'Legacy, Opposition, Lightbringer'
An analytical framework for the birth of Dany's dragons and the forging of Lightbringer.
(Analysis by Hallowed-Harpy)
Strap in, this is going to be a LONG one...
What follows is an analysis of the sacrificial machinations at play in the miraculous births of Viserion, Rhaegal, and Drogon, culminating in the forging of Lightbringer and rebirth of Azor Ahai.
"'It was a time when darkness lay heavy on the world. To oppose it, the hero must have a hero’s blade, oh, like none that had ever been. And so for thirty days and thirty nights Azor Ahai labored sleepless in the temple, forging a blade in the sacred fires. Heat and hammer and fold, heat and hammer and fold, oh, yes, until the sword was done. Yet when he plunged it into water to temper the steel, it burst asunder…the second time it took him fifty days and fifty nights, and this sword seemed even finer than the first. Azor Ahai captured a lion, to temper the blade by plunging it through the beast’s red heart, but once more the steel shattered and split…a hundred days and a hundred nights he labored on the third blade, and as it glowed white-hot in the sacred fires, he summoned his wife. 'Nissa Nissa' he said to her, for that was her name ‘bare your breast, and know that I love you best of all that is in this world’...she did this thing, why I cannot say, and Azor Ahai thrust the smoking sword through her living heart…her cry of anguish and ecstasy left a crack across the moon, but her blood and her soul and her strength and her courage all went into the steel. Such is the tale of the forging of Lightbringer, the Red Sword of Heroes.' - Davos I, ACoK
This passage describes the hero's journey to understanding. It follows a series of trial-and-error as Azor Ahai attempts to identify the elements necessary to forge an otherworldly weapon of light and hope, capable of combating the darkness. First, he learns that sacred fire alone is inadequate. Even the combination of sacred fire and blood proves insufficient. It is not until sacred fire, blood, and willing self-sacrifice are combined that Lightbringer is successfully forged.
The dragon (Lightbringer) has three heads.
It is Nissa Nissa's willing self-sacrifice that is rewarded. She came 'bearing her breast' - willingly - in truly selfless sacrifice. It is her strength, courage, and blood that merge with the 'blade' (dragon) to forge Lightbringer.
Through her sacrifice Nissa Nissa becomes a dragon - a flaming sword across the world - and as she 'wakes the dragon,' her 'cry of anguish and ecstasy' leaves a 'crack across the moon'...
“'A trader from Qarth once told me that dragons came from the moon,' blond Doreah said... Dany turned her head, curious. 'The moon?' 'He told me the moon was an egg, Khaleesi,' the Lysene girl said. 'Once there were two moons in the sky, but one wandered too close to the sun and cracked from the heat. A thousand thousand dragons poured forth, and drank the fire of the sun. That is why dragons breathe flame. One day the other moon will kiss the sun too, and then it will crack and the dragons will return.'" - Dany III, aGoT
The mythos of the forging of Lightbringer is the same mythos as the origin of dragons, and the 'Azor Ahai' returned prophecy is the same prophecy as the 'return of the dragons' - the difference is that one version is told through the cultural lens of Asshai, while the other is told through the cultural lens of Qarth. The reason that Azor Ahai is prophesized to 'wake dragons from stone,' is because Lightbringer was always a dragon, never a literal sword.
"...A true sword of fire, now, that would be a wonder to behold. Yet at such a cost…when he thought of Nissa Nissa, it was his own Marya he pictured…the best woman in the world. He tried to picture himself driving a sword through her, and shuddered. I am not made of the stuff of heroes, he decided. If that was the price of a magic sword, it was more than he cared to pay...” - Davos I, ACoK
These themes of fire, blood, sacrifice and 'paying the price' guide the following analysis of the rituals and sacrifices leading to the birth of the dragons, forging of Lightbringer, and rebirth of Azor Ahai.
Beginning with Dany VIII, AGoT -
“'There is a spell.' Her voice was quiet, scarcely more than a whisper. 'But it is hard, lady, and dark. Some would say that death is cleaner. I learned the way in Asshai, and paid dear for the lesson. My teacher was a bloodmage from the Shadow Lands.' "Dany went cold all over. 'Then you truly are a maegi...' 'Am I?' Mirri Maz Duur smiled. 'Only a maegi can save your rider now, Silver Lady.' 'Is there no other way?' 'No other.' Khal Drogo gave a shuddering gasp. 'Do it,' Dany blurted. She must not be afraid; she was the blood of the dragon. 'Save him.' 'There is a price,' the godswife warned her. 'You’ll have gold, horses, whatever you like.' 'It is not a matter of gold or horses. This is bloodmagic, lady. Only death may pay for life.' 'Death?' Dany wrapped her arms around herself protectively, rocked back and forth on her heels. 'My death?' She told herself she would die for him, if she must. She was the blood of the dragon, she would not be afraid… 'No,' Mirri Maz Duur promised. 'Not your death, Khaleesi.' Dany trembled with relief. 'Do it.' The maegi nodded solemnly. 'As you speak, so it shall be done. Call your servants.' Khal Drogo writhed feebly as Rakharo and Quaro lowered him into the bath. 'No,' he muttered, 'no. Must ride.' Once in the water, all the strength seemed to leak out of him. 'Bring his horse,' Mirri Maz Duur commanded, and so it was done."
Mirri Maz Duur is a maegi - a spell caster - words are her weapon. She chooses what she says (or doesn't say) with great intention and care. It is up to Daenerys (and the reader) to hear what Mirri is (or isn't) saying. Mirri relies heavily on omission, and does not volunteer many details, instead putting the onus on Daenerys to ask the right questions, while also relying on Dany's naivety, trust, and panic to cloud her understanding of the gravity of the 'cost.'
Mirri begins by offering Daenerys a warning and anecdote, explicitly stating this is dark magic that she learned at great personal cost. Despite being vague, the implication is that the cost was something significant. Yet Dany tells her, 'You can have gold, horses, whatever you like,' to which Mirri states that this is 'not a matter of horses - only death may pay for life.'
Daenerys asks for clarification here, and while Mirri cedes that the price is not Dany's own life, she intentionally omits further explanation of the sacrifice that is required - and Dany does not inquire any further. At this juncture of their agreement, Mirri has not so much as mentioned Drogo's horse, so Dany has no reason to yet believe the price to be paid is the life of the stallion. Instead, she agrees to make a seemingly unidentified sacrifice.
However, that she is described as wrapping her arms around herself protectively, is a subtle tell that she may, at least subconsciously, suspect the sacrifice to be Rhaego.
"She stood to answer. 'He shall be called Rhaego,' she said, using the words that Jhiqui had taught her. Her hands touched the swell beneath her breasts protectively as a roar went up from the Dothraki. 'Rhaego,' they screamed. 'Rhaego, Rhaego, Rhaego!' - Dany V, AGoT
"'I want what I came for...he can keep his bloody foal. I'll cut the bastard out and leave it for him.' The sword point pushed through her silks and pricked at her navel. Viserys was weeping she saw... Viserys began to scream the high wordless scream of the coward facing death...'Turn away, my princess, I beg you.' 'No.' She folded her arms across the swell of her belly. protectively." - Dany V, AGoT
"'My brother?' Her sob was half a laugh. 'He does not know yet, does he? The Usurper owes Drogo a lordship.' This time her laugh was half a sob. She hugged herself protectively. 'And me, you said only me?' 'You and the child,' Ser Jorah said, grim. 'No. He cannot have my son.'" - Dany VI, AGoT
This subconscious awareness is then explicitly discussed between Dany and Mirri after Daenerys wakes from her labor:
"'You warned me that only death could pay for life. I thought you meant the horse.' 'No,' Mirri Maz Duur said. 'That was a lie you told yourself. You knew the price.' Had she? Had she? If I look back I am lost." - Dany VIII, AGoT
"If I look back I am lost," is ultimately Daenerys' admission, as well as her acceptance that she cannot undo what is done -- she can only move forward in survival.
"Khal Drogo writhed feebly as Rakharo and Quaro lowered him into the bath. 'No,' he muttered, 'no. Must ride.' Once in the water, all the strength seemed to leak out of him. 'Bring his horse,' Mirri Maz Duur commanded, and so it was done. Jhogo led the great red stallion into the tent... 'What do you mean to do?' Dany asked her. 'We need the blood,' Mirri answered. 'That is the way.'... 'This is bloodmagic,' he said. 'It is forbidden.' 'I am khaleesi, and I say it is not forbidden. In Vaes Dothrak, Khal Drogo slew a stallion and I ate his heart, to give our son strength and courage. This is the same. The same.'" "'Strength of the mount go into the rider,' Mirri sang as horse blood swirled into the waters of Drogo's bath. 'Strength of the beast, go into the man.'" - Dany VIII, AGoT
It is not until Drogo's 'strength' leaks out of him that Mirri calls for the blood of his horse. The blood, not the life. This language is intentionally misleading - while the blood bath is preparation for the sacrifice, it is not the sacrifice itself.
Later in Dany X, Mirri reiterates:
“'It is not enough to kill a horse,' she told Dany. 'By itself, the blood is nothing.'
Dany likens this blood exchange to eating the stallion's heart to give Rhaego 'strength,' after which Mirri explicitly directs the stallion's 'strength' into Drogo. The purpose of blood bathing in-world is explained through an anecdote from Samwell in Jon IV, AGoT:
'"...two men came to the castle, warlocks from Qarth with white skin and blue lips. They slaughtered a bull aurochs and made me bathe in the hot blood, but it didn't make me brave like they promised...'"
Ultimately, the blood bath is for show. Mirri is leaning into this misdirect in order to lull Daenerys into a false sense of security: that the sacrifice is a horse rather than her unborn child.
It is a flimsy sense of security, especially when Dany herself reflects:
"Only a horse, Dany thought. If she could buy Drogo's life with the death of a horse, she would pay a thousand times over." - Dany VIII, AGoT
This reflection should trigger alarm bells for Dany - how meaningful can a sacrifice be if it is one you would willingly 'pay a thousand times over'? It also contradicts Mirri's earlier revelation of having 'paid dearly' for the lesson. Still, Dany clings to the misdirect as a means of survival. If I look back I am lost.
"She sent her handmaids away. 'Go with them, Silver Lady,' Mirri Maz Duur told her. 'I will stay,' Dany said. 'The man took me under the stars and gave life to the child inside me. I will not leave him.' - Dany VIII, AGoT
(Note the sting of hindsight tragedy in Dany saying that Drogo gave life to the child inside her - only for her to surrender that life back to him.)
"'You must. Once I begin to sing, no one must enter this tent. My song will wake powers old and dark. The dead will dance here this night. No living man must look upon them.' Dany bowed her head, helpless. 'No one will enter.' She bent over the tub, over Drogo in his bath of blood, and kissed him lightly on the brow. 'Bring him back to me,' she whispered to Mirri Maz Duur before she fled." - Dany VIII, AGoT
Mirri explicitly establishes that the ritual starts when she begins to sing. Her song is her invocation. Her invitation to death to administer the sacrifice.
"Mirri Maz Duur's voice rose to a high ululating wail that sent a shiver down Dany's back. Some of the Dothraki began to mutter and back away. The tent aglow with the light of braziers within. Through the blood-spattered sandsilk, she glimpsed shadows moving. Mirri Maz Duur was dancing, and not alone." - Dany VIII, AGoT
As Mirri begins to sing, kicking off the ritualistic sacrifice of Rhaego within Daenerys' womb, Dany experiences an immediate and palpable physical response - a response that grows in intensity as Mirri's song builds:
"Inside Dany's womb, her son kicked wildly...Dany felt a sharp pain in her belly, a wetness on her thighs...The Dothraki were shouting, Mirri Maz Duur wailing inside the tent like nothing human...Dany cried out for help, but no one heard...'no, please, stop it, it's too high, the price is too high.'...she tried to rise, and agony seized her and squeezed her like a giant's fist. The breath went out of her; it was all she could do to gasp. The sound of Mirri Maz Duur's voice was like a funeral dirge. Inside the tent, shadows whirled...She convulsed in his arms as the pain took her again...another pain grasped her, and Dany bit back a scream. It felt as if her son had a knife in each hand, as if he were hacking at her to cut his way out...when she opened her mouth a great wail of pain escaped, and the sweat broke over her skin. What was wrong with them? Couldn't they see? Inside the tent the shapes were dancing, circling the brazier and the bloody bath, dark against the sandsilk, and some did not look human. She glimpsed the shadow of a great wolf, and another like a man wreathed in flames...the sound of Mirri Maz Duur's voice grew louder, until it filled the world. The shapes! she screamed. The dancers!" - Dany VIII, AGoT
While the fandom largely accepts this passage as Dany experiencing a trauma-induced early labor, I do not.
Dany's pain builds and evolves alongside Mirri's song. 'The sound of Mirri Maz Duur's voice was like a funeral dirge...another pain grasped her...as if her son had a knife in each hand, as if he were hacking at her to cut his way out.' Mirri's song is a funeral dirge - calling out for Rhaego's death - and Rhaego violently responds. This is more than labor - this is death reaching inside Dany's womb to take the life within her. It is also the reason why Daenerys is able to see death's shadows - she is, in this particular moment, one with death.
The passage culminates with Mirri's song filling the world - as Rhaego succumbs to sacrifice.
"'You knew,' Dany said when they were gone. She ached, inside and out, but her fury gave her strength. 'You knew what I was buying, and you knew the price, and yet you let me pay it.' 'It was wrong of them to burn my temple,' the heavy, flat-nosed woman said placidly. 'That angered the Great Shepherd.' 'This is no god's work,' Dany said coldly. If I look back I am lost. 'You cheated me. You murdered my child within me.' 'The stallion who mounts the world will burn no cities now. His khalasar shall trample no nations into dust.'" - Dany IX, AGoT
When confronted, Mirri reveals her intent: to prevent the fulfilment of the Stallion Who Mounts the World prophecy. She sacrificed Rhaego knowing that the sacrifice would be insufficient to fully restore Drogo, eliminating the possibility of Rhaego being the stallion, as well as the potential for Drogo to father another child of prophecy. I will take this a step further by postulating that Mirri also intentionally sterilized Dany to prevent her from ever carrying another potential 'stallion.' In sterilizing Daenerys during a blood-sacrifice ritual, Mirri made an unintentional sacrifice of Dany's fertility to Viserion. (More on this later).
Of course, the great irony in all of Mirri's prophecy-prevention scheming is that her actions serve as the catalyst for Daenerys herself becoming the prophesized Stallion (aka Azor Ahai, aka The Promised Prince).
It is the loss of Rhaego and Mirri's lesson - 'only death may pay for life' - in conjunction with her earlier dragon dreams, which ultimately allow Daenerys to decipher the elements needed to birth her dragons and forge Lightbringer.
"A word and Dany could have her head off...yet then what would she have? A head? If life was worthless, what was death?" - Dany IX, AGoT
With this lesson in mind, Dany resolves to prepare her first sacrifice - Drogo.
"They led Khal Drogo back to her tent, and Dany commanded them to fill a tub, and this time there was no blood in the water. She bathed him herself... ...The memory of her first ride was with her when she led him out into the darkness, for the Dothraki believed that all things of importance in a man's life must be done beneath the open sky. She told herself that there were powers stronger than hatred, and spells older and truer than any the maegi had learned in Asshai. The night was black and moonless, but overhead a million stars burned bright. She took that for an omen... ...and when the bleak dawn broke over an empty horizon, Dany knew that he was truly lost to her. 'When the sun rises in the west and sets in the east,' she said sadly. 'When the seas go dry and mountains blow in the wind like leaves. When my womb quickens again, and I bear a living child. Then you will return, my sun-and-stars, and not before.' Never, the darkness cried, never never never. Inside the tent Dany found a cushion of soft silk stuffed with feathers. She clutched it to her breasts as she walked back out to Drogo, to her sun-and-stars. If I look back I am lost. It hurt to even walk, and she wanted to sleep, to sleep and not to dream. She knelt, kissed Drogo on the lips, and pressed the cushion down upon his face." - Dany IX, AGoT
This passage (and chapter) ends with the Dany, moon-of-my-life, kissing Drogo, sun-and-my-stars, thus initiating the prophesized return of the dragons - 'One day the other moon will kiss the sun too, and then it will crack and the dragons will return.'
Having begun her ritual and made her first sacrifice, Dany moves to constructing her sacred fire - Drogo's funeral pyre.
"Over the carcass of the horse, they built a platform of hewn logs...they laid the wood east to west, from sunrise to sunset. On the platform they piled Khal Drogo's treasures...another layer of brush was piled about the khal's treasures, and bundles of dried grass scattered over them... ...The third level of the platform was woven of branches no thicker than a finger, and covered with dry leaves and twigs. They laid the north to south, from ice to fire, and piled them high with soft cushions and sleeping silks." - Dany X, AGoT
While a pyre, by definition, is already sacred, this imagery of 'east to west, sunrise to sunset' and 'north to south, ice to fire' creates an invocation of sacred geometry often seen in ritualistic magic. Dany is building the first element required to birth dragons and forge Lightbringer: sacred fire.
It's also interesting that this language seemingly foreshadows a prophecy from Quaithe:
"'To go north you must journey south (north to south). To reach the west, you must go east (east to west)...'" - Dany III, ACoK
While the pyre is being built, Daenerys and Jorah have words:
"'You are my queen, my sword is yours, but do not ask me to stand aside as you climb on Drogo's pyre. I will not watch you burn.' 'Is that what you fear?' Dany kissed him lightly on his broad forehead. 'I am not such a child as that, sweet ser.' 'You do not mean to die with him? You swear it, my queen?' 'I swear it,' she said in the Common Tongue of the Seven Kingdoms that by rights were hers." - Dany X, AGoT
Here, Dany is demonstrating a clear understanding that surrendering herself to the flames will not end with her death, but instead with her rebirth.
She then thinks to herself:
"Forgive me, sun of my life, she thought. Forgive me for all I have done and must do. I paid the price, my star, but it was too high, too high..." - Dany X, AGoT
Bringing to mind the Davos passage referenced earlier:
"...A true sword of fire, now, that would be a wonder to behold. Yet at such a cost…when he thought of Nissa Nissa, it was his own Marya he pictured…the best woman in the world. He tried to picture himself driving a sword through her, and shuddered. I am not made of the stuff of heroes, he decided. If that was the price of a magic sword, it was more than he cared to pay.” - Davos I, ACoK
The next step in Dany's ritual is to place the dragon's eggs on the pyre:
"'They were not given to me to sell,' Dany told him. She climbed the pyre herself to place the eggs around her sun-and-stars. The black beside his heart, under his arm. The green beside his head, his braid coiled around it. The cream-and-gold down between his legs." - Dany X, AGoT
The placement and color of the eggs are the first indicators of the future themes and narrative roles associated with each of the dragons: Legacy, Opposition, Lightbringer.
Drogon's egg is placed next to Drogo's heart, under his arm. The heart is associated with courage and destiny, which is thematically similar to the mythos of the forging of Lightbringer, wherein Nissa Nissa is stabbed through the heart, and her courage and strength merge with the 'steel.' That the egg is tucked under Drogo's arm speaks to Drogon, as Lightbringer, being Dany's support, propping her up in the fight for the dawn.
Drogon's egg is black and red - black being associated with protection, power, and death; red being associated with action, strength, and passion. Themes which also align with the mythos and role of Lightbringer - of the heart and destiny.
Rhaegal's egg is placed next to Drogo's head, with his braid coiled around it. The head is associated with cognition, lessons, and wisdom, and it is a notably common theme for the head (Rhaegal) and the heart (Drogon) to be in opposition of one another. Drogo's braid, a symbol of his violence and prowess in battle, being coiled around Rhaegal's egg also feels significant.
Rhaegal's egg is green and bronze - green being associated with both greed and envy, as well as growth (lessons) and healing. Bronze, an alloy of copper, tin, and silver, is a metal whose components are symbolically oppositional. This is because copper is associated with fire and the sun, while tin and silver are associated with water and the moon.
Furthermore, in looking at Drogon, who is black, and Rhaegal, who is green, there is a potential callback to the factions of the Dance of the Dragons - team black and team green. This may further foreshadow opposition between Drogon (the heart) and Rhaegal (the head).
Consider this excerpt from Dany I, ASoS:
"As his sharp black teeth snapped shut around it, Rhaegal's head darted close, as if to steal the prize from his brother's jaws, but Drogon swallowed and screamed, and the smaller green dragon could only hiss in frustration... 'Stop that, Rhaegal,' Dany said in annoyance, giving his head a swat. 'You had the last one. I'll have no greedy dragons.'
Finally, Viserion's egg is placed between Drogo's legs - in his groin. The groin is associated with virility, passion, fertility, and reproduction - legacy. This symbolism is particularly poignant in the context of my earlier assertion - that Mirri intentionally sterilized Daenerys and in doing so, inadvertently made a sacrifice of Dany's fertility to none other than Viserion.
Viserion's egg is cream and gold - cream, or white, being associated with purity and innocence, and gold being associated with prestige, prosperity, abundance, and light. Purity and innocence align with the theme of fertility, while gold aligns with the theme of a New Dawn - legacy.
It is my belief that, since the days of Old Valyria, in order for a dragon to produce a fertilized clutch of eggs, they must be bonded with a Valyrian women. Meaning it is the bond itself that quickens the eggs. This fertility reliance allowed the Valyrians to monopolize dragons through reproduction. That Rhaenyra and Daenerys gave birth to dragon-human hybrid infants seemingly confirms a fertility connection between Valyrian women and dragons.
While I believe that Mirri intentionally sterilized Dany as she sacrificed Rhaego, I do not believe she had any awareness beforehand that a) Rhaego was a hybrid dragon baby, and b) there is a complex magical connection between Dany's fertility and dragons. Lacking this knowledge, and performing sterilization during a blood sacrifice, Mirri unknowingly and unintentionally made a sacrifice of Dany's fertility.
During Daenerys' fevered dragon dream she experiences:
"...a terrible burning in her womb. Her son was tall and proud, with Drogo's copper skin and her own silver-gold hair, violet eyes shaped like almonds. He smiled for her and began to lift his hand toward hers, but when he opened his mouth the fire poured out. She saw his heart burning through his chest, and in an instant he was gone, consumed like a moth by a candle, turned to ash." - Dany IX, AGoT
The terrible burning in her womb is the moment in which Mirri sacrifices Dany's fertility. The burning is immediately followed by a vision of Rhaego, breathing fire, then disappearing - Dany's only future children, her truest legacy, will be her dragons.
Mirri all but confirms Dany's sterilization when she flippantly and cruelly tells her that Drogo will return as he was when 'her womb quickens again, and she bears a living child.' Mirri knows this cannot happen because she herself ensured it.
Upon waking from the sacrifice of both Rhaego and her fertility, it is Viserion's egg that she clings to:
"When she woke a third time, a shaft of golden sunlight was pouring through the smoke hole of the tent, and her arms were wrapped around a dragon's egg. It was the pale one, its scales the color of buttercream, veined with whorls of gold and bronze, and Dany could feel the heat of it. Beneath her bedsilks, a fine sheen of perspiration covered her bare skin. Dragondew, she thought. Her fingers trailed lightly across the surface of the shell, tracing wisps of gold, and deep in the stone she felt something twist and stretch in response. It did not frighten her. All her fear was gone, burned away." - Dany IX, AGoT
It is Viserion who stretches in response to Dany's touch after the sacrifice of her fertility. And while she notes that Drogon and Rhaegal's eggs feel warm, she makes no mention of them stretching or stirring:
"Ser Jorah and Mirri Maz Duur entered a few moments later, and found Dany standing over the other dragon's eggs, the two still in their chest. It seemed to her that they felt as hot as the one she had slept with, which was passing strange." - Dany IX, AGoT
The eggs being warm is not a wholly new experience for Daenerys. She has been attuning herself to the kinetic life trapped in stone throughout her arc in AGoT, alongside her dragon dreams. She feels heat, and even sees visual auras, but she has never felt them move:
"She touched one, the largest of the three, running her hand lightly over the shell. Black and scarlet she thought, like the dragon in my dream. The stone felt strangely warm beneath her fingers." - Dany III, AGoT
"As she let the door flap close behind her, Dany saw a finger of dusty red light reach out to touch her dragon's eggs across the tent. For an instant a thousand droplets of scarlet flame swam before her eyes. She blinked, and they were gone. Stone, she told herself. They are only stone, even Illyrio said so, the dragons are all dead. She put her palm against the black egg, fingers spread gently across the curve of the shell. The stone was warm. Almost hot. 'The sun,' Dany whispered. 'The sun warmed them as they rode.'" - Dany III, AGoT
"Irri fetched the egg with the deep green shell, bronze flecks shining amid its scales as she turned it in her small hands...She liked to hold them. They were so beautiful, and sometimes just being close to them made her feel stronger, braver, as if somehow she were drawing strength from the stone dragons locked inside." - Dany IV, AGoT
Daenerys could sense kinetic life within her eggs because they had been fertilized before turning to stone - by the bond between Rhaena and Dreamfyre. Assuming that Dany's eggs are the same eggs Elissa Farman stole from Dragonstone, then they would have been fertilized by the bond between Dreamfyre and Rhaena. However, having been taken so far from Dragonstone, Dreamfyre, and Rhaena, the eggs fossilized rather than hatched, trapping the dragons inside. Had the eggs not been fertilized, there would not have been any kinetic life for Daenerys to tap into - no stone dragons to wake.
Assuming then that Viserion stirs because Dany's fertility was sacrificed alongside Rhaego, the significance of Rhaego being a dragon-human hybrid cannot be overstated. The sacrifice of Dany's fertility, and by proxy, the sacrifice of Rhaego, freeing Viserion of the fertility reliance unites the dragon-woman fertility exploitation in liberation. Meaning that from her hatching, Viserion is born free of a fertility reliance - she does not require a human bond in order to produce fertilized eggs. In this way, Viserion is a beacon of dragon-liberation...
"Viserion had shattered one chain and melted the others, she clung to the roof of the pit like some huge white bat, her claws dug deep into the burnt and crumbling bricks... ...When she flapped her wings, a cloud of grey ash filled the air. Broken chains clanked and clattered about her legs." - ADwD, Dany VIII
And again, in the Dragontamer chapter of ADwD:
"'I thought there were two?' Viserion. Yes. Where is Viserion? The prince lowered his torch to throw some light into the gloom below...Shattered links were strewn across the floor of the pit amongst the blackened bones - twists of metal, partly melted. Rhaegal was chained to the wall and the floor the last time I was here, the prince recalled, but Viserion hung from the ceiling. Quentyn stepped back, lifted the torch, craned his neck back... ...Viserion launched herself from the ceiling, pale leather wings unfolding, spreading wide. The broken chain dangling from her neck swung wildly...the dragon turned back toward the Windblown and lurched for the door..."
Liberatory imagery aside, ADwD supports the sacrifice of Dany's fertility to Viserion in two ways - while Dany is having a miscarriage in the Dothraki Sea, Viserion is back in Meereen showing signs of nesting:
"For a moment he saw only the blackened arches of the bricks above, scorched by dragonflame. A trickle of ash caught his eye, betraying movement. Something pale, half-hidden, stirring. She's made herself a cave, the prince realized. A burrow in the brick...Viserion had dug herself a hole in the walls with flame and claw, a hole big enough to sleep in. - Dragontamer, ADwD
A burrow large enough to nest in.
Meanwhile, Daenerys is in the Dothraki Sea showing signs of miscarriage:
"When she woke, gasping, her thighs were slick with blood. For a moment she did not realize what it was. The world had just begun to lighten, and the tall grass rustled softly in the wind. No, please, let me sleep more. I'm so tired. She tried to burrow back beneath the pile of grass she had torn up when she went to sleep. Some of the stalks felt wet. Had it rained again? She sat up, afraid that she had soiled herself as she slept. When she brought her fingers to her face, she could smell the blood on them. Am I dying? Then she saw the pale crescent moon, floating high above the grass and it came to her that this was no more than her moon blood. If she had not been so sick and scared, that might have come as a relief. Instead she began to shiver violently. She rubbed her fingers through the dirt, and grabbed a handful of grass to wipe between her legs. The dragon does not weep. She was bleeding, but it was only woman's blood. The moon is still a crescent, though. How can that be? She tried to remember the last time she had bled. The last full moon? The one before? The one before that? No, it cannot have been so long as that.... ...it seemed to her that the cramping had grown worse...She saw fresh blood on her thighs. The ragged hem of her undertunic was stained with it. The sight of so much blood frightened her. Moon blood, it's only my moon blood, but she did not remember ever having such a heavy flow." - Dany X, ADwD
That both Viserion and Daenerys are described in these passages as 'burrowing,' which is synonymous with nesting, feels very significant.
Even more telling is that in this same passage, there are themes of legacy and liberation:
'I am blood of the dragon,' she told the grass, aloud. Once, the grass whispered back, until you chained your dragons in the dark. ...'I will never have a little girl. I was the Mother of Dragons.' Aye, the grass said, but you turned against your children." - Dany X, ADwD
The irony here is palpable - Viserion is Dany's little 'girl' - the liberatory beacon of Daenerys' legacy.
Returning to the pyre ritual in Dany X, AGoT:
"The godswife did not cry out as they dragged her to Khal Drogo's pyre and staked her down amidst his treasures. Dany poured the oil over the woman's head herself. 'I thank you, Mirri Maz Duur,' she said, 'for the lessons you have taught me.' 'You will not hear me scream,' Mirri responded as the oil dripped from her hair and soaked her clothing. 'I will,' Dany said, 'but it is not your screams I want, only your life. I remember what you told me. Only death can pay for life.' Mirri Maz Duur opened her mouth but made no reply. As she stepped away, Dany saw that the contempt was gone from the maegi's flat black eyes; in its place was something that might have been fear. Then there was nothing to be done but watch the sun and look for the first star. - Dany X, AGoT
Here Daenerys begins her second sacrifice - that of Mirri Maz Duur. It is essential that Daenerys 'poured the oil' herself; this is her ritual, and it needs to be backed up with her intent.
Dany repeatedly associates Mirri with 'lessons,' which, as discussed earlier, is a theme associated with Rhaegal both in terms of the placement of his egg (the head), and his coloring (green).
This is also the moment that Mirri realizes that Daenerys does know what she is doing with this ritual...it is the first time Mirri doubts herself for the choices she has made. It is not that she fears death - it is that she fears she has accelerated the very prophecy she meant to halt.
"Jhogo spied it first. 'There,' he said in a hushed voice. Dany looked and saw it, low in the east. The first star was a comet, burning red. Bloodred; fire red; the dragon's tail. She could not have asked for a stronger sign. Dany took the torch from Aggo's hand and thrust it between the logs. The oil took the fire at once, the brush and dried grass a heartbeat later..." - Dany X, AGoT
Again, it is essential that Daenerys herself lit the pyre - her ritual, her intent. None of this is happenstance. Daenerys is making intentional and active choices as she performs her ritual.
"Dany's lips parted and she found herself holding her breath. Part of her wanted to go to him and Ser Jorah had feared, to rush into the flames to beg for his forgiveness and take him inside her one last time, the fire melting the flesh from their bones until they were one, forever." - Dany X, AGoT
This clearly demonstrates Dany's understanding that there is a specific moment in which she needs to walk into the pyre: after the second hatching, because she herself is the third and final sacrifice.
"She had sensed the truth of it long ago, Dany thought as she took a step closer to the conflagration, but the brazier had not been hot enough. The flames writhed before her like the women who had danced at her wedding, whirling and singing and spinning their yellow and orange and crimson veils, fearsome to behold, yet lovely, so lovely, alive with heat. Dany opened her arms to them, her skin flushed and glowing. This is a wedding, too, she thought. Mirri Maz Duur had fallen silent. The godswife thought her a child, but children grow, and children learn." - Dany X, AGoT
Like Azor Ahai, Daenerys learns, through trial and error, that sacred fire alone is not sufficient to forge Lightbringer (or hatch dragons).
Her conceptualizing the pyre as a wedding (Bride of Fire) adds to the sanctity of the pyre.
And again - Mirri, like Rhaegal, is thematically associated with growth and lessons.
"Another step and Dany could feel the heat of the sand on the soles of her feet, even through her sandals...the flames were so beautiful, the loveliest things she had ever seen...She saw a horse, a great grey stallion limned in smoke, it's flowing mane a nimbus of blue flame. Yes, my love, my sun-and-stars, yes, mount now, ride now... ...Now, she thought, now. And for an instant she glimpsed Khal Drogo before her, mounted on his smoky stallion, a flaming lash in his hand. He smiled, and the whip snaked down at the pyre, hissing. She heard a crack, the sound of shattering stone. The platform of wood and brush and grass began to shift and collapse in upon itself. Bits of burning wood slid down at her, and Dany was showered with ash and cinders. And something else came crashing down, bouncing and rolling, to land at her feet; a chunk of curved rock, pale and veined with gold, broken and smoking." - Dany X, AGoT
This passage explicitly connects Drogo's sacrifice to the hatching of Viserion. This establishes that the first hatching is associated with Dany's first sacrifice - meaning that there is an identifiable order and process to the outcome of this ritual.
Drogo's sacrifice was one that Daenerys made out of love and mercy, but it is not one that had consent - it was not a willing sacrifice. While sacred fire and blood sacrifice were sufficient to birth a dragon - only death can pay for life - they were insufficient to forge Lightbringer. Thus, Viserion is the first 'failed' forging of Lightbringer.
That Viserion goes on to be Dany's most affectionate child speaks to her having been born of Daenerys' mercy. Her hatching was born of love, and this is reflected in her personality.
There is immense bittersweet poetry in Viserion being brought forth through the sacrifice of Drogo(/Rhaego) and Dany's own fertility, to then become the literal Mother of Dragons - the lasting legacy of Daenerys Targaryen, the Lady of Light. Viserion will have the children that Daenerys (and Drogo) could not.
Similarly, Viserion will do what Viserys, her namesake, could not - carry on the Dragon's legacy.
"'The cream and gold I call Viserion. Viserys was cruel and weak and frightened, yet he was my brother still. His dragon will do what he could not.'" - Dany I, ACoK
Furthermore, 'Viserys,' is the masculine 'Visenya.' Had it not been for male primogeniture, Visenya would have been ruling queen over Aegon - she was the eldest. Viserion is also the eldest of the dragons, she hatched first. Her becoming the 'queen' of a New Dawn of liberated dragons course-corrects the wrongs of male primogeniture down the Targaryen line.
"Her vest had begun to smolder, so Dany shrugged it off and let it fall to the ground. The painted leather burst into sudden flame as she skipped closer to the fire, her breasts bare to the blaze, streams of milk flowing from her red and swollen nipples." - Dany X, AGoT
Here Daenerys recreates Nissa Nissa 'bearing her breast' in willing self-sacrifice.
Then:
"The roaring filled the world, yet dimly through the firefall Dany heard women shriek and children cry out in wonder." - Dany X, AGoT
Invoking an earlier Davos excerpt:
"...A true sword of fire, now, that would be a wonder to behold." - Davos I, ACoK
The dragons are repeatedly referred to as 'wonders' throughout the series.
“'Beware…of all. They shall come day and night to see the wonder that has been born again into the world...'” - Dany II, aCoK
“In all the world there were but three living dragons, and those were hers; they were a wonder, and a terror, and beyond price.” - Dany I, aSoS
“'…sailors back from the Jade Sea report that a three-headed dragon has hatched in Qarth, and is the wonder of that city.'” - Tyrion III, aSoS
“'When your dragons were small, they were a wonder.'” - Dany III, aDwD
“'Dragons and darker things…the grey sheep have closed their eyes, but the mastiff sees the truth. Old powers waken. Shadows stir. An age of wonder and terror will soon be upon us, an age for gods and heroes.'” - Prologue, aFfC
“'Once a man has seen a dragon in flight, let him stay at home and tend his garden in content…for this wide world has no greater wonder.'” - Tyrion IV, aDwD
“'We’ll see these dragons and all the wonders of the world.'” - Davos II, aDwD
That Lightbringer is described as a 'wonder to behold' is not coincidental.
Returning to the pyre:
"Only death can pay for life. And there came a second crack, loud and sharp as thunder, and the smoke stirred and whirled around her and the pyre shifted, the logs exploding as the fire touched their secret hearts." - Dany X, AGoT
Here we get Dany reflecting on Mirri's lesson - only death can pay for life - followed immediately by the second hatching. Just as the first sacrifice correlated with the first hatching, the second sacrifice - Mirri - correlates with the second hatching - Rhaegal.
We later receive explicit textual confirmation that Mirri was a sacrifice for a dragon in the House of the Undying visions:
"...Mirri Maz Duur shrieked in the flames, a dragon bursting from her brow..." - Dany IV, ACoK
Both Mirri and Rhaegal are thematically associated with lessons, but also themes of healing or healers - green being associated with healing, where Mirri herself is a healer.
Again, while sacred fire and blood sacrifice were sufficient to bring forth a living dragon, Rhaegal's hatching lacks the element of willing self-sacrifice - making him the second failed attempt to forge Lightbringer.
Where Drogo was sacrificed of Dany's mercy, Mirri is sacrificed of Dany's vengeance. While Viserion, born of mercy, is affectionate and loving, Rhaegal, born of retribution, is more aggressive and temperamental, seemingly attuned to Dany's anger. I believe that this pretext primes Rhaegal to be oppositional toward Daenerys. Not because he 'hates' her, but because he, like Mirri, exists narratively to teach her (painful) lessons - a dragon should not be chained, tamed, or otherwise enslaved, not even to their mothers. I see him doing this by choosing his own rider, likely one with enmity toward Daenerys.
Recall that this conflict is further reinforced by egg placement - with Drogon, the heart, being at odds with Rhaegal, the head, as well as Rhaegal's bronze coloring being symbolically conflicted.
There is also a bit of foreshadowing in the text:
"I have the dragons. The dragons are all the difference. She stroked Rhaegal. The green dragon closed his teeth around the meat of her finger and nipped hard." - Dany III, ACoK
Dany thinks 'I have the dragons' and Rhaegal seems to say, 'are you sure?'
Rhaegal's priming for disconnect and opposition toward Dany is reinforced in his namesake, Rhaegar, being the only one of the three namesakes that Daenerys did not personally know. It also creates a thematic connection between Rhaegal and Young Griff, the supposed son of Rhaegar - the Mummer's Dragon. A mummer 'gives the hero something to fight' - in this case, the hero being Daenerys (and Drogon).
A connection between Rhaegal and Young Griff brings us back to the black and green color symbolism between Drogon and Rhaegal - a potential second Dance of Dragons. Drogon and Daenerys being 'the blacks,' where Rhaegal and Young Griff are 'the greens.'
Should something of this nature unfold, I could see a tragic callback to Vermithor and Silverwing between Rhaegal and Viserion, who I very much believe to be a bonded pair. According to Fire and Blood, the singers say that after Vermithor had been slain, Silverwing descended from the sky at nightfall to lay beside him. Songs tell of her attempting to lift Vermithor's wings three times with her snout, as if to make him fly again. At sunrise, Silverwing took 'listlessly' to the skies, ultimately retiring to a small island in the Red Lake. In the case of Rhaegal and Viserion, I see this being the catalyst for Viserion retreating to the Mother of Mountains (which is where I believe she will retire for nesting and reproduction by the end of the series).
"She heard the screams of frightened horses, and the voices of the Dothraki raised in shouts of fear and terror, and Ser Jorah calling her name and cursing. No, she wanted to shout to him, no, my good knight, do not fear for me. The fire is mine. I am Daenerys Stormborn, daughter of dragons, bride of dragons, mother of dragons, don't you see? Don't you SEE? With a belch of flame and smoke that reached thirty feet into the sky, the pyre collapsed and came down around her. Unafraid, Dany stepped forward into the firestorm, calling to her children. The third crack was as loud and sharp as the breaking of the world." - Dany X, AGoT
'Do not fear for me,' demonstrates Dany's knowledge that this is the precise moment in which she must step forward in self-sacrifice and rebirth. She is the third sacrifice, the third forging. In this moment, she is Nissa Nissa, breasts bared for sacrifice. The crack in response to Dany's sacrifice is described as the 'breaking of the world,' where Nissa Nissa's sacrifice is said to have 'cracked the moon.'
She is 'unafraid' because her dragon dreams have already shown her what will happen:
"There was only her and the dragon. Its scales were black as night, wet and slick with blood. Her blood, Dany sensed. Its eyes were pools of molten magma, and when it opened its mouth, the flame came roaring out in a hot jet. She could hear it singing to her. She opened her arms to the fire, embraced it, let it swallow her whole, let it cleanse her and temper her and scour her clean. She could feel her flesh sear and blacken and slough away, could feel her blood boil and turn to steam, and yet there was no pain. She felt strong and new and fierce." - Dany III, AGoT
She dreams of Drogon, specifically, covered in her blood. Born of her self-sacrifice. The Red Sword of Heroes:
"'...her blood and her soul and her strength and her courage all went into the steel...such is the tale of the forging of Lightbringer, the Red Sword of Heroes.'" - Davos I, ACoK
Then she dreams:
"A great knife of pain ripped down her back, and she felt her skin tear open and smelled the stench of burning blood and saw the shadow of wings. And Daenerys Targaryen flew. '...wake the dragon...'" - Dany IX, AGoT
These dreams demonstrate Daenerys functioning in three specific capacities - Nissa Nissa, Lightbringer, and Azor Ahai. Child of Three.
First, Drogon is covered in her blood - her sacrifice. She then 'opens her arms to the fire,' embracing it - in parallel to Nissa Nissa embracing the sword.
She dreams of 'waking the dragon' - becoming the dragon. When she walks into the pyre, what was Daenerys Targaryen is sacrificed to the flames, merging with Drogon, to forge an otherworldly weapon of light and hope - Lightbringer.
She is then reborn - 'strong and new and fierce' - as Azor Ahai.
"'The frightened child who sheltered at my manse died on the Dothraki Sea and was reborn in blood and fire.'" - Tyrion, ADwD
Daenerys and Drogon are one, connected at a soul level.
"Dany and Drogon screamed as one." - Dany IX, ADwD
They scream as one, despite not yet being bonded as dragon-rider. Something else connects them. Something deeper, stronger, and more magical.
"In the smoldering red pits of Drogon's eyes, Dany saw her own reflection. How small she looked, how weak and frail and scared." - Dany IX, ADwD
Here Dany is quite literally seeing the part of herself that was sacrificed to Drogon.
After she bonds with Drogon as his rider, she thinks:
"On Drogon's back she felt whole." - Dany X, ADwD
Similar to how Viserion will do what Viserys could not, Drogon will accomplish what Drogo never could have - guiding and protecting Daenerys on the path to her greater destiny as the 'Lady of Light and Hope.' The herald of a New Dawn and the restoration of balance between the seasons. Drogo would have deterred Dany from her greater purpose. The farthest he would have carried her would have been the Iron Throne, the ultimate red herring of the series.
"When the fire died at last and the ground became cool enough to walk upon, Ser Jorah Mormont found her amidst the ashes, surrounded by blackened logs and bit of glowing ember and the burnt bones of man woman and stallion. She was naked, covered with soot, her clothes turned to ash, her beautiful hair all crisped away...yet she was unhurt." - Dany X, AGoT
She is as naked and bald as the day she was first born. Amidst the smoke of the pyre, and the salt of Dany's tears as they turned to steam, Azor Ahai is born again.
"The cream and gold dragon was suckling at her left breast, the green and bronze at her right. Her arms cradled them close. The black and scarlet beast was draped across her shoulders, its long sinuous neck coiled under her chin... ...As Daenerys Targaryen rose to her feet, her black hissed, pale smoke venting from its mouth and nostrils. The other two pulled away from her breasts and added their voices to the call, translucent wings unfolding and stirring the air, and for the first time in hundreds of years, the night came alive with the music of dragons." - Dany X, AGoT
The placement of the dragons in this scene supports the order in which they hatched. Viserion and Rhaegal hatched before Daenerys walked into the pyre - she calls to them as she steps forward. Their placement suggests that they came when called and took to nursing, during which Drogon, having hatched last, landed on her shoulder.
IN SUM:
Daenerys recreates the conditions required to forge Lightbringer - sacred fire, blood, and willing self-sacrifice - in her ritual to birth the dragons
She is the Child of Three - functioning as Nissa Nissa, Lightbringer, and Azor Ahai
Viserion and Rhaegal are the failed forgings of Lightbringer
Viserion is Legacy: born of mercy (and fertility). She will live on to be the literal Mother of Dragons - the Ivory Empress of the New Dawn, nesting atop the Mother of Mountains. Her children will be born free of bloodmagic and fertility bonds, to maintain the necessary magical homeostasis between ice and fire
Rhaegal is Opposition: born of vengeance and painful lessons, Rhaegal is primed to take an oppositional stance in Dany's story
Drogon is Lightbringer: born of willing self-sacrifice, Drogon will guide and protect Daenerys as she fulfills her greater purpose
Collectively, these three - Legacy, Opposition, Lightbringer (LOL) - form the three-headed dragon, the Lady of Light (LOL) - Daenerys Targaryen ('Dae' is Korean for 'shining one' or 'great one,' while 'Nerys' is Welsh for 'Lady' - The Shining Lady, the Lady of Light)
