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The Tragedy of Summerhall is a tale of much dispute. Even in the writing of this account, most details cannot be fully confirmed. All that is known for a fact, is that on her thirtieth nameday, Aerea Targaryen, daughter of Aerion Targaryen, started a great fire within the halls of the castle. Many of her kin had been gathered at Summerhall, for as well as her nameday, the wedding of her younger brother, the twenty year old Daeron, were both happening that same week. Little else could be confidently recounted as fact of the event.
Many suspect that it had to do with an event that happened nigh two decades earlier. At a tourney hosted by Lord Lyonel Baratheon, a red priestess of the god R’hllor read the young princesses fortune, and then shoved the girl’s face into a fire. Princess Aerea lived, but the right side of her face bore permanent scars. Her nose had a crook in it afterwards, as the force of being thrust into the fire had broken her nose. The skin of half of her face had gnarled and reddened, disfiguring the young princess. Despite this, it was said many still found the princess beautiful, but in a more haunting way then when her face was unblemished.
Following this attack on his own granddaughter, King Maekar had ordered any servants of R’hllor found within the seven kingdoms to be hanged, or if not, chased out, and so it remains to this day. Prince Aerion had been reported as having an even more extreme reaction. According to multiple accounts, when he first learned that his daughter had been so viciously attacked, he in turn had held his dagger to the man who brought the message, only restrained from violence by his lord husband, Ser Duncan the Tall.
Following the princesses disfigurement, it was remarked that something had shifted in her. While she had followed the seven a reasonable amount for a princess beforehand, she seemed to almost abhor them following her encounter with the red priestess. Rumors said that she turned instead to the old dragon gods of Valyria, learning of them and blood magic from her aunt, the princess Rhae, who in turn was said to have learned them from Shiera Seastar.
Other rumors suggested that she turned to the old gods of the north, beginning a quiet devotion towards the relatively small weirwood housed in Summerhall’s similarly small godswood. More outlandish yet, others suggested she picked up odd religions from across the narrow sea, the most prominent idea being that she learned some Tyroshi religion, from yet another aunt, the wife of her uncle, Prince Daeron, Kiera of Tyrosh.
Most absurd of all theories, some few suggested that after her burning, princess Aerea had turned her sights upon the fire god R’hllor himself. The only fact that might somewhat lend credence to this was that the princess started wearing almost exclusively red as she got older. While most Targaryens would have more black in their wear, it's hardly unusual that a Targaryen should decide to garb herself in the crimson of her house, making this theory have little factual basis.
The song ‘The Red Princess’ is a melancholy song written by a bard whose name has been lost to time, yet tells a story that accepts this theory. It weaves a tale of the burnt princess finding comfort in fire, and seeing the future in flames, as many followers in R’hllor claim to be able to do. It even suggests she set the fire because she had seen a vision of the future so horrible, she had wanted to save her family from it, through death.
Of course, none can be sure of the true reason princess Aerea set fire to her own ancestral home. Some claim it was an accident, while others claim the princess had gone into a fit, raving about fire and purity. Even those who were there that day, and had firsthand accounts could not seem to agree about her motive.
Another thing many disagree on is how the fire managed to become so large, so quickly. Some say the princess had others working with her, people who set concurrent fires around other parts of the castle. Another theory is she had somehow gotten her hands on wildfire, which had acted as an accelerant to the flames. Those who suggested she was a follower of R’hllor claimed it had been a divine intervention that had made the fire so great.
Whichever way the fire spread, it inevitably claimed a great many lives. It took the lives of prince Daeron, his wife Kiera, and their only child, princess Vaella, who it was said had been closest to Aerea at the time, and one of the first to die. Prince Aerion, Ser Duncan, and all of their children save their youngest, princess Viserra, had perished in the fire as well. All their grandchildren also perished. King Aegon V and his oldest and heir, prince Duncan died despite the best efforts of the kingsguard.
The purple dragon Dyanna, hatched by princess Viserra, and a true beast who had been as big as a house at the time, at eight and ten years old, had also died. As well, the blue dragon Aarush, hatched by prince Maelor, the six year old son of the wedded twins Rhaenyra and Daemon, at only a few years old had also died in the fire. Princess Viserra, one of the few survivors of her immediate family, had fallen into a deep depression after this, and had grown sick and died a mere year later. Some say it was simply grief from losing the majority of her family, those others think it was also due in part to the loss of the dragon that had hatched in her cradle, when she had only been an infant.
These oddities make many believe in theories of the fire being sent, or at least fueled by the gods, comparing it to the Doom of Old Valyria. Afterwards, just as they had after the Dance of the Dragons, all dragon eggs refused to hatch, and no dragons have been born in decades, despite how it seemed they were returning, slowly but surely.
In the end, none can say with much confidence exactly what led to the events of the day, or even how they played out. Yet, it was certainly a tragedy in truth, so many lives snuffed out in just one night, one night that had been supposed to be a joyous affair.