Brynden Rivers

Brynden Rivers was one of the infamous Great Bastards of King Aegon IV Targaryen, also known as "Aegon the Unworthy".
==Biography==
===Background===
On his deathbed, Aegon the Unworthy legitimized all of his bastard-born children, causing a crisis of succession that later led to all-out war. During the Blackfyre Rebellion that followed, Brynden Rivers sided with his half-brother King Daeron the Good and fought against Daemon I Blackfyre at the Battle of Redgrass Field, killing him with an arrow volley.
Brynden later served ably as Hand of the King. When his nephew, Daemon II Blackfyre, conspired to start a second rebellion at Whitewalls Castle, Brynden saw the plot promptly foiled.
Some time after this, he joined the Night's Watch, where he rose through the ranks until he became Lord Commander. Brynden led an expedition beyond the Wall, but never returned.
===Game of Thrones: Season 1===
Brynden, along with his siblings, is mentioned in the House Targaryen entry of the book The Lineages and Histories of the Great Houses of the Seven Kingdoms.
===Game of Thrones: Season 4===
Brynden is mentioned in the Book of Brothers as having been escorted alongside Maester Aemon to the Wall by Ser Duncan the Tall. However, he is referred as Aegon V Targaryen's uncle, when in fact he was the king's granduncle.
==Family==
==In the books==
In the A Song of Ice and Fire novels, Brynden Rivers was often called "Bloodraven". While King Aegon IV had many bastard children, the mothers of four of them were also noblewomen, which encouraged Aegon to formally acknowledge their children. The four Great Bastards were Daemon I Blackfyre (whose mother, secretly, was Daena Targaryen), Aegor "Bittersteel" Rivers (whose mother was a member of House Bracken), Brynden "Bloodraven" Rivers, and Shiera Seastar (whose mother was Serenei of Lys, from an ancient Valyrian noble family). Brynden's own mother, Melissa Blackwood, was the best liked of King Aegon's many mistresses, and she cultivated many friendships at court; even the King's wife Naerys, her brother Prince Aemon the Dragonknight and her son, the future King Daeron II, befriended Melissa. These friendships allowed Brynden to gain admittance and acceptance at court.
He was called "Bloodraven" because he had a port-wine stain birthmark covering much of his cheek, which was said to be shaped like a raven and showed blood red against his pale skin (it wasn't really perfectly shaped like a raven, but sort of like when you look at a cloud and try to see shapes in it; when Ser Duncan the Tall sees Bloodraven he thinks to himself that it's really more of a blob in shape, though one could plausibly say it looked somewhat like a raven).
After Aegon IV foolishly legitimized all his bastards on his deathbed, there was strife between them and his legitimate heir Daeron, who was to become King Daeron II. These tensions would ultimately split the realm apart in the devastating civil war known as the Blackfyre Rebellion. Bloodraven sided with Daeron II, while half-brother Bittersteel sided with Daemon Blackfyre.
Bittersteel and Bloodraven hated each other, mainly because they both competed for the love of their half-sister Shiera Seastar. Bloodraven asked her to marry him dozens of times and she refused, but she did let him into her bed - though she had many lovers. Shiera, however, completely rejected Bittersteel, and for this he never forgave Bloodraven. It also didn't help that Bittersteel's mother was a Bracken and Bloodraven's mother was a Blackwood, as those two noble families had been feuding for thousands of years. Bittersteel became a great champion and general for the Blackfyres, while Bloodraven became a great champion and general for the Targaryens.
The First Blackfyre Rebellion ended in 196 AC with the Battle of the Redgrass Field, in which Daemon Blackfyre and his eldest two sons were slain. It was Bloodraven's private company of archers, known as the Raven's Teeth, who rained arrows down upon Daemon Blackfyre and his two eldest sons, killing them. Many called Bloodraven a kinslayer for this, though no one knew exactly whose arrows had killed Daemon - he was pierced by many. Bittersteel responded with a ferocious counter-charge and engaged Bloodraven in an epic duel, in which Bloodraven lost an eye. However, Bloodraven's intent was not to defeat Bittersteel, but simply distract him and play for time until reinforcements arrived under Prince Baelor "Breakspear" Targaryen: already fighting Prince Maekar's forces in front, Breakspear caught Bittersteel's remaining forces from the rear in a pincer's movement. The battle was lost but Bittersteel managed to escape, and became one of the major leaders of the surviving Blackfyre forces as they fled into exile in the Free Cities. Daemon left behind five sons and multiple daughters, so Bittersteel became their guardian, secreting them across the Narrow Sea with his dwindling followers. They would continue to harass the Seven Kingdoms with plots and failed rebellions for decades.
After King Daeron II died in the Great Spring Sickness of 209 AC he was succeeded by his son Aerys I Targaryen - who proved to be a weak, absentee-king, more concerned with introverted scholarly pursuits than any form of governing. When Aerys I was crowned, however, Bloodraven was named as the new Hand of the King, a position he held throughout Aerys I's twelve-year reign. During that time, Bloodraven was the real power behind the throne, and the functional ruler of the Seven Kingdoms. Aerys I's rule was deeply troubled by plague, drought, and insurrection, and many blamed Bloodraven because he was in charge, but ultimately he was the man holding the realm back from the brink of chaos during this troubled period.
During his time as Hand of the King, Brynden was not only an effective administrator and strategist, but a cunning spy-master, and the information from his secret agents greatly aided his grip on power. His spies were so widespread that, also referring to the eye he lost in battle, a popular riddle at the time asked, "How many eyes does Lord Bloodraven have?" to which the answer was "A thousand eyes... and one..."
Aerys I died in 221 AC without issue, so he was succeeded by his younger brother Maekar Targaryen. Even though Maekar distrusted his uncle, he kept Bloodraven as Hand of the King. Maekar ruled for twelve years and was then succeeded by his own son, Aegon V Targaryen, also known as "Egg". During the Great Council that put Aegon V on the throne, Aenys Blackfyre had sent word from the Free Cities that he wanted to put himself forth as a legitimate candidate. Bloodraven promised him safe passage and Aenys accepted in good faith, but as soon as he set foot in King's Landing, the Gold Cloaks seized him and dragged him to the Red Keep, where Bloodraven promptly executed him. This was decried as utterly dishonorable, but Bloodraven said he willingly paid the price to remove one more potential Blackfyre pretender, and accepted exile to the Night's Watch as punishment. In 233 AC, the year he was crowned, Aegon V had Bloodraven sent north as part of the "honor guard" that escorted his older brother, Maester Aemon, to the Wall. In time, Bloodraven rose to become the new Lord Commander. He served long and well in this position, but one day he went out alone ranging beyond the Wall, and mysteriously never returned.
The last greenseer introduces himself as Brynden and claims to have been famous enough in his day to have several other prominent figures, such as Brynden Tully, named after him. Both he and Leaf say that he has "a thousand eyes and one." Bran thinks to himself that a three-eyed crow should have three eyes, but Brynden has only one, and that one red. He asks Brynden if he is the three-eyed crow, to which he perplexedly answers "A... crow? Once, aye. Black of garb and black of blood."
In "The Children," the last greenseer quotes "a thousand eyes and one" as he did in the book. In Season 6, however, there are no references made to Brynden Rivers, with the greenseer seemingly being split off as a separate character, as he claims to have been one with his weirwood for "a thousand years."
Bloodraven was a prominent figure in Westeros during the events of the Dunk & Egg novellas and appears in the third story in the series, The Mystery Knight. He would thus appear in any potential TV adaptation of the prequels.
===Fan theories===
There is a fan theory that Maynard Plumm, a character in The Mystery Knight who accompanies Duncan the Tall to Whitewalls, is Bloodraven wearing a glamor. There are several clues giving this theory credence:
*Dunk finds Maynard unsettling, and remarks at the queerness of Maynard's features: the longer he looks at his face, the less he seems to see.
*When Dunk hears a story about Aegon IV's promiscuity and says "We'd all be bastard sons of old King Aegon if half these tales were true," Maynard replies "And who's to say we're not?"
*When Maynard approaches Dunk in the rain, his moonstone brooch briefly resembles a pale white eye.
*Maynard claims to be a friend, and has been watching Dunk and wondering about his presence at a gathering of Blackfyre conspirators.
*Maynard claims to be distantly related to Lord Viserys Plumm; Brynden Rivers is a distant cousin of Viserys, who is a descendant of King Aegon III whereas Brynden is a descendant of his brother Viserys II.
*Brynden doesn't appear until Maynard mysteriously vanishes.
==Appearances==
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==References==
===Notes===
==External links==
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Category:Crownlanders
Category:Great Bastards
Category:Hands of the King
Category:Individuals from Histories & Lore
Category:Individuals mentioned in Game of Thrones
Category:Kinslayers
Category:Lords Commander of the Night's Watch
Category:Masters of Whisperers
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