Thank you guys very much for your patience! And my apologies for the delay. Because I anticipate a similar situation with part 3 I want to communicate the following: Contrary to what I say in the video, Part 3 will be uploaded on friday the 30th of August. This gives me enough time to make a video worth watching and it saves me a lot of stress. Enjoy watching! Let me know what you think about part 2! And don't forget to vote on the poll!
Well thanks to HOTD and some background info we’ve learned that Daenys the dreamer was his original rider when they left Valyria. So it’s quite possible that the young princess reminded him Daenys. So balerion an ever willfull dragon. Surprisingly allows this young girl to mount him. Aerea tells Balerion she wants to go home. So Balerion takes what he sees as Daenys home… theyre original home
Makes sense if you think about it. Aerea probably spent a year learning what High Valyrian she could, and tried to use Balerion the Black Dread as her hitchhike/ Uber, but communication got messed up and she ended up in Valyria. Unlucky af.
22:30 talking about parasites, it's somewhat common for them to end up living in a different host than optimal, often leading to death, while on their optimal host they wouldn't have such a drastic impact, they might be dragon/wyrm parasites that accidentally ended up in a human
Oooo I like that! It pairs especially well with the theory that Balerion had worms and slowly died from them, just like his last rider King Viserys slowly died from his injuries.
Wow. George is really missing out on writing a novella from Aerea's perspective. It could be just like Aerea's story is told in this video. We get to see some parts of Old Valyria and its dangers but the real mysteries are still left unresolved like what could have hurt Balerion or what really caused the Doom.
I love the doom's real cause staying mysterious! Your 100% right on George missing out on a novella from her pov! That is one that would sell like crazy!
Doom can be caused by dragons, man created dragons they didn't exist before. Then there were some super powerful magicians before the blood dragon magic it's just dragons made stuff easier and then we got gatekeeping maesters. It's either they try to squash magic or magicians want to make come back. And targaryens are comparatively bottom of barrel to rest of dragon riders that is until it was only them left. Also per dragons and doom learn of euron from books, he was creepier found a dragon horn and learned of old Valeria things.
Despite the obvious dangers, Valyria is the most intriguing location on the map. Partly because it's forbidden, partly because fantastic treasures are known to be there. It would be irresistible to me if traveling through Essos, along the Demon Road. Some long lost instrument of power like a Dragonhorn or a glass candle would be my hope. The risk of a horrible death would be set against the regret of never having gone to find out for myself. I'd go, overland, as quiet and careful as I could. And if I never came back, at least everyone would know I'd taken that journey happily.
Asshai is equally as intriguing. Seems like there would be hidden dark treasure and magical artifacts. I wish some talented authors would dive into this world like authors did with Star Wars. I think a Planetos Expanded Universe is long overdue.
@@theboarandthelion thank you xour videos are what i watch on my lunch break at work ive always wanted to know more about valyria mainly what happened to the lannister and brightroar among many other mysteries i cant wait for part 3
I really enjoy these speculative videos. This series has reminded me of why I love ASOIAF so much. The magic of the world comes from all of its unknown corners. Great job, looking forward to part 3!
We don’t really know that they spent a whole year in one place either. They could have just visited briefly. We’re assuming that they went there and stayed there.
Well we kind of do. Because Balerion was not seen for more than a year, there is only one place they could have been. A dragon as big as The Black Dread is difficult to hide.
@@theboarandthelion It's possible they may have been in Sothoryos too. From Eustace Hightower's account on his time in Sothoryos: "Drinking salt water will make a man mad, every sailor knows that, but the freshwater is no safer in this place. There are worms in it, almost too small to see, if you swallowed them they laid their eggs inside you." Sothoryos would also be a place that's far enough away from everyone else that they wouldn't be seen
@@Alter-Ego1995 i agree with this. there is no proof that they stayed in the ruins. there is just no evidence of them being seen anywhere where people were.
@@Alter-Ego1995 And Balerion's wounds (lets assume it was from either another dragon or a firewyrm) have been sustained when he wandered off to hunt and stumbled upon a potential.. rival predator?
@@Alter-Ego1995true, and on a continent where you have apes large and strong enough to kill an elephant in one punch, you could have something that can wound Balerion.
This story makes me think that the worms are a parasite who's host is a dragon or fire wyrm. And humans are just a accidental host. Many parasites like this exist in real life, where primary host are animals or insects but humans can get infected too, mainly by eating the eggs. Generally parasites don't kill their host for years, because they'd die without it. Another thing about this story is that Balarion had a huge scar, and there aren't many creatures that could hurt the biggest dragon. So my theory is that they encountered some massive creature (dragon, wyverns, fire wyrm) and balarion fought it and won. Aerea later ate its flesh and contracted the parasite.
He is also champion of the Storm God. So when a parasite/virus tries to enter him, water protects him. With the Gods gaining strength again this seems the case. And Euron certanily had some kind of contact with the Storm God.
@@Klongu_Da_Bongu isn’t kind of interesting that the gods have put these immortal pawns on the board with real power that still come off as charlatans.
Your assessment of the time that Aeria spent in Valyria was exceptionally well thought out and highly believable. Thanks for the video and your insights into the subject.
What with the 'human' faces of the parasitic worms, I wonder if it was less an infestation and instead a magical form of cancer due to the radiation? Given the occasional draconic malformed stillbirths that Targaryens suffer, I had wondered if something similar was happening to Aerea on a cellular level? Cells from tumors that grew into half dragon 'clones' that ultimately destroyed her?
Interesting theory. I've read something similar a couple of months ago. Another example that was stated was Aegon the Unworthy, who limbs were rotten and full of 'fleshworms' when he died. With these fleshworms being the less agressive variant of Aerea's parasites. Might be cool to explore this theory further in the future.
I wonder if she were not “infected” by some sort of Targaryen dna bank which is some reference to the ultimate failure of slave-culture & war. There is no going home again. ❤
It's more likely a microscopic parasite that grows bigger when inside the body. If it was radiation or big magma worms there would atleast be some survivors. It's possible that the smoking sea itself is the perfect climate for such organisms
I think the volcanos would be a comfortable environment for a dragon, but potentially the environment inside of a volcano would protect the dragon from parasites
@jeffreysamson5938 nah, the parasites should be able to survive in a dragon as the parasites need heat when they burst from the princess they died immediately because it was too cold.
The art work was the best I've seen. I always like the Lovecraft like magical fallout that surrounds old Valyria, and Ashai. I had never thought about the affected water being where the parasites were.
This is a very good way to understanding valyria. Its logical with the use of real world content . U gave life to the year aerea stayed in valyria . This and the part 1 are great informtaive videos. Kindly keep this format. Ive seen many AWOIAF youtubers and no one has made examples like u did. Keep up the great work mate. Totally irrelevant but i wrote a fanfic in wattpad called house targeryan and the firgotten families. Guess my younger self wanted a fictional story of my own . Sadly couldnt finish it. Hoping i will one day.
Thank you very much! I'll do my best to keep the format this way, although I will off course also post other video's haha. Series like these are really cool to make but they also take a lot more time. I just googled Wattpad, never heard of it. But your story sounds cool. Let me know when you finish, I would love to read it!
Everything youve mentioned about radiation makes sense, but id like to point out one thing- radiation corrupts and mutates DNA, which would be passed on to the decedents of those exposed to it. So the mutations of Mantrys could be the result of the passing down of the mutates genetics and not radiation. Id also like to point to locations like Chernobyl for animals surviving radiation, and thriving in those areas. Beyond those two very nit-picky points, your theories are really interesting and i enjoy your videos very much.
Could be some kind of magical radiation. The blood and fire mages damping the volcanoes for 5k years would definitely soak them in some kind of magical energies
Thank you very much! From what I could find, and i'll go deeper into this in part 3, the mutated genes as a result of radiation are only passed on for 1/2 generations. Then our DNA 'repairs' itself. So I think your theory makes sense, but that would only count for the last 30-50 years (medieval people got children earlier than we do). As to the animals, I do believe they did not withstand the radiation because it was magical. And I see similarities with Asshai, which I will speak about in a future video series, where animals do not survive long, even now.
@@theboarandthelion awesome! Like i said, they were two very small things that i kept thinking about each time radiation was brought up. Looking forward to the next part!
@@PandorasFollyMore likely some kind of magic virus/parasite with a 100 percent infection rate. Radiation would leave at least some survivors of the 30 000 strong army.
I like that the mystery of the doom is kind of like how some Scandinavians told the mysteries of hurricanes, volcanoes, eclipses, and other natural phenomena as things the gods they believed in did! We may know what happened, but they stories are so much better!
I think everyone on the peninsula was killed on the first day of the Doom without any survivors. The only families that survived (Targaryens, Celtigars, Velaryons, etc) survived by not being there in the first place. I think the 14 Fires were actually one giant caldera (think Yellowstone) and everyone else living on Planetos are lucky they didn't go down too. If the eruption (and certainly earthquakes that would accompany it) was strong enough to literally sink half of a subcontinent into the sea how would human beings living at the epicenter survive let alone live for any period of time in the fiery wasteland that is now geologically unstable and possible also at that point infested with demons? No one survived the Doom. You'd have better chances surviving the destruction of the Red Keep.
I’m loving this series, great work. I’ve always loved the idea of exploring ancient ruins, even more so discovering such places, seeing all the relics, and uncovering the mysteries of what happened. When i first watched GoT and began reading Fire and Blood, the ruins of old Valyria fascinated me and I desperately wanted to know more about what was there and know what secrets the place held. However, with the details in Fire & Blood, the lore you included, and the real life & theoretical examples in the videos, I think I’d take a pass on exploring old Valyria if the opportunity presented itself…at least for several centuries after the Doom. Looking forward to part three.
I feel like people from Essos kept Valeria from being inhabited. They probably feared being subjugated by another empire. You have to remember that that everyone accept valerians. Was used for mining and black magic.
You did a great job outlining how they might survive. I’d like to point out that they both alongside whatever attacked Balerion could also be feeding off of any beached marine mammals or even hunt them when they are near the surface, maybe even a leviathan or two. Even just a bite of marine mammal flesh would be highly calorically dense. Secondly, all the death and decay of Valyria would be great for fungi, which are also pretty radiation resistant due to their “skins” being made of chiton, which is also what insect exoskeletons are made of.
I have a theory about the coasts of the Valyrian Peninsula that I will share in part 3. But basically I don't think that's a possibility haha. And I will look into the fungi! Seems that I completely missed that possibility.
Aerea could have survived the radiation bec she was bonded to a dragon. Weren’t weak / sickly Targaryen children bonded to dragons to increase their immunity / health.
@@MagnusMage aurion went into the blazing doom he would have died the same way his men did through Carbon monoxide poisoning while he should be immune against the radiation to a certain extent (definitly not the hight of the doom) he still needs to breathe
The parasites could have been similar to bugs that lay their larva in the body/corpse of a creature. The things in the princesses body could have been in their newborn stage after being “”””born”””” from their host.
I think we have a hint as to what fate befell Aerea by looking at Sothoryos. The colony Gorgossa still operated after the doom until plague wiped them out. They looked like they were burning alive too.
@@theboarandthelion I think so. It described the victims skin ripping like parchment, which is a classic presentation of direct burn wounds. My theory is that is what it looks like when these worms infest someone without Dragonlord blood.
Just subscribed today. I hope to see more content like this series, but also spread to other parts of the world like a series on the geography and/or biology of the world of ice and fire. I'd also like to see content like anthropological studies of the different societies of the world of ice and fire too. Just some suggestions for possible future content!
I think that any Targaryen that comes in proximity of Valyria would be effected the same way. The 'out of control' magic that still resides there makes their dragon blood mutate ever more.
i aint gonna lie, i had to comment the second i heard you mentioning that animals cant handle radiation without dying, that does happen, but animals are far more sturdy than you give them credit for, deer, bears, moose and many other creatures survived the chernobyl explosion and are still living okay lives, with signs of their offspring being more resistant to radiation damage due to longterm, but relatively low exposure. i doubt its any different in asoiaf's world since the fundamentals of animal behavior, genetics, and habits are the same in both worlds, i wouldnt be surprised if the princess and balerion managed to find a massive, untended herd of sheep due to the people there supplying food for the 40 ruling families and their dragons, i think thats what happened, atleast until balerion ate the last sheep since dragons seem to love them in particular. aand eventually, they had to go look for other sources of food, most likely other animals that were in other areas affected by the same parasites that eventually got the princess, purely because i doubt she would have survived a year if she was infected day 1, she mightve just been infected by them mere weeks before balerion left valyria, an act of desperation due to her already malnourished state, something parasites thrive off of due to the lack of nutrients for white blood cells/other natural protective features that the valyrians are said to have against diseases and other afflictions.
I agree with you that in our world animals are more resistant to radiation than humans. But in the asoiaf world, it seems to be the other way around. Or at least that seems to be the case for this magical radiation. Biggest example is Asshai, where animals quickly die but humans can survive.
@@theboarandthelion humans can survive radiation just as well as any mammal, it’s just we care more about the effects. People would die young from cancer, there would be many birth defects, but as species we’d go on. It wouldn’t be pretty on a human scale, but you could still see humans (maybe not a society).
@@theboarandthelion asshai is said to be an exceptionally barren land as well, the only plants that grow around it is the ghost grasses, so there wouldnt be much to be eat for animals to begin with, unlike isolated pockets of animals like my comment suggests.
@@theboarandthelion I have no doubt there are things that will suck one’s soul, leaving less while there and that is too much for animals. But that is different from ionization radiation from nuclear or magical effects. If it’s high enough to kill animals, a human is dead even if they’re still moving.
It seems that both poles of Planetos are places where magic/gods enters the world. The time without dragons before Got seemed to me like the world healing from the unatural influence of Gods/magic. People were also more free to follow their own destiny rather then being playthings of Rhlor/other
@@theboarandthelion Like in the real world, The south of Sothoryos combined with the Land of always winter. The south of Sothoryos should be similar to the south and islands of Argentina in the real world.
I always like thinking about that story of the princes and if balerion took her to valyeria as thought and think about the things she saw...I imagine balerion landing in a more mountainous region of the peninsula where the smoke cleared and the princess could see the ruins more clearly! Curiosity overtook her as she climbed down, this would be the land of her people, a realm thought lost forever, no one living having ever stepped foot there until now... Due to how starved she was? It is clear the area she was in didn't have a lot of food...I imagine balerion taking off while she was on the ground and would return with food it got for itself which she was able to scavenge off...sometimes getting to cook it or it already being burned by dragon fite... When balerion was away? I think of her taking that opportunity to explore the ruins, trying to uncover it's mysteries....but then finding the dangers that lurked within... I hear the valyerions dabbled in the creation of chimeras, mixing and breeding beasts together to create abominations....abominations that broke loose and infested the ruins during and after valyerias fall! During one such adventure, I think of this one particular monster stalking the princess as she explore...while she was busy finding artifacts to bring home? It saw an opportunity to pounce and attacked! Due to her being smaller and nimble, she was able to dodge and duck her way through the ruins to escape the beast...but I imagine it reaching out with a stinger that maybe jabbed her in the back, shoulder or leg as it stretched through an opening to get her! In her panic she ran back to the only place she knew to be safe, balerion...as she made her way back, ignoring the pain that was throbbing seemingly under her skin, she made it to the old dragon, however the commotion stirred up the hive and many creatures swarmed out to claim a meal! Balerion set fire to many but the horde was too much even for him, swarming over and managing to wound him! In his panic to get free and survive, he took flight, the princess barely managing to climb on in time as he took off, returning to where he knew he would be safe...westeros... Along that flight, the wound the princess had sustained turned out to be a death sentence, leaving eggs of the monster she escaped from implanted under her skin...and the rest, as we say, is history
@@theboarandthelion if you think that's good? You should hear my theory about the blood of the dragon curse that probably plagued valyrions like the targaryens and other such dragon riders
@theboarandthelion oh no! You have opened the flood gates. Basically: the theory proposes that the targaryens (and all who have the blood of the dragon) were infected by a dragon based disease that has been ravaging their bloodlines ever since. In the lore, it is said that valeryans used blood magic to tame dragons. As we see with daemon and rahnyras traditional valyrian wedding? They cut themselves and intertwined their blood. Suggesting a similar practice would be involved with the blood magic ritual that tamed the dragons obviously. However, wr see that proceeding dragon riders connected to that bloodline do NOT have to keep doing such a blood magic ritual in order to keepntaming the dragons....almost as if something connected to their blood transfered from their parents makes it unnecessary. From what we have seen? The targaryen bloodline and ALL who share their bloodline have had a LONG history of birth defects, insanity, miscarriages and other such deformities. Rhaenyras child was born with scales and dragon like deformities. It is said that day's child was born with bat wings and scales. Rhaenyras mother kept having stillborns until she died. Daemons first wife to that daughter of house valerion died from birth complications as well. There are all the targaryens who were insane, you had a blackfyre born with 2 heads. The baratheons? A bastard bloodline of the targaryens? All of stannis'sons were stillborn and deformed. His daughter? Spontaneously developed grayscale at a young age (they say they THINK she got it from an infected doll stannis gave her, but that doesn't make sense for a number of reasons: why didn't HE get infected if the virus can be yransfered THROUGH infected objects?) The list goes on and on for as far back as you follow the bloodline...my theory is if you applied those kinds of statistics to an entire empire? That is virtually everyone giving birth to deformities and insane people across the empire by the droves...this could have caused an even larger panic and lead to further chaos that dwindled the numbers of any valyrion survivors after the doom. We also see that those NOT lifted with dragons blood do not have such deformities and stillborn liklihoods that the targaryens have. House valyrian is one, and there is another that is called caltagar or Castagar (their sigil is a bunch of crabs) but I don't believe they report any such deformities in their bloodlines either. We have the baratheons, the blackfyres and the targaryens who all share the same bloodline... NO one else has their level of birth related issues and deformities that they have
So I have a theory on why Balerion allowed the young girl to ride him. So thanks to HOTD. some background information tells us that his FIRST rider was Deanys the dreamer! The young girl who foresaw the doom of Valeria which lead to the family leaving the land. She would have been the one riding the young Balerion away from Valeria. So skip forward another 150ish years and he sees this little girl who looks probably like Daenys. The rider he was hatched with. He lets her be his next rider and what does he do? He flies to Valeria. Something the dragon hasn't done since they left... because he thought he was taking them home after all those years
I like your theory. But since this information comes from House of the Dragon, it's not canon. Until George confirms it. Which is unlikely because House of the Dragon has been quite liberal with their 'lore' . It's more likely that he flew there because he had a weak rider for the first time in his life.
@@theboarandthelion also completely possible. but I also don’t put it past George to have done something like this. The idea that they already call Drogon the reincarnation of Balerion. And that Daenys and Daenerys “already sharing Similar names” would both fly there beasts across the narrow sea to dawn a new age. It’s just absolutely dripping with symbolism. And if there’s anything we know about George is that some of his favorite stories are the ones he doesn’t tell us. It’s the ones we have to find.
You're right. And I'm not saying that this isn't a cool theory because it is haha. I'm just saying that the 'lore' used in House of the Dragon doesn't exist in the books 9/10 times. Daemon being a dreamer, A dragon staying in the Vale, House Darklyn having Valyrian blood... It's all (badly) made up by the showrunners.
Congratulations on the (more than!) 5k subs, very very well deserved! 🥳 Its so sweet that Balerion went straight for home when not controlled by a raider (or only partially sin Aerea was very much green as rider). Like a giant, deadly, homing pigeon 😅 Anyhow! Every time I read about the oily black stone, the thought that it might be radioactive in some way, I just cant shake it. What do you reckon the black stone is and do you agree with my strange hunch? :) (No children in Asshai for example, irl children tend to be a lot more sensitive to radiation. As we saw in the show Chernobyl, a fetus absorbed the radiation the mother received)
Thank you very much! To be honest, I hadn't thought to already have this many subscribers in 2024 haha. But I'm very grateful for all the support. I'm not sure about the black stone yet. I would have to do more research before I can say something sensible about it. It could be radiation because the entire city of asshai is made out of them. But then again, the black stone can also be found on the Isle of Toads, in the base of the Hightower (May be different material), on Old Wyk, in the Five Forts (May be different material) and in Yeen on Sothoryos. So my instincts say that the black stone is something different. But I am convinced that Asshai suffered a similar fate to Valyria long, long ago. Which will be the subject of my next indepth video series.
Amazing video, well worth the wait. These are the videos of people who dare to explore the unknown. To answer your question of survival without a lot of food/water I think the answer might be simple but controversial. The Worms, once the worms take over the host, the body will be dead but still moving. A walking dead like the parasite once they make wasp/bees into literal zombies.
Well, many animals not only survived Chernobyl but were thriving due to radiation mutations. Perhaps the case is the same with the animals on Valyria? As for the parasites, I think Balerion and Area were attacked by an infected creature. I thin Balerion won the fight against either a firewyrm or another dragon but he and Area were infected by a parasite meant to infect dragons. Hence why Area died brutally but Balerion lived up until he was claimed by Viserys.
I think the magical fallout from the Doom is somewhat different than the magical fallout that covers Ashai. We do know that Freehold did use magic to contain and manage the 14 flames while slaves mined the depths. Ashai on the other hand feels more like several magic dirty bombs went off in the region.
If Balerion flew to Valyria without any input from Aerea, it stands to reason that he would have flown to an active volcano, since we've established that dragons naturally nest there; unclaimed dragons settle within vents in Dragonstone, and the Valyrians first encountered dragons residing within the 14 flames. Valyria's volcanos are special, however. When Balerion, with Aerea in tow, settled on a Volcano, it's possible that in their vicinity wildlife of some kind was allowed to survive in whatever part of Valyria they were living in; there had to have been a way to feed a massive carnivorous dragon like Balerion for a year. If this is the case, other predators, such as Volcano-dwelling Firewyrms, may have been in the same area. The year they survived could have been wholly thanks to Balerion caring for Aerea, providing her cooked meat and protection from any threat. However, one day, while either exploring the caverns of the volcano or simply resting near it, a massive firewyrm, possibly as large as Balerion, attacked them. It would explain the massive wounds Balerion was seen with, and it could easily explain Aerea's disease. We know nothing about the absolute minimum and maximum sizes of firewyrms, nor what small ones are capable of doing to people. We do not know what the full consequence of being near them are. Slaves were found burned to a crisp because of firewyrms, but many could have died in the same manner as Aerea. Slaves within the mines would be found as charred corpses, which is all that Aerea was reduced to at the end of her life. Using personal anecdotes of ex-slaves from thousands of years before Aerea's death as a reference point is not the same thing as comprehensive data on the ways of Firewyrms. Firewyrms are a species spoken about, but they have not been extensively studied, nor held in captivity anywhere. They also only existed in a place no adventurer now returns alive from, sans Balerion. Balerion may very well have killed the beast that attacked them, and this exposure to a single or group of Firewyrms somehow lead to Aerea having many small ones bury themselves inside of her, slowly cooking and eating her from within.
The Doom is a pretty accurate depiction of what happened with the massive phreatomagmatic caldera eruptions of the Minoan eruption of Santorini that occurred around 1600 BC, or the more current 2023 eruption of Hunga Tonga, only on a much bigger scale. The cataclysm of the Doom itself with 14 volcanoes blowing apart all at once (which could be considered 14 vents of one massive supervolcano complex) would have created MASSIVE pyroclastic flows for up to 100 miles in all directions - superheated walls of ash, rock, lava and gasses moving up to 200mph or more - which almost certainly would have killed any living thing in sight all by itself, not counting the massive earthquakes and collapsing peninsula. It's highly unlikely anything animal or man survived in the nearby area, as far out as Mantarys and nearby settlements and cities - anything "lucky" enough to survive the initial eruptions, earthquakes and noxious gasses would've been finished off by the collapse and sinking of the peninsula / caldera complex and subsequent 1000+ ft tsunamis generated by it. And none of this counts the magical element of the Doom itself, the modern-day effects of which (malformed births, mutations, etc) can't be explained by any kind of scientific analysis
There are indeed parallels between the Doom of Valyria and massive eruptions on our own planet. But the Doom of Valyria as it happened in the Known World, would not have been possible because of only volcanic/seismic activity
21:57 I believe they're Dragon parasites... Due to Balerion coming back with a massive hole in him, and from that point, he was pretty much ill and was "too old" to be rode. (He likely didn't die of old age, to say the least...) It's likely he was attacked by a larger animal, which either planted its eggs or the open wound got infected.
Balerion could have clashed with a Fire Wurm infected with the parasites. Maybe someone is living on the peninsula and infected the girl with the parasite.
It was verily precarious when Aerea flew Belarion to various scary areas of Valyria with nary a care of being a nefarious carrier for variant virulent vermin
Well done and well speculated! I would like to briefly posit that the parasites infecting Aerea were actually Fire Wyrm parasites. I would suggest Dragon parasites but such things would almost certainly be mentioned in the books by someone. But what makes your hypothesis more likely is Balerion was never infected by these things. My only... 'critique' is that I would greatly appreciate if you could put the name of the artist or generation program (some of the generic images look AI generated) used on the image in the video, in an upper or lower corner. I am delighted to see that you did the bare minimum of crediting the artists in the description, but it would be so much better to see *who* made *what* Great video, glad the algorithm threw it my way!
Thank you very much! As to the crediting of art: I could match the artist with the art in the description of the video, to make clear who made what. But to edit their names in for each piece of art is too much work. And sometimes it distracts from the art itself. As to the AI art: Everything is made with Adobe Firefly
We don't know that Aerea spent a year living in Valyria, we only know that it is likely she visited Valyria at some point during that year (though it's also possible that the worms were from Sothoryos)
If she would have been somewhere else, Balerion (The biggest dragon in the world) would have been spotted. So it's quite likely she spent the full year in Valyria
I believe they were taken, Targaryen were one of the weakest of the Dragon Lords of Valyria, they were taken by some surviving Dragon Lord, with a bigger Dragon than Balerion, she was experimented on to breed some kind of human/dragon hibryd.
Interesting theory. Are you thinking the Dragon Lord in Valyria was genetically damaged by the Doom somehow (ex. Radiation) and saw an opportunity with someone who had dragon rider blood without that damage?
I've read that theory as well. But somehow I don't believe he simply would have been able to claw them out. And there is the fact that Balerion had wounds from 2 different occasions. The first set was already half healed, the second was brand new. Especially the last wound almost had to be some kind of monster seeing the size of the wound.
Inre the radiation: It is my understanding that unless emitting from radioactive stone the kinds of radiation that cause such levels of mutation are subject to the winds. As the city is inland of the peninsula and coastal areas tend to have winds from the sea more often than not this may explain the continuing concentration of radiation affecting Montarys. It might also be why the levels of dangerous radiation could be lower in the more southern areas of the Valyria. As for food and water, in the south there would most likely be edible fish and volcanic ash is known for being excellent for growing several species of plants once cooked down.
I suspect that for a source of food. The parasites discussed might also be able to consume radiation. There are fungi in Chernobyl now that can survive on radiation. You might then have a food chain of fungi or small organisms that survive off of radiation and geothermal heat, that then progresses through a variety of smaller wyrms, up to dragons.
What if a wyvern attacked him because they're stated to be more aggressive than dragons despite being smaller) assuming he didn't stay in Valyria the whole year and visited Sothoryos
I'm not sure about the radiation part... In the previous video you talked about it but i'm not convinced... Wouldn't it be more likely that the Montarians were born deformed because the valyrians experimented with them as they did in gorgossos and that made them more likely genetically to give birth to deformed sons and daughters? That would also explain why they would hate valyrians so much (the epissode with Danerys) even hundreds of years after their dissapereance... I don't know, it seems much more plausible to me... Apart from that, great video!! I'm really enjoying these!
I would question whether really no animals resettled the zone, due to radiation. There is thriving wildlife all around Tschernobyl and it is also known that humans survived there (look for the documentary on the Babuschkas of Tschernobyl, if you are interessted). Therefore I am fairly sure that there was more food around, then you guess. I also believe that Aeryas thinness and state was due to the parasite, not due to starvation. I think she only once went wrong, ate or drank the wrong thing and got infected. As for Balerion's wounds - we do not know whether there were other dragons who survived the doom, but did not leave the ruins, some might even guard the places where their riders died during the doom. We know the fourty families are dead (though I wonder about bastards, the Valyrians weren't exactly known for the chastity, and there might have been bastards of the dragonlords all over the country), but even if there were no human survivors, dragons might have survived, or dragoneggs hatched since the doom, and Balerion may have run afoul of some territorial Valyrian dragon, who did not like an intruder. Or Balerion defended Aerya from danger and got wounded.
Yes, But if humans didn't survive in Valyria, which I think is the case, animals most likely wouldn't have survived either. As to the resettling, as stated in the video, it would be impossible for the southern islands because of the Smoking Sea.
Question if I may? It is said Targaryens are immune, or at least, very resistant to fire, yet in House of the Dragon, Aegon and Princess Rhaenys are both burnt by fire. Is it an error on the writers' part?
The full immunity to fire that we saw with Daenerys was indeed a one time thing, because of the blood magic that was involved (According to George). Some of them are more resistant to heat though.
Targaryens are more resistant to fire, but they can be burned. Dany killed the witch who "killed" Drogo and was (in my opinion) willing to die herself. That made it blood magic which has its own wild rules.
Personally, I don't think the Valyrians gave themselves dragon blood. I think the Asshai'i (aka the Great Empire of the Dawn) did it to them. The Great Empire created dragons, and then created dragon-people. The Long Night scattered them, but it was only a matter of time before they found each other again. That's my theory.
I think it’s possible Valyria was the last place they ended up, I haven’t been able to buy fire and blood yet so somebody can let me know if there’s context I’m missing, but Area and Balerion leave and then come back after a year, I’m not sure that means they spent an entire year on the peninsula. Balerion could’ve stopped at multiple places in Essos before arriving in Valyria and being forced to go back to Westeros because of whatever happened to them there. So maybe they spent something like 10 months in essos and only arrived in Valyria proper something like a month before being forced to leave.
The main reason for them having spent the entire year on the peninsula is that no-one saw Balerion for over a year. A dragon that big is difficult to hide.
@@theboarandthelion just for clarification, is that also including everyone in essos? If fire in blood is an in universe book then in my mind it would be fair if the citadel and Westeros as a whole didn’t get word of Balerion, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that Balerion didn’t spend time traveling the great grass sea or the deserts around Qarth, the entire part of essos that surrounds Valyria is pretty sparsely populated. Again I haven’t read the book so there genuinely might be context that I haven’t read (like the book might clearly say he wasn’t seen by anyone in essos either) but the idea that they didn’t spend the whole time in Valyria doesn’t seem like a stretch to me. And to be clear I think your videos are great and everything you theorize on in the video I think is brilliant, so I don’t wanna be that guy lol.
Thank you! And i'm always open to discussion/critique, don't worry haha. At the time of their dissapearance, Jaehaerys master of coin was Rego Draz. Rego Draz was the richest man in Pentos before he became master of coin, and he was knows to have a extensive network of informants in Essos. Because there is no knows master of whisperers during Jaehaerys' reign, it may even be that Rego Draz did both the jobs. But because of his network of informants, It's very likely that if Balerion would have been seen in Essos, the small council would have known.
It’s been a bit since I’ve read that part of the book so I may be misremembering details, but I believe the connections/information network in Essos only resulted in a few leads/rumors. Each one was investigated and found to not be a real sighting/evidence of Balerion. Don’t remember if anything was offered to rule out Sothos (or however it’s spelled) as a place they may have been for a while.
How did they get ice for an ice bath? The north is truly far away from dragonstone (like from NYC to Haiti) and i don't see a freezer being the answer 🤔🤔🤔 Also, could the radiation have mutades fire wyrms in such a way that they became amaller in size. I see it being possible if we're theorizing :) Juat my 2 cents
The ice question is a good one. According to someone else who commented, medieval civilizations kept underground cool chambers to store their ice in between winters. And you're theory sounds plausible! But for some reason I believe that firewyrms, just as dragons and dragonlords, would have been immune to radiation.
i think that creatures in the princess needed heat and when she left the heat of valeria the creatures tryed to produce heat. So she could with stand heat better than normal humans and the dragon too, so maybe she could get food and water from the boiling sea, The worms with faces could be a cross contaminatons, a parasite from a bigger creature that lifes in a heated enviroment like the boiling sea and when shee leaved the hot area the worms eat her up to generate heat and grow to big and cooked er at the same time
To your point about the parasites, they could either be alive in the stone men that are famously present there OR all they would need is a source of stagnant water like a small pool that she could've unknowingly bathed in or drank from much like brain eating parasites in real life. So yea, she very much could have contracted them any number of places there. Also, maybe Balerion was snacking on fire wyrms seeing how he wouldn't have any problem going into caverns and digging them out himself. Maybe even brought her back some to eat...
Thank you guys very much for your patience! And my apologies for the delay.
Because I anticipate a similar situation with part 3 I want to communicate the following:
Contrary to what I say in the video, Part 3 will be uploaded on friday the 30th of August.
This gives me enough time to make a video worth watching and it saves me a lot of stress.
Enjoy watching! Let me know what you think about part 2!
And don't forget to vote on the poll!
they weren't properly bonded. all she wanted was to go home to kings landing. i think the old dragon, didn't understand....and took her to HIS home.
Well thanks to HOTD and some background info we’ve learned that Daenys the dreamer was his original rider when they left Valyria. So it’s quite possible that the young princess reminded him Daenys. So balerion an ever willfull dragon. Surprisingly allows this young girl to mount him. Aerea tells Balerion she wants to go home. So Balerion takes what he sees as Daenys home… theyre original home
Makes sense if you think about it. Aerea probably spent a year learning what High Valyrian she could, and tried to use Balerion the Black Dread as her hitchhike/ Uber, but communication got messed up and she ended up in Valyria. Unlucky af.
Imagine Balerion fighting Aurion's massive dragon, with its dead rider still attached to its back... Metal as fuck.
Sounds like a boss from a Dark Souls game. I approve.
why would they fight? without a human ordering them to, you dont see dragons fighting.
@@tooslow4065Cannibal?
@@picklelow2867 thats the only reference we have of a dragon eating another. and no mention of cannibal fighting ANYTHING. so not evidence at all.
It might not say that Cannibal fights another dragon, but I’m fairly sure that when he tries to eat one, they’ll fight back… 🤔
These are the mysteries in Martin's work that I really enjoy.
22:30 talking about parasites, it's somewhat common for them to end up living in a different host than optimal, often leading to death, while on their optimal host they wouldn't have such a drastic impact, they might be dragon/wyrm parasites that accidentally ended up in a human
I did not know that! But that's an interesting theory
Oooo I like that! It pairs especially well with the theory that Balerion had worms and slowly died from them, just like his last rider King Viserys slowly died from his injuries.
Wow. George is really missing out on writing a novella from Aerea's perspective. It could be just like Aerea's story is told in this video. We get to see some parts of Old Valyria and its dangers but the real mysteries are still left unresolved like what could have hurt Balerion or what really caused the Doom.
I love the doom's real cause staying mysterious! Your 100% right on George missing out on a novella from her pov! That is one that would sell like crazy!
Doom can be caused by dragons, man created dragons they didn't exist before. Then there were some super powerful magicians before the blood dragon magic it's just dragons made stuff easier and then we got gatekeeping maesters. It's either they try to squash magic or magicians want to make come back. And targaryens are comparatively bottom of barrel to rest of dragon riders that is until it was only them left. Also per dragons and doom learn of euron from books, he was creepier found a dragon horn and learned of old Valeria things.
The dude won't even finish the main story
Despite the obvious dangers, Valyria is the most intriguing location on the map. Partly because it's forbidden, partly because fantastic treasures are known to be there. It would be irresistible to me if traveling through Essos, along the Demon Road. Some long lost instrument of power like a Dragonhorn or a glass candle would be my hope. The risk of a horrible death would be set against the regret of never having gone to find out for myself.
I'd go, overland, as quiet and careful as I could. And if I never came back, at least everyone would know I'd taken that journey happily.
Asshai is equally as intriguing. Seems like there would be hidden dark treasure and magical artifacts. I wish some talented authors would dive into this world like authors did with Star Wars. I think a Planetos Expanded Universe is long overdue.
If if was up to me Valyria and Asshai would be the two places we would explore more in future books/series
There could be microscopic parasites/viruses that were a result of magic. That's probably why no one returned even when there were armies.
Great video valyria is biggest mystery in whole series
Thank you!
@@theboarandthelion thank you xour videos are what i watch on my lunch break at work ive always wanted to know more about valyria mainly what happened to the lannister and brightroar among many other mysteries i cant wait for part 3
This mystery is probably my favourite in all of asoiaf. I love the idea of seeing doomed Valyria someday. Great video 👍 underrated channel
Thank you very much for your kind words!
I really enjoy these speculative videos. This series has reminded me of why I love ASOIAF so much. The magic of the world comes from all of its unknown corners. Great job, looking forward to part 3!
Thank you very much for your kind words!
Well Martin books were more love craft inspired, not what we got on tv, that was part of it
We don’t really know that they spent a whole year in one place either. They could have just visited briefly. We’re assuming that they went there and stayed there.
Well we kind of do. Because Balerion was not seen for more than a year, there is only one place they could have been. A dragon as big as The Black Dread is difficult to hide.
@@theboarandthelion It's possible they may have been in Sothoryos too.
From Eustace Hightower's account on his time in Sothoryos: "Drinking salt water will make a man mad, every sailor knows that, but the freshwater is no safer in this place. There are worms in it, almost too small to see, if you swallowed them they laid their eggs inside you."
Sothoryos would also be a place that's far enough away from everyone else that they wouldn't be seen
@@Alter-Ego1995 i agree with this. there is no proof that they stayed in the ruins. there is just no evidence of them being seen anywhere where people were.
@@Alter-Ego1995 And Balerion's wounds (lets assume it was from either another dragon or a firewyrm) have been sustained when he wandered off to hunt and stumbled upon a potential.. rival predator?
@@Alter-Ego1995true, and on a continent where you have apes large and strong enough to kill an elephant in one punch, you could have something that can wound Balerion.
This story makes me think that the worms are a parasite who's host is a dragon or fire wyrm. And humans are just a accidental host. Many parasites like this exist in real life, where primary host are animals or insects but humans can get infected too, mainly by eating the eggs. Generally parasites don't kill their host for years, because they'd die without it. Another thing about this story is that Balarion had a huge scar, and there aren't many creatures that could hurt the biggest dragon. So my theory is that they encountered some massive creature (dragon, wyverns, fire wyrm) and balarion fought it and won. Aerea later ate its flesh and contracted the parasite.
That's a good theory! Might be worth revisiting in the future
I like the format, with a bunch of book and real world info at the beginning followed by a short, hypothetical story.
I'm glad you liked it!
I think the fact that Eurion’s crew possibly being undead might play a huge part in the success of his expedition.
He is also champion of the Storm God. So when a parasite/virus tries to enter him, water protects him. With the Gods gaining strength again this seems the case. And Euron certanily had some kind of contact with the Storm God.
@@Klongu_Da_Bongu oh yeah that’s right! It’s been a while and I forgot there was another deity in the Drowned God mythos.
For all we know Eurion is trending less than human like Melisandre.
@@ChaseHendersonWV Yes, he's hiding some sort of mutation, it's confirmed in the released chapter from Winds of Winter.
@@Klongu_Da_Bongu isn’t kind of interesting that the gods have put these immortal pawns on the board with real power that still come off as charlatans.
Absolutely brilliant! Just as good if not better than the first one. I hope you continue making this amazing content
Thank you very much for your kind words!
Your assessment of the time that Aeria spent in Valyria was exceptionally well thought out and highly believable. Thanks for the video and your insights into the subject.
Thank you very much for your kind words!
What with the 'human' faces of the parasitic worms, I wonder if it was less an infestation and instead a magical form of cancer due to the radiation? Given the occasional draconic malformed stillbirths that Targaryens suffer, I had wondered if something similar was happening to Aerea on a cellular level? Cells from tumors that grew into half dragon 'clones' that ultimately destroyed her?
Interesting theory. I've read something similar a couple of months ago. Another example that was stated was Aegon the Unworthy, who limbs were rotten and full of 'fleshworms' when he died. With these fleshworms being the less agressive variant of Aerea's parasites. Might be cool to explore this theory further in the future.
I wonder if she were not “infected” by some sort of Targaryen dna bank which is some reference to the ultimate failure of slave-culture & war.
There is no going home again. ❤
It's more likely a microscopic parasite that grows bigger when inside the body. If it was radiation or big magma worms there would atleast be some survivors. It's possible that the smoking sea itself is the perfect climate for such organisms
I think the volcanos would be a comfortable environment for a dragon, but potentially the environment inside of a volcano would protect the dragon from parasites
I doubt the parasites can thrive on a dragon.
@jeffreysamson5938 nah, the parasites should be able to survive in a dragon as the parasites need heat when they burst from the princess they died immediately because it was too cold.
@@darkskinsamurai9012 heat, yes. But the gases? We’ll never know.
The art work was the best I've seen. I always like the Lovecraft like magical fallout that surrounds old Valyria, and Ashai. I had never thought about the affected water being where the parasites were.
I'm glad you liked it!
This is a very good way to understanding valyria. Its logical with the use of real world content . U gave life to the year aerea stayed in valyria . This and the part 1 are great informtaive videos. Kindly keep this format. Ive seen many AWOIAF youtubers and no one has made examples like u did. Keep up the great work mate.
Totally irrelevant but i wrote a fanfic in wattpad called house targeryan and the firgotten families. Guess my younger self wanted a fictional story of my own . Sadly couldnt finish it. Hoping i will one day.
Thank you very much! I'll do my best to keep the format this way, although I will off course also post other video's haha. Series like these are really cool to make but they also take a lot more time.
I just googled Wattpad, never heard of it. But your story sounds cool. Let me know when you finish, I would love to read it!
Everything youve mentioned about radiation makes sense, but id like to point out one thing- radiation corrupts and mutates DNA, which would be passed on to the decedents of those exposed to it. So the mutations of Mantrys could be the result of the passing down of the mutates genetics and not radiation.
Id also like to point to locations like Chernobyl for animals surviving radiation, and thriving in those areas.
Beyond those two very nit-picky points, your theories are really interesting and i enjoy your videos very much.
Could be some kind of magical radiation. The blood and fire mages damping the volcanoes for 5k years would definitely soak them in some kind of magical energies
Thank you very much!
From what I could find, and i'll go deeper into this in part 3, the mutated genes as a result of radiation are only passed on for 1/2 generations. Then our DNA 'repairs' itself. So I think your theory makes sense, but that would only count for the last 30-50 years (medieval people got children earlier than we do).
As to the animals, I do believe they did not withstand the radiation because it was magical. And I see similarities with Asshai, which I will speak about in a future video series, where animals do not survive long, even now.
@@theboarandthelion awesome! Like i said, they were two very small things that i kept thinking about each time radiation was brought up. Looking forward to the next part!
@@PandorasFollyMore likely some kind of magic virus/parasite with a 100 percent infection rate. Radiation would leave at least some survivors of the 30 000 strong army.
I like that the mystery of the doom is kind of like how some Scandinavians told the mysteries of hurricanes, volcanoes, eclipses, and other natural phenomena as things the gods they believed in did! We may know what happened, but they stories are so much better!
Dope video man. Very well done. Looking forward to the next one!
Thank you very much!
I think everyone on the peninsula was killed on the first day of the Doom without any survivors. The only families that survived (Targaryens, Celtigars, Velaryons, etc) survived by not being there in the first place. I think the 14 Fires were actually one giant caldera (think Yellowstone) and everyone else living on Planetos are lucky they didn't go down too. If the eruption (and certainly earthquakes that would accompany it) was strong enough to literally sink half of a subcontinent into the sea how would human beings living at the epicenter survive let alone live for any period of time in the fiery wasteland that is now geologically unstable and possible also at that point infested with demons? No one survived the Doom. You'd have better chances surviving the destruction of the Red Keep.
It's funny how every place that Gods/magic enter the picture, the actual planet/nature suffers.
I’m loving this series, great work. I’ve always loved the idea of exploring ancient ruins, even more so discovering such places, seeing all the relics, and uncovering the mysteries of what happened. When i first watched GoT and began reading Fire and Blood, the ruins of old Valyria fascinated me and I desperately wanted to know more about what was there and know what secrets the place held. However, with the details in Fire & Blood, the lore you included, and the real life & theoretical examples in the videos, I think I’d take a pass on exploring old Valyria if the opportunity presented itself…at least for several centuries after the Doom. Looking forward to part three.
Thank you very much for your kind words! And I'm glad you liked it. The next in depth series will focus on the doom itself and its causes!
I feel like people from Essos kept Valeria from being inhabited. They probably feared being subjugated by another empire. You have to remember that that everyone accept valerians. Was used for mining and black magic.
I'd bet that being with Balerion was a major factor in her living there as long as she did.
You did a great job outlining how they might survive. I’d like to point out that they both alongside whatever attacked Balerion could also be feeding off of any beached marine mammals or even hunt them when they are near the surface, maybe even a leviathan or two. Even just a bite of marine mammal flesh would be highly calorically dense. Secondly, all the death and decay of Valyria would be great for fungi, which are also pretty radiation resistant due to their “skins” being made of chiton, which is also what insect exoskeletons are made of.
I have a theory about the coasts of the Valyrian Peninsula that I will share in part 3. But basically I don't think that's a possibility haha. And I will look into the fungi! Seems that I completely missed that possibility.
When I tell you i have been waiting for this…this is great once again you used logic to make this all feasible. Can’t wait for part 3
Thank you very much! I'm glad you liked it!
Very fine work!
Thank you!
These are great videos! I like that you use real life as well as the books to help us understand the situations!
Thank you very much! I'm glad you liked it
Just discovered your channel and love it! Thanks for the wonderful content
Thank you very much for your kind words!
9.9 almost there, Congrats for when you hit 10,000!!! You just got one more sub, keep up the great work, man!
Thank you very much for the support!
Keep it up brother! Love the content. Hope you keep up the pace and know that what you're doing is awesome!
Thank you very much! I am going back to my old 'pace' though. As in, uploading once every 2 weeks.
Aerea could have survived the radiation bec she was bonded to a dragon.
Weren’t weak / sickly Targaryen children bonded to dragons to increase their immunity / health.
Its a theory but then Aurion should have lived
@@MagnusMage,
Radiation when Aurion went to Valyria might have been higher back then since there was more than 150 years gap when Aerea arrived.
@@MagnusMage aurion went into the blazing doom he would have died the same way his men did through Carbon monoxide poisoning while he should be immune against the radiation to a certain extent (definitly not the hight of the doom) he still needs to breathe
The parasites could have been similar to bugs that lay their larva in the body/corpse of a creature. The things in the princesses body could have been in their newborn stage after being “”””born”””” from their host.
I’m so glad I found your channel!!!! So many videos that caught my attention and I can’t wait to watch. You immediately got my sub 🙂
Thank you very much for your support!
30:58 HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA, This is why I'm subscribing now !!! cheers for all your work, I hope to see more ;)
Haha thank you! I'm glad someone could appreciate the Magikarp
I think we have a hint as to what fate befell Aerea by looking at Sothoryos. The colony Gorgossa still operated after the doom until plague wiped them out. They looked like they were burning alive too.
You mean The Red Death?
@@theboarandthelion I think so. It described the victims skin ripping like parchment, which is a classic presentation of direct burn wounds. My theory is that is what it looks like when these worms infest someone without Dragonlord blood.
I've written this down for the future, thanks haha!
@@theboarandthelion heh nice!
Just subscribed today. I hope to see more content like this series, but also spread to other parts of the world like a series on the geography and/or biology of the world of ice and fire. I'd also like to see content like anthropological studies of the different societies of the world of ice and fire too. Just some suggestions for possible future content!
I've written it down! I really like making series like these, but they do take a while. The next one will discuss the doom and its causes.
@@theboarandthelionI’ll look forward to it!
Great video man! Can’t wait for part 3
Thank you!
Tremendous video man, always wondered about what happened in this chapter
I'm glad you liked it!
I think that any Targaryen that comes in proximity of Valyria would be effected the same way. The 'out of control' magic that still resides there makes their dragon blood mutate ever more.
Cool theory!
I can see Balerion holding his own in the wild but not Aerea, unless there was some sort of civilization or settlement there.
I would love a whole story either book or show on her life and time in old Valyria. I imagine it could be a complete horror show. So fascinating
Been excited for this one
i aint gonna lie, i had to comment the second i heard you mentioning that animals cant handle radiation without dying, that does happen, but animals are far more sturdy than you give them credit for, deer, bears, moose and many other creatures survived the chernobyl explosion and are still living okay lives, with signs of their offspring being more resistant to radiation damage due to longterm, but relatively low exposure.
i doubt its any different in asoiaf's world since the fundamentals of animal behavior, genetics, and habits are the same in both worlds, i wouldnt be surprised if the princess and balerion managed to find a massive, untended herd of sheep due to the people there supplying food for the 40 ruling families and their dragons, i think thats what happened, atleast until balerion ate the last sheep since dragons seem to love them in particular.
aand eventually, they had to go look for other sources of food, most likely other animals that were in other areas affected by the same parasites that eventually got the princess, purely because i doubt she would have survived a year if she was infected day 1, she mightve just been infected by them mere weeks before balerion left valyria, an act of desperation due to her already malnourished state, something parasites thrive off of due to the lack of nutrients for white blood cells/other natural protective features that the valyrians are said to have against diseases and other afflictions.
I agree with you that in our world animals are more resistant to radiation than humans. But in the asoiaf world, it seems to be the other way around. Or at least that seems to be the case for this magical radiation. Biggest example is Asshai, where animals quickly die but humans can survive.
@@theboarandthelion humans can survive radiation just as well as any mammal, it’s just we care more about the effects. People would die young from cancer, there would be many birth defects, but as species we’d go on. It wouldn’t be pretty on a human scale, but you could still see humans (maybe not a society).
@@theboarandthelion asshai is said to be an exceptionally barren land as well, the only plants that grow around it is the ghost grasses, so there wouldnt be much to be eat for animals to begin with, unlike isolated pockets of animals like my comment suggests.
Maybe, But the book literally states that animals brought to Asshai by boat (including food) die very fast. I'm not talking about wild animals here.
@@theboarandthelion I have no doubt there are things that will suck one’s soul, leaving less while there and that is too much for animals. But that is different from ionization radiation from nuclear or magical effects. If it’s high enough to kill animals, a human is dead even if they’re still moving.
Looking forward to your next video mate 👍
I'm glad you enjoyed part 2!
It’s ludicrous that she didn’t pass out completely
Very nice vid my friend. I think this is one of your longer videos. Don't get me wrong I like I like a lot lol
Thank you very much!
What would someone find in the lands of always winter where the white walkers came from?
Good idea for a future series, thanks!
It seems that both poles of Planetos are places where magic/gods enters the world. The time without dragons before Got seemed to me like the world healing from the unatural influence of Gods/magic. People were also more free to follow their own destiny rather then being playthings of Rhlor/other
What would the south pole be in this scenario?
@@theboarandthelion Like in the real world, The south of Sothoryos combined with the Land of always winter. The south of Sothoryos should be similar to the south and islands of Argentina in the real world.
Thank you for explaining this no one talks about old V
I always like thinking about that story of the princes and if balerion took her to valyeria as thought and think about the things she saw...I imagine balerion landing in a more mountainous region of the peninsula where the smoke cleared and the princess could see the ruins more clearly!
Curiosity overtook her as she climbed down, this would be the land of her people, a realm thought lost forever, no one living having ever stepped foot there until now...
Due to how starved she was? It is clear the area she was in didn't have a lot of food...I imagine balerion taking off while she was on the ground and would return with food it got for itself which she was able to scavenge off...sometimes getting to cook it or it already being burned by dragon fite...
When balerion was away? I think of her taking that opportunity to explore the ruins, trying to uncover it's mysteries....but then finding the dangers that lurked within...
I hear the valyerions dabbled in the creation of chimeras, mixing and breeding beasts together to create abominations....abominations that broke loose and infested the ruins during and after valyerias fall!
During one such adventure, I think of this one particular monster stalking the princess as she explore...while she was busy finding artifacts to bring home? It saw an opportunity to pounce and attacked! Due to her being smaller and nimble, she was able to dodge and duck her way through the ruins to escape the beast...but I imagine it reaching out with a stinger that maybe jabbed her in the back, shoulder or leg as it stretched through an opening to get her!
In her panic she ran back to the only place she knew to be safe, balerion...as she made her way back, ignoring the pain that was throbbing seemingly under her skin, she made it to the old dragon, however the commotion stirred up the hive and many creatures swarmed out to claim a meal!
Balerion set fire to many but the horde was too much even for him, swarming over and managing to wound him! In his panic to get free and survive, he took flight, the princess barely managing to climb on in time as he took off, returning to where he knew he would be safe...westeros...
Along that flight, the wound the princess had sustained turned out to be a death sentence, leaving eggs of the monster she escaped from implanted under her skin...and the rest, as we say, is history
Your version of events is very cool haha. I'll try to take inspiration from it for future video's if I may.
@@theboarandthelion you do you boo! 😉
@@theboarandthelion if you think that's good? You should hear my theory about the blood of the dragon curse that probably plagued valyrions like the targaryens and other such dragon riders
Please tell me haha
@theboarandthelion oh no! You have opened the flood gates.
Basically: the theory proposes that the targaryens (and all who have the blood of the dragon) were infected by a dragon based disease that has been ravaging their bloodlines ever since.
In the lore, it is said that valeryans used blood magic to tame dragons.
As we see with daemon and rahnyras traditional valyrian wedding? They cut themselves and intertwined their blood. Suggesting a similar practice would be involved with the blood magic ritual that tamed the dragons obviously.
However, wr see that proceeding dragon riders connected to that bloodline do NOT have to keep doing such a blood magic ritual in order to keepntaming the dragons....almost as if something connected to their blood transfered from their parents makes it unnecessary.
From what we have seen? The targaryen bloodline and ALL who share their bloodline have had a LONG history of birth defects, insanity, miscarriages and other such deformities.
Rhaenyras child was born with scales and dragon like deformities.
It is said that day's child was born with bat wings and scales. Rhaenyras mother kept having stillborns until she died.
Daemons first wife to that daughter of house valerion died from birth complications as well.
There are all the targaryens who were insane, you had a blackfyre born with 2 heads.
The baratheons? A bastard bloodline of the targaryens? All of stannis'sons were stillborn and deformed. His daughter? Spontaneously developed grayscale at a young age (they say they THINK she got it from an infected doll stannis gave her, but that doesn't make sense for a number of reasons: why didn't HE get infected if the virus can be yransfered THROUGH infected objects?)
The list goes on and on for as far back as you follow the bloodline...my theory is if you applied those kinds of statistics to an entire empire? That is virtually everyone giving birth to deformities and insane people across the empire by the droves...this could have caused an even larger panic and lead to further chaos that dwindled the numbers of any valyrion survivors after the doom.
We also see that those NOT lifted with dragons blood do not have such deformities and stillborn liklihoods that the targaryens have.
House valyrian is one, and there is another that is called caltagar or Castagar (their sigil is a bunch of crabs) but I don't believe they report any such deformities in their bloodlines either.
We have the baratheons, the blackfyres and the targaryens who all share the same bloodline... NO one else has their level of birth related issues and deformities that they have
heck yeah, can't wait for part 3
I'm glad you liked it!
So I have a theory on why Balerion allowed the young girl to ride him. So thanks to HOTD. some background information tells us that his FIRST rider was Deanys the dreamer! The young girl who foresaw the doom of Valeria which lead to the family leaving the land. She would have been the one riding the young Balerion away from Valeria. So skip forward another 150ish years and he sees this little girl who looks probably like Daenys. The rider he was hatched with. He lets her be his next rider and what does he do? He flies to Valeria.
Something the dragon hasn't done since they left... because he thought he was taking them home after all those years
I like your theory. But since this information comes from House of the Dragon, it's not canon. Until George confirms it. Which is unlikely because House of the Dragon has been quite liberal with their 'lore' . It's more likely that he flew there because he had a weak rider for the first time in his life.
@@theboarandthelion also completely possible. but I also don’t put it past George to have done something like this. The idea that they already call Drogon the reincarnation of Balerion. And that Daenys and Daenerys “already sharing Similar names” would both fly there beasts across the narrow sea to dawn a new age. It’s just absolutely dripping with symbolism. And if there’s anything we know about George is that some of his favorite stories are the ones he doesn’t tell us. It’s the ones we have to find.
You're right. And I'm not saying that this isn't a cool theory because it is haha. I'm just saying that the 'lore' used in House of the Dragon doesn't exist in the books 9/10 times. Daemon being a dreamer, A dragon staying in the Vale, House Darklyn having Valyrian blood... It's all (badly) made up by the showrunners.
@@theboarandthelion yeah no worries. Believe me I get that. The show has surprised us with a lot of “interesting” choices
You told a better story than George ever could. Well done.
Thank you very much! But that's too much praise haha
Congratulations on the (more than!) 5k subs, very very well deserved! 🥳
Its so sweet that Balerion went straight for home when not controlled by a raider (or only partially sin Aerea was very much green as rider). Like a giant, deadly, homing pigeon 😅
Anyhow! Every time I read about the oily black stone, the thought that it might be radioactive in some way, I just cant shake it. What do you reckon the black stone is and do you agree with my strange hunch? :)
(No children in Asshai for example, irl children tend to be a lot more sensitive to radiation. As we saw in the show Chernobyl, a fetus absorbed the radiation the mother received)
Thank you very much! To be honest, I hadn't thought to already have this many subscribers in 2024 haha. But I'm very grateful for all the support.
I'm not sure about the black stone yet. I would have to do more research before I can say something sensible about it. It could be radiation because the entire city of asshai is made out of them. But then again, the black stone can also be found on the Isle of Toads, in the base of the Hightower (May be different material), on Old Wyk, in the Five Forts (May be different material) and in Yeen on Sothoryos. So my instincts say that the black stone is something different. But I am convinced that Asshai suffered a similar fate to Valyria long, long ago. Which will be the subject of my next indepth video series.
Amazing video, well worth the wait. These are the videos of people who dare to explore the unknown.
To answer your question of survival without a lot of food/water I think the answer might be simple but controversial. The Worms, once the worms take over the host, the body will be dead but still moving. A walking dead like the parasite once they make wasp/bees into literal zombies.
Thank you very much!
That is a cool theory. Although the fact that she still spoke when she returned to the red keep doesn't add up.
Well, many animals not only survived Chernobyl but were thriving due to radiation mutations. Perhaps the case is the same with the animals on Valyria? As for the parasites, I think Balerion and Area were attacked by an infected creature. I thin Balerion won the fight against either a firewyrm or another dragon but he and Area were infected by a parasite meant to infect dragons. Hence why Area died brutally but Balerion lived up until he was claimed by Viserys.
Glad to see the next part
I think the magical fallout from the Doom is somewhat different than the magical fallout that covers Ashai. We do know that Freehold did use magic to contain and manage the 14 flames while slaves mined the depths. Ashai on the other hand feels more like several magic dirty bombs went off in the region.
You make an interesting point. At the moment I think they are one and the same but I have to do more research.
great video ;)
Thank you!
If Balerion flew to Valyria without any input from Aerea, it stands to reason that he would have flown to an active volcano, since we've established that dragons naturally nest there; unclaimed dragons settle within vents in Dragonstone, and the Valyrians first encountered dragons residing within the 14 flames.
Valyria's volcanos are special, however. When Balerion, with Aerea in tow, settled on a Volcano, it's possible that in their vicinity wildlife of some kind was allowed to survive in whatever part of Valyria they were living in; there had to have been a way to feed a massive carnivorous dragon like Balerion for a year. If this is the case, other predators, such as Volcano-dwelling Firewyrms, may have been in the same area.
The year they survived could have been wholly thanks to Balerion caring for Aerea, providing her cooked meat and protection from any threat. However, one day, while either exploring the caverns of the volcano or simply resting near it, a massive firewyrm, possibly as large as Balerion, attacked them. It would explain the massive wounds Balerion was seen with, and it could easily explain Aerea's disease. We know nothing about the absolute minimum and maximum sizes of firewyrms, nor what small ones are capable of doing to people. We do not know what the full consequence of being near them are. Slaves were found burned to a crisp because of firewyrms, but many could have died in the same manner as Aerea. Slaves within the mines would be found as charred corpses, which is all that Aerea was reduced to at the end of her life. Using personal anecdotes of ex-slaves from thousands of years before Aerea's death as a reference point is not the same thing as comprehensive data on the ways of Firewyrms. Firewyrms are a species spoken about, but they have not been extensively studied, nor held in captivity anywhere. They also only existed in a place no adventurer now returns alive from, sans Balerion.
Balerion may very well have killed the beast that attacked them, and this exposure to a single or group of Firewyrms somehow lead to Aerea having many small ones bury themselves inside of her, slowly cooking and eating her from within.
Pretty cool
The Doom is a pretty accurate depiction of what happened with the massive phreatomagmatic caldera eruptions of the Minoan eruption of Santorini that occurred around 1600 BC, or the more current 2023 eruption of Hunga Tonga, only on a much bigger scale. The cataclysm of the Doom itself with 14 volcanoes blowing apart all at once (which could be considered 14 vents of one massive supervolcano complex) would have created MASSIVE pyroclastic flows for up to 100 miles in all directions - superheated walls of ash, rock, lava and gasses moving up to 200mph or more - which almost certainly would have killed any living thing in sight all by itself, not counting the massive earthquakes and collapsing peninsula. It's highly unlikely anything animal or man survived in the nearby area, as far out as Mantarys and nearby settlements and cities - anything "lucky" enough to survive the initial eruptions, earthquakes and noxious gasses would've been finished off by the collapse and sinking of the peninsula / caldera complex and subsequent 1000+ ft tsunamis generated by it. And none of this counts the magical element of the Doom itself, the modern-day effects of which (malformed births, mutations, etc) can't be explained by any kind of scientific analysis
There are indeed parallels between the Doom of Valyria and massive eruptions on our own planet. But the Doom of Valyria as it happened in the Known World, would not have been possible because of only volcanic/seismic activity
Aerea walking in the ruins of Valyria, coming across black goo from Prometheus.
"I am going to drink this, LOL!"
21:57 I believe they're Dragon parasites...
Due to Balerion coming back with a massive hole in him, and from that point, he was pretty much ill and was "too old" to be rode.
(He likely didn't die of old age, to say the least...)
It's likely he was attacked by a larger animal, which either planted its eggs or the open wound got infected.
That is also a good theory. It might just be that you're right.
@@theboarandthelion I suppose we'll never know!
Balerion could have clashed with a Fire Wurm infected with the parasites. Maybe someone is living on the peninsula and infected the girl with the parasite.
Awesome
Thank you!
@@theboarandthelion you're welcome, and thank you for such an entertaining video.
It was verily precarious when Aerea flew Belarion to various scary areas of Valyria with nary a care of being a nefarious carrier for variant virulent vermin
Well done and well speculated! I would like to briefly posit that the parasites infecting Aerea were actually Fire Wyrm parasites. I would suggest Dragon parasites but such things would almost certainly be mentioned in the books by someone. But what makes your hypothesis more likely is Balerion was never infected by these things.
My only... 'critique' is that I would greatly appreciate if you could put the name of the artist or generation program (some of the generic images look AI generated) used on the image in the video, in an upper or lower corner. I am delighted to see that you did the bare minimum of crediting the artists in the description, but it would be so much better to see *who* made *what*
Great video, glad the algorithm threw it my way!
Thank you very much!
As to the crediting of art: I could match the artist with the art in the description of the video, to make clear who made what. But to edit their names in for each piece of art is too much work. And sometimes it distracts from the art itself. As to the AI art: Everything is made with Adobe Firefly
Just a lil FYI There were 24 Valyarian families and the Targs were described as be 1 of the weaker houses
The Valyrian Freehold was ruled by twoscore families of dragonlords. A score = 20. 2 x 20 = 40.
Dankjewel!
We don't know that Aerea spent a year living in Valyria, we only know that it is likely she visited Valyria at some point during that year (though it's also possible that the worms were from Sothoryos)
If she would have been somewhere else, Balerion (The biggest dragon in the world) would have been spotted. So it's quite likely she spent the full year in Valyria
I believe they were taken, Targaryen were one of the weakest of the Dragon Lords of Valyria, they were taken by some surviving Dragon Lord, with a bigger Dragon than Balerion, she was experimented on to breed some kind of human/dragon hibryd.
That is a sick but awesome theory
Interesting theory. Are you thinking the Dragon Lord in Valyria was genetically damaged by the Doom somehow (ex. Radiation) and saw an opportunity with someone who had dragon rider blood without that damage?
love these!
I'm glad you liked it!
Great theory!
Thank you!
What if Balerion had the parasites too and clawed at his skin trying to get them out?
I've read that theory as well. But somehow I don't believe he simply would have been able to claw them out. And there is the fact that Balerion had wounds from 2 different occasions. The first set was already half healed, the second was brand new. Especially the last wound almost had to be some kind of monster seeing the size of the wound.
@@theboarandthelion That's true, I didn't catch that those were two occasions. Thank you!
best vid I've ever seen!!
Thank you very much! But that's too much praise haha
I think it’s more likely that several feral or feralized dragons attacked belarion
Inre the radiation: It is my understanding that unless emitting from radioactive stone the kinds of radiation that cause such levels of mutation are subject to the winds. As the city is inland of the peninsula and coastal areas tend to have winds from the sea more often than not this may explain the continuing concentration of radiation affecting Montarys. It might also be why the levels of dangerous radiation could be lower in the more southern areas of the Valyria.
As for food and water, in the south there would most likely be edible fish and volcanic ash is known for being excellent for growing several species of plants once cooked down.
I did not know that! I'll definitely look into it. As to the volcanic ash being great for fertile land: I'll discuss that in Part 3!
I am wanting a movie from Balerion's pov. Maybe with Vinnie Jones doing the voice over 😂
You misspelled James Earl Jones.
@@timtheskeptic1147 lol. Great point
@@Silveralways1 dragons don't have vocal chords, so their internal dialogue would actually make for a great story.
Excellent work! Subscribed!
Salutations from Belfast Northern Ireland 🇬🇧
Thank you you very much for your support!
Both parts are very good.
Thank you very much!
I suspect that for a source of food. The parasites discussed might also be able to consume radiation. There are fungi in Chernobyl now that can survive on radiation. You might then have a food chain of fungi or small organisms that survive off of radiation and geothermal heat, that then progresses through a variety of smaller wyrms, up to dragons.
Someone mentioned this as well a couple of weeks ago. I've written it down to maybe use for a revision many years in the future.
What if a wyvern attacked him because they're stated to be more aggressive than dragons despite being smaller) assuming he didn't stay in Valyria the whole year and visited Sothoryos
I don't think Wyverns were native to the Valyrian Peninsula. Or anywhere else than Sothoryos.
I'm not sure about the radiation part... In the previous video you talked about it but i'm not convinced... Wouldn't it be more likely that the Montarians were born deformed because the valyrians experimented with them as they did in gorgossos and that made them more likely genetically to give birth to deformed sons and daughters? That would also explain why they would hate valyrians so much (the epissode with Danerys) even hundreds of years after their dissapereance... I don't know, it seems much more plausible to me...
Apart from that, great video!! I'm really enjoying these!
Thank you!
Your theory could be true! But I'll go deeper into the radiation part in a future video series about the causes of the doom itself.
I look forward to that one too!
I would question whether really no animals resettled the zone, due to radiation. There is thriving wildlife all around Tschernobyl and it is also known that humans survived there (look for the documentary on the Babuschkas of Tschernobyl, if you are interessted). Therefore I am fairly sure that there was more food around, then you guess. I also believe that Aeryas thinness and state was due to the parasite, not due to starvation. I think she only once went wrong, ate or drank the wrong thing and got infected. As for Balerion's wounds - we do not know whether there were other dragons who survived the doom, but did not leave the ruins, some might even guard the places where their riders died during the doom. We know the fourty families are dead (though I wonder about bastards, the Valyrians weren't exactly known for the chastity, and there might have been bastards of the dragonlords all over the country), but even if there were no human survivors, dragons might have survived, or dragoneggs hatched since the doom, and Balerion may have run afoul of some territorial Valyrian dragon, who did not like an intruder. Or Balerion defended Aerya from danger and got wounded.
Yes, But if humans didn't survive in Valyria, which I think is the case, animals most likely wouldn't have survived either. As to the resettling, as stated in the video, it would be impossible for the southern islands because of the Smoking Sea.
Maybe the parasites come from Firewyrms and she got them from eating one her dragon caught
Question if I may?
It is said Targaryens are immune, or at least, very resistant to fire, yet in House of the Dragon, Aegon and Princess Rhaenys are both burnt by fire. Is it an error on the writers' part?
The full immunity to fire that we saw with Daenerys was indeed a one time thing, because of the blood magic that was involved (According to George). Some of them are more resistant to heat though.
@@Wedontknoweachotherr ah okay. Thank you.
@theboarandthelion thank you kindly for responding!
Targaryens are more resistant to fire, but they can be burned. Dany killed the witch who "killed" Drogo and was (in my opinion) willing to die herself. That made it blood magic which has its own wild rules.
Personally, I don't think the Valyrians gave themselves dragon blood. I think the Asshai'i (aka the Great Empire of the Dawn) did it to them. The Great Empire created dragons, and then created dragon-people. The Long Night scattered them, but it was only a matter of time before they found each other again. That's my theory.
Good theory!
interesting
I think it’s possible Valyria was the last place they ended up, I haven’t been able to buy fire and blood yet so somebody can let me know if there’s context I’m missing, but Area and Balerion leave and then come back after a year, I’m not sure that means they spent an entire year on the peninsula. Balerion could’ve stopped at multiple places in Essos before arriving in Valyria and being forced to go back to Westeros because of whatever happened to them there. So maybe they spent something like 10 months in essos and only arrived in Valyria proper something like a month before being forced to leave.
The main reason for them having spent the entire year on the peninsula is that no-one saw Balerion for over a year. A dragon that big is difficult to hide.
@@theboarandthelion just for clarification, is that also including everyone in essos? If fire in blood is an in universe book then in my mind it would be fair if the citadel and Westeros as a whole didn’t get word of Balerion, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that Balerion didn’t spend time traveling the great grass sea or the deserts around Qarth, the entire part of essos that surrounds Valyria is pretty sparsely populated. Again I haven’t read the book so there genuinely might be context that I haven’t read (like the book might clearly say he wasn’t seen by anyone in essos either) but the idea that they didn’t spend the whole time in Valyria doesn’t seem like a stretch to me.
And to be clear I think your videos are great and everything you theorize on in the video I think is brilliant, so I don’t wanna be that guy lol.
Thank you! And i'm always open to discussion/critique, don't worry haha. At the time of their dissapearance, Jaehaerys master of coin was Rego Draz. Rego Draz was the richest man in Pentos before he became master of coin, and he was knows to have a extensive network of informants in Essos. Because there is no knows master of whisperers during Jaehaerys' reign, it may even be that Rego Draz did both the jobs. But because of his network of informants, It's very likely that if Balerion would have been seen in Essos, the small council would have known.
@@theboarandthelion that’s entirely fair honestly this is why I need to read fire and blood 😂 can’t wait for the next part man 🙏🏾
It’s been a bit since I’ve read that part of the book so I may be misremembering details, but I believe the connections/information network in Essos only resulted in a few leads/rumors. Each one was investigated and found to not be a real sighting/evidence of Balerion.
Don’t remember if anything was offered to rule out Sothos (or however it’s spelled) as a place they may have been for a while.
How did they get ice for an ice bath? The north is truly far away from dragonstone (like from NYC to Haiti) and i don't see a freezer being the answer 🤔🤔🤔
Also, could the radiation have mutades fire wyrms in such a way that they became amaller in size. I see it being possible if we're theorizing :)
Juat my 2 cents
The ice question is a good one. According to someone else who commented, medieval civilizations kept underground cool chambers to store their ice in between winters.
And you're theory sounds plausible! But for some reason I believe that firewyrms, just as dragons and dragonlords, would have been immune to radiation.
i think that creatures in the princess needed heat and when she left the heat of valeria the creatures tryed to produce heat.
So she could with stand heat better than normal humans and the dragon too, so maybe she could get food and water from the boiling sea,
The worms with faces could be a cross contaminatons, a parasite from a bigger creature that lifes in a heated enviroment like the boiling sea and when shee leaved the hot area the worms eat her up to generate heat and grow to big and cooked er at the same time
That's a good theory!
The~ ‘sup?!you created good video-work,🙃
Thank you very much!
To your point about the parasites, they could either be alive in the stone men that are famously present there OR all they would need is a source of stagnant water like a small pool that she could've unknowingly bathed in or drank from much like brain eating parasites in real life. So yea, she very much could have contracted them any number of places there. Also, maybe Balerion was snacking on fire wyrms seeing how he wouldn't have any problem going into caverns and digging them out himself. Maybe even brought her back some to eat...
there are no stone men in valyria. the stone men live in the sorrows on the rhoyne.
lesgoo
What's in Valyria? Nothing but death.
Where did they get ice for an ice bath?
Before modern refrigeration there would be insulated ice houses. They filled it with ice in the winter, and people would use it until the next winter