Corlys Velaryon is one of the most stories character in George R.R. Martin s world of
Ice and Fire. So storied, that Maester Mathis wrote an in-world book called The Nine Voyages,
and HBO is considering a spinoff show that focuses on Corlys and his nine voyages to
Essos. Corlys was known as the Sea Snake, but he
was a surrounded by Dragons. Literal and figurative. He married another legend, Rhaenys Targaryen,
the Queen Who Never Was, who claimed the dragon Meleys.
They had two children together: Laena and Laenor Velaryon.
Laena claimed Vhagar and Laenor bonded Seasmoke. Laena also had two children with Daemon Targaryen
- Rhaena and Baela, who bonded Morning and Moondancer respectively.
Laenor married Rhaenyra and they supposedly had three children - Jacaerys, Lucerys, and
Joffrey, who bonded Vermax, Arrax, and Tyraxes respectively but, most likely, these three
boys were actually the sons of Rhaenyra and Ser Harwin Strong, AKA, Breakbones.
Similarly, Laenor supposedly had two bastards Addam and Alyn of Hull with a canny trader
and daring captain named Marilda of Hull. But it s worth noting that Mushroom believed
that Addam and Alyn were actually Corlys Velaryon s sons.
Leanor s wife, Rhaenyra, bonded Syrax, and her uncle-second-husband Daemon Targaryen
bonded Caraxes. They had three children together Aegon, Viserys,
and Visenya. Visenya was born stillborn and poor little Viserys dragon egg never hatched,
but Aegon the Dragonbane bonded Stormcloud. And last, but definitely not least, after
Laenor s death, his quote unquote son Addam of Hull - bonded Seasmoke.
So this goes out to all you visual learners out there. Look at this. A lot of dragons
in and around Corlys Velaryon. Other than Viserys and Visenya, every Targaryen and Velaryon
bonded a dragon except Corlys and Alyn, which is interesting, since Alyn Oakenfist had an
intense passion for sailing, just like Corlys. It s possible that their passion for sailing
was so strong, that it filled up their hearts desires. That may be why they never bonded
dragons. But still, it s kind of sad. Corlys Velaryon
was a legend. He should have bonded a dragon. Actually, there are reasons to believe he
did. And not just any dragon, but the most legendary dragon of them all. The Cannibal.
Corlys fire burnt out in 132 AC. He was buried at sea aboard the very ship that had given
him his name The Sea Snake. According to Archmaester Gyldayn, it was said
afterwards that as the hull went down, The Cannibal swept overhead, his great black wings
spread in a last salute. So that s the rumor. But Archmaester Gyldayn noted that he didn
t buy it. He believed it to be quote A Moving touch, but most likely a later embroidery.
From all we know of The Cannibal, he would have been more apt to eat the corpse than
salute it. So first off, let s be clear. We do not know,
for sure, if The Cannibal swept overhead during Corlys Velaryon s funeral.
But there are two other pieces of information that we need to consider.
First off, The Cannibal was very, very old. Some smallfolk claimed that The Cannibal had
made his lair on Dragonstone even before the coming of the Targaryens. So think about that.
The Doom of Valyria was 102 BC. Before Conquest. Aenar Targaryen came to Dragonstone with five
dragons 12 years before that, in 114 BC. One of those five dragons was Balerion the Black
Dread. Balerion died in 94 AC. After Conquest. But Corlys didn t die until 132 AC. So The
Cannibal lived at least 38 years beyond Balerion. Now, we don t know how old Balerion was when
Aenar fled Valyria, but we also don t know how old The Cannibal was when Aenar arrived.
And there are some, such as Grand Maester Munkun and Septon Eustace who don t even believe
the smallfolk. They don t think The Cannibal predated Aenar. But the details are irrelevant.
Now matter how you slice it, at the time of Corlys Velaryon s death, The Cannibal was
very, very old. And according to written history, The Cannibal lived it s entire life on Dragonstone.
Which leads into Point #2. In his in-world book, The World of Ice & Fire,
Archmaester Yandel states that The Cannibal vanished at war s end.
If there is truth to that, it begs the question: why? The Cannibal lived for decades, possibly
a hundred or two hundred years or more on Dragonstone. Why would it fly off all of a
sudden at war s end? Well, Corlys died not long after the war s
end. So if there is truth to The Cannibal flying overhead during Corlys funeral, then
we can speculate as to that reason. The legendary Corlys Velaryon never rode a
dragon, other than The Queen Who Never Was, but he may have bonded a dragon. The most
mysterious dragon of them all. The Cannibal. Just like Daenerys in the show adaptation
of Game of Thrones, Corlys Velaryn may have egun a Second Llife inside The Cannibal, and
flown off to sail the seas once more because that is what Sea Snakes do,