Dark Sister

"Visenya Targaryen was a great warrior. She had a Valyrian steel sword she called 'Dark Sister'."

Dark Sister^[2] was the name of the Valyrian steel sword belonging to Visenya Targaryen, the sister-wife of Aegon the Conqueror. A great warrior, she used it in battle as well as riding her dragon, Vhagar, during Aegon's Conquest. Dark Sister is a comparatively thin and light blade, because it was the chosen weapon of a female warrior - though as it is made of Valyrian steel, it is still very strong and sharp.

By the reign of Viserys I, some sixty years after Visenya's death, Dark Sister passed to Daemon Targaryen, younger brother of King Viserys I Targaryen. It later passed to Aemon the Dragonknight and then to Brynden Rivers.

The sword was ultimately lost during the Blackfyre Rebellion.^[3]

History[]

House of the Dragon: Season 1[]

Dark Sister is in the possession of Prince Daemon Targaryen, the younger brother of Viserys I Targaryen. He wields the sword against Ser Criston Cole in the Heir's Tournament.^[4]

Game of Thrones: Season 2[]

Arya, posing as a common servant, discusses Visenya's role in the burning of Harrenhal with Tywin, who is surprised at the depth of her knowledge. She mentions that Visenya wielded Dark Sister.^[5]

Quotes[]

"Aegon Targaryen's Blackfyre and Visenya's Dark Sister disappeared in Daemon Blackfyre's rebellion."

―Jorah Mormont^[src]

In the books[]

Dark Sister is mentioned in the Dunk & Egg novellas, set more than eighty years before the events of the series. It is one of two Valyrian steel swords belonging to House Targaryen, the other being Blackfyre. Dark Sister was wielded by Visenya Targaryen, Prince Daemon Targaryen, and later Prince Aemon the Dragonknight. One of the bastard sons of King Aegon IV, Brynden Rivers, known as "Bloodraven", was the last known wielder of Dark Sister. He used it at the Battle of Redgrass Field in his famous duel with his half-brother Aegor "Bittersteel" Rivers.

It is unknown what has become of the sword (similarly to its sister-blade Blackfyre) after Bloodraven was stripped of his titles and exiled to the Wall. According to George R.R. Martin, Bloodraven took the sword to the Wall,^[6] but its current whereabouts are unknown.

As for how the sword passed down from Visenya to Daemon, first Visenya gave it to her son Maegor the Cruel when he came of age, though when his older half-brother Aenys became king in 37 AC he gifted Maegor the sword Blackfyre, which he carried from then onward. Dark Sister hung on a wall in Dragonstone for several years, until in the confusion of Visenya's death (from old age) Aenys's captive widow Alyssa Velaryon escaped the castle and took Dark Sister with her. She gave it to her surviving son, Jaehaerys I Targaryen, who announced his claim to the throne against his usurping uncle. Jaehaerys was a young boy and in this final revolt Maegor's allies simply abandoned him without a fight, so Jaehaerys had no chance to use the sword - after he became king he recovered Blackfyre and used it for the rest of his life. Decades later, Jaehaerys gave Dark Sister to his second son, Baelon Targaryen - the father of Viserys and Daemon, who wielded it against pirates and in tournaments. When Baelon died in 101 AC the sword passed to Daemon, because when Viserys was declared the new heir to the throne he was given the king's sword Blackfyre. Jaehaerys was still alive at the time (outliving his son Baelon by two years), and personally bestowed his aunt Visenya's blade Dark Sister on Daemon in recognition of his martial prowess.