There were two people in Westeros whose true nature Daenerys could never quite see through.
The first was Stannis.
Everyone said he was tenacious, upright, just, responsible, and committed to his duties both as a vassal and as a ruler.
After spending a few days with him, Daenerys found that he was indeed stubborn, rigid in his thinking, and firm in character—yet, compared to most nobles in the Seven Kingdoms, he had principles.
More importantly, despite the dire situation Stannis had fallen into, many nobles still remained loyal to him: the lords of the Stormlands, the Reach, and the vassals sworn to Dragonstone.
The most iconic among them was Davos Seaworth, the Onion Knight.
He could be considered the last true embodiment of knightly virtue after the fall of Aerys.
During Robert's reign, when the knights of Westeros had become little more than dung, Davos stood out as the lone point of light.
Loyal, fearless, honest, sincere, humble yet wise, a man of honor and self-sacrifice.
And this Onion Knight trusted and served Stannis with unwavering faith.
This didn't necessarily mean that Stannis himself possessed all the virtues of a true knight, but at the very least, something in his character commanded deep respect.
Yet Stannis had killed his own brother. He had performed blood sacrifices in the name of R'hllor. When Daenerys rode alone to the Wall, she could sense a lurking darkness within him.
In truth, just the fact that he murdered his brother was a stain that could never be washed away.
Stannis seemed like a man torn apart, perhaps even mentally unstable, and Daenerys couldn't figure him out.
The other man shrouded in mystery—or half a man—was the spider, Varys.
Daenerys had no idea what he wanted or what he was trying to do.
According to the crumbling plot of the final season of Game of Thrones, Varys sought peace.
He consistently sided with the people of Westeros and single-handedly tried to maintain the stability of the realm.
When the Mad King lost his mind, Varys betrayed him and supported Robert, whom he believed could bring peace. When Robert's reign faltered, he aligned with the Lannisters. Upon seeing Joffrey and Cersei go madder than the Mad King, he turned his hopes to Daenerys.
Later, when Daenerys burned nobles who refused to surrender, he concluded she too had succumbed to her Targaryen madness and was unfit to sit on the Iron Throne.
Eventually, he tried to ally with Jon Snow and overthrow the Queen to put Jon in power.
In the end, he was executed by dragonfire for his betrayal.
Varys's death was held up as another example of Daenerys's cruelty.
At the same time, he was practically canonized as a saint in the Game of Thrones narrative—a man with no loyalty to any king, only to the welfare of the people. Whoever was best for the realm, he supported.
He even became a champion of weakening monarchal power, rejecting the divine right of kings, and advocating for democracy and equality.
What the fuck!
From Daenerys's perspective, the plot of Game of Thrones diverged so far from her current reality that it was no longer reliable. But at the very least, the personalities of the characters should remain somewhat consistent—right?
So, should she take Varys's character from Game of Thrones as a reference?
Unfortunately, she just couldn't do it.
First of all, Varys wasn't even from Westeros.
He was a foreigner from Lys, raised in the Free Cities. Why would he care about the lives of Westerosi citizens?
Was Westeros the center of the world? The beacon of civilization?
Please. In terms of technology, culture, history, and political systems, Westeros lagged far behind Valyria and Braavos.
A so-called center of civilization? Hardly.
It just didn't make sense.
Second, Varys had once sown discord between Rhaegar and Aerys, stirring the Mad King's suspicions of the crown prince. At the time, some nobles were indeed quietly discussing holding a Great Council to force Aerys into early retirement, but Rhaegar had refused.
Because of Varys's manipulation, the wise and noble Prince Rhaegar was forced to withdraw from court and could no longer participate in governance.
As a result, the realm decayed further, and House Targaryen's rule teetered on the brink of collapse.
And then there was the matter of Viserys and Daenerys. Varys certainly didn't act like a "loyal servant" of House Targaryen.
A truly loyal retainer would have been like Ser Willem Darry, who raised the young prince and princess with care—providing them a peaceful, comfortable life and teaching them etiquette, values, knowledge, and martial skills.
Instead, Varys kept them like half-dead strays—on the one hand feeding information to Robert and arranging assassins to kill the siblings, while on the other secretly placing agents to save them just before the killers arrived.
This constant back-and-forth inevitably led to tragedy: the once warm and gentle Viserys went mad, and the once cheerful little princess developed severe trauma.
Yes, Viserys had once been a rational, caring older brother—an educated and promising young man.
Ser Willem Darry, the old Red Keep master-at-arms, had taught him well—almost like a second Rhaegar.
But even the best person, when hunted from age thirteen to twenty-three, would eventually awaken the infamous "Targaryen madness."
And now, look at Westeros. Is it any better than it was during Aerys's reign?
Clearly not.
Morality has collapsed, the economy is in ruins, government institutions are paralyzed, and the people are suffering.
Westeros today is far worse off than during the Mad King's time.
As the saying goes: for all his madness, at least Aerys didn't torment the country or its people.
He was even frugal and prudent in managing the royal household.
The treasury was full, and every household had enough to eat.
"You've warned me many times not to trust Varys," said Dany.
Maester Aemon nodded, sighing. "Though I am at the Wall, I've always kept an eye on matters in King's Landing. If not for Varys repeatedly slandering your father, that false spring might never have happened."
"Then do you think Young Griff is Aegon?" Dany asked again.
"Well..." Aemon hesitated at first, then his expression turned certain. "There's at least an eighty percent chance that Aegon is real—he might even be the prophesied prince!"
"Uh... old man, are you sure you're not having trouble adjusting to the climate or losing your mind?"
"No. Astapor's climate is warm, not much different from Oldtown. It's quite suitable for an old man like me to retire."
Aemon shook his head and recounted how Rhaegar had once written to him about a strange star appearing in the sky the day Aegon was born.
"If the prophecy is true, then a descendant of Rhaegar must have survived. I believe it's Aegon!" the old maester concluded with conviction.
Dany gave him a strange look.
The old man had actually guessed right—Rhaegar did have a posthumous child, and his bloodline was the prophesied one.
But it wasn't Young Griff. It was Jon Snow, on the Wall.
"Old man, let me ask you something."
Dany paused, deciding to give him a small spoiler—just enough to stop him from giving his all to someone of dubious identity.
"Do you really think Rhaegar abducted Lyanna?" she asked.
"That... could be considered elopement," Aemon said, his expression shifting. He hesitated. "Given Rhaegar's character, I wouldn't have believed he would do such a thing—but it's a fact. Everyone knows it."
Dany shook her head and said, "Rhaegar was handsome, noble, melancholic, gentle, skilled in combat, could sing and play music, write poetry and paint. There wasn't a single maiden in the Seven Kingdoms who didn't fall for him.
"Lyanna was a sheltered northern girl—how could she resist such a perfect man?
"If Rhaegar truly liked a woman, would he need to force her?
"My second brother, Viserys, even in his most deranged days, only ever used his good looks and some flowery lies no one believed to seduce women.
"To force a woman? That's beneath him. Could Rhaegar really have done something so low?"
"Then... were they in love?" Aemon asked hoarsely.
"Let me ask you again—how long were Rhaegar and Lyanna together?" Dany pressed.
"From the time he took her until he appeared again in public, it was nearly a year," Aemon replied, then froze. Slowly, a complex expression of shock and disbelief spread across his face.
After a moment, he said with a dry voice, "Are you saying they... could've had a child?"
Dany shrugged and smiled casually. "A man and a woman, alone for a year—you think they just stared at the stars and the moon the whole time?
"Honestly, I'm confused why no one in the Seven Kingdoms ever suspected a child. Were you all brainwashed by the Three-Eyed Raven or something?"
"That..." Maester Aemon suddenly looked enlightened. "That's actually possible. If the child were the prince from the prophecy, then to protect his identity, the Three-Eyed Raven might've deliberately hidden the truth."
Seeing the old man's expression—It wasn't our fault for being stupid, it was the Three-Eyed Raven messing with our minds—Dany couldn't help but twitch the corners of her mouth.
"Forget the Three-Eyed Raven. Even if ten real gods joined forces, they couldn't influence the thoughts of millions across Westeros," she said irritably.
"Then why didn't any of us think of the possibility of a child? We can't all be fools, can we?" Aemon countered.
Actually, you are fools, Dany thought.
The old man's face turned grave. In a low voice, he said, "The more I think about it, the more it doesn't add up. There's a major inconsistency. Rhaegar should have had three Kingsguard knights with him—'the White Bull' Ser Gerold Hightower, 'the Sword of the Morning' Ser Arthur Dayne, and Ser Oswell Whent of Harrenhal.
"But when he appeared in King's Landing, he was alone. He had left the Kingsguard at the Tower of Joy to guard…"
His expression changed drastically. In disbelief, he uttered, "Lyanna!"
"Rhaegar left three Kingsguard knights to guard Lyanna. Why? And Eddard Stark—he led men to the Tower of Joy to find his sister, but returned only with her body. The Kingsguard were all dead. Eddard never spoke a word about what happened there."
"How did Lyanna die?" Aemon slowly closed his eyes, pondering in silence for a long while. When he opened them again, a flash of disbelief gleamed in his blue eyes. His lips trembled as he spoke: "Jon Snow! When Eddard returned from Dorne, he didn't just bring back Lyanna's body—he also brought back a bastard son.
"Lyanna died in childbirth. The child was Rhaegar's!"
"Seven hells!" the old man groaned, clutching his head. "No wonder I always felt a strange fondness for Jon. No wonder Jon's mother was always a mystery—Eddard Stark never mentioned her, not even to Jon himself.
"That's not normal. It doesn't make sense. Why didn't we ever suspect it before?
"A handsome man and a grown woman, together for a year—both healthy, both attracted to each other.
"What else could happen between them?
"Having a child is the most natural thing in the world. Why did no one ever think of that?"
"The Three-Eyed Raven. Brynden Rivers. It was him—he's the one pulling all the strings from behind the scenes," Aemon said through gritted teeth.
His reaction left Dany utterly stunned.
She hadn't expected the old man to piece together the truth from just a few hints. She hadn't even given him much to go on.
He had deduced it all purely from his wisdom and experience.
Had the old man's IQ skyrocketed after leaving Westeros?
"Dany... did you already know about Jon's identity?" Aemon suddenly looked up, fixing his gaze on her.
(End of chapter)
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