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Who is Young Griff? Aegon VI or (f)Aegon? | In Deep Geek | YouTubeToText
YouTube Transcript: Who is Young Griff? Aegon VI or (f)Aegon?
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The content explores the identity and significance of "Young Griff" in George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire, questioning whether he is truly Aegon Targaryen, the rightful heir, or a carefully constructed pretender, likely a Blackfyre descendant, orchestrated by Varys and Illyrio Mopatis.
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young Griff fagon aegon I 6 he goes by
many names but whoever he is he is a
very important character in the books of
A Song of Ice and Fire launching an
invasion of Westeros no less but who is
he really hi everyone this is Robert
welcome to indeep geek here we cover the
finest in Science Fiction and Fantasy
including A Song of Ice and Fire JRR
tolken and the Lord of the Rings The
Witcher and more
welcome arguably the most significant
character in A Song of Ice and Fire
missing from the TV show was a young man
called young Griff he is significant
because he claims to be Aon targarian
the eldest son of rhaegar Targaryen and
therefore the rightful Targaryen heir to
the Seven Kingdoms he has amassed an
invasion Force before Daenerys has
powerful allies has landed in Westeros
and is actually probably just a few
weeks away from being able to launch an
attack on King's Landing so is he who he
claims to be let's start with what we
know about him for sure we first
encounter him when Tyrion meets him in A
Dance with Dragons Tyrion has escaped
King's Landing and is hiding out at
ayoma Pat's mans in pentos it's fair to
say that his mind is mostly occupied by
the next jug of wine and ruminating over
his father's dying words but his
interest is piqued by the chance to join
a group of Travelers heading down the
river roin to valantis with a view to
eventually meeting daer Targaryen and
Her Dragons but he soon realizes that
his travel companions are just as
intriguing in particular he concludes
that Griff the leader of the group is an
identity taken on by John connington a
former hand of the king and close
companion of rhaegar Targaryen after his
rumored death from
alcoholism when you add in the other odd
characters on the boat hen half maer
SEPTA LaMore and so on it's quite the
mystery for Tyrion to solve and working
it all out seems to invigorate him a bit
but back to Young Griff this is how we
first see him Tyrion craned his head to
one side and saw a boy standing on the
roof of a low wooden building waving a
wide brimmed Straw Hat he was a lie and
well-made youth with a lanky build and a
shock of dark blue hair the dwarf put
his age at 15 16 or near enough to make no
no
matter the wide brimmed Straw Hat
immediately takes fans back to egg from
The Duncan egg stories who similarly
wore a hat like that so perhaps George
Aram Martin is immediately trying to
make us think of a young Arian traveling
the land in Disguise an image will come
back to it takes Tyrion only until they
are passing through the Sorrows to see
that this is ostensibly at least Aon son
of rhaegar Targaryen although of course
everyone knew that aegon had been
brutally murdered at the end of Robert's
Rebellion by the mountain we read this
the lad flushed that was not me I told
you that was some Tanner's son from
pisswater Bend whose mother died
birthing him his his father sold him to
Lord Varys for a jug of aror gold he had
other Sons but he had never tasted aror
gold Varys gave the pisswater boy to my
lady mother and carried me away so
that's the story we have young Griff is
rhaegar's eldest son aegon secretly and
dramatically saved by Varys from the
sack of King's Landing years earlier at
the end of Robert's Rebellion since then
it seems he has been raised under cover
in OS by John connington and with the
support ofia mopatis the ridiculously
Rich Magister who protected viseris and
Daenerys Taren for a while and varis who
has retained his place as spy master in
King's Landing but not given up on the
dream of there being a better King out
there than either ays or Robert
barathan we are told that Varys arranged
for him to be raised not in riches and
privilege but in learning what a ruler
really needs to learn in varys's mind at
least this is what he says when he's
about to kill Kevin Lannister so with no
obvious reason to lie aegon has been
shaped for rule since before he could
walk he has been trained in arms as
befits a KN to be but that was not the
end of his education he reads and writes
he speaks several tongues he has studied
history and lore and poetry a scepter
has instructed him in the mysteries of
the faith since he was old enough to
understand them he has lived with Fisher
folk worked with his hands swam in
rivers and mended Nets and learned to
wash his own clothes at need he can fish
and cook and bind up a wound he knows
what it is to be hungry to be hunted to
be afraid tommen has been taught that
kingship is his right aegon knows that
kingship is his duty that a king must
put his people first and live and rule
for them which sounds fantastic and to
be fair although we haven't seen huge
amounts of him yet he does seem to be
quite well adjusted certainly better
King material than many others and we
have that egg imagery again Egon I who
had his apprenticeship out on the
highways and byways of the Seven
Kingdoms rather than at court as king he
then spent a lot of his time radically
trying to improve the rights and
protections of the small folk of the
land at the expense of the lordly
classes a cause seemingly close to
varys's heart so it has to be said young
Griff as we'll call him from now on just
to ease any confusion seems to have been
raised to be a good King not an entitled
one a king who would care about the
poorest and most vulnerable under his
care whatever the political minations
going on around him young Griff would
probably be a good king or try to be
whether he is who he claims to be or not
and whether he succeeds or not I don't
think georgea Martin wants us to forget
this he just doesn't think that being
good is necessarily enough in a gray
power hungry World okay so that said
let's put morality and idealized
kingship to one side for a moment and
try to work out whether young Griff
really is who he is supposed to be Aon I
6 well he himself certainly seems to
think so there is no hint in the text
that he believes he has two layers of
secret identity going on and Griff John
connington similarly also seems to
believe it we have chapters from his POV
and he thinks a couple of times about
putting rhaegar's son upon the iron
throne and although his hair is died
blue for most of the time we see him his
eyes definitely are
purple on the other side of the narrow
sea on hearing that someone had landed
in the stormlands with an army claiming
to be Aon I 6 Kevin Lannister who had
witnessed the presentation of baby
aegon's body to the new King Robert
years earlier recalls that the girl had
been recognizably the princess reice but
the boy a faceless horror of bone and
brain and Gore with a few Hanks of fine
hair none of us looked long Tywin said
that it was Prince Aon and we took him
at his word so there is a death inite
lack of concrete evidence that this
isn't Aon I 6 in fact the only person
who could probably provide to that is
varis who allegedly did the baby Swap
and as we've already noted he told us
soon to be dead man that this definitely
was Aon I 6 Baris also undoubtedly was
one of the few people who could have
pulled off such a switch without anyone
knowing he has the skills contacts and
access to secret passages in the red
keep that others simply don't all of
which is quite convincing so why do so
many people people in the fandom believe
that all is not as it seems firstly the
baby swap plan only really works well in
retrospect varis may have been able to
swap out baby aegon before the attack
knowing he would likely be killed by the
Lannisters but how was he to know that
aon's body would be unrecognizable
afterwards and his sister re's would
still be clearly identifiable was it
just a lucky guess surely a more
straightforward answer is that Varys
instead later used the fact that aegon's
body was recognizable to come up with a
believable backstory for the person he
wanted on the throne but the big problem
here is one of motivations Varys has no
particular loyalty to the targaryens
that we know of still less to rhaegar
whose apparent C attempt against Aries
II at the attorney at Haren Hall Baris
Scupper so why go to so much trouble to
save rhaegar's son yio is the one who
bankrolled all this but similarly why is
he so willing to throw his weight and
money behind the plot Tyrion asks him
this to his face and when AO claims he
has been promised a castle and the
position of Master of coin Tyrion simply
doesn't believe him liar thought Tyrion
there is something in this Venture worth
more to you than coin or
castles AIO goes on to say that it is
also about a debt of affection to Varys
which sounds closer to the truth but
brings us back to varys's motivations in
fact varis seems less concerned about
the surname of the ruler than their
their character which is laudable even
if we don't always agree with his
methods varis serves the realm or so he
tells Ned Stark not any particular
family so he's not a targaryan
exceptionalist in any way he didn't even
come from Westeros and having come from
the gutters himself cares for the small
folk a lot more than the rich and
privileged he saw firsthand how Aries
and then Robert then Joffrey all ruled
poorly in their own ways it's not a
giant leap of logic to suggest that the
idea of creat beating a perfect ruler
will have appealed to him and he won't
have cared who the child was what would
have mattered to him is that the people
believe that young Griff was aegon
Targaryen and welcomed his claim to the
throne not whether he actually was who
he claimed to be or even who he thought
he was he didn't need Aon Targaryen
grandson of the Mad King and Son of the
man so consumed with prophecy that his
pursuit of it threw the kingdom into a
Savage Civil War he just needed someone
who looked like they might be Aon
Targaryen The question is where might he
find someone who looks like a Targaryen
on the evidence we have from Fire and
Blood and House of the dragon all over
the place for example targaryan bastards
and their descendants in King's Landing
and Dragonstone and those of Valyrian
descent in valantis lease and elsewhere
in the free cities and there is of
course an offshoot of the targaryan
family in esos that everyone thinks has
died out the blackfires there's a whole
history here to house Blackfire that
I'll say for another another video but
the short version is that they descend
from Damon Blackfire a bastard son of
King aegon IV who thought he had a
rightful claim to the iron throne but
despite several rebellions and Invasion
attempts over the years he and his
descendants and supporters were exiled
to OS we're told that the last of the
Blackfire Pretenders was killed in the
war of the nine peny Kings some 40 or so
years ago might Varys have picked one of
them and just pretended from an early
age that this was aegon Targaryen it's
definitely possible so all of that works
well with varys's motivations and
there's no doubt that he is capable of
such underhand and subtle tactics but
where is the evidence to support this
most people start with an intriguing
conversation between Tyrion and AO in A
Dance with Dragons Tyrion wants to know
why the golden company more on them in a
moment would support putting a targaryan
on the throne young Griff when their
entire history was to support blackfires
against targaryens
yio brushed away the objection as if it
were a fly black or red a dragon is
still a dragon when may least the
Monstrous died upon the stepstones it
was the end of the male line of house
Blackfire the cheesemonger smiled
through his forked
beard clear implication is that the
female line of blackfires is still going
strong in other words that the last or
one of the last Blackfire Pretenders
might not have had any sons but they did
have a daughter who in turn may have had
Sons why would that matter if it weren't
important for the golden company support
for young Griff If This Were Generations
ago then perhaps the genetics would have
been so diluted as to not matter but 40
years which is when the last Blackfire
Pretender was killed it isn't that long
ago it's in living memory in fact the
person who killed that last Blackfire
Pretender was barrist and SEL me who was
still very much alive in the books so
there is or was probably a woman with
Valyrian Heritage and looks and an
ancestral claim to the Iron Throne
through house Blackfire alive at around
the time to make her a contemporary of
varis and delirio in the free cities and
if she had a son they would indeed be
about young Griff's age again this makes
it all possible but it isn't really
evidence let's hold that thought for a
moment though because although it's
interesting from a historical
perspective we know George ARA Martin
always lays the groundwork for these
kinds of Revelations if young Griff
really is a black in Disguise there will
be hints throughout the books and there
are Geor Martin spends a lot of time
talking about the blackfires way more
than he needs to if they were just a
random offshoot of the targaryens who
tried and failed to win the throne we're
told of five different Invasion attempts
not just as dry historical facts but how
they impacted on characters in the story
that we know the Rivalry between Damon
Blackfire the first Pretender and blood
Raven we see the second attempted
rebellion in which a black Blackfire
Pretender comes to westros in Disguise
firsthand in the Duncan egg Story the
mystery night the third Rebellion again
saw blood Raven directly involved the
fourth had dunk leading the charge the
fifth the war of the nine peny Kings was
the one we've already mentioned with
barrist and seli not only that but
Blackfire history leaves some pretty
important threads just lying around the
golden company for example a name
checked dozens of times in the books and
we're told repeatedly about how they
aren't just a cell sword company they
are the descendants of Blackfire
supporters exiled in OS and waiting to
return and the sword Blackfire is
missing the great ancestral sword of
Targaryen kings that was given to Damon
Blackfire last seen in the possession of
aore rivers Damon blackfire's biggest
supporter and the founder of the golden
company I'll do a whole other video very
soon about where that sword is now so
keep an eye out for that but these are
not just small Clues George Aram Martin
is telling us repeat ly how important
the blackfires are to this story so the
blackfires are going to be important in
the rest of the story there's probably
at least one Blackfire descendant out
there somewhere we have a young man with
Valyrian features now claiming to be a
Targaryen Heir and the golden company
that bunch of Blackfire loyalists are
mysteriously supporting him which is
already painting quite a clear picture
what we don't have yet is why varis and
AO might be behind such a plot well you
will find plenty of theories out there
there connecting Varys to the black
fires perhaps he is secretly won himself
hence him keeping his head shaved like
an egg or perhaps he is secretly not a
unic but a woman and so on but as fun as
they all are none have huge amounts of
supporting evidence for me the link is
instead probably through yio yio is a
fascinating character like varis who he
became friends with at a young age he
worked his way up from the streets until
he reached a position of power in pentos
he was once married seemingly for
political gain to the prince of pentos
his cousin but then fell deeply in love
with a woman called Sarah Sarah was
everything to him the scandal of him and
Sarah led to the Palace of pentos being
closed to ayia but he didn't mind
because he had found love but then Sarah
died of the gray plague this hit Lio
hard he still carries around picture of
her in a locket and so he says keeps her
stone hands in his bedroom he wears
solemn Oaths in her name from the
picture in the locket we learn that
Sarah had bright blue eyes and silver
blonde hair classic Valyrian looks just
like young Griff has and although we see
Sarah written in the text spelt as Sarah
s e r r a that's from tyrion's
perspective what he thinks and hears but
Ayo has a thick accent could it actually
be Sarah or SRA a very targaryan name it
wouldn't be the first time that Georgia
ra Martin has made use use of the POV
mechanism to hide clues in the text
could this woman with Valyrian features
and a Valyrian sounding name be of
Valyrian descent maybe even Blackfire
descent which would explain how he and
apparently only he knows that the
Blackfire line had continued through the
female line the hints then follow that
she and alyo had a child Georg ARA
Martin makes a point of showing us that
Ayo had rather curiously kept a chest
full of clothes for a young boy but but
Sarah tragically died let's follow the
logic a plot was hatched between vanis
and Lio to get aio's son onto the Iron
Throne to honor the Beloved Sarah's
family line and perhaps even her
explicit dying wishes it would be a
powerful contrast to lean's dying wishes
for John varis by this point had moved
over to King's Landing and was acting as
spy Master for Aris II then Robert
barathan neither of whom were exactly
model rulers young Griff would be tuted
and trained to be the per perf King
Varys would then have a ruler who cared
for the realm and yo would have his and
Sarah's son on the throne yo himself
admitted that his motivation in all this
was not money or power but a debt of
affection everyone would get what they
wanted in order to get the support they
needed they couldn't just admit that
young Griff was a Blackfire though the
blackfires had tried five times to claim
the throne it had never worked so
instead he would claim to be aegon v 6
the true Target Arian Heir and when the
time was right varis would eventually
Start Spreading the rumor that he had
saved the babe from Gregor Cain and so
on a Blackfire with a black dragon sigil
would be pretending to be a Targaryen
with their red dragon sigil as AO says
pointedly to Tyrion black or red a
dragon is still a
dragon and this is where the golden
company comes in the golden company
remember are effectively the blackfire's
standing army established by aor river
and used to spearhead most of the
Blackfire rebellions of course they
would support a secret Blackfire
Invasion but just as importantly they
have a reputation for never breaking a
contract a perfect reputation until they
break one to come and support this cause
when Tyrion asks why on Earth they would
ruin their reputation iio simply says
that some contracts are written in ink
and some in blood in other words they
are honoring their ancestral blood vow
to to support the blackfires there is no
other reason for them to do it and there
are more hints elsewhere that aegon may
be a false Dragon one of the Visions
Daenerys has In The House of the undying
is of a cloth Dragon swaying on poles
cheered by a crowd which seems to be one
of the lies she must slay and Quai also
warns her to beware the M's Dragon the
imagery both times seems to be clear
this is a pretend Dragon not a real
Targaryen and it is Danny's role somehow
to expose it
it all adds up explaining everything
from ayio and varys's motivations the
golden company's actions and even some
of Danny's Visions to why George AR
Martin tells us so much about the
blackfires in the main story There Is No
Smoking Gun here no one 100% conclusive
bit of evidence that this is true but we
shouldn't expect one yet because George
ARA Martin is obviously wanting to do a
big reveal later in the story and as for
Varys having no reason to tell the dying
Kevin Lannister A Lie I actually don't
think there's a contradiction here young
Griff has started his invasion by this
point so Varys actually wants the rumor
that baby aegon was safe from Death all
those years ago to start spreading and
if Kevin is mortally wounded there are
others there his little birds the
children who work for him and Varys is
too clever to trust anyone 100% even
them and he certainly doesn't owe Kevin
Lannister honesty when he's about to
kill him him asserting that young Griff
really is aegon is exactly what we would
expect finally let's look at what this
all means for the plot young Griff
saying he is Aon v 6 immediately sets up
a good old-fashioned Targaryen
succession crisis he certainly thinks
that he is ahead of Daenerys in the line
of succession and would think the same
about John if he ever learned of him but
it's hard to imagine Daenerys standing
meekly aside for him and your guess is
as good as mine as to how she would
react to a marriage proposal of course
Daenerys Sweeping in to claim her crown
unopposed just isn't how targaryan
success has ever worked Fire and Blood
shows time and again how there is a
targaryan succession crisis in almost
every generation this generation won't
be any different and in this context it
perhaps ultimately doesn't matter for
the plot whether young Griff really is
Aon I 6 or is a Blackfire or just some
random silverhead youth picked out by
varis and alio he believes he is and
people around him believe he is and his
list of allies is growing swiftly as
Maris comments elsewhere power resides
where men believe it resides no more and
no less but what do you think do you
agree with the Blackfire Theory or hold
that young Griff really is Aon I 6 or
something else let me know in the
comments below if you'd like to see more
videos diving deep into the lore of A
Song of Ice and Fire there's a playlist
appearing now on the left of your screen
or to support this channel thank you
there's a link to my patreon page on the
right of your screen
that's all for this time thanks for
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