The Book of Swords - The Sons of the Dragon SPOILERS

[Lord Varys]

Whoever wants to discuss the new fake history piece - this would be the place. Fire away.

[HelenaExMachina]

Pinned for ease of access and to avoid several threads discussing the same thing

[Lord Varys]

Well, well as I've said so many years ago when writing my original report - ears cannot convey spelling, so the father of our beloved Queen Alyssa Velaryon isn't named Aethon Velaryon but actually Aethan Velaryon.

Although I'll swear on my gravestone that George spoke it like 'Aethon'.

And yes, I'm reading TSotD right now.

[Lord Varys]

I guess I already told you back in the day that young Maegor had a deadly master-of-arms named Gawen Corbray, right?

And that he and Ceryse married in the Starry Septon of Oldtown with the High Septon himself performing the rites. This was a very blessed and holy marriage, it seems. One wonders what would have happened if Ceryse had produced the sons Maegor wanted? Would Visenya, Maegor, the Hightowers, and the Faith have pushed aside Aenys and his children in their own grab for power? We'll never know but it is not unlikely at all...

The pirate king is one Sargoso Saan. But it sounded like Sargasso ;-).

[Lord Varys]

We have a well-known continuity error in the 'iron-and-ruby crown' thing George repeatedly does for the crown of the Conqueror. It sounds badass and all but it was Valyrian steel and rubies, not iron and rubies.

As to the timeline - how do you see Aenys I's grand progress from KL to Oldtown for his coronation and anointing? He goes by way of Riverrun, Lannisport, and Highgarden. Surely this doesn't mean he visited those castles before he went to Oldtown, right? After all, he was faced by Harren while staying with the Tullys, so the best idea would be that the royal party went that way:

KL - Highgarden (where Aenys already had been on a progress when his father died) - Oldtown - Lannisport - Riverrun (where the rebellions caught up with him).

The story does not allow for him to continue from Riverrun to Oldtown. At least not without contradicting itself.

[Lord Varys]

From what I can say we are getting the real unabridged version of a text from 'Fire and Blood' this time.

Or rather - we are getting the same version George read in London and elsewhere. It could be that the text was already abridged for those readings. But I doubt that. The section on the youth of the brothers and the reign of Aenys I is a little less than half of the text, so we seem to be in for a pretty gory Maegor ride. I'm now entering 'unknown territory'.

But then - since the Maegor section was never read anywhere we have no idea whether it has been abridged or edited in any way.

[Lord Varys]

'Your one true wife awaits you in the Hightower.'

- Grand Maester Myres

Can you guess what happened next?

Man, are Maegor and Tyanna fucked up...

[Lord Varys]

Guys, it is Aerea and Rhaella. At least according to the spelling in TSotD. Why did none of the people knowing the spelling see that?

[Lord Varys]

Ceryse's uncle, the High Septon, was 53 at the time of his death in 43 AC.

Lord Martyn Hightower is referred to here is Ceryse's brother. Does this mean Lord Manfred Hightower - the one during the Conquest - was Ceryse's father?

Does this make sense?

[Lord Varys]

Well, what do you? We don't learn how Prince Aegon acquired his father's dragon, Quicksilver - a she-dragon, by the way. What a disappointment!

[Curled Finger]

Yes but is there anything new at all about Blackfyre or Dark Sister?  

Sorry about that, I won't have it until tomorrow...Anxiously waiting.

[Lord Varys]

Apparently, Rhaena was riding her dragon Dreamfyre since she was twelve. Rhaella was sent to Oldtown to become a septa after Maegor named Aerea his heir. Maegor sent for her head after Rhaena and Dreamfyre escaped on her dragon but the order was not executed. Rhaena also grew 'more than fond' of the son of Lord Farman during her stay on Fair Isle. Perhaps she ended up marrying that dude after the freak reign of Maegor was over?

There is a lot about Ceryse Hightower we never knew...

And, of course, it is Rogar Baratheon, not Robar Baratheon.

[The Grey Wolf]

Please post more @Lord Varys!

(I can't get the book till Thursday and am dying for more information though to be honest I'm not liking some of these name changes. Robar/Aethon/Sargasso sound a lot better to my ears than Rogar/Aethan/Sargoso.)

[Lord Varys]

4 minutes ago, Curled Finger said:

Yes but is there anything new at all about Blackfyre or Dark Sister?  

Sorry about that, I won't have it until tomorrow...Anxiously waiting.

Not that I recall. Blackfyre darkened while it was burned with the corpse of the Conqueror, but I think we already knew that. Rhaena stole it literally from Maegor's scabbard. Dark Sister was stolen by Alyssa and unsheathed by Jaehaerys when he was proclaimed king by Lord Rogar and his mother.

And by the way - the ashes of the Conqueror and his sister-wives were all interred on Dragonstone as was Maegor after he was burned in the Red Keep - and presumably Aenys, too. Jaehaerys I and Alysanne apparently were the first Targaryen monarchs who saw KL and the Red Keep as their proper homes since their ashes were interred beneath the Red Keep.

There are some rather shitty plot holes in the story, though.

The non-existing story of Prince Aegon and Quicksilver (how on earth could that guy claim his father's dragon in the Westerlands?!), the fact that George stresses the fact that Rhaena could not hide her dragon Dreamfyre - which is the reason why she sent her twin daughters away into hiding while remaining herself visibly a guest at Faircastle - while Jaehaerys and Alysanne could apparently hide Vermithor and Silverwing - whom they are already riding in 48 AC - in plain sight at fucking Storm's End??

That doesn't make a lot of sense. And neither does the fact that Prince Aegon and Prince Viserys apparently weren't dragonriders while Rhaena, Jaehaerys, and Alysanne were.

We can also safely say that it is wrong that Vermithor is the oldest Targaryen dragon after Balerion and Vhagar by the time of the Dance. Dreamfyre must be older if she was already ridden - not claimed, ridden - by Rhaena at the age of twelve.

One can only hope that George adds some material to this thing for Fire and Blood.

The personal stories involving the queens - especially Tyanna - make for a very interesting and compelling read - we even meet a Butterwell ancestor in the piece - but George really doesn't seem to keep track of the dragons in that account. Which is bad.

[Lord Varys]

1 minute ago, The Grey Wolf said:

Please post more @Lord Varys!

(I can't get the book till Thursday and am dying for more information though to be honest I'm not liking some of these name changes. Robar/Aethon/Sargasso sound a lot better to my ears than Rogar/Aethan/Sargoso.)

I've to go to bed now. Can't really think straight anymore. I just bought an ebook copy at midnight. Can't you do that? It should go a lot father than waiting for the hard copy. Mine seems to be only due around the 20th.

[The Grey Wolf]

1 minute ago, Lord Varys said:

I've to go to bed now. Can't really think straight anymore. I just bought an ebook copy at midnight. Can't you do that? It should go a lot father than waiting for the hard copy. Mine seems to be only due around the 20th.

Sorry. I didn't know it was that late where you are. Also, just to be clear I don't own an ereader. Again, my apologies for being inconsiderate.

[Curled Finger]

Thanks LV--be reading with you tomorrow.  

[Lord Varys]

2 minutes ago, The Grey Wolf said:

Sorry. I didn't know it was that late where you are. Also, just to be clear I don't own an ereader. Again, my apologies for being inconsiderate.

No problem.

But you can buy and view ebooks also at your computer, tablet, etc. via an app. It is not that difficult.

I leave with the eerie remark that Maegor and Ceryse reconciled after he came to Oldtown for his coronation (and the executions of a lot of people) and even took her back with him to KL where she shared his bed again.

The Tyanna finale is spun in a way that indicates that she might actually have poisoned the children. She calmly confesses the truth when Maegor and his buddies are merely setting up the torture instruments. However, Maegor had already decided that she was to blame prior to that.

Visenya gets a pretty bad exit, having her flesh melt away in old age, becoming very haggard and thin.

The piece focuses very strongly on Maegor's opponents - the High Septons and the many champions and protagonists of the Faith Militant. Damon Morrigen was the grand captain of the Warrior's Sons, and Joffrey Doggett and Septon Moon are not just two dudes. They were major players. Maegor had even a female leader of the Poor Fellows fighting against him.

Oh, and we get all the names of the champions during the Trial of Seven. I don't recall them right now but the first one to agree to stand with Maegor is a commoner named Dick Bean - a very touching scene - who shames the knights into standing with Maegor (the Kingsguard could not accompany Maegor and Visenya to KL on dragonback).

One is the squire of the late Alyn Stokeworth, Bernarr Brune.

[The Grey Wolf]

4 minutes ago, Lord Varys said:

Text

Thanks for sharing Lord Varys! Hope you have a good night's sleep!

[VisenyaTargaryen]

2 hours ago, Lord Varys said:

Visenya gets a pretty bad exit, having her flesh melt away in old age, becoming very haggard and thin.

Oh man... I was really excited about this book because I wanted to know more about Visenya, but this made me quite sad.

When I first read about her being passionate, a seductress, a warrior, etc, I immediately liked her, but it seems to me that GRRM wanted her to be "The Evil Sister™", or the female version of Tywin (or Stannis). Her character seemed quite unpleasant, while all the good traits went to the "good sister", aka Rhaenys. So I was hoping to read good things about Visenya in The Sons of the Dragon, but that doesn't seem to be the case.

Either way, I can't wait to read this book, even though I have no idea when it's going to be released in my country. Until then, I'll keep checking this thread religiously. Thank you very much for sharing!