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| “ | Why don't you take a look at your khal? Then you will see exactly what life is worth when all the rest has gone. | „ |
| ~ Mirri Maz Duur to Daenerys. |
Mirri Maz Duur is a minor antagonist in the A Song of Ice and Fire novel series and its television adaptation, Game of Thrones. She is a Lhazareen godswife, healer, and sorcerer, and is said to possess unearthly powers.
She is portrayed by Mia Soteriou in the HBO series.
Biography[]
Early life[]
Mirri Maz Duur was raised to be a godswife, a healer, and trained in the Lhazar temple of the Great Shepherd, her culture's deity that they worshipped. As a child, she was taught by her mother, who was also a godswife, and traveled to Asshai to learn the arts of songs and spells. And also became a shadowbinder and a practitioner of bloodmagic. She also studied the birthing songs of the moonsingers of the Jogos Nhai, the herb lore of the Dothraki, and the medicines of Maester Marwyn, currently an archmaester of the Citadel in Westeros.
A Song of Ice and Fire[]
A Game of Thrones[]
Mirri is in her Lhazareen town when Khal Ogo's Dothraki khalasar arrives and invades and raids, destroying and burning the town's temple of the Great Shepherd in the process. Suddenly, Khal Drogo's khalasar arrives to destroy the town as well. A fight between the two khals erupts. Daenerys suspects some of the villagers probably mistook them for deliverance, but once Khal Ogo was defeated, Drogo’s khalasar plundered the town just as badly. Drogo wins and personally kills Ogo and his son, Khal Fogo, and 10,000 Dothraki are all enslaved, while most of the rival khalasars flee from the place. The Dothraki captives do not seem to fear slavery, while the Lhazareen villagers stumble about in fear and sorrow. Drogo wants to sell them to the Great Masters of Meereen so they can buy ships. Mirri and the other women are made slaves, and Mirri is raped by three of Khal Drogo's warriors. A Lyseni girl named Eroeh is being gang-raped by the Dothraki until the Khaleesi Daenerys Targaryen puts an end to it, much to the objection of her warriors and Irri, who agree that she should feel honored for being raped. Stopping the rape When the khalasar seizes the Lhazareen women with Mirri and Eroeh in it, Daenerys orders the women to be placed under her protection with no harm coming to them.
Drogo is wounded from his fight, with an arrow through his arm and an arakh cut that has taken off one of his nipples. One of Eroeh's rapists, Mago, is enraged and complains to Drogo about Dany's actions. Drogo explains to Dany that rape is part of the Dothraki war (like the Ironborn), but when Dany fiercely protests against Qotho and Mago, Drogo claims it's his son inside her and accepts, much to Mago's rage, who believes Drogo is becoming weak. Drogo winces from his wounds, and Daenerys asks Mirri about her knowledge, and she learns that Mirri owes her abilities to many people, including the sorcerers of Asshai and the Westerosi Archmaester Marwyn. Dany has Mirri Maz Duur heal Drogo with lotions and herbs.
As the medicine heals, it also causes an itchy feeling on Drogo, who carelessly (and unwisely) rips off his bandage, causing the wound to fester, and the Khal falls from his horse, a sign of weakness among the Dothraki. Dany has the khalasar make camp in the Dothraki Sea, on their way to Slaver's Bay. With his life hanging in balance, Daenerys asks Mirri to use bloodmagic to save him, which she does, but states that a sacrifice is to be made. Mirri's ritual costs the lives of many people: the Red (Drogo's red horse), the bloodriders Qotho, Haggo, and Cohollo, and one of Dany's warriors, Quaro, who dies fighting against the bloodriders, while Ser Jorah Mormont kills Qotho and Jhogo, Aggo, and Rakharo kill the other two. Mirri has sacrificed the horse, and shortly after, Rhaego was born as a monstrous abomination who failed to survive. While Daenerys remains asleep for days, most of the khalasar claims that Dany is cursed, leaves, and divides in the Dothraki Sea. Two men have already declared themselves khals, and many join Khal Jhaqo and Khal Pono. Mago returns to rape Meroeh, and after that, he kills her out of sheer spite towards Daenerys. The ritual results in seven deaths and manages to heal Drogo, but it simply leaves the khal in a catatonic vegetative state, while the main sacrifice is Rhaego.
Mirri, Jorah, and Daenerys's handmaids spend some days attending Daenerys while she is in her bed, mostly sleeping, only briefly waking up from time to time. When she finally recovers her strength and gets up she finally learns that her son Rhaego was stillborn. According to Mirri, Rhaego was hideously deformed, blind, and covered in dragon-like scales. He even had a stub of a tail, and small leather wings like a bat. He was also decayed, as if he had been already dead for years. Shocked and upset, Daenerys tells Mirri that Rhaego was alive and kicking inside her, just moments before she entered Drogo's tent during Mirri's rite. Mirri answers by reminding her that death was in the tent, as she had warned her shortly before she started her rite. Daenerys realizes that Rhaego was killed by Mirri's sorcery, as a blood sacrifice to save Drogo's life.
Mirri knew the price, and she betrayed Daenerys (although she had also given her multiple warnings about condoning such ritual, and had previously warned Drogo not to remove the poultice covering his wounds). Mirri's actions were an act she saw as justified: she tells Daenerys that her god, the Great Shepherd, was angered that Khal Drogo's khalasar had burned her sacred temple and enslaved her people of the sacked Lhazareen towns. She adds that Daenerys had already known the true price of her bloodmagic rite was not Drogo's horse, but Drogo's son.
Mirri also justifies her deed by adding that she saved millions from Drogo and his son Rhaego, who would no longer threaten the world as they would no longer burn cities or cause harm, as she halted the Dothraki's religious prophecy. Now there will be no Stallion Who Mounts the World, destroying great cities and trampling nations to the ground. Finally, Mirri also implies, perhaps prophetically, that Daenerys will never again bear a living child, meaning she is possibly barren forever.
Daenerys builds a funeral pyre and has Duur bind to the set. Mirri tries to ally with Daenerys, as she doesn't have anything against her, but Dany is still shocked and tired of magic and witches. As the flames surround her, the maegi begins to chant and sing until she starts screaming as she is burned alive. A dragon bursts out of the flames as she screams.
A Clash of Kings[]
When Daenerys enters the House of the Undying in Qarth, she is told by the Undying Ones that she will be betrayed "once for blood, once for gold, and once for love." She believes Mirri was the first betrayal, for blood. She sees, in a vision, Mirri's death again and Drogon's birth.
Even if treacherous, Mirri's actions did indeed save the lives of many. In the House of the Undying, Daenerys sees a vision of Rhaego with a Targaryen-Dothraki banner, burning a city to the ground; also, after Drogo's death, Daenerys takes power and frees all the Dothraki and Lhazareen slaves of the khalasar, and all of them join with her. Mirri's death also allowed the three dragons to return to the west (in the Far East, there are many ancient creatures who are still alive, possibly including dragons, whom some claim to have seen from time to time).
Game of Thrones[]
Mirri is in her Lhazareen town when Khal Drogo's Dothraki khalasar invades and raids, destroying and burning the Great Shepherd temple in the process. Mirri is made a slave and raped by three of Khal Drogo's warriors until the Khaleesi Daenerys Targaryen puts an end to it. When the khalasar seizes the Lhazareen women with Mirri in them, Daenerys orders the women to be placed under her protection with no harm coming to them. Drogo accepts this but angers Mago, one of his warriors, and challenges the Khal in combat. Drogo easily kills him but suffers a wound from his sword. Daenerys has Mirri Maz Duur heal him with lotions and herbs.
As the medicine heals, it also causes an itchy feeling on Drogo, who carelessly (and unwisely) rips off his bandage, causing the wound to fester, and the Khal falls from his horse, a sign of weakness among the Dothraki. Dany has the khalasar make camp in the Dothraki Sea, on their way to Slaver's Bay. With his life hanging in balance, Daenerys asks Duur to use bloodmagic to save him, which she does, but states that a sacrifice is to be made. Mirri's ritual costs a few lives: the Red (Drogo's red horse) and the bloodrider Qotho, killed by Ser Jorah Mormont. Mirri has sacrificed the horse, and shortly after, Rhaego was born as a monstrous abomination who failed to survive. While Daenerys remains asleep for days, most of the khalasar claims that Dany is cursed and leaves, and divides in the Dothraki Sea. Two men have already declared themselves khals, and many join Khal Jhaqo and Khal Pono. The ritual results in three deaths and manages to heal Drogo, but it simply leaves the khal in a catatonic vegetative state, while the main sacrifice is Rhaego.
Mirri knew the price, and she betrayed Daenerys in an act she saw as justified as she saved millions from Drogo and his son Rhaego, who would no longer threaten the world as they would no longer burn cities or cause harm. Daenerys builds a funeral pyre and has Duur bind to the set. As the flames surround her, the maegi begins to chant and sing until she starts screaming as she is burned alive.
Even if treacherous, Mirri's actions did indeed save the lives of many. Rhaego was going to grow up into a Dothraki warrior who burns cities to the ground; also, after Drogo's death, Daenerys takes power and frees all the Dothraki and Lhazareen slaves, and all of them join with her. Mirri's death also allowed the three dragons to return to the west (in the far east, there are many ancient creatures who are still alive, including dragons).
Victims[]
- Drogo’s stallion - Throat slit in a bloodmagic ritual to “save” Khal Drogo
- Rhaego - Sacrificed in exchange of Drogo's life in a bloodmagic ritual. Died while still inside Khaleesi Daenerys Targaryen's womb during the rite, becoming stillborn and also disgured, blind and with monstrous mutations.
- Khal Drogo - Left in a catatonic state, forcing his own khaleesi, Daenerys Targaryen, to euthanize him.
Gallery[]
External Links[]
- Mirri Maz Duur on the A Wiki of Ice and Fire.
- Mirri Maz Duur on the Game of Thrones Wiki.
