George R.R. Martin says Dany should read Fire and Blood…and is that a GoT spoiler?

The seven-plus year wait for The Winds of Winter—the sixth novel in the epic Game of Thrones series—has many fans feeling restless, but George R.R. Martin is attempting to soften the blow with a new book set within the A Song of Ice and Fire universe. The book, called Fire and Blood, is a 700-page history of the Targaryen family, written in the voice of Archmaester Gyldayn. In a 2017 blog post, Martin revealed the book begins with Aegon the Conqueror overtaking and unifying the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros and covers 150 years of Targaryen rule.

Between Fire and Blood and the still-untitled Game of Thrones prequel series, we’re about to learn more about this mysterious world than ever before. While Martin understands that fans are frustrated he hasn’t finished The Winds of Winter yet, he promises Fire and Blood contains crucial details relating to Game of Thrones. In fact, in a new video from Esquire, Martin says Daenerys Targaryen would definitely benefit from a trip to the citadel to review the book—err, Archmaester Gyldayn’s manuscripts.

"This is a book that Daenerys might actually benefit from reading, but she has no access to Archmaester Gyldayn's crumbling manuscripts. So she's operating on her own there," Martin teased. "Maybe if she understood a few things more about dragons and her own history in Essos, things would have gone a little differently."

Could Archmaester Gyldayn’s manuscript contain the key to successfully defeating the White Walkers and landing Dany on the Iron Throne? Or could Martin even be hinting that Dany will ultimately be defeated in the upcoming eighth season? It seems we’re definitely going to have to give Fire and Blood a thorough study while we wait for the final season of Game of Thrones to drop in April.