#rhoynar

[notanothernogoodblog]

Nymeria of Ny Sar, who burned her fleet to prove her love and loyalty.

art by Kris Cooper

[ginny-anime]

I find it hilarious when people hate on House Martell and dorne.

Why because they didn’t bow down to the conquerors?

They killed Rhaenys the conqueror and her dragon?

They didn’t fight in the dance of the dragons when it wasn’t their war to fight?

Because they were the only kingdom that defied the Targaryens and remained an independent kingdom until the reign of Daeron ii?

What is there to even hate about House Martell and Dorne

[schn-tgai-sparks]

While I definitely think some attributes of his writing could be better (HOW he chooses to address certain topics and some character building and development stuff) George R. R. Martin is a MASTER WORLDBUILDER.

This is really what sets his writing apart.

The fantasy setting doesn’t feel like it’s based on our world, there’s not 1:1 cultures or religions.

You can definitely see *inspiration* from real cultures but it works more as an insight into how empires develop and how cultures interact with each other rather than the source of the cultures.

The world of Westeros is complex, the people and their cultures have REASONS for their belief systems and cultural structures that are INFORMED BY THEIR ENVIRONMENT AND HISTORY.

There are lost civilizations and evolution of races, lost languages and ancient texts.

The maesters have HISTORIES. They do archeological expeditions, there are linguists.

The world that Martin built is one in which there are people, not just characters.

[gracielikegrapes]

Nymeria on the Narrow Sea

[nanshe-of-nina]

Posthumous Characters GIF Sets → Garin the Great, Prince of Chroyane

“Prince Oberyn was full of stories.” Garin had been with them as well that day; he was Arianne’s milk brother, and they had been inseparable since before they learned to walk. “He told about Prince Garin, I remember, the one that I was named for.” “Garin the Great,” offered Drey, “the wonder of the Rhoyne.” “That’s the one. He made Valyria tremble.” “They trembled,” said Ser Gerold, “then they killed him. If I led a quarter of a million men to death, would they call me Gerold the Great?”

[myrisheye]

Opal, Amethyst and Bloodstone

Back to Gemstone series for me, in last post, I talked about Tourmaline, Onyx, Topaz and how they give hints of Jade Emperor/Azor Ahai creating the dragons and the myhts connection to the Andal figures like Hugor of the Hill and Galladon of Morne

Opal Emperor

The connection to Andals continues with the Opal Emperor and gives us hints about the Andals and Rhoynar, possibly a common ancestor while they still lived in Essos, or a change of influence after Andal migration to Westeros. Or a case of first bookism when Arbor was called Rhoyne and Dorne was ruled from the Ironport in 1993 drafts, placing Opal Emperor closer to Jade Emperor. Anyways, back to search for more hints about the Emperor's identity

Opal is a hydrated amorphous form of silica. It is deposited at a relatively low temperature and may occur in the fissures of almost any kind of rock, being most commonly found with limonite, sandstone, rhyolite, marl, and basalt. The name opal is believed to be derived from the Sanskrit word upala (उपल), which means 'jewel', and later the Greek derivative opállios (ὀπάλλιος).

As references to the gem are made by Pliny the Elder, one theory attributed the name's origin to Roman mythology: to have been adapted from Ops, the wife of Saturn, and goddess of fertility. (The portion of Saturnalia devoted to Ops was "Opalia", similar to opalus.)

Another common claim was that the term was adapted from the Ancient Greek word, opallios. This word has two meanings, one is related to "seeing" and forms the basis of the English words like "opaque"; the other is "other" as in "alias" and "alter".

The meaning of Opal gives us a connection to the fertility deities, and child sacrifices. Ops is the Roman Goddess of fertility, and said to be the Consort of Saturn/Cronos, God of fertility and time, her Greek equal is Rhea. The myth of Saturn and Ops state that Saturn was afraid of being usurped by his own children, ate them except Jupiter/Zeus because Ops presented Saturn a rock and hide the infant Jupiter/Zeus. Which makes Garth the Green the Cronos figure, with Durran Godsgrief as Jupiter/Zeus/Storm God and Elenei as Aphrodite(?), according to the myth Jupiter does usurp his father, killing him and freeing his siblins from his father's bely.

Ops is refered as Ops Consiva (she who sows) an anti-Ironborn figure, she is also the Goddess of opulance, and wealth, she is depicted with a scepter and cornucopia.

In asoiaf series opals are first mentioned in Dany V of AGOT as fire opals, the word also appear in her chapter as eyes of Gemstone Emperor, opal knights gifted by Xaro, Xaro's jewels, and her crown gifted by Qartheen, we see fire opal appear when Daenerys crosses Red Waste and her bloodriders find a bracelet with fire opal, and Margaery's wedding Chalice with fire opals used for the Martell Sun sigil.

If opal in our story is fire opal and connection to (Andal) Dorne that started with Onyx Emperor shifts into a Rhoynar one with Opal, it makes sense why his daughter Amethys Empress succeeded him. Rhoynar practices absolute primogeniture, meaning the eldest child inherits regarless of gender. Rhoyne being Arbor in 1993 drafts also makes sense if they are connected to Ops, the Arbor in story is founded by Garth the Green's son Gilbert of the Vines, a Dionysus/Bacchus figure, a chthonic fertility deity like Ops. And the Rhoynar culture (or how they are seen by other Kingdoms) may be inspired by the Opalia/Saturnalia festivals.

Amethys Empress

Amethyst is a violet variety of quartz. Ancient Greeks wore amethyst and carved drinking vessels from it in the belief that it would prevent intoxication. Unlike other Emperor names on the list, Amethyst only comes in the shades of purple, lacking the color variety of the previous gems.

The name comes from the Koine Greek αμέθυστος amethystos from α- a-, "not" and μεθύσκω (Ancient Greek) methysko / μεθώ metho (Modern Greek), "intoxicate", a reference to the belief that the stone protected its owner from drunkenness. Which strengthens the tie of Opal Emperor to Gilbert of the Vines.

In Greek myths the Goddess Rhea (Ops in Roman mythology) gives Dionysus/Bacchus an Amethyst stone to preserve his sanity, it is possible mother of Amethyst Empress wanted her daughter to succeed her husband, due to his drunken and weak nature.

Mentions of amethyst in asoiaf series starts with Daenerys I of AGOT, she has the strongest connection to this Gemstone because she represents Amethyst Empress in the current story. She wears an amethyst crown and amethyst bracelets to meet Khal Drogo, Euron says Daenerys' eyes are amethyst, Euron is an antagonist, one of the lies Daenerys must slay, his also known to consume Shade of the Evening, making Aeron drink it as well, causing him to hallucinate. We can see that corruption that lead to Bloodstone's reign started with Opal Emperor since he seem to represent the darker aspects of Dionysus.

A second mention of amethysts is the heir net Sansa wore to Joffrey's wedding. She is told the stones are black amethyst, but it is poison, Olena, a Redwyne and a descendant of Gilbert of the Vines, put the poison in Joffrey's drink, killing him. We are told Euron, and his gifts, one of them being Shade of the Evening, is poison, and we have poison hidden as Amethysts.

Third mention of amethysts are connected to Ser Flemen Brax, Ser Flement Brax is a knight from Westerlands, Tyrion describes him as "The knight who led them wore silver armor inlaid with amethysts and a striped purple-and-silver cloak. His shield bore a unicorn sigil, and a spiral horn two feet long jutted up from the brow of his horsehead helm." Outside of main series amethsyts are mentioned once in The Mystery Knight, Ser John the Fiddler aka Daemon II Blackfyre wears a silver chain studded with amethysts, and Dunk says the stones match the colour of his eyes.

I think we are meant to link silver and amethyst, and the colors grey and purple together, which brings us to the House Dayne of Starfall to find another name/identity for the Empress.

Although we are lead to believe House Dayne was founded by a knight that followed a falling star, I think it is also possible falling star was just a descending God-Empress who moved to a new land after her usurpation. Nevertheless we first have to find the star that is connected to the Daynes, and that would be Vega. Vega's name comes from Arabic an-Nasr al-Waqi, meaning descending Eagle, but in Latin it was referred as Vulture Cadens, which connects Amethyst Empress to Dorne through the Vulture Kings. In Chinese legends the star of Vega represents the Goddess Zhinü, daughter of Jade Emperor - our Azor Ahai figure, and is connected to the Qixi (seven nights) myths, confirming Andal connection with Azor Ahai and House Dayne. In Asyrrian language, Vega was called Dayan-same "Judge of Heavens" connecting Amethyst Empress to Maiden Made of Light who turned her back to humanity and caused Lion of Night to send his demons to Earth to punish humanity. This name of the star might also explain why Dawn is not an ancestral sword but only given to knights that are deemed worthy. Akkadians associated Vega with goddess Tiranna/Marzat, whose name meant bow of heaven, she was called Great Lady zana rišarri and She who makes city florish Urualšarra, connecting her to the deities Rhea and Cronos, Manzat/Tiranna is also associated with Goddess Ishtar. Babylonians called Vega as Dilgan, messanger of Light, in Hindu myhts the star is called Abhihit (invincible)

I think it is possible Amethyst Empress were posioned, or was a tool to posion her own father, and the poisoner was her lover. We are told love is poison, a sweet poison, but posion nonetheless, Daenerys the current Amethyst Empress is told she will know a betrayal for love, if she is daughter of Ashara Dayne and Rhaegar as I suspect this would explain why Robert and Green Grace(?) tried to poison Daenerys, she is living the fate of her ancestor, but this time she is surviving the attempts.

It is also interesting that Vega was once our pole star, and will be our pole star again in the future due to pole shift, I think asoiaf main series is about this shift, with its wacky seasons, after the Amethyst Empress' usurpation aka the first Pole Shift, Maiden Made of Light turned its back on Earth, and Lion of Night sent its demons, meaning the planet experienced variors catalyst, with the birth of Daenerys and return of the Red Comet, the pole is shifting again, explaining why the Others woke up and descending towards the Wall for another Long Night. It is possible the constellation Lyra (where Vega is found) is called Sword of the Morning in asoiaf universe.

As the current Azor Ahai/Stallion Who Mounts the World, Daenerys embodies the Judge aspects of Vega, as she punishes the Slavers, Benerro says Volantis/the Triarch will be punished if they take arms against Daenerys. "Death itself shall bend its knee, triumph over darkness bringing a summer that will never end, whoever died in her cause shall be reborn" I think that's what first Amethyst Empress promised to her people as well, before she was poisoned and usurped, causing her to turn into the Great Other whose heart is corrupted and becomes a source of poison(Shade of the Evening Tree), and who ever died in her cause is awakened as Others and whights.

Bloodstone Emperor

Our last Gemstone Emperor is Bloodstone, whose dark deeds brought an end to Empire of the Dawn.

Bloodstone is also known as Heliotropes (from Ancient Greek ἥλιος (hḗlios) 'sun' and τρέπειν (trépein) 'to turn'), are aggregate minerals, and a cryptocrystalline mixture of quartz that occurs mostly as jasper (opaque) or sometimes as chalcedony (translucent). I don't know if I ever mentioned chalcedony but both chalcedony and jasper is mentioned when the Qartheen attempt to assassinate Daenerys with Scarab, Jaime mentions a statue of Mother with chalcedony eyes. The jasper gemstone is associated with House Arryn, Catelyn receives a jasper inlaid message with Lysa's message, which brings us to the poisoning again as that's how Lord Jon Arryn dies. The other known Jasper in our story is Lord Jasper Wylde, the House sigil a maelstorm on yellow, reminding us the spiral carpet Daenerys sees in House of the Undying.

The Heliotrope name and meaning is a nod to Maiden Maid of Light, this time identified as a Sun figure, turning her back to humanity.

Heliotrope was called "stone of Babylon" by Albertus Magnus and he referred to several magical properties, which were attributed to it from Late Antiquity. Pliny the Elder (1st century) mentioned first that magicians used it as a stone of invisibility. Opal is also said to have magical qualities and was used as a stone of invisibility, meaning Bloodstone inherited his magical abilities from Opal Emperor. Damigeron (4th century) wrote about its property to make rain, solar eclipse, and its special virtue in divination and preserving health and youth. In Scotland, the Gaels saw heliotropes as the product of an everlasting battle (seen as the aurora borealis) fought by 'the Nimble Ones,' giant faerie-folk who danced and fought in the night skies, their blood pooling into the red part of the aurora before falling in drops to the ground to form bloodstones.

I think Bloodstone Emperor was twice marked by the Old Gods, having one green and one red eye, leading to his name.

According to Yi Ti legends, he practiced torture, dark arts, and necromancy. He enslaved his own people, took a tiger-woman for wife, feasted on human flesh and cast down the true gods of Yi Ti to worship a black stone that fell from the sky. Some scholars believe him to have been the first High Priest of the sinister Church of Starry Wisdom. Arya sees the Priests of this religion singing to the Evening Stars.

Which brings us to the difference between House Dayne titles, Sword of the Morning and Sword of the Evening, the two branches House Dayne of Starfall, and House Dayne of High Hermitage, and of course Tarth with their Evenstar title and Azor Ahai figure in Galladon of Morne.

[duxbelisarius]

The Dragon has Three Heads or, How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Believe That Young Griff is the Real Deal

Before going any further, I want to warn anyone reading this analysis that it will contain spoilers for A Dance With Dragons, so proceed at your own risk.

This essay came about from an 'epiphany' I had while reading ADWD on break at work, specifically chapter Daenerys VII. In this chapter, Quentyn Martell and his companions present themselves to Daenerys and offer her a marriage alliance with Dorne. This being the day of her wedding to Hizdahr zo Loraq, Dany refuses and makes note mentally of Quaithe's earlier warning about not trusting "the Sun's Son." The identification seems simple enough, with House Martell's sigil featuring the sun and Quentyn being the son of Doran Martell, Prince of Dorne, but there are serious problems with this conclusion.

The issue with labeling Quentyn Martell the Sun's Son stems from how Dany reaches this conclusion; for starters, this is the original quote given by Quaithe in Daenerys II:

"No. Hear me, Daenerys Targaryen. The glass candles are burning. Soon comes the pale mare, and after her the others. Kraken and dark flame, lion and griffin, the sun's son and the mummer's dragon. Trust none of them. Remember the Undying. Beware the perfumed seneschal."

And this is how Dany identifies Quentyn as the Sun's Son in Daenerys VII and VIII:

Something tickled at her memory. "Ser Barristan, what are the arms of House Martell?"

"A sun in splendor, transfixed by a spear."

The sun's son. A shiver went through her. "Shadows and whispers." What else had Quaithe said? The pale mare and the sun's son. There was a lion in it too, and a dragon. Or am I the dragon? "Beware the perfumed seneschal." That she remembered. "Dreams and prophecies. Why must they always be in riddles? I hate this. Oh, leave me, ser. Tomorrow is my wedding day."

...

The pale mare. Daenerys sighed. Quaithe warned me of the pale mare's coming. She told me of the Dornish prince as well, the sun's son. She told me much and more, but all in riddles.

George has talked about the fickle nature of prophecy in the books and publicly, citing the Duke of Somerset's death at the Battle of St. Albans in Shakespeare's Henry VI as an example of why the literal or easiest interpretations are not always the most reliable. While Dany's conclusion that Quentyn is the 'Sun's Son' seems straightforward, she bases it solely on Barristan's description of the Martell arms. Her reasoning is mainly to justify marrying Hizdahr by dismissing the Martell offer, as Dany herself barely remembers Quaithe's warning and bemoans her 'riddles'.

Assuming that the 'Pale Mare' refers to the 'bloody flux' that the Astapori refugees bring to Meereen, and that the Kraken, dark flame, lion, griffon and mummer's dragon refer to Victarion Greyjoy, Moqorro, Tyrion, Connington and Young Griff respectively, the sequence of Quaithe's warning makes no sense with Quentyn as the 'Sun's Son.' At the end of ADWD, Tyrion is outside the walls of Meereen while Victarion and Moqorro are en route with the Iron Fleet, and Connington and Young Griff are in Westeros. If Dany's return to Meereen from the Dothraki Sea is followed by her journeying westwards, then this sequence makes sense. Victarion will likely destroy the Slaver's fleets and is seeking Dany's hand in marriage, while Moqorro is with him for the purpose of acknowledging her as Azor Ahai and encouraging her to free the slaves of Volantis. Given Tyrion's association with Varys, Illyrio, Jorah and now 'Brown Ben Plumm,' and his family's role in Robert's rebellion, it makes sense that he would not immediately seek out Daenerys on her return to Meereen. Connington and Young Griff await her in Westeros, but Quentyn as the 'Sun's Son' precedes all of them, breaking Quaithe's otherwise sensible sequence. If Quentyn were the 'Sun's Son' he could just as easily have been paired with the Kraken, since both are sent by the heads of their houses to offer her an alliance, while Tyrion and Moqorro travel together on the Selaesori Qhoran (the 'Perfumed Seneschal') and Connington and Griff are in league with Varys.

The far greater issue with Dany's interpretation is that we have access to Quentyn's POV, and there is nothing to suggest that he seeks to betray Daenerys. His purpose was to approach Dany with a marriage alliance, to assist her in reclaiming her crown; his party was even sent by Tatters to scope out the situation in Meereen for a possible double-crossing of the Yunkai'i, specifically to aid Dany. The only thing close to untoward that he does is attempt to claim one of her Dragons, and this was a desperation move driven by his insecurities and his fear of returning to his father empty handed, which would mean that his fallen companions died for nothing:

"What name do you think they will give me, should I return to Dorne without Daenerys?" Prince Quentyn asked. "Quentyn the Cautious? Quentyn the Craven? Quentyn the Quail?" (The Discarded Knight, ADWD)

Volantis, Quentyn thought. Then Lys, then home. Back the way I came, empty-handed. Three brave men dead, for what?

...

His father would speak no word of rebuke, Quentyn knew, but the disappointment would be there in his eyes. His sister would be scornful, the Sand Snakes would mock him with smiles sharp as swords, and Lord Yronwood, his second father, who had sent his own son along to keep him safe … (The Spurned Suitor, ADWD)

Disqualifying Quentyn as the Sun's Son leaves us with only three options, of which only one really works. Trystane is the only other son of House Martell aside from Quentyn via Prince Doran, and given his limited roll in the story thus far I think it's safe to cross him off the list. Doran could theoretically work as the 'Sun's son,' as his mother was Princess of Dorne before him; given that Quaithe describes the figures as going to Dany, Doran's limited mobility and poor health would disqualify him. This leaves us with only one 'son of a sun,' that being 'Young Griff,' aka Aegon VI Targaryen, the son of Rhaegar Targaryen and Elia Martell, Princess of Dorne.

This association of Aegon with the Martells via his mother fits with the copious amounts of imagery linking him to the Rhoynar and to 'Egg' aka Aegon V of "Dunk and Egg" fame, specifically that character's travels in Dorne. Tyrion finds him living on a pole boat in the Rhoyne River, home of the ancient Rhoynar culture that Dorne descends from. The Shy Maid is operated by Yandry and Ysilla, so-called 'orphans of the Greenblood' which are another allusion to Dunk and Egg's travels on the Greenblood River in Dorne:

A poleboat had taken them down the Greenblood to the Planky Town, where they took passage for Oldtown on the galleas White Lady.

...

When they’d been poling down the Greenblood, the orphan girls had made a game of rubbing Egg’s shaven head for luck. (The Sworn Sword)

In Tyrion IV of ADWD, a massive horned turtle appears in the river by the Shy Maid, an obvious reference to the Rhoynish 'Old Man of the River,':

It was another turtle, a horned turtle of enormous size, its dark green shell mottled with brown and overgrown with water moss and crusty black river molluscs. It raised its head and bellowed, a deep-throated thrumming roar louder than any warhorn that Tyrion had ever heard. “We are blessed,” Ysilla was crying loudly, as tears streamed down her face. “We are blessed, we are blessed.”

Duck was hooting, and Young Griff too. Haldon came out on deck to learn the cause of the commotion . . . but too late. The giant turtle had vanished below the water once again. “What was the cause of all that noise?” the Halfmaester asked.

“A turtle,” said Tyrion. “A turtle bigger than this boat.”

“It was him,” cried Yandry. “The Old Man of the River.”

And why not? Tyrion grinned. Gods and wonders always appear, to attend the birth of kings.

When Tyrion and Haldon visit the Painted Turtle inn to find information about Daenerys' whereabouts, we have an interesting description of the inn from Tyrion:

The ridged shell of some immense turtle hung above its door, painted in garish colors. Inside a hundred dim red candles burned like distant stars. (Tyrion VI, ADWD)

We once more have Rhoynish symbolism in the turtle, while the 'garish colors' are reminiscent of Young Griff's hair, which is dyed blue in the Tyroshi fashion. Tyrion's description of inside the 'Painted Turtle' is one of dim red candles burning like stars, which can be seen as an oblique reference to the red rubies on Rhaegar's black breastplate, thereby associating the red of Targaryen heraldry with the cultural symbols of the Rhoynar.

The 'Dunk and Egg' imagery goes further, with both Egg and Aegon wearing distinctive straw sun hats, and being accompanied by their Hedge Knights from the Stormlands, both of whom have titles derived from their own simplistic personalities (Duncan the Tall, Rolly Duckfield). Moreover, Egg's journeying to Dorne ends up giving him refuge from the Spring Sickness that ravages Westeros, while Aegon's time in Essos serves as a refuge from Robert's spies and the chaos of the War of the Five Kings. While these similarities might be viewed as a doomed attempt by Varys to recreate Egg through Aegon, I think the purpose of these parallels is to establish both princes as following similar trajectories: both are sons of a Targaryen prince (Maekar, Rhaegar) and a Dornish noblewoman (Dyana Dayne, Elia Martell); become King of the Seven Kingdoms through unexpected circumstances: and if George plans to end ADOS with a mini-Dance of the Dragons, I would expect Aegon VI to meet a fiery end like Egg did.

If Young Griff is actually Aegon VI Targaryen as well as the 'Sun's Son,' this leaves the 'mummer's dragon' without any clear identity. Part of this is due to the conviction that Dany's identification of the cloth dragon from the undying visions with a 'mummer's dragon' or puppet dragon must be correct. In truth, there are countless cases from ADWD alone that show us that a mummer's object is not necessarily a puppet, but more broadly means something which is not as it appears:

I know one stands before me now, weeping mummer's tears. The realization made her sad. (Daenerys III, ADWD)

"Not here," warned Gerris, with a mummer's empty smile. "We'll speak of this tonight, when we make camp." (The Windblown, ADWD)

"My lord, I bear you no ill will. The rancor I showed you in the Merman's Court was a mummer's farce put on to please our friends of Frey."

...

I drink with Jared, jape with Symond, promise Rhaegar the hand of my own beloved granddaughter … but never think that means I have forgotten. The north remembers, Lord Davos. The north remembers, and the mummer's farce is almost done. My son is home." (Davos IV, ADWD)

His reign as prince of Winterfell had been a brief one. He had played his part in the mummer's show, giving the feigned Arya to be wed, and now he was of no further use to Roose Bolton. (The Turncloak, ADWD)

Fat Wyman Manderly, Whoresbane Umber, the men of House Hornwood and House Tallhart, the Lockes and Flints and Ryswells, all of them were northmen, sworn to House Stark for generations beyond count. It was the girl who held them here, Lord Eddard's blood, but the girl was just a mummer's ploy, a lamb in a direwolf's skin. So why not send the northmen forth to battle Stannis before the farce unraveled? (A Ghost in Winterfell, ADWD)

Mummer's tears and smiles are obviously false emotions, being affectations put on to hide what someone truly feels. Wyman Manderly is engaged in a mummer's farce wherein he pretends to be loyal to King Tommen and Roose Bolton, but in truth is scheming to restore the Starks to Winterfell and assist Stannis against the Boltons. Roose Bolton, Petyr Baelish and the Crown have in turn engaged in their own mummer's farce by sending Jeyne Poole north to wed Ramsay Snow in the guise of Arya Stark, "a lamb in direwolf's skin." If the 'mummer's dragon' is in fact a dragon that has been made to appear as something else, then Jon Snow more than fits this bill. By birth he should be a Targaryen, having been fathered by Rhaegar Targaryen upon Lyanna Stark; instead, his fortuitous Stark features inherited from his mother, and Ned's claiming Jon as his bastard and raising him amongst his children at Winterfell, has allowed Jon to hide in plain sight from those who would kill him for being Rhaegar's son.

The significance of Dany, Jon and Aegon being the three heads of the dragon is due to their mirroring a less conspicuous triad in George's World: elemental magic and it's connections to the Long Night. We are aware of three forms of elemental magic in the story, being pyromancy, cryomancy and hydromancy. Pyromancy is the most obvious, being the control and use of fire as we see with followers of Rhllor, and also tied to dragons. Cryomancy or ice magic appears in the powers of the Others and in the Wall separating the Seven Kingdoms from the lands beyond. Finally we have hydromancy or water magic, which was used by the Rhoynar against the Valyrian Freedhold and by Nymeria's Rhoynar settlers to support their communities within the deserts of Dorne. Company of the Cat has an excellent video discussing these three 'schools' of magic, but to summarize what she's said: Blue, Red and Green are the colours commonly associated with Ice, Fire and Water/the Sea in ASOIAF; in addition to being featured on the arms of ancient houses such as Massey and Strong, these elements are in turn associated with three magical items in the books. The first, The Horn of Joramun, can raise and lower The Wall (Ice); Dragonbinder, a horn that was likely used alongside similar horns to control the volcanoes of the fourteen flames in Valyria (Fire); and the 'Kraken summoning horn' which is most likely the Hammer of the Waters, since the Hammer raised the seas to swamp the 'Arm of Dorne,' which would have filled the seas fill with corpses of the dead and 'summoned' krakens, which would have fed on the bodies of the drowned.

The Valyrian, Northern and Rhoynish heritage of Dany, Jon and Aegon ties them to these three forms of magic respectively, and by extension to the Long Night. We are given three accounts of the Long Night between ASOIAF and TWOIAF, which I dub the 'western,' 'far eastern' and 'near eastern' versions. The 'western' account concerns the First Men, the Night's Watch, the Last Hero and the Others; the 'far eastern' account covers the 'Jade Compendium' and the Yi Tish account of the Blood Betrayal; and the 'near eastern' or Rhoynar account in which the children of Mother Rhoyne sang a song to return light to the world. Aegon is tied to the Rhoynish account through his mother's heritage, with references to the Rhoynish account in the 'Old Man of the River' appearing in ADWD and Dany's vision of Rhaegar talking about Aegon's 'Song' (that of Ice and Fire):

The Rhoynar tell of a darkness that made the Rhoyne of Essos dwindle and disappear, her waters frozen as far south as the joining of the Selhoru, until a hero convinced the many children of Mother Rhoyne, such as the Crab King and the Old man of the River, to put aside their bickering and join in a secret song that brought back the day. (TWOIAF: Ancient History: The Long Night)

...

“Will you make a song for him?” the woman asked.

“He has a song,” the man replied. “He is the prince that was promised, and his is the song of ice and fire.” (Daenerys IV, ACOK)

Jon's connection to the Northern account is obvious given his Stark lineage and service in the Night's Watch, as well as his dreams in ADWD:

Burning shafts hissed upward, trailing tongues of fire. Scarecrow brothers tumbled down, black cloaks ablaze. "Snow," an eagle cried, as foemen scuttled up the ice like spiders. Jon was armored in black ice, but his blade burned red in his fist. As the dead men reached the top of the Wall he sent them down to die again. He slew a greybeard and a beardless boy, a giant, a gaunt man with filed teeth, a girl with thick red hair. Too late he recognized Ygritte. She was gone as quick as she'd appeared.

The world dissolved into a red mist. Jon stabbed and slashed and cut. He hacked down Donal Noye and gutted Deaf Dick Follard. Qhorin Halfhand stumbled to his knees, trying in vain to staunch the flow of blood from his neck. "I am the Lord of Winterfell," Jon screamed. It was Robb before him now, his hair wet with melting snow. Longclaw took his head off. Then a gnarled hand seized Jon roughly by the shoulder. He whirled … (Jon XII, ADWD)

Finally, Dany is directly referred to as Azor Ahai in the books while her visions from Daenerys IX of AGOT connect her bloodline to the Great Empire of the Dawn. The eye colours of the figures she sees match the titles of four of the eight emperors of the GEOTD, Opal, Jade, Tourmaline and Amethyst, with the Bloodstone Emperor killing his sister the Amethyst Empress and causing the Long Night. Azor Ahai and the Bloodstone Emperor are themselves connected, and I recommend David Lightbringer's Nightbringer series and "Azor Ahai the Bad Guy" video for a concise explanation. It's worth noting that David is well within the Faegon Blackfyre camp, but I think his theories here more than fit my own conclusions also.

Aegon being one of the three heads also fits in with the symbolic relationship between water, fire and ice and the green, red and blue colour scheme. As Company of the Cat points out in her video about the magic horns (timestamp 26:52), green is a secondary colour made from a 'cool' and a 'warm' colour, placing it in the middle of the spectrum while red and blue are polar opposites. Similarly, fire can melt ice back into water and water in turn quenches fire, situating Aegon at a middle ground between Jon's ice and Dany's fire. Whereas Jon's only aspect of himself that ties him to House Targaryen is his father and otherwise he is firmly associated with his mother's house, Dany is tied symbolically to her Targaryen identity in the books, being a product of Targaryen incest, the first to hatch dragons in over a century, and her ties to fire through her 'rebirth' on Mirri's pyre under the Red Comet. While Aegon's physical appearance and his father tie him clearly to House Targaryen like Dany, the support of his mother's family alongside his Rhoynar lineage and symbolism place him in a similar situation to Jon, besides their being half-brothers. This also calls to mind the three accounts of the Long Night: if Jon is the Last Hero leading the Night's Watch and Dany is Azor Ahai driving out the darkness with her 'lightbringer' (ie her dragons), Aegon is the unnamed hero who rallied the children of Mother Rhoyne to sing a secret song which brought back the day. To quote alexis_something_rose's essay about Young Griff, "I can wager who will be bickering and who will tell them to set their differences aside and join together in a secret song that will bring back the day."

Whether or not all three or some combination of them will play a decisive role in defeating the Others, or if that will be Bran's part to play, I believe strongly that Dany, Jon and Aegon will be the 'three heads of the dragon.' If 'Young Griff' is truly Sun's Son, Aegon son of Rhaegar, his joining with Dany and Jon represents a unification of the three Dawn Age narratives of the Long Night and it's eventual end. Uniting the icey North, the dragon lord's fire and the songs of Mother Rhoyne would make the endgame a true 'Song of Ice and Fire.'

[nyxqueen97]

Betting Roynar water magic is like atla waterbenders