Mysterious Parchments - The Lineage of House Penrose

[Summer Is Coming!]

There seem to be other houses with dragon blood through Aerea and Rhalla (and possibly through Rhaena Targaryen, if she married again after Maegor's death). The nine lesser claimants at the Great Council of 101 AC all seem to be descendants of those women, most likely only of Aerea and Rhalla, as I'm inclined to believe that Rhaena may have been Corlys Velaryon's mother.

If Rhaena is Corlys's mother that would be some pretty heavy incest for the marriage between Corlys and Rhaenys since Alyssa Velaryon remarried to Lord Baratheon and was grandmother or great-grandmother on both sides. Not that the Valyrians seem to mind this, and Rhaena's age works.

[Lord Varys]

Another tidbit about Valyrian blood in Dorne:

Considering that the name of Aegon's mother was originally spelled Valena Velaryon (before it was changed to Valaena), there is a good chance that a Velaryon married once into House Toland, as Lady Nymella Toland's eldest daughter is named Valena, too.

The Tolands clearly have some amount of dragon blood, as the younger daughter Teora seems to have prophetic 'dragon dreams' (which may either refer to literal or figurative dragons). They could also have dragon blood through the Martells, of course, but that would be much more diluted, and a match between a Toland and a child of Alyn and Baela would not be unlikely before or after the Conquest of Dorne, considering that Ghost Hill is a castle close to the sea.

Rhaena's or Elaena's daughters would also be a possibility, especially the latter, as a Penrose-Toland match would make much sense following the union between Sunspear and the Iron Throne during the reign of Daeron II - during which Elaena's children by Ronnel Penrose would eventually come of age and marry.

[Ramsay's Penguins]

Another tidbit about Valyrian blood in Dorne:

Considering that the name of Aegon's mother was originally spelled Valena Velaryon (before it was changed to Valaena), there is a good chance that a Velaryon married once into House Toland, as Lady Nymella Toland's eldest daughter is named Valena, too.

The Tolands clearly have some amount of dragon blood, as the younger daughter Teora seems to have prophetic 'dragon dreams' (which may either refer to literal or figurative dragons). They could also have dragon blood through the Martells, of course, but that would be much more diluted, and a match between a Toland and a child of Alyn and Baela would not be unlikely before or after the Conquest of Dorne, considering that Ghost Hill is a castle close to the sea.

Rhaena's or Elaena's daughters would also be a possibility, especially the latter, as a Penrose-Toland match would make much sense following the union between Sunspear and the Iron Throne during the reign of Daeron II - during which Elaena's children by Ronnel Penrose would eventually come of age and marry.

I always assumed that there would have been more marriages between Dorne and the other 7Ks. Vaiths and Yronwoods were supposedly particularly tenacious, so a Penrose marriage to a Toland (nearby Vaith) is almost perfect. Or Velaryon. Daeron/Mariah & Daenerys/Maron would likely not be enough to placate everyone.

However, I find it more likely that a child of Dae and Maron married a Toland, so there was still length of Targ blood.

[Night's King Reborn]

The lineage of House Penrose is exactly the sort of historical item that might warrant a retcon, although given GRRM's expressed non-interest in retcons per Not A Blog that seems highly unlikely at this point. It just makes more sense to have Aelinor Penrose be a daughter of Elaena Targaryen and Ronnel Penrose instead of a more distant cousin, for example.

[Lord Varys]

Oh, we have tossed around the Elaena idea quite a lot, doing the math and all. It would have been so nice and easy to just make, say, Laena or Jocelyn Penrose 'Aelinor Penrose'.

Yet this is definitely not the case. And since the whole Aelinor Penrose thing was already a retcon I think we have to go with the assumption that George has deliberately introduced those Targaryen-Penroses. Ran has confirmed that Aelinor Penrose was Aerys' cousin.

And the names are actually clues there. Jocelyn and Laena Penrose should be named after Jocelyn Baratheon and Laena Velaryon respectively, both of which would be ancestors of Lord Ronnel Penrose if he was the son of a daughter of Rhaena Targaryen/Garmund Hightower or of a daughter by Baela/Alyn.

The Elaena-Ronnel match is the first place should be a big hint as well. Why is Daeron II close to some minor Stormlord heir? Because he may have been raised at court as a cousin to the Targaryens. Why does Daeron II name this guy Master of Coin if cannot do the job? Because he is family and he needs his Stormlords kin on his side. Why does Daeron II honor House Penrose with two Targaryen marriages - Ronnel-Elaena and Aerys-Aelinor? Because they are suitable cadet branch providing close-kin marriages and important for his political agenda (union with Sunspear).