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Where is Blackfyre? | In Deep Geek | YouTubeToText
YouTube Transcript: Where is Blackfyre?
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The content explores the historical significance and potential current whereabouts of Blackfyre, a legendary Valyrian steel sword wielded by Targaryen kings, and its role as a potent symbol of legitimacy.
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where is Blackfire the sword of Aon the
Conqueror and many other Targaryen Kings
will it make a reappearance in A Song of
Ice and Fire Let's Take a Look hi
everyone this is Robert on this channel
we dive deep into Georg ARA Martin's
World Of Ice And Fire as well as the
Lord of the Rings The Witcher and more
welcome there are many legendary
Valyrian steel swords in the world of
Ice and Fire some that have been handed
down generation to generation for
centuries and with whom great Deeds are
accomplished but perhaps the most famous
of all is Blackfire the sword of Aon the
Conqueror himself from him it was passed
down generation to generation and King
to King magor wielded it and jeris threw
out his long Reign then viseris it
survived the dance of the Dragons was
used by Daran I first in his invasion of
Dawn and Aon ivth during his unworthy
rule simply put it was the sword of
Kings we're told that even sheathed the
blade could be mistaken for no other and
from early on it was seen as a mark of
legitimacy for Kings after anise gave
Blackfire to his brother magor Vena
apped that why else would he have given
Blackfire to my son he knows that only
magor has the strength to rule when
jeris reached his maturity and flew to
King's Landing to claim the throne he
wore no kingly Garb but very obviously
carried Blackfire with him when Aon II
claimed the throne at the Dawn of the
Dance of the Dragons we read that that
every visible symbol of legitimacy
belongs to aegon he sat on the Iron
Throne he lived in the red keep he wore
the conqueror's crown wielded The
conqueror's Sword and had been anointed
by a septon of the faith before the eyes
of tens of thousands it would be
overstating the case to say that
Blackfire was the only symbol of
legitimacy for targaryan rulers but it
was a very very important one the sword
of kings and everyone knew it things
became complicated however when King
aegon the fourth broke with protocol and
didn't give Blackfire to his eldest
legitimate son Daran as tradition would
have suggested he should have done
instead he gave it to one of his bastard
children Damon Waters this was
understandable on one level because
Daren was not a fighting type and Damon
definitely was but still the sword was
so Laden with symbolism that when
combined with aegon the fourth's
questioning whether Daren was indeed his
legitimate son there's a whole other
story there we'll get into at some point
lots of people interpreted the move as
aegon saying that Damon should be king
witness this conversation between eustus
osgr and egg in the Sworn Sword years
later Eustace osre speaks first Damon
was the better man the Old King saw it
too he gave the sword to Damon Blackfire
the sword of Aon the Conqueror the blade
that every Targaryen King had wielded
since the conquest he put that sword in
Damon's hand the day he knighted him a
boy of 12
my father says egg says that that was
because Damon was a swordsman and Daren
never was why give a horse to a man who
cannot ride the sword was not the
kingdom he says your father is a
fool half the kingdom held the same view
Damon even adopted Blackfire as his
surname to underline the importance of
the gift and the inevitable eventual
result was the first Blackfire Rebellion
the culmination of that was the Battle
of the redgrass field Damon Blackfire
died on that field with Blackfire
briefly being taken up by his son aimon
before he too died then aor Rivers
Damon's half brother and one of the
great Bastards of aegon IV took it up
fighting blood Raven no less who was
wielding dark sister bitter steel took
out blood Raven's eye but the battle was
lost and he fled the Rebellion abandoned
to Exile in OS though we have no
firsthand accounts of the sword
Blackfire in OS it's pretty clear
everyone believes it to be there in
bitter Steel's possession for example
during the abortive second Blackfire
Rebellion which was seeking to place
Damon II Blackfire on the Iron Throne
one point of contention among the rebels
was that bittersteel hadn't given the
sword to Damon II in the mystery night
Lord butterwell says he does not bear
the sword if he were his father's son
bittersteel would have armed him with
Blackfire there are several possible
reasons why bittersteel didn't give
Damon the sword but the important Point
here is that he has it and seemingly
reserves the right to decide who it goes
to for me what is odd is not that
bittersteel didn't give it to one
particular Blackfire Heir it's that he
didn't give it to any of them he did
support hagon Blackfire in the third
Blackfire Rebellion crowning him and
fighting alongside him but we don't hear
of Blackfire being there hagon was
disarmed and killed and aore himself
captured but no Blackfire bitter
similarly supported Damon the thir
Blackfire in the fourth Blackfire
Rebellion sir Duncan the tall killed
that Damon but still no Blackfire bitter
steel was dead by the time of the last
Blackfire Pretender and the war of the
nine peny Kings but still no sword
Blackfire so where is it it was last
seen in OS but then what well before we
get onto the majority view among the
fandom that it is still in OS let's just
cover off a few other possibilities it
seems pretty clear that it wasn't
regained by any of the main targaryan
family or other loyalists during various
rebellions this would have been a big
win for them and would surely be taken
back by whichever King was on the throne
at the time perhaps blood Raven took it
for his own mysterious purposes and then
hid it from everyone he did duel bitter
steel twice after all while I wouldn't
discount this you know I'm always the
sucker for a good blood Raven Theory it
does seem to be stretching credulity a
bit to suggest he could smuggle it off
the battlefield with without anyone
noticing or even noticing that
bittersteel was wielding it in the first
place this is a big and famous sword so
probably not as a complete aside we do
have one very specific confirmation from
George Aram Martin from back when George
Aram Martin often answered questions
from fans he was asked whether longclaw
might be Blackfire he simply said no or
perhaps some other completely random
person got hold of it somehow by
stealing it from the battlefield or
bitter Steel in the real world that's a
very realistic possibility but georgea
Martin has repeatedly emphasized the
importance of this sword so it seems
likely that it will make a return and
hasn't just been melted down and resold
somewhere in deeper OS so let's go with
what everyone inor thinks bitter steel
had it in Exile but then kept it without
passing it on to any of the successive
Blackfire heirs why well we often assume
that bittersteel is the Blackfire
loyalist and chief but clearly his
loyalty wasn't without any boundaries he
actively didn't support the clear
Blackfire air in the second rebellion
and though he did support later heirs he
seems not to have given any of them the
single biggest symbol of legitimacy that
he had so maybe he had another agenda
going on let's briefly look into his
background and see what that might be
bitter steel was born of Aon IV's fifth
mistress barara Bracken and while he was
still newborn the King's wife wife
nerice nearly died leading to talk that
maybe barar might become the new Queen
and giving bitter Steel by implication a
legitimate claim to the throne when NES
didn't die the brackens became unpopular
at court for overstepping their place
and were banished back to Stone Hedge
Barbara's place as King's mistress was
taken by Melissa Blackwood Who Bore him
a son Bryan Rivers AKA blood Raven that
was the start of bitter Steel's Feud
against blood Raven which was further
exacerbated when their half sister Shira
sear chose blood Raven not him when
everyone was grown up and it was obvious
that of all of the great bastards Damon
was the one people would be most likely
to Rally around bitter steel threw his
lot in with him he pushed Damon to claim
the throne for himself blood Raven
needless to say was a staun supporter of
Daran I first who was currently sat on
that throne and although we have very
little detail on this we're told in the
world of Ice and Fire that
Damon agreed to Wed his eldest daughter
kala to aor and separately we're told
that bittersteel was angry all his life
when you take all this together it seems
that at the very least bittersteel was
motivated not So Much by a belief that
Damon was the rightful King as a hatred
of blood Raven maybe he even saw Damon's
Rebellion as a chance to get at blood
Raven more than a matter of putting the
right man on the throne if that's the
case it explains why he might not have
thrown his full support behind all of
Damon's descendants and why in both of
the first rebellions he ended up in a
one-on-one duel with blood Raven on the
battlefield might he have harbored some
thoughts that he should have been king
or perhaps his descendants should be
hence him asking to marry Damon's oldest
daughter though if so even that was
thwarted back in 2018 Friends of the
Channel History of West Ross got the
opportunity to ask George R Martin
whether bittersteel had any children his
response was I don't think so which is
all a bit of a digression and we'll
probably not know all the ins and outs
of bitter Steel's character until we get
to Fire and Blood Part Two or perhaps
we'll learn some more in future Duncan
egg stories but what we do know is
suggestive that bittersteel wasn't
necessarily A Blackfire absolutist he
only threw his weight behind someone he
thought would be a good king or had a
good chance of being King he had
Blackfire and was extremely picky about
who he gave it to we also know he was
the kind of person to think ahead and
care about his legacy because he founded
the golden company to act as a standing
army for the next Invasion attempt and
even left a bizarre demand that the
golden company should dip his skull in
gold and carry it before them when they
finally head back over the narrow sea to
retake the throne everything we know
about him suggests that he will have
planned ahead about what to do with
Blackfire he wouldn't have necessarily
given it to who he thought was the
rightful Blackfire Heir he himself held
on to it after all despite never
claiming to be the rightful Heir himself
he saw himself more as a kingmaker
throwing his support behind candidates
he liked but not those he didn't and
very probably he will have thought that
to succeed even long after his death
with his skull still figuratively
leading the golden company into battle
remember would be his way of finally
getting one over on blood Raven who had
thwarted him so often in life so he will
probably have given the sword to some
someone who he felt was most like him
someone who would eventually fulfill his
dream of leading the golden company
across the narrow sea and placing a
black fire on the iron throne and not
just any Blackfire but one who was fit
to rule and perhaps they in turn gave it
to someone else to keep the dream alive
so is there anyone in the books who has
been doing just this plotting for years
raising up a claimant to the Iron Throne
who is worthy hiring the golden company
and getting them to sail across the
narrow sea well yes there's someone
who's been doing all of that aoop
patus okay so that might feel like a big
leap from bitter steel too but they do
definitely seem to both want the same
thing you may remember in a previous
video I set out the argument that young
Griff the man claiming to be aegon I 6th
is actually perhaps a secret Blackfire
through the female line and probably
also the son of valo himself and his
very Val Ian featured second wife Sarah
if we hadn't had that confirmation from
Georg ARA Martin that bitter steel
didn't have any children I'd wonder if
Sarah was a descendant of his and Callas
anyway iio seems to be in the business
of trying to put a black fire on the
Iron Throne pretending that they are a
Targaryen he's already gifted Daenerys
with three dragon eggs at huge cost and
negotiated to get the Dothraki to join
The Invasion and then after his plans
changed a little got the golden company
on board with varis then recruited Ing
barrist and seli the legendary commander
of the King's Guard where does all this
leave the sword Blackfire dragon eggs
and barrist and SEL me are good symbols
of a sort of legitimacy to have with you
but the sword Blackfire the sword of
Kings would be even better might yio
have it he is the one taking on the
bitter steel kingmaker role here if so
we might expect him to get it to Young
Griff in time for his assault on King's
Landing some people may rally to him for
that reason alone as it happens there is
a hint of this before the release of A
Dance with Dragons George Oram Martin
did several readings of draft chapters
one of them a Tyrion chapter where he is
talking with Ayo included this
intriguing segment as recalled by
someone who was there the summary we
have is that ilio says he wants to give
young Griff His blessings and has a gift
for him in the chests heldon tells him
there is no time for the litter Lio gets
angry and says there are things Griff
must know ham eyes Tyrion and then
begins to speak in another language
Tyrion cannot tell what it is but thinks
it might be volentine he catches a few
words that come close to hyan the words
he catches are queen dragon and
sword so there's something secret going
on here something the plotters don't
immediately want Tyrion to know the
reference is to queen and dragon or
almost certainly about Daenerys the plan
at this stage is to marry young Griff to
Danny so so that they can jointly retake
the Seven Kingdoms with her dragons but
the reference to a sword which other
sword could this be about than Blackfire
the sword of the Targaryen Kings to be
clear that section wasn't included in
the final draft implying he either
changed his mind or he was saving the
Revelation until later in the books
something he has done on several other
occasions some rather large chests were
still loaded onto the shy Mage though
they apparently contain a variety of
things including armor money cloes and
gifts for Daenerys so perhaps George
decided to keep going with the idea but
make it less obvious there was some big
secret here in any event I think we have
here the closest thing we're going to
get to an answer on Blackfire unless
blood Raven took it and stashed it
somewhere for his own nefarious reasons
bitter steel had it and was keeping it
not just for whoever happened to be the
Blackfire Heir but for someone special
in the future perhaps he was even one of
those targaryens who gets prophetic
dreams and he had a vision of someone
the sword had to be held for I wouldn't
rule it out it's most probable that he
then passed it on to someone or some
people who would keep on with his vision
the golden company were founded to be an
army of this future leader and probably
today AO has that sword and is honoring
the wishes of his dead wife Sarah in
placing their son on the iron throne and
giving him that sword to bolster his
legitimacy well there is a lot we don't
know here this does current seem to be
the most likely place for Blackfire to
be and all the other theories have even
less evidence so come The Winds of
Winter we will perhaps see young Griff
with silver hair newly washed clean from
the hair dye holding black fire aoft as
he enters King's Landing to the Acclaim
of the crowd a black fire pretending to
be a Targaryen or as Dany Sees In The
House of the undying a cloth Dragon
swayed on poles amidst a cheering crowd
perhaps if it's just a theory but I
think it's the best we have at the
moment but what do you think where do
you think Blackfire is if you'd like
more videos like this digging into the
deeper lore of A Song of Ice and Fire
there's a playlist now on the left of
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page on the right of your screen thanks
for watching that's all for this time
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