Game of Throneshas a lot of interesting storytelling methods. A lot of the details that inform the narrative are rumors or disputed ideas. The beliefs of the smallfolk frequently influence the lives of the main characters. While the plot mostly follows royals, its backstory includes some truly legendary figures. While there may be no element of truth to many of their myths, figures like the Bloodstone Emperor live on in infamy forever. He may have been a more typical terrible ruler, but if some are to be believed, his dark sorcery brought on the Long Night.
Game of Thronestakes a fascinating approach to its own in-universe history. While a story likeLord of the Ringsgives the reader an omniscient view of the world’s creationmyth and ancient stories,A Song of Ice and Firetakes a more accurate approach. The people of the era had no means of recording most of their events. History and tradition live on only in stories and songs. This allows the relatively grounded world of Westeros to suggest immense magic in its background while also leaving room for apocryphal tales.
Where did the Bloodstone Emperor come from?
The Bloodstone Emperor was one of many leaders of the mythic Great Empire of the Dawn. Geographically, the Great Empire of the Dawn covers a quarter or more of Essos. Humanity probably began on Essos before they immigrated to Westeros via the Arm of Dorne, a land bridge that stood until theend of the Dawn Age. Most of the area eventually became known as the Golden Empire of Yi Ti, which more recently dropped the honorifics to become Yi Ti. Nearly every element of the story exists in legend, potentially fictional within the fiction ofA Song of Ice and Fire. The priestly scribes of Yin, a massive port city of Yi Ti, collected all the known stories of the Great Empire of the Dawn and compiled them into some percentage of a complete origin story.
It’s said that a god called the Lion of Night sired a son with the Maiden-Made-of-Light. The former is some sort of wrathful deity who commands an army of demons, while the latter is a loving overseer who wants the best for humanity. Their boy becameknown as the God-on-Earth. He traveled his empire in a massive pearl carved into a litter. His 100 wives/queens carried him from place to place. Despite sounding like a despot, it’s said that the God-on-Earth led the Great Empire through 10,000 perfect years of prosperity before floating off into the sky to join his parents. He handed down the empire to his oldest son, the Pearl Emperor. The Pearl Emperor supposedly forged the legendary Five Forts, which could have protected humanity from his grandfather’s dark desires. Each generational emperor took a gemstone’s name before leading shorter and more difficult lives than their predecessor. Five generations later, the Bloodstone Emperor was born.
What did the Bloodstone Emperor do?
The Bloodstone Emperor was the first son of his father, the Opal Emperor. Oddly enough, the Great Empire of the Dawn wasn’t as sexist as modern Westeros. The Opal Emperor planned to pass the throne to his daughter, the Amethyst Empress. Shewas the first recorded womanto rule the Great Empire. Unfortunately, her wicked younger brother killed her in cold blood and seized the empire. The Bloodstone Emperor quickly became a tyrant. Each emperor was worse than the one that came before him. The Bloodstone Emperor became the last example. He was said to practice black magic, cannibalism, ruthless torture, and necromancy. He married a tiger-woman, a member of a mythic species native to the region. During his reign, a black stone fell from the sky. The Bloodstone Emperor abandoned the gods his people worshiped to bow at his newfound space rock. In that practice,he forged a cult calledthe Church of Starry Wisdom. The Bloodstone Emperor was a cruel monster who enslaved his people and ruined his empire. His murder and usurpation became known as the Blood Betrayal.
What was the Bloodstone Emperor’s legacy?
Many priests of the era believed that the Bloodstone Emperor’s evil deedsenraged the Lion of Night. The being that sired the first emperor may have brought down a terrible vengeance on his would-be descendants. The Blood Betrayal and the Bloodstone Emperor’s abandonment of the original gods caused the Maiden-Made-of-Light to turn her back on humanity. Without her to protect the Known World, the Lion of Night took control. This usheredin the legendary Long Night, which nearly ended humanity. Various cultures have different explanations for the Long Night. Some modern scholars believe it never happened. Old Nan sums up the event like this:
Fear is for the long night, when the sun hides its face for years at a time, and little children are born and live and die all in darkness while the direwolves grow gaunt and hungry, and the white walkers move through the woods.
The Bloodstone Emperor is a legendarilyevil figure inGame of Thrones' internal mythology. He warns against two cardinal sins: kinslaying and abandoning gods. There’s a fascinating scientific explanation for the event. The black stone could have been a real meteor, which changed the planet’s rotation and pushed it into an ice age. Though the Bloodstone Emperor may be a fictional story inside a fictional story, his grim tale still serves as a warning against the worst excesses of royalty.
