YMMV / Fire & Blood

• Alternate Character Interpretation: Just about every major figure by design:
  • Gyldayn himself, and specifically his reliability as a source. For example, his incredibly dismissive attitude towards the wiping out of the dragons, more so given there is an anti-magic faction in the Citadel who may or may not have had a hand in those events, raising the question of just whether he was in on that one or not, or where he stood on the matter.
  • Tyanna of the Tower's true motive for poisoning Maegor's other wives is unclear. Was she aiming to remove any threat to her own position as queen, or did she have some other reason to prevent Maegor from siring an heir? There's also the possibility that she never poisoned them and lied to give herself a quick death when Maegor was about to kill her, and the problem with the malformed children was entirely on his side.
  • Queen Alysanne is generally depicted as the sensible one who argues against her husband's harsher parenting decisions, but some question her motive for forcing her daughter Viserra to marry an old man who already had heirs. Suggestions have ranged from paranoia about Viserra's interest in Baelon (thinking it was a sign of ambition to be queen, despite the fact that Aemon was still alive at the time) to jealousy of her beauty.
  • Did Queen Alicent Hightower poison Viserys I? On the one hand, the guy was her husband, and there's no indication in the text that the two were unhappy with one another before then. On the other, given all the other things she does, including those right after he died, it's not exactly completely outside the realm of possibility she did. Though the bigger question would be less whether she was willing (probably, yes) and more why would she take the risk. Viserys' health had been deteriorating for some time, and unlike a certain later queen, she had no reason to fear her children suddenly being revealed illegitimate. Given Viserys was already approaching sixty regardless, Alicent had no clear reason to poison her husband unless he gave some indicator he intended to take steps to ensure Rhaenyra's succession beforehand, which his past actions would suggest isn't likely.
  • Just why did Corlys and Rhaenys accept the "Strong" boys as their own, and why didn't they make Laenor sleep with his wife? Were they blind and excused the boys' appearance as being due to Rhaenys' Baratheon blood? Did they not care because they were going to marry their actual granddaughters? Or was it something else entirely that made them love them as their own? (Given Corlys didn't show any particular obligation to make one of Rhaenyra's sons his heir when the matter arose, it's possible he did take issue with it, but was smart enough to realize Viserys' order to cut out the tongues of anyone that brought it up likely applied just as much to him as anyone else.)
  • Rhaenys and Visenya's relationship with Aegon and each other is incredibly open to interpretation. It's clear Aegon greatly preferred Rhaenys over Visenya, but since all three are enigmatic and live in the earliest portion of history covered, it's impossible to be sure about much else. Visenya's actions following their deaths makes clear she probably would've preferred being Aegon's only wife if the option had been available to her. Then again, Visenya was furious at Rhaenys's death, just like Aegon, so she likely still cared for her as a sister if nothing else.
  • Prince Daeron is another character open to interpretation, since he's barely a presence beyond the events at Tumbletown, recorded as doing little and saying less, beyond that he's humble and up until sacking the town generally held to be a Nice Guy (resentment of Rhaenyra's kids aside). Is his reasoning for sticking with the openly horrible Aegon and Aemond simple if possibly misplaced familial loyalty, youthful naiveite, or something else?
  • Many readers with a less favorable view of Jaehaerys and his parenting skills have taken his rather...extreme reaction to Saera's sexual impropriety as evidence of something much more sinister going on behind closed doors. It does offer a new dimension to Saera drinking and becoming sexually active at such a young age.
• Angst? What Angst?: Curiously, Alicent is never recorded as bringing up the fact Rhaenyra had her father executed, despite the fact this would be a pretty legitimate beef against her. She's also pretty unconcerned about her brother being killed by Daemon's loyalists in the City Watch.
• Audience Awareness Advantage: Cregan Stark attempting to execute Corlys Velaryon may be seen by some as a huge Kick the Dog moment, but due to how much time the reader has spent with Corlys they know that his attempt at securing peace was genuine. But to Cregan, Corlys was just sucking up to the Greens until there was a Black army at Kingslanding's gates at which point he switched sides; and his collaborating with Perkin the Flea and Larys Strong certainly isn't doing Corlys any favors.
• Base-Breaking Character:
  • There's some discourse on whether Jaehaerys I is an awesome king and a worthy successor to Maegor who brought the realm fifty years of peace, or a misogynistic asshole who arbitrarily insisted that the both physically and mentally immature Daella marry before she was ready (which resulted in her dying in childbirth), killed Saera's lover in front of her to punish her for having sex and utterly disowned her when she escaped to Lys, made no effort to keep from impregnating Alysanne again after the birth of Valerion nearly killed her, behaved so insensitively towards his wife after she was grief-stricken by losing three of her daughters (in a very short space of time) that they were estranged for over a year, and helped make the royal succession even more sexist than typical Andal inheritance law when he chose Baelon as his heir over Rhaenys (which led to him and Alysanne being estranged again, this time for two years).
  • Whether Cregan Stark is an honorable badass who cleans house in King's Landing or "the Late Lord Stark" who shows up after everything's over only to denigrate people like the Tully brothers who were actually there to do the fighting.
• Common Knowledge: Regarding What Could Have Been, it was initially believed that Alysanne was planned to be Maegor’s daughter and not his niece in earlier drafts of the Targaryen family tree. This was due to some miscommunication between George R. R. Martin and Elio Garcia, with the latter publicly suspecting it to have been the case in part due to a line by Daenerys in the main series about being “the blood of Maegor” (which usually indicates direct descent). George R. R. Martin would later clarify that he always meant for Alysanne to be Aenys’ daughter in earlier drafts, with Elio Garcia even reaffirming it himself. Though the idea of Alysanne being Maegor’s daughter is a popular fanfic idea, even after the misconception was cleared up.
• Complete Monster: See here.
• Draco in Leather Pants:
  • Maegor is often defended as a Necessarily Evil to preserve the Targaryen dynasty against the Faith Militant. These people ignore that Maegor committed both more and worse crimes then the Faith are ever shown to have done, almost caused the extinction of the dynasty by killing Aegon and Viserys while also trying to kill the rest of Aenys' family, and his violent actions were ultimately shown to be ineffective compared to Jaehaerys' diplomatic compromises. He's also been described as having a feminist streak for allowing Visenya and Tyanna good positions in his court ^note Despite the fact that he murdered Alys Harroway and her entire family on flimsy charges of infidelity, similarly murdered Tyanna for a dubious confession made under threat of torture, potentially had Ceryse Hightower killed when he ordered one of his Kingsguard to cut out her tongue and her throat was accidentally slit (in fairness most in-universe historians regard this as slander, but it also isn't out of character for Maegor) and outright forced the three Black Brides to marry him by threatening their children (and, in the case of Elinor Costayne, executing her husband to make her 'free' to wed again). and naming Aerea his heir. ^note  Which he only did as a last ditch effort since the sole male option left, Jaehaerys, was the figurehead of the rebellion against him, and he still fully intended to eventually replace Aerea with a son of his own.
• Ensemble Dark Horse:
  • The further descriptions into Tyland Lannister's dedicated efforts as Hand of the King (to someone he would have had every reason to shun) after being blinded and gelded win him some fans.
  • Action Girl Jonquil Darke, the Scarlet Shadow.
  • Aegon III already had his fans from his depiction in earlier works, but the descriptive, up-close examination of his status as a PTSD stricken Reasonable Authority Figure won him even more.
  • Florence Fossoway-Tyrell is only mentioned in one brief scene, but has a decent amount of appreciation and fan art. This is due to her math skills and status as the first woman to ever be entrusted with the responsibilities of a Small Council position, even though her husband officially held the office due to the misogyny of the Seven Kingdoms.
• Fandom-Specific Plot: Because of how Fire and Blood is a historical account of events that would eventually trickle down into the present of A Song of Ice and Fire, fans are interested in exploring how small changes could lead to things turning out very differently.
  • Alysanne being Maegor’s daughter instead of Aenys’ is a popular subject for AlternateUniverseFics. It stemmed from a misconception regarding earlier drafts of the Targaryen family tree, and while it was eventually cleared up, it is not any less a favored story idea for fans who want to recontextualize different parts of Alysanne’s character and relationships (particularly with her husband, Jaehaerys).
  • Any of Jaehaerys and Alysanne’s children surviving their canon deaths and the butterfly effects this would have. Some would even go as far as to make it so that all thirteen of their children live until adulthood. The latter idea is also occasionally used alongside another fanfic idea below.
  • The Dance of the Dragons happening between different factions. Laena’s children with Viserys making up the faction against Rhaenyra is one common choice, while some would have Daemon and Rhea Royce’s children as Rhaenyra’s opposing faction. Some would even make entirely new ones and even make the Dance happen generations earlier by using this idea in conjunction with the “all of Jaehaerys and Alysanne’s children survive” idea (see above) and having more branches of House Targaryen to pit them against each other.
  • Children (almost always Original Characters) born from pairings that either had betrothals that did not push through or marriages that did not result in children in canon. Some common ideas include Daemon Targaryen/Rhea Royce (married and had no children), Rhaenyra Targaryen/Laenor Velaryon (children were suspected to actually be illegitimate and sired by Harwin Strong), Viserra Targaryen/Theomore Manderly (betrothal that didn’t push through due to Viserra’s sudden death).
  • Aemma and Viserys managing to have another living child, usually a son, besides Rhaenyra. Whether or not Rhaenyra resents or cares for her living sibling varies per writer.
  • Readers who were not fans of Jaehaera's sudden death tend to visualise how things would have turned out had she lived and continued to be Aegon III's wife as opposed to Daenaera Velaryon.
• Magnificent Bastard: See here.
• Memetic Loser:
  • Unwin Peake comes in for considerable derision, with the failed plan to make his daughter queen that just gets her dubbed "Lady Turnips", a possible coup attempt that was foiled by two teenagers and Mushroom, the Foregone Conclusion that House Peake has declined even further by the present day of the canon, and his name literally being Un-win. This bizarrely manages to cross into Memetic Badass territory since House Peake somehow manages to survive both this and their future shenanigans in the Blackfyre and Peake rebellions while greater houses are totally extinguished for far less. This has earned the Peakes a reputation as a family of cockroaches who can commit egregious acts of treason and come out with only a minor slap on the wrist.
  • Rhaenyra's dragon Syrax has been widely mocked for never partaking in combat throughout the Dance, despite being the personal mount of the Black faction's leader. Another sticking point was how she died. Unlike the other dragons killed at the Dragonpit who were all chained, which severely limited their ability to defend themselves, Syax had no such excuse and still got herself killed. To add insult to injury, her only significant casualty was her own rider's son, leading many to joke that she was actually The Mole for the Greens.
• Misaimed Fandom: The Dance of the Dragons is meant to highlight how both the Greens and the Blacks were horrible people, being responsible for many atrocities and the deaths of thousands. Yet there is a portion of the fandom who still root for one side over the other, which only grew upon the release of House of the Dragon (to be fair though, the show hasn't gotten far enough yet to ellicit the intended reaction to both factions, the Dance has merely begun when Season 1 ends).
• Moral Event Horizon: Plenty of moments in the Dance of Dragons make both sides Evil Versus Evil.
  • The worst for the Blacks is Daemon ordering the death of one of Aegon II's sons, either six-year-old Jaehaerys or two-year-old Maelor, in vengeance for Prince Lucerys's death. This results in Blood and Cheese forcing Queen Helaena to choose which of her sons to kill, threatening to rape her six-year-old daughter Jaehaera and kill all three children if she didn't make a choice. When she reluctantly chooses Maelor, Blood and Cheese kill Jaehaerys instead, and taunt Maelor by telling him that his mother "wanted" him dead.
  • Among the worst for the Greens was the First Battle of Tumbleton, known infamously as the Treasons of Tumbleton for the manner in which the dragonseeds Ser Ulf and Ser Hugh betrayed the Blacks. They burn the city with dragonflame just as the smallfolk believe the day to be won, leading perhaps the most savage ransacking of a city in Westerosi history out of little more than avarice. It can be argued the Blacks share at least part of the blame for Tumbleton since they were the ones who gave Ulf and Hugh their dragons in the first place, which enabled them to wreck this horror. Neither side came out of that miserable battle looking like heroes.
  • Mushroom claimed that Rhaenyra, angered by the captive Alicent Hightower once again insisting that her first three sons were bastards, ordered for Alicent and Helaena Targaryen to be taken to a brothel and whored out to the general populace (one golden dragon for Alicent and three for Helaena) until each had a bastard of her own. However, considering this anecdote comes from Mushroom, there's a very real possibility that it's full of shit. For what it's worth, Archmaester Gyldayn dismisses this claim as far too unlikely. A (slightly) more likely MEH for Rhaenyra would be her attempted execution of the Dragonseeds who had fought loyally for her, for no concrete reason other than paranoia.
  • Aegon II crosses this point when he has Sunfyre eat Rhaenyra in front of her son Aegon the Younger (who becomes Aegon III).
  • After that, assuming they hadn't already crossed it at that point (depending on certain interpretations of their actions beforehand, Queen Alicent convincing Aegon II to start cutting off bits of Aegon the Younger to make the last of Rhaenyra's loyalists back off. It even seems to be an in-universe MEH, since this is the point at which Lord Strong and Lord Velaryon turn on Aegon II.
  • The Shepherd whipping the smallfolk of King's Landing into a frenzy, to make them attack the dragons, as a distraction, showing no remorse at any point for the hundreds who are killed horrifically because of his proselytizing. All to kill some creatures which, while dangerous, hadn't done anything to anyone at that point.
  • In a non-Dance example, Androw Farman initially earns a few sympathy points for being a Butt-Monkey second son married to a woman more interested in his sister, especially since Rhaena can be rather curt and dismissive of him. All that pity goes out the window (like him) when he snaps and begins poisoning Rhaena's companions one by one - including 14-year-old Lianna Velaryon. Understandable or not, it's a horrifying scene either way.
• Nightmare Fuel:
  • The fate of Aerea Targaryen, who returned from (probably) Valyria with strange parasites burrowing through her flesh and seemingly boiling her alive from within.
    • To make matters worse, Balerion The Black Dread returned to King's Landing with Aerea... and he was wounded. He was the largest dragon in Westerosi record and SOMETHING injured him enough to force him to flee.
  • The fact that apparently bearing a stillborn half-dragon child is something that just happens to Targaryen women (and maybe even to women who have been sleeping with a Targaryen, even if the child isn't his) from time to time. What the hell is up with this family?
• One-Scene Wonder: Cregan Stark and Alaric Stark both only appear in one chapter each, but they both make a serious impression.
• Replacement Scrappy: Daenaera Velaryon for Jaehaera Targaryen. Most readers would have preferred Jaehaera stay Aegon III's queen since she has a good foundation to be an interesting Broken Bird and it would provide an interesting dynamic with Aegon given she is the daughter of the man who traumatized him for life and vice versa. Instead, she dies and Daenaera comes out of nowhere and is instantly adored for her beauty despite being six.
• Ron the Death Eater: Jaehaerys I gets this from some. Some argue he's to blame for the Dance of the Dragons because he didn't name his granddaughter Rhaenys as his heir, and credit all the positive reforms during his reign to Alysanne. These critics tend to ignore the fact it was the nobility that overwhelmingly chose Viserys over Rhaenys (indeed, it wasn't even her the final vote came done to, but her son Laenor) at the Great Council, which he called specifically to prevent something like the Dance from happening and is never implied to have manipulated the outcome. That it ultimately failed decades after he died because his successors were less thoughtful and more short-sighted can't be blamed on him. That being said, he did name his son Baelon as his heir, despite the fact that his granddaughter Rhaenys had a better claim than her uncle by virtually all Westerosi succession traditions.
• Squick:
  • A lot of time is spent detailing the marriage and affection between Jaehaerys I and his wife Alysanne, who are a) fifteen and thirteen respectively at the time of their marriage, with the actual consummation taking place barely a year later, and b) full siblings. By the time they have children of their own, they're happily planning which of their sons and daughters will marry each other.
  • The future King Maegor was married at the age of thirteen to the twenty-three year old Ceryse Hightower, claiming he'd bedded her a dozen times on the wedding night. And Prince Viserys, later Viserys II, proudly telling all about how he's had sex with his nineteen year old bride at the age of twelve.
  • Rodrik Arryn telling Alysanne he's loved Princess Daella for years as an argument in favor of their marriage... when Daella is a very childish sixteen, and he's old enough to be her father (in fact, one of his daughters is older than her).
  • Daenaera Velaryon is described as "so beautiful she took the breath away" at the Maiden's Day ball. She was also six years old at the time. However, it's repeatedly stated there was no physical intimacy (and wouldn't be for years) between her and Aegon due to her age, and no one suggests it should be otherwise.
• Tear Jerker:
  • When Alyssa Velaryon dies giving birth to Jocelyn Baratheon, her husband, Rogar Baratheon is utterly devastated, with King Jaehaerys and Queen Alysanne finding him drinking outside the birthing chamber as he knows his wife will not survive. Rogar even has to make the horrific choice to cut Alyssa open to save their child (he can't even look at her as he makes the decision), and he is later found holding his son, Boremund, in his lap after Alyssa's death. It's clear Rogar married Alyssa for love rather than her status as Queen Regent, and though they temporarily separated following his attempted coup of Jaehaerys, they reconciled and loved each other dearly until her death. Even worse is that Rhaena, Alyssa's eldest child, blames him for her death, and while it is true that Alyssa's age (47 years old) made dying in childbirth more likely, it was still a horrible thing for Rogar to hear after his wife died since there was no indication he forced Alyssa to have a second child (he never thought she would even give him his first child in the first place based on her age).
  • The description of the last years of Queen Alysanne's life, her gradual deterioration into old age and infirmity, and her death. Her husband Jaehaerys fares no better, and his own passing from old age is a tearjerker both in-universe and out, as even Dorne mourns his death.
  • Princess Daenerys' death of illness. She barely comprehends what's happening to her ("Mother, I'm cold"), and is a little girl who spends her final days scared and in great pain.
  • The entire book could serve as one gigantic tear jerker for House Targaryen, showing just how high it reached and how even Daenerys and her conquests are just a shadow of what the Targaryens once were.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character: Jaehaera Targaryen, the last surviving member of the Greens following the Dance of the Dragons. Her marriage to Aegon III could have created an interesting dynamic since they're both Broken Birds who saw their loved ones get brutally murdered, as well as being among the last of their respective families. Instead, she gets killed off and replaced by the never-mentioned-before Daenaera Velaryon.
• Too Bleak, Stopped Caring:
  • By the end of the Dance of the Dragons, one could be forgiven for thinking that everyone, Blacks, Greens, Nobles, and Smallfolk, etc. should all just die and it becomes hard to root for anyone as the atrocities committed by all sides just rise higher and higher.
  • In particular, the death of Jaehaera Targaryen is commonly cited as this; after being one of just five Targaryens to survive the dance, she's brutally murdered by Unwin Peake in service of a plot that fails anyway. People also disliked how it invalidated the poetic ending of the last Green and one of the last Blacks being united in marriage, further highlighting how pointless the conflict was.

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