Fire & Blood

Dragons are a symbol of power in Fire and Blood but also of the distinction between Targaryens and natives of Westeros. Targaryens were the only dragonlords in Westeros—and possibly the world—during the events of Fire and Blood. Because of their dragons, “Targaryens were different” (192), so dragons were evidence to support the Doctrine of Exceptionalism. In medieval history, divine right—being chosen by God to rule—was the difference between an ordinary person and a monarch. In Westeros, with its many gods and petty kings, dragons were the closest equivalent of supernatural power that made the Targaryens worthy of rulership. Dragons were also powerful weapons, and as long as Targaryens held sway over them, they were able to enforce their rule through military might. Targaryen power rose and fell depending on the number of dragons in existence.

Martin also uses dragons to characterize riders. Balerion the Black Dread was the only one of the Targaryen dragons to survive the journey from OId Valyria. He was the biggest and fiercest of the dragons for many generations because his age allowed him to develop the hard scales that made it so difficult to defeat the creatures. Aegon the Conqueror rode Balerion, an indication of the importance of his Valyrian heritage, his power, and his strength in battle. Maegor I took Balerion without his brother’s permission. He later went on to be a tyrant who relied almost exclusively on violence to maintain his power. His departure from Westeros with Balerion showed his disrespect for his brother and his intention to usurp Aenys’s throne.

The Iron Throne is specifically a symbol of the power of the Targaryens and more generally of the perils of power. The throne appears in the first chapter, “Aegon’s Conquest,” in which Aegon collected the swords of all the defeated lords and petty kings of Westeros. The gathering of the swords was proof that he won his throne through military might. In his and subsequent generations, Targaryen rulers were always in danger of cutting themselves while sitting on the throne. Gyldayn cites a source that says Rhaenyra regularly bled when she ruled from the Iron Throne, while Maegor the Cruel was said to have bled out while sitting on the throne due to receiving many cuts from it. In this world, the wounds the throne inflicted symbolize the unfitness of the ruler to exercise power—Rhaenyra because she was a woman, and Maegor because he abused his power through an excess of violence.

Valyrian steel blades were very old, made using a process lost in Valyria with the Doom. Strong and sharp, they were heirlooms passed down through powerful houses. The blades were thus symbols of nobility and power. In Fire and Blood, one of the key indications that Aenys I would be seen as a weak king was that he gave Blackfyre to Maegor when he proclaimed that his brother would be equal to him in power. Martin also uses blades to characterize those who wield them. Visenya Targaryen carried Dark Sister during the reign of Aegon the Conqueror. She was “the dark sister,” relying on might and violence to shape Westeros into a kingdom, and she is reputed to have practiced sorcery and assassination to secure her brother’s power. She gave Dark Sister to Maegor, who relied almost exclusively on violence to attain power. There was no magic that made a wielder of a Valyrian steel blade able to keep that blade: Orphan-Maker was a sword that moved from man to man—many of them killed as a result of betrayal—until it landed in the hands of Unwin Peake, who used it in the presence of Aegon III to show that he intended to be a more assertive Hand than Tyland. Valyrian steel was thus a symbol of characters’ willingness to do anything to attain power.