In my previous post about Melisandre, I made the connection between her blood and dragon’s blood. When Drogon, who is “fire made flesh”, bled in the book, he bled black and smoking:

The dragon gave one last hiss and stretched out flat upon his belly. Black blood was flowing from the wound where the spear had pierced him, smoking where it dripped onto the scorched sands.

And Melisandre, after seeing Bloodraven and Bran in her flames:

The red priestess shuddered. Blood trickled down her thigh, black and smoking. The fire was inside her…

(Undead bleed black, but not smoking)

So, is that it? Their curious blood is the only trait they share? Well, that and the fire she supposedly feels inside her, but that could just be figurative language. But, no. That is not all they share. At least not in the show.

We know Melisandre is old. But how old? Well, the creators of the show have actually spoken with Martin about her true age:

“Going back to a very early conversation with George Martin about her, she’s supposed to be several centuries old.”

And Carice Van Houten, the actress for Melisandre, has suggested her character could be as much as 400 years old:

In previous media reports, Van Houten has suggested Melisandre is at least 100 years old, and could be as much as 400 years old.

With show director Podeswa echoing the same:

“The idea is there’s an indefinite indeterminate quality that she could be ancient,” Podeswa says. “We were limited by choosing to use a real person rather than a complete CG creation. Because what does a 400-year-old person look like?”

Now, I’d rather take George’s word for this, and believe she is not merely 100 years old, but “several centuries old,” as the producers stated.

Dragons can live for centuries. Balerion the Black Dread was around 200 years old when it died.

So Melisandre bleeds like a dragon and lives just as long – if not longer. It’s almost like she has the blood of the dragon. I am not implying she is Valyrian – far from it, actually. Instead I believe she is a product of Valyria, specifically Valyrian sorcery – bloodmagic.

Daughter of the Slave

First of all, Melisandre of Asshai was not born in Asshai, if this text is any hint:

She made it sound a simple thing, and easy. They need never know how difficult it had been, or how much it had cost her. That was a lesson Melisandre had learned long before Asshai…

Now, let me introduce you to an excerpt from The World of Ice and Fire, about Gogossos, on the Isle of Tears:

By any name, it was an evil place. The dragonlords sent their worst criminals to the Isle of Tears to live out their lives in hard labor. In the dungeons of Gogossos, torturers devised new torments. In the flesh pits, blood sorcery of the darkest sort was practiced, as beasts were mated to slave women to bring forth twisted half-human children.

Now, going back to Melisandre’s past, it is implied she was a slave and her mother as well, going by the words she remembered, “Lot Seven,” followed by a woman’s cry. And in the show, it is all but confirmed:



“Mine [mother] was a slave. So was I. Bought and sold. Scourged and branded.”

So could it be Melisandre’s mother was one of those slave women, those that blood sorcery was practiced on to mate human and beast? And possibly human and dragon?

In the small flashbacks Melisandre has after seeing Bloodraven and Bran, she hears a woman’s voice cry, “Melony.” My guess, this was her mother crying as her daughter was being taken away. Now what Melisandre said she herself did in that moment is curious:

She was weeping, and her tears were flame.

I don’t think she literally cried tears of flame. I think the tears being flame are alluding to the blood sorcery being a success. Melisandre was conceived by woman and dragon, and when she cried as a babe her tears were flame, a metaphor for the splicing that had been achieved.

Terrible and Red

Now, even if Melisandre couldn’t be as old as to have lived in the time of the Valyrians, Gogossos – where the woman-beast mating was done – still flourished after them, so to speak:

The infamy of Gogossos outlived even the Doom. During the Century of Blood, this dark city waxed rich and powerful. Some called her the Tenth Free City, but her wealth was built on slaves and sorcery. Her slave markets became as notorious as those of the old Ghiscari cities on Slaver’s Bay.

Even more curious is what happened to Gogossos:

Seven-and-seventy years after the Doom of Valyria, however, it is said their stink reached even the nostrils of the gods, and a terrible plague emerged from the slave pens of Gogossos. The Red Death swept across the Isle of Tears, then the rest of the Basilisk Isles. Nine men of every ten died screaming, bleeding copiously from every orifice, their skin shredding like wet parchment.

The Red Death… from the slave who would grow up to become known as the red woman? This is pure speculation, of course; it’s probably just called the Red Death because everyone bled copiously as they succumbed to the plague. Yet the wording of the legend implies that the slaves who were experimented on – or who were products of those experiments – hatched a vengeance against their oppressors…

…Maybe Maester Cressen saw the truth of Melisandre:

Many called her beautiful. She was not beautiful. She was red, and terrible, and red.

Of course, she’s obviously called the red woman because of her attire and hair and religion. But there’s always deeper and other meanings in the world of Ice and Fire. Maybe it’s just a coincidence that the plague was “terrible” and “Red” just as Cressen said Melisandre was “terrible” and “red.”

Anyways, speaking of Melisandre being a Valyrian product, why don’t we compare her to another product we’ve come across in the books?

The Valyrian Brand

At the kingsmoot for the Iron Islands, Euron brought a dragon horn purportedly from Valyria – the dragonbinder. Here are two descriptions of that horn:

It is a dragon horn, bound with bands of red gold and Valyrian steel graven with enchantments. A twisted thing it was, six feet long from end to end, gleaming black and banded with red gold and dark Valyrian steel. Euron’s hellhorn. … Strange sorcerous writings had been cut into the bands that girded it. “Valyrian glyphs,” Moqorro called them.

Now, nothing peculiar to be seen here… yet. Take note of the strange sorcerous writings cut into the bands, the Valyrian glyphs. It wasn’t until Euron’s man blew the horn that something happened:

Those writings glowed red-hot, then white-hot and painful to look upon.

Now, let’s go back to Melisandre, to when she saw Bloodraven and Bran in the flames, what she felt:

Shimmers of heat traced patterns on her skin, insistent as a lover’s hand.

Patterns… or writings? Perhaps even Valyrians glyphs, for the patterns emanate heat as well – and not only that, they glow; Davos witnessed this once, when Melisandre birthed a shadow baby:

Her eyes were hot coals, and the sweat that dappled her skin seemed to glow with a light of its own. Melisandre shone.

Melisandre shone. Just like the Valyrian glyphs on dragonbinder. Now, my guess is, Davos couldn’t see the writings on her skin for the glamour Melisandre wears at all times. But the light from them underneath was bright and powerful enough to pierce through the illusion alone, so Davos simply surmised it was her sweat seeming to glow. And we know their light is powerful because we have seen, from the dragonhorn, the writings are “painful to look upon” after a time.

If they’re powerful enough to hurt a man’s eyes, shouldn’t they be powerful enough for their light to glow through a glamour?

Anyways, I also believe the dragon horn could have been made through blood sorcery, like Melisandre. The glyphs on the horn, according to Moqorro, read:

‘Blood for fire, fire for blood.’

Of course, Moqorro later specified to Victarion the horn must be claimed with blood. But perhaps those writings could simultaneously allude to its creation, being forged with blood magic, as Melisandre could have been born of the blood sorcery once rampant in the flesh pits of Gogossos.

Protection from the Doom

Now, I don’t know what reason the Valyrians may have for carving writings on Melisandre’s flesh, but I believe they are not merely writings. I believe they are spells. Spells can be woven into things. Melisandre even confirmed this herself:

But here . . . this Storm’s End is an old place. There are spells woven into the stones. Dark walls that no shadow can pass—ancient, forgotten, yet still in place.”

And the Wall, according to Coldhands:

“The Wall. The Wall is more than just ice and stone, he said. There are spells woven into it . . . old ones, and strong. He cannot pass beyond the Wall.”

Why do I believe this could be applied to people as well?

Because there is a precedent for this, in the show, at least.

In one episode of Game of Thrones, Jorah encounters Quaithe painting symbols on a man’s bare skin, for a particular reason. She says:

This man must sail past old Valyria. All who travel too close to the Doom must have protection.

She believes the glyphs painted on his skin will protect him – magically, it is assumed. Thus, they could be considered woven spells. Not only that, but they will protect him from Valyrian magic, perhaps from a residual, persistent curse that still haunts the Doom.

If this is used to counter Valyrian magic, couldn’t it be suggested the Valyrians practiced it as well? Only for their own reasons, and perhaps going further than simply painting skin… instead carving it or searing it onto flesh?

Shimmers of heat traced patterns on her skin

Invocations of Scared Little Girls

Now, I mentioned before that Melisandre saw Bloodraven and Bran in the flames. But Bloodraven saw her as well. She was actually so terrified that she shuddered. Then, what happened next was:

Blood trickled down her thigh, black and smoking. The fire was inside her, an agony, an ecstasy, filling her, searing her, transforming her.

Inherently, when humans get scared we tend to go, as you know, into fight or flight mode. So what I believe is happening here, with Melisandre, is her fight in action – a sort of instinctual defense mechanism. And I say that because she shuddered before this. Whether for the cold or the terror, she shuddered. Then, coincidentally not, she afterwards feels a literal fire inside her… Perhaps a fire inside her she invoked to quell the fear or the cold.

This might also be why days long past suddenly come back to her. The terror that struck her was so profound it provoked her to invoke the power – but in doing so, the invocation triggered flashbacks of when she used to do the same, as a scared little girl:

“Melony,” she heard a woman cry. A man’s voice called, “Lot Seven.” She was weeping, and her tears were flame. And still she drank it in.

Now, there’s a reason I’m bringing all this up, I assure you.

There’s a reason I’m mentioning a scared little girl and her invocations. The reason I’m mentioning all this is because Melisandre has a mimic… someone who takes after her, so to speak, in a manner less literal.

Daenerys Targeryen is 13 years old in the books, what some consider still a little girl. When she frightens she often invokes her heritage, her blood. She tells herself she has the blood of the dragon:

“I am the blood of the dragon,” she whispered aloud as she followed, trying to keep her courage up. “I am the blood of the dragon. I am the blood of the dragon.” The dragon was never afraid.

Viserys expressed similarly as well:

“Ours is the house of the dragon,” he would say. “The fire is in our blood.”

Targaryens are true Valyrians, I have no doubt…yet, who actually has the blood of the dragon? Who actually has black and smoking blood burning inside them?

The True Blood of the Dragon

If you read and compare the texts, all the figurative boastings of Daenerys are literal realities for Melisandre.

Dany stood her ground. She was the blood of the dragon, and the fire was in her. Blood trickled down her [Melisandre’s] thigh, black and smoking. The fire was inside her…

Now, there is one dream Daenerys has, in particular, which bears stark similarities to Melisandre’s reality. One night, Dany dreamt of a great, black dragon – Drogon, presumably, before his birth. Here is what occurred in that dream:

…when it opened its mouth, the flame came roaring out in a hot jet. … She opened her arms to the fire, embraced it, let it swallow her whole, let it cleanse her and temper her and scour her clean. She could feel her flesh sear and blacken and slough away, could feel her blood boil and turn to steam, and yet there was no pain. She felt strong and new and fierce.

Now, let’s go back again to the paragraph where Melisandre goes through a range of sensations:

The red priestess shuddered. Blood trickled down her thigh, black and smoking. The fire was inside her, an agony, an ecstasy, filling her, searing her, transforming her. … She was weeping, and her tears were flame. And still she drank it in.

Let’s recap:

In her dream, the fire from the dragon burned Daenerys. In her reality, the fire inside Melisandre literally burned her.

In the dream, Daenerys opened her arms to the fire and embraced it. In reality, Melisandre drank it in.

In the dream, Daenerys could feel her flesh sear. In reality, Melisandre felt it searing her.

In the dream, Daenerys, afterwards, felt strong and new and fierce. In reality, Melisandre felt the fire transforming her.

One has dreams and boastings, the other has reality. Who really has the blood of the dragon?

Halflings and Sigils

All throughout the world of Ice and Fire, we have legends and sightings of halflings. Those prominent among them are the Deep Ones, who are said to be sired from creatures of the deep sea, mated with human women. Why then, could half-dragons not be possible if squamous creatures of the deep can procreate with human women?

Also in the world of Ice and Fire, we have lords who profess to embody their house sigils. They call themselves krakens, wolves, and lions. They are just boasting, of course – and we know that. Yet why make an exception for House Targaryen? Perhaps their boast is a farce as well, and the true blood of the dragon lies elsewhere.

To reclarify, I am not saying the Valyrians weren’t the dragonlords. I am saying the people who were blood of the dragon were another people entirely.

Who and Why?

I believe the Valyrians made these half-dragons for one reason, and one reason only: to sustain the spells that tamed the Fourteen Flames.

Now, think about it. Do you really believe the dragonlords of Valyria, who loved soaring through the air on their dragons and conquering other lands, would subject themselves to this stationary existence as maintenance workers?

No, they would do as they always did — get slaves to do it.

There’s a passage in the World of Ice and Fire that alludes to this:

A handful of maesters, influenced by fragments of the work of Septon Barth, hold that Valyria had used spells to tame the Fourteen Flames for thousands of years, that their ceaseless hunger for slaves and wealth was as much to sustain these spells…

On top of this, we know Valyrians weren’t immune to fire, so why risk their own lives doing this? Why not create a people who can? They already made half-beasts of other creatures, and dragons are quite resilient to flames… so why not make half-beasts out of them and make their spawns tame the Fourteen Flames? Now, I believe this somewhat failed, as we know that Melisandre can still burn, as she did with Rattleshirt – yet she was still pretty resilient to the fire.

So, by implication, I’m saying the mages who tamed the Fourteen Flames were special. And there’s a passage in the World of Ice and Fire corroborating this:

[Some] have argued that it was the constant whirl of conflict and deception amongst the great houses that might have led to the assassinations of too many of the reputed mages who renewed and maintained the rituals that banked the fires of the Fourteen Flames.

If the mages weren’t special their assassinations wouldn’t have been much loss. But they were. I would imagine not many spawns of dragon and woman would survive, so when the grown ones taming the flames were assassinated, it was difficult to refill their ranks.

And speaking of special, I believe their blood also afforded them an affinity and deeper connection to fire. Here is what Melisandre says of herself in the ranks of R’hllor:

There was no one, even in her order, who had her skill at seeing the secrets half-revealed and half-concealed within the sacred flames.

… Because of the dragon blood in her? She doesn’t know. That’s another thing I wanted to bring up: I don’t think she knows. She could have been born after the Doom or she could have just never made it to Valyria.

EDIT: One other thing this theory might solve. When the Doom of Valyria came, it is said “black blood of demons” rained from the sky. Melisandre is called a demon many times by Davos, and if the mages were indeed half-dragons, they would all bleed black.

EDIT 2: Melisandre, like Daenerys, could also be referred to as “the unburnt” if gossip is to be believed:

“Queer talking I have heard, of hungry fires within the mountain, and how Stannis and the red woman go down together to watch the flames. There are shafts, they say, and secret stairs down into the mountain’s heart, into hot places where only she may walk unburned”

That is Salladhor Saan, speaking to Davos of what Stannis and Melisandre were up to, after the Battle of Blackwater.