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| “ | Bittersteel was half-dragon, and all bastard. | „ |
| ~ Arianne Martell about Bittersteel. |
Ser Aegor Rivers, also known as Bittersteel, is a major character in the A Song of Ice and Fire novel series.
He was one of the infamous Great Bastards, a son of King Aegon IV Targaryen and Lady Barba Bracken. He was the half-brother of Daemon Blackfyre, and the founder of House Blackfyre's primary army, the Golden Company. When the pretender King Daemon I Blackfyre rebelled against King Daeron II Targaryen, Bittersteel sided with him, both believing Daemon was the true heir. He also supported some of the later Blackfyre rebellions.
Aegor was married to his half-niece, Calla Blackfyre, one of Daemon's daughters, but, according to George R. R. Martin they hadn't any children.
For his personal coat-of-arms, Bittersteel combined the red stallion of his mother's family, House Bracken, with black dragon wings from House Blackfyre, on a golden field.
Many in the Seven Kingdoms, such as Catelyn Stark, use Aegor and House Blackfyre as prime example of why bastards are to be shunned, feared, and hated.
Personality[]
Aegor, as his moniker "Bittersteel" suggests, was a sour, bitter, angry man who was extremely quick to irritate and take offense. He was known to never smile.
He was a vengeful man that held many grudges, especially against his half-brother, Brynden Rivers, also known as Bloodraven. Aegor deeply loathed both Brynden and his mother, Melissa Blackwood.
Despite his anger and resentment, Aegor was very fierce, resilient and persistent, as he failed so many times in battles but never gave up and kept coming back. He was also exceptionally loyal to his brother, Daemon Blackfyre and his legacy, and had a deep love for his half-sister, Shiera Seastar.
Biography[]
Early Life[]
Aegor Rivers was born in 172 AC to King Aegon IV Targaryen, known as Aegon the Unworthy, and Lady Barba of House Bracken, who was the King's favorite mistress at the time. King Aegon IV was infamous across the realm for his greed and lust, as well as the numerous illegitimate children he sired. Aegor himself was one of the "Great Bastards," illegitimate children birthed from noble mistresses. Born in King's Landing, the capital city of the Seven Kingdoms, Aegor, when he was an infant, he and his mother were sent away by the King due to mounting pressure from the legitimate heir Prince Daeron and his uncle Prince Aemon the Dragonknight.
Aegor on his father Court, with his half brothers, and his mother.
Aegor Rivers was raised by his mother's family, House Bracken, in their ancestral seat of Stone Hedge. As he grew up, he developed a burning hatred for his half-brother Brynden Rivers, whose mother was Melissa Blackwood, who became not only the king's favorite mistress, but she was beloved by everyone, even the king's sister-wife, Queen Naerys. Due to House Bracken's arrogance, Aegon the Unworthy began inflicting petty insults on them. A prime example was that after Barba Bracken had once joked Melissa was "flat as a boy," Aegon took away the hills known as the Mother's Teets, originally given to House Bracken, and renamed them "Barba's Teets," before renaming them again "Melissa's Teets," in which he gave the hills to House Blackwood instead. Aegor at some point met and fell in love with his and Brynden's half-sister, Shiera Seastar, who is also another Great Bastard. Unfortunately, Brynden, who had since gained the nickname "Bloodraven," also sought Shiera's affection, and she always chose him over Aegor, causing the latter's hatred for Bloodraven to burn even more.
Eventually, Aegon IV died from his horrible and unhealthy condition. Before his death, he had all his bastards legitimized to sow the seeds of discord and war, though while he additionally gave Bloodraven the Valyrian steel sword Dark Sister, he supposedly left Bittersteel with nothing but the legitimization, fuelling the hatred to its breaking point. At some point before the first Blackfyre Rebellion, Aegor's hatred and jealousy of his half-brother earned him the nickname "Bittersteel," likely due to his bitterness at Bloodraven's status as King Aegon's second favourite son.
Bittersteel and Fireball riding to the battle, alongside Daemon Blackfyre.
Alongside various lords of Westeros, Aegor began pressing his eldest half-brother, Daemon Blackfyre, to rebel against Aegon IV's trueborn son, King Daeron II Targaryen, as many believed that due to being gifted with the Valyrian Steel sword Blackfyre and looking far more like a king, this would prove that he was his father's trueborn son. It was much later noted by King Maekar I that it had been Bittersteel and Ser Quentyn Ball, who both had the largest hand in convincing Daemon he was the true heir. Eventually, Daemon conceded and did revolt, with Bittersteel as his top commander.
First Blackfyre Rebellion.[]
Bittersteel lashes out at Bloodraven.
In the first Blackfyre Rebellion, during the battle of the Redgrass Field, Bittersteel took command of the right of Daemon's host. After Daemon and his eldest sons were killed by arrows fired by Bloodraven and his personal guard, the Raven's Teeth, Bittersteel claimed Blackfyre and rallied what remained of the Blackfyre forces.
Bittersteel takes Bloodraven's eye
He personally attacked his half-brother, wishing to kill him for everything Aegor believed him guilty of, despite the taboo of kinslaying. During the battle, he managed to slice out one of Bloodraven's eyes but had to flee before he could really kill him due to the arrival of Prince Baelor Targaryen and his reinforcements. Bittersteel fled Westeros with Daemon's widow, Rohanne, and her remaining children to the Free City of Tyrosh, vowing to one day put one of Daemon's descendants on the Iron Throne.
The Golden Company[]
After serving a year with the sellsword company the Second Sons, Aegor, having noticed that his support was waning due to many exiled lords and knights joining different sellsword companies, created his own sellsword company, which he called the Golden Company, both to compensate for the losses in the first Blackfyre Rebellion, to route other exiled lords to their cause, and to bind the exiles together. The Golden Company gained a high reputation in Essos, having never broken a contract, almost always completing theirs, and severely punishing any client that tried to betray them or hadn't honored their contract. Out of respect for their founder, the Golden Company used the phrase "Beneath the gold, the bitter steel," a reference to Aegor's nickname. While the Golden Company served as the main army of House Blackfyre in the next three that followed, with Aegor fighting in the third and fourth.
Second, Third, and Fourth Blackfyre Rebellions[]
Supposedly troubled by the homosexuality and lackluster fighting skills of Daemon I Blackfyre's eldest son, Daemon II, Bittersteel, distrusting his half-nephew's dragon dreams, refused to give him support and even denied him the sword Blackfyre, leading the second Blackfyre Rebellion to be put down in a humiliating fashion by Bloodraven. House Targaryen took Daemon II as a hostage to ensure that Bittersteel and Daemon II's younger brother, Haegon, could not invade.
Aegor leading the charge of the Golden Company, during the Third Blackfyre Rebellion.
However, after Daemon mysteriously died while in captivity a few years later, Bittersteel crowned Haegon, and they launched the Third Blackfyre Rebellion.
However, the rebellion was quickly crushed, and Bittersteel was captured and taken captive. Though Brynden Rivers and Prince Aerion Targaryen advocated for him to be executed for treason and for his multiple rebellions, King Aerys I Targaryen, however, unwisely sent Aegor to the Wall to join the Night's Watch. The ship taking Aegor north was intercepted by the Golden Company, however, and this allowed Bittersteel to return to Tyosh, where he crowned Haegon I's eldest son, Daemon III.
17 years later, Bittersteel landed with Daemon III and the Golden Company at Massey's Hook, beginning the Fourth Blackfyre Rebellion. As with previous rebellions, it was crushed at the Battle of Wendwater Bridge, with Daemon III being slain by Ser Duncan the Tall, but the ever-fireproof Bittersteel managed to escape to Essos to regroup the Golden Company.
Aegor spent the last years of his life fighting in the Discord Lands, fighting with his mercenaries in minor guerilla groups. He may have still lived when Maelys "the Monstrous" Blackfyre enlisted in the Golden Company.
Some time later, the Golden Company entered a skirmish between Tyrosh and Myr, resulting in Bittersteel being severely wounded under unknown circumstances. Before his death, he ordered the Golden Company to dip his skull in gold, just after boiling the flesh, and bring it before them as they crossed the Narrow Sea to finally take the Iron Throne for another of Daemon Blackfyre's descendants. This final order inspired the captain generals, who have since led the Golden Company in the years that followed, to have their own skulls bathed in gold after death.
Recent History[]
Tales of Dunk & Egg[]
The Mystery Knight[]
Lord Gormon Peake mentions Bittersteel during a conversation with Tommard Heddle. Gormon tells him that no bastard can be trusted, not even Bittersteel, before assuming that a few victories will bring him over the water fast enough.
The World of Ice & Fire[]
In Maester Yandel's writing on King Daeron II Targaryen, Aegor Rivers noted that while his steel may have been bitter, his tongue is worse.
A Dance with Dragons[]
Chapter 24[]
Jon Connington thinks of Bittersteel, saying to himself in his mind that he died defeated and alone, as a broken man in an "alien world".
Chapter 67[]
While in Meereen, Ser Barristan Selmy thinks to himself that both Bittersteel and Bloodraven love their half-sister Shiera Seastar.
The Winds of Winter[]
During his march on Winterfell, Bittersteel was mentioned by Stannis Baratheon, who tells Ser Justin Massey that after retreating to Essos, Bittersteel swore that he'd return to place a son of Daemon Blackfyre on the iron throne. Stannis notes that he was never successful.
Near Griffin's Roost, the ancestral seat of House Connington, Princess Arianne Martell tells Lysono Maar, a sellsword of the Golden Company, that Bittersteel is half-dragon but all bastard.
Gallery[]
.png "Aegor Rivers' personal coat of arms (ASOIAF).png (293 KB)")
.png "Aegor Rivers' personal coat of arms (GoT).png (208 KB)")
_by_JotaSaraiva.jpg "Aegor Rivers (Bittersteel) by JotaSaraiva.jpg (840 KB)")
External Links[]
- Aegor Rivers on the A Wiki of Ice and Fire.
- Aegor Rivers on the Wiki of Westeros.
