Jon wants to join the Night’s Watch, but Benjen thinks he’s too young. So Jon tries to argue his case by referencing the story of Daeron Targaryen.
“Daeron Targaryen was only fourteen when he conquered Dorne,” Jon said. The Young Dragon was one of his heroes.
“A conquest that lasted a summer,” his uncle pointed out. “Your Boy King lost ten thousand men taking the place, and another fifty trying to hold it. Someone should have told him that war isn’t a game.” He took another sip of wine. “Also,” he said, wiping his mouth, “Daeron Targaryen was only eighteen when he died. Or have you forgotten that part?”
“I forget nothing,” Jon boasted.
Jon points out that Daeron was only 14 years old when he conquered Dorne. His conquest of Dorne is the most memorable thing about him, so that’s what people remember the most. But Benjen points out that Jon hasn’t considered this part of Daeron’s story in full context. 60,000 people died for Daeron’s conquest: From The World of Ice and Fire I can find that 10,000 died taking it and 50,000 over the next 3 years trying to keep it.
Some of those people have famous names like Lyonel Tyrell and Olyvar Oakheart, but no doubt most of them were common knights and militia.
Benjen brings their lives back into the equation as if they really matter, so I think it has the subtle effect of signaling to me that this isn’t a story where I can neglect to calculate the suffering of minor or unnamed characters.
Jon gets belligerent when his oversights are pointed out to him. I could easily see him try to make excuses for Daeron instead.
I notice an ironic duality happening with Daeron’s nickname, The Young Dragon. The word young suggests, at least on the surface, that his deeds are especially impressive because of his young age. That’s certainly Jon’s interpretation of Daeron’s story and the interpretation I tend to come away with too when the name is accompanied by the most notable part of Daeron’s story, his conquest of Dorne. But once I have the full story of the conquest I can see another more tragic meaning in the nickname, because Daeron died at a young age, and the conquest of Dorne was the big mistake that led to it. So the nickname echos through the ages as a reminder that Daeron’s foolishness is why Daeron didn’t live long enough to grow into an older dragon and earn a more mature nickname.
This kind of ironic duality is something I notice in many other nicknames too. Maybe it highlights that reputations are hard to shake, and that they’re just as often misleading as they are useful shortcuts.
To judge by the chapters so far, Tyrion’s nickname seems to have some irony too. We first hear about “The Imp” from Ned, who doesn’t spare any thoughts of Tyrion good or bad, so the nickname itself is allowed to do the lifting from then until now.
The tall boy beside him could only be the crown prince, and that stunted little man behind them was surely the Imp, Tyrion Lannister.
Yet the huge man at the head of the column, flanked by two knights in the snow-white cloaks of the Kingsguard, seemed almost a stranger to Ned . . . (AGOT Eddard I)
For me, it makes me think Tyrion will be annoying, devious, evil or at least provocative. Then I meet him in Jon I and he’s one of the most polite and caring people I’ve seen so far. He handles Jon’s clumsiness and insecurities with a lot of tact. And to give advice is an inherently caring thing to do. At least, this advice seems to be.
Robert Baratheon’s reputation and nickname, demon of the Trident, also has elements of irony and unreliability. The story makes his explicit and shows the mismatch between expectation and reality all at once, and often.
In those days, the smell of leather and blood had clung to him like perfume.
Now it was perfume that clung to him like perfume, and he had a girth to match his height. (AGOT Eddard I)
The king was a great disappointment to Jon. His father had talked of him often: the peerless Robert Baratheon, demon of the Trident, the fiercest warrior of the realm, a giant among princes. Jon saw only a fat man, red-faced under his beard, sweating through his silks. He walked like a man half in his cups. (AGOT Jon I)
Apples and Dragons 