House Dayne's purple eyes

[Floki of the Ironborn]

Did we ever get an explanation for why Ashara Dayne has purple eyes? 

I've heard that it might just be a genetic miracle, so to speak. Others have said one of Maekar's daughters married into House Dayne, but I don't know if that's supported in canon.

[Lilac & Gooseberries]

26 minutes ago, Floki of the Ironborn said:

Did we ever get an explanation for why Ashara Dayne has purple eyes? 

I've heard that it might just be a genetic miracle, so to speak. Others have said one of Maekar's daughters married into House Dayne, but I don't know if that's supported in canon.

There isn't a mention in the books about them marrying in the Dayne house, their mother was a Dayne.  I think that GRRM have said that Ashara didn't had Valyrian blood.

Quote

Ran	Ashara Dayne is described as having violet eyes. Is this from a marriage to the Martells after Daeron II's sister married into that line, thus giving them some Targaryen features? From other Valyrian descendants? And, um, mind telling us the Dayne banner (emblem and field)? The Sword of the Morning and his sister has caught my imagination.
George_RR_Martin	I would have to consult my notes to tell you the Dayne arms. Offhand I don't recall. As for the violet eyes . . . look, Elizabeth Taylor has violet eyes, and she's not of Valyrian descent (that I know). Nor is she related to Aegon the Conquerer. Many Swedes have blue eyes, but not all those with blue eyes are Swedes, and not all Swedes have blue eyes. The same confusions exist in the 7 Kingdoms.

Back at my lurking days I had come across a theory that the Daynes and the Valyrians might have some common ancestors and they both come from the Great Empire of the Dawn.

[Lord Varys]

We have no idea. Could be something that they just have - after all, it isn't just Ashara, it is also Edric and Gerold Dayne (and the latter two also seem to have (distinct) Valyrian looks.

I'd not surprised if we learn that multiple Targaryen descendants married into House Dayne - daughters of Baela and Rhaena after the Dance, one of Maekar's daughters, and perhaps even Vaella the Simple or Prince Maegor.

But George has also once said that the Daynes aren't Valyrians, so it could be their own thing. But I don't think that's still the case after we got a very fine Valyrian-looking specimen in Darkstar. And with Maekar picking a Danye bride as per the family tree, chances are not that bad that this also went the other way.

[Wizz-The-Smith]

I think @LmL & @Durran Durrandon's 'Fingerprints of the Dawn' theory is by far the best explanation. I've copy and pasted the 'Dayne' bit of the essay for convenience.

TL;DR

The Dayne's ancestors are from the Empire of the Dawn and travelled to Westeros in ancient days. 

Quote

We are introduced to Ser Arthur Dayne, Sword of the Morning, in A Game of Thrones:

They whispered of Ser Arthur Dayne, the Sword of the Morning, deadliest of the seven knights of Aerys’s Kingsguard, and of how their young lord had slain him in single combat. And they told how afterward Ned had carried Ser Arthur’s sword back to the beautiful young sister who awaited him in a castle called Starfall on the shores of the Summer Sea. The Lady Ashara Dayne, tall and fair, with haunting violet eyes.
[...]
Ser Arthur Dayne, the Sword of the Morning, had a sad smile on his lips. The hilt of the greatsword Dawn poked up over his right shoulder.
[...]
“And now it begins,” said Ser Arthur Dayne, the Sword of the Morning. He unsheathed Dawn and held it with both hands. The blade was pale as milkglass, alive with light.

We are told that Arthur Dayne is a legendary swordsman, and carries a greatsword, Dawn, which has a unique appearance. It's appearance matches very closely the description of the Others' swords in the prologue of AGOT, curiously. We aren't yet told of Dawn's origins in the heart of a fallen star, but we are given the name "Starfall." Perhaps most importantly is the mention of his sister Ashara's violet eyes. It's made clear in the very first Daenerys chapter Game of Thrones that Dany's violet eyes are a hallmark of Valyrian blood:

“Look at her. That silver- gold hair, those purple eyes … she is the blood of old Valyria, no doubt, no doubt … and highborn, daughter of the old king, sister to the new, she cannot fail to entrance our Drogo.”

Thus, attentive readers will already be wondering who this legendary knight with a potentially magic sword and purple eyes is, if Dany's Valyrian looks are so important and distinctive. Very attentive readers might wonder about the "swords of pale fire" held by the ghostly kings of Dany's miscarriage dream towards the end of book one, and compare them to the pale blade, "alive with light" which Arthur holds.

In A Clash of Kings we get this from Ned, about the origins of the magic sword Dawn:

“The finest knight I ever saw was Ser Arthur Dayne, who fought with a blade called Dawn, forged from the heart of a fallen star. They called him the Sword of the Morning, and he would have killed me but for Howland Reed.”

Now we know that yes, Arthur Dayne's sword Dawn is indeed unique, carved from the heart of a fallen star. That's pretty much all the info we get on the Daynes until A Feast For Crows, where we are introduced to Ser Gerold Dayne, aka Darkstar, and get the complete picture about Dayne looks and the antiquity of their house, including the giant flashing-light clue that Darkstar has silver hair, as well as purple eyes. Arianne even mentions the comparison to the looks of dragonlords, to hammer the point home:

Arianne watched him warily. He is highborn enough to make a worthy consort , she thought. Father would question my good sense, but our children would be as beautiful as dragonlords. If there was a handsomer man in Dorne, she did not know him. Ser Gerold Dayne had an aquiline nose, high cheekbones, a strong jaw. He kept his face clean- shaven, but his thick hair fell to his collar like a silver glacier, divided by a streak of midnight black. He has a cruel mouth, though, and a crueler tongue. His eyes seemed black as he sat outlined against the dying sun, sharpening his steel, but she had looked at them from a closer vantage and she knew that they were purple. Dark purple. Dark and angry.

The mystery comes right out in the open with this statement, delivered by Darkstar as an aside in the middle of a conversation about something else entirely:

“My House goes back ten thousand years, unto the dawn of days,” he complained. “Why is it that my cousin is the only Dayne that anyone remembers?”

At this point, the reader has all the information he needs to know that Valyrian looks date back to the “dawn of days," several thousand years before the Valyrian empire (which began approx 5,500 years ago), and are associated with luminescent, magic swords. At this point attentive readers should definitely be thinking about the ghosts of Dany's dream in book one, since their hair was "silver and gold and platinum," and they also held pale, luminescent magic swords. We already noticed the obvious likeness of their hair to that of Valyrians, but now that we know that the 10,000-old house Dayne also has the platinum hair genetics to go with the purple eyes, it should become apparent that those ghosts really existed once, and that silver haired, purple eyed, pale fire sword-wielding people were running around ancient Planetos 10,000 years ago, and are likely connected to house Dayne.

The World of Ice and Fire confirms that the Daynes are a First Men house, date back to the dawn of days, and that the first Dayne "followed the track of a falling star and there found a stone of magical powers." This stone would be the fallen star from which Dawn is made.

The first "fingerprints" of the Great Empire of the Dawn are to be found in the ghosts of Danerys vision and the existence of House Dayne, both introduced in A Game of Thrones

If you would like to read the entire series of essays you can find part 1 here.  

[Lord Varys]

2 minutes ago, Lilac & Gooseberries said:

There isn't a mention in the books about them marrying in the Dayne house, their mother was a Dayne.  I think that GRRM have said that Ashara didn't had Valyrian blood.

Back at my lurking days I had come across a theory that the Daynes and the Valyrians might have some common ancestors and they both come from the Great Empire of the Dawn.

That is a very old SSM, unless I'm mistaken.

@Ran did you guys ever talk about 'the Dayne look' with George after that? And while I'm at it - I like your idea there that the Targaryen-Martells could have spread Valyrian looks to Dornish families. Do you have anything on Maron's children and grandchildren looking like their mother? We should expect the Valyrian traits to not disappear completely.

[Lilac & Gooseberries]

1 minute ago, Lord Varys said:

That is a very old SSM, unless I'm mistaken.

You are right, it dates back in 1999.

http://web.archive.org/web/20001005212114/eventhorizon.com/sfzine/chats/transcripts/031899.html

[Megorova]

I think that one of Ashara's ancestors was either

1) one of those six half-Targaryen/half-Hightower girls, who then possibly married with one of Daynes;

or 2) one of Daenerys Targaryen's and Maron Martell's children, who possibly married into House Dayne;

or 3) all Daynes are descendants of Azor Ahai, and Azor is son of Amethyst Empress, and all Valyrians and Daynes are Azor's direct descendants (and Hightowers, who, in my opinion, were scouts of House Dayne (that's why their motto is "We light the way"), when Azor and his family were migrating from Asshai thru Valyria to Dorne, to build there Starfall, at the place where crashed meteorite from which Azor forged Dawn/Lightbringer). For example, if all founders of 40 dragonlord families of Valyria were Azor's sons, in parallel to 44 sons of Hugor of the Hill, first King of Andals. The remaining 4 came to Westeros and became founders of House Dayne, Hightower, Velaryon, and Celtigar.

I think that Azor Ahai was something like R'hllor's High Priest who served at the temple at Asshai, where he forged Lightbringer. In parallel to the Fiery Hand (or vice versa) Azor had five wives. Nissa Nissa was his fifth wife. She gave birth to four of Azor's sons, those who later founded those 4 Houses at Westeros. And Azor's other wives each gave birth to 10 sons. Nissa was Azor's youngest most favourite wife, they were married less time than four others, thus she had time to give birth only to 4 children. And those four children after the Long Night ended, didn't wanted to stay with their 40 half-siblings at Valyria, when they migrated from Asshai, because their mother was sacrificed by AA, but the mothers of those 40 were alive.

[Lord Varys]

1 minute ago, Lilac & Gooseberries said:

You are right, it dates back in 1999.

http://web.archive.org/web/20001005212114/eventhorizon.com/sfzine/chats/transcripts/031899.html

Yes, and thus prior to the known Targaryen family trees and the description of certain Daynes. Edric first showed up in ASoS, so I guess he had already been created at that time (and his violet eyes could only have been there to mark him as Ashara's nephew) but Gerold Dayne had not yet been created by that point.

And I can say that Maekar having a Dayne wife is a late edition to the family tree in TWoIaF.

If we have Targaryen blood in the Daynes, then I think considering their somewhat distinct looks chances are good that there would be multiple sources. Say, a Targaryen-Velaryon/-Hightower girl back after the Dance, a child and/or grandchild of Maron and Daenerys inheriting her mother's Valyrian looks, and then perhaps Vaella or Maegor or perhaps even a child of Duncan's and Jenny's (who could easily enough be the mother or father of Ashara, Arthur, and their siblings).

I think we all also tentatively go with the idea that prophetic 'dragon dreams' of Teora Toland go back to a drop of dragon blood - possibly through a Targaryen-Martell marrying into House Toland or an ancestor of Teora's marrying one of Elaena's Penrose girls, say. In fact, both actually is possible.

[Alexis-something-Rose]

56 minutes ago, Floki of the Ironborn said:

Did we ever get an explanation for why Ashara Dayne has purple eyes? 

I've heard that it might just be a genetic miracle, so to speak. Others have said one of Maekar's daughters married into House Dayne, but I don't know if that's supported in canon.

We don't have a canon answer for this. The Empire of the Dawn theory has been mentioned above. 

I don't think the purple eyes come from the Targaryens because of House Dayne's sigil. I think the three important things about the House are depicted on it. The falling star where Starfall was built according to legend and from which Dawn was forged. The not so ordinary sword. And the background color, lilac, a variant of purple, for the eyes of the people of House Dayne.

I will say something about one of Maekar's daughters marrying into House Dayne, though. I noticed something in The Queenmaker chapter about Darkstar's eye color that reminded me a whole lot of Egg's eyes in the Sworn Sword. It could be something or nothing. 

[Lilac & Gooseberries]

37 minutes ago, Megorova said:

or 3) all Daynes are descendants of Azor Ahai, and Azor is son of Amethyst Empress, and all Valyrians and Daynes are Azor's direct descendants (and Hightowers, who, in my opinion, were scouts of House Dayne (that's why their motto is "We light the way"), when Azor and his family were migrating from Asshai thru Valyria to Dorne, to build there Starfall, at the place where crashed meteorite from which Azor forged Dawn/Lightbringer). For example, if all founders of 40 dragonlord families of Valyria were Azor's sons, in parallel to 44 sons of Hugor of the Hill, first King of Andals. The remaining 4 came to Westeros and became founders of House Dayne, Hightower, Velaryon, and Celtigar.

A definitely interesting theory nevertheless I don’t think that it can be chronologically possible. The Daynes and Hightowers came from with the First Men 10000 years ago and Valyrian Freehold was founded long after that. Also, houses Velaryon and Celtigar are both Valyrian and arrived in Westeros at least the same time with the Targaryens not as early as the Daynes and Hightowers.

27 minutes ago, Lord Varys said:

Vaella

I have a theory that Vaella was Brienne's Targaryen ancestor.

27 minutes ago, Lord Varys said:

I think we all also tentatively go with the idea that prophetic 'dragon dreams' of Teora Toland go back to a drop of dragon blood - possibly through a Targaryen-Martell marrying into House Toland or an ancestor of Teora's marrying one of Elaena's Penrose girls, say. In fact, both actually is possible.

I agree with you on this one, Teora's dragon dreams can be an indication of some Targaryen blood.

[Megorova]

1 hour ago, Lilac & Gooseberries said:

Also, houses Velaryon and Celtigar are both Valyrian and arrived in Westeros at least the same time with the Targaryens not as early as the Daynes and Hightowers.

Velaryons and Celtigars arrived to Westeros long before Targaryens.

https://awoiaf.westeros.org/index.php/House_Velaryon#Origins

1 hour ago, Lilac & Gooseberries said:

The Daynes and Hightowers came from with the First Men 10000 years ago and Valyrian Freehold was founded long after that.

House Dayne and Hightower are not as old as First Men.

In my opinion could be that the chronology went like this - 1. First Men arrived to Westeros, lived there for thousands years, 2. First Long Night happened and ended, the Last Hero, founder of House Stark, Bran the Builder, made a Pact with the Children, build The Wall, then Winterfell, 3. Azor Ahai with his family migrated to Dorne, Bran the Builder or his son Brandon Stark build Hightower for King Uthor/ or first Hightower build four wooden towers, and then his successor hired Brandon Stark to build stone tower. So the first Hightower was from the same generation as Bran the Builder, and his sucessor, King Uthor, was from the same generation as Bran's son. 

https://awoiaf.westeros.org/index.php/Hightower#House_Hightower

So the migration of Hightowers to Westeros happened shortly after the First Long Night ended. Not thousands years before that, when First Men were only settling there.

4. dragons hatched at Valyria, ~5.000-5.500 years ago, at this same time at Asshai was given a prophecy about the Second Long Night.

Also this

https://awoiaf.westeros.org/index.php/Hightower#Black_Stone_Fortress

"The foundation of the Hightower is a fortress of black stone of uncertain origin on Battle Isle. The stone is reminiscent of Valyrian roads and the Black Walls of Volantis.^[6] A possible Valyrian origin is supported by the claim of Maester Jellicoe that Oldtown began as a trading post for ships of Valyria, Old Ghis, and the Summer Isles, predating the arrival of the First Men to Westeros. Septon Barth claimed Valyrians came to Westeros because their priests prophesied that the Doom of Man would come out of the land beyond the narrow sea.^[6]"

This information could be partially correct and partially wrong.

Could be that the foundation of Hightower is of Valyrian origin, and first Hightowers used the same technologies as their relatives at Valyria, and Oldtown indeed was build as a trading port for ships of Valyria, Old Ghis, and the Summer Isles.

Though, the part according to which it predated the arrival of the First Men to Westeros, is wrong.

Hightowers/Oldtown traded with Valyrians, because they were bloodrelated. And they traded with Old Ghis because at that point in time Ghiskari weren't yet enemies to Valyrians, and it was before Valyrians had dragons.

We don't know even approximately when exactly happened First Long Night, when Valyrians tamed dragons and used them in Ghiscari wars, etc. Thus it is possible that Daynes are Azor Ahai's descendants, and that they arrived to Westeros some time after the First Long Night ended. Also could be that even though 40 of Azor's sons settled at Valyria, their dragons hatched much later. Or could be that the Long Night was not as far back in the past as maesters claim. One of options is that Azor's descendants migrated and settled at Valyria and Westeros, then hundreds or thousands years later, approximately 5000 years ago, at the same time when dragons hatched at Valyria, at Asshai was given the prophecy about the Second Long Night. In span of years between the First Long Night and the time when this prophecy was given, Ghiskari and Valyrians became enemies, so when Valyrians tamed dragons, they used them against Ghiskari. Could be that several thousands years passed since the First Long Night ended, if it was 8 or 6 thousands years ago.

The point is - we don't know. GRRM intentionally gave to readers vague information with imprecise timeframe.

1 hour ago, Lilac & Gooseberries said:

A definitely interested theory nevertheless I don’t think that it can be chronologically possible.

It can. So far we don't have a precise timeline, so everything isn't yet set in stone.

1 hour ago, Lilac & Gooseberries said:

The Daynes and Hightowers came from with the First Men 10000 years ago and Valyrian Freehold was founded long after that.

We don't know when the First Men came to Westeros. Only that they came there before the First Long Night, before Andals, and before the Doom of Valyria. We don't know when the First Long Night happened, or when Andals invaded, or when Valyrians founded their Freehold. We don't know when Daynes and Hightowers arrived to Westeros.

Though, based on the list of the Night's Watch's Lord Commanders, the one that Sam found, it seems likely that the First Long Night was not as far back in the past as people think.

There is a possibility that the end of the First Long Night, Valyrians settling at Valyria, Daynes and Hightowers building their castles and Oldtown, all that happened one soon after the other, and no more than 6.000 years ago, or even less.

None of what we do know for now, doesn't contradict this possibility.

[Crona]

No explanation, only that they are not Valyrian. I think George also used an example for Elizabeth Taylor regarding it. I think it’s “seed” for George in case he wants make one of the targs (Dany or Aegon) as a Dayne.

[Lilac & Gooseberries]

23 hours ago, Megorova said:

House Dayne and Hightower are not as old as First Men.

I was under the impression that they were First Men.

Quote

The reasons for the abandonment of the fortress and the fate of its builders, whoever they might have been, are likewise lost to us, but at some point we know that Battle Isle and its great stronghold came into the possession of the ancestors of House Hightower. Were they First Men, as most scholars believe today? Or did they mayhaps descend from the seafarers and traders who had settled at the top of Whispering Sound in earlier epochs, the men who came before the First Men? We cannot know.

 

23 hours ago, Megorova said:

Velaryons and Celtigars arrived to Westeros long before Targaryens.

https://awoiaf.westeros.org/index.php/House_Velaryon#Origins

 

I seemed to miss that part thank you for correcting me.
 

For the remaining part, I am not going to lie that is intriguing. I don’t know if I buy it yet but it is really interesting indeed. The part that seems dodgy to me is the hundreds of years that the Valyrians spend as sheppards before they find the dragons and I am not really convinced about the Azor Ahai. All the same it is a theory that I could to some extent subscribe to.

[Damsel in Distress]

12 hours ago, Floki of the Ironborn said:

Did we ever get an explanation for why Ashara Dayne has purple eyes? 

I've heard that it might just be a genetic miracle, so to speak. Others have said one of Maekar's daughters married into House Dayne, but I don't know if that's supported in canon.

Martin has to give a physical description.  Eye color is one.  I think he said something about eye color not being all that significant.

[Daeron the Daring]

I doubt the founders of House Dayne 10000 years ago had the Valyrian look. Even if they did, keeping it would be impossible for several thousands of years, unless they didn't practice incest (they didn't). 

Also. House Velaryon and House Celtigar likely went to Westeros after Dragonstone was founded by the Valyrian Freehold.

Quote

Two centuries before the Doom, Valyrians took possession of the island and built a castle upon it, which became the westernmost outpost of the Valyrian Freehold. The castle towers were shaped by Valyrian magic to look like dragons to make the castle look fearsome, and they placed a thousand gargoyles upon the walls.

Dragonstone was made as an outpost. Velaryons and Celtigars likely went to Westeros as a task, yknow, creating some kind of centralizaton around Dragonstone for the Freehold. Tho we never hear about this, and we can't know for sure if this really is the case. But seems logical, after all. The Velaryon and Celtigar swore an  oath of allegiance for Targaryens becoming owners of Dragonstone, becoming their liege and making the two houses their vassals with this. At least it seems logical this way.

Oh, and back to the Daynes: Just look at the Celtigars. They had terriotories on the mainland. Few generation later, they easily lost the Valyrian look. Likely from marriages for peace, lands, claims, etc...

[Megorova]

11 hours ago, Lilac & Gooseberries said:

For the remaining part, I am not going to lie that is intriguing. I don’t know if I buy it yet but it is really interesting indeed. The part that seems doggy to me is the hundreds of years that the Valyrians spend as sheppards before they find the dragons and I am not really convinced about the Azor Ahai.

It does seems unlikely that both Valyrians and dragons lived on that peninsula for a long period of time and didn't knew about each other. If Valyrians originally were shephards, and dragons also lived there, then what did those dragons ate, if not the cattle that was herded by Valyrians? And if dragons ate cattle that belonged to Valyrians, then how come Valyrians didn't noticed that dozens of their cattle are disappearing every day? They couldn't have not known about each other. Also they couldn't have peacefully coexisted for hundreds of years without dragons killing/eating all people that lived in the area of the dragons' habitat. The only more or less passable explanation, is that the beginning of the common history between Valyrians and their dragons, is something similar to Dany's story - same as her, Valyrians bonded with little dragons that just recently hatched from their eggs. Thus those dragons perceived Valyrians as their parents/kin, and obeyed to them while they were little, and even later when they became big they still obeyd, out of habit.

Though, what makes even less sense is that supposedly it took Valyrians several thousands years to defeat Ghiscari and to found their Freehold in Essos. Aegon conquered 6 out of 7 Kingdoms of Westeros in a span of 2 years, and he had only three dragons. Essos is approximately 3 times larger than Westeros, but Valyrians had at least 40 dragons (because there was 40 dragonlord Houses), and they were using magic to build roads and buildings (like Dragonstone castle, and Oldtown's/Citadel's base). Also, after the Doom of Valyria, nearly everything that they created, the customs that they imposed upon population of Essos, reversed back to how it was before Valyrians seized Essos under their control. Though look at the Slavers Bay - even though Ghiskari were supposedly defeated by Valyrians thousands years ago, and aftrewards those people and areas were ruled by Valyrians, now those people still follow customs of Ghiskari and support the social order established by Ghiskari. So, how I see it, is that Valyrians defeated Ghiskari in a span of several years, or several dozens of years, not in a span of centuries. And then they established their control over the rest of Essos in less than a century. They conquered by using dragons, and they build by using magic. And all that happened fast. Andals and Rhoynars migrated from Essos several dozens of years apart from each other. And the Roynish Wars against Valyrians lasted not 250 years, but only 25. And Andals conquered Westeros in a span of a century or so. Could be that Valyrians became dragonlords not 5500 years ago but only 550 years ago. The historians EXAGGERATED. The Doom of Valyria happened ~400 years ago. Thus Valyrians conquered and ruled over Essos for 150 years only, not for centuries or thousands of years. That's why after they were gone, after the Doom, the people that remained all over Essos, quickly reversed to how they used to live before, under the rule and by customs of Ghiskari. That's why in Slavers Bay Ghiskarian social order and customs still perceived better and prevail over those that remained after Valyrians. Because Ghiskari ruled there for thousands of years, and Valyrians only for ~150 years. And that's also why in Lys there are still a lot of people with Valyrian looks and genes. Its citizens didn't mixed with other people of Essos for thousands of years, the city was created only 500 years ago.

Based on all factual data, it seems that the First Long Night happened no more than 1.000 years ago. So all following events (such as the Rise of Valyria, Andal invasion, Rhoynar invasion, etc.) happened only several centuries prior the Doom of Valyria (which happened 400 years ago). When Bran was showing Stark's family crypts to Osha, there were statues of all Lord Starks that ruled over Winterfell since it was build. And there was not enough of them to fill in a several thousands years of history. And if there was less Starks, then it also means that since the First Long Night ended, passed less time that the official history claims. The list of Lord Commanders of Night's Watch also support this possibility. There was only 674 of them. During the early years, when The Wall was only build, and the Others were still close by, it's likely that Lord Commanders died fast. Same as during the Night's Watch's major confrontations with the wildlings. Could be that many LCs ruled for only a few days or months, and were killed shortly after their appointments on this post. Thus 674 LCs in a span of 1.000 years seems to be the right amount.

There's also other historical information that doesn't make sense in case if the Long Night and Andal invasion happened thousands years ago. Sam found books in which it was mentioned that the Children remained in contact with the Watchers, and each year provided them with dragonglass daggers. The books were written by maesters, and maesters are a custom that was brought to Westeros by Andals. Same as knighthood and tournaments. Uthor of the High Tower was amongst those people who participated in the first ever tournament in Westeros. In result of that tournament he married with Maris the Maid, aunt of Bran the Builder. The historical sources claimed that some Andals arrived to Westeros prior the Invasion. Combination of all that historical information (about Ghiskari, Valyrians, Andals, Starks at Winterfell, knights, maesters and tournaments) makes sense if the First Long Night happened 1.000 years ago, after it ended first Andals, Daynes and Hightowers arrived to Westeros, settled there and brought their customs, several centuries later other Andals and Rhoynars became oppressed by Valyrians and also migrated to Westeros.

We should look at the bigger picture, and to include all known information into it. And with inclusion of all that data, in combination with what George Martin said about Daynes, that they are not of Valyrian origin, the most sense makes the possibility that Daynes and Hightowers have similar traits with Valyrians, even though they are not Valyrians, because they and Valyrians had a common ancestor, the one who lived prior the First Long Night - Amethyst Empress. Azor is similar to azure, the color of sky/blue/cerulean. There's also a gemstone Lazurite or Lapis lazuri, which is blue-colored. Azor Ahai as a son of the Amethyst Empress fits into the pattern with other rulers of Yi Ti - Jade Emperor, Topaz, Onyx, Tourmaline, etc.

I bet that if Azor Ahai was not the son of the Amethyst Empress, then at least they were bloodrelated, and both Daynes/Hightowers and Valyrians got their traits (blond hair and unusually colored eyes) from their Yi-Ti ancestors from the Great Empire of the Dawn. Even the Empire's name is in harmony with Dawn sword of Daynes. I'm sure that GRRM will eventually reveal Dawn's origin in further books, and that he will confirm that Daynes and Valyrians are Azor Ahai's descendants. So let's wait for that book .

[Yaya]

keep the discussion going everyone, sorry that i can't add to the conversation but i am so enjoying this thread. 
many times i have tried to piece the past timeline / family lineages together & have just run into weird hundreds/ thousands of years of discrepancies ... 

13 minutes ago, Megorova said:

The historians EXAGGERATED.

i think the historic reported times are likely all disrupted due to the weird seasons that the planet experiences. for example a couple of years of hard winter weather are likely wrongly thought of as lasting for half a decade or something. 

with no central repository for standardized information, any & all records for any event throughout Planetos could be, timewise, inaccurate. 
(hence the need for the foundation of the citadel & the maester "industry")

 

[hiemal]

32 minutes ago, Megorova said:

I bet that if Azor Ahai was not the son of the Amethyst Empress, then at least they were bloodrelated, and both Daynes/Hightowers and Valyrians got their traits (blond hair and unusually colored eyes) from their Yi-Ti ancestors from the Great Empire of the Dawn. Even the Empire's name is in harmony with Dawn sword of Daynes. I'm sure that GRRM will eventually reveal Dawn's origin in further books, and that he will confirm that Daynes and Valyrians are Azor Ahai's descendants. So let's wait for that book .

Combine that with the "Battle for the Dawn" and in my book you have a near certain connection.

 

[Endymion I Targaryen]

Dayne purple eyes are not necesarily Valyrian descent as GRRM has said. Even though he can change his mind. The more recent Targaryen blood in the Dayne family can be one of Maekar's daughters marrying into her mother's family. This can explain Gerold Dayne's silver hair which is the only clear Valyrian characteristic that GRRM has said nothing about.

[Frey family reunion]

On 1/16/2021 at 3:53 PM, Lilac & Gooseberries said:

There isn't a mention in the books about them marrying in the Dayne house, their mother was a Dayne.  I think that GRRM have said that Ashara didn't had Valyrian blood.

Back at my lurking days I had come across a theory that the Daynes and the Valyrians might have some common ancestors and they both come from the Great Empire of the Dawn.

That quote establishes that Liz Taylor doesn’t have Valyrian blood, not that Ashara Dayne doesn’t.  It’s a typical GRRM evasion when he doesn’t want to answer the question.  At most we can read it as saying maybe Ashara Dayne does, maybe she doesn’t.  Violet eyes is not necessarily proof of Valyrian bloodlines.

The fact that Maekar married a Dayne and had two daughters makes me think that there is a decent chance one of those daughters married back into their maternal family.  That GRRM has kept it close to vest as to the marital status of those two girls makes me think he doesn’t want that fact revealed yet.

(It might also explain why Rhaegar established such close ties with Arthur Dayne, if in fact they were related.) 

As for the Great Empire of the Dawn theory, that seems a bit much in my opinion.  I’m willing to bet that House Targaryen returned the favor to House Dayne and married one of their own into the House.