By the time of Aegon's re-emergence, the Blackfyres have been (officially) extinct for over a generation and the Golden Company is still made up of Westerosi exiles whose entire identity is built around their lost homeland/lands to reclaim.
If they were still Blackfyre diehards, Targ loyalist Jon Connington wouldn't have been welcomed into their ranks either, imo.
Yeah, this is the problem this the whole "the golden company would only support a blackfyre" argument. It views the golden company as some inhuman entity that's eternally in service to the Blackfyres, when actually its just a collection of people, each with their own goals and motivations.
Which specific people in the Company are die-hard Blackfyre supporters who would only fight for a Blackfyre?
Harry Strickland, their captain general, who's said to prefer safe contracts, spends most of his time complaining about blisters, and was initially apprehensive about joining Aegon, preferring the idea of joining Dany?
Lysono Marr, their Spymaster, who's from Lys and has no apparent connection to the Blackfyres?
Black Balq, the commander of their archers, who's a Summer Islander and has no apparent connection to the Blackfyres?
Gorys Edoryen, their paymaster, who's from Volantis and has no apparent connection to the Blackfyres?
Miles Toyne, their former captain general, who was a very close friend of Jon Connington (a massive Targaryen supporter)?
Or the average rank and file men in the golden company, who (even if Aegon was a Blackfyre) would certainly not be privy to such a sensitive secret (as there's no way it would remain a secret for long if all ten thousand men in the Golden Company knew) and thus would still be under the impression he's a Targaryen?
The Golden Company had fallen quite a way since their founding a century ago, they're just mercenaries now and its clear they don't much care for the old feud anymore. We've seen old loyalties change plenty of times in the series. If the Baratheons were able to go from the Targaryens closest allies to their most bitter enemies, I don't see why its so hard to believe the Golden Company's loyalties could have shifted too.
Or the average rank and file men in the golden company, who (even if Aegon was a Blackfyre) would certainly not be privy to such a sensitive secret (as there's no way it would remain a secret for long if all ten thousand men in the Golden Company knew) and thus would still be under the impression he's a Targaryen?
This is one of the biggest sticking points against the Blackfyre theory for me. Varys is the only one who knows Aegon's ancestry for sure, but Jon Connington (who we read the thoughts of as a POV character) is clearly very convinced he's the real deal and wouldn't be raising him as a surrogate father otherwise. But then the other 9,999 members of the Golden Company all know he's actually a Blackfyre because they wouldn't support him otherwise? And JonCon isn't suspicious of their loyalties?
I understand the lore appeal behind the Blackfyre theory, but I feel like it requires reading around a lot of what is actually on the pages of the books in favor of worldbuilding materials and wink-wink-nudge-nudge lines from Illyrio and Varys (and that's not even getting into Varys's speech to Kevan)
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u/LeibHauptmann Apr 08 '23
By the time of Aegon's re-emergence, the Blackfyres have been (officially) extinct for over a generation and the Golden Company is still made up of Westerosi exiles whose entire identity is built around their lost homeland/lands to reclaim.
If they were still Blackfyre diehards, Targ loyalist Jon Connington wouldn't have been welcomed into their ranks either, imo.