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| “ | The Band of Nine swore their oath of mutual aid and support in carving out kingdoms for each of their members. Amongst them was the last Blackfyre, Maelys the Monstrous, who had command of the Golden Company, and the kingdom they pledged to win for him was the Seven Kingdoms. | „ |
| ~ Description of Maelys Blackfyre. |
Captain-General Maelys Blackfyre, self-proclaimed as Maelys I Blackfyre and known throughout as Maelys the Monstrous, is a minor antagonist in the A Song of Ice and Fire novel series.
He is the last male descendant of House Blackfyre, a cadet branch of House Targaryen, which was founded by Daemon I Blackfyre, a bastard son of King Aegon IV Targaryen. Maelys met his end during the War of the Ninepenny Kings, where he was slain in battle by Ser Barristan Selmy, which ended the Blackfyre male line.
Appearance[]
Maelys has a huge, grotesque torso and huge arms. He has a second head, sprouted, or conjoined twin from his neck.
Personality[]
Maelys, true to his alias, is brutal and savage in nature. He has such fearsome and inhumane strength that he can kill a horse with a single punch and even brutally twist a man's head off his body.
Biography[]
Not much is known about Maelys' early life, but he grew up in exile in Essos, somewhere in the lands of the Free Cities. He would eventually become a mercenary and member of the sellsword company, the Golden Company, which was founded by Aegor "Bittersteel" Rivers and is the personal army of House Blackfyre. Maelys could have served there during the last years of Bittersteel's life.
At an unknown point, he became a kinslayer after he brutally murdered his cousin Daemon, in which he twisted his head off, in order to gain control of the Golden Company. In 258 AC, seventeen years after the death of Bittersteel, during the reign of King Aegon V Targaryen, Maelys gathered with nine outlaws, exiles, pirates, and other sellsword captains in the disputed lands of Essos, where they formed an alliance called the Band of Nine underneath the Tree of Crowns. They also made a promise to aid each other in carving out their own kingdoms when they take over Westeros. Together, the Band of Nine sacked Tyrosh and conquered the Stepstones, the island chain between Westeros and the Free Cities.
Maelys Blackfyre engaging Ser Barristan Selmy.
After the Band of Nine became a real threat to Westeros and the Iron Throne, Maelys proclaimed himself king as Maelys I Blackfyre. In 260 AC, after King Aegon V's tragic death and his son Jaehaerys II takes over, the new king, seeing the threat in the Band of Nine, sends a great army to the Stepstones to deal with the notorious group before they could even invade Westeros. During a great battle, which famously became known as the War of the Ninepenny Kings, a young knight named Ser Barristan Selmy, from the noble house of House Selmy, engaged Maelys the Monstrous in a climatic battle that decided the outcome of the war. In the end, Barristan was victorious, and he slew Maelys in single combat. With the death of Maelys Blackfyre, the Band of Nine lost interest in Westeros and returned to their own domains.
Legacy[]
Maelys's last stand.
When Ser Barristan Selmy slew Maelys the Monstrous, this brought forth the extinction of the male line of House Blackfyre, which ended the Blackfyre threat for good. When Barristan was recruited into the Kingsguard, his victory over Maelys Blackfyre, was recorded in the White Book, or the Book of the Brothers, a tome that holds the records of every Kingsguard knight.
Recent History[]
A Storm of Swords[]
While in White Sword Tower, Jaime Lannister reads Ser Barristan Selmy's page, which wrote that Barristan slew Maelys Blackfyre, called the last of the Blackfyre Pretenders, in single combat.
A Feast for Crows[]
As Jaime recalls his childhood visit to Riverrun, the ancestral seat of House Tully, while ignoring Lady Lysa Tully, he would beg her brother Ser Brynden Rivers to tell him tales of Maelys the Monstrous and the Ebon Prince, a member of the Band of Nine.
A Dance with Dragons[]
While in Essos, Illyrio Mopatis tells Tyrion Lannister that the male line of House Blackfyre came to an end when Maelys Blackfyre died. While Tyrion slept, he had a nightmare where he has two heads like Maelys and fighting alongside Aegor Rivers and Ser Barristan Selmy, slaying his father Tywin and his brother Jaime, while his second head wept.
While in the Golden Company's camp, Jon Connington sees the tent of Harry Strickland being surrounded by a ring of pikes topped with gold-covered skulls. The skull of Maelys is the largest of them all and has a grotesque and malformed appearance, due to the skull of Maelys' nameless brother, which is the size of a fist.
In Meereen, Ser Barristan Selmy mentions that he was given his white cloak by King Jaehaerys II Targaryen after slaying Maelys during the War of the Ninepenny Kings.
Notable Victims[]
- Captain-general Daemon Blackfyre - Head twisted until it tore from his shoulders.
- Lord Ormund Baratheon - Struck down in battle and died in the arms of his son Ser Steffon.
Gallery[]
Trivia[]
- While Maelys is officially known as the final member of House Blackfyre, his death marking its extinction, it is theorized by readers that the young boy who is presented as Aegon Targaryen in the main story of A Song of Ice and Fire is actually a member of House Blackfyre through the female line. While Aegon is supposedly the son and heir of Rhaegar Targaryen and Elia Martell, many readers have speculated for years that Aegon might in truth be the son of Illyrio Mopatis and his second wife, the Lyseni Serra. Readers believe Serra to be a Blackfyre by blood.
External Links[]
- Maelys I Blackfyre on the A Wiki of Ice and Fire.
- Maelys I Blackfyre on the Wiki of Westeros.
