What the hell did happen at Summerhall?

[Clueless Northman]

It's the "wildifre" followed later on by "flames grew out of control" bits that obviously point to some supposedly controlled attempt going on, which went terribly wrong.

[MaesterMan]

Interesting thoughts about Summerhall.

Another question: okay, seven eggs for the Seven, but has anyone speculated about for which Targaryens these eggs, if hatched, were intended? My first thought regarding the lucky (unlucky?!) seven would be:

Aegon V, his sons Duncan and Jaehaerys, his daughters Shaera and Rhaelle, his grandson Aerys and his granddaughter Rhaella, with Rhaella possibly being replaced by Aegon's grandson Steffon Baratheon if Rhaella's advanced state of pregnancy with her son Rhaegar made dragon-bonding somewhat risky for her.

I would hazard a guess that all of the above "blood of the dragon" would have been at Summerhall, along with Queen Betha, Lady Jenny, and Ormund Baratheon, and perhaps Aegon's sister Rhae and her husband/children and also the posited daughter of Ser Duncan the Tall and his surmised wife, Aegon V's elder sister, Princess Daella (presumably deceased before 259 since Ser Duncan was commander of the always-unmarried Kingsguard)--i. e., the suspected mother of Selwyn Tarth of Tarth; the Tarth husband of that unnamed "Ser Duncan's daughter", and young Selwyn himself, plus any other Ser Duncan descendants. If still living, maybe also Kiera of Tyrosh and daughter Vaella the Simple, and Daenora Targaryen and her son Maegor, as Aegon's only Targaryen sisters -n-law and niece/nephew. And does anyone think that Maester Aemon was brought back from the Wall for the dragon-hatching attempt, and lost his sight at Summerhall (blinded by a flash of wildfire?)

Waters, Plumm, and Penrose descendants of Princess Elaena seem a bit "far afield" for the Summerhall gathering, ditto the Velaryon and Hightower descendants of twin Princesses Baela and Rhaena at the time just after the Dance of Dragons, and ditto any descendants of the earliest twin Targaryen princesses Aerea and Rhalla.

[Dragon Roast]

There's more to Gyldayn's fragment than you quoted.

"...the blood of the dragon gathered in one...

...seven eggs, to honor the seven gods, though the king's own septon had warned..."

Followed by the portion you quoted.

This is pretty clear evidence that Aegon was, in fact, hoping to hatch dragons. A political murder might have been carried out, using the hatching attempt as coverup, but there was clearly a hatching attempt. It's not either/or. There may have been both murder and attempted magic.

Neither of those quotes point to a ritual to hatch a dragon egg.

'...the blood of the dragon gathered in one..." could refer to the birth of Rhaegar. It is not proof of a ritual or the hatching of a dragon.

"... seven eggs, to honor the seven gods, though the king's own septon had warned ..." likewise, this quote does confirm a ritual. Aegon V could have gathered the known dragon eggs with a plan to have them play a more important part in the lives of his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. We know from the World Book and the Dance with Dragon novellas that Targaryens used to have a much closer relationship to dragon eggs from birth--they were able to hatch the eggs without the kind of blood sacrifice Daenerys used to hatch her dragons. Perhaps in his research of dragon lore Egg learned how to bind a Targaryen to a dragon egg at birth. Perhaps that was the ritual. If so, there would be folks from the Maesters to the FM who would not want to see Targaryens relearn how to hatch dragons as they did when Aegon I came to Westeros. No wonder the septon would warn against it.

While a ritual gone wrong must remain a possibility to explain Summerhall, it is not the only possible explanation. I think all of the fragments from Gyldayn make a case that something else was going on. I think that was a political murder and the use of singers, myth, fables and pyromancer tricks to cover-up of the crime.

[Bael's Bastard]

And I am sure the pyromancers and wildfire were just invited to watch. Personally, I believe the deaths at Summerhall were plotted, but I do think Egg was trying to hatch dragons using wildfire. The specifics remain to be revealed.

[Lord Varys]

The idea that Tywin and Aerys caused Summerhall makes no sense whatsoever to me. They had neither the motive nor were they competent enough.

[Bael's Bastard]

It remains to be seen what exactly caused Summerhall and what the motives of those who carried it out were if it was intentional. I don't claim it is the only possible explanation, there could be any number of explanations, it is just what I lean toward. My point in bringing up that I think the deaths were plotted was, even though I think the deaths were plotted, I don't think it can be denied that the pyromancers and wildfire were there as a legitimate and intentional part of what Egg was doing.

[Lord Varys]

Treason there is certainly a not unlikely possibility. However, it is equally likely that there was some sort of mishap/accident/error, or somebody deliberately. I lean towards the explanation that some people tried to sabotage the dragon-hatching attempt, but did not necessarily plan to burn down Summerhall and kill half or more members of the (extended) royal family.

And I really don't buy the idea that Aerys would have wanted to sabotage Egg's plan (or kill him), as he most certainly would have profited from the fact that the Targaryen dragons were restored. He would have become a dragonrider, and he had also no reason to object to Egg's reforms.

Considering that a monarch was conducting them, the best guess is that Egg was trying to strengthen the power of the Crown and use that power to better the life of the smallfolk.

[Ser Lepus]

And I am sure the pyromancers and wildfire were just invited to watch. Personally, I believe the deaths at Summerhall were plotted, but I do think Egg was trying to hatch dragons using wildfire. The specifics remain to be revealed.

The pyromancers are magic users: wildfire is created thanks to magic, just like Valyrian steel and Valyrian stone, and when strong magic came back they became able to produce it at a much faster rate.

During the long period of low magic their spells stopped to work and they had to rely mostly on tricks, just like Melisandre or that red mage at Qarth, but they should retain the knowledge of the spells.

[White Ravens]

I'm picturing a slapstick scene involving Egg having a "Michael Jackson moment" where his hair caught on fire and the ensuing antics resulted in the whole of Summerhall catching fire.

[Im no Ser]

The idea that Tywin and Aerys caused Summerhall makes no sense whatsoever to me. They had neither the motive nor were they competent enough.

It's a highly speculative theory, no doubt, but there's always a motive for the guy who's third in line for the throne - and by extension his ambitious best friend - to knock off the King. And Tywin's plenty competent - two years after Summerhall he's wiping out the Tarbecks and the Reynes. The whole thing makes me wonder about Jaeherys II's death "after a short illness" three years later at age 37, putting 18 year old Aerys on the throne.

[complexphoenix]

The pyromancers are magic users: wildfire is created thanks to magic, just like Valyrian steel and Valyrian stone, and when strong magic came back they became able to produce it at a much faster rate.

During the long period of low magic their spells stopped to work and they had to rely mostly on tricks, just like Melisandre or that red mage at Qarth, but they should retain the knowledge of the spells.

Tricks? Not so, they were still plenty able to produce wildfire. They just had lower output for the amount of work they put in.

Magic wasn't gone from the world before 298 AC, it was just somewhat muted and less effective.

[walkingWITHcersei]

If Aegon V did try to sacrifice his grandson to hatch dragons, I'd conclude that he had fallen prey to his family's madness. It would be massively out of character for him to do something that evil, and only explicable if he'd lost the ability to distinguish right from wrong.

I'm sure Ser Duncan would have drawn steel to prevent it.

Not sure i believe this theory but it sure seems to be possible. From the moment Aemon tells Jon his parting words to his brother to the World Book the idea has been consistently reinforced that Egg and Aegon V are two very different people. I'd say tWoIaF is pretty clear that Aegon V was extremely preoccupied if not completely obsessed with needing dragons. It's purposefully vague on the extent of his obsession. We don't know if he became full blown Targ crazy, or just fascinated over the idea, but the fact that it's left vague makes it a real possibility that Egg lost his marbles towards the end. Am I the only one who thinks grrm has driven the point home that the man on the throne is a different man than the one who gained the throne? We see it with Robb, Jon (as LC), Robert, Egg, Aerys, and maybe others in forgetting. Maybe it's only subterfuge, but it def sets up the narrative in a way that makes Egg becoming insane in his quest for dragons plausible. It's not likely, but the possibility of Aegon V sacrificing children is there, and fits with everything we've been shown over and over in the history of Westeros. What's more is that if it happened once at Summerhall then it's likely it was attempted once more at the ToJ. We know so little of Rhaegar, and if Egg could become a monster then any Targ could. Again I'm not saying it did happen I'm just saying "I can't believe Egg would do such a thing" doesn't hold water. It's exactly the kind of screwed up truth I've come to expect from GRRM.

[Bael's Bastard]

There is nothing crazy about a Targ wanting dragons. Egg was born less than fifty years after the last Targ dragon died, after presumably millennia of his family being dragon riders. And Summerhall was only around a century after the last Targ dragon died. Dragons may have been elusive in recent decades, but they were not some ancient myth. Viserys II and Aegon IV should have both witnessed the creatures, even if not the dominant dragons of the recent past. At most Daeron II and his sons Aerys I and Maekar I might be the only kings prior to Aegon V not to witness a living dragon. And they were reborn just forty years after Aegon V's death. I expect Aegon V to be a king who makes difficult sometimes harsh decisions, but I don't see any basis for him losing his marbles, especially to the extent of sacrificing his own blood to bring back dragons.

[lost lady of lannister]

IMHO the fact that Glydayn's account mysteriously had ink spilled over it suggests a cover-up by powerful people.

[The Red Widow of Coldmoat]

There is nothing crazy about a Targ wanting dragons. Egg was born less than fifty years after the last Targ dragon died, after presumably millennia of his family being dragon riders. And Summerhall was only around a century after the last Targ dragon died. Dragons may have been elusive in recent decades, but they were not some ancient myth. Viserys II and Aegon IV should have both witnessed the creatures, even if not the dominant dragons of the recent past. At most Daeron II and his sons Aerys I and Maekar I might be the only kings prior to Aegon V not to witness a living dragon. And they were reborn just forty years after Aegon V's death. I expect Aegon V to be a king who makes difficult sometimes harsh decisions, but I don't see any basis for him losing his marbles, especially to the extent of sacrificing his own blood to bring back dragons.

Daeron II definitely never saw a living dragon. The last Targaryen dragon died the same year he was born (and he was born on the last day of the year). Baelor I (the latest born king prior to Daeron II) was around 9 that year.

[Fjordgazer]

Well, since the Ghost of High Heart went out of her way to bring about the birth of Rhaegar (and Daenerys), maybe someone should ask her.

Seriously, someone in the Riverlands should go fetch that crone!

[Ser Cold Fingers]

Well, since the Ghost of High Heart went out of her way to bring about the birth of Rhaegar (and Daenerys), maybe someone should ask her.

Seriously, someone in the Riverlands should go fetch that crone!

Can you elaborate on the bold part?

[Dragon's Daughter]

Can you elaborate on the bold part?

Well, Ghost of High Heart was the one who said that Aerys and Rhaella's line would have the Prince that was Promised. It is likely she wanted to make sure that the marriage took place and that A&R had kids.

[Ser Cold Fingers]

Well, Ghost of High Heart was the one who said that Aerys and Rhaella's line would have the Prince that was Promised. It is likely she wanted to make sure that the marriage took place and that A&R had kids.

I'm familiar with the story...just wondering if I had missed something. I guess I had never pieced together that the GoHH was the same woods witch that told Jaehaerys II that TPtwP would be born of their line.

[Fjordgazer]

I'm familiar with the story...just wondering if I had missed something. I guess I had never pieced together that the GoHH was the same woods witch that told Jaehaerys II that TPtwP would be born of their line.

It was heavily implied, but in TWOIAF it's pretty much confirmed when they mention the woods witch was an albino.