- "Aegon Targaryen's Blackfyre and Visenya's Dark Sister disappeared in Daemon Blackfyre's rebellion."
- ―Jorah Mormont
Blackfyre[2] is a Valyrian steel bastard sword that originally belonged to Aegon I Targaryen, which he carried during his conquest of the Seven Kingdoms. Afterwards it became the treasured ancestral blade of House Targaryen, carried by kings and princes. When kings held court, the sword was used as a scepter.[3][4]
A little over a hundred years before the War of the Five Kings, King Aegon IV the Unworthy gave Blackfyre to his bastard son Daemon Waters, a great warrior, instead of his lawful son Daeron. Many thought that this was a sign that his father favored him to rule. Afterwards, Daemon founded his own cadet branch of House Targaryen, House Blackfyre—taking its name from the sword—and he himself became known as Daemon Blackfyre.
On his deathbed, Aegon IV legitimized all of his bastard children, among them Daemon Blackfyre. Daeron succeeded his father as King Daeron II Targaryen, but eventually, Daemon Blackfyre rose up in a civil war to try to replace him on the throne, known as the Blackfyre Rebellion. The sword was lost at the end of the war.[5]
History[]
House of the Dragon: Season 1[]
Blackfyre is in the possession of Viserys I Targaryen, the fifth King of the Andals and the Rhoynar and the First Men.[3]
After Viserys's death, the sword is passed down to his son Aegon II Targaryen.[2]
House of the Dragon: Season 2[]
After Aegon is crippled at the Battle at Rook's Rest, his brother Aemond takes Blackfyre for himself.[6]
In the books[]
After Aegon I died, his son Aenys Targaryen succeeded him as king, a weakling, while his younger son Maegor Targaryen was the greatest warrior of his generation. When Aegon I died he was cremated along with the sword, as per Valyrian custom, and Blackfyre was recovered from the ashes - no normal fire can harm Valyrian steel. Soon after Aenys succeeded he voluntarily gifted Blackfyre to Maegor, saying that he was always the better warrior and it would be of little use to himself. Aenys meant this as a magnanimous gesture, but many saw it as a sign of weakness to simply give his brother such a vital symbol of royal power. When Aenys was compelled to exile Maegor after his second marriage to Alys Harroway outraged the Faith, Aenys commanded Maegor to leave Blackfyre behind; Maegor scornfully replied that Aenys was welcome to take the sword from him if he dared, an action the meek Aenys didn't have the courage to attempt. After Aenys died during the Faith Militant uprising, Maegor usurped the throne ahead of Aenys's own children. The only one to protest was Grand Maester Gawen, who argued that by all laws of succession Aenys's son Aegon was the rightful heir, but Maegor promptly beheaded him with a single swing of Blackfyre, and there was no further complaint. Maegor would personally behead another two Grand Maesters with Blackfyre during his reign (Grand Maester Myros for protesting Maegor's third marriage to Tyanna of the Tower, and Grand Maester Desmond, who fell victim to Maegor's desire for a scapegoat when his son by Alys Harrroway was born a deformed, stillborn monstrosity).
After Maegor finally died the sword passed to Aenys's surviving son, King Jaehaerys I Targaryen, who wielded it in several small skirmishes and trials by combat during his reign. Upon his death, the sword passed to his successor Viserys.
Nearly seventy years after that the sword passed to Daemon Blackfyre. Already the greatest fighter of his generation, when he wielded Blackfyre in battle he was said to resemble the Warrior himself (the warrior-aspect of the Seven). When Daemon died at the Battle of the Redgrass Field, his followers managed to recover the blade, and his half-brother Aegor "Bittersteel" Rivers led their surviving forces to flee east to the Free Cities, taking Blackfyre with them. Later Bittersteel formed the sellsword army known as the Golden Company, in order to at least maintain some semblance of a standing military force as Daemon's supporters plotted to return to Westeros and put his sons on the throne.
Fifteen years after the war's end Daemon's thirdborn son, Daemon II returned to Westeros in an attempt to rally his father's former bannermen, and instigate a second rebellion. Nowhere near the warrior that his father was, however, Daemon II fails to inspire the lords of Westeros into following him; partly because he did not have Blackfyre in his possession, as Bittersteel had refused to give it to him. The sword itself presumably remained with Bittersteel in Tyrosh. What happened to it after his death, however, is unknown.
Appearances[]
- – "Robert's Rebellion - Petyr Baelish and Varys" (illustrated)
- – "The Kingsguard - Jaime Lannister" (illustrated)
- – "The Death of Kings" (illustrated)
- – "Valyrian Steel" (illustrated)
- – "The Blackfyres" (illustrated)
- – "The Heirs of the Dragon"
- – "The Rogue Prince" (deleted scene(s))
- – "King of the Narrow Sea"
- – "The Green Council"
References[]
- ↑ Game of Thrones: House of the Dragon: Inside the Creation of a Targaryen Dynasty
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 House of the Dragon: Season 1, Episode 9: "The Green Council" (2022).
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 House of the Dragon: Season 1, Episode 1: "The Heirs of the Dragon" (2022).
- ↑ House of the Dragon: Season 1, Episode 4: "King of the Narrow Sea" (2022).
- ↑ "Valyrian Steel"
- ↑ House of the Dragon: Season 2, Episode 6: "Smallfolk" (2024).
External links[]
- Blackfyre on A Wiki of Ice and Fire (potential spoilers for House of the Dragon)