A Bit More (Fake) History

[grrm]

I had intended to write this post a few days ago, when Bantam gave me the green light, but I got busy, and we had Carrie Vaughn coming to town, and a worldcon/ Hugo deadline approaching, and all that seemed more time-sensitive, so I wrote those instead. Unfortunately, that meant the news below broke from other sources, and inevitably, all sorts of

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[lord_varys]

The dragonlords of Valyria were supposed to be mainly atheist, using the many religions that flourished in their empire as a means to control the masses. What little we know about the Conqueror and his sister-wives suggests that they were no different there, considering that it is said that Aegon I was never a pious man, essentially only going to the sept for show, especially on that day before the Conquest began.

And the continued policy against the power of the Faith the Aegon I, Aenys I, Maegor I, and Jaehaerys I took in the first century would suggest that the Seven weren't exactly their top priority. Not to mention their insistence to continue the family tradition of incestuous marriages.

The practice of some Targaryens to name their dragons after gods worshiped in Valyria was also always a hint that the Targaryens followed the trend of the other dragonlords to not believe in any gods. If you right a god you essentially are better/more powerful than that god...

I'd argue that the first truly pious Targaryen would have been Jaehaerys I's daughter Maegelle, who grew up to become a septa. Later on we have Baelor the Blessed and his sister Rhaena, who both joined the Faith, Queen Naerys who wanted to join the Faith, and Daeron II who apparently also liked to hang out with septons (although I'm inclined to believe he was more interested in learning and knowledge than in pious fairy-tales).