Top 10 Valyrian steel swords from the Game of Thrones books
3. Blackfyre
Perhaps the most legendary sword of them all is Blackfyre, which was first swung by Aegon the Conqueror when he and his sisters took over Westeros. The warrior king used the blade to slay countless opponents in battle, and the wielder of Blackfyre became synonymous with the ruler of Westeros. When Aegon was cremated on Dragonstone, his second son Maegor retrieved the blade from the ashes; it was darker from the flames but otherwise undamaged. Aegon’s elder son Aenys allowed Maegor to keep the blade, as he was not much of a warrior himself and Maegor probably would not have given it back anyway.
When Aenys died, Maegor claimed the throne much to everyone’s dismay, including Grand Maester Gawe,n whom Maegor beheaded with Blackfyre. Maegor killed many others with Blackfyre during his reign before he was found dead on the Iron Throne.
Blackfyre was next used by King Jaehaerys I. He slayed Borys Baratheon with it during the Third Dornish War. Viserys Targaryen is seen with Blackfyre in House of the Dragon, although he is never mentioned as having used it in the book Fire and Blood. Viserys’ son Aegon II uses the blade to help push his claim as the legitimate heir to the Iron Throne over that of his older half-sister Rhaenyra during the Dance of the Dragons. We’ll see it in future seasons of the show.
Decades later, Daeron the Young Dragon used Blackfyre when he conquered Dorne. However, when he returned to Dorne for his second campaign, the young king was killed with Blackfyre in his possession. By the time of Aegon IV’s reign, Blackfyre was back in King’s Landing, and the cruel Aegon IV used the sword to knight his bastard Daemon Waters. Aegon also gave him the sword, which Daemon used to found House Blackfyre. Since many saw the sword as the symbol of the monarchy, Daemon was able to wage a civil war against his legitimate half-brother Daeron II after their father’s death.
Although Daemon died at the hands of Bloodraven in this first rebellion, the sword Blackfyre was used to start several more rebellions in the coming decades. Aegor “Bittersteel” Rivers, another of Aegon IV’s bastards and the staunchest Blackfyre supporter, took up the sword when Daemon died and dueled Bloodraven with it. Bloodraven was likely using Dark Sister at the time, but he was unable to kill Bittersteel, who took out Bloodraven’s eye with Blackfyre. Bittersteel took the sword to Essos with him where he founded a sellsword group called the Golden Company. After Bittersteel’s death, it is unknown what happened to Blackfyre, but theorists believe the Golden Company still has it and are planning to bestow it on Aegon Targaryen, or Young Griff, whom we meet in the book A Dance with Dragons, the most recent Song of Ice and Fire book published.
Many believe that Young Griff is secretly a Blackfyre decedent being supported by Varys, and having the sword Blackfyre would be a strong symbol of his claim on the throne.