Fire and blood

Fire and blood is the motto of House Targaryen, the ancient words that have accompanied the dragonlords from the Doom of Valyria to the Iron Throne of Westeros. In A Dance with Dragons, the phrase is not merely a heraldic slogan but a living imperative that shapes the actions and dilemmas of the last scion of the dynasty, Daenerys Targaryen, as she rules in Meereen and contemplates her return to the Seven Kingdoms.

Origins and Meaning of the House Words

The Targaryen words, "Fire and Blood," date back to the founding of the dynasty in Westeros. Aegon the Conqueror and his sister-wives used dragonfire to forge the Seven Kingdoms into a single realm, and the motto has ever since proclaimed the family's readiness to wield destruction and sacrifice to achieve its ends. The phrase is invoked by Daenerys herself when she reflects on her identity: "I am the blood of the dragon," she tells herself, and the words "Fire and Blood" are the natural corollary of that bloodline. When she meets Quentyn Martell, the Dornish prince who has come to claim her hand under a secret marriage pact, she tells him plainly, "I know why you are here. For fire and blood." The motto is thus a shorthand for the entire Targaryen claim—a claim that demands not just loyalty but the willingness to burn and be burned.

Daenerys's Struggle with the Legacy

Throughout the novel, Daenerys is caught between the peaceful, constructive rule she wishes to establish in Meereen and the violent, destructive legacy of her house. She plants olive trees, tries to forge a marriage alliance with Hizdahr zo Loraq, and closes the fighting pits, all in an effort to build a lasting peace. Yet the words "Fire and Blood" haunt her. When she learns that Astapor has fallen and its people are being slaughtered, she thinks bitterly, "I am the queen. It was my place to know." The motto becomes a reproach: she has not been fire enough, not been blood enough, to protect her children. The tension culminates in Daznak's Pit, where she mounts Drogon and flies away from Meereen, abandoning her throne and her husband. In that moment, she embraces the fire—literally, as her hair is singed—and the blood of her own wounds, choosing the dragon's path over the queen's.

The Motto as a Call to War and Destiny

For other characters, "Fire and Blood" is a rallying cry for conquest. When the Golden Company lands in the stormlands under the banner of the feigned prince Aegon Targaryen, Jon Connington, the prince's guardian, thinks of the words as the engine of their invasion. The phrase is also used by Daenerys when she confronts the Yunkish slavers who have broken the peace: she tells her council that if the Green Grace returns with a refusal, the answer will be "Fire and blood." The words thus serve as a threat and a promise, a declaration that the Targaryen dynasty will not be denied its birthright. Even in her moments of doubt, Daenerys clings to the motto as a source of strength. When she is lost and starving on the Dothraki sea, a vision of Jorah Mormont whispers to her, "Remember your words." She answers, "Fire and Blood," and the utterance steadies her.

Thematic Significance: The Cost of Power

The motto "Fire and Blood" encapsulates the central moral question of Daenerys's arc in A Dance with Dragons: can a ruler who claims to break chains also wield the fire that forged them? The phrase is both her inheritance and her curse. It represents the raw, unapologetic power of the dragon, but also the destruction that power leaves in its wake. Daenerys's attempts to rule without fire and blood—through marriage, compromise, and mercy—fail to bring lasting peace, and the novel ends with her riding Drogon into the unknown, having embraced the dragon's nature once more. The motto thus becomes a prophecy of the violence that may yet define her return to Westeros.