Authors Note:
credit for the stunning title image goes to the talented kssu24. please follow her on Instagram and on ptashechnaya
Introduction
The following is a contextual summary of the events preceding the story of which we are to embark, in which several divergences from what people believed happened are explained. This is to provide a small measure of clarification for the divergence but not to the detriment of the account, in which the events will be explained in greater detail for the purpose of the plot.
Jon Snow, bastard son of Ned Stark and King in the North, with the silvery haired Daenerys Targaryen, the last remaining Targaryen heir and rightful queen to the Iron Throne, along with their allies, Missandei, Daenery's confidante and aide, Grey Worm, leader of the elite liberated slave soldiers the Unsullied, Ser Jorah Mormont, redeemed knight and close friend of Daenerys, Tyrion Lannister, wanted criminal of Kings Landing and Hand to the Queen, Varys, master of spies on behalf of the queen, travelled to Winterfell to prepare the northern house's defence against the army of the dead.
Mustering allies and preparing their fortifications, they were joined by Lady Brienne of Tarth, loyal and heroic knight, her squire Podrick, a skilled spearman, and Jaime Lannister, a former kingsguard to the Lannister Monarchy, now an atoning knight, who brought with him his own contingent of soldiers to honour the pact made by House Stark and House Lannister to join forces to defeat the army of the dead. They were also joined by Theon of House Greyjoy, formerly a ward of House Stark and mutilated by the evil Ramsay Bolton after his betrayal of Robb Stark. He sought redemption of honour with his army of footsoldiers and bowmen in defence of Brandon Stark.
Also joining them was Tormund Giantsbane, exuberant leader of the Wildlings, native people of the Far North, Edd Tollett of the Nights Watch, Samwell Tarly, best friend of Jon Snow and maester in training, Beric Dondarrion, former knight under the command of Ned Stark, now champion to the faith of the Lord Of Light. Other allies who helped with the defence was Gendry, bastard son of Robert Baratheon and expert smithy and hammer wielder, and Sandor Clegane, the gruff former kingsguard and fearsome warrior.
Other characters of note who joined Winterfell was Gilly, lover of Samwell and former wildling, and Melisandre, the enigmatic priestess of the Lord of Light, gifted with powers of sorcery and beguilement.
These characters were involved with protecting the people of Winterfell and supporting the armies of Northmen, Dothraki barbarian warriors, the Unsullied and the mercenaries in the defence of Winterfell.
Upon conferring within the war council, it was discovered by Samwell that knowledge, not bodies, was the target of the sinister Night King, leader of the White Walkers and the wight army. It was decided that the protection of Brandon Stark, the crippled lord, the winged wolf and now the successor to the Three Eyed Blood Raven, a Greenseer of the Far North armed with knowledge of the past and the future, was paramount to the success and the survival of the realms of men.
The events of the Battle of Winterfell, referred to many as The Long Night, proceeded as follows.
Using trenches and cavalry, the armies, protected by the powerful dragons, Drogon and Rhaegal, were able to hold their ground briefly against the Undead before being forced to retreat. Trebuchets, positioned behind Winterfell, were able to be briefly staunch the numbers of undead soldiers before being destroyed by the Night King's dragonmount, Viserion, formerly of Daenery's dragonbrood before being killed and turned to the service of the enemy. Despite the successful defensive strategies employed, our heroes lost many men, and among them, brave heroes perished in the chaotic fighting.
Edd Tollett died while saving Sam, as they both fell back to protect the crypt. Sam was then tasked with defending the entrance to the crypt with his life, a daunting task which to his own surprise, the bumbling and timid maester excelled at, spurred by the fear of his lover and his adoptive infant son Little Sam falling victim to the claws of the undead.
Beric Dondarrion, armed with his flaming sword, died protecting Arya Stark and Sandor Clegane from the White Walker Praetorian Guard, elite swordsmen handpicked by the Night King himself. His sacrifice along with Sandor's protection provided Arya the chance to escape and hunt the Night King.
Theon Greyjoy, the last man standing in the Greyjoy garrison assigned to protect Brandon in the Godswood, where he lay to lure out the Night King, died heroically after duelling the King of the Dead.
Jon Snow, riding Rhaegal, was able to assist the defence of Winterfell by lighting the last trench around the great castle, tapping into an unknown power in which he is unwilling to disclose to his closest allies, or even Daenerys. He was attacked by the Night King aboard Viserion, and the two dragons brutally fought atop the battlements of Winterfell. Jon was successfully able to drive the Night King away, but Rhaegal suffered serious injuries from the fight and was forced to rest briefly.
Jon set off in pursuit of the Night King, while Daenerys and Drogon engaged a rogue Viserion above the field of the dead. Viserion was able to dislodge Daenerys while Drogon, briefly grounded, had to contend with undead bears, mammoths and club wielding giants while separated from Daenerys.
Jon was confronted by the Night King's two praetorian guards, and with Jorah Mormont's assistance, was able to slay them, though he was greatly taxed from the fight. Jorah left to find Daenerys, while Jon resumed his search for the Night King.
Jorah, finding Daenerys alone on the field after being dislodged from Drogon, personally confronted Viserion before he was about to devour Daenerys. Despite inflicting many wounds, Jorah was bitten in the waist, and partially crippled from the bite of the undead dragon's jaws. Drogon's timely intervention was what ultimately saved both the bear knight and the dragon queen in the end, but Jorah suffered lasting, potentially fatal injuries from the encounter.
After slaying Theon, the Night King confronted Brandon Stark, but was briefly interrupted by Arya's attempt to assassinate him. Not to be caught off guard, the Night King interrupted Arya's leap and engaged her in a one-on-one duel, gruellingly testing the young wolf's resolve as a warrior. Despite her skill in weaponry and martial arts, The Night King was able to disarm and injure Arya Stark. Jon's intervention saved Arya, but the pair were ultimately defeated. With Arya held captive, an exhausted Jon shielded Brandon as best as he could as the Night King prepared to kill them.
An injured but still capable Rhaegal saved the day, attacking the Night King and decimating his White Walker guardsmen with the help of Daenerys and Drogon. Defeated and shamed, The Night King was forced to retreat, summoning Viserion to carry him away. The fight between him and Arya and Jon resulted in half of his White Walker and Undead army being destroyed, greatly devastating the undead army reserves along with the successful employment of dragonfire.
As a result, despite the grievous losses, many characters survived, including Melisandre, who was crowned Defender of the Realm thanks to the use of her fire magics in assistance to the defending troops against the undead. Her exact whereabouts, as well as her exact allegiance, are unknown as of this time.
The Night King remains at large, and the North must both contend with the threat of Undead and the wrath of the spiteful queen of Kings Landing, Cersei Lannister, and her newly enlisted mercenary groups the Golden Company.
But a powerful secret on the inside threatens to divide and defeat our heroes before Cersei or the Night King have the chance to destroy them.
Prior to the Long Night, Brandon Stark, gifted with the power of sight into past, present and future, obtained mastery of the Greenseer ability and discovered the truth of Jon Snow's birth. Samwell Tarly was the first that Brandon told of the earth-shattering revelation.
Decades ago, Rhaegar Targaryen, romantic, mysterious and haunted heroic prince of the Targaryen royal family, fell in love with Lyanna Stark of Winterfell, who in turn fell deeply in love with him. Seeking him out, Lyanna eloped with the noble prince, betraying the alliance of the Targaryen family with that of the house of the North, Stark and Baratheon. Robert Baratheon, enraged by this betrayal by Lyanna, who was his betrothed, branded the elopement as an abduction of sinister intent. Aerys, dubbed as the Mad King, executed Brandon and Rickard Stark, brother and father to Lyanna respectively, when they confronted him on the actions of his son.
This began a spiralling series of catastrophic events that tore Westeros apart in the War known infamously as Rob's Rebellion. Rob would confront Rhaegar, duel him and kill him in the bloody waters in the Trident River, while Eddard 'Ned' Stark would track his sister Lyanna to the Tower of Joy in Dorne. Defeating Ser Arthur Dayne and his fellow Kingsguard Gerold Hightower with the assistance of Howland Reed, a loyal bannerman, Ned found his sister Lyanna Stark, in the main chamber bed, dying as a result of a disastrous childbirth. Lyanna would die from post-partum exhaustion and bloodloss, but not before she told Ned the identity of the child.
The child's name was Aegon Targaryen, and Lyanna made Ned desperately promise to never disclose the identity of the child, for her motherly love could not abide the slaughter of her son at the hands of the vengeful Robert Baratheon. So with the help of informants spreading misinformation, Ned craftily concealed the identity of the child and disguised the secret of the birth as a fatal miscarriage as a result of abuse on Rhaegar's part, branding the prince posthumously as an abductor and a rapist. He chose to rename Aegon as an illegitimate child, giving him a bastard name of the north instead of the south to allay further suspicion, and further obscure his true origin as a breaking of his vow to his wife Catelyn Stark, nee Tully.
That name was Jon Snow, who in truth, was Ned's legitimate nephew, instead of the issue of adultery.
Samwell, stunned by the revelation, and grieving over the death of his cruel father and brother at the hands of Daenerys, told Jon in the crypts of Winterfell, not hours prior to the battle.
This newfound secret would cause deep conflict within Jon Snow, and his heart and mind are deeply unsettled, as everything he has ever known as a Stark bastard child, loyal to his family of Winterfell, has been uprooted.
The old ways of regency recognise that the issue of the first born are the first in line to the Iron Throne, the symbol and seat of ultimate regal authority and monarchy of the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros. Rhaegal was the first born of Aerys, which makes Jon, his son, the heir to the iron throne. The old ways also dictate that male heirs take precedence over female heirs, and Jon is deeply troubled over the knowledge combined with the revelation that Daenerys could potentially see Jon as her ultimate rival for the Iron Throne.
Daenerys, issue of Aerys and Rhaella Targaryen, is a strong-willed princess, who has had to claw her way to power as a rebel queen to take back the throne, stolen from her family by the usurper Robert Baratheon, and his successors the Lannisters. Sold as a bride to a barbarian king, subjugated, raped, targeted for assassination by Robert and betrayed by false allies seeking her dragons, Daenerys fought to overcome her rivals and win over the forces of her former enemies. She became Khaleesi of the Dothraki forces, liberator and leader of the Unsullied, and now with the alliance of the North, stands to gain the Iron Throne in a single crushing stroke thanks to her loyal army and her two dragons.
Having grown up under the shadow of her sadistic brother Viserys, losing her child and husband to the curse of a vengeful witch, and suffering the death of Viserion at the hands of the Night King, Daenerys is an unstoppable force of nature who promises to her armies that her enemies will die screaming, and will promise untold bloodshed to those who intend to poison and destroy her loyal allies. Jon, while a noble leader, former Lord Commander of the Night's Watch, named King in the North, and a brave fighter who is loyal to Daenerys and her friends, feels unqualified to be a king, and fears what the truth will do to Daenerys and her warrior queen spirit.
And then there is the additional complication. Rhaegar was the late brother of Daenerys, as both were children of Rhaella and Aerys, which makes Jon and Daenerys nephew and aunt by blood. Having been raised by Ned Stark to shun such romantic ties to blood relations as a result of the Targaryen madness caused by incestuous union, furthermore aggravated by the actions of Joffrey, son of Jaime and Cersei Lannister who are brother and sister, Jon is now revolted by the carnal relations shared between him and his newly revealed aunt, for he and Daenerys are deeply in love with one another, and are tied by destiny to be soulmates in body and mind.
Following the battle of the Long Night, Jon has feigned physical and mental exhaustion, brought on by post-traumatic stress and grief, as a means to avoid Daenerys, while he comes to terms with the truth that threatens to undo everything good in his world, and what Daenerys has fought so heroically and passionately to achieve.
But his actions…have not gone unnoticed.
In the shadows, a sinister being of unknown origin has begun to spin machinations to manipulate Jon and Daenerys to his own ends. Jon, isolated, broken and disoriented by the horrifying revelation, is vulnerable to the actions of this unknown and malevolent threat.
The following story about to unfold is the distressing account in which Jon Snow must contend with many foes. The truth of his birth, his conflicted feelings over the woman he loves, the threat of the Night King and the evil being who has devoted himself to tormenting him.
It is up to me, Brandon Stark, The Three-Eyed Raven, to ensure that all does not fall apart into chaos, and the dark ages sought by the Other will not be brought about again. The ink is not yet dry, and it is never too late to change the horrors of what may be, but I pray I am not too late to save my cousin. Aegon must live, and so must Daenerys, and must join together for the good of the realm, if we are all to survive the coming dark days ahead.
But first, I must reach him before he does.
Or Winter will come for us all if I do not act fast enough.
I leave you now with the gift of sight, and ask that your hearts and minds be turned towards the safe-guarding of my cousin and Daenerys Stormborn. They will need every ounce of help they can receive. And they must return to each other or risk being swallowed by darkness forever.
May the old gods watch over us all.
Brandon Stark
Authors Note:
-Tweaked to change Rhaegal's name to Rhaegar as of 31/05/2019
-Tweaked to change cousin to nephew as of 01/06/2019
- Tweaked Jon Snow sentence to add King in the North and also to make it read better as of 09/06/2019
Hope you all enjoy this introduction, which gives a summary of what happened prior to the story.