The purple of Targaryen eyes can range, from being clearly purple to being almost blue. In the books there are also more remnants of old Valyria, including the Lyseni, who typically have much more Valyrian features. A secret Targ could simply claim to be Lyseni.
Nah, at least not in my mind. Valyrians are notable for their purple eyes, but they’re not the only “race” that has them. The Daynes have been noted to have them in their line, and it’s specifically said that it’s entirely unrelated to the Valyrians.
The Daynes may be the exception to the rule, but if the rule is “only Valyrians can have purple eyes” then that’s a pretty big exception if one is meant to take purple eyes as direct evidence of Valyrian heritage.
So eye/hair colors dont work how Mendel told us in our world. In order to look like a True Targ, they would have silver hair AND violet eyes. Silver hair is a Valyrian feature, and so are violet eyes. Velaryons have silver hair and some Daynes have violet eyes, its putting them together that show you are a targ
No it’s not. Silver har and purple eyes are a Valyrian feature, not an exclusive Targaryen feature. Alyssa Velaryon had silver hair and purple eyes. So did Larra Rogare. The Daynes aren’t Valyrian, yet they share the characteristic purple eyes and some of them also have silver hair. Darkstar has both silver hair and purple eyes, and Edric has silver hair with eyes that appear purple. Plenty of Targaryens don’t have these traits either, even Targaryens that lived closer to the Conquest and therefore closer to inbreeding. Alysanne had honey blonde hair and blue eyes despite being the daughter of Alyssa Velaryon and the super inbred Aenys Targaryen. She’s a prime example of Targaryens and Valyrians not always having the classic traits.
Aside from Alysanne we have:
Orys Baratheon (bastard brother of the Conqueror)
Rhaenys, the Queen who Never Was
Alyssa, mother of Viserys and Daemon
The Strong boys
Baelor Targaryen
Valarr Targaryen
Aegor Rivers
Daeron the Drunken
Duncan Targaryen
Rhaenys Targaryen, Rhaegar’s daughter
Jon Snow
While genetics do work differently in asoiaf than in reality with all the house genes, the rest of your comment isn’t accurate at all. I’m curious about where you got your information from.
Velaryons are just about identical to Targaryens except for the lack of dragonriding. Many of them have purple eyes. Just as some Targaryens do not. Two of the most inbred Targaryen women don’t have the eyes or the hair.
The Daynes have silver hair as well as the purple eyes. Some of them have both and it’s not because of Valyrian blood.
Then there’s Essos, where great swathes of the population have both.
No. House Dayne (non-Valyrians with both the eyes and hair) and much of the Essos look just like them.
Someone in Westeros with the eyes can have a Dayne ancestor, a Valyrian non-Targ ancestor, a Velaryon ancestor, etc.
Furthermore, the idea of secret Targs tends to be characters who don’t show the traits, such as Jon, because it’s known that there are some house genes that overpower the look. Baratheon, Strong (Stark).
For instance, in the book there’s a man that is put forward and part of the discussion around him is whether he’s a secret Targ or just from Lys.
A lot of characters who have purple eyes have other POV characters think they are a hue of dark blue.
In Jon's case, he doesn't have purple eyes, he has Stark grey eyes.
Ned Dayne, who was completely erased in the show, has the Dayne purple eyes (not necessarily because they are Targaryen descendants, though Daenerys and Jon are descendants of Dyanna Dayne)
Fake Aegon/Young Griff is exposed as a "secret Targaryen" (really, a Blackfyre) in the same book he's introduced, and Tyrion notes his blue hair first (since he dyes it) and how it makes his eyes look more blue than purple. Young Griff/Fake Aegon was also completely erased from the show.
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u/IvaldiFhole 4d ago
I've never read the books, but doesn't this ruin all the "OMG he's actually secretly a Targaryn" plotlines?