Empire of the Dawn is a Game of Thrones fanfiction set 6 years after the show's ending. Things in Westeros are not going well- even though winter has just now ended, Bran Stark has not been the good king everyone hoped he would be and has numerous plots in motion to increase his own power. His own sister Sansa is the target of one of those, intending to bring the North back into the fold of King's Landing. But Bran is very interested in what is going on in Essos- a resurrected ancient nation-state known as the Empire of the Dawn, ruled by the second Amethyst Empress, has conquered and integrated the entire continent from Asshai and the Shadow of the east to the shores of the Narrow Sea to the west.
Bran sends Tyrion Lannister and Davos Seaworth to the Empire's capital of Volantis to investigate this Empress, for Bran thinks it is not led by a 'true heir to the Dawn', as in his mind there was only one possible candidate, and she's dead. As they discover- to Tyrion's fear- he's very wrong, as though she was dead, she isn't anymore- Daenerys Targaryen is back.
She reveals that she had actually never gone mad, but instead had been poisoned with a substance called basilisk's blood, a poison that causes violent insanity, as part of a plot by Varys to have Daenerys usurped willingly by Jon Snow. Instead the plan backfired (for Varys) in the most calamitous of ways- he was discovered and executed and his servant helper continued on to poison Daenerys the morning of the attack on King's Landing, triggering her violent aggression that led to her leveling the city.
But it turns out that not only is everyone wrong about Dany being madder than her father, said man- the Mad King- was never actually her father at all. Daenerys is actually the daughter of Rhaegar Targaryen- just as Jon is his son- and calls as mother Ashara Dayne.
Slowly, Daenerys reunites with those who followed her- and in the case of Sansa and Arya, opposed her- in her last life, working through things, and having more truths revealed along the way. They eventually sail back to Westeros and begin the true War for the Dawn, as the White Walkers are back, and they now fully serve their creator- the Three-Eyed Raven, who possessed and took over Bran's body and has been pulling the strings since the very beginning.
This fanfiction provides examples of:
- Absurdly Sharp Blade: Two. One is Dawn, a greatsword from the book series, wielded by Arthur Dayne, widely considered to be the greatest sword in existence. The second is called Light Sister, and is Daenerys's one-handed blade and is basically a smaller version of Dawn. Both are capable of cutting through armor and breaking the blades of regular swords.
- Author Tract: SS47_GoT makes no secret of the fact that he's an ardent believe that in the books Jon and Dany are both the children of Lyanna Stark and Rhaegar Targaryen, and that this fic is an attempt to merge his theories with satisfying many of the prophecies the book series has, and give the show-canon a satisfactory ending.
- Back from the Dead: Daenerys most prominently, but from the backstory, both Ashara and Arthur Dayne are as well, having secretly been working throughout the television seasons to (in Ashara's case) ensure that Daenerys both fulfilled the prophecy in a way that wouldn't leave her (permanently) dead, and (in Arthur's case) prepare for her armies that she can lead once she has been resurrected and assumed the title of Amethyst Empress.
- Badass Army: Arthur Dayne created the Gemstone Legions in preparation for Daenerys to become Amethyst Empress. Daenerys also has a veritable army of dragons, who she awoke from stone after her resurrection.
- Berserk Button: Dany hates Ned Stark but can usually tolerate others acknowledging he was generally a good man. However, she does not tolerate anyone acting like his brother Brandon Stark was any form worthy of praise, being that he raped her mom. Sansa telling Allyria (the product of said rape) that she's making her father ashamed causes Daenerys to absolutely lose it (though to Sansa's credit she didn't know Brandon Stark was a rapist and once Arya tells her she immediately apologizes to Dany and Allyria, Sansa herself having no empathy for rapists).
- Big Bad: The Three-Eyed Raven manipulated the events of the TV show to get himself in power in Westeros, and is still working against the Empire of the Dawn.
- Broken Pedestal: The image that Jon and Arya have of Eddard Stark being perfect is very much broken when they both find out that he raised Jon, Lyanna's son, as his own bastard to protect him, while leaving Daenerys- Lyanna's daughter- in exile and in danger, given his oft-quoted statement "the lone wolf dies but the pack survives."
- Calling the Old Man Out: Eddard Stark is long dead but Daenerys gives his tomb one where he calls him a coward and a liar for leaving her overseas while protecting her brother.
- Color-Coded for Your Convenience: The Gemstone Legions are subdivided into groups of legions named for gemstones- Emerald, Sapphire, Jade, etc.- depending on where they're from. Their legion symbols, shields, and clothing feature the color of said gem very prominently.
- Contract on the Hitman: Daenerys has recruited the Faceless Men to watch over her, specifically from Arya Stark. She also paid off the Faceless Men to not immediately kill Arya for leaving their order, instead only sanctioning them to move against Arya if she actively tries to move against Dany.
- The Dragon: Arthur Dayne is Lord Commander of the Imperial Guard and for all intents and purposes the second-in-command of all human armies Daenerys has. Only Jon, once he becomes King of Westeros and Dany's bannerman, has more authority than Arthur (but still only follow Jon's orders if Dany places Arthur under Jon's command as she does in the Second Battle of the Trident).
- Drowning My Sorrows: A habit Jon picked up during the 8-year span between the ending of the TV show and the start of the fanfic. He was never able to fully shake the (correct) suspicion that something had been very very wrong that day in King's Landing, in addition to having dreams that told him the real truth that Daenerys was his sister (led to believe half but actually full). Once he reunites with Daenerys and they start to work through their issues, the habit fades, but still never fully goes away.
- Easily Forgiven: Arthur Dayne holds no grudge against Howland Reed for killing him, stating that it happened in a battle and it was his own mistake that he had focused on Ned and forgotten that Howland was still in the fray.
- Face–Heel Turn: When Sansa reaches Volantis and discovers Dany is the Amethyst Empress and ruler of the Empire, she starts actively working against her, trying to convince Dany's council to remove her from power and place Jon on the throne in her place. Dany knows full well what she's attempting and allows it because she wants Sansa to understand that Dany's power in the Empire is unquestionable, and because she finds it amusing. Even when Sansa realizes she can't beat Dany, she still refuses to bend the knee until Arya coerces her into it. She doesn't stop trying to figure out a way to escape vassalage to the Empire until she finds out Dany's biological mom was Lyanna Stark and therefore Dany is actually Sansa's family. They still remain cold and abrasive until Sansa has a revelation about the way she's been acting (like Cersei and Littlefinger) and allowing the trauma Ramsay inflicted on her to drive her, and she makes a serious effort to apologize and help Daenerys.
- Fantasy Counterpart Culture: Usually in-line with the original lore. Yi Ti is pretty explicitly China in GRRM's writings, and this fanfic establishes that the Emperors before Dany had harems, they have Chinese names, and in one case Bu Dai explicitly is teaching Dany Yi Tish- which is straight-up Mandarin. Their only difference is that they claim direct descent from the first Great Empire of the Dawn and once Dany invades and proves herself to be very explicitly the true heir to the Great Empire, Yi Ti bows to her and becomes very, very loyal.
- Fate Worse than Death: What happened to Daario Naharis once Daenerys returned. He had sold Meereen back to the slavers and had himself crowned King; Amethyst Empress Daenerys beats him without lifting a finger or using a single dragon, and once he's in her power, he's put into custody by Ashara Dayne, a shadowbinder with many inventive methods of magical torture. Ashara also promises Tyrion and Jon with the same fate should either of them ever betray Daenerys again.
- Gone Horribly Right: Dany was only able to awaken the stone dragons of the Shadow because she was empowered by the mass murder of King's Landing. When she finds this out, and that someone she considered an ally had arranged it, she has a struggle realizing that her 'better world' is built on mass murder and death. Jon calms her by pointing out that even if the means were evil, they weren't her means.
- Greater-Scope Villain: The Three-Eyed Raven is made one for the TV show, having manipulated events and history to see himself on the throne of Westeros and in position to bring about an endless night. There's also a minor second one: Kinvara, high priestess of the Lord of Light, supplied Varys with the basilisk's blood he would have Daenerys poisoned with. While Varys's plan went horribly wrong, Kinvara's succeeded perfectly: she fully intended Daenerys to burn King's Landing, as a mass sacrifice was needed to empower Daenerys to become the Amethyst Empress. Once Dany discovers this, she has Kinvara immediately- and brutally- executed.
- Happily Adopted: Daenerys is not actually Ashara Dayne's biological daughter. Instead her bio-mom is Lyanna Stark, making her Jon's full-blooded little sister, and first cousin to Ned Stark's kids. There was, by both admission, some troubles after Dany's resurrection with this idea, but by the time the series starts years later, Dany and Ashara are both fully over it and happily think of themselves as mother and daughter.
- Hero with Bad Publicity: Dany is fairly indisputable heroic, but even though she was innocent (by virtue of being poisoned when it happened) of the destruction of King's Landing, that's not common knowledge in Westeros. The Three-Eyed Raven is extremely able to rally support to oppose the return of the 'Mad Queen.'
- I Hate Past Me: Jon hated himself for killing Daenerys, never really feeling it was the right thing to do. He was right, but when he discovers that, it's because Dany has sent for him, giving him a chance to redeem himself.
- Leaning on the Fourth Wall: SS47_GoT is very fond of mocking the showrunners David Beinoff and D.B. Weiss of Game of Thrones. His favored method is whenever criticizing something about the TV show that didn't make sense is to have a character state that they had kind of forgot- a reference to a widely-mocked justification D&D said in an after-the-episode segment during Season 8 where they stated Euron was able to sneak-attack Daenerys at Dragonstone because she "kind of forgot about the Iron Fleet."
- Spotting the Thread: Both Tyrion and Jon find out Daenerys's biological mother was actually Lyanna Stark this way. Jon figures it out by finding a statue of Lyanna Stark that hasn't yet been painted all the way: he realizes Dany and Lyanna look very similar when one ignores hair, eye, and skin colors. Tyrion notices that Arya has gotten a lot closer to Dany and becomes suspicious; he finds the same statue (now fully painted) and is actively looking to see if Dany and Lyanna look at all alike, and he finds they do.
- Throne Made of X: Dany has the Dawnthrone, which is a new Iron Throne, except rather than being made out of the swords of the enemies she defeated, it's made of the broken chains of the slaves she freed.
- Universally Beloved Leader: Or close enough. The only people in Essos that don't love the Amethyst Empress and her Empire are the rich and powerful that she ripped power from. Arya realizing that this trope is in effect in Volantis is the first step she has towards realizing Daenerys isn't the monster Arya thinks she is.
- Wound That Will Not Heal: Partially. Dany has a scar where Jon stabbed her. As the wound was actually fatal, it's not even really healed more than enough to allow Dany to live after her resurrection. The only real negative is that Dany has trouble breathing when her heartrate goes up, and Jon in particular cannot stand the sight of it.
