Maegor the Cruel’s death was mysterious. But so was the way in which he came out of
his coma. So it begs the question. How was he healed? Let’s take a look. In case you
forgot or didn’t know, here’s the background as to how Maegor went into a coma.
Maegor was married to Lady Ceryse Hightower, but after 14 years of marriage without a child,
Maegor took on a second wife: Lady Alys Harroway. The Faith did not condone this. And neither
did his first wife’s family - House Hightower. So Maegor’s older brother, King Aenys, gave
Maegor a choice: drop your second wife or go into exile for 5 years. Maegor chose the
latter. Exile. Maegor flew to Pentos on back of Balerion with his second wife and the valyrian
steel sword Blackfyre. During this time, Maegor presumably met a woman who would later be
known as Tyanna of the Tower or Tyanna of Pentos.
Meanwhile back in Westeros, the Faith rose against King Aenys and within a year, Aenys
died on Dragonstone. Aenys had several children, but less than hour an after he died, Aenys’s
aunt Visenya flew to Pentos on Vhagar and returned to Dragonstone with her son Maegor
on Balerion. Maegor was crowned, then he flew over to King’s Landing and challenged the
Faith. They agreed to a type of Trial by Combat called a Trial of Seven, which is the most
holy of trials by combat since it honors The Seven Gods of the Faith. Everyone died during
that Trial of Seven except for Maegor. But even he did not come out unscathed. Maegor
had received a terrible blow to his head. He went comatose for 27 days. On the 28th
day, Maegor’s second wife, Lady Alys Harroway, returned to Westeros with Tyanna of Pentos
AKA Tyanna of the Tower. When Tyanna arrived, Dowager Queen Visenya
dismissed her son’s maesters and septons and gave Maegor over to Tyanna’s care. And
the very next morning, the king awoke. So it begs the question: how did Maegor heal?
It may have just been a coincidence that he healed the day after Tyanna of the Tower arrived.
But that seems like quite the concidence. It may have been as simple as Tyanna having
a medical potion that the maester’s did not know about. But considering the fact that
Tyanna was rumored to be a practitioner of the dark arts, there’s a chance that Tyanna
of the Tower used blood magic. It is implied that Qyburn used a form of blood
magic by sacrificing the women who Cersei had given him to do whatever it was he did
to the Mountain. Mirri Maz Duur attempted to heal Khal Drogo
by sacrificing Dany’s unborn child Rhaego. Of course, that didn’t work. Rhaego’s
life fire accidentally transferred over into one of the dragon eggs. But the point is,
Mirri believed that she could heal Khal Drogo with blood magic.
And of course, we’d be remiss not to mention the Elder Brother on the Quiet Isle. The Elder
Brother has supposedly restored many a man to health that even the maesters could not
cure, and many a woman too. The Elder Brother may be knowingly or even unknowingly doing
some sort of Blood Magic. Since Tyanna of the Tower was rumored to be
a sorceress. And since Maegor the Cruel miraculously arose with the sun after a 28 day coma the
morning after Tyanna of the Tower arrived to King’s Landing, it’s reasonable to
assume that Tyanna of the Tower healed Maegor with blood magic. So, what did she do? Or
rather, who did she sacrifice? It’s possible that Tyanna simply sacrificed
a random person such as a prisoner. That form of healing would be in line with whatever
Qyburn did to the Mountain. But here’s another option: Visenya. Check
this out. We know that blood magic comes at a cost,
right? Only death can pay for life. Rhaego died to give life to a dragon egg. Beric died
to raise Lady Stoneheart. And Thoros and Stannis both had partial deaths to raise Beric and
create two Stannis shadows respectively. But only death can pay for life, so both Thoros
and Stannis paid that price. Thoros was once a fat man before the brotherhood.
But during his time with them, his flesh had melted from him. Similarly, Stannis appeared
to have aged 10 years when Davos saw him after the Battle of the Blackwater. Stannis had
dropped two stone or more of weight. That’s around 30 pounds. A significant decrease in
size. Of course, Thoros was out ranging and fighting.
Possibly eating and drinking less. So that could explain why he lost so much weight.
And Stannis is a weirdo. He may have just stopped eating after the loss at the Blackwater.
But Melisandre specifically said that she would not make a third shadow with Stannis
because it might kill him. And Thoros specifically said that he may die if he tried to raise
Beric a seventh time. So there’s a chance that their blood sacrifices played a part
in them both losing a noticeable amount of weight. Blood magic comes at a cost.
So now let’s look at Visenya. Visenya was 70 when Maegor fell into a coma. She died
just two years later at 72 on dragonstone. It’s worth noting, George R.R. Martin pointed
out that Visenya had grown thin and haggard, the flesh melting from her bones. That verbiage
is very similar to what Thoros said to Sandor, quote: “A year in the wild will melt the
flesh off a man.” So who know? Maybe Visenya died at 72 years old because that was her
time to go. But there’s also the chance that Tyanna of the Tower shortened Visenya’s
life by using some of Visenya’s life fire to heal Maegor.
Maybe. Maybe not. But it’s food for thought. All we know for sure is that it is very strange
that Maegor came out of a 28 day coma the very morning after Tyanna of the Tower arrived
to King’s Landing. Odds are Tyanna of the Tower performed blood magic on Maegor, and
only death can pay for life. So either she donated some of her own life fire to heal
Maegor, she sacrificed random people like prisoners, or she used someone else’s life
fire. Someone such as the only person who cared about Maegor – the legend herself
– Maegor’s mother – Dowager Queen Visenya Targaryen.
If you like this concept, stay tuned. We are going to go even deeper in the next few.