#dragonbinder

[lives4lovesworld]

Dragons, their unique and extraordinary bond and why the binder is a red herald.

“If you read Fire and Blood, you’ll know there’s definitely a bond between the dragons and their riders and the dragons will not accept just any rider,” says Martin. “Some people try to take a dragon wind up being eaten or burned to death instead, so the dragons are terribly fussy about who rides them.” - Grrm November 2018

We shall not pretend to any understanding of the bond between dragon and dragonrider; wiser heads have pondered that mystery for centuries. We do know however, that dragons are not horses, to be ridden by any man who throws a saddle on their back. - writings of Gyldayn

Most speculations around dragons, the dragonbinder and any potential riders are blatantly rooted in nonsensical delusion and pure envy of House Targaryen and the power it derived of their dragons, and the deranged need to see the dragons fight and wreak havoc to finally villainize them all once and for all the eyes of the realm as the clowns of this fandom all do in their posts, so their excessive hatred is finally validated by canon. Nowhere is all this more apparent than in the ridiculous popularity of the theories that have Stannis Baratheon, Young Griff, Victarion and Euron Greyjoy become dragon riders, and more specifically all in context as enemies to Daenaerys.

It's truly astonishing what loops people jump through to make these theories appear even the slightest bit feasible;

Even if Stannis Baratheon would survive long enough to set eyes on Dany's dragons and even if the theory in and of itself wouldn't be a pathetic attempt by his delusional stans to still present him as a viable candidate for Azor Ahai Reborn. There was not one recorded incident of a Baratheon riding a dragon, and mind you Orys Baratheon was likely Aegon’s bastard brother yet neither he nor any of his closest descendants have been dragon riders, and each of them had more blood of the dragon than Stannis. The prerequisite of even being one.

Young Griff [or FAegon or Aegon VI] tho the most feasible of all the "candidates" it is ridiculous which lengths the proponents go to, to craft scenarios, where he, always a political enemy of Dany, somehow obtains one of her sons. It's often argue that, regardless of who Young Griff truly is, Targaryen or Blackfyre, due to his blood he must be a dragon rider! An equally bold as unfounded hypothesis: i) the concept that House Blackfyre would have been dragonlords as well had the dragons not be extinct by the time the cadet branch of House Targaryen was founded is purely speculative! Neither House Celtigar nor House Velaryon, two ancient Valyrian House, had been dragonslords. Hell, not even all members of House Targaryen had been. ii) Young Griff surviving long enough to set eyes onto Daenerys's dragons is as hypothetical as Stannis's prior, and given how he is currently risking an all-open war with only 5000 sellswords at his disposal with no prior war experience against the current reign is just as unlikely. iii) However, let's assume Young Griff indeed survives long enough to do so and ends up fighting Daenerys; as already stated dragons aren't mere mounts, they choose their riders and need to bond and for that, they need a considerable amount of time, training is time-consuming as well. So how exactly would Young Griff even get the chance to bond with either Rhaegal or Viserion? In addition, Daenerys's dragons are unique to their ancestors all of them having bonds to her as their cherished mother. Despite what the fandom argues, dragons are not nuclear bombs, they would never bond with someone who would want to severely harm or even kill their mother. Lastly iv) which is purely theoretical but IMO a very solid theory: @luchibelle theorized that Magister Illyiro Mopatis put the eggs into his son's cradle after the Targaryen fashion and hoped they would hatch. The man likely attempted several times to hatch them. In vain, he gifted them to Daenerys as bride's gifts. In all likelihood to make the marriage with Daenerys for Khal Drogo more desirable, for Dany's bride's gifts are his property, which the Magister needed for his scheme of Viserys as the evil invader with his foreign army of savages for his son to defeat as the gallant Aegon VI Targaryen. However, it does further contradict the speculation of Young Griff's potential being able to bond & ride a dragon.

So far Euron and Victarion Greyjoy are the only ones actively perusing Daenerys for her dragons, name and beauty, something none of the other "candidates" do which should at least be the bare basis on these speculations if you want to call them that way. However, the unquestionable fact that the iron borns do not possess a drop of the blood of the dragon should end all speculations then and there. The unfounded idea that Euron possesses unnatural power and/or uses the horn he proclaims is a tool that can subjugate dragons should serve as a substitute for the lack of valyrian is a jump through a loop unparalleled: i) While GRRM can stress as much as he wants that Euron is much more than what he appears to be; a megalomaniac sadistic busy-body. The Forsaken shows that Euron sacrifices humans and uses tortured captive priests to perform their magic FOR him. The power does not come from him, unlike Daenerys and some of the Starks. ii) the unwillingness of this fandom to see Euron's tale of him traveling to Valyria as a lie is on the same level as its unwillingness to see Petyr Baelish's one. Valyria after the doom is hell on earth. GRRM emphasized this more than once in his lore; Princess Aerea Targaryen, Garin the Great. Hell, he even wrote this scene. Yet because some really want to see their super specific unfeasible(!) fever dreams to validate their need to punish Daenerys and House Targaryen and their dragon for being perceived as obstacles to their favorite character's rise to power, Euron Greyjoy, a minor character introduced to us in ADwD, is the first to set foot onto Valyria after more than 400 years. iii) Since we have established the truthfulness of Euron's tale, let's extend the same skepticism to the "Dragonbinder" as well; true dragonbinders were used by pure-blooded Valyrians to tamp even the ill-willed and oldest dragons. In the millennia of wars between the dragonlords of the Freehold and the rest of Essos dozen of such horns must have been lost by riders and found by other folk. If the possession of one paired with enough magical expertise and lust for dragons would been sufficient to make anyone a dragon rider, the Freehold of Valyria would not have been the only civilization to tamp dragons. So why would two Greyjoys make the exception? On top of that, why would Euron let the horn out of his sight and more importantly give it into the custody of his brother he knows has wronged and slighted more than once? And if Euron is indeed an agent of the Others, of Ice, GRRM won't have him subjugate one of the embodiments of Fire, which shall be triumphant at the end of the series. Lastly, the speculation of Victarion Greyjoy as a dragon rider is a misunderstanding, likely deliberate, of Moqorro and the dialog between him and Victarion; Moqorro is a red priest sent to Daenerys so she might know she has been identified as Azor Ahai Reborn by his temple. If he is even half as frantically loyal as Melisandre is to Stannis, Moqorro would never actively try to sabotage his Chosen One by helping someone, a non-believer at that, to rob her of her dragons. Creatures that are sacred to the religion of R'hllor. Not to mention who is Victarion to Moqorro? A pillaring slave catcher who worships an agent of the Others for everything that isn't R'hllor.

If speculations around potential dragon riders do not serve to despite Dany, then they are handed out as rewards to favorites. Nevertheless, GRRM has written to many hints for the other characters to become riders, likely Tyrion and Jon Snow, despite it being incredibly repugnant to me for numerous reasons; it has been Daenerys who has to do all the hard work, who figured out how to birth them, how to raise and feed them, how to train them, protect them and deal with all the moral dilemmas. No matter what, it will always be cheap, offensive and lazy to me that two characters will swoop in, become legendary as the first dragon riders alongside Dany and reap all the glory, and depending on their heritage, a violation of GRRM own lore and rules of physic. The excuse of 'its the ending of the world' is cheap and contrived.

To conclude its despicable how something as unique as the bond between dragons and their riders and the otherworldliness being of the blood grants is cheapened by all these speculations, which are almost exclusively petty fantasies that should be impossible to happen.

[jozor-johai]

I’ve always thought it was curious that there are superficial similarities between Mance’s “fake” Horn of Winter—which the did dig up in the crypts of the far North—and Euron’s dragonbinder horn.

The horn Mance found:

The horn was huge, eight feet along the curve and so wide at the mouth that he could have put his arm inside up to the elbow. If this came from an aurochs, it was the biggest that ever lived. At first he thought the bands around it were bronze, but when he moved closer he realized they were gold. Old gold, more brown than yellow, and graven with runes.

The horn Euron brought:

The horn he blew was shiny black and twisted, and taller than a man as he held it with both hands. It was bound about with bands of red gold and dark steel, incised with ancient Valyrian glyphs that seemed to glow redly as the sound swelled.

One is twisted and one not, but both are giant, black, and banded with metal engraven with runes/glyphs.

If you ask me, I wonder if Stannis really did burn a magic horn, just not the Horn of Winter. Maybe there was a dragonbinder horn (or something-binder horn?) buried North of the Wall.

[classicasongoficeandfire]

The Kingsmoot by Abe Papakhian

[orangedodge]

“I know as much of war as you do, Crow’s Eye,” Asha said. “Aegon Targaryen conquered Westeros with dragons.”

“And so shall we,” Euron Greyjoy promised. “That horn you heard I found amongst the smoking ruins that were Valyria, where no man has dared to walk but me. You heard its call, and felt its power. It is a dragon horn, bound with bands of red gold and Valyrian steel graven with enchantments. The dragonlords of old sounded such horns, before the Doom devoured them. With this horn, ironmen, I can bind dragons to my will.” A Feast for Crows, Chapter 19

I’ve thought about this for years because I’ve always felt like the Doom of Valyria needed to have its own Ar-Pharazôn moment, to explain why it happened when it happened. The Faceless Men assassinated the fire mages, yes, but the mundane explanation feels like it needs to be paired with a more grandiose, mythological, revelation. Some final audacity that cursed them in the eyes of the gods, and doomed all of them, except for the one family that was spared.

On paper, there doesn’t seem like there should be a reason for House Targaryen to have been spared. The Valyrian dragonlords were evil slave masters, who ruled a continent through blood and fear for generations. And House Targaryen appear to have been guilty of those crimes, the same crimes as the other dragonlords. Yet despite that they were given supernatural dreams warning them of the doom, and a chance to escape to Westeros, renounce most of their old status, and start over again. What separated them from the others?

“There is a reason. A dragon is no slave.” And Dany swept the lash down as hard as she could across the slaver’s face. Kraznys screamed and staggered back, the blood running red down his cheeks into his perfumed beard. The harpy’s fingers had torn his features half to pieces with one slash, but she did not pause to contemplate the ruin. “Drogon,” she sang out loudly, sweetly, all her fear forgotten. “Dracarys.”

The black dragon spread his wings and roared. A Storm of Swords, Chapter 27

His scales were hot to the touch, like armor left too long in the sun. Dragons are fire made flesh. She had read that in one of the books Ser Jorah had given her as a wedding gift. A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 2

“R’hllor,” Ser Godry sang, “we give you now four evil men. With glad hearts and true, we give them to your cleansing fires, that the darkness in their souls might be burned away. Let their vile flesh be seared and blackened, that their spirits might rise free and pure to ascend into the light. Accept their blood, Oh lord, and melt the icy chains that bind your servants. Hear their pain, and grant strength to our swords that we might shed the blood of your enemies. Accept this sacrifice, and show us the way to Winterfell, that we might vanquish the unbelievers.” A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 62.

Dragons, and fire in general, are repeatedly associated with freedom. They are the instrument through which the gods, R’hllor, in particular, offer salvation. Therefore to a follower of the Red God, I get the feeling that using dragonbinder would amount to a sin of the highest magnitude, a crime against the heavens and the order of the universe. Which tracks with everyone who blows dragonbinder quickly being consumed from within by fire, and with Victarion--dragonbinder’s current owner--being quite obviously cursed already.

I don’t recall any example of House Targaryen binding their dragons to them. It seems to have been the one line they didn’t cross. Whatever connection they have, it seems to be something closer to what skinchangers do. I don’t think “natural” is the way to describe it, since magic is magic, but the connection that grows between the dragonseeds and their mounts, often from childhood and seemingly through dreams, seems more benign than what Euron is suggesting his magic horn will accomplish. It makes the dragon their partners, not their slaves.

[amuelia]

Commission of Daenerys and Victarion with dragonbinder for @post-ironicweaboo , thank you so much!! :D

[nobodysuspectsthebutterfly]

What is the present condition like in Valyria? Do you think Euron skinchanged into one of his crewmates to sail into and procure things from Valyria? I assume he would want to be safe from any harm Valyria might send his way. The Valyrian armor could not have come from anywhere else... And it would cost more than petrified dragon eggs because of being one of a kind in existence. Thanks for the replies.

Only the brightest stars were visible, all to the west. A dull red glow lit the sky to the northeast, the color of a blood bruise. Tyrion had never seen a bigger moon. Monstrous, swollen, it looked as if it had swallowed the sun and woken with a fever. Its twin, floating on the sea beyond the ship, shimmered red with every wave. “What hour is this?” he asked Moqorro. “That cannot be sunrise unless the east has moved. Why is the sky red?” “The sky is always red above Valyria, Hugor Hill.” […] “So those are fires of the Fourteen Flames we’re seeing, reflected on the clouds?” “Fourteen or fourteen thousand. What man dares count them? It is not wise for mortals to look too deeply at those fires, my friend. Those are the fires of god’s own wrath, and no human flame can match them. We are small creatures, men.”

–ADWD, Tyrion VIII

“The Doom still rules in Valyria.” The land is covered in active volcanoes, the sea within the shattered peninsula boils and smokes. It’s not anywhere you’d want to stick around for very long, or even visit.

I am certain that Euron is not a skinchanger, especially into humans. (I don’t think he’s Bloodraven’s “protege” either, miss me with that theory.) He was lying about visiting Valyria:

A smile played across Euron’s blue lips. “I am the storm, my lord. The first storm, and the last. I have taken the Silence on longer voyages than this, and ones far more hazardous. Have you forgotten? I have sailed the Smoking Sea and seen Valyria.” Every man there knew that the Doom still ruled Valyria. The very sea there boiled and smoked, and the land was overrun with demons. It was said that any sailor who so much as glimpsed the fiery mountains of Valyria rising above the waves would soon die a dreadful death, yet the Crow’s Eye had been there, and returned. “Have you?” the Reader asked, so softly. Euron’s blue smile vanished. “Reader,” he said into the quiet, “you would do well to keep your nose in your books.”

–AFFC, The Reaver

(GRRM’s choice to use Rodrik Harlaw’s epithet “the Reader” is deliberate, y’all. The reader should doubt Euron’s claims.)

We know Euron got the dragonhorn from the Qartheen warlocks he captured. (source: the World of Ice and Fire app) He probably got the Valyrian steel armor from them too. Hope that helps!

[tearsdrownedyou]

Valyrian Magic

Part of the mystique around Euron is his association with foreign places and foreign treasures. This, in itself, is not a bad thing, but it’s definitely something that sets him apart from other Iron Islanders. One might get the impression that he enjoyed his exile a bit too much and he’s not terribly invested in the Iron Islands culture. In particular, he’s very interested in the Valyrian region and its history. 

Another distinguishing quality about Euron is his interest in magic. This is, again, not a negative unto itself, but Euron consistently uses his powers for evil. 

How is any of that relevant to Maggy’s Prophecy? Just humor me for a bit. The foreignness in general is probably not relevant to this discussion. The magic is mostly not pertinent to the prophecy, either, but I’m interested in the intersection of his Valyrian interests and his magical interests. Here is a round-up of quotes in which Euron is associated with Valyrian-derived magic.

Shouts of “Asha!” and “Victarion!” surged back and forth, and it seemed as though some savage storm was about to engulf them all. The Storm God is amongst us, the priest thought, sowing fury and discord. Sharp as a swordthrust, the sound of a horn split the air. Bright and baneful was its voice, a shivering hot scream that made a man’s bones seem to thrum within him. The cry lingered in the damp sea air: aaaaRREEEEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

All eyes turned toward the sound. It was one of Euron’s mongrels winding the call, a monstrous man with a shaved head. Rings of gold and jade and jet glistened on his arms, and on his broad chest was tattooed some bird of prey, talons dripping blood. aaaaRRREEEEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.

The horn he blew was shiny black and twisted, and taller than a man as he held it with both hands. It was bound about with bands of red gold and dark steel, incised with ancient Valyrian glyphs that seemed to glow redly as the sound swelled.

Martin, George R.R.. A Feast for Crows (A Song of Ice and Fire, Book 4) (p. 310). Random House Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

(Blogger’s note: when it says “one of Euron’s mongrels,” that means one of Euron’s mixed-race sons.)

The cheeks of the tattooed man were so puffed out they looked about to burst, and the muscles in his chest twitched in a way that it made it seem as if the bird were about to rip free of his flesh and take wing. And now the glyphs were burning brightly, every line and letter shimmering with white fire. On and on and on the sound went, echoing amongst the howling hills behind them and across the waters of Nagga’s Cradle to ring against the mountains of Great Wyk, on and on and on until it filled the whole wet world. And when it seemed the sound would never end, it did. The hornblower’s breath failed at last. He staggered and almost fell. The priest saw Orkwood of Orkmont catch him by one arm to hold him up, whilst Left-Hand Lucas Codd took the twisted black horn from his hands. A thin wisp of smoke was rising from the horn, and the priest saw blood and blisters upon the lips of the man who’d sounded it. The bird on his chest was bleeding too. Euron Greyjoy climbed the hill slowly, with every eye upon him. Above the gull screamed and screamed again. No godless man may sit the Seastone Chair, Aeron thought, but he knew that he must let his brother speak. His lips moved silently in prayer.

Martin, George R.R.. A Feast for Crows (A Song of Ice and Fire, Book 4) (pp. 310-311). Random House Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

Euron looks after his sons about as well as he treats his brothers. This one later died of his injuries from blowing that horn.

“Aegon Targaryen conquered Westeros with dragons.”

“And so shall we,” Euron Greyjoy promised. “That horn you heard I found amongst the smoking ruins that were Valyria, where no man has dared to walk but me. You heard its call, and felt its power. It is a dragon horn, bound with bands of red gold and Valyrian steel graven with enchantments.”

Martin, George R.R.. A Feast for Crows (A Song of Ice and Fire, Book 4) (p. 312). Random House Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

The Reader walked forward, sounding all the hazards. “Galleys guard the Redwyne Straits. The Dornish coast is dry and bleak, four hundred leagues of whirlpools, cliffs, and hidden shoals with hardly a safe landing anywhere. Beyond wait the Stepstones, with their storms and their nests of Lysene and Myrish pirates. If a thousand ships set sail, three hundred may reach the far side of the narrow sea … and then what? Lys will not welcome us, nor will Volantis. Where will you find fresh water, food? The first storm will scatter us across half the earth.”

A smile played across Euron’s blue lips. “I am the storm, my lord. The first storm, and the last. I have taken the Silence on longer voyages than this, and ones far more hazardous. Have you forgotten? I have sailed the Smoking Sea and seen Valyria.” Every man there knew that the Doom still ruled Valyria. The very sea there boiled and smoked, and the land was overrun with demons. It was said that any sailor who so much as glimpsed the fiery mountains of Valyria rising above the waves would soon die a dreadful death, yet the Crow’s Eye had been there, and returned.

“Have you?” the Reader asked, so softly.

Euron’s blue smile vanished. “Reader,” he said into the quiet, “you would do well to keep your nose in your books.”

Martin, George R.R.. A Feast for Crows (A Song of Ice and Fire, Book 4) (pp. 495-496). Random House Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

Euron’s gifts are always poisoned. “The Crow’s Eye swore this horn would bind dragons to my will. But how will that serve me if the price is death?”

“Your brother did not sound the horn himself. Nor must you.” Moqorro pointed to the band of steel. “Here. ‘Blood for fire, fire for blood.’ Who blows the hellhorn matters not. The dragons will come to the horn’s master. You must claim the horn. With blood.”

Martin, George R. R.. A Dance with Dragons (A Song of Ice and Fire, Book 5) (p. 913). Random House Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.

That’s all for the extant five books. Now we have some more text from Aeron’s sample chapter in TWOW:

Euron Crow’s Eye stood upon the deck of Silence, clad in a suit of black scale armor like nothing Aeron had ever seen before. Dark as smoke it was, but Euron wore it as easily as if it was the thinnest silk. The scales were edged in red gold, and gleamed and shimmered when they moved. Patterns could be seen within the metal, whorls and glyphs and arcane symbols folded into the steel.

Valyrian steel, the Damphair knew. His armor is Valyrian steel. In all the Seven Kingdoms, no man owned a suit of Valyrian steel. Such things had been known 400 years ago, in the days before the Doom, but even then, they would’ve cost a kingdom.

If I wanted someone to fulfill part of a prophecy...

...and his role in the prophecy was labeled with a Valyrian descriptor that didn’t translate well to the Common Tongue...

...and the prophesied act were to kill someone...

...I could do a lot worse than a guy who’s visited the ruins of Old Valyria and come back with lots of fancy magical swag...

...including a device whose activation costs the life of the guy’s son. 

Cersei has to ask: “What’s a valonqar? Some monster?” and Maggy doesn’t answer. I’d say Euron is a good fit for her monster.

[poorquentyn]

What do you think would have happened if Rodrik Harlaw hadn't questioned Euron's plan to sail to Meereen? Euron isn't attacking the Redwyne's fleet because he wants to, he's doing it because its what the Iron born want. He also had no intentions of sending Victarion to meet with Dany. What do you think his original plan was before that night? And how does the ritualistic sacrificing of his brothers and Falia play into it?

(TWOW spoilers)

“On the morrow we prepare once more to sail,” the king was saying. “Fill our casks anew with spring water, take every sack of grain and cask of beef, and as many sheep and goats as we can carry. The wounded who are still hale enough to pull an oar will row. The rest shall remain here, to help hold these isles for their new lords. Torwold and the Red Oarsman will soon be back with more provisions. Our decks will stink of pigs and chickens on the voyage east, but we’ll return with dragons.”

Euron’s plan was pretty simple: take the ships to the dragon queen in Slaver’s Bay, leaving Erik Ironmaker and the new lords of the Shields to face the mainland’s wrath. He might have always had Victarion in mind as the patsy to blow Dragonbinder once they got there, or the plan might’ve been for the dusky woman to poison the Iron Captain en route. Who knows if Euron would try and court Dany first or lead with Dragonbinder, I could see that going either way. As for Aeron and Falia, I fear the following would still apply, just in Essos instead of southwestern Westeros:

“The Crow’s Eye has fed your Drowned God well, and he has grown fat with sacrifice. Words are wind, but blood is power. We have given thousands to the sea, and he has given us victories!”

“No, I’ll not kill you tonight. A holy man with holy blood. I may have need of that blood…later. For now, you are condemned to live.”

Aeron Damphair raised his eyes to hers. His scabbed lips were crusted with wet porridge. “Woman.” His chains clinked when he moved. “Run. He will hurt you. He will kill you.”