50.

The idea of lopping body parts off prisoners, and tormenting a woman for years after capture, is pretty disgusting, but thousand of innocent Dornish were torched with dragonfire. The Dornish were the victims, not the perpetrators, of aggression.

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