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| “ | How many eyes does Lord Bloodraven have? the riddle ran. A thousand eyes, and one. Some claimed the King's Hand was a student of the dark arts who could change his face, put on the likeness of a one-eyed dog, even turn into a mist. Packs of gaunt gray wolves hunted down his foes, men said, and carrion crows spied for him and whispered secrets in his ear. Most of the tales were only tales, Dunk did not doubt, but no one could doubt that Bloodraven had informers everywhere. | „ |
| ~ Duncan the Tall on Brynden Rivers. |
| “ | I have my own ghosts, Bran. A brother that I loved, a brother that I hated, a woman I desired. Through the trees, I see them still, but no word of mine has ever reached them. The past remains the past. We can learn from it, but we cannot change it. | „ |
| ~ Brynden to Bran Stark. |
Lord Brynden Rivers, commonly known as Bloodraven, and also known as Lord Bloodraven, Lord Brynden, Lord Rivers, The last greenseer and the Three-eyed-crow, is one of the overarching protagonists of the A Song of Ice and Fire novel series and its television adaptation Game of Thrones, and a major character in the Tales of Dunk and Egg series and its TV adaption A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knight.
He is a bastard son of King Aegon IV Targaryen with Lady Melissa Blackwood, his sixth mistress. His two families have backgrounds involved with magic, with the Blackwoods having a history of skinchanging powers as descendants of Northmen. In addition, Brynden is one of the infamous Great Bastards, and is the half-brother of Ser Aegor Rivers, Daemon I Blackfyre, and Shiera Seastar.
Bloodraven was legitimized by his father as the latter was dying on his deathbed. Unlike his two half-brothers who rebelled against the Iron Throne, he remained loyal to House Targaryen as a loyalist, supporting throughout the first, second, and third Blackfyre rebellions. After he dishonorably murdered Aenys Blackfyre while the latter was under Guest right, Brynden was arrested and sent by King Aegon V Targaryen to the Wall, where he became Lord Commander of the Night's Watch.
During a ranging beyond the Wall, Bloodraven disappeared to parts unknown where he met the Children of the Forest. In the lands beyond the Wall, he became a greenseer and skinchanger known as the Three-eyed-crow, gaining the ability to look into the past through weirwood trees. Many years later, he meets the young Bran Stark and becomes his mentor in greensight and skinchanging.
In the television series Game of Thrones, he was portrayed by Struan Rodger in the fourth season, and subsequently by the late Max von Sydow for the rest of the series. In the television series House of the Dragon, he was portrayed by Joshua Ben-Tovim.
Appearance[]
| “ | The strongest trees are rooted in the dark places of the earth. Darkness will be your cloak, your shield, your mother's milk. Darkness will make you strong. | „ |
| ~ The last greenseer to Bran Stark. |
Brynden Rivers is an albino man who has milk-white skin, long white hair, and red eyes. He has a wine stain birthmark that extends from his throat up to his right cheek. This birthmark is the reason on why Brynden is called Bloodraven, as it appears to take the shape of a raven that is drawn in blood (though not really perfectly shaped). Ser Duncan the Tall thought that Bloodraven's birthmark is just a blotch. George R.R. Martin claimed that it is more a suggestion of a raven shape, like an ink blot.
While not as tall or muscular as his half-brothers, Bloodraven was considered to be more cunning. Being thin and gaunt, he stood over six feet tall. Holding a grim appearance, he also has sharp and vaguely sinister features. He typically wore the colors of scarlet and smoke, a dark grey mottled and streaked with black. For instance, one of his outfits included a scarlet tunic with black boots and a smoke-colored cloak. Because Bloodraven has skin that is sensitive to light, he is usually seen cloaked and hooded.
After he lost his right eye to his brother Bittersteel during the First Blackfyre Rebellion, Brynden barely covers it with a patch, as he prefers to display his scar and empty eye socket to the world. He wore his white hair straight to his shoulders with the front brushed forward to cover his missing right eye.
As the Three-eyed crow, Brynden has become one with the weirwood, with roots and branches growing around and through him, including through his head and out his empty eye socket. He still possesses one red eye. He has become so haggard and withered that Bran initially mistook him for a corpse.
Biography[]
Early Life[]
Brynden Rivers was born in 175 AC, as one of the many bastard children of King Aegon IV Targaryen. Brynden's mother is Lady Melissa Blackwood, the most beloved of the king's mistresses and who had replaced the fifth mistress, Lady Barba Bracken, the mother of Aegor Rivers. Brynden is the youngest of Melissa's children as he has two older sisters, Mya and Gwenys Rivers. He developed close relations at court, even after King Aegon the Unworthy dismissed Lady Melissa. This is due to the fact that Melissa is beloved and popular at court, due to her generosity and kind heart, as this also allowed her to befriend King Aegon's sister-wife Queen Naerys.
Because Brynden is born with a winestain birthmark, this led him to be given the nickname 'Bloodraven', as his birthmark seems to take the shape of a raven.
Though Bloodraven was well-liked, he is strongly hated by his own half-brother Aegor, who is nicknamed 'Bittersteel'. At some point, the two fell in love with their half-sister Shiera Seastar, whose mother is Serenei of Lys, King Aegon's last mistress. Brynden is known to be Shiera's most ardent admirer. Though she would always choose Brynden over Aegor, Shiera refused to marry him. Because she liked Bloodraven more than Bittersteel, this caused the hatred between the two half-brothers to increase.
At an unknown point in time, Bloodraven was bestowed with the Valyrian steel longsword Dark Sister, which was formally wielded by Queen Visenya Targaryen, Maegor the Cruel, King Jaehaerys I Targaryen, Prince Baelon the Brave, the rogue Prince Daemon Targaryen, and Aemon the Dragonknight. Though he is an expert swordsman, Bloodraven's favorite weapon is a longbow, which is carved from weirwood.
In 184 AC, Brynden and the rest of King Aegon's bastard children were legitimized by their father as he lay dying on his deathbed, though Aegon the Unworthy did this so he could spread the seeds of war and chaos, which will haunt the Targaryens for many years.
First Blackfyre Rebellion[]
Bloodraven is presumably believed to have killed Daemon I Blackfyre at the Redgrass Field.
When Daemon Blackfyre launched a rebellion against his trueborn half-brother King Daeron II Targaryen, Bloodraven remained loyal to House Targaryen while Bittersteel joined with the rebels. At the great Battle of the Redgrass Field, while commanding his personal guard known as the Raven's Teeth, he took the Weeping Ridge. From a vantage point, Bloodraven and the Raven's Teeth rained a volley of arrows down on the rebel army, which killed Daemon Blackfyre, along with his two eldest sons, the twins Aemon and Aegon.
Brynden after losing his right eye to Bittersteel.
This act would be strongly condemned by many and Brynden would be later cursed as a kinslayer, as it was told that the arrows that were fired on the rebel army are guided by Brynden's usage of sorcery, though it is unknown on whose arrow killed Daemon. Nevertheless, with the Black Dragon dead, the rebels began to rout, but Bittersteel led a ferocious charge against Brynden and the Raven's Teeth. Engaging his half-brother in a duel, Bittersteel managed to slash out Brynden's right eye. However, the battle proved to be a distraction for reinforcements, who are under the command of Prince Baelor "Breakspear" Targaryen and his brother Prince Maekar, to arrive. With this, the Blackfyre Rebellion turned in favor of the Loyalists, forcing Bittersteel and Daemon Blackfyre's family to flee to the Free Cities, where they remain in exile.
In the aftermath of the battle, Brynden won over Baelor Breakspear's call for leniency by advocating a hard line against the rebels.
Reign of Aerys I Targaryen[]
After King Daeron perished from a plague known as the Great Spring Sickness alongside Baelor's sons Princes Valarr and Matarys, Prince Aerys Targaryen was chosen to succeed his father as king, as Baelor Breakspear, Daeron II's legal heir, had tragically died earlier from wounds he had sustained from Duncan the Tall's trial by seven. During his weak reign, King Aerys I, who is disinterested in ruling the realm, names Brynden Rivers as his Hand of the King and his Master of Whisperers. As King Aerys allowed him to rule in his place while he occupied himself with books and studying, this makes Bloodraven the real power behind the Iron Throne as well as the functional ruler of King's Landing at that time.
During the Great Spring Sickness, Brynden, seeing bodies pile up in the streets, ordered the pyromancers of the Alchemists' Guild to burn them in the ruins of the Dragonpit, which was destroyed during the Dance of the Dragons. At night, the light of the wildfire pyres can be seen as a dark green glow throughout King's Landing, though a quarter of the capital also got burned. Around that same time, a drought also took place, which lasted little more than a year. Because of the drought, many smallfolk were forced to leave their lands to search for places where rain still fell.
Though Brynden ordered them to return to their own lands, many, however, remain defiant while a few obeyed. To make matters worse, they blamed Bloodraven for being in charge and to the point where they began rebelling against him, as they cursed him as a kinslayer, due to their presumed belief that he had slain Daemon Blackfyre on the Redgrass Field. Many smallfolk began a life of crime and brigandry, becoming robbers and outlaws in the process. While trade had dwindled, prices had increased. It was held that travel has become less safe during the reign of Aerys I than it had been while King Daeron II ruled.
Some people alleged that Bloodraven used sorcery to uncover secrets with Shiera Seastar, his paramour. Shiera would always refuse to marry Brynden, no matter how many times he tried to offer to marry her. In 211 AC, as Ser Otho Bracken, also known as the Brute of Bracken, was expected to succeed his father as Lord of Stone Hedge, his rivals from House Blackwood were expected to start a war to root him out. It was suggested that Brynden wouldn't be inclined to hear the complaints of House Bracken, due to being half-Blackwood, though Septon believed that Bloodraven would most likely do nothing, and that if he decides to act, it would only be helping his Blackwood cousins in bringing Otho to bay.
During Lord Dagon Greyjoy's raid on the western coast, as he attempt to revive the Old Way for the ironborn, Brynden kept an eye on Tyrosh, which was where his half- brother Aegor and Daemon Blackfyre's surviving sons remained in exile. Though it appears that Bloodraven and House Targaryen did nothing to aid Houses Lannister and Stark in repulsing Dagon Greyjoy, Victarion Greyjoy would recall years later that, "...even Dagon could not defeat the dragons", which suggests that the Targaryens eventually intervened.
Second Blackfyre Rebellion[]
A year later in 212 AC, through his spies, which includes a Vyrwel man-at-arms and a troupe of comic dwarves, and with the aid of Ser Duncan the Tall and his squire Egg, Bloodraven became aware of a conspiracy to press forward the claim of Daemon II Blackfyre, the surviving eldest son of Daemon I Blackfyre, and launch a second rebellion against House Targaryen. Together with a great army consisting of 300 Raven's Teeth, 3 knights of the Kingsguard, 500 other knights, and 5,000 infantry from the Crownlands and the Riverlands, Brynden marched on Whitewalls to suppress the plot.
Brynden Rivers arresting Daemon II Blackfyre at Whitewalls, thus preventing the Second Blackfyre Rebellion.
Seeing such a powerful force, Daemon II Blackfyre tried to rally the men present in Whitewalls but they refused to give him their support, as they noted that he is lacking Blackfyre, the Valyrian steel sword of Aegon the Conqueror, which is what Daemon's father bore to possess a disputed claim against King Daeron II. Left with no choice, Daemon II rode out to meet Bloodraven. Though the former challenged him to single combat, Brynden has him arrested instead. With the arrest of Daemon II Blackfyre, the Second Blackfyre Rebellion was thwarted before it could even begin.
Third Blackfyre Rebellion[]
A few years later in 219 AC, when Aegor Rivers crowned Haegon Blackfyre, the younger brother of Daemon II, this initiated the Third Blackfyre Rebellion. During the battle, Bloodraven and Bittersteel dueled with each other for a second time. In the aftermath of the rebellion, in which Haegon was dishonorably killed after he had surrendered, Bittersteel himself was captured and brought to the Red Keep in chains to stand trial. Though Brynden Rivers and Prince Aerion Targaryen argued that Aegor should be executed, as he was found guilty of high treason, the weak King Aerys, not having a second thought in his brain, foolishly spares Bittersteel and ordered that he be sent to the Wall to join the Night's Watch. During the voyage to Eastwatch-by-the-sea, Aegor's ship was intercepted by Blackfyre supporters, allowing him to return to Tyrosh.
Great Council of 233 AC[]
Brynden continued to serve as Hand of the King to King Aerys I up until the king's death in 221 AC. However, as Aerys died with no issue, this brought concern that because of the rivalry between Bloodraven and Prince Maekar, a succession crisis would occur. As the claim of Aerys' brother Prince Rhaegel, was dismissed, as he and his children are simple-minded, Maekar would inherit the Iron Throne if King Aerys didn't produce an heir. Due to Maekar and Bloodraven's rivalry, this caused many to fear that this will spark another Dance of the Dragons between the two for the Iron Throne. Despite this, the newly-crowned King Maekar I Targaryen confounded expectations by naming Brynden as his Hand of the King, despite his distrust of the latter. As a result, Bloodraven once again served as Hand to King Maekar until the king's death in 233 AC during the Peake Uprising.
Bloodraven presenting the head of Aenys Blackfyre to the Great Council.
Because the line of succession is now unclear, Brynden calls for a Great Council to decide on who will inherit the throne. As the matter of succession was being debated, a fifth claimant made himself known, and the person turns out to be Aenys Blackfyre, the fifth son of Daemon I Blackfyre. He had pressed his claim by writing in exile. Brynden proceeded to trick Aenys into believing that he is being offered safe conduct so he could present his claim in person. Aenys accepted the offer, and once he is in the capital, he was seized by the City Watch of King's Landing and dragged to the Red Keep where Brynden sacrifices his honor by executing Aenys. Brynden then presents his head to the lords of the Great Council as a warning to anyone who might still have Blackfyre sympathies.
The murder of Aenys Blackfyre consequently angered the Golden Company and House Blackfyre, including Daemon Blackfyre, the son of the late Haegon Blackfyre. After Aegon V Targaryen became king, his first act was to have Brynden arrested for murdering Aenys Blackfyre, which is decried as dishonorable as it broke the word of the Iron Throne. Though Brynden argued that he willingly paid the price by sacrificing his honor for the good of the realm, King Aegon refused to set him free and offers to send him to the Wall, which Brynden accepts.
Aegon V made Bloodraven a part of the "honor guard", which consisted of 200 recruits for the Night's Watch, to escort Maester Aemon (formally Prince Aemon Targaryen) to the Wall. Ser Duncan the Tall, who is now Lord Commander of the Kingsguard, was among the escorts. Many of the honor guard consist of archers from the Raven's Teeth, as they willingly chose to take the black so they could continue to follow their leader. According to George R.R. Martin, Bloodraven took his sword Dark Sister with him to the Wall. Rising through the ranks of the Night's Watch, he was elected as Lord Commander a few years later in 239 AC. In 252 AC, while ranging alone beyond the Wall, he suddenly disappeared and never returned.
Legacy[]
As of the present, while Brynden Rivers's reputation is somewhat mixed, he is mostly cast in a negative light in the history of Westeros; He is branded as a kinslayer as it is believed that he had killed his own half-brother Daemon Blackfyre during the Battle of the Redgrass Field. In addition, he is believed to be a dark sorcerer who guided his and the Raven's Teeth's arrows with magic. Furthermore, he is also seen as a sinister spymaster who, during his time as Hand of the King, ruled with "spies and spells".
Recent History[]
A Feast for Crows[]
Maester Aemon tells Samwell Tarly that Brynden Rivers and Duncan the Tall accompanied him during his journey to the Wall. Dareon, a singer and a recruit of the Night's Watch, that he knows a song about Brynden which is called "A Thousand Eyes, and One".
A Dance of Dragons[]
When Bran Stark is taken into the cave of the Three-eyed-crow by the surviving Children of the Forest, he meets a pale and skeletal man called the last greenseer or the Three-eyed-crow, who is seen sitting on a throne of tangled roots. He has a red blotch on his neck and cheek, white hair that is long enough to reach the floor and is missing an eye while the other eye is red. He is surrounded by the roots of his throne with some of them even growing through his body, even through his leg and empty eye socket. When he spoke, his voice is slow and dry, as if he had forgotten to speak.
The Three-eyed-crow became Bran's mentor in the ways of green seeing and skin changing; He teaches the boy to enter ravens, which caused Bran to learn that the ravens surrounding the Three-eyed-crow have children who had died and remain in their skins. He was also taught on how to see through the faces of weirwood trees. The Three-eyed-crow tells Meera Reed that he has many names, and even has a mother who named him Brynden prior to his birth. Though he cannot heal Bran's crippled legs, which left the boy disappointed, Brynden, however, promises that he will teach him how to fly. Deciding to move on to the next step, he has Leaf and the Children of the Forest feed Bran weirwood paste, which is made from seeds of wierwood, to awaken the boy's green seeing gifts.
After Bran saw his late father, Lord Eddard Stark, through a weirwood tree, Brynden, seeing that the boy is haunted by his ghosts, tells him that he is haunted by his own ghosts, a brother he loved, a brother he hates, and a woman he desired. Though he continued to see them through the weirwood trees, none of his words ever reached them as the past remains the past, and while they can learn from it, they can never change it.
Gallery[]
External Links[]
- Brynden Rivers on the A Wiki of Ice and Fire.
- Three-eyed-crow on the A Wiki of Ice and Fire.
- Brynden Rivers on the Wiki of Westeros.
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