Martin has been awfully quiet about the female line of house Blackfyre. George will have to fill you in all the specifics of those various wars in Fire and Blood, but this much is clear: the Blackfyres spent generations trying to land one of their boys on the Iron Throne.Īnd, as far as we know, they are now extinct in the male line. They founded the mercenary army known as the Golden Company for the express purpose of invading Westeros. King Daeron managed to hold onto his throne, but Daemon's kids and their kids repeatedly rolled up in Westeros to claim the throne over the next several years. (And yes, Brynden "Bloodraven" did go on to be that creepy man in the tree who Bran Stark hangs out with all the time.) Brynden and his crew of archers killed Daemon and his eldest son on the battlefield, before Aegor took out Brynden's eye and dipped out of Westeros to go hide in Essos with Daemon's widow and other kids. The fighting culminated in the Battle of the Redgrass Field, which featured a whole mess of Targaryen bastard brothers: Aegor "Bittersteel" Rivers, Brynden "Bloodraven" Rivers, and would-be King Daemon Blackfyre himself. Daena and her sisters had been confined to an area known as the Maidenvault, so their beauty wouldn't "tempt" their brother, the holier-than-thou King Baelor. So back in the day, when the Targaryens were still ruling Westeros (but after they goofed up so badly that all of their dragons died), a prince named Aegon hooked up with his hot cousin, Daena. So if you're a little unclear on who the Blackfyres are and why they matter, here is a very brief crash course to get you ready for some top notch Targaryen vs.
HOUSE BLACKFYRE GAME OF THRONES TV
If you're more of a fan of the TV show, or even just a book fan with better things to do than obsessively read the wiki devoted to this fandom, then you might be wondering, "What is a Blackfyre?" or "Why did these Blackfyres rebel?" or "How many families am I supposed to care about, George!?"
![house blackfyre game of thrones house blackfyre game of thrones](https://static.wikia.nocookie.net/gotmp/images/8/88/Young_Dragon.jpg)
If you're deep in the Song of Ice and Fire nerd lore, you are now nodding sagely to yourself as you mutter, "Aegon Targaryen is a Blackfyre pretender" under your breath. And that means we may finally get the inside scoop on the Blackfyres. Sure, this book may not give us any closure on whether Dany will ever make it to the Seven Kingdoms (yes), or if Jon Snow is now a zombie ghost wolf (very yes), but it will give us some bloody, bloody backstory on the royal family of Westeros. Martin is bringing us back to the World of Ice and Fire this fall with Fire and Blood, a history of House Targaryen. Winter is coming, and so is a new 'Game of Thrones' book (no, not that one, so please stop asking).