Empire of the Dawn: Ancient Mystery of ASOIAF

This videos covers the unsolved mystery of the Great Empire of the Dawn, a mythical empire in Essos said to have existed in the earliest days of ASOIAF lore. If they existed, they may have been pre-Valyrians, and may have even appeared in one of Daenerys Targaryen's dreams. They also have potential connections to Asshai, the Hightowers of Oldtown, the Daynes of Starfall, and even Euron Greyjoy. The empire was not mentioned in Game of Thrones, nor is it likely to be mentioned in TWOW or other future A Song of Ice and Fire books, but it intrigues me anyway. Tinfoil ahead...

Art credits:

Further reading:

Timestamps:
0:00 Great Empire Legend
2:11 Black Stone
4:23 Legacy in Dany
6:53 Dayne / Dawn / Hightower
10:15 Fantasy Archeology
12:58 Asshai
14:59 Long Night
20:28 Last Words

#asoiaf #gameofthrones #houseofthedragon

[SiddarthaTB]

Dany going to Asshai and then crossing the Sunset sea seems like it was the direction George wanted to go back when he was still planning for there to be a time skip.

[nicolas.p]

It's possible that the Hightower was an outpost for the great empire of the Dawn, like dragonstone was for the valyrians. If this is true then it means they crossed the sunset sea.

[aadhavsanthaseelan]

So technically, Three Eyed Raven and Bran can see all of this, from beginning to end. What a delight that would be.

[daniell]

Not enough people talk about the Great Empire of the Dawn. Very succinct analysis of the current theory on the role the GEOD played in the history of Planetos.

[KaptifLaDistillerie]

The fact that you have a clear comprehension of the lore and that you are asking questions instead of just reading the wiki makes you one of the best channel for GOT/ASOIAF lore. Cheers mate !

[danieldeclue]

The great empires of the Dawn most definitely are the ancestors of the valyrians. I personally believe that the valyrians as a whole are most likely descended from the amethyst Empress herself, being that true targaryens always have amethyst like eyes. I think it's quite possible that the Danes most likely are descended from a specific ruler of the great Empire as well. Most likely the high Towers too. I believe that it's just the descendants of the amethyst Empress who were able to retain at least a portion of the information that was lost in the first long night, like Dragon riding. This would definitely explain why Danny had a dream about the rulers of the empire, and how they were all guiding her towards waking the dragon, something that they all seem to know about, regardless of whether or not she's just dreaming. And since George loves the concept of history repeating itself, we are heading into a second long night, with the modern equivalent of the Bloodstone Emperor being most likely responsible. It's most likely euron Crow's eye who's going to fill this role

[Callisto_Arcas]

I think the theory of the Others coming for Euron, as they possibly were sent for the Bloodstone Emperor, is my favorite theory I've heard so far. I love your channel because you have the most fascinating theories.
Can't wait for your next video!

[michaelsilver]

After years of watching LML's crunchy stuff, hearing someone compare the kings in the hall in Dany's dream to the ancient emperors and say it probably means nothing just sounds goddamn insane lol

[molleh]

Yes, I believe George is implying all of this!

[nickkangtaylorb]

Superb, balanced approach. Yes I think GRRM is super intentional with all this and chooses his words very carefully.

[thalmoragent]

Wild to think that the Hightowers, mayhpas the Daynes and other known houses may have been "Dragonlords" or some sort of Pre-Valyrian race/ancestors from the Great Empire of the Dawn.

All that stuff, leading up to the Bloodstone Emperor and First Long Night is something I hope another "World of Ice and Fire" book may one day go over in exquisite detail.

The idea that mayhaps Valyrians are the people who were under the "Amythest" Empress' rule, hence purple eyes. Mayhaps a great ritual is formed for each dynasty change, so all inhabitants of their ethnic group eventually is born with the eye color of their ruling dynasty.

Mayhaps the gem colors followed families, so mayhaps the Pearl Emperor was actually multiple individuals of "House Pearl" if you will. Sure they're maybe all related but once a new heir is needed and isn't of that dynasty, they chose a cousin of their House to go on.

Dany had a dream of silver-haired peoples with different colored, fancy eyes. Makes a lot of sense they're like Valyrians, or related to them rather. Maybe thats why some Valyrians, like House Velaryon, has fancy blue eyes, maybe they have some blood trailing back to a previous Dynasty's rule, one with special blue eyes.

Alyssa Targaryen had a green eye, and while its the only case of such a thing, could be long lost "Emerald Emperor/Dynasty" genes still kicking in a rare moment.

Also makes sense as to why Valyrian Steel and Fused Blackstone is similar to the Steel "Dawn" is made of, and the Oily Black Stone around places as well. Similar concepts, slightly different methods used, but for the same purpose.

[legofan]

Finally a deep in-depth video explaining the Great Empire of the dawn! Thank you!!

[njames]

Something you missed, the different gemstones emperors are likely not single individuals but are implied to be dynasties of successive emperors since the empire of the Dawn and its successor Yi Ti got some heavy Asian influence.

[cthulumytoast]

The mythical long rulers, reminds me of the Sumerian King's List that mention rulers that held power for thousands of years. Before the Great Flood.

[justdirt]

I think George wanted to write about someone going to Asshai, but how he would achieve that never really developed. Besides Dany, no pov character could possibly reach Asshai and come back and still have enough story to finish their narrative.

But Mel lived there. Mel as a pov character was impromptu so Jon's death would have a pov character around after it, but it also means that flashbacks to Asshai are almost guaranteed. I doubt Mel will get a ton of chapters, but I can still hope

[alt-monarchist]

Yi Ti inherited some of the lands of the Empire of the Dawn, but they are not direct descendants of that Empire. They were simply subjects to the Empire of the Dawn. When the Empire fell they took advantage and simply took over. Just like the Romans who were not descendants of the Etruscans, but once they disappeared the Romans took over the vacant lands.

[ghostranger]

It is interesting to see that these dragon riding empires seem to move further and further westward the more time goes on. The first was the Great Empire of the Dawn in the Far East, followed by the Valyrian Freehold in the nearer East, and now in more recent history we have the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros in the West.

Of course, we are still assuming that the Great Empire of the Dawn did possess and command dragons, but there is far too much evidence of far older dragon riding civilizations. Though perhaps there was once a civilization even further to the East, and perhaps even older than the Great Empire, associated with Asshai.

[Thomk]

During the empire of the dawn they definitely did not have dragons, but they had some fire breathing beast, or fire magic. It is stated valayrians used blood magic to create dragons. They practiced gene slicing, merging of pecies. Maybe they mixed wyverns, fire magic and valayrian dna to create dragons. The Three heads are the dragon, rider, and mind meld of the 2 is the 3rd head.

[Josh-hvze]

“Again it’s like it’s poetry they rhyme” haha I’ll never not laugh at this George Lucas moment

[renatoovelar]

Maybe the children of the Amethyst Empress fled west to escape their uncle, maybe they hid in the 14 flames, where they mixed with the local Valyrians, teaching them to tame dragons and make fused black stone.