History Literature / ArchmaesterGyldaynsHistories

* {{Seer}}: Prince Aemond's lover, Alys Rivers, might have been one. He claims she used her visions to track the Blacks' movements.

* ConvenientMiscarriage: When Daemon got his paramour Mysaria pregnant, he gave her a dragon egg. Viserys became angry over this, since Daemon was [[YourCheatingHeart already married]]. He commanded his younger brother to take back the egg and go back to his wife. Daemon grudgingly obeyed, but when Mysaria lost her child while being sent back to Lys, it caused a huge rift between the brothers.

* YourCheatingHeart: Rumors circulated that Rhaenyra and Laenor were both in relationships with other people, Rhaenyra with Harwin Strong and Laenor with Qarl Correy. The court fool Mushroom claimed that they were both okay with this arrangement, and that [[YaoiFangirl Rhaenyra]] [[GuyOnGuyIsHot liked to watch her husband have sex with his boyfriend]].

* GreyAndGreyMorality: While both sides committed some truly revolting atrocities, neither could be considered ''completely'' evil, though the conflict was generally started by the Greens, who usurped the Crown against Viserys I's wishes.
* HeirClubForMen: The primary argument against Rhaenyra's ascension as queen was her gender. It's also subject to a lot of {{Deconstruction}}, in that the main opponent to her claim is not really the male-dominated society, but her stepmother Queen Alicent, whose ambitions for her children lead her to usurp the throne. Likewise, the scrutiny on Rhaenyra's conduct or misconduct is so disproportionate that slights that are forgivable in men are exaggerated and distorted for her, which slowly makes her paranoid and highly image-conscious, leading to quite a few political blunders. [[spoiler:When Aegon II feeds her to her dragon, nobody speaks against it or denounces Aegon as a kinslayer.]]

* {{Foreshadowing}}: If one pays attention, the Dance of the Dragons foreshadows the War of the Five Kings in matter of feuding Great Houses - Starks and Tully vs. Baratheon, Lannister and Tyrell.

* SkewedPriorities: Aemond snuck out his room to try to ride Vhagar, knowing his parents never would have allowed him to so. He was so afraid of getting caught that he forgot to be afraid of the dragon.

* DecapitatedArmy: The Green army that came out of Oldtown became this after Lord Hightower was killed in the Battle of Tumbleton. Prince Daeron and the remain Reach lords remained at the town of months, unable to decide what their next move would be. After the Second Battle of Tumbleton, when [[spoiler: the prince and most of the lords were also killed]], the army simply disintegrated by mass desertion.

** [[spoiler: Princess Rhaenys died fighting the whole royal army and two dragons ''single-handedly''.]]

* {{Foreshadowing}}: Some sailors saw two dragons fighting over Dragonstone. When the Grey Ghost's ripped-apart corpse washed up on shore, they assumed he'd been killed by the Cannibal. But those two dragons had never fought before. [[spoiler: The Grey Ghost had actually been killed by Sunfyre when Aegon arrived on Dragonstone, having been stolen away to safety after Rhaenyra took King's Landing]].

* NeverMessWithGranny: Rhaenys, "the Queen Who Never Was", fought for the Blacks and was the oldest dragon rider of the time at 55 years old. She took on the entire royal army and two enemy dragon riders single-handedly, [[spoiler:[[DyingMomentOfAwesome almost taking Aegon II down with her]]]]. It was said that she and her dragon Meleys, "the Red Queen", likely could have defeated [[TheDreaded Vhagar]] in a duel.

* SiblingYinYang: Soft, festive, easygoing Viserys I and martial, hot-tempered, dangerous Prince Daemon.

George R. R. Martin announced that these history chronicles comes from his notes on the backstory of Westeros and that he has tentative plans to eventually publish what some fans call the [[Literature/TheSilmarillion GRRMarillion]] but which he has tentatively titled "Fire and Blood". Some of the notes also feature in ''Literature/TheWorldOfIceAndFire''.

* FantasyConflictCounterpart: The civil war between Aegon and Rhaenyra, is very similar - except for the dragons, of course - to the conflict between Stephen of Blois and Empress Matilda, cousins who vied over the English throne in the 12th century. Aegon is even persuaded to take the throne by his wife and mother, much as Stephen was. [[spoiler: Like Stephen of Blois, Aegon II wins a PyrrichVictory, and Rhaenyra's claim is vindicated by her son Aegon III.]]

** Laenor stayed by the bedside of his best friend (and likely his lover) Joffrey lonmouth after Cristen Cole dealt Joffrey a fatal blow to the head.

* YourCheatingHeart: Rumors circulated that Rhaenyra and Laenor were both in relationships with other people, Rhaenyra with Harwin Strong and Laenor with Qarl Correy. The court fool Mushroom claimed that they were both okay with this arrangement, and that [[YaoiFangirl Rhaenyra]] [[GuyOnGuyIsHot liked to watch her husband with his boyfriend]].

* ChocolateBaby: Rhaenyra's three eldest sons were brown-haired and brown-eyed, but she and her first husband Laenor both had silver hair and purple eyes.

* StealthInsult: At a feast, Aemond One-Eye "complimented" his nephews on their ''strength''.

** [[spoiler: Hobert Hightower]]'s death was actually his greatest accomplishment. [[spoiler: He knowingly drank poisoned wine in a TakingYouWithMe gambit when he could have very easily (and was likely expected to) chicken out.]]

* TakingYouWithMe: [[spoiler: Hobert Hightower killed Ulf the White with poisoned wine, and drank a whole glass himself to avert suspicion.]]

* CainAndAbel: Rhanenyra and Aegon II. Good luck differentiating them both. Same with Ser Erryk and Ser Arryk Cargyll.

* MarryForLove: Viserys I was advised to marry Laena Velaryon to help relations with Driftmark, but she was 12 years old at the moment of the betrothed and he wanted to wed Alicent instead, so he did.

* {{Badass}}:
** Criston Cole, Prince Daemon, Prince Aemond, Prince Daeron, Rhaenys "the Queen Who Never Was", and Roderick "Roddy the Ruin" Dustin, among others.
** The dragons were no slouches either. Particular mentions go to Sunfyre, who fought several duels despite having a crippled wing, and Vhagar, the oldest and strongest living dragon.

* KissingCousins: Subverted. Jacaerys and Lucerys were betrothed to their twin cousins Rhaena and Baela but [[spoiler: both boys died before the weddings could take place. The girls ended up married to other men. It's debatable if they were even first cousins or just first cousins once removed (their mother's uncle married their father's sister), due to the fact their father wasn't interested in women.

** Mostly since it leaves out details from ''The Rogue Prince'' (which would admittedly make it far too long), the Lore version implies that all of Rhaenyra's children were legitimate, they also leave out Prince Viserys' survival implying that Aegon III was the only survivor, and the youngest son of Rhaenyra.
* AdaptationalHeroism: Rhaenyra is presented more sympathetically in the Histories and Lore video. This is largely since the original controversy revolving around her children in first marriage, is AdaptedOut and the Greens reason for opposing Rhaenyra is [[HeirClubForMen ''solely'']] for her being a woman claimant whereas in the books the question of "Strong bastards" was as important.

* OurDragonsAreDifferent: The histories reveal more about dragons than has yet been stated in Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire''. One example is that dragons are choosy about their riders, but their criteria is mysterious. It ranges from having a mystical bond with the rider to being bribed with food; regardless, they are notoriously fickle.

* AdultFear: There are too many instances of OutlivingOnesOffspring to count. Queen Helaena actually went mad when [[spoiler:her eldest son was assassinated in front of her and her other children]].

** Mostly since it leaves out details from ''The Rogue Prince'' (which would admittedly make it far too long), the Lore version implies that all of Rhaenyra's children were with Daemon, they also leave out Prince Viserys' survival implying that Aegon III was the only survivor.

# ''The Rogue Prince, or, The King's Brother'': Narrating the exploits of Prince Daemon Targaryen, including the events leading to "The Princess and the Queen", published as part of the ''Rogues'' in June 2014. The second novella (which takes place before chronologically) spans the reign of Viserys, detailing the events that led to his coronation up to the moment that led to bloodshed. It focuses on the life and adventures of Viserys' younger brother, Prince Daemon Targaryen, as he consorts with the lowborn of the King's Landing, wages war on an archipelago called the Stepstones, and navigates his brother's increasing divided royal court. Contrary to TPATQ, the novella is written as a biography-styled document with little to no dialogue and in succinct language, leading the text to be considerably shorter than the previous novella.

# ''The Princess and the Queen, or, the Blacks and the Greens'': Narrating the events of the Dance of the Dragons, a war of succession between rival Targaryen branches 170 years before the time of the main series, published as part of the ''Dangerous Women'' anthology in December 2013. Upon the death of Viserys I, King of the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros, his two eldest children go to war over the Iron Throne. His second wife, Alicent Hightower, conspires to crown their son Aegon with the help of her supporters, called the Greens. His chosen heir and the only surviving child of his first marriage, Rhaenyra, begins her campaign on her seat on the island of Dragonstone with the support of her allies, the Blacks, after hearing that her half-brother sits on the throne. The names of the rival factions arose from the fact Princess Rhaenyra wore black at a court ball while Alicent wore green.

# ''The Rogue Prince, or, The King's Brother'': Narrating the exploits of Prince Daemon Targaryen, including the events leading to "The Princess and the Queen", published as part of the ''Rogues'' in June 2014. The second novella (which takes place before chronologically) spans the reign of Viserys, detailing the events that led to his coronation up to the moment that led to bloodshed. It focuses on the life and adventures of Viserys' younger brother, Prince Daemon Targaryen, as he consorts with the lowborn of the King's Landing, wages war on an archipelago called the Stepstones, and navigates his brother's increasing divided royal court.

Upon the death of Viserys I, King of the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros, his two eldest children go to war over the Iron Throne. His second wife, Alicent Hightower, conspires to crown their son Aegon with the help of her supporters, called the Greens. His chosen heir and the only surviving child of his first marriage, Rhaenyra, begins her campaign on her seat on the island of Dragonstone with the support of her allies, the Blacks, after hearing that her half-brother sits on the throne. The names of the rival factions arose from the fact Princess Rhaenyra wore black at a court ball while Alicent wore green.

The second novella spans the reign of Viserys, detailing the events that led to his coronation up to the moment that led to bloodshed. It focuses on the life and adventures of Viserys' younger brother, Prince Daemon Targaryen, as he consorts with the lowborn of the King's Landing, wages war on an archipelago called the Stepstones, and navigates his brother's increasing divided royal court.

The published novellas include:
# ''The Princess and the Queen, or, the Blacks and the Greens'': Narrating the events of the Dance of the Dragons, a war of succession between rival Targaryen branches 170 years before the time of the main series, published as part of the ''Dangerous Women'' anthology in December 2013.
# ''The Rogue Prince, or, The King's Brother'': Narrating the exploits of Prince Daemon Targaryen, including the events leading to "The Princess and the Queen", published as part of the ''Rogues'' in June 2014.

* FantasyCounterpartConflict: The civil war between Aegon and Rhaenyra, is very similar - except for the dragons, of course - to the conflict between Stephen of Blois and Empress Matilda, cousins who vied over the English throne in the 12th century. Aegon is even persuaded to take the throne by his wife and mother, much as Stephen was. [[spoiler: Like Stephen of Blois, Aegon II wins a PyrrichVictory, and Rhaenyra's claim is vindicated by her son Aegon III.]]

* {{Expy}}: The civil war between Aegon and Rhaenyra, is very similar - except for the dragons, of course - to the conflict between Stephen of Blois and Empress Matilda, cousins who vied over the English throne in the 12th century. Aegon is even persuaded to take the throne by his wife and mother, much as Stephen was.

* LongRunner: Otto Hightower served as Hand for three different kings [[spoiler: before being executed by Rhaenyra]].

* The major shakeups in the Free Cities due to spillover from the war: the Lys-Myr-Tyrosh alliance attacked Rhaenyra's faction in the Battle of the Gullet, but took such heavy losses that within a few months the alliance was tearing itself apart. A counter-alliance formed between Braavos-Pentos-Lorath to the north, leading to a major war to crush the "Kingdom of the Three Daughters" before it got too powerful to stop. Something called the "Lyseni Spring" happened, in which Lys got taken over by a Westerosi concubine from House Swann, then apparently stabbed Tyrosh and Myr in the back in the war to become even more powerful by the end - at which time the Rogare bank of Lys grew more powerful than the ''Iron Bank of Braavos'' for a time.

In 2016, the Season 6 Blu-Ray DVD featured a 20-minuted animated/slide adaptation of ''The Princess of the Queen''.

* TheAlliance: The Blacks composed of Rhaenyra's half of House Targaryen and her biggest supporters Houses Arryn and Velaryon.

* BastardBastard: Hugh Hammer and Ulf the White were both selfish, arrogant hedonists who [[spoiler:betrayed the Blacks by burning down the town of Tumbleton. They were so bad that hatred of them was the only thing the Blacks and the Greens could agree on.]]

* HeroicBastard: Addam of Hull, later Addam Velaryon, was courageous, selfless, and loyal to a fault. Nettles was also loyal and honorable.

* KissingCousins: Subverted. Jacaerys and Lucerys were betrothed to their twin cousins Rhaena and Baela but [[spoiler: both boys died before the weddings could take place. The girls ended up married to other men.]]

* PyrrhicVictory: [[spoiler:The Greens win the war, but they suffer great losses and, as a final irony, none of the children from their side of the family continues the Targaryen line. Rather, it is Rhaenyra's children who succeed. About the only thing the Greens actually succeed in is ensuring that women are even more restricted in the line of succession.]]

* RefusalOfTheCall: Aegon II initially wanted to let Rhaenyra stake her claim unchallenged, but his mother insisted that she would kill him, his siblings and his children if she got the throne.