The Princess and the Queen

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The Princess and the Queen, or, The Blacks and the Greens
AuthorGeorge R. R. Martin
Audio read byIain Glen
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
SeriesA Song of Ice and Fire
Genre(s)Fantasy
Published inDangerous Women
PublisherTor Books
Media typeNovella
Publication dateDecember 3, 2013
Followed by"The Rogue Prince"

The Princess and the Queen, or, the Blacks and the Greens is an

epic fantasy novella by American novelist George R. R. Martin, published in the 2013 Tor Books anthology Dangerous Women.[1][2][3] The novella is presented in the form of writings by the fictional historian Archmaester Gyldayn, who is also the "author" of Martin's 2014 novella The Rogue Prince, a direct prequel to The Princess and the Queen.[4] The plot of both The Princess and the Queen and The Rogue Prince is later expanded further in the 2018 novel Fire & Blood, which also spawned a television series
in 2022.

A

usurp Rhaenyra and have her half-brother Aegon (Alicent's eldest son) crowned on the Iron Throne instead.[5][6][7]
The resulting civil war is called the "Dance of the Dragons" due to the active involvement of dragonriders, and is designated the primary cause for the extinction of dragons in Westeros before the time of A Song of Ice and Fire.

Plot

When King Viserys I Targaryen dies, his second wife and widow, Queen Alicent of House Hightower, conspires a

line of succession
.

After Rhaenyra is crowned Queen by her followers at the Targaryen ancestral seat of

Storm's End
. However, Lucerys and his dragon Arrax are attacked and killed over the Shipbreaker Bay by Aemond, who rides the much larger dragon Vhagar. In revenge, Rhaenyra's uncle and second husband, Prince Daemon, has Aegon II's elder son and heir Jaehaerys murdered by a pair of assassins. Soon both branches of the Targaryen royal line are at open war, rallying various noble houses supporting Rhaenyra (known as "The Blacks", a colour she often wore) against those supporting Aegon II and Queen Alicent (known as "The Greens", a colour she often wore).

The

fertile
; likewise, by the ending moments of the war, Rhaenyra's three eldest children have all been killed along with her husband Prince Daemon. Rhaenyra herself is betrayed and captured by Aegon II, who brutally executes her by having his crippled dragon Sunfyre burn her alive before devouring her in six bites. The war however continues after Rhaenyra's death, with her Blacks supporters rallying behind her fourth son, Aegon the Younger, despite the latter being imprisoned as a hostage by Aegon II.

As the last other living male member of House Targaryen (other than the lost prince, Viserys Targaryen), Rhaenyra's son Aegon the Younger is named by Aegon II as his heir, but is constantly threatened with execution by his uncle. However, after the Greens' last army is annihilated at the Battle of the Kingsroad, the stubbornly defiant Aegon II is assassinated by his own men, who then surrendered unconditionally to the Blacks. Aegon the Younger is freed and crowned as King Aegon III, ending the conflict. However, House Targaryen had lost virtually all of their dragons, and the surviving ones had either gone feral and/or died out during the reign of Aegon III, earning him the infamous nickname "Dragonbane".

House Targaryen, continuing through Rhaenyra's direct family line, reigns for the next 200 years, until it is overthrown by Robert Baratheon.

Development

According to

The story was to be included in the companion book The World of Ice & Fire but was removed because the book was becoming too long for the original concept of a fully illustrated book. It and several other stories appeared in abridged versions in other anthologies.[9]

Reception

Entertainment Weekly called the 35,000-word novella "a great demonstration of Martin's ability to dramatize the slippery complexities of power: how evil begets heroism, how heroes become villains".[7] The Princess and the Queen was nominated for a 2014 Locus Award.[10]

Adaptation

An HBO series adaptation of The Princess and the Queen, called House of the Dragon, began airing from August 21, 2022. House of the Dragon is a prequel to Game of Thrones covering the Dance of Dragons civil war, and incorporates additional material from Fire and Blood and the expanded text "The Dying of Dragons." The show is produced by Martin, Vince Gerardis, Ryan Condal, and Miguel Sapochnik; in addition, the latter two are its showrunners.[11] The sixth episode of the pilot season of House of the Dragon is also named after the novella.

See also

References

  1. Tor.com
    . July 24, 2013. Retrieved November 19, 2013.
  2. ^ Martin, George R. R. (January 23, 2013). "Not A Blog: A Dangerous Delivery". GRRM.livejournal.com. Retrieved January 23, 2013.
  3. ^ "The Princess and The Queen, or, The Blacks and The Greens by George R.R. Martin". Goodreads. Retrieved March 11, 2019.
  4. ^ Martin, George R. R. (March 12, 2014). "Not a Blog: The Rogues Are Coming..." GRRM.livejournal.com. Retrieved May 2, 2014.
  5. ^ Driscoll, Molly (July 31, 2013). "George R.R. Martin's new novella will be a part of the anthology Dangerous Women". The Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved November 21, 2013.
  6. ^ "Fiction Book Review: Dangerous Women by George R.R. Martin and Gardner Dozois". Publishers Weekly. October 7, 2013. Retrieved November 23, 2013.
  7. ^ a b Franlich, Darren (December 6, 2013). "Book Review: Dangerous Women". Entertainment Weekly. No. 1288. p. 81. Retrieved July 16, 2014.
  8. ^ Preston, Richard E (13 August 2022). "The Anarchy: The real war that inspired House Of The Dragon". WinterIsComing.net. Retrieved 2022-09-26.
  9. ^ "August 2018: George R.R. Martin Special Event" (Podcast). August 14, 2018. Retrieved September 18, 2018 – via soundcloud.com.
  10. ^ "2014 Locus Awards Winners". Locus. June 28, 2014. Retrieved September 26, 2014.
  11. ^ Patten, Dominic; Andreeva, Nellie (October 29, 2019). "'Game Of Thrones' Prequel House of the Dragon Gets Straight To Series Order From HBO". Deadline Hollywood.