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Did Bittersteel and Aerion serve in the Second Sons at the same time?


Mithras

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A Dance with Dragons - Tyrion XII

You will find famous names in here, some from your Seven Kingdoms. Aegor Rivers served a year with us, before he left to found the Golden Company. Bittersteel, you call him. The Bright Prince, Aerion Targaryen, he was a Second Son.

Can anybody figure out the timeline? Did Bittersteel found the Golden Company as soon as he left the Second Sons? That means he was with the Second Sons in 211 AC. Considering that Aerion was sent to exile in 209 AC, there is a small window for them to meet at the ranks of the Second Sons.

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1 hour ago, Mithras said:

A Dance with Dragons - Tyrion XII

You will find famous names in here, some from your Seven Kingdoms. Aegor Rivers served a year with us, before he left to found the Golden Company. Bittersteel, you call him. The Bright Prince, Aerion Targaryen, he was a Second Son.

Can anybody figure out the timeline? Did Bittersteel found the Golden Company as soon as he left the Second Sons? That means he was with the Second Sons in 211 AC. Considering that Aerion was sent to exile in 209 AC, there is a small window for them to meet at the ranks of the Second Sons.

Unlikely, but possible. 

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Well, it really is possible, but note that Aegor did not want to support Daemon II, who appeared in 212 AC. Doesn't that mean that by then he had the potential to do so? Which would mean he founded the Golden Company. Or not. Correct me if I'm wrong but I don't think we hear the name "The Golden Company" in Dunk and Egg. The Company then was a very recent thing, news about it's creation might not have reached the commom people of Westeros. But still, he needed time to assemble a mercenary company that was instantly able to sack Qohor. 

Despite Aerion suggesting to Aerys I to behead Aegor, I can totally see an insane person (Aerion) looking up for him in the past, and the two doing their insane stuff (which could be whatever) together. In the Second Sons? I don't know. Bittersteel is said to served there right before he founded the Golden Company, which could mean 210-211 (again, considering he needed time to assemble the exiles by 212). On the other hand I don't see why would Aerion serve with the Second Sons for a while, if not for money, which he likely did not lack at the beginning of his exile. 

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I brought up the same question in a discord server today since I was thinking about Elio's quote on Aerion (inspired by your reddit post): "The one thing i will say about what we know, and i think i can be vague enough, and i haven't really seen it. i think people haven't thought enough about Aerion Brightflame, and the details of what we learn in the world of ice and fire about him, and how that fits into to things. there's some stuff there that george hasn't really, there's some dots that people have not connected as far as i've seen. so i'll leave you guys with that." Elio must have seen almost every theory, so I guess we can rule out any 'Aerion killed Haegon' or 'Aerion is an ancestor of Varys' theories. I've already speculated about some Brightflame/Bittersteel partnership or that Aerion might have been the one who informed Aegor's men how to get him free after the third rebellion, but not sure that would make any sense. Aerion also could have been the one who let the guys in who assaulted Aelora, I don't think there are any hints, though.

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34 minutes ago, Daeron the Daring said:

Well, it really is possible, but note that Aegor did not want to support Daemon II, who appeared in 212 AC. Doesn't that mean that by then he had the potential to do so? Which would mean he founded the Golden Company. Or not. Correct me if I'm wrong but I don't think we hear the name "The Golden Company" in Dunk and Egg. The Company then was a very recent thing, news about it's creation might not have reached the commom people of Westeros. But still, he needed time to assemble a mercenary company that was instantly able to sack Qohor. 

Despite Aerion suggesting to Aerys I to behead Aegor, I can totally see an insane person (Aerion) looking up for him in the past, and the two doing their insane stuff (which could be whatever) together. In the Second Sons? I don't know. Bittersteel is said to served there right before he founded the Golden Company, which could mean 210-211 (again, considering he needed time to assemble the exiles by 212). On the other hand I don't see why would Aerion serve with the Second Sons for a while, if not for money, which he likely did not lack at the beginning of his exile. 

In the Mystery Knight, the Golden Company does not seem to exist yet.

Ser Maynard gave a shrug. "His eye is fixed on Tyrosh, where Bittersteel sits in exile, plotting with the sons of Daemon Blackfyre. So he keeps the king's ships close at hand, lest they attempt to cross."

In addition to that, the Blackfyre loyalists talk about the support Bittersteel denied from Daemon but they never mention the Golden Company, which should have come up if existed at the time.

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6 minutes ago, Mithras said:

In the Mystery Knight, the Golden Company does not seem to exist yet.

Ser Maynard gave a shrug. "His eye is fixed on Tyrosh, where Bittersteel sits in exile, plotting with the sons of Daemon Blackfyre. So he keeps the king's ships close at hand, lest they attempt to cross."

In addition to that, the Blackfyre loyalists talk about the support Bittersteel denied from Daemon but they never mention the Golden Company, which should have come up if existed at the time.

Sure. The Company was either in creation or news of the name "The Golden Company" (the legal creation of the mercenary band) haven't reached Westeros yet. Which would suggest 210-211 for Bittersteel to serve with the Second Sons, cosidering he had to assemble the exiles of the Rebellion. But the fact is that the Company was createn in 212, the year Daemon II made an appearance. Assuming Arien was given some coins to have a living in Essos, he did not need to serve so early in a mercenary band. If not, it would make sense. Exiles regularly did not receive any money, because their prestige was enough for someone to invite them into their court. Unless Aerion had no money and received no hospitality from anyone, he had no need to initially serve at a company. Note that his exile is not like the banishment the Blackfyre supporters received. I see it logical this way, but of courss we can never ignore the hints. 

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4 minutes ago, The Wondering Wolf said:

I seem to remember The Mystery Knight takes place rather early in 212, so the Golden Company might not have been founded at that point indeed. Maybe it even was a reaction to the failed attempt at Whitestone.

Or Daemon's plan was a failure because Bittersteel was driven by a more logical long-term plan, and Daemon was so obsessed with his dream that he didn't care if he receives his uncle's support or not, believing his fate is to succeed anyway. Not necesarilly because he was gay. 

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4 hours ago, The Wondering Wolf said:

I brought up the same question in a discord server today since I was thinking about Elio's quote on Aerion (inspired by your reddit post): "The one thing i will say about what we know, and i think i can be vague enough, and i haven't really seen it. i think people haven't thought enough about Aerion Brightflame, and the details of what we learn in the world of ice and fire about him, and how that fits into to things. there's some stuff there that george hasn't really, there's some dots that people have not connected as far as i've seen. so i'll leave you guys with that." Elio must have seen almost every theory, so I guess we can rule out any 'Aerion killed Haegon' or 'Aerion is an ancestor of Varys' theories. I've already speculated about some Brightflame/Bittersteel partnership or that Aerion might have been the one who informed Aegor's men how to get him free after the third rebellion, but not sure that would make any sense. Aerion also could have been the one who let the guys in who assaulted Aelora, I don't think there are any hints, though.

I think the obvious first question is which side of the 3rd Blackfyre rebellion was Aerion on...

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1 minute ago, Floki of the Ironborn said:

If Aerion fought with the Blackfyres, why wasn't he punished? Why was he in a position to advise the king on what to do with Bittersteel?

If Aerion actually had been in touch with the Blackfyres, he would have had to be able to convince the Targaryens that he tricked the Blackfyres. My main issue with these thoughts is that I have no idea what Aerion could have got from such a partnership. 

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3 minutes ago, Floki of the Ironborn said:

If Aerion fought with the Blackfyres, why wasn't he punished? Why was he in a position to advise the king on what to do with Bittersteel?

Do we know he wasn't punished? Do we even know where he was when he died? Was he in Exile? Where were his wife and son?

We have no idea what the circumstances around his recommendation that Bittersteel be killed were.

Whatever he did, we do know his reputation was so bad his son was disinherited.

 

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6 minutes ago, Mourning Star said:

Do we know he wasn't punished?

It's heavily implied he wasn't because he seems to have been part of the court (since he was in a position to demand Bittersteel's death). And it's stated Maekar called all his sons to court after his coronation.

6 minutes ago, Mourning Star said:

Do we even know where he was when he died? Was he in Exile? Where were his wife and son?

I had considered this, as well, but there are no hints in the text that he was exiled again.

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If there are dots we haven't connected so far, then I suggest we stop pretending we know when Aerion Brightflame returned to Westeros. It was supposed to be a short exile ... but that was when Daeron II - Aerion's grandfather - still sat the Iron Throne, a man who seems to have shown his son Maekar considerable favor (he gave him Summerhall, for instance).

But now Aerys I sits the Iron Throne and Bloodraven rules the Seven Kingdoms in his name ... and neither king nor Hand are on speaking terms with Maekar at the moment. Why should they allow Aerion Brightflame to return to Westeros? Why should they grant Maekar any favors? Why should they want a mad princeling in their lands? Maekar is already a potential loose cannon, why would they need Aerion in addition to Maekar?

The answer is - they do not really have a reason to do this.

Aerion could very well remain in exile throughout most of the reign of Aerys I - until the Third Blackfyre Rebellion. And if he hasn't been allowed to return home by then ... then, well, his road back home might have been to team up with Bittersteel and Haegon.

After all, Aerion is still just the second son of Prince Maekar, and Princess Aelora might still be the king's heir in 219 AC. He has no realistic chance to ever sit the Iron Throne even if he were allowed to return to Westeros, but with Haegon and Bittersteel he could return home and he could play a crucial role at Haegon's court. That would be much better than exile.

If that were so then we have to assume that he turned his cloak at a crucial point since he had enough standing with his family and King Aerys to urge the latter to execute Bittersteel after his capture.

An intriguing thought could be that Aerion kind of pulled a Tywin or Jaime on Haegon, capturing and murdering Haegon at a crucial moment, and then selling his Blackfyre allegiance as an undercover mission for the loyalists to whoever was stupid enough to believe that shit. Alternatively, he could have defected to the loyalists providing with crucial information to defeat the rebels.

Also, Prince Maegor's late birth - only in 232 AC - would support the idea that Aerion married his cousin Daenora rather late. It seems as if Daenora may not be born yet in TMK (only the twins are mentioned), indicating that Aerion could only marry her late in the 220s if she were born as late as 213-216 AC (she could even be a posthumous child of Rhaegel's) it is still quite odd that a man like Aerion remained unmarried for such a long period of time, especially considering that he had two sisters he could marry (especially after the end of Daella's betrothal). A prolonged exile could explain this - there aren't any highborn Westerosi brides to be had in Essos. If he had returned in 215 AC, say, then he would have likely not waited to be able to marry his cousin Daenora but would have rather taken some other bride.

Insofar as the general question is concerned:

I don't think it is very likely that Bittersteel and Aerion served with the Second Sons at the same time. I'd expect that Bittersteel's days with that company are long over by the time of the first Dunk & Egg stories. Bittersteel's days as a sellsword with a free company would have been during the first years of his exile, when he had to make a living. Around the time of Whitewalls Bittersteel is apparently in Tyrosh with the Blackfyres, indicating that he has established himself to the degree that he doesn't have to sell his sword anymore.

The foundation of the Golden Company I'd also view as a reaction to the disaster of Whitewalls.

Vice versa, I'd expect that Aerion only joined the Second Sons when he really had to make a living in exile, i.e. not necessarily in the first years of his exile. We can assume that Maekar sent him to Lys because he knew wealthy magisters and the like who take him in - but considering Aerion's personality it is likely that he couldn't stay with them for long.

Also, if you think about it - if it were to turn out that Dunk joined the KG during the reign of Aerys I then one way to make sense of that would be if Aerion was stil in exile at that time and nobody expected him to ever return. Because it is simply inconceivable that Dunk would join the KG while Aerion was a member of the royal family. He can only join the KG while Aerion is gone or after Aerion is dead (and the latter seems to me to likeliest scenario, but if George wanted to take a different road this could be it).

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40 minutes ago, Lord Varys said:

And if he hasn't been allowed to return home by then ... then, well, his road back home might have been to team up with Bittersteel and Haegon.

This could be the motive I was looking for. It seems to have been some kind of 'soft exile' first, but that could have changed after Bloodraven came to power. Aelor and Aelora even might have had personal issues with Aerion (at least his relations to Valarr were rather strained).

51 minutes ago, Lord Varys said:

it is still quite odd that a man like Aerion remained unmarried for such a long period of time, especially considering that he had two sisters he could marry (especially after the end of Daella's betrothal). A prolonged exile could explain this - there aren't any highborn Westerosi brides to be had in Essos. If he had returned in 215 AC, say, then he would have likely not waited to be able to marry his cousin Daenora but would have rather taken some other bride.

We know Aerion was back in 219 and he was at court in 221, so question remains why he didn't marry earlier. Maybe his sisters were already married then and he considered only a Targaryen a worthy wife for him.

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5 minutes ago, The Wondering Wolf said:

This could be the motive I was looking for. It seems to have been some kind of 'soft exile' first, but that could have changed after Bloodraven came to power. Aelor and Aelora even might have had personal issues with Aerion (at least his relations to Valarr were rather strained).

Aelor and Aelora were still 'children' in 211-212 AC, and since Rhaegel apparently lives at court they would have lived there, too while we can assume that Maekar's sons lived with their father at Summerhall (at least most of the time).

Even if Aerion was at court as a page or squire - like Egg was - I don't think Aerion would have bothered much with his younger cousins, especially if they were of the same age as Egg - or younger still.

Still, though, Aerion would have been a very unpopular guy after Ashford. The whole thing resulted in Baelor Breakspear's death - who was loved by all.

I'd not be surprised if Aerys I was very angry with Maekar and his sons for what they were responsible for. If we think about the man for a moment he seems to be effectively another version of Archmaester Vaegon - and Vaegon didn't want to be king, he wanted to be left alone to pursue his many interests. That is what Aerys I continued to do as king, but he also had to shoulder that burden to a point. One can see him cursing Maekar and his sons when Bloodraven or whoever approached him and informed him about the deaths of Valarr and Matarys and the king, telling him that he had to ascend the Iron Throne now or chaos might engulf the city and the Realm. After all, next in line would have been mad Rhaegel, so Aerys really couldn't abdicate in favor of his younger brother. And it would have been unthinkable at that time - and later, too, perhaps - to pass over Rhaegel and his children to turn to Maekar the Kinslayer, merely a couple of months after Baelor's death.

In fact, it could have been this thing that caused Aerys I to pass over Maekar as Hand and turn to Bloodraven in the first place. Because Maekar's kinslaying had forced him to ascend the Iron Throne and he had no desire to do that.

Also, it might be this thing which caused Aerys I to name Aelora his heir rather than Maekar - because Maekar may have remained tremendously unpopular with most folks up until after the Third Rebellion where he may have helped to save the dynasty and thus redeemed himself to a point.

5 minutes ago, The Wondering Wolf said:

We know Aerion was back in 219 and he was at court in 221, so question remains why he didn't marry earlier. Maybe his sisters were already married then and he considered only a Targaryen a worthy wife for him.

That is certainly a possibility but even then it stands to reason that only a King Maekar would have allowed Aerion to marry Daenora. Aerys I or Rhaegel or Aelor or Aelora may not have been inclined to permit such a match since neither of these people is very likely to have been close to Aerion.

That would still mean Aerion waited a long time for a match that might never be.

If he had returned in the early 210s he should have been able to marry one of his sisters - either Daella after the end of her betrothal or, more likely, Rhae who apparently wasn't betrothed to anyone in 211 AC. And both girls seem to be somewhat older than Daenora - assuming we are correct and she wasn't born already in 211-12 AC.

He would also have had time and opportunity to make a fine match outside the family. In 232 AC he is approaching forty already, a rather old age to be a father for the first time, especially for a man who may have been Prince of Dragonstone and Heir Apparent to the Iron Throne after Daeron's death.

If we look at things we should assume that Daeron and Aerion must have married around the time Egg married Betha. Either when Maekar became Heir Apparent or after he became king. Because then it was clear that the dynasty demanded that the line of King Maekar continue.

The year of birth of Vaella the Simple would also imply that Daeron married around that time. If he had married earlier, during the reign of Aerys I, then it would also be somewhat odd that his first child was only born in 222 AC.

And thinking of Kiera of Tyrosh - I think she could very well be another dot nobody connected so far. Very few people ever wondered why the hell Valarr's widow married Daeron the Drunk? This kind of thing rarely happens in Westeros.

Who was that woman and when and why was this match arranged? If Kiera were a relation of Rohanne of Tyrosh - possibly even a daughter of hers who didn't go by the Blackfyre name or who was fathered by a husband she took after Daemon's death in 196 AC - then there are all kinds of political implications to this marriage.

Daeron II may have arranged it to stop Rohanne's family from supporting the Blackfyres, giving one of their relations a rather crucial place in the royal family (Valarr and his children were expected to succeed Daeron II and Baelor in the future), and Maekar may have tried a similar thing with the same woman and his heir in 221 AC. Their marriage could be part of the reason why there was no Blackfyre Rebellion during Maekar's reign.

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OCTOBER 14, 1998

[Summary: sandrews asks if Duncan from the Hedge Knight fathered a family, is the family existant at the time of the books, why Aemon Targaryen did not appear in the story, and whether Dany has any kin in Lys because of Aerion Brightfire's exile.]

The answers to (i) and (ii) will have to wait until I write more stories of Dunk and Egg, or possibly until later volumes in A SONG OF ICE AND FIRE.

As to (iii), well, Aemon was at the Citadel in Oldtown, studying for his maester's chain. He had no part in the story I was telling in "The Hedge Knight," so I saw no reason to drag him on stage.

Lastly, (iv), well, Aerion Brightfire did not stay in Lys all his life, only a few years. He may have fathered a few bastards there, which would mean Dany has "relatives" of a sort in Lys... but they would be very distant relatives, from the wrong side of the blanket.

 

 

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10 hours ago, Lord Varys said:

Aelor and Aelora were still 'children' in 211-212 AC, and since Rhaegel apparently lives at court they would have lived there, too while we can assume that Maekar's sons lived with their father at Summerhall (at least most of the time).

Even if Aerion was at court as a page or squire - like Egg was - I don't think Aerion would have bothered much with his younger cousins, especially if they were of the same age as Egg - or younger still.

Sure, I rather thought about the years after 215 AC. Aerion and Valarr wouldn't have lived at the same place, either, but I guess from time to time the royal family met to celebrate this or that event. And if Aerion regularily had behaved as he did in the tourney when he pretended to challenge Valarr, he would have been rather unpopular among his cousins. I don't want to stress that point anyway, it was just a thought that Aerion had no reason to assume that even if King Aerys died soon the new rulers would look more favorably on him.

10 hours ago, Lord Varys said:

Also, it might be this thing which caused Aerys I to name Aelora his heir rather than Maekar - because Maekar may have remained tremendously unpopular with most folks up until after the Third Rebellion where he may have helped to save the dynasty and thus redeemed himself to a point.

That makes sense to me.

10 hours ago, Lord Varys said:

That is certainly a possibility but even then it stands to reason that only a King Maekar would have allowed Aerion to marry Daenora.

Aerion thought he was a dragon, so I can totally see that any other bride than a Targaryen wife would be beneath him in his opinion. Maekar might have allowed the marriage with Daenora when Daeron was dead and Vaella turned out to be simple-minded. Uniting the two lines would have made sense, too. Allowing the marriage before Daeron died could have caused succession issues in the long term.

10 hours ago, Lord Varys said:

And thinking of Kiera of Tyrosh - I think she could very well be another dot nobody connected so far. Very few people ever wondered why the hell Valarr's widow married Daeron the Drunk? This kind of thing rarely happens in Westeros.

We know the Archons of Tyrosh only rule for an unknown amount of time (let's say five or at most ten years), so there may be a constant change of the family who is in charge. I guess the Targaryens tried to make a political allicance with a rival family of Rohanne's so Tyrosh would withdraw its support for the Blackfyres. 

I think the main reason why there wasn't an invasion during Maekar's reign was because of the crushing defeat the Blackfyres had to deal with in 219 AC, but Tyrosh not supporting them anymore could have played a role, too.

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7 minutes ago, The Wondering Wolf said:

Sure, I rather thought about the years after 215 AC. Aerion and Valarr wouldn't have lived at the same place, either, but I guess from time to time the royal family met to celebrate this or that event. And if Aerion regularily had behaved as he did in the tourney when he pretended to challenge Valarr, he would have been rather unpopular among his cousins. I don't want to stress that point anyway, it was just a thought that Aerion had no reason to assume that even if King Aerys died soon the new rulers would look more favorably on him.

From what we know from Egg, Aerion behaved the way he did at the tourney because Maekar wasn't there - and, presumably, because his royal grandfather wasn't there, either. He didn't care appearing nice and gallant to uncle Baelor, but Aerion definitely didn't want to provoke his father.

That sort of limits what he would dared to do to others. It is also quite telling that Aerion didn't dare to challenge Valarr. He brutalized his own younger siblings, but doing that to cousins who were closer to the throne could go very badly for him. In the end, Maekar's children are just spares nobody needs in 209 AC.

7 minutes ago, The Wondering Wolf said:

Aerion thought he was a dragon, so I can totally see that any other bride than a Targaryen wife would be beneath him in his opinion. Maekar might have allowed the marriage with Daenora when Daeron was dead and Vaella turned out to be simple-minded. Uniting the two lines would have made sense, too. Allowing the marriage before Daeron died could have caused succession issues in the long term.

That is a pretty good idea, especially if Aerion would turn out to be a Blackfyre supporter who only redeemed himself at the end of the Third Rebellion. Maekar wouldn't exactly trust his son all that far in such a scenario.

However, in light of the fact that Maekar had no grandchildren at the time of his ascension it would be odd if he were to bar his second son from a marriage. It would also be odd if he or Aerys I allowed Aegon to marry while both Daeron and Aerion were yet unmarried.

7 minutes ago, The Wondering Wolf said:

We know the Archons of Tyrosh only rule for an unknown amount of time (let's say five or at most ten years), so there may be a constant change of the family who is in charge. I guess the Targaryens tried to make a political allicance with a rival family of Rohanne's so Tyrosh would withdraw its support for the Blackfyres. 

Yes, but as things stand chances are pretty good that Kiera didn't marry Daeron shortly after Valarr's death. Are to we to believe her father or a different close relation remained Archon for over a decade?

7 minutes ago, The Wondering Wolf said:

I think the main reason why there wasn't an invasion during Maekar's reign was because of the crushing defeat the Blackfyres had to deal with in 219 AC, but Tyrosh not supporting them anymore could have played a role, too.

That certainly might be the case, but Maekar should be a pretty unpopular king due to the baggage of the kinslayer thing. He as king could curse the Realm even more than Bloodraven the Kinslayer did as Hand. Aerys I wasn't a kinslayer himself, after all. But Maekar was.

In that sense, I think Bittersteel and his allies could have used that as propaganda.

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"The Golden Company was reputedly the finest of the free companies, founded a century ago by Bittersteel, a bastard son of Aegon the Unworthy." - first half of 300 AC, ADWD, Tyrion II.

Golden Company was created no later than in 200 AC, because by the first half of 300 AC it has already existed for 100 years. Maybe it was founded in 200, or maybe in 199 (though, apparently, they haven't celebrated their 101st "birthday", yet).

Based on the other information that Tyrion thought in that chapter, it seems that after Bittersteel and Daemon's people came to Essos, some time later (not necessary immediately) some of them joined various sellswords companies, including Bittersteel, who joined the Second Sons. He served with them one year, then left and some time later (but no later than 200 AC) created GC. So he could have served with SS anytime between early 197 and early 200 (he came to Essos in the end of 196 or very early 197). And Aerion was sent into exile to Lys in 209.

Thus, there's no way that the two of them served at SS together.

The full quote about the founding of GC:

Quote

The magister waggled his fat fingers. "Some contracts are writ in ink, and some in blood. I say no more."

The dwarf pondered that. The Golden Company was reputedly the finest of the free companies, founded a century ago by Bittersteel, a bastard son of Aegon the Unworthy. When another of Aegon's Great Bastards tried to seize the Iron Throne from his trueborn half-brother, Bittersteel joined the revolt. Daemon Blackfyre had perished on the Redgrass Field, however, and his rebellion with him. Those followers of the Black Dragon who survived the battle yet refused to bend the knee fled across the narrow sea, among them Daemon's younger sons, Bittersteel, and hundreds of landless lords and knights who soon found themselves forced to sell their swords to eat. Some joined the Ragged Standard, some the Second Sons or Maiden's Men. Bittersteel saw the strength of House Blackfyre scattering to the four winds, so he formed the Golden Company to bind the exiles together.

From that day to this, the men of the Golden Company had lived and died in the Disputed Lands, fighting for Myr or Lys or Tyrosh in their pointless little wars, and dreaming of the land their fathers had lost. They were exiles and sons of exiles, dispossessed and unforgiven … yet formidable fighters still.

Though there's also this:

Quote

In Essos, Bittersteel gathered exiled lords and knights, and their descendants, to him. He formed the Golden Company in 212 AC, and soon established it as the foremost free company of the Disputed Lands. - TWOIAF, Daeron II.

 

So Tyrion said that the Golden Company was created a century ago (thus no later than in the first half of 200 AC), and in The World Book it is written that GC was formed in 212 AC.

One of those is wrong.

And, concidering that ADWD (published in 2011) was written by GRRM alone, while TWOIAF (2014) was co-written by three people, it seems that the TWOIAF's version is the incorrect one. And this seems to be the source of mistake:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_World_of_Ice_%26_Fire#Development

"Elio García and Linda Antonsson head the A Song of Ice and Fire fansite Westeros.org.[4]George R. R. Martin enlisted them in 2006 to assist with the project, which at the time he believed would be finished by 2008.[6] García is a Martin "superfan" whom the author and HBO have consulted on details previously established by Martin in the series.[7]

The book's planned length was 50,000 words, but historical references collected by García and Antonsson from the books amounted to 70,000, and after Martin "polished it, expanded it and fill in the holes" it became 100,000 words. Martin also started writing "sidebar" stories for the book but at one point he realized he had written 350,000 more words. As this did not fit the original concept of a fully illustrated book—the number of illustrations remaining the same—Martin removed his sidebar stories, and the rest was abridged by García and Antonsson. Parts of the removed material appeared in Gardner Dozois's anthologies Dangerous Women (as The Princess and the Queen), Rogues (as The Rogue Prince) and The Book of Swords (as The Sons of the Dragon).[8]"

 

The book was supposed to be only 50,000 words and was supposed to be done by 2008. So it was supposed to be published before ADWD. There was made a lot of adjustments and changes during the writing of TWOIAF. Though ADWD he (GRRM) was writing on his own pace, so he didn't made that sort of mistakes, everything there as it should be (and thus by the first half of 300 AC, Golden Company had already existed for 100 years, which means that it was created no later than in 200 AC and not in 212 AC).

"García is a Martin "superfan" whom the author and HBO have consulted on details previously established by Martin in the series."

GRRM said something like - concerning "enciclopedic" information about ASOIAF's universe he is relying on Elio and Linda, because he himself doesn't remember all the details. So that's how there had occured a discrepancy between what is written in ADWD and TWOIAF.

They should ask him in what year exactly the Golden Company was created, and I think that he won't remember and will ask them the same question back. And to check it, they will look into TWOIAF, where it's written 212 AC, though in ADWD there's a different info.

So, before releasing TWOIAF, they (GRRM and Elio&Linda) should have been more through with comparing their notes.

Also, logically it doesn't make much sense that after migrating to Essos, Bittersteel waited for 15 years prior he created GC. It seems more reasonable if he created it within a couple of years, otherwise it would even have been difficult to gather Daemon I Blackfyre's followers more than a decade after their migration to Essos. If they were left in the wind for all those years, then majority of them would have died. So it makes sense that Bittersteel gathered all of them earlier (by 200 or even before that), not later (like in 212). But that's my opinion.

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