1.3 Daenerys

I haven't read any other comments yet, so I apologize if I repeat things that others have noted. I also looked over this chapter at work, and did not have my books, so I printed the chapter and highlighted things related to descriptions of people and possible hints of parentage, and that method seemed to make a few things catch my attention that I had never paid attention to before. I am also going to try very hard to stick to this chapter, but it's been hard for me to do that.

markg171 has a wonderful essay on all of the things that don't seem to fit well, or are at least worth questioning, in Dany's past, and reading that essay is the best resource for those many discrepancies. I don't want to step on his toes, but I think it's safe to say that there is evidence to question that the Dany we are presented might have a much more questionable past than we are led to believe. And many of those questionable clues are in this chapter, however I am going to stick to physical descriptions, mostly, and a few key words that I find questionable.

Let's start with Dany. There are several times she is described physically in this chapter, and eye and hair color are important clues in GRRM's method of "we don't have dna testing but ..." brand of parentage proofs.







So, hair color first. Silver-pale, molten silver, and silver-gold and silver-blond. Okay, I guess it's safe to say that Dany has a striking silver-blond hair color. Illyrio is even using it to help "sell" her to Drogo.

The first text description we get of Dany is in reference to violet eyes, and we are told that twice in this chapter, and once Illyro describes her eyes as purple. So, it seems Dany has purple eyes. Purple eyes are certainly rare in our world and are apparently both rare and special in Planetos. I am going to circle back to Dany's eye color in a bit, and be forewarned of a bit of tinfoil ahead.

Viserys also get's physical descriptions and I think it's to help us establish a "Targeryen look", or at least a "Valerian look".







Viserys is described with lilac or pale lilac eyes, and silver-blond hair. He also is twice described as gaunt, once his whole self and once just his face, but I think it's worth noting. It seems that while Dany and Viserys have a the same hair color, their eyes are different shades of purple; Dany is associated with violet while Viserys is associated with lilac.

I know none of this is news to anyone, but something bonked me on the head during this reread that has never struck me before when thinking of Dany's eyes. I have never once questioned or wondered about Dany's eye color until the other night when I was high lighting words and phrases that jumped out at me. And this time, the phrase "bring out the violet" in Dany's eyes struck me twice.

Here comes the bit of tin foil I had promised.

And I thought, if Dany's eyes are purple, why does she need to wear a color to make her eyes appear "violet"? It's there twice, and I never even gave it a thought before, but now I find it really suspicious. This might be because I was reading this at 4am after 4 cups of coffee, but it made me all curious and giddy.

My eyes are a blue-green color, more blue than green, I would say. Most people would probably say they are blue if asked. But, when I wear green or grey, either a shirt or hat, my eyes appear much greener than normal, and people might say I have green eyes, or at least note the color difference. And this made me wonder about Dany's eyes, and why she needs to wear a certain color, in this case a deep-plum silk, to "bring out the violet in her eyes".

Now, I admit that Illyrio says boldly that Dany's eyes are purple, but Illyrio is both a salesman and very shifty, and probably out right lies when he needs to. Who is he telling this too? Viserys. He is telling Viserys that Dany's eyes are purple, like the "blood of old Valyria". Is he trying to convince Viserys that Dany's eyes are indeed purple or violet? Is he also trying to convince Dany? Is he trying to convince the reader, as well? It just suddenly struck me as really, really odd. "No doubt, no doubt" says Illyrio, which makes me want to doubt him!

If Dany's backstory can be planted in her mind, can the same be said for Viserys? Can an eight year old be convinced he is something he is not, just as Dany has been? If you are told a story enough times, it can seem like you were there, even if you were not. I question just how much Illyrio is lying to everyone involved.

In the text of ASOIAF, we will get the descriptions of eye colors that appear different than their color. Jon's eyes are "a grey so dark they seemed almost black", Edric Dayne has "big blue eyes, so dark that they looked almost purple", Daario, who's blue eyes "almost look purple", and Gerald "Darkstar" who has eyes that seem black but that are purple, a dark purple,  and YoungGriff/Aegon whose eyes are both noted to be blue or purple, depending on the POV.  These are a few examples, but I want to pay attention to the blue eyes that can seem purple. Edric Dayne, Daario Naharis and Young Griff/Aegon.







So, if Ned Dayne, Daario, and Young Griff can have blue eyes that look almost purple, depending on the light or hair color or clothing they wear, can Dany also have blue eyes that are made to appear purple, depending on her clothing? I know this is crazy talk, but I think it's worth considering that Dany doesn't really have purple eyes at all, but her eyes can appear purple, and of course, people see what they want to see, and so maybe when people look at her, they see purple eyes instead of very dark blue. ???? Rhaegar's eyes are described as indigo, which I actually think of as blue and not purple at all, so maybe this is a hint about her and Rhaegar sharing a connection. Or maybe it is someone else. A blue eyed father, maybe.

If people in the fandom can consider that Jon might have purple eyes even though his eyes are dark grey that appear black, then maybe we can consider that Dany's eye color is not quite what we have been lead to believe. We have no indication of grey eyes appearing purple in the text that I know if, but we do have a couple of blue eyes appearing purple (Ned Dayne and Daario) or purple eyes appearing blue (Young Griff, maybe, depending on what color you think his eyes really are). GRRM doesn't say things for no reason, so why describe her eye's in a way to "bring out" a certain color, if they are not that color already. I am not sure I really even think Dany's eyes could be blue, but the wording just all of a sudden seems very peculiar. Very!

Probably, Dany's eyes are violet, just like we are told. This is of course a direct connection to Ashara Dayne, which is who I am leaning toward the top choice to be Dany's mother. But what if Dany's eyes are a blue that can look purple?

But enough about eyes and hair. One thing that has always struck me is Dany's "stormborn" nickname. She tells us that she has been told that she has been born during a raging summer storm, hence the nickname. I have always thought this was suspicious, and have tried to tie it to her being a bastard who was actually born in the stormlands, but while reading (and highlighting) this chapter, I was struck by the storm references to Dany in a different way than before.





Who gave Dany her Stormborn nickname? Was it Illyrio? Or is this a clue from the author? I have always felt like it is a clue, that is why I have become convinced that Dany was actually born in the Stormlands, and this is her bastard sirename, all hidden in a nickname. Daenerys Storm. We have a few bastards in our story who are storms, such as Edric Storm, Ronald Storm, and Rolland Storm are a few that come to mind. (I am a huge fan of the full-of-piss-and-vinegar Ronald Storm, who is no fan of Jon Connington). If Dany was born at Dragonstone, I have wondered if the raging summer storm is a tie to Stannis Baratheon, a lord from the storm lands who's fleet was in charge of capturing the Targaryen's who remained at Dragonstone. Could the storm she was born in part of Stannis' attack on Dragonstone? But according to reports, Stannis arrived at Dragonstone after the Targaryen household had escaped. While interesting, I don't think it fits the narrative of the story or of Stannis' personality.

But if Dany was not a bastard born in the storm lands, and if there was not really a storm at Dragonstone at the time of her birth, because she probably was not born at Dragonstone, then just what is the clue we are supposed to get from her nickname?

Storm in my mind brings up the Stormlands and the Storm Lords and Storm Kings of old, of whom the Baratheon's are descended from. Bear with be for a minute as I lay out some tinfoil that just struck me the other night on this reread.

I did a word search on "storm" and found 117 hit's, and the very first one was in the prologue, and mentions an "ice storm", and this does bring to mind house Stark and Baratheon, and does lend some interest to me in the Lyanna and Robert = Jon theory.

The next reference is to the story of a storm that raged at Dany's birth. At one point, I had wondered, if Dany was truly born at Dragonstone, was the the Storm God trying to make sure that Dany didn't survive her birth? It's still possible, but it also could be Stannis's fleet bearing down on Dragonstone, if Dany was indeed born at Dragonstone, which she might have been.

The third reference to storm is AGOT is in reference to Eddard and Robert disagreeing over the death of Rhaegar's children in Kings Landing, "Not even Jon Arryn had been able to calm that storm". This is a vague line and I am honestly not sure who was more of the storm in this exchange, Robert the Storm lord or Eddard who left KL in a cold rage. My money is on Robert! 

I have also wondered if Dany is "the storm" that is coming, that will threaten life as it is known in Westeros. The fourth reference to storm in the text is in Bran's coma vision/dream, "A storm was gathering ahead of them, a vast dark roaring lashed by lightning, but somehow they could not see it."

Several the storm references involving people in the text are actually related to Ned, "Not even Jon Arryn had been able to calm that storm", Littlefinger in reference to Ned, "After you stormed out", and in Ned's fever dream "A storm of rose petals blew across a blood-streaked sky, as blue as the eyes of death". This could be a connection to me that Dany was the child from the ToJ, if a child was even at the ToJ.

The word storm is related to Robert Baratheon. Robert is called the Storm Lord in Meera's tale of Harrenhal, and he was the Lord Paramount of the Storm Lands and is descended from the Storm Kings. In the text of AGOT, Robert "let go his laughter, sudden as a storm". Most of these storm reference could fit any of the Baratheon's, I suppose, but I think of Robert's laughter like "a storm". I almost always think if Robert in reference to his bright blue eyes. What color would Robert's eyes look like if he were dressed in purple? Just putting it out there ... It worked for Elizabeth Taylor.

There are other references in the text. One is related to Viserys, "Viserys came upon her as sudden as a summer storm", once to Rickon Stark who has been "wild as a winter storm", and once to the fetus Rhaego, who is noted to be "fierce as a storm this prince will be".

Of all of these references, and I admit surprise to the Ned references because I don't think of him in a storm type of way, but I do think of Robert Baratheon the most when I think of storms. And so my tinfoil here is, what if and how could Daenerys be one of Robert's bastards? Is it possible? I don't know. I am just looking at this storm and stormborn reference in a way I have never looked at it before. I am not sure how it would even be possible, or who Dany's mother might have been if Robert is the father, but she would have had to have silver hair, I think. It would be ironic if Robert had ordered the death of his own daughter and grandchild, and Ned knew, but couldn't tell him! Mostly just thinking out loud here.

Another thing that pop's up for the first time in our text in the phrase "sweet sister". Viserys mentions it multiple times to Dany, and Jaime and Tyrion will also refer to Cersei this way, of course Jaime is her lover, and by Tyrion, who knows about his siblings affair. In my head canon, I have always thought that "sweet sister" was code for incest in this story. It comes up six times in this chapter. Weirdly enough, twice in AGOT Catelyn is referred to as "sweet sister" once by Lysa and once by Edmure, and Arya is referred to as "sweet sister" by Cersei. I'm trying not to skip ahead, but I can't help but notice it.

We also get the "wake the dragon" reference often in this chapter. I am not sure it relates to Dany's parentage, but it certainly might. In the beginning, it seems to be associated with Viserys temper and cruelty, but it is something that is certainly lying dormant in Dany, just waiting ... We are told later that Rhaegar is the last dragon, and I always felt like that was a connection between Dany and Rhaegar, as I suspect that Rhaegar is Dany's father.

The house with the red door and lemon tree are also mentioned for the first time, and though we don't know it is suspicious yet, it is brought to us very early in the text. The red door and the lemon tree are important to the truth of where Dany came from and who she really might be!

We also hear about Rhaegar for the first time in this chapter. Dany and Viserys and Rhaegar, as siblings. Dany never mentions her parents, but in the last chapter we heard of Aerys demanding Ned and Robert's heads and the rebellion, and we should make the connection that Dany, Viserys, and Rhaegar were his children. We have to connect those dots though, because the text doesn't do that for us. Which is tricky of GRRM, as maybe none of these three Targaryen's that are introduced to us in Dany I are actually Aerys' bio-children?

Another thing that struck me on this reread was when Dany was reporting the story of her escape from Dragonstone, when the garrison was going to sell them to the Usurper (selling her is an interesting slave reference for Dany, as I suspect she actually is or was a slave at one time in her life) but Ser Willem Darry and four loyal men broke into the nursery and stole her and Viserys from Dragonstone. Who were these four men? Could one of these men be Ned? We are told by Cersei in her accusation to Ned in the Red Keep godswood, "Or was it the grieving sister, the Lady Ashara? She threw herself into the sea, I'm told. Why was that? For the brother you slew, or the child you stole?" AGOT-Eddard VII. Could it be that Ned took Ashara's child, not from Starfell, but from Dragonstone? Or could it be that Ned took Ashara's child from Starfell, but that child, Dany, thinks, she was taken from Dragonstone? Could those four men with "Willem Darry" be Ned, and the three kingsguard at the ToJ, or could those five men be the three Kingsguard plus Ned and Howland? How did the other five companions of Ned and Howland really die, if this is the case? Just trying to look at this in a different way than I have ever considered before because I truly believe those three kingsguard from the ToJ are dead as door nail's but ... there is always a chance they are not.

I tried to look at this chapter in a different way than I had in the past, and I was struck by a few new thoughts, which is always fun. Although, sometimes I admit to overlooking and overthinking the text, and I might be on the crazy train with a few of my thoughts here on Dany's eye color and what the storm reference in her story is really trying to tell us.