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| “ | What do you know of Velaryon blood, princess? I could cut my veins and show it to you and you still wouldn't recognize it. This is about the future and survival of my house, not yours. My queen, my lord Hand, this is a matter of blood, not ambition. I place the continuation of the survival of my house and my line above all. | „ |
| ~ Vaemond Velaryon to Rhaenyra Targaryen. |
| “ | Vaemond: You may run your house as you see fit, but you will not decide the future of mine. My house survived the Doom, and a thousand tribulations besides, and gods be damned, I will not see it ended on the account of this b... Daemon: Say it. Vaemond: Her children... are bastards! And she... is... a whore. |
„ |
| ~ Vaemond's last words before his murder by Daemon. |
Ser Vaemond Velaryon is a minor character in the A Song of Ice and Fire novel series and a major antagonist in the television adaptation House of the Dragon. He was a knight of House Velaryon during the reign of King Viserys I Targaryen. He was married and had two sons, Daemion and Daeron.
In the novels, Vaemond was a nephew of Lord Corlys Velaryon, while in the TV series he was Corlys' younger brother.
Vaemond's granddaughter, Daenaera Velaryon, was the second wife of King Aegon III Targaryen and Queen Consort of the Seven Kingdoms. From Daenaera, Vaemond was great-grandfather of Kings Daeron I and Baelor I Targaryen, and Princesses Daena, Rhaena, and Elaena Targaryen. This also makes Vaemond the great-great-grandfather of Daemon I Blackfyre, son of Daena.
He was portrayed by Wil Johnson.
Biography[]
Fire & Blood[]
Other than Corlys, the involvement of any other Velaryon family member in the War for the Stepstones was never mentioned.
In 126 AC, the 73-year-old Lord Corlys Velaryon was struck by a sudden fever and fell gravely ill, which led to a dispute about the succession of the island of Driftmark. With both of Corlys' children, Laena and Laenor, dead six years before, Laena's daughters and Laenor's three sons stood to possibly inherit in case Corlys did not survive his illness. However, the parentage of Laenor's sons was constantly questioned by the public, while daughters don't necessarily inherit automatically, unlike male heirs, especially if they have their father's last name, making them members of his house first (and a lot of houses, such as Stark and Frey, prefer to pass over female heirs and marry them off). However, Prince Jacaerys Velaryon also stood to inherit the Iron Throne one day after his mother, Rhaenyra Targaryen, the Princess of Dragonstone. Rhaenyra insisted that Corlys named her second son, Prince Lucerys Velaryon, the heir to Driftmark.
Rhaenyra's attempt to make her son Luke the heir to Driftmark did not sit well with Corlys's six nephews—Vaemond, Malentine, Rhogar, and three others—who viewed their claims as superior to those of Rhaenyra's three sons, on the ground that they were not fathered by Ser Laenor at all, but instead were bastards fathered by Ser Harwin Strong, making them false Velaryons. Ser Vaemond's claim was especially seen as the most valid one, as Corlys' eldest nephew.
Vaemond insisted that he should be named heir to Driftmark and accused Rhaenyra of adultery (also making her guilty of high treason for trying to put bastards both on the Iron Throne and in possession of lands and holdings belonging to a house unrelated to them). In response to the accusations, Rhaenyra dispatched her husband, Prince Daemon Targaryen, to seize Ser Vaemond. She had Vaemond beheaded (presumably by Daemon himself) and fed his corpse to her dragon Syrax.
Legacy[]
In response to the murder, Vaemond's five cousins, his wife and his two sons, Daemion and Daeron Velaryon, sailed to King's Landing to seek justice for Vaemond's murder and put their claims forward at court directly in front of King Viserys I Targaryen. The King listened to everything they had to say, but when all of Vaemond's five cousins (who were all brothers) repeated the rumors about Rhaenyra's sons being bastards he had their tongues removed. Thereafter, the brothers became known as the "silent five". Viserys also did not punish Rhaenyra and Daemon for Vaemond's unlawful execution.
During the Dance of the Dragons, three of the silent five joined the Greens in support of King Aegon II Targaryen, siding against the pretender Rhaenyra Targaryen and their own uncle Lord Corlys, who was part of the Blacks instead, thus making House Velaryon side with Rhaenyra. Only later, after Corlys completely falls off with Rhaenyra, House Velaryon officially joins the Greens, although the Velaryon fleet led by Alyn Velaryon receives word of this only after Rhaenyra's death. With Daemon being killed by his fight against Prince Regent Aemond Targaryen and Rhaenyra being executed by Aegon II and fed to the dragon Sunfyre, Vaemond was indirectly avenged. Vaemond's sons likely did not participate in the Dance of the Dragons, except maybe during the Triarchy's sack of Driftmark in the Battle of the Gullet, if the two were at Driftmark or Spicetown at the time.
In 132 AC, following the Dance of the Dragons and the death of Corlys Velaryon, Vaemond's sons Daeron and Daemion contested the claim of Alyn Velaryon as Lord of the Tides (as Alyn was born a bastard and thus was not trueborn). The brothers put forth their own claims before the council of regents in King's Landing. However, the Hand of the King, Ser Tyland Lannister, and the regents ruled against those claims. Daeron and Daemion chose to accept the regents' decision and reconciled with Lord Alyn, who rewarded them with lands and naval forces of their own on the island of Driftmark on the condition that they contribute ships to his fleet.
Shortly after the Dance was over, a long winter came and the Winter Fever epidemic struck Westeros from 132 AC to 133 AC. Vaemond's daughter-in-law, Hazel Harte, was among the casualties of the Winter Fever outbreak. In 133 AC, Daeron Velaryon—Vaemond's son and husband of Hazel—drowned in the Stepstones while fighting in the Daughters' War. Daeron and Hazel's daughter, Daenaera Velaryon, was left an orphan at the age of six, and was taken in as a ward by Lady Baela Targaryen and her husband, Lord Alyn Velaryon.
After the death of Queen Jaehaera Targaryen, Vaemond's granddaughter, Daenaera Velaryon, was married to King Aegon III Targaryen and would give him two sons—Princes Daeron and Baelor—and three daughters, Princesses Daena, Rhaena, and Elaena. Daena would conceive Daemon Waters with Prince Aegon Targaryen, thus putting in the world the greatest threat to House Targaryen, who would be surpassed in the future by Lord Robert Baratheon. Daemon was named after Vaemond's own killer.
House of the Dragon[]
Ser Vaemond, a participant in the War for the Stepstones, seeks reinforcements from King Viserys I Targaryen without informing other commanders after three years of conflict. Despite doubts about using Prince Daemon Targaryen as bait during the siege of Bloodstone, Vaemond reluctantly joins the plan, which ultimately proves successful.
Vaemond leads the funeral procession for his niece, Lady Laena Velaryon, on Driftmark, delivering a eulogy in High Valyrian. In his speech, Vaemond subtly questions the purity of Velaryon blood, pointedly glancing at Princes Jacaerys and Lucerys Velaryon, the supposed (but false) children of Vaemond's nephew, Ser Laenor Velaryon, who do not resemble the Velaryon lineage.
Following Lord Corlys Velaryon's injury in the Stepstones, Vaemond becomes more determined to prevent Lucerys Velaryon from inheriting Driftmark. Despite Corlys naming Lucerys as his heir, Vaemond, warned by his sister-in-law, Princess Rhaenys Targaryen, travels to King's Landing to plead his case before the king. Once at the Red Keep, Vaemond gains support from Ser Otto and Queen Alicent Hightower, who, driven by their hostility towards Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen, endorse his claim to be the heir instead of Lucerys.
In the Great Hall, during an audience led by Otto Hightower on the Iron Throne due to King Viserys' sickness, Vaemond argues that he, as a true Velaryon and the closest kin to Corlys, should inherit, casting doubt on Rhaenyra's three sons. Before Rhaenyra can respond, King Viserys unexpectedly enters, taking control of the situation. Frustrated and realizing he can't sway the king, Vaemond becomes aggressive, exposing the paternity of Rhaenyra's children and calling her a "whore." This act is deemed treason, and Viserys declares severe punishment by having his tongue removed. Before any action is taken, Daemon intervenes, killing Vaemond from behind.
Trivia[]
- A common misconception among some members of the fanbase is the belief that Vaemond unlawfully attempted to steal the birthright of Daemon Targaryen's daughters, Baela and Rhaena (who are both younger than Jacaerys and Lucerys Velaryon), believing the girls automatically had strict legal claims to Driftmark, if Rhaenyra's sons were false Velaryons. This is incorrect, as the claims of Vaemond and his cousins were equally valid, just as members of any house can put forth their claim for any reason, especially if they are born from a ruling male line of the lands they wish to inherit.
- George R. R. Martin himself said that the laws of succession are quite messy, complicated, contentious, and based on real life Medieval Europe's laws of succession, which were equally complicated and questionable, and also saw many succession crisis and wars, with members being passed over. Baela and Rhaena were Targaryens first and Velaryons after, and both had the potential of becoming ladies of other seats through marriage. Both in real life's Medieval Europe and in Westeros, a family's line is valued more, and Baela and Rhaena came from a female line through their mother Laena, while Vaemond and allegedly Joffrey Velaryon descended from a male line, making their claims superior. This was also the case in real life's feudal system.
- Vaemond's claim and any potential claim from Joffrey were legally valid (if treating the latter as a trueborn Velaryon) and not unlawful usurpation. Laenor Velaryon himself was chosen as the heir to Driftmark over his older sister Laena, as it's the most favored norm to name younger sons over older daughters to succeed. There have been numerous cases in which female heirs are passed over, especially if they are married or are to marry important nobles. Tyrion Lannister also put forth a claim to Casterly Rock over that of his sister Cersei, insisting that it was his by rights. The Starks and Freys favor male heirs and constantly pass over female members.
- Disputes of inheritance between males and females also led to wars of succession crisis in Westeros, such as the Dance of the Dragons, House Arryn's conflicts and a civil war in the Vale, and nearly a civil war in the Iron Islands that was stopped only by the fact that the Ironborn make their own laws and used the ancient tradition of the kingsmoot to solve their issue. In most cases, the male claimants win.
- Vaemond's claim and any potential claim from Joffrey were legally valid (if treating the latter as a trueborn Velaryon) and not unlawful usurpation. Laenor Velaryon himself was chosen as the heir to Driftmark over his older sister Laena, as it's the most favored norm to name younger sons over older daughters to succeed. There have been numerous cases in which female heirs are passed over, especially if they are married or are to marry important nobles. Tyrion Lannister also put forth a claim to Casterly Rock over that of his sister Cersei, insisting that it was his by rights. The Starks and Freys favor male heirs and constantly pass over female members.
- George R. R. Martin himself said that the laws of succession are quite messy, complicated, contentious, and based on real life Medieval Europe's laws of succession, which were equally complicated and questionable, and also saw many succession crisis and wars, with members being passed over. Baela and Rhaena were Targaryens first and Velaryons after, and both had the potential of becoming ladies of other seats through marriage. Both in real life's Medieval Europe and in Westeros, a family's line is valued more, and Baela and Rhaena came from a female line through their mother Laena, while Vaemond and allegedly Joffrey Velaryon descended from a male line, making their claims superior. This was also the case in real life's feudal system.
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