Is Aegon really Aegon?

[Hannah]

Was I the only one confused as to how Aegon suddenly shows up and claims to be Dany's niece? Is he actually who he claims or is he a fake? I was under the impression he was a fake but now...?

[Manoushka]

The jury is still out on that one for me. I am leaning towards that he may be her nephew.

[Ezequiel]

Aegon only appear suddenly to us!; Because that was the whole plan. Wait til Aegon is old enough to claim his rights, and to strike when the 7 kingdoms are in Chaos.

Personally I do not think He is a fake; The surprising ending in aDwD points that he was the secret weapon the Spider had.
Plus the knights who protected him were known to be loyal to House Targaryen. And we must not forget that nobody identified the young baby killed as Aegon;

So everything makes sense to me;

[Ian]

Between the cloth dragon that Dany saw in the House of the Undying and Quaithe's warning against the mummer's dragon, plenty of signs point to him being a fake. Varys traveled with a troupe of mummer's before coming to King's Landing.

[Mitali]

I am pretty much 100% sure Aegon is a fake. The idea of a long-lost heir returning to reclaim the throne is such a horrible fantasy cliche that it's almost unthinkable that GRRM is not going to subvert it in some way (for the same reason, I think that if Jon is really Rhaegar and Lyanna's son, he will not end up on the Iron Throne).

In any case, there's ample evidence that Aegon is fake. For one thing, Varys is definitely not to be trusted - his speech to Kevan at the end of ADWD makes it clear that he's playing a game of his own. For another, there are hints in the prophecies that Aegon is fake, such as the 'mummer's dragon' warning of Quaithe, and Dany seeing such a cloth dragon in the House of the Undying. The only person the description could fit is Aegon.

And this is extra-textual, but telling evidence: Aegon is very similar to the John the Fiddler character in the Dunk & Egg novella, 'The Mystery Knight' - and he turns out to be a Blackfyre pretender. It's most likely that Aegon will be the same.

Ezequiel wrote: "Plus the knights who protected him were known to be loyal to House Targaryen."

What knights? The only person in Aegon's group associated with the Targaryens is Jon Connington. He wasn't in on the plan from the beginning - he was brought in only later when 'Aegon' was 5 years old. The signs are that he was as much a dupe of Varys and Illyrio's plan as everyone else.

[Ian]

Mitali wrote: "I am pretty much 100% sure Aegon is a fake. The idea of a long-lost heir returning to reclaim the throne is such a horrible fantasy cliche that it's almost unthinkable that GRRM is not going to sub..."


Connington is also desperate for redemption after his failure in Robert's Rebellion, making him extra susceptible to Varys (not too dissimilar from Ser Jorah).

There's certainly a counter-argument to be made. The mummer in mummer's dragon doesn't necessarily disprove Aegon's legitimacy, it just means that he's Varys puppet. Cloth dragon is a little more concrete.

I think Aegon is a fake, but I don't think it's inconceivable that Varys could pull off a switch especially if Illyrio was helping.

[Laura]

I agree with the bunch who thinks he's a fake.

[Anna]

I wish he was the real thing. That would be interesting. Unfortunately as everybody says, signs seems to point towards him being fake. I feel sorry for him. I like the Griffs. I hope he doesn't end up like Quentyn.

[Philina]

I also think he is fake. For all the reasons already named.
There is also a theory that he is Illyrio's son by Serra who is either a Blackfyre through the female line or just Targ looking (I think many Lyseni still have that look).
Check this out:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_5kpd...

[Hannah]

Okay thank you. I just found this really confusing! He just popped up out of nowhere and I don't really know how he got there or why people just started supporting him out of the blue. Thanks for the clarification.

[John]

Mitali wrote: "I am pretty much 100% sure Aegon is a fake. The idea of a long-lost heir returning to reclaim the throne is such a horrible fantasy cliche that it's almost unthinkable that GRRM is not going to sub..."

So isn't Dany a long lost heir returning to reclaim the throne?

[Mitali]

John wrote: So isn't Dany a long lost heir returning to reclaim the throne?"

To an extent - though the cliche almost always involves a long-lost prince, not a princess. Besides, Dany wasn't 'lost' - she was in exile, but everyone knew who she was and where she was.

But more importantly, Dany's story has already been thoroughly subverted. Dany herself thinks she is a long-lost heir returning to claim her birthright (and so did Viserys before her). But as her story so far shows, it's not that easy. The long-lost heir cannot just turn up in her homeland and expect that everyone will be awaiting her return with bated breath. First she has to gather an army - that's Dany's story in ASOS. But even that's not as simple as it seems. She gets an army, but in the process, destabilizes the economy of an entire region, and has to stay behind and clean up the mess. But her attempts at doing so cause an even greater mess (her story in ADWD). Even though she literally runs away from her problems at the end of that book, it's a given that she'll have to return to Meereen and clean up the mess she made there before she can even think of going to Westeros. And we, the readers, know better than Dany about what a mess Westeros is in. When she does manage to get there, she's not going to find a welcome wagon awaiting her arrival.

IMO, that's perhaps the biggest clue that Aegon is not the real thing: his path so far has been too easy. GRRM likes to make his important characters struggle. Dany, Tyrion, Jon, Arya, Sansa, Bran, Ned, Catelyn, Robb, Stannis, Theon, Jaime, Cersei, Brienne, Arianne ... all these characters have to fight hard against the odds, and face failure - permanent failure in some of the cases. Aegon seems to be breezing through life and through a conquest so far - that's a sure-shot sign that he's doomed to failure in the not-so-distant future.

[Matthew]

What I find to be the biggest hole in the story of how the baby Aegon was allegedly saved is that Varys had no way of knowing ahead of time that Gregor Clegane would kill the baby in a way that would leave him unidentifiable (banging his head against a wall). It seems likelier that Varys tool advantage of the crushed head to create an unrefutable substitute.

[Hannah]

Mitali wrote: "John wrote: So isn't Dany a long lost heir returning to reclaim the throne?"

To an extent - though the cliche almost always involves a long-lost prince, not a princess. Besides, Dany wasn't 'lost'..."
This makes so much sense. Thank you for this.

[Hannah]

The only reason I still struggle with this question is because he looks so much like a Targaryen! It's hard to fake white blond hair and purple eyes!

[Ezequiel]

Hannah wrote: "The only reason I still struggle with this question is because he looks so much like a Targaryen! It's hard to fake white blond hair and purple eyes!"

This;
What do you, (those that think that Aegon is fake), think about this?

[Toviel]

Mmmm. It's not impossible that his looks could be unrelated to being a Targaryen--after all, didn't Jorah find a whore that looked a lot like Dany at one point? Aegon could be some bastard or relative of a Volantis noble or something similar to that.

I hope he is real, though.

[Matthew]

Hannah wrote: "The only reason I still struggle with this question is because he looks so much like a Targaryen! It's hard to fake white blond hair and purple eyes!"

Lila wrote: "Mmmm. It's not impossible that his looks could be unrelated to being a Targaryen--after all, didn't Jorah find a whore that looked a lot like Dany at one point? Aegon could be some bastard or relat..."

It is mentioned that people of Valyrian looks and descent are still common in Lys.

[Mitali]

Hannah wrote: "The only reason I still struggle with this question is because he looks so much like a Targaryen! It's hard to fake white blond hair and purple eyes!"

White-blond hair is easy enough to fake: just bleach the hair. Purple eyes are less easy, at least in a world with no contact lenses. But Aegon's eyes are not necessarily purple - Tyrion even initially thinks they are blue.

But that's irrelevant - Aegon's colouring doesn't have to be fake. White-blond hair and purple eyes are not a Targaryen trait, they're a Valyrian trait. And there are plenty of people in the Free Cities - especially Lys - with Valyrian blood.

[Laura]

Purple eyes and silver-blond hair aren't restricted to Targaryens. For example, Tommen Baratheon has silver-blond hair and he's 200% Lannnister; Ashara Dayne had purple eyes, House Blackfyre, House Velarion, etc.

Also, as Matthew said, anyone with a spot of Valyrian descent could have purple-ish eyes and blond or silver-blond hair in their gene pool.

[Mitali]

Another important bit of evidence that shows that Aegon is not a Targaryen, but almost definitely a Blackfyre is the fact that the Golden Company support him. The Golden Company was founded by Bittersteel, another one of Aegon IV's bastards, and he was a staunch supporter of his half-brother, Daemon Blackfyre. Bittersteel and the Golden Company fought in the Blackfyre rebellions against the Targaryens. It's highly unlikely that the Golden Company would support a Targaryen who was trying to win back the Iron Throne. In fact, Dany remembers that Viserys once asked for their help, and they laughed in his face. Of course, Viserys was broke, while Aegon has the backing of Illyrio's gold, but still - it seems far more likely that they know he's not a Targaryen at all.

[Manoushka]

Mitali wrote: "Another important bit of evidence that shows that Aegon is not a Targaryen, but almost definitely a Blackfyre is the fact that the Golden Company support him. The Golden Company was founded by Bitt..."

I completely forgot that Bittersteel founded the GC. I retract my earlier statement.

[Matthew]

God I hope so. The thought of this being another twist that doesn't really go anywhere is more than I can stand! That being said, the fact that Aegon may be a pretender, or that Varys and Connington are just using him as a means to move on the throne themselves, could be interesting.

[Ian]

Matthew wrote: "God I hope so. The thought of this being another twist that doesn't really go anywhere is more than I can stand! That being said, the fact that Aegon may be a pretender, or that Varys and Conningto..."

Varys and Connington want different things. Varys wants the realm to have a king properly groomed to rule. Connington wants redemption for The Battle of the Bells.

[Matthew]

Ian wrote: "Matthew wrote: "God I hope so. The thought of this being another twist that doesn't really go anywhere is more than I can stand! That being said, the fact that Aegon may be a pretender, or that Var..."

Yes, but who's to say they are not using a pretender as a means to get that? And who's to say these stated desires are their true ones? But that's all just "realm of possibility" talk, and I do think they are sincere. The question is, is the boy real, or are they using him to further their own aims of restoring order and seeking redemption for failing to protect Rhaegar, Elia, and Rhaenys.

[Slick]

That little guttershite isn't a real Targaryen.
I think he just looks the part and was raised to be Ilaryo and Varys ideal puppet king.