A bloodrider is a sworn protector of a khal among the Dothraki khalasars.
Culture
Part guardian, brother and companion, the bloodriders guard and accompany the khal in his daily routine. They share what is his, sometimes even his wives, but never his horse. Sometimes a bloodrider may also be a ko, one of the leaders in charge of the khalasar's subdivisions. The bloodriders and their khal refer to each other as "blood of my blood".[1]
The number of bloodriders a khal can have at any given time is unknown; it may number as high as seven.[N 1]
When a khal asks a man to become his bloodrider, the request can include the phrasing "I ask your oath, that will live and die as blood of my blood, riding at my side to keep me safe from harm."[2] Bloodriders traditionally do not serve a khaleesi.[2]
Ancient traditions proclaim that when a khal dies, his bloodriders die with him. Should the khal die in battle, the bloodriders live only long enough to avenge him. Once done, the last service the bloodriders must perform is to escort the khaleesi to Vaes Dothrak to join the dosh khaleen, and then the bloodriders are to join their khal in death.[1]
History
Khal Temmo and his bloodriders were slain fighting against the Three Thousand of Qohor.[3]
Recent Events
A Game of Thrones
Khal Drogo's bloodriders—Haggo, Cohollo, and Qotho—are alongside him when Daenerys Targaryen first sees him at Drogo's manse in Pentos,[4] and they have a place of honor during the couple's wedding. The bloodriders give splendid wedding gifts.[5]
Drogo chooses not to share Daenerys with his bloodriders.[1] The pregnant Daenerys decides her unborn son will have his own bloodriders when he sits the Iron Throne.[1] When a drunken Viserys Targaryen threatens Daenerys at Vaes Dothrak, Drogo has his bloodriders seize the exile.[6]
One of Khal Ogo's bloodriders wounds Drogo in combat.[7] When Drogo's wound festers and causes him to fall from his horse, his bloodriders are opposed to Mirri Maz Duur's usage of bloodmagic to save his life. When they try to intervene, Drogo's bloodriders are slain in combat with Daenerys's khas and Ser Jorah Mormont.[8]
After the deaths of Drogo and Rhaego and the disintegration of Drogo's khalasar, Daenerys asks Aggo, Jhogo, and Rakharo to be her bloodriders. She asks for their oaths, using the same words that a khal would, and gives them her bridal gift weapons, but all three refuse. After Daenerys is revealed to have survived Drogo's funeral pyre and hatched three dragons from her dragon eggs, however, the three warriors swear allegiance to Daenerys, declaring her "blood of my blood".[2]
A Clash of Kings
Daenerys sends her bloodriders to explore the red waste.[9]
When Daenerys and her khalasar stay at Xaro's home in Qarth, she tasks her bloodriders with the protection of her wing of the palace.[10] Rakharo is assigned by Daenerys to protect her three dragons (Drogon, Rhaegal, and Viserion) and her people while Aggo and Jhogo go with her to the port of Qarth.[11]
A Storm of Swords
Daenerys's bloodriders are all eager to face Oznak zo Pahl, the champion of Meereen, but Daenerys instead chooses Strong Belwas to fight Oznak.[12]
A Dance with Dragons
Daenerys has her bloodriders subdue the hinterlands of Meereen.[13] During the second siege of Meereen, Daenerys has Jhogo sent to the Yunkish camp as a hostage.[14] After Daenerys disappears from Daznak's Pit on the back of Drogon, Aggo and Rakharo lead search parties across the Skahazadhan.[15]
Known bloodriders
- Cohollo, Haggo, and Qotho, bloodriders to Drogo[5]
- Aggo, Jhogo, and Rakharo, bloodriders to Daenerys Targaryen[2]
- Mago and six others, bloodriders to Jhaqo[16][N 1]
Quotes
Every khal had his bloodriders. At first Dany had thought of them as a kind of Dothraki Kingsguard, sworn to protect their lord, but it went further than that. Jhiqui had taught her that a bloodrider was more than a guard; they were the khal's brothers, his shadows, his fiercest friends. "Blood of my blood," Drogo called them, and so it was; they shared a single life.[1]
—thoughts of Daenerys Targaryen
Daenerys: I will order my khas to keep him safe, and Drogo's bloodriders will—
Jorah: A bloodrider dies with his khal. You know that, child. They will take you to Vaes Dothrak, to the crones, that is the last duty they owe him in life ... when it is done, they will join Drogo in the night lands.[8]
Her bloodriders remained, sworn to her for life and skilled in slaughter, but only in the ways of the horselords.[10]
—thoughts of Daenerys Targaryen
Notes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 In A Game of Thrones, Daenerys IX, Jhogo tells Daenerys Targaryen, "Mago seized her, who is Khal Jhaqo's bloodrider now. He mounted her high and low and gave her to his khal, and Jhaqo gave her to his other bloodriders. They were six. When they were done with her, they cut her throat." This indicates that Khal Jhaqo has seven bloodriders at the moment of the formation of his khalasar.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 A Game of Thrones, Chapter 36, Daenerys IV.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 A Game of Thrones, Chapter 72, Daenerys X.
- ↑ A Storm of Swords, Chapter 8, Daenerys I.
- ↑ A Game of Thrones, Chapter 3, Daenerys I.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 A Game of Thrones, Chapter 11, Daenerys II.
- ↑ A Game of Thrones, Chapter 46, Daenerys V.
- ↑ A Game of Thrones, Chapter 61, Daenerys VII.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 A Game of Thrones, Chapter 64, Daenerys VIII.
- ↑ A Clash of Kings, Chapter 12, Daenerys I.
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 A Clash of Kings, Chapter 27, Daenerys II.
- ↑ A Clash of Kings, Chapter 63, Daenerys V.
- ↑ A Storm of Swords, Chapter 57, Daenerys V.
- ↑ A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 2, Daenerys I.
- ↑ A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 50, Daenerys VIII.
- ↑ A Dance with Dragons, Chapter 59, The Discarded Knight.
- ↑ A Game of Thrones, Chapter 68, Daenerys IX.