0:02 What is the history of Maester Aean?
0:04 What happened in his life before he took
0:07 the black? Hi everyone, this is Robert.
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0:27 Maester Aean is mentioned in the
0:28 prologue to book one of A Song of Ice
0:30 and Fire. In fact, he's one of the first
0:33 characters named at all. Will looks at
0:35 Garrett's scarred, frostbitten ear holes
0:37 where Maester Aean had their ears cut
0:41 away. His first actual appearance is not
0:43 in a Jon chapter, but a Tyrion one.
0:46 Aemon says that Tyrion is a giant come
0:49 among us here at the end of the world.
0:51 And Tyrion was genuinely moved by his
0:53 sincerity. He also noticed that everyone
0:55 seems to respect and defer to Maester
0:59 Aean and how incredibly old he is. It's
1:01 not until John's eighth chapter of A
1:03 Game of Thrones, so near the end of that
1:05 first book, that Ammon's Targaryen
1:07 heritage is revealed. It says a lot that
1:10 his Targaryen ancestry had been largely
1:12 forgotten by then. We'll come back to
1:14 that point in this or a later video
1:16 because yes, this is the start of a
1:18 miniseries on Aean. He's a great
1:20 character with a long life and deserves
1:22 more than one video.
1:25 Maester Aean finally died at the age of
1:27 102 in a feast for crows in a Sam
1:29 chapter. You may have seen the memes,
1:32 but yes, he was badass enough to be one
1:34 of the very, very few to die of old age
1:36 in a game of thrones. His death came at
1:39 sea, a journey pushed on him largely due
1:42 to his Targaryen blood. Jon feared that
1:44 Melisandre would burn him alive. King's
1:46 blood is powerful, and she has a track
1:48 record of trying to use it, so to speak.
1:50 Amean's destination that he never
1:52 reached alive was where he first began
1:54 his training to become a maester. The
1:56 citadel of Oldtown, a life going full
2:00 circle in a way. Aean was born in the
2:03 year 198 to Prince Mar Targaryen and
2:05 Lady Danna Dayne. He was their third
2:08 child, preceded by his brothers Aryan, 4
2:10 to 6 years older than him, and Darren,
2:12 about 8 years older than him. His
2:14 grandfather, the king, was also a
2:16 Darren, second of his name, Darren II,
2:19 the good. His grandmother was Queen
2:21 Mirri of House Martell, giving him
2:23 Dornish ancestry from both her and from
2:25 his mother. Thus, neither his parents
2:27 nor his grandparents practiced the
2:29 typical Targaryen incest, though his
2:31 great-grandparents, King Aegon IVth, the
2:34 Unworthy, and Queen Neris Targaryen,
2:37 did. He was named after Prince Aemon the
2:39 Dragon Knight, his famous ancestor,
2:41 killed in action defending the king. And
2:43 usually his parents did not choose his
2:46 name. King Darren himself did so. One
2:48 year after Aean's birth, his sister
2:50 Deala was born, followed by Aegon
2:53 another year later and Ry sometime after
2:55 that. It was Aean who came up with the
2:57 nickname Egg for his younger brother.
2:59 They were always close. As an aside
3:02 here, Aegon and Aean were also the names
3:04 of Damon Blackfire's firstborn twin
3:06 sons. They were killed alongside their
3:08 father at the Battle of the Red Grass
3:10 Field, a fact surely well known to their
3:12 namesakes, young princes Aean and Aegon,
3:14 as they would often recreate battles of
3:16 the Blackfire Rebellion using toy
3:19 figures. Perhaps King Darren was taking
3:22 the names Aegon and Aean back from the
3:24 Blackfires, so to speak. Prince Aegon
3:26 would indeed go on to be not just a
3:28 warrior, but a king. But Aean, though
3:30 older than his brother, Aegon, was not
3:32 destined to live the life of a king,
3:34 battle commander, or even warrior.
3:36 Though the dragons had been gone for
3:39 over four decades, some traditions die
3:41 hard. Aean had a dragon egg placed in
3:44 his cradle, as did his siblings. He and
3:46 Aegon would often imagine what it would
3:47 be like if their eggs hatched, how
3:49 they'd fly, as the first Aegon and his
3:52 sisters did. Much later, Aean told
3:55 Samari that all his brothers dreamed of
3:57 dragons and that all of them died
3:59 because of it. At some point during
4:02 Aemon's early life, King Eris I perhaps
4:04 even before he was king, found a
4:06 prophecy proclaiming that the dragons
4:08 would return. It seems that younger
4:10 princes like Aean and his siblings
4:13 latched on to this as only children can,
4:14 only to be disappointed by the lack of
4:18 dragons arriving. Then, near death, Aean
4:20 learned of Daenerys's dragons. But we
4:22 are getting ahead of ourselves. Back to
4:25 the year 207 or 208 when Aean was 9 or
4:27 10, a couple of years before the events
4:29 of the Hedge Knight and King Darren
4:32 decided Aean's fate. Noting his
4:34 bookishness and temperament, and
4:36 recalling the Blackfire Rebellion, he
4:38 concluded that too many dragons can be
4:40 as dangerous as too few and decreed that
4:42 Aean should attend the Citadel to become
4:45 a maester. For context, at this point
4:47 there were a lot of Targaryenss heading
4:50 towards 30. A third son of a fourth son
4:52 sent to the citadel was hardly likely to
4:55 inherit and might be a nuisance. Still,
4:58 Prince Mar, a proud man, was openly
5:00 displeased that one of his sons was to
5:02 live a life of servitude. That said,
5:04 Aean himself doesn't seem to have
5:07 argued. Perhaps it's what he wanted. And
5:09 to be fair, it does seem to be somewhat
5:12 precient of King Darren. Aemon was in
5:13 the future to be offered the Iron
5:15 Throne. But again, we're getting ahead
5:18 of ourselves. Though Aean's long age and
5:20 time, forgotten on the wall, caused
5:22 people to forget his heritage, it would
5:23 have been quite the opposite when he
5:25 first arrived at the Citadel. Instead of
5:27 eyes gone milky with blindness, they
5:29 were clearly purple. Instead of hair
5:32 gone white with age, he had the silvery
5:34 gold hair typical of House Targaryen.
5:36 Even if not for his striking Valyrian
5:38 appearance, he would not have gone
5:39 unnoticed as a prince of the realm.
5:41 There's simply no way to hide who he
5:44 was. Yes, maesters give up their names
5:46 as part of their oath, but their family
5:48 doesn't forget who they are, and they
5:50 don't forget their families, nor does
5:52 everyone else, at least not when it's
5:55 the most famous family in the realm. The
5:56 Masterly Oath, as well as the Night's
5:59 Watch oath, are oaths of duty. They
6:02 forear their inheritances and names, not
6:04 their memories. It's not an oath to
6:06 forget. Aemon may have received special
6:08 treatment because of his ancestry, or
6:11 perhaps not. We don't know. We do know
6:13 that he was an excellent student. He
6:15 earned links of many metals through
6:18 merit, not birth. Nevertheless, only a
6:20 year or two after he arrived at the
6:23 citadel in the year 209, later in that
6:24 same year as the events of the hedge
6:27 night, the great spring sickness came.
6:30 Many, many people died in Oldtown,
6:32 though Aean survived. The following
6:35 year, Duncan Egg came to visit. At the
6:37 time of writing, we don't have a story
6:39 about that, but we do know that the
6:40 three of them went to the Quill and
6:42 Tankered, the very same establishment
6:44 where the prologue of A Feast for Crows
6:46 takes place to enjoy the fearsomely
6:49 strong cider they serve. As a parting
6:52 gift, Aean gave Egg a mule named
6:54 Maester, who became his mount for many
6:57 years. He also measured Dunc, confirming
7:00 his height at an inch below 7 ft. That's
7:03 over 2 m 10 for those metrically minded.
7:05 We don't know exactly which links Ammon
7:07 formed in the Citadel other than silver
7:10 for healing, gold, lead, and tin, but
7:12 Valyrian steel for the higher mysteries
7:15 and black iron for Ravencraft also seem
7:17 likely. Jon notes many more in one of
7:20 his PF chapters, but is unable to
7:22 identify them all. Aean finished his
7:25 studies by the age of 19, so perhaps a
7:27 decade, which seems like a very young
7:29 age, and was immediately sent to the
7:31 castle of an unknown minor lord, where
7:34 he served for about 4 years. During this
7:36 stint, the third blackfire rebellion
7:39 took place, and Aean's brothers, Aegon
7:41 and Aryan, were noted for their actions
7:43 against the rebels. It's unclear whether
7:45 the lord Aean served fought for the
7:47 black dragons or the red. The country
7:50 was nearly split 50/50, making this a
7:52 potentially intriguing and unknown
7:54 period in Aemon's early life. In fact,
7:56 it is our first option for the first of
7:58 Aemon's famous three tests, as he
8:00 relates to John, where he was tempted to
8:03 break his oaths. The first temptation
8:05 must have come after he forged his
8:06 chain, or else he would not have an oath
8:09 to break. If the Lord he served rose for
8:11 the black dragon, it would certainly
8:14 test his vows. So would falling in love.
8:17 It is Aean who tells John that love is
8:19 the death of duty. And he seems to have
8:21 been speaking from experience. Ammon
8:24 says that three times the gods saw fit
8:27 to test my vows. Once when I was a boy,
8:29 once in the fullness of my manhood, and
8:32 once when I had grown old. The third is
8:34 to do with Daenerys, which we will come
8:36 on to in a later video. But this first
8:38 time, we don't know. Perhaps it was the
8:41 Blackfire Rebellion, but more likely
8:44 love. Who did Aean fall in love with?
8:46 Whoever it was, his older self thought
8:49 himself a boy at the time, which perhaps
8:51 he was, aged 20 or so from the
8:54 perspective of a very old Aemon.
8:56 Jumping forward a few years, in the year
9:00 221 AC, King Aries I died without issue,
9:02 and Ammon's father, Mar ascended to the
9:04 throne. He summoned Aean and his three
9:07 brothers to court. It was an unexpected
9:10 elevation for Mar who was a fourth son,
9:12 so very unlikely to succeed to the
9:14 throne. He offered Aean a place on the
9:17 small council, but Aean refused, not
9:18 wanting to upset the hierarchy of the
9:20 citadel by userting some of the Grand
9:23 Maester's power. Instead, he became the
9:25 maester for his brother Darren the
9:27 drunken, who became prince of
9:29 Dragonstone and heir to the throne with
9:31 Mar's ascension. That's an alternate
9:34 future like with possibilities. Ammon's
9:36 tenure there seems to have begun on a
9:39 high note, the birth of a new princess.
9:41 Darren had married Kira of Tyro, who had
9:43 once been married to Prince Valar
9:45 Targaryen before he died during the
9:47 great spring sickness. Yes, this is
9:49 another of those weird Targaryen
9:52 intermarriage things. In 222, the year
9:54 after he took up residence, Maester
9:56 Aemon delivered their daughter, Vella.
9:58 But things took a downward turn from
10:01 there. Veila proved to be simple-minded,
10:02 according to the maesters in the world
10:04 of ice and fire, and the couple would
10:07 not have another child. Perhaps Vila was
10:09 a dragon dreamer. Perhaps one day we
10:12 will find out. To make matters worse,
10:14 Darren continued to be tormented by
10:16 dragon dreams. His dreams were
10:18 apparently far more vivid, frequent, and
10:20 disturbing than those of his siblings,
10:22 and perhaps as haunting as any Targaryen
10:24 dreamer we know of. This is why he was
10:26 called Darren the drunken because he
10:28 self-medicated with alcohol to keep the
10:31 dreams at bay. Perhaps Aean tried to
10:33 sway him away from drink towards other
10:35 remedies, but it was all to no avail as
10:37 far as we know. We're told that Darren
10:40 died of the pox contracted via a sex
10:43 worker perhaps, but I remain to be
10:46 convinced. Darren's death made Aryan the
10:48 heir given that no one would countenance
10:50 Princess Bella on the throne. still
10:54 Aryan. A constant silver lining amidst
10:56 these developments was probably Ammon's
10:58 unparalleled access to House Targaryen's
11:01 ancient texts kept at Dragonstone. Even
11:02 the Citadel would have lacked some of
11:04 the tomes that were surely there. Some
11:06 may even have survived from old Valyria itself.
11:08 itself.
11:10 A few years later, the Citadel was
11:12 struck by plague yet again, the second
11:15 time in less than 20 years. This time it
11:17 was called the gray death and claimed
11:18 half the city and twothirds of the
11:21 citadel. Aemon would have again lost
11:23 colleagues and friends, and the number
11:25 of people who remembered who he was, not
11:29 just a maester, began to dwindle. Aemon
11:31 seems to have remained on Dragonstone
11:33 after his brother's death. And as far as
11:35 we know, Aryan never actually took up
11:37 residence there. He apparently preferred
11:40 court or summerhaul, but we're not sure.
11:42 So perhaps Aean had the run of the
11:44 island and its library for several years.
11:45 years.
11:49 In 232, Aryan and his wife, Lady Dura
11:52 Targaryen, had a child they named Magor,
11:55 a choice of name that unnerved many,
11:57 remembering Magor the Cruel. But later
11:59 that year, Aryan Bright Flame drank
12:01 wildfire, telling his friends it would
12:04 transform him into a dragon. But as Lord
12:06 Commander Mormont put it, the gods were
12:08 kind and it transformed him into a corpse.
12:10 corpse.
12:12 Many celebrated his death, giving thanks
12:14 that he would never ascend the Iron
12:17 Throne. All of which left a bit of a
12:19 succession crisis. The list of Targaryen
12:21 heirs who died during that time is
12:24 lengthy, and King Mar himself was killed
12:26 during the Peak Uprising the following
12:28 year. Blood Raven called the great
12:31 council of 233, and the realm debated
12:33 who to crown. Aryan's infant child,
12:36 Magor, was deemed unfit, and his
12:38 brother, Aegon's reputation as half a
12:40 peasant, heavily weighed against him.
12:42 Quietly, several lords offered Aean the
12:44 crown, pointing out that his maester's
12:48 vows could be dissolved. Aemon declined
12:50 and would not be persuaded otherwise.
12:52 This is very likely the second of the
12:54 three temptations he related to Jon
12:55 Snow, the one where he was a full-g
12:57 grown man. He would have been in his
13:00 mid30s at the time. Other than Egg, the
13:02 only other known viable candidate for
13:05 the throne was Anise, fifth son of Damon
13:07 Blackfire. Blood Raven promised him safe
13:09 passage to the Red Keep in order to make
13:11 his case to the council, but he lied.
13:13 Anise was executed and his head was
13:15 presented to the council instead of his
13:18 claim. Thus, though they had serious
13:20 doubts, the council was left with no
13:23 choice but to name Aemon's brother Aegon
13:26 their new king. He became Aegon V,
13:28 called the fortunate and the unlikely.
13:31 His first notable act as king was to
13:32 have the hand of the king he inherited,
13:35 Blood Raven, thrown into prison for
13:37 breaking the word of the Iron Throne.
13:40 The new king Aegon V was undisputed
13:43 ruler, but he had lost the protection of
13:45 Blood Raven and had the suspicion of
13:47 many of the lords of Westeros. Many
13:49 clearly felt that Aean would have been
13:51 the better king, at which point we
13:53 should return to that childhood bond
13:56 between Aean and Egg. Ammon seemingly
13:58 didn't want to be the Targaryen that
14:00 Egg's enemies tried to rally behind. As
14:02 a maester, he would always be somewhere
14:05 in the Seven Kingdoms and visible, but
14:07 at the wall, that's where people were
14:10 sent to be forgotten. Aemon sacrificed
14:12 comfort, family, and so much else for
14:16 the realm, for duty. The day he left to
14:17 take ship for the wool, he told his
14:20 brother to kill the boy within, to let
14:23 the man be born. Egg had to die for
14:25 Aegon to be born. It's the same advice
14:27 he later gives Jon when he is elected
14:30 Lord Commander. Both Egg and Jon Snow
14:33 seem to have listened. Aean's cousin,
14:35 Blood Raven, took the Black as well,
14:37 along with 50 Raven's teeth, his most
14:40 loyal guards. Aean and Brynden were
14:42 escorted by none other than Sir Duncan
14:44 the Tall all the way to Eastwatch by the
14:47 Sea by the ship Golden Dragon. As Aean
14:49 said to Sam, no recruit had arrived at
14:52 the wall with so much pomp since Nimriia
14:54 sent the watch six kings in golden
14:58 fetterss. It was the year 236. John and
15:02 Sam joined 52 years later. Were there
15:04 other reasons why Aean went to the wall?
15:06 We'll look at that in another video. But
15:08 it is indisputable that Blood Raven and
15:10 Maester Aemon found themselves, perhaps
15:13 unexpectedly to Aean, serving together
15:15 at the wall. two Targaryenss obsessed
15:17 with prophecy and magically inclined in
15:20 their own ways. All of that will come in
15:21 the second part of this series of videos.
15:23 videos.
15:24 If you'd like to see more A Song of Ice
15:26 and Fire videos, please click on the
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15:35 for this time. Thanks for watching. I'll
