Post by stdaga on Oct 4, 2017 16:20:22 GMT
Funny, but I've always questioned her eye colour precisely because Viserys and Rhaegar had different eye colours than she does, and it's openly stated instead of just hiding it under a veneer that they have "purple eyes". Why do 3 full siblings, from incest parents and grandparents, have 3 different eye colours? Where else does this happen in the series? Shouldn't Dany have lilac or indigo eyes like her siblings?
Then you throw in that Ashara happens to not only have violet eyes too, but that Dany has those same eyes, that Dany looks like she could be her daughter, that Ashara did have a daughter, that's backstory isn't fixed for some reason with different tales across the kingdom about what happened to it, and that could've been born in the right time frame for Dany, and Dany's got a messed up backstory, and that's all a little convenient.
Yes, for a long time I have used the violet color to link to Ashara, and it very well still might. I am not ready to dismiss that by any means. And I have also questioned that the three siblings Rhaegar, Viserys and Daenerys that are presented to us, just based on three different eye colors, must have at least three different parents in the mix. Something is off if GRRM gives a child the eye color of one parent or the other, and if all three children belonged to the same two parents, then there should only be two eye colors between the three children. I agree it is a clue that at least one of these three children does not belong to both Aerys and Rhaella. Or maybe either!
Sure I'd call them "purple", but I'd also say there's a greyness to them as well. In fact a violet-grey colour sounds about the only colour I can imagine that you could successfully "bring out" the violet to make the eyes look pre-dominantly violet rather than the mix they are. Which is actually exactly what's happening in that picture with Elizabeth's shawl in that it's making you see the purple much more easily. And I'd argue that a violet-grey eye could routinely do this without people noticing the grey whereas with a blue someone would've commented on it by now, just like they do with all the other blue-purple eyes. But violet-grey would look pretty natural and easily missed as the purple would naturally tend to dominate, regardless of if you're actively trying to manipulate the colours.
I do agree that a color worn close to the eyes can influence the viewers eyes to see something different that what is actually presented, while not really changing the actual eye color.
I had read an idea once on the W that purple shaded eyes might appear grey in the light of the northern lands, and certainly, the sun does shine less each day and at a different degree the further north or south you go. Could this make purple appear grey? This was a conversation in regards to Jon Snow's grey eyes possibly being purple, and I kind of scoffed at it. But truly, the amount of sunlight filtered does alter the color of hair and eyes to some degree. Maybe grey could appear more purple with a splash of purple near it.
What ever the case is, it does seem like Illyrio is feeding someone a lie. Is it the reader, Dany or Viserys, I can't begin to say.
As to Elizabeth Taylor, I would have to disagree that her eyes have a grey tint to them. Years and years and years ago, I read a flighty romance novel and the heroine had purple eyes. The only person I had ever heard of with purple eyes was Liz Taylor and so I checked out several photo's of her. This was long before things were photo-shopped with ease on a cell phone in less than one minute. And all I could see when I looked at her was blue eyes. Deep blue eyes! Even when she was wearing purple, all I say was blue. I still see that, in original non-altered photos. I am not even saying that I think the photo you used was altered. I look at it and I see blue eyes! The purple near them does draw the mind toward seeing purple eyes, but I still look hard and see blue! Liz has beautiful deep blue eyes!
I see blue in both of these photos!
So again, I think, what if that is what Dany's eyes looked like. It creates more of a connection as Rhaegar than Ashara (although, I still most strongly support this theory for Dany's parents), but now I am questioning Rhaegar's parentage. But honestly, have we ever been told what Rhaella's eye color was? She could have indigo eyes, too, which to me, translates to deep, dark blue! But are Dany's eyes indigo blue/purple?
It's been fun for me to speculate on Dany as blue eyed, and just what that might mean. I like the irony of Robert Baratheon attempting to assassinate his own child by mistake, but the idea is probably very unlikely.
Still, the idea of grey linked to purple is really just as possible as blue linked to purple. But I do think we are being feed a clue by the GRRMeister!
Just for the sake of deflating my Liz Taylor had blue eyes argument, here I admit I see grey eyes! Or more grey than blue or purple!
And if Dany has grey in her eyes, as opposed to blue which is still a normal Valyrian colour, you'd really have to wonder who her parents were as neither Aerys nor Rhaella are giving her that, and certainly not together. And hence why Viserys and Illyrio would be trying to emphasize the violet, even though it's the "wrong" purple, and why Viserys would be so nervous. Because the other colour doesn't make any sense for who she's supposed to be and if anybody notices it the game is up.
Do we know that Valyrian eyes are normally blue as well as violet? Asking for my own knowledge, because I have not filtered this into my memory bank if I have ever seen it.
This all certainly makes me question Dany's parentage with new interest.
I'd say it could be prudent to make her eyes as violet as possible even if it's a blue-purple, to drive the point home that she is of Varlyrian descent. If her eyes seems more blue, she could possibly be taken for a Lys girl instead as their coloring is similar in other aspects.
Yes, like Doreah, whom Viserys was also cruel too but liked to sleep with! What if Dany is just another Doreah! A slave girl used for her looks. I like that possibility as well for Dany. A girl who has no connection to any large Westerosi house who can hatch dragon eggs and change the world. That does seem like something that GRRM might enjoy!
Also this quote from Illyrio to Tyrion very much reminds me of when he was convincing Viserys that Dany was a true Targaryen(the difference being that we know by now Illyrio has been hiding Young Griff who he claims is Aegon VI so he's no friend to Dany):
Tyrion: If Daenerys is no more than a sweet young girl, the Iron Throne will cut her into sweet young pieces.
Illyrio: Fear not, my little friend. The blood of Aegon the Dragon flows in her veins
Illyrio to Viserys: Look at her. That silver-gold hair, those purple eyes... she is the blood of old Valyria, no doubt, no doubt...
Illyrio is a liar, no doubt, but maybe his true intention was for Dany to be a sacrifice to help his plots. We know that Red Priests are in Braavos and I have no reason to doubt that they are important to Illyrio. Illyrio says Dany was expected to die in the Dothraki Sea, and I think he not only expected it, but planned for it, but instead, Dany turned the tables and used Viserys as her first sacrifice, and once she started rolling, there was almost no stopping her. Illyrio better watch out!