The Princess and the Queen [SPOILERS]

[Rheagar Prime]

I only have a couple of things to add...OneEyedRaven and JetBoyGirl have done a great job :)

1) Rhaenyrs is the Princess of Dragonstone. That is the seat of the recognized Targ heir. As stated previously, she went into an extremely difficult labor a month early and the child was female, stillborn, and was deformed (tail compared to a dragon...either a failure for the spinal column to complete formation or a vestigial tail). Rhaenyrs claimed the child as her only daughter and blamed her stepmother (Queen Alysant? Alicent?) for the child's death.

2) Rhaenyrs has five sons...15, 14, 12 and the youngest was (if I recall) 6. The 3 eldest beg to assist in the coming battle. The two eldest are sent off as envoys because they are almost men and have demonstrated decent control of their dragons. The two eldest were an Aegon and Aemon if I remember (or maybe they were Daemon and Daegon--I don't remember). Rhaenyrs realized that her eldest son was almost a man and permitted him to fly North to the Eyrie, White Harbor and then to Winterfell. The 14 yr old was allowed to go as an envoy on the shorter journey to Storm's End once he gave his word that he would deliver Rhaenyrs' message and not engage in battle. The 12 yr old requested to go and was denied since he did not quite have control of his dragon. The 4th son had a dragon not yet strong enough to ride and the 5th son (age 6, I think) only had an egg.

3) Rhaenyrs counted 12 dragons...3 of those were wild dragons that could be harnessed to their own dragons if necessary. Three or 4 others had be ridden previously, but were basically in retirement on the top of DragonStone.

4) Prior to Rhaenyrs sending her own second born to Storm's End with her messages, Queen Alysant had sent her own second-born son (Aegon's heir) to Storm's End with orders to woo a daughter to ensure their loyalty.

5) Rhaenyrs' current husband, Daemon, along with his dragon, has extensive battle experience over the StepStones from prior military operations when he was younger.

6) Yes, Tyland Lannister is declared Hand of the King to Aegon.

Sorry...I am terrible with Aegon, Viserys and all corresponding numbers associated with their name.

Truthfully, I think I was one of the few people that raised their hand for George to continue reading 'The Princess and the Queen' at Saturday's reading. I was disappointed that more did not want to hear it.

'Dangerous Women' will be out in December so you can ask for it from Santa :D

wow this novella sounds intense damn i hope george finds time to finish the series. Thats for clearing up the question i had about the number of dragons since i know balerion and merexes were dead (such a shame too)

[Mithras]

In this novella, I hope GRRM finally gives us more clues aout dragon hatching and controlling. In the TWoW, these subjects will be important. Given the parallel between D&E novellas and ASOIAF, GRRM likes to make these kind of explanations in D&E novellas.

[Queen‍‍‍‍‍‍ Alysanne‍‍™]

In this novella, I hope GRRM finally gives us more clues aout dragon hatching and controlling. In the TWoW, these subjects will be important. Given the parallel between D&E novellas and ASOIAF, GRRM likes to make these kind of explanations in D&E novellas.

Yea I think that is one of the reasons of this novella.

There has been very little explanation of dragons in the series since when Dany hatched them she hasnt met anyone of that knowledge.

[Rhaenys_Targaryen]

Well, guys, it was always obvious that the Targaryen blood had something to do with Rhaego's birth defects. Even if we assume that Mirri's magic triggered them, the way she killed the child were obviously Targaryen-like. We also do all assume that Dany's blood and heritage had something to do with her hatching the dragon eggs, do we?

Thus it's not surprising that other Targaryen women gave birth to dragonspawn children. And in turn Aerys II and Aerion Brightflame may not have been all that mad when they started to believe that they could transform physically into dragons. But they had no clues how such a thing could actually work.

Rhaenyra may share other characteristics with Dany as well. She is the Princess of Dragonstone and as such she apparently is in charge of the dragon population (and the dragon resupply) of House Targaryen. What we know about the dragons indicated that they mated, bred, and hatched on Dragonstone - most likely near or on the Dragonmount. As of yet it was never mentioned whether the Targaryen dragon eggs hatched on their own/due to breeding activity by the parent dragons, or if hatching Targaryen dragons did also involve magical rituals conducted by female Targaryens. I'd not be surprised if it turned out that Rhaenyra and/or other Targaryen women have been 'Mothers of Dragons', at least sort of.

Rhaenyra was Princess of Dragonstone for most of life, we can be sure that at least the three wild dragons hatched during her time.

But my guess is that the two she-dragons who died during the reign of Aegon III either hatched during the Dance or even afterwards. They may have been too young/small to participate in the fighting.

As to The Queen Who Never Was:

If this Princess Rhaenys was Viserys's I elder sister, we would face the problem why she was not married to Viserys. Viserys's marriage to the Arryn-Targaryen makes it very likely that he did not have any sisters.

The fact that she is with Rhaenyra on Dragonstone strengthens my point that the whole cause of the Dance was a sort of rebellion of the non-Targaryen court establishment against the old guard of House Targaryen. Rhaenyra seems to have the backing of different generations (Daemon, Rhaenys) whereas all the Targaryens on Alicent's side seem to be her sons and daughter.

When you mention Viserys' wife, and you say Arryn-Targaryen, do you mean by that that Viserys' wife had an Arryn for a father and a Targaryen for a mother? If that is what you mean, where did you get that information from?

[Lord Varys]

Well, then, things look really interesting now.

Rhaenys,

we do know that Rhaenyra's mother - Viserys's first queen - was an Arryn from GRRM's description of her to the guy who painted her first portrait. Later on, Ran confirmed that one of Viserys's queens - either the Arryn or the Hightower - had herself Targaryen blood. I regularly inquired on this whole thing because I was irritated that a Targaryen king should choose a non-Targaryen bride for two times. Especially during the peace-and-plenty era of Jaehaerys I and Viserys I.

As it turns out the queen with Targaryen blood was Rhaenyra's mother, the Arryn. That's finally confirmed in the excerpt of 'The Princess and the Queen' we can all read on tor.com. Lord Beesbury makes the point that Rhaenyra has more Targaryen blood than Queen Alicent's children. Meaning that one of Rhaenyra's maternal grandparents or great-grandparents must have been a Targaryen as well.

But we don't yet know who this Targaryen princess was. If she was the mother of Rhaenyra's mother, then it's likely that she was one of the younger daughters of Jaehaerys and Alysanne - we don't have a clue how many children they had. If she was the grandmother of Rhaenyra's mother then it's likely that she was one of the daughters of Aenys I. Maegor the Cruel apparently had no children. Some people like to think that little Lord Ronnel Arryn - the one who wanted to ride on Vhagar when Visenya came to the Vale to conquer - eventually got a Targaryen bride later on. But that's not yet confirmed. If that's the case, and if that's the woman Rhaenyra's mother is descended from, she would have to be one of Aenys's younger sisters (i.e. a daughter of Aegon the Conqueror and Queen Rhaenys).

A few additional details:

1. We have heard that Queen Alicent has convinced Aegon II to take the crown by telling him that Rhaenyra would kill his two little children to solidify her rule. Now we have heard that Aegon's second brother, Prince Aemond - the one who goes to Storm's End on Vhagar - is considered Aegon's II heir. Does this mean that Aegon II has only two daughters?

2. Any mention as to the Viserys's I dragon? If he had one, is with Alicent and Aegon II in KL, or among the 'retired dragons' on Dragonstone? I only ask because if all of Alicent's children have their own dragons, they would have five instead of four after the king's death if we assume that Viserys, too, had a dragon.

3. Does anyone remember who the Queen's Hand is? Some powerful Lord, or a no-name kind of guy?

4. Is Rhaenyra's Strong lover still alive and present on Dragonstone?

5. What about House Velaryon? Considering that three of Rhaenyra's sons are supposed to be Velaryons, are they - and the other known vassal houses of Dragonstone - present during her councils? Who is Lord of Driftmark if Rhaenyra's eldest son is not? Was the eldest son considered Rhaenyra's heir or were they excluded from the line of succession (due to their rumored bastard-heritage)?

6. As I take it, Rhaenyra's four elder sons all had a dragon. The fourth son whose dragon was not yet big enough to be ridden would be Aegon III. Can anyone confirm this? If that's the case, the later Dragonbane did not only have a dragon but may have even participated in the war on dragonback eventually (for instance, he could have escaped Aegon II on dragonback after he witnessed his mother's death). If so, Viserys II would be the six-year-old who carries around his dragon egg.

7. Any idea as to why Ser Otto Hightower steps down/is fired as Hand of Aegon II? He was the one who made Aegon II King. Surely Aegon should reward his grandfather!

8. Ser Tyland Lannister was Master of Ships before he was named Hand. Does this mean that Casterly Rock still has a huge fleet back in this time? Do Alicent and Aegon II already expect that they will need a major fleet?

9. Any word on the fate of Balerion the Black Dread? We know that he died during the reign of Jaehaerys I, and apparently close to the end of his rule. Was he perhaps the dragon of Princess Rhaenys, The Queen Who Never Was?

10. Any indication that Rhaenyra's second son - the one who was sent to Storm's End - may be her favorite son? If so, his death may mark the point when the real nasty tactics begin...

Some commentaries:

My best guess is that Rhaenyra's principal supporters will turn out to be the Arryns and Starks. The former because of the kinship to Rhaenyra and the fact that they have an unmarried single Lady. I'd not be surprised if the Maid of the Vale is going to marry Rhaenyra's eldest son. The Starks because they honor should demand of them to stick to the oath they or their descendants swore to Rhaenyra as a child. To make things even on the battlefield Rhaenyra should have at least two regions she can count on completely.

Aegon II apparently is going to get the Stormlands - already confirmed in ADwD -, the West (the Lord of Casterly Rock is Ser Tyland Lannister's twin brother!), and good portions of the Reach. As of yet no idea to who the Tullys or Greyjoys are going to back initially, or what the Dornishmen are going to do (I'd jump on the chance to plunder/invade the Marches and the Reach!).

And we should take all this with a grain of salt. The Lannisters may declare for Aegon II, but the Reynes, Tarbecks, and especially the Marbrands may stick to Rhaenyra. Something similar may happen with powerful houses in the Stormlands, the Reach, and the Vale. The Lords of the North I expect to follow the lead of House Stark, though they won't be able to back Rhaenyra with all than many troops...

As to the dragons and their eggs:

It's really interesting to learn that the young Targaryen children were apparently expected to hatch their dragon eggs for themselves! This would explain why the Targaryens still were given eggs into their cradles in Egg's time. From the reading about Aenys and Maegor we also know that the the children of Aegon I were supposed to bond to their own dragons. This could indicate that most of the Targaryen eggs were not hatched by other dragons but by their future riders. The fact that some of Rhaenyra's dragons were 'retired dragons' could either indicate that later generation Targaryens started to face some difficulties to bind with older dragons, or that there were too many eggs and small dragons. It would be much more risky to give, say, Balerion or Vhagar to a ten-year-old than a recently hatched dragon.

But the story how Prince Aemond bonded with Vhagar sounds really interesting.

[Anath]

Lord Varys,

I am also interested in the way Rhaenyra's succession was about to develop. I don't think her older sons would have been excluded because of the rumours about their parentage - first, the Targaryens back then are strong enough not to let rumours dictate their behavior; and while the whole parentage thing is a delicious rumour, it would have been a hard blow on the Queen's prestige if she was almost officially declared to have borne bastards.

It's possible they were behind their younger half-brothers, though, because of the purity of blood - Aegon and Viserys both had more Targaryen blood than Rhaenyra's older sons. Not very likely but possible.

[Lord Varys]

The succession thing is tricky:

The line of succession under Viserys I:

1. He installed Rhaenyra as his heir. From that point forward the usual would make Rhaenyra's eldest son her heir, followed by all her children. Only after that would come Aegon, his children, and then Aegon's younger siblings.

2. But we don't know if Viserys changed something else as well. Say, if Rhaenyra's Velaryon husband was the Lord of Driftmark then it's not unlikely that one of her older sons followed his father as Lord Velaryon. As of yet we don't know if Rhaenyra's first husband was the Lord Velaryon, but it's very likely. The fact that she had a lover during this time indicates that this was a political marriage. If that's right, then I can't see a good reason why the Princess of Dragonstone should be married to a second or third son Velaryon. Considering that GRRM apparently only deleted Lord Lyonel Strong as Rhaenyra's husband but kept the three sons, and possibly even their Strong heritage, I'd not be surprised if the Velaryon husband turned out to be Lord of Driftmark and Hand of the King - just as Lyonel Strong was supposed to be Lord of Harrenhal and Hand of the King.

3. Since Viserys was still alive back then, he would have settled this whole thing, and perhaps even named one of his grandsons Lord of Driftmark. It's not impossible that said son was then excluded from the line of succession for the Iron Throne.

The only option for Rhaenyra's sons not being direct heirs to Driftmark (assuming that their 'father' was Lord Velaryon) is if their father had other sons from another marriage. My assumption always was that Rhaenyra chose her first husband (or was married to him) because he had considerable power and influence at court. Which might make him an older rather than a younger man...

4. Later on Rhaenyra married her uncle. This could have changed things even more. Both Viserys and Daemon may have had an interest to put Rhaenyra's sons by Daemon before the Velaryon sons in the line of succession, especially if both of them knew that they were no real Velaryons. The Velaryons back then would have been close kin to the Targaryens in any case. In essence, Rhaenyra is in the same situation as her father before her. She has a bunch of children from two different men, and if she had succeeded her father peacefully a war of succession could have been broken upon her death.

But anyway, my guess on the three older sons is that I do not believe that all three sons are not from her Velaryon husband. One or two maybe, but not all three. Rhaenyra is not as stupid as Cersei!

The line of succession under Rhaenyra I:

After her father died Rhaenyra may have changed any regulations her father imposed on her (if there were such things). Having nearly grown up male heir could only help her cause, so if any of her elder sons were excluded from the line of succession she most certainly reinstated them. Especially if it turns out that her eldest son is going to marry the Lady Maid of the Vale.

To make sense of most of this we would have to know how much influence Rhaenyra's former Strong lover still wields at her court? Is he still alive and in her graces? Is there no bad blood between him and Prince Daemon?

To inquire more on this Strong thing it would be interesting to know if anyone remembers anything from the reading about Lord Larys 'Clubfoot' Strong. He was Master of Whisperers under Viserys I, and did not say anything at all during the Small Council session in the excerpt. Is he closely related to Rhaenyra's lover? Have the Strongs joined the Greens after Rhaenyra dumped her lover?

Back in KL the Greens have to exclude all female Targaryens from the line of succession to make sense of their argument that women should not rule. This means that Queen Helaena and Aegon's II daughter(s) cannot inherit, or at least come last in the line of succession:

1. King Aegon II

2. Prince Aemond

3. unknown second brother

(4. Aegon's II elder daughter - if he has no son)

(5. Aegon's II younger daughter - if he has no son)

(6. Queen Helaena)

Technically Daemon Targaryen would come before the women, but my guess is that Aegon II disinherited his half-sister as well as his uncle...

[Anath]

Lord Varys,

You draw an interesting parallel between Rhaenyra's future position and that of her father. Come to think of it, it's not very likely that her older sons would be so eager to take part in the fighting if they had been removed from the succession on any grounds.

I also think Rhaenyra's first husband was Lord Velaryon and Hand of the King, although I don't see him as having any living heirs from an earlier marriage. Rhaenyra probably married him because of his power and positions, so it makes no sense for her to lose them if he died early - as he did - to sons or daughters from another, earlier wife.

In fact, I am wondering whether the whole "they're all Strong's sons!" isn't a machination on Alicent's part. As you pointed out, Rhaenyra was not stupid and she would have hardly broken her husband's reputation that was so important to her by giving birth to bastards, making him a cuckold for all to see. An affair with a Strong is one thing but it is not necessary for it to result in children. I am curious to her sons' looks as well...

[History of Westeros]

I think it highly likely that the "Greens" are responsible for the bastardy rumors surrounding Rhaenyra's elder boys, though this may be a case where the rumors are true, or partly true.

I also agree that Storm's End is where things will start to get particularly nasty. The prediction that Aemond and Vhagar will kill Rhaenyra's 3rd son I consider very strong. We are told Lord Baratheon at the time was very supportive of Rhaenyra. Perhaps he was co-erced into changing his mind. Vhagar alone could be threat enough, and perhaps Aemond was able to make a credible threat to the Baratheon family that involved the taking of a "hostage". In quotes because the girl might not realize she is a hostage, but her father would.

If Lord Baratheon had a daughter, he could've easily married her to one of Rhaenyra's sons. Perhaps he became convinced of the rumors that the eldest children were Strong bastards. But surely he knew Rhaenyra had more dragons, and Daemon Targaryen besides... so the Baratheon flip will probably be very interesting when fully revealed.

The naval situation is interesting. The Lannisters probably were more of a sea power back then. They certainly took heavy losses to Dagon Greyjoy and perhaps even greater losses to Balon when Euron burned the entire fleet at anchor. Lannister strength at sea, at the beginning of aGoT, was quite possibly atypical. As an independent kingdom they probably needed to maintain a decent navy as well. Assuming the Lannisters are for Aegon, and assuming the Arbor and Oldtown fleets are too, add in the Royal Fleet and you've got a huge edge. Rhaenyra would only have the Vale's navy (which had been burned during the Conquest. Possibly rebuilt but possibly weaker than before) for certain. That might be a part of why White Harbor was important. The Starks had no real strength at sea, the Greyjoys unlikely to take sides (likely to take advantage of the chaos by raiding etc), the Stormlands not known for naval strength.

The vulnerability of ships to dragonfire and this likely imbalance of naval strength leads us to something we've predicted and discussed in a few other threads: dragons fighting/dying over the sea. Rhaenyra would have little choice but to burn her enemies fleets, as meeting them conventionally wouldn't be an option. Aegon II and his commanders would realize this, and protect their fleets with a dragon or two of their own.

On the subject of the crowns: good to see our prediction that Viserys I's crown was stolen for Rhaenyra was true. We guessed that it was likely a member of the Small Council (since so few people knew Viserys was dead), but it turned out to be a Kingsguard knight, apparently.

[Lord Varys]

On Rhaenyra's private life:

The interesting question here is if her Strong lover was more some kind of a paramour. If that was the case, if she, Strong, and Velaryon lived in some sort of menage à trois, then the probability of her sons being Strongs is much more likely. Such a scenario is not unlikely. The Targaryens still had their dragons, they could do whatever the hell they want.

Then the rumors about the bastardy of the sons would not be hushed rumors, but quite strong. But even then no one could prove the accusations, unless it was public knowledge that old Lord Velaryon was incapable to conceive, or Rhaenyra did get pregnant while her husband was abroad.

If the Strongs had fair hair an stuff Rhaenyra's sons by her lover could pass as Velaryon-Targaryens. But if the Strongs - or at least Rhaenyra's lover - were dark-haired, brown-eyed, and all/some of her three elder sons looked like that, this whole thing would be no rumor at all.

Back then it should have made only a small difference if a Targaryen married a relative or a Velaryon. Both of them should have had enough Valyrian blood to produce Valyrian-looking offspring (especially since the Velaryons and the Targaryens should have intermarried at least once since Aerion and Velena.

[History of Westeros]

We hear no talk of the Velaryons or Celtigars etc. intermarrying with each other of course, so it's likely that these houses have a good deal of "normal" Westerosi blood, with some of them looking the part. They should have less Valyrian blood than the Targs. That said I agree that at least House Velaryon must have plenty of Valyrian blood, as even Aurane Waters looks Valyrian, and he comes along 145 some years later. I guess there must be a lot of intermarrying between the houses sworn to Dragonstone.

The inverse of your bastardy scenario should be considered as well. You suggest that if Velaryon looks Valyrian and Strong looks Westerosi, and a child or two of Rhaenyra's looks Westerosi, the rumors are fueled.

Consider that this particular Lord Velaryon may have been one such that didn't have the Valyrian look. If that's the case, (and those of House Strong looked Westerosi), it would be harder to prove the bastardy, even if the kids looked Westerosi.

Finally, there's the remote possibility that House Strong was founded by Valyrian offshoots or even via a Targ marriage, and the Strongs AND Velaryons of that time looked Valyrian. This would also complicate matters as Rhaenyra's kids' appearance would not give a clue as to their father was.

[History of Westeros]

The notion that Daemon Targaryen fought in the Stepstones is very interesting. Almost everything we hear of with regards to activity in the Stepstones seems to involve pirates. The Ninepenny kings took them, or part of them... but at least one or two of those nine were pirates themselves.

I would think the Stepstones much less important with Dorne not a part of the kingdom, but I suppose the pirates there would cause a problem for shipping regardless of that.

I would also think, given ships' great vulnerability to dragons, that Daemon was a very effective pirate hunter, if that's indeed what he was doing down there.

[Daena the Defiant]

whoa - you all lost me at the Maid of the Vale!

Name, please? Any other details?

[Queen‍‍‍‍‍‍ Alysanne‍‍™]

Thanks for the update Lord Varys.

I think its possible Aenys I sister married to an Arryn for political reasons just like Aenys.

On dragons.

So the targaryen children hatched the eggs themselves? without going through the process Dany went through?

[History of Westeros]

whoa - you all lost me at the Maid of the Vale!

Name, please? Any other details?

I believe others asked for the name but either it wasn't mentioned in the reading or no one recalls it.

[OneEyedRaven]

I think it highly likely that the "Greens" are responsible for the bastardy rumors surrounding Rhaenyra's elder boys, though this may be a case where the rumors are true, or partly true.

I also agree that Storm's End is where things will start to get particularly nasty. The prediction that Aemond and Vhagar will kill Rhaenyra's 3rd son I consider very strong. We are told Lord Baratheon at the time was very supportive of Rhaenyra. Perhaps he was co-erced into changing his mind. Vhagar alone could be threat enough, and perhaps Aemond was able to make a credible threat to the Baratheon family that involved the taking of a "hostage". In quotes because the girl might not realize she is a hostage, but her father would.

If Lord Baratheon had a daughter, he could've easily married her to one of Rhaenyra's sons. Perhaps he became convinced of the rumors that the eldest children were Strong bastards. But surely he knew Rhaenyra had more dragons, and Daemon Targaryen besides... so the Baratheon flip will probably be very interesting when fully revealed.

The naval situation is interesting. The Lannisters probably were more of a sea power back then. They certainly took heavy losses to Dagon Greyjoy and perhaps even greater losses to Balon when Euron burned the entire fleet at anchor. Lannister strength at sea, at the beginning of aGoT, was quite possibly atypical. As an independent kingdom they probably needed to maintain a decent navy as well. Assuming the Lannisters are for Aegon, and assuming the Arbor and Oldtown fleets are too, add in the Royal Fleet and you've got a huge edge. Rhaenyra would only have the Vale's navy (which had been burned during the Conquest. Possibly rebuilt but possibly weaker than before) for certain. That might be a part of why White Harbor was important. The Starks had no real strength at sea, the Greyjoys unlikely to take sides (likely to take advantage of the chaos by raiding etc), the Stormlands not known for naval strength.

The vulnerability of ships to dragonfire and this likely imbalance of naval strength leads us to something we've predicted and discussed in a few other threads: dragons fighting/dying over the sea. Rhaenyra would have little choice but to burn her enemies fleets, as meeting them conventionally wouldn't be an option. Aegon II and his commanders would realize this, and protect their fleets with a dragon or two of their own.

On the subject of the crowns: good to see our prediction that Viserys I's crown was stolen for Rhaenyra was true. We guessed that it was likely a member of the Small Council (since so few people knew Viserys was dead), but it turned out to be a Kingsguard knight, apparently.

George did mention that the velaryon fleet was on the same level as the iron fleet, which is why The Greens needed to try to get the Greyjoys on their side

[PatrickStormborn]

Thanks for the update Lord Varys.

I think its possible Aenys I sister married to an Arryn for political reasons just like Aenys.

On dragons.

So the targaryen children hatched the eggs themselves? without going through the process Dany went through?

Well even if the Targaryen children hatched the eggs by themselves, they had a very different situation to Daenerys, who was trying to hatch fossilized eggs.

[Queen‍‍‍‍‍‍ Alysanne‍‍™]

Well even if the Targaryen children hatched the eggs by themselves, they had a very different situation to Daenerys, who was trying to hatch fossilized eggs.

Yea that was my point I wanted to know how they hatched the unfossilized eggs.

Dany's process was obviously a miraculous event like bringing dead dragons to life.

[History of Westeros]

Thanks for the update Lord Varys.

I think its possible Aenys I sister married to an Arryn for political reasons just like Aenys.

On dragons.

So the targaryen children hatched the eggs themselves? without going through the process Dany went through?

Wait, who do you mean? Aenys I had no sisters.

Definitely a good chance for GRRM to explain the eggs and dragon-bonding. We've seen theories that Targs can bond with their eggs in the cradle, which *maybe* still fits, but it is unclear. I suspect we may need to see exactly how these things are written.

George did mention that the velaryon fleet was on the same level as the iron fleet, which is why The Greens needed to try to get the Greyjoys on their side

Oh wow, that definitely changes things. We knew the Velaryons had some power at sea, but to match the Iron Fleet? Clearly things have changed. The Dance may have severely reduced the Velaryon navy. They seem to have nowhere near that strength at any point during aSoIaF.

[History of Westeros]

Yea that was my point I wanted to know how they hatched the unfossilized eggs.

Dany's process was obviously a miraculous event like bringing dead dragons to life.

I believe even GRRM calls Dany's birthing of the dragons as "miraculous". Sadly I doubt tPatQ will give us insight there (for the fossilized eggs, we should learn a few things about normal ones), but we can hope.