A Feast for Crows ÔÇö Samwell IV
On the Cinnamon Wind, Maester Aemon Targaryen dies at sea at one hundred and two, laughing at last: the dragon has three heads, and Egg dreamed he was old.
The chapter retold
Aboard the Cinnamon Wind, still en route toward Oldtown, Maester Aemon Targaryen dies at sea at one hundred and two years old ÔÇö the last of his line for a hundred years, having outlived Targaryen kings, the dynasty's fall, and his own decades of self-imposed exile at the Wall. He dies laughing, murmuring a fragment of old prophecy about a dragon having three heads, and reminiscing about a childhood memory of dreaming he had grown old ÔÇö a small, private joke that only he and the reader can fully appreciate, since dreaming of old age was, for Aemon, once the most fantastical outcome imaginable.
Aemon's death closes one of the series' quietest, most dignified character arcs: a man born a prince who chose the Night's Watch and a maester's chain over a throne he never wanted, watching his family consume itself from a thousand leagues away for most of his life. His last words ÔÇö the dragon must have three heads ÔÇö are the clearest piece of Targaryen prophecy the books ever hand the reader directly, and his death leaves Sam solely responsible for the child and for whatever mission the old man's final urgency about Daenerys implied.
This movement: The Queenmaker
- Arianne Martell steals Myrcella to crown her by Dornish law; Ser Arys Oakheart dies for it and Myrcella loses an ear.
- Doran reveals the game beneath the stillness: Dorne has been wedding itself to the dragons for years.
- Cersei springs her trap on Margaery with a perjured singer ÔÇö and the Faith takes the little queen.
- In the Vale, Alayne Stone keeps Sweetrobin dosed while Littlefinger collects the Lords Declarant like debts.
The fallen ÔÇö spoilers
- Maester Aemon Targaryen ÔÇö Died at sea chasing a dragon dream, the last Targaryen maester ÔÇö Egg, I dreamed I was old.