Daenerys Targaeryen + Persephone Parallels

Daenerys Targaeryen + Persephone parallels

Daenerys Targaryen Appreciation Month 2021

Day 6 - Endgame speculation:

George R. R. Martin ties many historical parallels into A Song of Ice and Fire, particularly the series of civil wars in England called the Wars of the Roses. These wars were fought between the Yorks and Lancasters, the two branches of the royal House of Plantagenet. The conflicts resulted in ending of both direct male lines leaving only female claimants and their heirs. The two warring lines were united with the marriage of Henry VII Tudor (a Lancastrian claimant) and Elizabeth of York (the oldest daughter of Edward IV), helping to bring the conflict to an end.

Martin created a series of wars between the Targaryens and the Blackfyres, a legitimized branch of the royal family. The male line of the Blackfyres is extinguished in the War of the Five Penny Kings while the male line of the Targaryens dies in or after Robert’s Rebellion, leaving only a female claimant, Daenerys Targaryen, and men who descend from female lines of the royal family, the Baratheons and possibly Aegon/Young Griff. While Aegon was raised to believe he is the son of Rhaegar Targaryen and Elia Martell, it’s possible that he is the seventh attempt of the Blackfyre family to take the throne, this time disguising their claimant as a claimant from the opposite side.

Daenerys has parallels to both Henry VII and Elizabeth of York while Aegon has parallels with both Henry VII and Perkin Warbeck. Like Elizabeth, Daenerys’ lineage is from the direct royal line without dispute and others wish to use her claim through marriage, but like Henry VII, she spent many years in exile and was pursued by the reigning king. Like Henry VII, Aegon’s claim would come through his mother, who herself descended from the illegitimate line of the royal house and he grew up in exile, but like Perkin Warbeck, he is being passed off as a presumed dead prince.

The political side of this novel series could end with the union between Daenerys and Aegon, uniting the red dragon with the black, just as the union of Henry VII to Elizabeth of York united the red rose to the white.

Daenerys Targaryen + a few of her similarities with each of the three main characters of Avatar: the Last Airbender

Note: This gifset is about ASOIAF!Daenerys Targaryen who, despite being portrayed as a hero by her creator, had her characterization heavily changed from page to screen. As to why Cersei is written as Dany’s foil, see here.

Like all good queens she put her people first—else she would never have wed Hizdahr zo Loraq—but the girl in her still yearned for poetry, passion, and laughter. She wants fire, and Dorne sent her mud.

— ADWD, The Discarded Knight

“I mean… Fire is love, fire is passion, fire is sexual ardor and all of these things. Ice is betrayal, ice is revenge, ice is… you know, that kind of cold inhumanity and all that stuff is being played out in the books.”

— George R. R. Martin

I love it whenever I remember that GRRM literally just named Dany the Lady/Hero of Day, just changing “day” into a different phonetic spelling.

𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒂𝒔𝒕 𝒐𝒇 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒊𝒓 𝒌𝒊𝒏𝒅𝒔