| 1 | !!!This is a listing of ancestors of House Targaryen who have been mentioned in ''Literature/ASongOfIceAndFire'' and its supplementary stories. |
| 2 | !!!For the main character index, see [[AC:[[Characters/ASongOfIceAndFire here]]]] |
| 3 | !!!For the main House Targaryen entry and overall tropes, see [[AC:[[Characters/ASongOfIceAndFireHouseTargaryen here]]]] |
| 4 | !!!For the Court of Daenerys I Targaryen, see [[AC:[[Characters/ASongOfIceAndFireCourtOfDaenerysI here]]]] |
| 5 | |
| 6 | !Targaryen Ancestors |
| 7 | [[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/house_targaryen.jpg]] |
| 8 | [[caption-width-right:300:Click [[http://7kingdoms.ru/w/images/7/7e/House_Targaryen_Full_Family_tree.jpg here]] for a comprehensive House Targaryen family tree]] |
| 9 | |
| 10 | ->''"Every child knows that the Targaryens have always danced too close to madness."'' |
| 11 | -->-- '''Ser Barristan Selmy''' |
| 12 | |
| 13 | The Targaryen Dragonlords conquered the Seven Kingdoms and united them under a single realm. They have a rich and messy history. They sat the Iron Throne built by Aegon the Conqueror for nearly 300 years before they were finally overthrown in Robert's Rebellion. All reigns dated after the second coronation and anointment of Aegon I in Oldtown, at the conclusion of the War of Conquest until the reign of Aerys II. |
| 14 | |
| 15 | House Targaryen held the Iron Throne for fifteen generations and seventeen kings through five civil wars: the War of Conquest, the Faith Militant Uprising, the Dornish Wars, the Dance of the Dragons and the five [[Characters/ASongOfIceAndFireHouseBlackfyre Blackfyre Rebellions]] before Robert's Rebellion saw them defeated and exiled. |
| 16 | |
| 17 | This entry deals with the monarchs of House Targaryen and their families from the date of the Conquest to the king immediately previous to the contemporary family, meaning, ''before'' the reign of Aerys II, the last Targaryen king. |
| 18 | ---- |
| 19 | [[foldercontrol]] |
| 20 | |
| 21 | !!Court of Aegon I |
| 22 | |
| 23 | [[folder:Aegon I]] |
| 24 | !!King Aegon Targaryen, the First of His Name; r. 1-37 |
| 25 | !!!The Conqueror, The Dragon, The Dragonlord |
| 26 | [[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/aegon_the_conqueror_wofiaf_4585.jpg]] |
| 27 | |
| 28 | ->''"From this day forth there would be but one king in Westeros."'' |
| 29 | |
| 30 | Second child and only son of Aerion, Lord of Dragonstone. Married to both of his sisters, Visenya and Rhaenys. He had two sons, Aenys I (by Rhaenys) and Maegor I (by Visenya). Founder of the Targaryen dynasty and conqueror of six of the Seven Kingdoms. Crowned as King of All Westeros and Shield of His People. He created the offices of Hand of the King and Wardens of the Realm and founded the Small Council. After the Conquest, he ordered the construction of the Red Keep and forged the Iron Throne from the swords of his enemies in the fiery breath of his dragon, Balerion. The crown of Aegon I was a simple circlet of Valyrian steel, set with big, square-cut rubies. |
| 31 | ---- |
| 32 | * TheAce: He is the standard by which all kings measure themselves and are measured. Everyone wants to be ''The Dragon''. He is equally remembered as a great warrior and as a wise king. |
| 33 | * AllGirlsWantBadBoys: Unsurprisingly, Aegon was the object of lust for many noblewomen. He reportedly stayed true to his sister-wives. |
| 34 | * ArchEnemy: Of the Dornish. Incredibly, he never did have the upper hand with them, for all the power he had. |
| 35 | * BattleCouple: Aegon, Visenya, and Rhaenys {{exaggerated|trope}} this trope by being a dragon-riding, continent-conquering triad.[[note]]Well, six-sevenths of a continent -- see the ArchEnemy listing above.[[/note]] |
| 36 | * BecauseDestinySaysSo: Decades after his death, Septon Barth wondered if part of the reason he invaded Westeros was because of a Valyrian prophecy. Of course, the Maesters dismissed this as total nonsense. |
| 37 | * BeigeProse: The few quotes attributed to Aegon show he spoke simply and directly. |
| 38 | * BloodKnight: By all accounts, he subverted this trope, to the confusion of many in-universe. He never shied from combat if necessary, and certainly had no qualms ''decimating'' battlefields with Balerion, but he always seemed to prefer peaceful solutions to problems, didn't actively seek battle out if it could be avoided, and never seemed to revel in it. It's also noted that he never participated in tournaments, and though he was apparently very skilled in combat, he always rode Balerion into battle. |
| 39 | * BodyguardingABadass: He was a pretty good fighter himself, and, before the events that led to the creation of the Kingsguard, fairly cavalier about his security. That lasted until he and Visenya were attacked on the streets of King's Landing, leading to the aforementioned creation of the Kingsguard. |
| 40 | * BrotherSisterIncest: Taking it even further than [[RoyallyScrewedUp the practices of his ancestors and descendants]], Aegon added polygamy into the mix by marrying ''both'' of his sisters, in a form of MarryThemAll: It was a case of ArrangedMarriage with Visenya, as she was the eldest, and MarryForLove with Rhaenys. |
| 41 | * TheChainsOfCommanding: Despite his BloodKnight ways, he understood this more than the vast majority of his successors. The reason he designed the Iron Throne the way he did was because, [[DrunkWithPower "A king should never sit easy."]] |
| 42 | * TheConqueror: The civilization he was part of collapsed in a fiery cataclysm. So what does he do? He conquers a continent and starts his own dynasty. |
| 43 | * CoolCrown: The first crown of Targaryen kings in Westeros, [[https://www.westeros.org/Citadel/SSM/Entry/Targaryen_Kings described by Martin as]] "a simple circle of Valyrian steel set with big square-cut rubies." In addition to Valyrian steel representing the Targaryens' Valyrian heritage, the color of Valyrian steel is often so dark it looks black, which combined with the rubies would make Aegon's crown be the Targaryen colors of [[RedAndBlackAndEvilAllOver black and red]]. Its cool factor takes a significant hit when taking a look at [[InadequateInheritor all of the kings who wore it after him]], though.[[note]]His younger son Maegor the Cruel, who was EvilUncle (and living BerserkButton) to Aegon's grandson Jaehaerys the Wise, with Maegor seemingly tainting Aegon's crown for him since Jaehaerys (despite wielding the AncestralWeapon Blackfyre of his grandfather the Conqueror after it was seized from Maegor) specifically chose another to wear instead of his grandfather's, with Jaehaerys's crown then used as the new Cool Crown of Targaryens by his grandson Viserys I and great-granddaughter Rhaenyra; Aegon I's crown had the bad luck of winding up in the hands of the greens and was used to crown Aegon II, who usurped his half-sister's greater claim to the throne and triggered the bloody Dance of Dragons that cost House Targaryens their dragons, seemingly ''also'' tainting the Conqueror's crown for Aegon III due to associating it with ''his'' EvilUncle, Aegon II; and finally Daeron I, who did not come off as malicious as the others, having "only" a mixed legacy instead of an infamous one, and tried to emulate Aegon I as a YoungConqueror by finishing his work of conquering Dorne... only to die instead from a Dornish uprising and lose Aegon's crown for good, perhaps fittingly losing Aegon the Conqueror's crown in the one kingdom Aegon himself could never conquer[[/note]] |
| 44 | * CultureClash: This was the catalyst of Aegon, Visenya, and Rhaenys' invasion of Westeros. (On the surface at least; the trio had already been scouting out the possibility of invading for ''years'' beforehand.) King Argilac proposed an alliance between the Targaryens and the Stormlands, via a marriage between Aegon and Argilac's daughter Argella; obviously no one in Westeros recognised Aegon's already existing marriages as valid. Aegon refused on his part but instead offered Orys Baratheon as the prospective bridegroom, since by his own standards his second in command was a highly suitable match: Orys was his most treasured companion after his two wives, an extremely competent warrior, and carried the blood of the dragon in his veins. By ''Westerosi'' standards, however, Aegon was simply offering his subordinate... who was also heavily rumoured to be his bastard half-brother. Argilac took it as a gross insult to both himself and his daughter and maimed the messenger in a fit of rage, sending back his own insult to the Targaryens. Who promptly started mustering their army. |
| 45 | * CurbStompBattle: Riding dragons, the equivalent of nuclear weaponry, it's no surprising Aegon and his sisters brought almost all of Westeros to their knees. Whoever didn't comply had a dragon's breath to contend with. Whoever wasn't burned to death bent the knee. Except the Dornish, the only people who realized honor isn't worth neither their lives, nor their freedom. |
| 46 | * DeathFromAbove: Used dragons to introduce aerial warfare to Westeros. |
| 47 | * TheDeterminator: The modern era of Westerosi history begins with the reign of Aegon I. That is how unstoppable he was and how important he is to the lore of ''ASOIAF''. |
| 48 | * DidntThinkThisThrough: |
| 49 | ** Aegon and his sisters thought Dorne -- populated by the descendants of the Rhoynar, who fought and lost against the Valyrian Freehold -- would bend the knee just like the rest of Westeros. The Dornish thought otherwise. |
| 50 | ** Though he was famed for forging seven disparate nations into one, he failed to fully consider the matter of succession, inefficiently setting up his heir to take his place, and not fully resolving rivalries within his court. It should be noted that his death was very sudden, and no one saw it coming. |
| 51 | * DragonRider: Balerion the Black Dread, the largest of the Targaryen dragons, was his personal mount during the Conquest. |
| 52 | * FamilyUnfriendlyDeath: Had a stroke in the presence of his grandsons. |
| 53 | * FamousAncestor: Several characters in the present day narrative are descended from him and Rhaenys. Maester Aemon, Daenerys, Viserys, [[spoiler:and Aegon VI, whether he is Targaryen or Blackfyre, is likewise descended from him, as is the still-alive HumanoidAbomination Brynden Rivers]]. [[spoiler:If the most popular theory of Jon Snow's parentage is true, then he is also their descendant.]] Thanks to Baratheons marrying the Targaryens after Lyonel's rebellion, Robert, Stannis, and Renly are his descendants as well, as are their children, Princess Shireen and Robert's bastards: Gendry, Edric Storm, Mya Stone, and Bella. Much like real-history, later conflicts are all elaborate civil wars between which descendant can claim the founder's legacy best. Ironically, he is also an ancestor of the current Martells, who are descendants of the first Daenerys, sister of King Daeron II, since she married Prince Maron Martell. |
| 54 | * FounderOfTheKingdom: The first man ever, in thousands of years, to unify all of Westeros (except Dorne) into a single Kingdom and under a single Crown. His reigned supreme over the Reach, Westerlands, Stormlands, Iron Islands, Vale, and the North. He also built the capital city, King's Landing, which eventually became a political and commercial hub of the Seven Kingdoms. |
| 55 | -->'''Stannis Baratheon:''' This talk of Seven Kingdoms is a folly. Aegon saw that three hundred years ago when he stood where we are standing. They painted this table at his command. Rivers and bays they painted, hills and mountains, castles and cities and market towns, lakes and swamps and forests... but no borders. It is all one. One realm, for one king to rule alone. |
| 56 | -->'''Ser Davos Seaworth:''' One King means peace. |
| 57 | * FromNobodyToNightmare: It's very unlikely anybody from Westeros noticed three rag-tag refugees from an Empire-wide cataclysm coming from such a tiny, volcanic rest-point nobody much cared about. They certainly knew when they arrived, though. After Harrenhal, "NightmareFuel" would have been engraved on the collective consciousness, if not before. Even before he really started stepping it up his army was simply his men from Dragonstone, House Velaryon, and House Celtigar, based on a small fort in what would become the Crownlands, only a few thousand men. By the time his Conquest ended with Torrhen Stark's surrender, he could muster an army of thirty thousand, with three dragons and the might of five formerly disparate kingdoms behind him. |
| 58 | * TheGoodKing: Despite his BloodKnight origins, Aegon I gave Westeros nearly four decades of unbroken peace and prosperity after securing his crown. He understood, unlike many kings before and after him, that violence was but a means to an end and not an end unto itself. He also seemed to have a similar philosophy to the Starks about how "the man who passes the sentence should swing the sword" so as not to get too comfortable with it. Aegon made the Iron Throne that way because he felt a king should never feel comfortable sitting on it. As a King, he built trade and created a new capital city, and through his sister Rhaenys provided a common civil code and authority. |
| 59 | --> '''Daenerys''': Aegon the Conqueror brought fire and blood to Westeros, but afterward he gave them peace, prosperity, and justice |
| 60 | * HappilyMarried: He and Rhaenys were a happy couple (not so much with Visenya) and he was devastated when she was killed. |
| 61 | * HeartbrokenBadass: After Rhaenys's death, although he did not wear it openly. |
| 62 | * TheHighKing: He managed to unify all of Westeros (save Dorne) under the Iron Throne, overthrowing or subjugating six other kings in the process, as Lord of the Seven Kingdoms. |
| 63 | * {{Irony}}: Within five years of his death, the first dispute in the royal succession broke out, as his son Maegor usurps the throne from (and kills) its lawful owner, Aegon's grandson (also named Aegon). |
| 64 | * KnowWhenToFoldThem: After reading the letter sent by Dorne to him in 13 AC, he left Dorne alone as an equal for the rest of his reign. |
| 65 | * LifeWillKillYou: Aegon I was a peerless warrior, conqueror and politician who united the Seven Kingdoms into one and began a royal dynasty that lasted about 300 years. He died not in some glorious battle as one might think, but of a stroke at the age of 64. |
| 66 | * LonelyAtTheTop: See TheStoic entry below. It is said he had only one true friend, Orys Baratheon, who was also rumored to be his bastard half-brother. Too bad he lost Orys after he lost his hand in Dorne and retired to the Stormlands, and as well Rhaenys' death left him stuck with the less loved Visenya. Later on, Aenys's sons provided him with some degree of comfort, and it was in their presence that he had the stroke which killed him. |
| 67 | * MarryThemAll: He [[ArrangedMarriage was supposed to marry Visenya by tradition]], as they were the eldest son and daughter of their family. He was [[MarryForLove in love with]] his ''younger'' sister Rhaenys, though. So he [[TakeAThirdOption Took A Third Option]] and married them both. Apparently, love is ''not'' always the death of duty -- take that, Maester Aemon! |
| 68 | * MightMakesRight: Aegon had absolutely no claim to any of the seven kingdoms he invaded and reshaped into a single, unified realm. Many characters point out his "right" was his three dragons and nothing more. In Aegon's defense, every king in Westeros before the conquest was operating under the same logic, regularly going to war with each other to carve out more land for their kingdoms. |
| 69 | * MyGreatestFailure: Dorne was the one Westerosi kingdom he could never properly subjugate, and he lost his most beloved sister[=/=]wife Rhaenys in the attempt. |
| 70 | * NoHistoricalFiguresWereHarmed: |
| 71 | ** [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_the_Conqueror William the Conqueror]]. Pretty self-explanatory, minus the dragons and the aforementioned incest, an absolute outsider to a land where he is gravely outnumbered and conquered by bringing something new to the battlefield (the Saxons hadn't faced anything like the Norman heavy cavalry before). |
| 72 | ** Also greatly resembles [[UsefulNotes/TheHouseOfTudor Henry VII]] (at least during his early years), coming from across the sea with a small force and welding a previously gravely divided kingdom together, before providing decades of pragmatic and peaceful rule. Aegon's character would also dim considerably with the loss of Rhaenys -- much as Henry VII would after losing his wife Elizabeth of York and his son Arthur (although the realm at least didn't suffer years of paranoia and plots, much as England did during Henry VII's winter years). |
| 73 | ** Another possible inspiration is [[UsefulNotes/AlfredTheGreat Alfred the Great]], who like Aegon [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heptarchy united seven kingdoms into one]] and (re)built the capital city, and who won several famous victories against viking invaders similar to how Aegon famously drove the Ironborn from the riverlands. |
| 74 | ** Likewise, his focus on ruling and administration after winning his battles, overall stoic personality, and the peace he brought to Westeros after the constant wars of earlier kingdoms recalls the First Roman Emperor UsefulNotes/{{Augustus}}, especially since his immediate descendants proved to be one SketchySuccessor after another. |
| 75 | * NonActionGuy: He is regarded as one of the best warriors of his age but he disliked fighting when it wasn't necessary, not even participating in tourneys. He also preferred diplomacy to violence, once saying that it was better to keep rebellions from popping up than it was to have to put them down. |
| 76 | * NoodleIncident: The contents of the letter sent by Dorne to him in 13 AC were known to him only, for he burnt the letter immediately after reading it. Whatever was inside the letter convinced him to make peace with Dorne as equals, and the peace lasted for the rest of his reign (almost 24 years). Also, after reading the letter, he flew to Dragonstone on Balerion and only returned the next day to sign the peace accord. Whatever happened on Dragonstone on that day also became a mystery. |
| 77 | * NotSoAboveItAll: Recent fluff show Aegon wasn't as infallible as the histories make him to be. The creation of the Kingsguard and him [[spoiler: getting OutGambitted by House Toland]] are examples. |
| 78 | * OutsideContextProblem: An interesting take on this. On the one hand, people will have certainly known that dragons existed and that some in Valyria could control them, so "outside" doesn't seem to quite fit. However, on the other hand, it seems Westeros was ''[[DidntSeeThatComing supremely]]'' unprepared for what this could mean [[NeverBringAKnifeToAGunFight in battle]], hinting that they had genuinely never had this particular combo hit them before.[[note]]The original Valyrian Freehold had its powerbase in Essos, and Dragonstone is explicitly mentioned as being one of the Valyrian's most distant outposts, meaning it's entirely likely most of Westeros had never even ''seen'' a dragon used in battle before the Conquest.[[/note]] Knowing in theory what has happened to others is often remarkably different to being ready to face the reality of it hitting you. Which the Five Kingdoms they hit at the start [[EpicFail demonstrably were not]], hence he and his sisters [[WrittenByTheWinners retroactively became "heroes"]]. The one Kingdom to give the Targaryens even a bit of bother before reaching accommodation? Dorne: where many people from Essos-under-Valyrian-rule had settled and whose descendants worked out how to use the environment against even dragons. |
| 79 | * ParentalFavoritism: Aegon evidently doted on his firstborn Aenys and had little to do with Maegor, despite Maegor appearing to have far more in common with his father. While it could be argued that he was simply grooming his eldest heir to one day rule, it's implied that he was more attached to Aenys because he was the son he had with his beloved Rhaenys, while Maegor was born of Visenya, whom he had a much colder relationship with. After Rhaenys was lost to him, Aenys was all that remained of her. |
| 80 | * PreMortemOneLiner: He told Harren the Black "At nightfall, your line will end." before he burned his castle. |
| 81 | * PyrrhicVictory: Aegon founds his dynasty but his failure in Dorne costs him both Rhaenys (who was MIA) and Orys (who lost his hand and withdrew from King's Landing). |
| 82 | * ReasonableAuthorityFigure: Though he's famed as a ruthless conqueror and unparalleled warrior, he preferred peaceful solutions to problems, and is noted for taking steps to avert rebellions rather than letting them happen, and quashing them outright, as Maegor would. |
| 83 | ** When the Prince of Dorne sent his own daughter to negotiate a peace settlement between Dorne and the Iron Throne, Aegon's subjects wanted the girl to pay for the sins of her countrymen, ranging from sending her back to her father minus a hand to selling her into sexual slavery. Even though Dorne had killed his most beloved sister-wife Rhaenys and her dragon, Aegon flatly refused to countenance such, insisting the princess was an envoy and would be afforded the respect due to one. |
| 84 | * RoaringRampageOfRevenge: After Rhaenys's disappearance came ''the Dragon's Wroth'', where the Targaryens burnt every Dornish stronghold at least once, with the exception of Sunspear, in a [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chevauchee chevauchée]] strategy intended to turn the Dornish against the Martells. Sadly for Aegon, it didn't work, and he was eventually pressured (by means we still don't know to this day) into accepting his enemies' terms of peace and equality. |
| 85 | * RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething: He maintained that smallfolk should see their king from time to time and he made regular processions throughout Westeros, holding court in both the great castles and small hovels of his kingdom. |
| 86 | * RuleOfSymbolism: Aegon had the Iron Throne specifically designed to be uncomfortable to sit upon, believing that no ruler should sit easy, serving as a constant reminder of [[TheChainsOfCommanding their responsibilities]]. [[DramaticallyMissingThePoint Unfortunately]], everyone since has thought it was to remind rulers of their [[ParanoiaFuel enemies]]. |
| 87 | * SiblingTeam: With his sister-wives, Visenya and Rhaenys. This was eventually broken. In 10 AC, Rhaenys disappeared while warring in Dorne. Later in his life, Aegon was said to have grown distant from Visenya. |
| 88 | * SketchySuccessor: ''Both'' his sons were this. Not even Maegor's cruelty could crush the rebellions which began under Aenys's rule. It would be up to his grandson to usher in another decades-long reign of peace for the realm. |
| 89 | * TheStoic: Largely discreet and self-isolating, Aegon I shared his full confidence with no one save his sister-wives and his (first) Hand, Orys Baratheon. |
| 90 | ** ''The World of Ice and Fire'' implied that this trait of his got stronger later in his life. Orys lost his sword hand while warring with Dorne, resigned as Hand and returned to the Stormlands. Rhaenys's death (also at Dorne) surely did not help matters. |
| 91 | * SurprisinglySuddenDeath: He dies of a stroke, with no prior mention of any health concerns before that. "Died of a stroke" is literally the sum total of time Gyladyn spends on the matter, before moving on to the after-effects of his death. |
| 92 | * ThereCanBeOnlyOne: When Aegon arrived to conquer the Seven Kingdoms, each had, of course, their own ruler. But for Aegon, there could only be one king. Either through brute force or willful surrender each kingdom (except for Dorne) fell until they were one realm, under a single ruler. |
| 93 | * TryToFitThatOnABusinessCard: Aegon of House Targaryen, First of His Name, King of All Westeros, Shield of His People, King of the Andals, the Rhoynar[[note]]in truth, he never ruled the Rhoynar as they were part of the only kingdom he failed at conquering, Dorne[[/note]] and the First Men, Lord of the Seven Kingdoms[[note]]six actually but Aegon in his arrogance choose to forget his failure with the last one[[/note]], and Protector of the Realm. |
| 94 | * {{Ubermensch}}: Armed with three dragons, a small army on Dragonstone and a vision of a united Westeros with himself and his sister-wives ruling above, Aegon forever changed the political landscape of Westeros in ways that are still being felt in the present, 300 years after his landing. The fact that calendars use AL to denote years after his landing, much like how BC and AD are used in real life to denote before and after the birth of Christ, epitomises how much of an effect he had on the world-history of Westeros. Like a true Übermensch, [[RefugeInAudacity Aegon also decided his own moral code, forcing the Faith to accept and legitimize an incestuous bigamist]] with the DivineRightOfKings. |
| 95 | * UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: Aegon naming Aenys (elder son from the younger sister-wife) over Maegor (younger son from the elder sister-wife) as his heir would send some of his grandsons to their graves thanks to Maegor's violent usurpation. |
| 96 | * TheUsurper: For a given definition, since the Throne claimed by Aegon never existed before him (usurpation in the strict legal sense only applies when you take over a pre-existing claim and inheritance) and had to be created out of whole cloth by right of conquest and acclamation, as noted by all court historians. Aegon, as the son of Valyrian lords on a tiny outpost at Westeros, was an outsider to the Westerosi nobility who had no legal claim over the Seven Kingdoms and only truly had popular support in the Riverlands (whom he liberated from the Ironborn); for the other Lords of Westeros, he had the support of his three dragons. |
| 97 | * WalkingTheEarth: Maester Yandel confirms that contrary to popular rumor, Aegon and his sisters traveled all across Westeros years before their conquest, learning many things about the regions, differing customs and local grudges. That research fed into the creation of the Painted Table at Dragonstone, a huge large-scale model of a united Westeros. Needless to say, it paid off big time. |
| 98 | ** Also after the conquest he often traveled across the continent, visiting this or that lord to keep an eye on his domains. |
| 99 | * WorthyOpponent: After signing a peace accord with Dorne in 13 AC, he honored it for the rest of his life. This trope is in there somewhere. |
| 100 | * YoungConqueror: He got started on his conquest at the age of twenty-seven, having planned ahead extensively before setting out. |
| 101 | [[/folder]] |
| 102 | |
| 103 | [[folder:Queen Visenya Targaryen]] |
| 104 | !!Queen Visenya Targaryen |
| 105 | [[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/visenya_targaryen_woiaf_2167.jpg]] |
| 106 | |
| 107 | Oldest child and daughter of Aerion, Lord of Dragonstone. Aegon I's elder sister-wife and chief military advisor. She and Aegon had a son together, Maegor I. During the War of Conquest, she rode the dragon Vhagar. Visenya was the original creator of the Kingsguard (hand-picking the members of the very first one herself). She died in 44 AC. |
| 108 | ---- |
| 109 | * TwentyFourHourArmour: The Dornish Wars made her warier than ever, to the point she started wearing a shirt of iron mail day and night, even under her fancy court gowns. |
| 110 | * AllYourBaseAreBelongToUs: Done during the Vale campaign. The Queen Regent of the Vale was shocked to see her and her dragon playing in the garden with her son. |
| 111 | * BattleCouple: Aegon, Visenya, and Rhaenys {{exaggerated|trope}} this by being a dragon-riding, continent-conquering triad. |
| 112 | * BraidsOfAction: Visenya often braided her hair or bound it up in rings. Her descendant Rhaenyra would later imitate this style in tribute to her. |
| 113 | * BrotherSisterIncest: Aegon was originally betrothed to only Visenya, his older sister, as per Valyrian tradition. By ''his'' choice, he insisted on marrying their younger sister Rhaenys as well. |
| 114 | * CoDragons: As well as wives, both Visenya and Rhaenys were Aegon's most trusted confidantes and enforcers of his will. After Rhaenys's death, Visenya played a more active role in politics, and as a mentor to her son Maegor the Cruel. |
| 115 | * CoolSword: Dark Sister, which became an AncestralWeapon like her brother's sword Blackfyre (the sword of Kings), only it was given on merit to the best warriors (including Daemon Targaryen, Aemon the Dragonknight, and Brynden "Bloodraven" Rivers). |
| 116 | * DarkActionGirl: She actively participated in the Conquest and helped put down a number of rebellions against her son, fighting on dragonback and wielding a Valyrian steel sword, Dark Sister. She also developed a rather sinister reputation; she was known to be ruthless and rumored to dabble in poisons and sorcery. |
| 117 | * DragonRider: Visenya was famous for riding the dragon Vhagar, and was more of a warrior than Rhaenys. Years into their reign, she and her Valyrian steel sword, Dark Sister, played a vital role in foiling an assassination attempt on Aegon's life in the streets of King's Landing. This led directly to the creation of the Kingsguard. |
| 118 | * DroppedABridgeOnHim: Gyldayn spends even less time on her death than he did on Aegon. She's just very suddenly dead when Maegor comes back from some slaughtering, without even saying what she died of. |
| 119 | * EvilMatriarch: [[spoiler:It's rumored that she killed her nephew Aenys (the son of Aegon and Rhaenys), so as to ensure the rise of her son Maegor.]] |
| 120 | * EvilSorceress: Was rumored to be this. |
| 121 | * FemmeFatale: Both Visenya and Rhaenys were this but in different ways. Visenya was the seductress, and has been described as having a 'harsh' beauty. |
| 122 | * FounderOfTheKingdom: Visenya and Rhaenys, and their dragons, were vital in shaping Aegon's kingdom and, occasionally, even ruled in his stead while he was away. |
| 123 | * TheGloriousWarOfSisterlyRivalry: Although they share their brother Aegon between them, they compete for him too, each in her own way. It is said that her brother-husband Aegon spent ten nights with Rhaenys for every one with her. That said, Visenya did mourn Rhaenys's death, and, together with Aegon, burned nearly every castle, keep, and holdfast in Dorne in retaliation. She was also upset when Deria Martell arrived at King's Landing with the skull of Rhaenys's dragon as a peace offering of sorts. |
| 124 | * [[IHaveYourWife I Have Your Son]]: What her fun encounter with child king Ronnel Arryn really meant. His mother, who was gathering defenses for the Vale unexpectedly found Visenya and her huge dragon Vhagar playing in the yard with Ronnel. No actual threat was formulated, but Queen Sharra took the hint that any resistance was useless. |
| 125 | * LadyOfWar: Centuries later, she is one of the only women in history ever respected for their skill in warfare. She was also the creator of the Kingsguard. She may have had a touch of the BloodKnight about her with it, too: she loved a good battle and shone in a well-planned war. |
| 126 | * TheMatchmaker: Along with her sister, she delighted in matching sons and daughters of noble houses to forge new alliances and tie all of them to the Iron Throne. |
| 127 | * TheManBehindTheMan: While the military side was mostly Aegon's responsibility, many of the ideas regarding the governance of Westeros came from his sisters. The creation of the Kingsguard was Visenya's, for instance. Visenya also played a major role as a mentor and adviser to her son Maegor. |
| 128 | * MaybeMagicMaybeMundane: The rumors that she conceived Maegor using dark magic. On one hand, Visenya was said to have been a sorceress, and hadn’t gotten pregnant after ten years of marriage to Aegon, but suddenly announced that she was carrying a baby, ''just'' when people were starting to whisper that she was infertile and Aegon was planning to take another wife. And she correctly predicted that her child would be a boy, too. On the other, Visenya might not have gotten pregnant in ten years for the simple reason that Aegon didn’t spend much time with her compared to Rhaenys. Plus, Rhaenys had died in Dorne shortly before Maegor’s conception, and her only son Aenys was weak and sickly, so Aegon and Visenya might have started...er...trying extra-hard to produce a backup heir. |
| 129 | * MurderIsTheBestSolution: When the Faith Militant uprising began, she made two suggestions to Aenys on how to handle it -- 1: Dissolve Aegon and Rhaena's marriage immediately or 2: Go burn the Starry Sept to the ground. |
| 130 | * MysticalPregnancy: It's implied that she used some kind of dark magic to conceive Maegor. She had not had any children after ten years of marriage (to be fair, Aegon's obvious preference for Rhaenys didn't help here), and the courtiers, seeing an opportunity for advancement, began to whisper that she was barren and went as far to suggest that Aegon should take another wife. Suddenly (and very conveniently), Visenya announced that she was pregnant with a son and gave indeed birth to one, cementing her position as queen. |
| 131 | ** Alternatively, it might have been mystical for a completely different reason: neither sister had a huge number of healthy kids. Both only gave birth successfully well after the battles of conquest. Both used ''a lot'' of dragonfire for an extended period of time. And, the series does point out that fire magic and pregnancy don't mix all that well. Visenya may have ''avoided'' magic for long enough to successfully carry to term. |
| 132 | * NoGuyWantsAnAmazon: Downplayed. Although Aegon preferred the more "graceful" and "playful" Rhaenys to the "cold" and "harsh" Visenya, he didn't shun the latter. In fact, it seemed like Aegon and Visenya only became estranged after Rhaenys's death. |
| 133 | * NoHistoricalFiguresWereHarmed: Has some parallels to Livia Drusilla -- powerful consort of the founder of a dynasty, provided good counsel, and successfully maneuvered her own son into succession (with accompanying, albeit unproven, rumors of the occasional murder to help it along). She also shares Livia's eventual fate of being shunted aside by the son she worked so hard to enthrone. |
| 134 | * NotSoAboveItAll: Despite her reputation as a stern IceQueen, she apparently enjoyed the antics of her fool Lord Monkeyface, and when the fool died choking on a peach pit, she replaced him with an actual ape, which was dressed with the late fool's clothes. |
| 135 | * OurFounder: Of the Kingsguard, which she modeled after the Night's Watch. |
| 136 | * PetTheDog: Despite her reputation as a stern LadyOfWar and probably the most ruthless of the Targaryen siblings, her conquest of the Vale was remarkably peaceful and she granted the Vale's child king Ronnel his wish of a fun ride on Vhagar. Three times, actually. |
| 137 | * SoleSurvivor: Of the original conqueror trio (plus Orys). Aegon and Rhaenys died decades before her, while she died well into Maegor's reign. Particularly ironic since she was the eldest sibling. |
| 138 | * TheReasonYouSuckSpeech: She gives one to her nephew/stepson Aenys I, for his indecisiveness and lack of spine in dealing with the High Septon. |
| 139 | * TomboyAndGirlyGirl: Rhaenys was much more graceful and playful than her sister Visenya. She loved music and poetry, while Visenya was the warrior and strategist. |
| 140 | * TomboyPrincess: She was this, {{Warrior Prince}}ss and RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething wrapped up in a single, female, ass-kicking package so iconic, even modern Westeros holds her in awe rather than contempt for managing it. |
| 141 | * UndyingLoyalty: Despite their apparently frosty relationship, she was Aegon's loyal right-hand woman, and formed the Kingsguard after demonstrating that the current guards were insufficient, all to protect her brother. |
| 142 | * UnwantedSpouse: Was the lesser loved sister-wife. It was even rumored she was appointed to supervise the Red Keep's construction so Aegon wouldn't have to suffer her presence. |
| 143 | * VillainWithGoodPublicity: Even though she was a strong supporter of Maegor's usurpation of the throne, the various historians[=/=]scholars didn't call her out on this. |
| 144 | * WickedStepmother: Is this to Aenys. [[spoiler:Even if she didn't poison him]], Visenya was instrumental in Maegor consolidating power at the start of his reign, even though Aenys's sons were the lawful heirs to the Iron Throne. |
| 145 | * WouldHitAGirl: When Princess Deria Martell came to court to negotiate a peace between Dorne and the Iron Throne, Visenya wanted her executed in retaliation for Rhaenys's death. |
| 146 | [[/folder]] |
| 147 | |
| 148 | [[folder:Queen Rhaenys Targaryen]] |
| 149 | !!Queen Rhaenys Targaryen |
| 150 | [[quoteright:191:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/5c96a73b00d837764cec62f7806311d4.png]] |
| 151 | |
| 152 | Youngest child and second daughter of Aerion, Lord of Dragonstone. Aegon I's younger sister-wife and the love of his life. The two of them had a son together, Aenys I. During the War of Conquest, Rhaenys rode the dragon Meraxes. The current line of Targaryens is descended from Aenys, her son with Aegon. She went missing in battle in Hellholt (located in Dorne) in 10 AC. |
| 153 | ---- |
| 154 | * ActionMom: She fought the Dornish after giving birth to her son; unfortunately, she went missing in action when Aenys was around 3 or 4-years-old, and he had to grow up without her. |
| 155 | * BattleCouple: Aegon, Visenya, and Rhaenys {{exaggerated|trope}} this by being a dragon-riding, continent-conquering triad. Rhaenys was the sweetling of the three, and even ''she'' took part, riding the dragon Meraxes in the Conquest. |
| 156 | * BrotherSisterIncest: Aegon married ''both'' of his sisters, although Rhaenys was his favorite. He was originally betrothed to only Visenya as per Valyrian custom, but insisted on marrying Rhaenys as well. |
| 157 | * CoDragons: As well as wives, both Rhaenys and Visenya were Aegon's most trusted confidantes and enforcers of his will. During the Conquest, Aegon often dispatched both of them independently to subdue the remaining kingdoms of Westeros. Having actual dragons of their own helped. |
| 158 | * CulturedBadass: She had a great love for music and poetry, and was a patroness of the arts. |
| 159 | * DragonRider: Rode the dragon Meraxes. She was said to have loved flying and spent more time riding her dragon than Aegon and Visenya ever did. |
| 160 | * FamousAncestor: All surviving Targaryens (and House Blackfyre) descend from her, as her sister Visenya's only son died childless. |
| 161 | * AFateWorseThanDeath: Played with. There is in-universe speculation that she survived Meraxes's fall, but was captured, tortured, and mutilated by the Dornish. According to this interpretation, the mysterious letter was offering Aegon peace in exchange for giving her a MercyKill. However, considering the lasting peace the Iron Throne had with Dorne after the accord was signed, and that some of the Dornish lords were known for their affinity to dark magic, a more plausible scenario was that she was tortured for a blood magic ritual which could have cost the life of her and Aegon's only son at the time (who was at Dragonstone in that moment). [[note]]In-universe, after reading the mysterious letter, Aegon flew to Dragonstone on Balerion, returned to the capital, and immediately signed the peace accord with Dorne. What he did/discovered in Dragonstone or what the actual words of the letter were still a mystery, however.[[/note]] |
| 162 | * FounderOfTheKingdom: Visenya and Rhaenys, and their dragons, played a vital role in shaping Aegon's kingdom and, occasionally, even ruled in his stead while he was away. Rhaenys was the conciliator, and more of a diplomat while Visenya was martial. |
| 163 | * TheHighQueen: She was very involved in politics, as well as being adored by the people of Westeros. |
| 164 | * {{Irony}}: Despite being the diplomat and Visenya the warrior, it was Rhaenys who died a warrior's death in Dorne, while Visenya ended up playing a diplomatic role both in recruiting the Lords of Cracklaw Point and in the rise of her son Maegor. |
| 165 | * IWarnedYou: During the initial War of Conquest, Rhaenys went to Dorne as a diplomat to convince Dorne to surrender. Princess Meria Martell refused and warned Rhaenys that she was not wanted there and to return at her peril. Years later, she returned as a warrior to Dorne, and died there. How she died is a matter of speculation. |
| 166 | * TheMatchmaker: Along with her sister, she delighted in matching sons and daughters of noble houses to forge new alliances and tie all of them to the Iron Throne. |
| 167 | * MissingMom: Aenys was 3- or 4-years-old when she went missing in Dorne. |
| 168 | * NeverFoundTheBody: Her body was never returned to the Iron Throne. Do note that her dragon Meraxes's skull was eventually returned. Combined with the mysterious letter, it is not hard to postulate that ''something'' happened to her after she fell off Meraxes. The Dornish noble house who controlled the place where she went missing (House Uller of Hellholt) also had an unsavory reputation. |
| 169 | * NiceGirl: Of the first three Targaryens -- she was generally regarded as the friendliest, she did her best to knit the new Kingdom of Westeros together, she was genuinely concerned for the plight of the smallfolk like her descendant, Aegon V, and like him, initiated reforms like banning the raiding of the Ironborn for women and limiting the number of blows a husband could strike to six (one for each of the Seven but the Stranger), which considering [[CrapsackWorld the nature of Westeros]], probably qualifies as FairForItsDay. |
| 170 | * NoodleImplements: The above-mentioned letter, which was burnt after Aegon read it (and he never mentioned the contents to anyone else). Do note that the letter was sent to Aegon in 13 AC, ''three years'' after Meraxes went down in Dorne. |
| 171 | * PoliticallyActivePrincess: Rhaenys was on personal terms with all the Lords of Westeros, establishing dynastic ties and influences, and was much missed when she died. |
| 172 | * PrettyPrincessPowerhouse: Although she was more interested in music, poetry, and flying, she's most famous for being a dragon rider and taking part in Aegon's conquest. She also went missing in action during battle. |
| 173 | * ReallyGetsAround: Was rumored to have entertained many bedmates while Aegon was away from the capital (though that might have been just used as an excuse from Maegor's supporters to claim that Aenys wasn't Aegon's son). |
| 174 | * SmallRoleBigImpact: Not truly small at all, given she helped conquer and forge the Seven Kingdoms, but she died ''long'' before her husband and elder sister, who went on to rule for decades after her end. However, her son Aenys would succeed Aegon, her grandson Jaehaerys would rule for more than half a century, and Maegor's lack of heirs ensured ''all'' of House Targaryen afterward descends directly from her. So while Visenya long out-lived her, Rhaenys can ultimately claim the far greater impact of the two. |
| 175 | * UncertainDoom: Her defeat and eventual demise in Dorne is not debated, but her actual cause of death is. Historians don't agree on whether Meraxes fell out of the sky resulting in both of their deaths, or if Rhaenys survived the fall of Meraxes but was captured and tortured to death afterwards. A mysterious letter sent to Aegon by the Prince of Dorne, whose contents are never revealed, but implied to concern her fate, doesn't help. |
| 176 | * TheWomanBehindTheMan: While the military side was mostly Aegon's responsibility, a lot of the ideas regarding the governance of Westeros came from his sisters. The whole idea of building alliances through marriage was Rhaenys's, for instance. |
| 177 | * TheRashomon: There are four definable possibilities of her demise: |
| 178 | ** [[spoiler:She plunged to her death with Meraxes]]; |
| 179 | ** [[spoiler:She survived the fall and spent the rest of her life in agony being tortured at Hellholt by the Ullers unless Aegon relented his desire to conquer Dorne, giving her a quick death]]; |
| 180 | ** [[spoiler:She survived the fall, was captured and being nursed back to health when her condition deteriorated: in exchange for Aegon relenting his desire to conquer Dorne, Rhaenys would be allowed to die in comfort and dignity]]; |
| 181 | ** [[spoiler:She survived the fall, was captured, and had her blood used to curse her son (who at the time of her disapearance/death went back to crawling like a baby) unless Aegon relented his desire to conquer Dorne.]] |
| 182 | * TomboyAndGirlyGirl: Rhaenys was much more graceful and playful than her sister Visenya. She loved music and poetry, while Visenya was the warrior and strategist. |
| 183 | * YoungestChildWins: Besides Maegor, all other Targaryen kings were descended from her. |
| 184 | [[/folder]] |
| 185 | |
| 186 | !!Court of Aenys I |
| 187 | |
| 188 | [[folder:Aenys I]] |
| 189 | !!King Aenys Targaryen, the First of His Name; r. 37-42 |
| 190 | !!!King Abomination |
| 191 | [[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/aenys_i_woiaf_4154.jpg]] |
| 192 | |
| 193 | ->''...as the dragon grew, so too did Aenys.'' |
| 194 | -->-- '''The World of Ice and Fire''' |
| 195 | |
| 196 | Son of Aegon I and Rhaenys. Married to Alyssa Velaryon, with whom he had six children (Rhaena, Aegon, Viserys, Jaehaerys I, Alysanne and Vaella). His reign proved troublesome as one rebellion after another had to be crushed, the most serious being the Faith Militant Uprising. Aenys's inability to crush the rebellion condemned him as a weak and feckless ruler. The crown of Aenys I was large and heavily gilt. |
| 197 | ---- |
| 198 | * AlwaysMurder: Aenys' bowel illness was said to have been caused by his aunt Visenya. |
| 199 | * BewareTheNiceOnes: A [[DeconstructedTrope deconstructed]] example. The few times he tried to shake off his image of being indecisive and weak-willed, it wound up backfiring spectacularly due to nobody being intimidated by his threats: |
| 200 | ** When his brother's second marriage caused chaos, Aenys angrily gave Maegor the choice between setting aside his second wife or exile. Maegor chose exile and took Blackfyre and Dark Sister with him while [[BringIt daring Aenys to stop him]], dealing a serious blow to his legitimacy and reputation. |
| 201 | ** After the Faith expelled Septon Murmison for performing the wedding of Aenys's son and daughter, Aenys sent an angry letter to the High Septon, defending his children's marriage and demanding Septon Murmison be reinstated. The High Septon's response was to declare a holy war, the stress of dealing with which was likely a contributor in Aenys' early death. |
| 202 | * TheCharmer: Aenys was apparently an affable man and made friends easily, especially with women. |
| 203 | * CainAndAbel: The Abel to Maegor's Cain. |
| 204 | * CoolCrown: It was designed with the faces of each of the Seven. Cool, but maybe a little ostentatious. |
| 205 | * DragonRider: Rode Quicksilver. |
| 206 | * DudeWheresMyRespect: Posthumously. Maegor is given all the credit for building the Red Keep, the royal seat of power, despite the fact that Aenys was the one who originally envisioned the castle and began its construction in the first place. |
| 207 | * ExtremeDoormat: His desire to be a NiceGuy and win everyone's approval resulted in him being a weak and feckless ruler that everyone, from his advisors to his brother to the church, walked all over. |
| 208 | * FatalFlaw: His indecisiveness. He nearly lost the realm when several dangerous rebels rose up to challenge his reign and he had no idea how to properly handle the situation, and encountered the same problem when he incurred the Faith Militant's wrath. |
| 209 | * FreudianExcuse: It's implied that his indecisiveness is due to losing his mother at such a young age to the Dornish, which left him very hesitant and reluctant to resort to force, even when necessary. |
| 210 | * IGaveMyWord: Lord Goren Greyjoy crushed a rebellion, so Aenys offered to give him anything his heart desired. He asked to expel the Faith of the Seven from the Iron Islands. Aenys had to comply because he gave his word of honor. The Faith never forgave him for this blunder. |
| 211 | * IJustWantToBeLoved: Part of the problem with his kingship. Not exactly a bad thing, but not exactly something that wins approval in Westeros. |
| 212 | * InadequateInheritor: Aenys was a different kind of dragon, to say the least. This only furthered rumors that he was illegitimate. |
| 213 | * {{Irony}}: The more sickly of the Dragon's two sons ended up being the one to continue the Dragonlord's bloodline. |
| 214 | * LikeFatherUnlikeSon: Had none of his father's martial prowess, political savvy, or iron will, nor any of his mother's skill as a conciliator and diplomat. Justified in the case of him missing his mother's skills. See MissingMom above. |
| 215 | * MamasBabyPapasMaybe: Subverted. While he was rumored to have been fathered by one of Rhaenys' supposed lovers rather than by Aegon, Archmaester Gyldayn also stresses that the whispers of Rhaenys being "promiscuous" was due to both her naturally flighty and flirtatious nature and malicious slander from Maegor's supporters and unruly and xenophobic lords who resented the Targaryen rule. Aenys may have been a major disappointment considering his parentage, but there are many bits of evidence proving his legitimacy (e.g. Aegon famously bedded Rhaenys ten times more frequently than Visenya, Aenys bonded with the dragon Silverwing in his infancy and Aenys' sons were noted to bare a StrongFamilyResemblance to Aegon I himself). |
| 216 | * MassiveNumberedSiblings: His children with his wife Alyssa: Rhaena, Aegon, Viserys, Jaehaerys, Alysanne, and Vaella. |
| 217 | * MommasBoy: Aenys was always very close to his mother Rhaenys. Even as a baby, he would refuse to be breastfed by a wet nurse and would only drink milk from his mother's breasts. Unfortunately, she died in Dorne when he was only three or four. Had she lived longer, she might have been able to teach him to be a stronger ruler. |
| 218 | * NiceGuy: Too nice, unfortunately. |
| 219 | * NonActionGuy: He was not the warrior either of his parents were. He did not even see himself fit to carry his father's sword. |
| 220 | ** It should be noted, however, that Aenys was trained in combat as befit a prince and was by all accounts perfectly adequate in his skill at arms. He just wasn't a MasterSwordsman, a BloodKnight, or TheAce in terms of combat like his parents, aunt, and half-brother were and had no love for fighting, so no one cared. |
| 221 | * OpinionFlipFlop: Another of his problems, he'd agree with the last person who spoke to him, unlike Maegor, who never changed his opinion once it was made up. |
| 222 | * OvershadowedByAwesome: While public perception of the king painted him as a weakling, historical records instead paint him as this. While he never showed any natural talent in fighting and likely would have never gone down in history as a great warrior, he was not a failure either and proved to ultimately be adequately competent in his training. While 'adequate' may of given him a pass in a more peaceful period in history, it was not enough when House Targaryen was still young and everyone around him was comparing him with either his father Aegon the Conqueror or his preternaturally skilled brother [[MasterSwordsman Maegor]] and found him wanting. |
| 223 | * PrettyBoy: Described as being tall and slender, with softer features than his father. He had his long curly hair perfumed and often wore purple clothes to match his lilac eyes. |
| 224 | * PurpleIsPowerful: Subverted. He was royalty and had a penchant for purple attire, however this was not to showcase his power but rather to accentuate his purple eyes. Aenys was in fact a weak ruler. |
| 225 | * ScrewThisImOuttaHere: With the Faith Militant's rebellion against him gathering momentum, after a narrowly thwarted assassination attempt by the Poor Fellows, Aenys abandoned King's Landing for the relative safety of Dragonstone. |
| 226 | * SexualKarma: A staunch winner of this in the Targaryen bloodline. His brother Maegor, a cruel, selfish and bloodthirsty man who ruled [[TheCaligula with an iron fist]] was betrothed to many women (most of whom hated him) and unable to sire any offspring and his wives suffered miscarriages and stillbirths to abominable creatures on the rare occasions he did. By contrast, Aenys, while certainly not the best king and weak of will, was a kind, noble and just man whose marriage to Alyssa Velaryon was by all accounts a happy one and certainly fruitful, baring six children (including the [[UniversallyBelovedLeader Universally Beloved Leaders]] themselves, [[TheHighQueen Alysanne]] and [[TheGoodKing Jaehaerys]]). |
| 227 | * UndignifiedDeath: Bowel illness. Not exactly the best way for the firstborn son of the Conqueror to go out on. |
| 228 | * UnfitForGreatness: Despite being the son of ''The Dragon'' himself, Aenys proved to have little of his father's political savvy, military strategy, or skill on the battlefield. As such, the Faith Militant (correctly) perceived him as weak and rebelled against him due to being a product of incest. His indecisive handling of the crisis did little to dissuade this assertion. |
| 229 | * UpperClassTwit: Aenys had a fondness for court life and the arts, but little knowledge of the way of leadership. It wasn't even in the way that Daemon Blackfyre was a warrior while Daeron II was a bookish academic -- Daeron II was an academic skilled in matters of governance and turned out to be a strong-willed administrator. Aenys is described as just a dilettante, dabbling in alchemy and artwork and the like, with little interest in pragmatic topics that would have aided his rule. He wasn't much of a "twit" in his youth, because at least he is described as truly being charming in person -- in his youth, before people became disgusted with his incompetence. |
| 230 | * YoungerThanTheyLook: Was only 35 when he died, yet looked twice his age due to stress. |
| 231 | [[/folder]] |
| 232 | |
| 233 | [[folder:Queen Rhaena Targaryen]] |
| 234 | !!Queen Rhaena Targaryen |
| 235 | !!!The Queen in the West, the Queen in the East |
| 236 | [[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/160135b473827a23be5e4aff53f263ca.jpg]] |
| 237 | |
| 238 | Oldest child of Aenys I and Alyssa, and widow of Prince Aegon (with whom she had twin daughters, Aerea and Rhaella). She later became one of Maegor's Black Brides, and was one of the two wives who survived him. |
| 239 | ---- |
| 240 | * AllThereInTheManual: Never mentioned in the books proper, only in ''[[Literature/TheWorldOfIceAndFire The World of Ice & Fire]]'' and ''Literature/FireAndBlood''. |
| 241 | * AmbiguouslyGay: Gyldayn ''does'' suggest this of Rhaena and Elissa Farman (though Rhaena did marry Aegon the Uncrowned and bear him two daughters). Another hint may be Rhaena's connection to Melony Piper, another of her "favourites", as the princess was said to be absolutely miserable during her progress with her husband until Melony joined the party at her (Rhaena's) mother's behest. Rhaena is also said to share her bed with her close ladies more than her third husband Androw, up until [[spoiler: Elissa abandons her and Androw poisons her friends.]] |
| 242 | * AmbiguousSituation: Claims to have attacked Maegor with a hidden knife, although there's no way to know for sure since she told this story years after Maegor's death. |
| 243 | * AndNowYouMustMarryMe: Was one of Maegor's Black Brides. |
| 244 | * BecauseYouWereNiceToMe: Rhaena marries Androw Farman for this reason, or so she says when people ask why she chose such an unpromising husband. Unfortunately, she was not as kind to him while he took on the part of TheBeard and it led to heartache for her. |
| 245 | * BigSisterInstinct: She had this in her youth, especially towards Jaehaerys and Alysanne, but her miserable life and personal issues led to her becoming cynical and bitter towards her family. |
| 246 | * BerserkButton: After what happens with Androw, when Alysanne suggests finding her another husband, she snarls that if anyone tries, she'll ensure them a quicker end than Androw. |
| 247 | -->'''Rhaena''': I fed my last husband to my dragon. If you make me take another, I may eat him myself. |
| 248 | * BrokenBird: Her father died (possibly killed by Visenya), her brother/husband was murdered by Maegor, and her younger brother tortured to death by one of his wives before she herself was forced to marry Maegor against her will. Her eldest daughter was a delinquent who hated her, the woman she loved left her and betrayed her by stealing three of her family's dragon eggs, and her husband who she neglected went insane and poisoned her friends and servants. Rhaena spent her final days living sadly in Harrenhal. |
| 249 | * BrotherSisterIncest: Previously married to her younger brother, Prince Aegon. |
| 250 | * DeadGuyJunior: Likely named after her grandmother Rhaenys, who died when Rhaena's father Aenys was still a child. |
| 251 | * DefiantCaptive: During her time as one of Maegor's Black Brides. She couldn't do very much because he was holding her daughters hostage, but she spoke her wedding vows in "a voice as cold as ice" and allegedly tried to kill him with a dagger hidden under her pillows during their wedding night. |
| 252 | * DespairEventHorizon: It's hard to decide ''when'' exactly she crossed this, but when her younger sister Queen Alysanne came to visit her at Dragonstone in an attempt to comfort her, Alysanne found her unresponsive. |
| 253 | * DragonRider: Rode Dreamfyre. |
| 254 | * FantasyForbiddingMother: She forced her daughter Aerea to stay on Dragonstone and forbid her from returning to her aunt and uncle's court at King's Landing where Aerea had been happiest. |
| 255 | * FreudianExcuse: Among other things, she was a terrible, neglectful mother to her daughter and an abusive, cheating wife to Androw Farman. Given her horrific traumas suffered at the hands of Maegor, her many flaws and problems are not that surprising. Her worst behavior only occurred after Maegor. |
| 256 | * FreudianThreat: She threatened to castrate Rogar Baratheon if he ever took another wife after her mother died giving birth to his daughter and she ordered Androw Farman's penis cut off and force fed to him after he murdered her friends in Dragonstone, but he killed himself before it could be carried out. |
| 257 | * GirlPosse: Since her marriage with Androw, she had a group of lady friends consisting of [[TheMistress Elissa Farman]], Alayne Royce, and Samantha Stokeworth; all stayed at Faircastle to accompany her. Franklyn Farman dubbed them "Four-Headed Beast" as they often rode Rhaena's dragon Dreamfyre together. After ascension of Lord Franklyn Farman and Rhaena left for Dragonstone with her husband, all three ladies accompanied her and remained part of her court at Dragonstone until Elissa left Dragonstone, while Alayne and Samantha were poisoned to death by a vengeful [[TheBeard Androw]] who grew jealous of Rhaena's friendships with her ladies. |
| 258 | * GreenEyedMonster: Has shades of this after her younger siblings Jaehaerys and Alysanne became King and Queen, respectively. When Alysanne came to visit her at Dragonstone in an attempt to comfort her, Alysanne was approached by Rhaena's daughter Aerea who asked Alysanne to take her back to King's Landing. Alysanne brought Aerea's request to Rhaena, who refused coldly, stating that Rhaena had nothing and Alysanne had everything, but would not have Rhaena's daughter too, concluding that "you have my throne, content yourself with that." |
| 259 | * HideYourLesbians: Archmaester Gyldayn all but explicitly says that Rhaena was a lesbian, mentioning that most people considered her marriage to Androw Farman [[TheBeard a mere cover]] for Rhaena's relationship with his sister Elissa. [[IfItsYouItsOkay She was happy enough being married to Aegon]], though -- especially since the two of them had been close since childhood. |
| 260 | * HorribleJudgeOfCharacter: Didn't seem to understand the people around her, which helped contribute to her sorrows later in life. Her lover Elissa Farman really didn't want to stay at Dragonstone and eventually got so fed up with being stuck in the place with no ship that she [[spoiler: stole three dragon eggs]] to finance one. Her husband Androw Farman was so bitter about being [[TheBeard a cover for her relationship]] and being regularly mocked by everyone that he murdered all the women he could that she might care about. Her daughter Aerea so hated being stuck at Dragonstone with no friends and nothing to do that she [[spoiler:flew off with the dragon Balerion and died horribly]]. |
| 261 | * ICouldaBeenAContender: One of her major grumbles was being passed over inheriting the throne in favor of Jaehaerys. This is despite her never showing much interest in ruling herself, just being bitter about how her life turned out. No one ever suggests she might've been a better ruler than Jaehaerys, not even her. |
| 262 | * IHaveYourWife: She went along with the marriage to Maegor after Tyanna showed up with her twin daughters Rhaella and Aerea. |
| 263 | * ItsAllAboutMe: |
| 264 | ** She got very self-focused after Maegor died. Case in point with Aerea. Rhaena, who demanded her daughter be made to live with her, tended to ignore her for long periods, barely giving her the time of day even when they were together, and arguing more often than not, but when it was suggested that Aerea be allowed to leave Dragonstone, she threw a fit at the thought of Alysanne taking her daughter away from her. |
| 265 | ** Not to to mention with Elissa Farman, who repeatedly asked for permission to leave Dragonstone, only for Rhaena to refuse because she could not bear to see her leave, until Elissa got fed up and left anyway. |
| 266 | * NeverMyFault: |
| 267 | ** Wails that she gave birth to a monster when Aerea ran off, ignoring the pretty big detail that Aerea ran off because of her awful parenting. |
| 268 | ** Her treatment of Androw Farman before and after his sister leaves Dragonstone leads to his MistreatmentInducedBetrayal, yet she never takes responsibility for how she allowed Androw to become a joke within her court, even allowing her servants to mock him and her daughter Aerea to dump a chamber pot over his head. |
| 269 | ** She blames her stepfather for choosing to save their child over her mother, despite the maester previously making clear Alyssa was going to die either way. It's pretty clear she was projecting her own guilt about never making amends with her mother (despite having years to do so) before her death onto him. |
| 270 | * NoSocialSkills: She never seems to have got on with other people, or even make basic pretenses of socializing. People who visited her, even assuming they were genuine and not suck ups, got the cold shoulder. |
| 271 | * OddFriendship: Formed one with Maegor Towers, the young and sickly Lord of Harrenhal, after she settled there in her later years, and took in his servants after he died. |
| 272 | * ParentalObliviousness: If her daughters did swap places and live out their lives under the other's name, it says a lot that she never seemed to notice or even care. |
| 273 | * RoyalInbreeding: After Aegon's death, she was forced into marriage by Maegor, although she didn't have any children with the latter. |
| 274 | * SelfServingMemory: During the power vacuum created by Maegor's death, her claim to the crown as well as her daughters' claim was considered, but she willingly passed it on in favor of her brother Jaehaerys. Later, she would grow bitter and complain that everyone, including her own mother, had conspired to take away her right to the crown. |
| 275 | * ScrewThisImOuttaHere: [[spoiler:Abandoned Maegor after she learned of her brother Jaehaerys's claim to the Iron Throne, stealing the sword Blackfyre when she did so.]] |
| 276 | * ShrinkingViolet: Started off as one, except around her siblings. |
| 277 | * ThisIsUnforgivable: She held Rogar Baratheon responsible for her mother Alyssa's death, accusing him of causing her death by getting her pregnant, despite Alyssa being well beyond a safe childbearing age, and threatened that if he didn't properly care for his children by Alyssa, and if she heard he'd even considered taking another wife, [[KillItWithFire she'd make Storm's End a second Harrenhal]]. |
| 278 | * TogetherInDeath: Invoked by her brother Jaehaerys after Rhaena died; he commanded she be cremated and her ashes interred at Harrenhal, so she might be close to the spot where her first husband, their brother Aegon, had died. |
| 279 | -->'''Jaehaerys I:''' My brother Aegon died at the hands of our uncle in the Battle Beneath the Gods Eye. His wife, my sister Rhaena, was not with him at the battle, but she died that day as well. |
| 280 | * TraumaButton: [[spoiler:After Androw's stunt with the Tears of Lys, mentioning his name would send her into a rage.]] |
| 281 | * UsedToBeASweetKid: She used to be a doting elder sister to her siblings and it was said that she placed a dragon egg in the cradles of her brother Jaehaerys and sister Alysanne. Years of trauma turned her into a cold and bitter woman to the point that she sent Alysanne away when the latter came to visit her at Dragonstone in an attempt to comfort her, coldly stating that Alysanne has her throne now. |
| 282 | * WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Her and her daughters' fates after escaping Maegor were left unrevealed until the publication of ''Literature/FireAndBlood''. |
| 283 | [[/folder]] |
| 284 | |
| 285 | [[folder:Prince Aegon Targaryen]] |
| 286 | !!Prince Aegon Targaryen |
| 287 | !!!Aegon The Uncrowned, The Pretender |
| 288 | |
| 289 | Aenys I and Alyssa's second child and eldest son and his father's heir. Was married to his older sister Rhaena (with whom he had twin daughters, Aerea and Rhaella). He was killed by his uncle in the Battle Beneath the Gods' Eye in 43 AC. |
| 290 | ---- |
| 291 | * AllThereInTheManual: He was only mentioned in ''[[Literature/TheWorldOfIceAndFire The World of Ice & Fire]]''. ''[[Literature/FireAndBlood Fire And Blood]]'' expands on him a bit further. |
| 292 | * TheBeard: Subverted. Rhaena ''was'' a lesbian, but she also sincerely loved her brother and was quite content with marrying him. A stark contrast to her marriage to Androw Farman... |
| 293 | * BrotherSisterIncest: With Rhaena. |
| 294 | * CouldHaveBeenAContender: Westerosi history would have been very different had he lived. |
| 295 | * CurbStompBattle: Died in one of these: Aegon and Quicksilver didn't stand a chance against his EvilUncle Maegor mounted on the back of Balerion the Black Dread. |
| 296 | * DisneyVillainDeath: A non-villainous example: Balerion tore Quicksilver apart and Aegon fell to his death. |
| 297 | * DragonRider: Rode Quicksilver, his father's dragon. |
| 298 | * GeneralFailure: He wasn't much of a commander and he made mistakes that ultimately cost him his life. Probably his worst was ignoring the advice of his military advisers to destroy each of the six smaller armies loyal to Maegor before they could combine, as he was loath to divide his own forces. As a result of that error, his army was surrounded and crushed. |
| 299 | * GenerationXerox: Was far more like his grandfather than his father. |
| 300 | * IfItsYouItsOkay: While it's all but confirmed his wife Rhaena was a not-too-closeted lesbian, she appeared willing and able to marry Aegon and by most accounts their marriage was a stable one. She deeply mourned his death at the hands of Maegor the Cruel and her brother Jaehaerys had her entombed next to Aegon upon her death. |
| 301 | * NamedAfterSomebodyFamous: The first Targaryen named after The Conqueror, and the first to start the trend of bad things happening to anyone who takes it. Doubles as NearAndDearBabyNaming because he was the only one named "Aegon" while The Conqueror was still alive. |
| 302 | * PosthumousSibling: After his death, his mother Alyssa Velaryon had two more children with her second husband Rogar Baratheon, Boremund and Jocelyn. |
| 303 | * RebelLeader: A failed one. |
| 304 | * UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: His marriage to his sister was what caused the escalating of the Faith Militant's revolt. Maegor didn't make it any better. |
| 305 | * WarriorPrince: He tried to be one. |
| 306 | [[/folder]] |
| 307 | |
| 308 | [[folder:Prince Viserys Targaryen]] |
| 309 | !!Prince Viserys Targaryen |
| 310 | ->'''Maegor''': Chain him in a black cell and question him sharply. Ask him where his mother has gone. |
| 311 | ->'''Owen Bush''': He may not know. |
| 312 | ->'''Maegor''': Then let him die. Perhaps the bitch will return for his funeral. |
| 313 | |
| 314 | Aenys I and Alyssa's third child and second son. Was tortured to death by Tyanna of the Tower in 44 AC (after his mother and siblings fled King's Landing during the chaos caused by Visenya's death). |
| 315 | ---- |
| 316 | * AllThereInTheManual: Only mentioned in ''[[Literature/TheWorldOfIceAndFire The World of Ice & Fire]]''. |
| 317 | * ColdBloodedTorture: After his mother flees King's Landing, he's tortured for nine days before he finally dies. |
| 318 | * DeadGuyOnDisplay: Maegor abandoned his body in the Red Keep's courtyard, hoping Queen Alyssa would return to claim the body. She didn't. |
| 319 | * PosthumousSibling: After his death, his mother Alyssa Velaryon had two more children with her second husband Rogar Baratheon, Boremund and Jocelyn. |
| 320 | * TheSquire: For his uncle Maegor. |
| 321 | [[/folder]] |
| 322 | |
| 323 | [[folder:Princess Vaella Targaryen]] |
| 324 | !!Princess Vaella Targaryen |
| 325 | |
| 326 | Aenys I and Alyssa's sixth and final child, and third daughter. Died in the cradle. |
| 327 | ---- |
| 328 | * SmallRoleBigImpact: She doesn't live long, but that she's born at all is the final straw for Prince Maegor, who declares soon after that his wife, Ceryse Hightower, is barren. To that end, he takes Alys Harroway as a second wife, stunning the realm, enraging his brother the king, and weakening the Crown's relationship with the Faith of the Seven enough that when Aenys betroths his son and daughter to each other two years later, much of the realm rises in revolt against him. |
| 329 | [[/folder]] |
| 330 | |
| 331 | !!Court of Maegor I |
| 332 | |
| 333 | [[folder:Maegor I]] |
| 334 | !!King Maegor Targaryen, the First of His Name; r. 42-48 |
| 335 | !!!The Cruel |
| 336 | [[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/maegor.jpg]] |
| 337 | ->''The Iron Throne will go to the man who has the strength to seize it.'' |
| 338 | |
| 339 | Son of Aegon I and Queen Visenya. Maegor served as Hand during the short reign of his half-brother Aenys. Had a total of six wives (Ceryse Hightower, Alys Harroway, Tyanna of the Tower, and the "Black Brides": Elinor Costayne, Jeyne Westerling and his niece Rhaena Targaryen). Though Aenys had three sons of his own, Maegor came to the throne ahead of his nephews. He put down the Faith Militant rebellion with much bloodshed which earned his InSeriesNickname "The Cruel". It was in his reign that construction of the Red Keep was completed. (The royal apartments are housed in the holdfast that continues to bear Maegor's name.) Died without (surviving) issue, supposedly killed by the blades of the Iron Throne. He was awarded Blackfyre by King Aenys and wore Aegon the Conqueror's crown. He was the first and only King from Visenya's line. |
| 340 | ---- |
| 341 | * ZeroPercentApprovalRating: He is the most hated Targaryen king who ever lived, to the point that his very name is used as an expletive.[[note]]In the hundreds of years after his reign, only ''two'' people in all of Westeros would be named after Maegor; one being a Lord of Harrenhal and the last of his House, and the other being the son of Prince Aerion the Monstrous—and then only as a provocation, by some accounts.[[/note]] Unlike the other two worst kings (Aegon IV, Aerys II), Maegor had the Faith of the Seven as his major opponents … which undoubtedly led his violence to feel more personally blasphemous to most within the Seven Kingdoms than that of his successors. |
| 342 | * AndNowYouMustMarryMe: He forced his "Black Brides" to marry him after killing their husbands. |
| 343 | * AsskickingLeadsToLeadership: Maegor challenged the Faith to a [[TrialByCombat Trial of Seven]] if they believe he is unfit to rule, and won. |
| 344 | * AxCrazy: Murder and torture were Maegor's solution to every problem. When he suspected his wife Alys Harroway of cheating on him, he had every member of her family executed, then had her tortured to death and her dismembered corpse displayed on the spikes of the castle gates. When the Faith Militant rose in rebellion against him, he slaughtered them all and burned the Sept of Remembrance with the worshipers still praying inside, returning to King's Landing with two thousand skulls taken as gruesome trophies. |
| 345 | * BadGuysDoTheDirtyWork: Jaehaerys and Alysanne managed to push through their incestuous marriage in part because Maegor had previously suppressed much of the most violent opposition to Targaryen rule and customs. Notably, Jaehaerys declined to reverse his uncle's outlawing of the Faith Militant. |
| 346 | * BadPeopleAbuseAnimals: As a child, he is said to have butchered a cat with his first sword, though Gyldayn says that's probably a story made up by his enemies. When he was eight, a horse kicked him and he responded by stabbing it to death, then slashing half the face off a stable boy who came running when the horse screamed. |
| 347 | * BeardOfEvil: Described and depicted in sources as having had one of these as soon as he could grow one. |
| 348 | * BeCarefulWhatYouWishFor: A lot of people were dissatisfied with Aenys because he wasn't a fighter. Well, here comes little brother Maegor, who ''was''. |
| 349 | * BetterToDieThanBeKilled: If the claims he chose to commit suicide using the Iron Throne rather than suffer defeat on his enemies' terms are true. |
| 350 | * BigLittleBrother: He was five years younger than his half-brother Aenys, but was strong, stocky, and well-built while Aenys was spindly and sickly. |
| 351 | * BloodKnight: Unlike his predecessor, he was no stranger to battle and was a force to be reckoned with on the battlefield. Something he probably inherited from his mother. Although, his reputation is of having been more cruel with it than she ever was, even at her worst. |
| 352 | * TheBluebeard: He had a total of six wives (as revealed in ''The World of Ice and Fire''). He had three (or two, depending on the source; Ceryse Hightower supposedly died of a 'sudden illness' but much of the realm didn't believe that) of them killed. It doesn't help that some of them belonged to the most powerful families in the land like the Hightowers, the Costaynes, and the Westerlings. |
| 353 | * BringIt: When he was sent into temporary exile, he took Blackfyre with him. King Aenys asked if he'd be so kind as to not take their father's sword, to which Maegor replied that His Grace was welcome to try and take it from him if he dared. Aenys did not dare. |
| 354 | * TheButcher: Ruthless and brutal, Maegor I had built a reputation as a butcher due to his harsh measures in dealing with rebels, silencing the builders of the Red Keep, executing three Grand Maesters, and even murdering some of his wives. |
| 355 | * CainAndAbel: Infamously the Cain to Aenys's Abel. |
| 356 | * ChildProdigy: Was already a better knight in his teens than most grown men. |
| 357 | * CruellaToAnimals: By repute. If you couldn't talk and weren't a dragon, you were likely to be labelled "entertainment". [[note]]Some stories claim that when he was given his first sword at the age of three, the first thing he did was kill a cat. When he was kicked by a palfrey at the age of eight, he promptly stabbed it to death. [[/note]] Having said that, he wasn't much nicer to people. [[note]]Case in point, when a stable boy came running at the sound of the palfrey's screams, Maegor slashed half the poor lad's face off.[[/note]] |
| 358 | * DidntThinkThisThrough: Maegor took over supervising the construction of the Red Keep after Aenys died, and made several additions of his own. Once the construction was completed he treated the builders, carvers and stonemasons to a three day feast -- and then had them all killed so that only ''he'' would know the secrets of the palace. [[HereWeGoAgain Then he immediately started plans to build the Dragonpit.]] Not only were there now far fewer people with the right skills for the job, anyone who was hired to work on the building [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere promptly fled the city,]] meaning Maegor eventually had to use prisoners and foreign supervisors to carry out the work. |
| 359 | * DisproportionateRetribution: After his wife Alys Harroway was (perhaps falsely) accused of adultery by his other wife, Tyanna of the Tower, he not only had Alys executed, but also her father (his Hand at the time) ''and every single living member of House Harroway.'' |
| 360 | * DomesticAbuse: He treated all his wives badly and had a few of them [[TilMurderDoUsPart killed]] if they displeased him. |
| 361 | ** It's rumored that he ordered his first wife Ceryse have her tongue cut out after she made "shrewish" remarks to him, and that her throat was accidentally cut when she struggled. Some dismiss this as slander, although Ceryse did die rather suddenly of unclear causes and it wouldn't have been out-of-character for Maegor. |
| 362 | ** When he was told that his second wife Alys had been unfaithful to him and that her stillborn baby was fathered by one of her lovers, Maegor had Alys tortured to death, tortured and killed her alleged lovers, ''and'' wiped out Alys' entire family. |
| 363 | ** Upon becoming suspicious of his third wife Tyanna, Maegor was preparing to have her tortured before she confessed to [[spoiler:having poisoned his other wives, causing them to have stillbirths]]. In response, Maegor [[spoiler:cut out her heart with Blackfyre]]. |
| 364 | ** Maegor forced his three Black Brides, Jeyne, Elinor (who was already married before Maegor had her husband put to death on trumped-up charges) and Rhaena (the latter of whom was also his niece) into marrying him by [[IHaveYourWife holding their children hostage]], even having them present at the wedding ceremony to make it clear what would happen if they refused to play along. It's therefore safe to say none of them truly consented to Maegor's attempts to conceive children with them. |
| 365 | * TheDragon: As Aenys's Hand in replacement of Lord Alyn Stokeworth. |
| 366 | * DragonInChief: Since Aenys couldn't rule his way out of a paper bag, Maegor proved an effective wartime Hand to his half-brother, thus leading credence to Kevan Lannister's later wisdom in suggesting Randyll Tarly as Hand for King Tommen. |
| 367 | * DragonRider: He rode Balerion, his father's dragon. When Maegor had refused several dragon hatchlings on Dragonstone, his good-sister Alyssa Velaryon had teased that he was afraid of dragons. Maegor scowled at that, and stated that there was only one dragon worthy of him. |
| 368 | * TheDreaded: Everyone was terrified of this guy due to his sadism, violent mood swings and love of having people tortured and whole villages slaughtered to prove a point. Even his closest servants were wary of his wrath. |
| 369 | * DyingAlone: Following a war council meeting, he was left alone in the throne room and later found dead upon the Iron Throne. No one was particularly broken up about his death. |
| 370 | * EvilChancellor: To his half-brother Aenys. |
| 371 | * EvilIsPetty: A bit of a running theme with this guy. Maegor would kill people simply for disagreeing with or upsetting him. And when he was led to believe Alys Harroway had been unfaithful to him, he not only brutally slaughtered her and every member of her family, but every single retainer in their household. |
| 372 | * EvilIsSterile: Despite his efforts, he could not produce any living offspring; all his children were stillborn and horribly deformed. It was rumored that he could not have any children because his mother had used dark magic to conceive him, or because the gods were punishing him for his many crimes. [[note]] Admittedly, other theories have been floated around as well; Tyanna of the Tower cured him of a grievous headwound that had rendered him comatose, but she might actually have brought him back from the dead. Alys Harroway was from Harrenhal, which had recently suffered a surplus of dragon fire, and the aftereffects of all that fire magic might have spilled over onto her. Tyanna claims that she poisoned Maegor's other wives to cause the stillbirths, but since she was on the cusp of being horribly tortured, she might have said it to get Maegor to kill her quicker.)[[/note]] |
| 373 | -->'''Archmaester Gyldayn's writing:''' Maegor was cursed, men said. He had slain his nephew, made war against the Faith and the High Septon, defied the gods, committed murder and incest, adultery and rape. His privy parts were poisoned, his seed full of worms, the gods would never grant him a living son. |
| 374 | * EvilOverlord: Even his most loyal servants weren't safe with this guy. |
| 375 | * EvilUncle: To Aenys's sons, particularly Prince Aegon, whom he killed during the Battle Beneath the Gods Eye, and Prince Viserys, whom he had tortured for days before he eventually succumbed. |
| 376 | ** Another nephew, [[spoiler: the later Jaehaerys I]], had to raise an army against him in order to [[spoiler: secure his own (lawful) succession]]. |
| 377 | * TheExile: For taking Alys Harroway as his second wife, which outraged the Faith, Aenys exiled Maegor to Essos. |
| 378 | * FamilyExtermination: Had the entirety of [[spoiler: House Harroway]] executed for [[spoiler: Alys']] supposed unfaithfulness. |
| 379 | * FatalFlaw: His infamously bad temper, and his tendency to almost immediately resort to violence. It only served to antagonize the other lords of Westeros, meaning that he was left with virtually no supporters when Jahaerys pressed his own claim to the throne. |
| 380 | * ForceAndFinesse: Taken to its logical extremes, Aenys' and Maegor's way of dealing with problems were, respectively, "do nothing" and "murder, torture, and/or incinerate the shit out of the offending person(s)". |
| 381 | -->'''Archmaester Gyldayn's writing:''' King Aenys sought always to please; when faced with difficulties, he would answer with soft words, whereas Maegor’s reply was ever steel and fire. |
| 382 | * FreudianExcuse: It's implied that Visenya fostered a superiority complex, and a resentment towards Aenys within Maegor, apparently being convinced that he should've been king instead. Combined with the fact that Aegon wasn't nearly as involved in his upbringing as it was with Aenys', Maegor did not have many positive figures in his youth. |
| 383 | * GreenEyedMonster: He coveted his father's dragon and his brother's crown. |
| 384 | * HeKnowsTooMuch: Why he had the builders of the Red Keep (and the secret passages beneath it) [[ShootTheBuilder killed]]: old school patent protection at its finest. This is also why when he began construction on the Dragonpit, every builder in the city very hastily got out of Dodge. |
| 385 | * HighTurnoverRate: Maegor got through three Grand Maesters during his six year reign, executing them when they either critcised or failed him in one way or another. Unsurprisingly, the fourth incumbent [[ScrewThisImOuttaHere fled to Pentos]] when it became clear Maegor's rule was on its last legs to avoid the same. |
| 386 | * HopeSpot: After Maegor married three women at the same time, two of them became pregnant. Maegor was overjoyed and uncharacteristically generous, showering them and their families with wealth and honors -- but then Jeyne Westerling went into labour three months early, gave birth to a deformed stillborn child, and died very shortly afterwards. [[spoiler:Tyanna]] confessed to poisoning Maegor's children in the womb and told him it would be the same with Elinor Costayne; sure enough, two months later, Elinor's child was also stillborn and malformed. After that, it's all downhill for Maegor, who dies before year's end. |
| 387 | * HotBlooded: It didn't take a lot to set Maegor off; even playful jibes from relatives would have him pissed for ages afterward. |
| 388 | * [[IHaveYourWife I Have Your Son]]: Maegor kept his nephew Viserys as hostage but he killed him eventually to lure his mother out after she fled court. It didn't work. |
| 389 | * IncestantAdmirer: His niece Rhaena was one of the women that he forcibly married and raped, although he didn't love her and just wanted her for her fertility, since she had already birthed two daughters. |
| 390 | * {{Irony}}: A fitter and stronger man than his half-brother, but died without any issue. |
| 391 | * JerkassHasAPoint: Sure, his usual solution to problems was a little predictable. But, the KillItWithFire possibilities he saw in wildfire bore fruit repeatedly down the years: particularly post-dragons. And, Cersei finds out first-hand ''why'' he had such a severe and unrelenting policy regarding the Faith Militant... |
| 392 | ** There also the fact that his brother's way of ruling, while undeniably less violent, only led to divisions and the weakening of royal authority. His tactics, while creating severe long term problems, ''did'' stabilize and centralized the Crown within King's Landing, and it can still be argued that the amount of violence and war he had against many of the houses bled away enough of the other houses and families power that his reign did more to solidify the Targaryen rule then his brother's did. |
| 393 | * KickTheDog: Maegor brought harm to every level of Westeros society and alienated some of its most powerful families and influential institutions. |
| 394 | * {{Kidanova}}: He wedded and bedded Ceryse Hightower when he was 13 and she was 23, and was noted by attendants to be quite a "lusty" lover in spite of his youth. The day after, he bragged that he had conceived a son on his wedding night. Though not for lack of trying, this turned out to be incorrect. |
| 395 | * LargeAndInCharge: He looked like a beefier version of his father, and was said to be built like a bull, with heavy shoulders, a thick neck, and huge arms. |
| 396 | * LastOfHisKind: The only Targaryen king to be descended from Queen Visenya. All of his successors descend from the line of Queen Rhaenys. |
| 397 | * LawOfInverseFertility: A large number of his terrible deeds stem from his attempts to solidify his rule with an heir, but he could never successfully impregnate a woman with a healthy child. [[note]] Decades later, during the Great Council to decide the succession of Jaehaerys I, a man claimed that Maegor was his father and brought his elderly mother to attest that she had been raped and impregnated by Maegor before he died. The Great Council acknowledged that the woman likely ''was'' raped by Maegor but, considering the king's history of failing to sire heirs, they refused to believe that she could have been impregnated by him.[[/note]] All sorts of theories in and out of universe have been suggested as to ''why,'' ranging from the standard Westeros belief that 'he was so evil the gods refused to grant him an heir' to the fact that Visenya was rumoured to have conceived him with dark magic; [[spoiler:Tyanna of the Tower]] claimed that she poisoned the children of Maegor's queens in the womb, which might explain the deformities, but the canon has previously made it clear that fire magic and pregnancy do ''not'' mix well, and Maegor was certainly surrounded by the former. |
| 398 | * LikeFatherUnlikeSon: To say the least. Aegon I is fondly remembered as a fair and just ruler who preferred to avoid violence as much as possible, was beloved by his followers, took his role very seriously and is still thought of as the standard to which all kings should aspire. Maegor, by contrast, was a volatile sadist who used violence and intimidation to solve every issue he faced, was hated by everyone and is a serious contender for the title of "most hated king in Westerosi history", no small feat considering the competition of [[FatBastard Aegon IV]] and [[AxCrazy Aerys II]]. |
| 399 | * LongDeadBadass: Maegor was a preternaturally gifted warrior and was among the youngest to ever be knighted. Lord Rogar Baratheon regrets never getting a piece of him. |
| 400 | * MightMakesRight: His philosophy and FatalFlaw. He took everything and everyone he wanted by force but his violence turned everyone against him. On the plus-side, he made most people more than happy to follow his nephew (just as Targaryen as he) simply to get rid of him. |
| 401 | * MotherMakesYouKing: Visenya was his strongest supporter. Her death deprived him of his most capable supporter and marked the beginning of the end of his rule. |
| 402 | * MurderIsTheBestSolution: His solution to every problem. |
| 403 | * MysticalPregnancy: His mother Visenya was rumored to have conceived him using dark magic. While never proven, she did announce her pregnancy at a time when everyone thought she was barren (after 10 years of marriage to Aegon without getting pregnant once), and correctly predicted that she was carrying a son. Maegor's supposed conception by magic was also rumored to be the reason why he couldn't produce a living child himself. |
| 404 | * NeverSuicide: Maegor was said to have killed himself with the Iron Throne but his tyrannical reign produced [[WhoMurderedTheAsshole a lot of likely suspects]] -- not least of which, thought many smallfolk thenceforth, was the Iron Throne itself. |
| 405 | * NiceJobBreakingItHero: Maegor's Dragonpit, which he built over the Sept of Remembrance's ruins, was supposed to be a symbol of the power House Targaryen to its dragons. It instead helped cause the dragons' extinction. |
| 406 | * NoHistoricalFiguresWereHarmed: |
| 407 | ** Of UsefulNotes/HenryVIII of England; both were the sons of ruthless but pragmatic kings, both married six times and had great trouble producing an heir (although Henry never married three women at once, and he did eventually succeed in his endeavors where Maegor never did), and both once [[https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/the-jousting-accident-that-turned-henry-viii-into-a-tyrant-1670421.html fell into a coma only to awake even more ruthless]]. Both Henry and Maegor also had a habit of treating their wives badly and executed at least two of their wives (Maegor executing [[spoiler: Alys Harroway]] for alleged infidelity after she gave birth to a deformed, stillborn child and executing all the men she was supposedly cheating with is very similar to what Henry VIII did to Anne Boleyn; Henry VIII reportedly threatened to kill his fifth wife Katherine Howard with a sword upon learning of her infidelity, while Maegor ''did'' personally kill his wife [[spoiler: Tyanna of the Tower]] with Blackfyre after she confessed to poisoning his other wives). They both also pissed off the highest religious authority in the land by taking a second wife with a first still living, triggering rebellions which they ruthlessly put down. |
| 408 | ** His ShootTheBuilder tactics are derived from many legends revolving on Kings killing builders of famous monuments, such as Ivan the Terrible and the architect of the St Basil's Cathedral's. |
| 409 | ** While culturally very separate from the other examples here, Maegor burning the followers of the Faith inside the Sept of Remembrance is highly evocative of UsefulNotes/OdaNobunaga [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siege_of_Mount_Hiei burning down the Buddhist temple Enryaku-ji]]. Like Nobunaga himself after the act, Maegor would forever be tainted in the eyes of the followers of the Faith he persecuted. |
| 410 | ** He also bears some similarities to King John of England, being universally reviled and getting into constant disputes with the clergy. |
| 411 | ** King William II of England was the son of William the Conqueror much like Maegor was the son of Aegon the Conqueror, and like Maegor, he was infamously HatedByAll, feuded with the clergy, and died under ambiguous circumstances without leaving any issue, possibly due to being sterile. (The other leading theory being that he was gay -- Unlike Maegor, William never married.) |
| 412 | * NumberOfTheBeast: He ruled for exactly six years and sixty-six days. |
| 413 | * TheOathBreaker: Maegor's massacre of the Red Keep's builders was Westeros' greatest breach of SacredHospitality until the killing of Prince Lucerys Velaryon over Storm's End during a diplomatic mission [[note]]which triggered the escalation of hostilities during the Dance of the Dragons[[/note]], both of which were later overshadowed by the Red Wedding. |
| 414 | * TraumaCongaLine: With each successive stillborn child, and ever more twisted and misshapen forms. Maegor was driven inexorably deeper and deeper into swirling madness; becoming more erratic and tyrannical as time went on. |
| 415 | * OutlivingOnesOffspring: All of his children were stillborn, many with horrible deformities. One child was born eyeless and twisted, another eyeless and with small wings, and a third limbless and with both male and female genitals. |
| 416 | * OutOfCharacter: Maegor's reaction to Jaehaerys and Rogar Baratheon's open rebellion against him was unusually sloppy and clumsy, something noticed by Maesters, with him barely reacting to the rebellion and doing anything to crush it aside from calling his banners to deal with Jaehaerys until Jaehaerys' forces largely surpassed his and reached King's Landing. That sloppiness is even more uncharacteristic of him knowing how his quick and brutal responses to Aegon's rebellion and the Faith Militant opposition were, though why the reason for this apparent lethargy can only be speculated. |
| 417 | * PlayingWithFire: Understood wildfire's potential and became the Alchemist Guild's first great patron. |
| 418 | * {{Pride}}: He reasoned he could not bond with dragons because none were worthy. |
| 419 | * RedAndBlackAndEvilAllOver: He dressed in red and black as befitted a Targaryen, and was an absolutely vile individual. |
| 420 | * RepressiveButEfficient: To an extent. Critics who've assessed his reign with a dispassionate eye have concluded that while he was undoubtedly one of the worst ''people'' to be a Targaryen king, he was far from the ''worst Targaryen king.'' While he was brutal beyond words prosecuting his war against the Faith, it ''was'' genuinely a ''war,'' one started by the Faith no less, who were openly trying to overthrow the entire Targaryen dynasty because of their practice of incest. And while an utter sadist to anyone who attracted his ire, in general you ''did'' actually have to attract his ire or he'd just leave you alone- he didn't go around burning people just because the voices in his head told him to like Aerys II. Ultimately he was a truly appalling man but not a completely incompetent or ineffectual king, unlike some of his descendents. |
| 421 | * RiddleForTheAges: |
| 422 | ** ''Why'' was Maegor unable to father a living child? Was he sterile because Visenya had used dark magic to conceive him, or was Ceryse Hightower the one with fertility problems in their marriage? Was Tyanna being truthful when she claimed to have poisoned her sister-queens when they were pregnant, resulting in deformed stillbirths, or was she lying to get her husband to kill her quickly rather than torturing her, and the babies' monstrous appearances were simply the end result of their being sired by Maegor? And if Tyanna ''was'' telling the truth about the poisonings, did she act simply to prevent the other women from replacing her in their husband's regard, or did she have another purpose in denying Maegor an heir? |
| 423 | ** Maegor was found dead on the Iron Throne, his wrists slashed open and one of the spikes impaled through his throat. Some say he was murdered--by Elinor Costayne to avenge her murdered husband, one of his own Kingsguard, a builder of the Red Keep who escaped the massacre three years prior, or someone else (and his cruelty produced [[WhoMurderedTheAsshole many more suspects]]). Others say he was killed by the Iron Throne itself, or committed suicide to escape being tortured and executed by his enemies. But the truth will never be known. |
| 424 | * RoyalHarem: At some point, he had simultaneous wives; he was first married to Ceryse Hightower, Alys Harroway and tthen Tyanna of Pentos at the same time, and after the first two women died he married the Black Brides: Elinor Costayne, his niece Rhaena Targaryen, and Jeyne Westerling. Yet he died without fathering an heir. All of the children he did conceive with his wives were either miscarried or stillborn, and severely deformed. Added to this, his cruelty and blatant disregard of the political clout of the relatives of his victims (who were primarily of the Faith) practically ended the Targaryen drift towards polygamous marriage his father had started. |
| 425 | * SatanicArchetype: Let's see: ruled for 6 years and 66 days (and had 6 wives), was the son of Aegon the Conquerer (who was a very good king after uniting Westeros, and he was the head lord over the others), and made an effort to destroy any religious figures who opposed him. |
| 426 | * SiblingYinYang: The volatike, sadistic and tyrannical Maegor couldn't have been more different from the timid, shy and passive Aenys I. |
| 427 | * TheSociopath: Very likely was one, considering he was highly intelligent, had poor impulse control, loved violence just for the sake of it, was good at making allies but had no actual friends, murdered members of his own family with no hesitation or remorse, and would fly into a rage at anyone who showed the slightest hint of dissent. |
| 428 | * TheUnfettered: Maegor never let any moral standards get in his way. |
| 429 | * UngratefulBastard: A landed knight named Theo Bolling was among those who fought for him in his campaign against the Poor Fellows. This did not stop Maegor from having him executed on false charges so he could marry Theo's wife. |
| 430 | * UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: Maegor accelerated the extinction of the dragons by stabling them in a dragonpit. Without freedom to roam, the succeeding generations of dragons shrank until the last ones were no bigger than cats. |
| 431 | * TheUsurper: By law, his nephew Prince Aegon had the better claim to the Iron Throne after Aenys's death. The one man [[TooDumbToLive who dared]] to point this out to Maegor's face swiftly lost his head. |
| 432 | * WarriorPrince: Maegor started as this, being the younger son and not expecting to inherit. |
| 433 | * WhenAllYouHaveIsAHammer: Maegor's solution to almost any given problem he faced was violence, preferably with Balerion, though he certainly didn't mind using his sword when the situation called for it. It's indicated that anytime an official presented information he didn't like, Maegor's reaction was just to execute them. |
| 434 | * WhoMurderedTheAsshole: When Maegor was found impaled on the spikes of the Iron Throne, the list of people who had reason to want him dead was so long that it was impossible to state with certainty who murdered him...[[NeverSuicide if he was indeed murdered, that is]]. |
| 435 | * WellDoneSonGuy: Compensated for his inferior position by modeling himself after his father. He bonded with Aegon's dragon, used Aegon's sword, wore Aegon's crown and even took his father's polygamous practices to extremes. |
| 436 | [[/folder]] |
| 437 | |
| 438 | [[folder:Princess Rhaella Targaryen]] |
| 439 | |
| 440 | One of the twin daughters of Princess Rhaena and Prince Aegon Targaryen, born during their time sheltered at Casterly Rock. Sent to Oldtown to become a septa during the reign of Maegor. |
| 441 | ---- |
| 442 | -> See the [[Characters/ASongOfIceAndFireTheFaithOfTheSeven Faith of the Seven]] page. |
| 443 | [[/folder]] |
| 444 | |
| 445 | !!Court of Jaehaerys I |
| 446 | -->See [[Characters/ASongOfIceAndFireCourtOfJaehaerysI Jaehaerys I's court page]] |
| 447 | |
| 448 | !!Court of Viserys I |
| 449 | |
| 450 | [[folder:Viserys I]] |
| 451 | !!King Viserys Targaryen, the First of His Name; r. 103-129 |
| 452 | !!!The Young King |
| 453 | [[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/viserys_i_targaryen_woiaf_4290.jpg]] |
| 454 | |
| 455 | ->''"He had ruled for six-and-twenty years, reigning over the most prosperous era in the history of the Seven Kingdoms but seeding within it the disastrous decline of his house and the death of the last dragons."'' |
| 456 | -->-- '''Maester Yandel''' |
| 457 | |
| 458 | Oldest son of Baelon and his sister-wife Alyssa. After the death of his father Baelon, he succeeded his grandfather Jaehaerys I, whose crown he wore. His cousin Aemma Arryn was his first wife. They had two sons who died in infancy and a single surviving child, Rhaenyra, whom he intended to have as his successor. He later took Alicent Hightower as his second wife, having four children by her: Aegon II, Helaena, Aemond, and Daeron. His marriages would have dire consequences for the realm after his death. |
| 459 | ---- |
| 460 | * AdiposeRex: His girth became a problem in his later life, causing him no small number of health problems. Towards the end, he was so out of shape he couldn't even climb the steps of the Iron Throne. |
| 461 | * AlwaysMurder: Mushroom claims his own queen poisoned him. It should be noted Mushroom was at Dragonstone when Viserys died... and that the first servant who learned he was dead went straight to Queen Alicent's room. |
| 462 | * BewareTheNiceOnes: Don't [[BerserkButton call the King's grandsons bastards]] or he will have your tongue. |
| 463 | ** He loved his younger brother Daemon and would forgive him a lot, but when Viserys heard of how Daemon had mocked his son, Baelon, who died shortly after being born, as "the heir for a day", he wasted no time in putting Rhaenyra ahead of his brother in the succession. |
| 464 | ** Years later, when Rhaenyra objected to the notion of marrying Laenor Velaryon, the only way Viserys could cow her was by threatening to undo this change in succession, under the rationale of "What a king can make, a king can unmake." |
| 465 | ** Viserys didn't hesitate to fire his Hand (and father in law) Otto Hightower when, despite Viserys considering the matter closed, Otto kept badgering Viserys to name his eldest son by Otto's daughter as heir in place of Rhaenyra. |
| 466 | * BigFun: He was a plump and jovial man. |
| 467 | * CreateYourOwnVillain: He took Alicent Hightower as his second wife and had four legitimate children with her. After he died, she undermined his dying wishes by trying to crown her eldest son king instead of Viserys' daughter and preferred heir Rhaenyra. The subsequent civil war nearly destroyed House Targaryen and led to the deaths of all the dragons. Whoops. |
| 468 | * DeadGuyJunior: Likely named after his great-uncle, Jaehaerys I's older brother, who was killed by Maegor. |
| 469 | * DidNotThinkThisThrough: |
| 470 | ** Appointing his daughter to be his successor and expecting the whole realm to go with it, despite going against thousands of years of Westerosi tradition (as well as the precedent set by the very same Great Council mechanic that basically gave him the Iron Throne in the first place). This makes the fact that he never seems to have done anything to support her, like publicly reaffirming her claim or training her to rule prior to her ascension, an IdiotBall moment. Then there's the fact that having decided to break tradition and set a new precedent, he remarried and sired three legitimate sons anyway, creating unnecessary ambiguity. After he died, the resulting power struggle between his daughter/heir Rhaenyra and his eldest son from his second marriage Aegon II, both seeking to claim the throne, led to a civil war that devastated the region, killed millions, nearly wiped out the Targaryens themselves, and ultimately resulted in the extinction of the dragons, the slow fall of House Targaryen, and an unofficial ban on having any woman sit the Iron Throne ever again. Way to go, Viserys. |
| 471 | ** For what it's worth, Viserys wasn't foolish enough to assume that his lords would just take Rhae's appointment sitting down. He made them all swear that when the time came, they'd back her as queen. All well and good, except for the little detail that a few decades passed after that, and those lords either died or left King's Landing, with new lords taking their place. New lords who, for whatever reason, were not made to take the same oath, so when Viserys suddenly kicked the bucket, several of them just shrugged "I didn't give any oath." and sided with Aegon. |
| 472 | ** Didn't consider that the questions surrounding the paternity of his three eldest grandsons would be a particularly sailent issue given Rhaenyra was his heir and they would stand to inherit the Iron Throne after her. |
| 473 | * DotingGrandparent: To all his grandchildren, regardless of where they may or may not have came from. Just before he died, he was spending time with them, telling stories. |
| 474 | * DragonRider: He was the very last rider of the legendary dragon Balerion, [[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast the Black Dread]], who passed away during King Jaehaerys's reign. According to Grand Master Gyldayn, his mother took Viserys riding on a dragon when he was ''nine days old''. The infant Viserys was apparently smiling happily the whole time. |
| 475 | * FatalFlaw: Arguably, his general aversion to conflict, and his love for both his daughter and his second wife. The latter not only resulted in him going against Westerosi tradition by attempting to install equal primogeniture, but unintentionally undermining said precedent by fathering several children who by tradition and by the law before, would've been heir instead of Rhaenyra. Worse, while his laid back approach to ruling resulted in a generally peaceful reign, it meant that his overall solution to the conflict between Rhaenyra and Alicent was separate the two, stick his head in the sand, and hope the problem would sort itself out: which it obviously didn't. |
| 476 | * {{Fingore}}: Two of his fingers had to be amputated when they got infected after he cut his hand on the Iron Throne. |
| 477 | * TheGoodKing: PlayedWith. His reign, in conjunction with that of Jaehaerys I, is considered the glorious apex of the Targaryen dynasty in Westeros. The dragonkings were never more powerful or popular before or since. The family itself never again had so many dragons or members of royal blood living at the same time. However... |
| 478 | * HeadInTheSandManagement: His preferred style of rule. |
| 479 | ** His daughter and heir clearly gave birth to three bastard sons, yet Viserys refused to acknowledge this. His mismanagement of his children by Alicent Hightower led to further disaster. It can be argued that the only reason Viserys' reign was so successful was because he inherited a well-managed kingdom from [[TheAce Jaehaerys I]] and didn't face the many difficult situations his predecessors did. |
| 480 | ** In ''The Rogue Prince'', it's suggested that Viserys knew but willingly let it happen anyway. Grand Maester Mellos mused that the mysterious deaths of Rhaenyra's lover Harwin Strong and his father Ser Lyonel Strong, the Hand of the King, might have resulted from the King's direct orders. |
| 481 | ** It's noted in ''Fire and Blood'' that, unlike Jaehaerys, Viserys tended to be a hands-off kind of king. |
| 482 | * HiddenDepths: Zig-zagged. He was smart enough to realise Alicent was determined to put her son on the throne (hence why he refused her request to marry Aegon and Rhaenyra, since he could see the siblings loathed each other), but he never did anything to rein his wife in. |
| 483 | * HorribleJudgeOfCharacter: When he married [[LadyMacbeth Alicent]], he (evidently) thought she would abide by his wishes and let Rhaenyra have the crown over her own future children with him. '''''Boy howdy, was he wrong.''''' |
| 484 | * {{Hypocrite}}: One of the more troublesome issues with his favoring Rhaenyra as his heir. He only inherited the Iron Throne because the Great Council choose to favor the offspring of male children over female. By wanting his daughter to inherit over his brother and sons, he was ignoring the same succession rules that allowed him to take the throne in the first place. |
| 485 | * IWarnedYou: Invoked this when ordering several lesser members of House Velaryon to [[TongueTrauma lose their tongues]] for repeating the claim his grandsons by Rhaenyra were bastards to his face, despite Viserys' explicit command what the consequence would be. |
| 486 | -->'''Viserys''': You were warned. I will hear no more of these lies. |
| 487 | * InadequateInheritor: Relatively speaking. When your immediate predecessor is considered the best damn king your country's ever seen, you're going to have an uphill struggle just to be remembered as "not them" as it is. And you might notice that, Dance of the Dragons and his family issues aside, there's not a lot said about Viserys as a king, because... well, he didn't do much. Inadvertently causing the Dance aside, he has no great cock-ups to his name, but no tremendous successes of his own either. Basically, his reign's a bit of a no-score draw. |
| 488 | * KingOnHisDeathbed: Almost literally. Most of the last few years of his reign, he was so out of shape he barely got out of bed to begin with, and had to be carried anywhere he needed to go. |
| 489 | * KissingCousins: His first wife, Aemma Arryn, was his cousin. |
| 490 | * MagneticHero: Deconstructed. The only reason his daughter and the rest of his sons weren't at each others' throats was because of him; still, he only had to look away for them starting gnawing at each other. It all went down like a house of cards when he died. |
| 491 | * MarryForLove: Well, ''he'' did, at least. Whether Alicent returned that love is due at least a ''little'' suspicion. Love might've played a part there, at first, but she might also have been looking at that nice, shiny crown of his. It's noted that in the last year of her life, Alicent spoke fondly of Jaehaerys, who she read to when he died—but scarcely mentioned Viserys at all. |
| 492 | * MassiveNumberedSiblings: Three children (three that were carried to term, anyway) by Aemma -- an unnamed son (who died in infancy), Rhaenyra and Baelon (who only lived for a day), and four children by Alicent -- Aegon II, Helaena, Aemond and Daeron. |
| 493 | * MasterOfTheMixedMessage: On one hand he wanted to break tradition and make his daughter the first Targaryen Queen and nominated her publicly before several high lords. It's upsetting several centuries of tradition -- tradition which is responsible for his being on the throne no less -- but [[ScrewTheRulesIMakeThem he is King]] after all. Then he decides to complicate the issue via a second marriage which produces three sons. Then there's his unsuccessful mediation between the factions of his daughter and his second wife, where his repeated insistence on a forced peace did nothing to contain tensions and only bottled up resentment. On his death, the realm was divided between people who remembered his public nomination of Rhaenyra as his heir versus the ones who defended the feudal tradition of male primogeniture. |
| 494 | * NiceJobBreakingItHero: He tried to make Aegon and Rhaenyra's families get on. Not only did this not work at all, it actually made tensions ''worse''. The conflict that would eventually follow marked the beginning of the decline of the Targaryens. |
| 495 | * NoHistoricalFiguresWereHarmed: Most obviously, King Henry I of England. Much like Viserys, Henry was an unexpected successor to the throne with an effective rule. His male heir died tragically and Henry remarried a much younger woman. His death lead to a civil war between his chosen, female successor and her male relative. Unlike Viserys, Henry did not practice HeadInTheSandManagement; he knew his death was leading to conflict and actively worked to prevent it. You cannot put much blame of Henry for what happened later while you can definitely point the finger at Viserys. |
| 496 | ** Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor. Charles only inherited the throne by passing over female relatives with stronger claims. But with a lack of male heirs, he then worked to pass the throne onto his daughter, Maria Theresa. He took several half measures to secure her reign by collecting signatures from other leaders, many of whom regneged. His death lead to a war of succession and a difficult reign for his daughter, though Maria Theresa was a more successful politician than Rhaenyra. |
| 497 | * NonActionGuy: He didn't have much interest in things like hunting or hawking or fighting, unlike his bro Daemon. |
| 498 | * ParentalFavoritism: Made Rhaenyra his heir despite the established precedent against women inheriting. |
| 499 | * ThePatriarch: Viserys was head of the Targaryens when the family was at its largest. Only his word was law. |
| 500 | * PeacefulInDeath: Assuming there really was no suspicious cause of death, by all accounts he took a nap one afternoon, just after playing with his grandchildren, and didn't wake up. |
| 501 | * RashomonStyle: Viserys either died of natural causes or poison, according to Mushroom. |
| 502 | * SiblingYinYang: He and his brother Daemon couldn't have been more different in terms of looks and personality. Whereas Viserys was plump, jovial, certainly not a warrior but with a side of BewareTheNiceOnes, Daemon was leaner, harsher, HotBlooded and a true WarriorPrince. Their deaths were even opposite of each other; while Viserys died in his bed, Daemon died in dragon-back combat. |
| 503 | * TakeAThirdOption: After the death of Grand Maester Mellos, both Rhaenyra and Alicent badgered him to pick ther preferred candidate for the post (Rhaenyra wanted Gerardys, her personal maester, chosen, while Alicent advocated for Alfador, House Hightower's maester). Viserys pointed out that the Citadel, not the crown, decided who was appointed Grand Maester. |
| 504 | * TragicMistake: |
| 505 | ** While his decision to make Rhaenyra his heir could be seen as the start of the Dance of Dragons, his most fatal error was sending her to Dragonstone after her rivalry with Alicent Hightower had gotten out of control. While giving her Dragonstone was effectively declaring her heir, as the crown prince was traditionally given control of the island, it put Rhaenyra far from the court of King's Landing where Alicent and Aegon wasted no time undermining his declaration, before declaring Aegon King soon after Viserys' death and all of Rhaenyra's supporters in the capital had been dealt with. |
| 506 | ** It could also be argued that his biggest mistake was marrying Alicent Hightower in the first place. Even if she hadn't been a highly ambitious woman from a notoriously power-hungry family who would stop at nothing to get a son of theirs on the throne, any children she had with Viserys would be able to challenge Rhaenyra's claim to the throne. Indeed, Alicent bore him three legitimate sons, the eldest of which, Aegon II, was able to win many lords to his side by arguing that [[HeirClubForMen as a male]], he should come before Rhaenyra in the line of succession. Viserys may have been able to prevent Alicent and her brood from laying claim to Rhaenyra's crown when he was alive, but obviously he wasn't going to live forever, and the second he died, the fragile family peace he'd been able to maintain went down like a house of cards. |
| 507 | * TranquilFury: When Vaemond Velaryon's family came to complain about how he'd been killed by Daemon, they made the mistake of bringing up the allegation of Rhaenyra's kids being bastards. Viserys very calmly ordered their tongues torn out, noting he ''had'' warned them. |
| 508 | * UnexpectedSuccessor: King Jaehaerys outlived his eldest son Aemon and his second son Baelon (his third son was out of the line of succession due to becoming a maester). The Great Council of 101 AC that was assembled upon the death of Baelon granted the inheritance to Baelon's older son Viserys over Aemon's daughter Rhaenys or any of the other potential claimants. |
| 509 | * UniversallyBelovedLeader: He was well loved by many Lords and smallfolk for being generous and fun-loving. |
| 510 | * UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: His second marriage caused a SuccessionCrisis and eventually sparked a war between his royal children known as the "Dance of the Dragons". Viserys wanted his daughter with his first wife, Princess Rhaenyra, to be the first ruling Queen. However his second wife's eldest son, Prince Aegon II, was crowned after his death despite his wishes, thus beginning a brutal war for the crown between the half-siblings and among the members of House Targaryen as a whole. |
| 511 | [[/folder]] |
| 512 | |
| 513 | [[folder:Prince Baelon Targaryen]] |
| 514 | !!Prince Baelon Targaryen |
| 515 | !!!The Heir for a Day |
| 516 | |
| 517 | The second son of King Viserys by Queen Aemma. Lived only for a day. |
| 518 | ---- |
| 519 | * DeadGuyJunior: Named for his grandfather, Baelon the Brave. |
| 520 | * PlotTriggeringDeath: His death -- or more accurately, the jokes Prince Daemon Targaryen told of "the heir for a day" -- convinced the king to name Rhaenyra as the heir to the Iron Throne instead of Daemon. This would lay the groundwork for the Dance of the Dragons. |
| 521 | [[/folder]] |
| 522 | |
| 523 | !!Court of Aegon II |
| 524 | ->See [[Characters/ASongOfIceAndFireCourtOfAegonII Aegon II's court page]] |
| 525 | |
| 526 | !!Court of Rhaenyra I |
| 527 | ->See [[Characters/ASongOfIceAndFireCourtOfRhaenyraI Rhaenyra I's court page]] |
| 528 | |
| 529 | !!Court of Aegon III |
| 530 | ->See [[Characters/ASongOfIceAndFireCourtOfAegonIII Aegon III's court page]] |
| 531 | |
| 532 | !!Court of Daeron I |
| 533 | |
| 534 | [[folder:Daeron I]] |
| 535 | !!King Daeron Targaryen, the First of His Name; r. 157-161 |
| 536 | !!!The Young Dragon, The Boy King |
| 537 | [[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/daeron_targaryen_woiaf_5735.jpg]] |
| 538 | |
| 539 | ->''"You have a dragon. He stands before you."'' |
| 540 | -->-- '''Daeron I''' |
| 541 | |
| 542 | Oldest child of Aegon III and Daenaera. His singular achievement in his brief reign was his short-lived conquest of Dorne. Died in battle, unmarried, and without issue. He wore (and lost) the crown of Aegon the Conqueror. There is a statue of Daeron in Oldtown where he is astride a tall, stone horse with his sword lifted towards Dorne. |
| 543 | ---- |
| 544 | * AggressiveNegotiations: He was ambushed and killed during a parley. |
| 545 | * BadassBoast: His above quote when his counsellors reminded him that Aegon the Conqueror and his sisters failed twice in trying to conquer Dorne and they had Dragons and that the Iron Throne had none. |
| 546 | * BlingOfWar: His black-and-gold armor was elaborate. |
| 547 | * AChildShallLeadThem: Crowned at the age of fourteen, and his uncle Viserys allowed him to start ruling directly without a regent to avoid the problems with Aegon III's regents. Comparatively downplayed, since to Westeros he would have been "near a man grown" anyway, as age sixteen is when Westerosi become legal adults. |
| 548 | * CoolCrown: He chose not to wear his father's simple gold circlet, instead opting for the crown of his FamousAncestor, Aegon I; a Valyrian steel circlet with rubies. With the dragons his family had long used to keep a tight hold on their throne now all dead, this was probably a move to remind people that Targaryens are still the blood of Aegon the Conqueror and a force to be reckoned with. Daeron is also notable for being the ''last'' to wear that crown, as it was lost to the sands of time in Dorne after Daeron's death and the Dornish never tell what they did with it. |
| 549 | * DatedHistory: In-universe, Maesters consider his account of the Conquest of Dorne to be an exaggeration to make himself look more formidable. Doran Martell later tells his daughter Arianne that his book was useful propaganda for Dorne because it made them appear tougher than they actually were, blurring the fact that they have the smallest population of the Seven Kingdoms and that their harsh environment is what truly protects them. Stannis also mocks "that vainglorious book of his", which boasted of a goat-track he used to invade the Boneway (a tactic that Robb Stark himself emulated), pointing out that this attack and strategy, while useful, were merely a diversion for the more damaging ship raid on Plankytown. |
| 550 | * DeadGuyJunior: Was most likely named for Daeron Velaryon, father of his mother, Queen Daenaera, with the first Daeron having died ten years before his namesake was born. He also shared his name with Daeron the Daring, his uncle once removed who had been the gentlest and most popular of him, Aegon II, and Aemond, and who died young as well during the Dance of the Dragons. Though it's not clear if Aegon III had enough positive feelings for his uncle, who ''had'' fought actively for the greens against Aegon's mother, to have had him in mind when naming his first son. |
| 551 | * {{Expy}}: |
| 552 | ** Of UsefulNotes/JuliusCaesar, in the regard that he was famous of unprecedented military success that was short-lived, like Caesar's campaign in Britain, but won him popularity nevertheless. He also wrote his own BeigeProse account of the war, [[Literature/CommentariesOnTheGallicWar which categorized the Dornishmen into three groups]]. |
| 553 | ** Of Henry V of England, a great soldier king, who conquered France, but his early death sees him replaced by a weak-willed, overly pious successor. |
| 554 | * {{Foreshadowing}}: He and his deeds are mentioned in one of the first Jon Snow chapters in ''A Game of Thrones''. [[spoiler:His brother Robb Stark's life and nickname ("The Young Wolf") end up being similar to Daeron's, down to the "dying young" by treachery part]]. |
| 555 | * GenghisGambit: Daeron I was the first Targaryen King to rule after the last dragons died under his father Aegon III. By conquering Dorne, he hoped to vindicate the Targaryen dynasty's strength and power without their WeaponsOfMassDestruction. Likewise, any lingering dreams of challenging the Crown's legitimacy by ambitious vassals and desires to secede were quickly defused thanks by focusing [[ConflictKiller on a common enemy]] for the Stormlanders, Reachlords and others who generally saw Dorne as TheSavageSouth. This was similar to the {{Realpolitik}} justifications for the Crusades, minus the religious angles of course. |
| 556 | ** To give the Young Dragon credit, he succeeded. His glorious conquest, and death by Dornish treachery, extended Targaryen hegemony by another 100 years, since even the Blackfyre Rebellion merely wanted to usurp the Targaryens rather than return to pre-Conquest Westeros. The first local rebellion against the Crown came six generations later, under Aegon V, when Lyonel Baratheon claimed the crown of the Storm King after Prince Duncan spurned a marital alliance. |
| 557 | * GloryHound: He charged in and sacrificed tens of thousands of soldiers to conquer Dorne, for a few years, and all in the name of being the first Targaryen to take it. The direct political and social backlash this caused lasted generations. |
| 558 | * TheGoodKing: Subverted and invoked. Though he brought great hubris to Westeros by conquering Dorne while sacrificing tens of thousands of people, Daeron I was well liked by the smallfolk, and his assassination in Dorne was one of the embers that fuelled the hatred against the Dornish. The betrothals that his brother Baelor later enacted between the Targaryens and the Martells functioned as a sort of pardon for the Dornish's killing of Daeron that many other Westerosi lords considered undeserved, ending in a rebellion that lasted decades. |
| 559 | * HistoricalHeroUpgrade: InUniverse. Among most Southrons and even some Northern Lords, Daeron the Young Dragon is an ideal of martial grandeur and prodigious achievement and he remains as popular among the nobility as his brother Baelor is among the smallfolk. The more skeptical like Uncle Benjen reminds HeroWorshipper Jon Snow that Daeron WonTheWarLostThePeace, Stannis grumbles that Daeron's victories were made possible by competent subordinates like Oakenfist while Doran Martell reminds Arianne that by boasting about his great victories in his youth, Daeron made the Dornish a far bigger military threat than they actually were, and in the long-term provided useful propaganda for the Dornish, [[NiceJobFixingItVillain better than anything they could come up with on their own]]. |
| 560 | * NoHistoricalFiguresWereHarmed: |
| 561 | ** He was written to be very similar to UsefulNotes/AlexanderTheGreat, according to WordOfGod, at least in terms of how many young Lords and Princes wanted to emulate his prodigious achievements. |
| 562 | ** Like UsefulNotes/JuliusCaesar, he wrote a book that is a favorite among Lords, and prized by commoners like the newly-literate Davos for its readability. He was also assassinated in shocking and unexpected circumstances. |
| 563 | ** Also of Richard I, the "Lionheart", who had a similar RedBaron nickname, left a legacy as a great warrior-king, won several great victories in an invasion of a southern desert kingdom [[WonTheWarLostThePeace but was unable to make them stick]], and saw his throne not as a responsibility but as a source of armies to use in his campaigns (Richard spent at most a few years of his life in the country he was nominally king of, and notably only about ''six months'' once he actually became king) ultimately causing him to die in battle before he could produce an heir, leaving the kingdom in the hands of some extremely [[SketchySuccessor Sketchy Successors.]] |
| 564 | ** To the Swedish king [[UsefulNotes/CarolusRex Charles XII]], a young but tactically brilliant monarch who ended up spending the majority of his reign away from his court fighting a war -- a war that ended up killing them before they could sire an heir, which in turn caused a lot of trouble for his dynasty down the road. Unlike Charles, who was forced to fight a defensive war because his enemies thought his young age made him easy pickings, Daeron's war with the Dornish was purely an offensive one. |
| 565 | * PrettyBoy: He is remembered as being very handsome. |
| 566 | * PyrrhicVictory: He achieves his goal to be the first of his line to take Dorne, but can't keep it, losing some fifty thousand men trying to do so during an uprising and being killed alongside them. All this only four years into his reign, leaving the massive fallout from his "adventure" to linger for generations. |
| 567 | * SketchySuccessor: He and his brother Baelor aren't well liked by historians despite their popularity with the common man. In Daeron's case, it's likely due to said historians remembering the losses suffered during the invasion and subsequent rebellion, and the realm gained nothing worthwhile from the whole affair. |
| 568 | * UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: What better way to reunite a realm recovering from civil war than with a military venture against an old foe? In a way, Dorne would never have been finally united with the Seven Kingdoms had Daeron not invaded it. But the unification would bring about its own set of problems that contributed to the Blackfyre Rebellions. |
| 569 | * WonTheWarLostThePeace: Daeron I crushed the Dornish militarily, doing what Aegon I failed to do with his dragons, and indeed his book on the conquest, as per Doran Martell, is only an exaggeration to the extent that its author downplayed [[CurbStompBattle how one sided the conquest really was]]. However his handling of the Dornish and failure to integrate them into the Seven Kingdoms undid his conquest. Mostly because by appointing Leo Tyrell, head of a longtime rival in command, his conquest looked like an occupation and this led to rebellion among the smallfolk against the Targaryens and finally to his assassination. |
| 570 | * YoungConqueror: Deconstructed. He apparently didn't understand that war wasn't a game or a puzzle to be solved. Nor did his victories really earn him anything in the long run. Other than dying young. He died childless and unmarried, despite having been the king for four years at that point and Daena in particular [[BigBrotherWorship likely]] ''very'' willing to marry him, suggesting HotBlooded young Daeron was more focused on proving his House's might as fearsome conquerors even without their dragons to his kingdom, than he was in securing heirs to the Iron Throne and raising children. In hindsight, doing the reverse might have actually been the better call and saved his family (and the Realm) a good deal of trouble further down the line, as the throne may have never passed to Aegon the Unworthy, Daena probably wouldn't have given him the time of day if she'd had Daeron and thus might not have conceived Daemon Blackfyre, and the Blackfyre Rebellions and their body count likely would have never happened. |
| 571 | [[/folder]] |
| 572 | |
| 573 | !!Court of Baelor I |
| 574 | |
| 575 | [[folder:Baelor I]] |
| 576 | !!King Baelor Targaryen, the First of His Name; r. 161-171 |
| 577 | !!!The Beloved, The Blessed, The Befuddled |
| 578 | [[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/baelor_i_targaryen_woiaf_3068.png]] |
| 579 | |
| 580 | -->''"The gods are just, yet Blessed Baelor taught us that they are also merciful."'' |
| 581 | --->-- '''High Septon''' |
| 582 | |
| 583 | Second child of Aegon III and Daenaera, the "most beloved" of the Targaryen kings. He was training to be a septon when his brother King Daeron died without issue. The Great Sept of Baelor, the high seat of Faith of the Seven in King's Landing, was built by him and named in his honor. Adored by the smallfolk, Baelor I was jeered, mocked, and despised by the lords and knights of the realm for his emasculating behavior. He either starved himself to death or was killed by his uncle and Hand, Viserys. He died without issue. |
| 584 | ---- |
| 585 | * BookBurning: He burnt several of Septon Barth's valuable books on dragonlore because the Faith believed Barth was lacking piety. He also burned ''[[Literature/ArchmaesterGyldaynsHistories The Testimony of Mushroom]]''. |
| 586 | * CrystalDragonJesus: About as literally as could be while still remaining "human": An ultimate symbol of purity, piety, and spiritual example; born from a family claiming "the blood of the dragon"; all in the service of a religion with heavy reliance on crystals (and their [[ArcNumber seven-shaded]] prismatic rainbows). As icing on the cake, the [[WordOfGod author himself]] stated in regard to Baelor's physical appearance, "think Jesus". |
| 587 | * {{Cloudcuckoolander}}: He didn't get the name "the Befuddled" for nothing. Some of his hiring choices are definitely out there. Allegedly talking to animals is not the best basis for giving someone a job, after all. |
| 588 | * TheFundamentalist: Strong in the Faith and loved by the commons yet expelled all whores (and their children) from King's Landing and did things like burning books on dragonlore, which would have been useful in reestablishing House Targaryen's power and prestige. |
| 589 | * GoingNative: Baelor was the first example of how Westerosi culture affected the Targaryens. He was the first to openly disdain his family's incestuous and polygamous practices and saw the Faith as the monarchy's partner instead of a tool. |
| 590 | * TheGoodKing: He loved the smallfolk and the gods in equal parts, yet imprisoned his own sisters. Some remember him as a great and holy man and praise him for his contributions to the Faith of the Seven, for forging a peace with Dorne, his mercy and his many acts of charity. |
| 591 | * GossipEvolution: He saved Aemon the Dragonknight from a pit of vipers during a peacekeeping mission to Dorne. Over the years, this story has changed. Some say the vipers bit Baelor but he didn't die. Others say the bites drove him madder. Others say this incident was a just a metaphor for the mission to Dorne itself since Dorne is known as the "Pit of Vipers". |
| 592 | ** As per ''[[Literature/TheWorldOfIceAndFire The World of Ice & Fire]]'', Aemon was imprisoned in the bottom of a cage in a pit of vipers in the fortress of a Dornish lord. Baelor was told that to save his cousin, he must go into the pit himself, then did just that, getting bitten in the process but freeing Aemon in time. Aemon then took his cousin to a nearby fortress where he healed from the poison, though it apparently affected his senses for the rest of his life. |
| 593 | * HeroicWillpower: He walked all the way to Dorne barefoot, despite living a pampered lifestyle and as king having the right to end his penance walk at any moment. Also, how else would he have survived getting bit by vipers to save his cousin? |
| 594 | * TheIdealist: Baelor was a peaceful, devoted and pious man. Not a martial man, Baelor's favorite "weapon" was a prayer. |
| 595 | * IncorruptiblePurePureness: Lancel Lannister described Baelor as a 'rare spirit, pure and brave and innocent, untouched by the evils of the world'. |
| 596 | * InadequateInheritor: Baelor is often judged inferior to his brother and called feeble. While many see him as a great king others are less impressed by him, believing him to be an overly zealous weak fool. |
| 597 | * LooksLikeJesus: How Martin describes him: thin, with long hair and beard and a gentle, nigh-beatific smile. Likely an intentional description as he's a religious fundamentalist with many feats of what could be considered divine intervention. |
| 598 | * TheMadnessPlace: Mystic? Visions? Ascribed miracles and good moves? Decent enough reign? All checked... Although, those last two parts ''could'' be partly be down to his uncle being Hand. He did start to lose his grip on it, though... hence the probably fasting himself to death or possibly being "put down" thing. |
| 599 | * MessianicArchetype: A deconstruction. Many of the characteristics that made him a beloved ruler among the smallfolk also got in the way of his actual job of ruling and his responsibility to perpetuate the royal line. For the former, the credit was often given to his uncle, Hand (and successor) Viserys and for the latter, he left no issue and thus, Viserys became King. |
| 600 | * NeverSuicide: Baelor is suspected of having been murdered by his uncle Viserys as opposed to the official story that he accidentally starved himself to death. |
| 601 | * NiceJobBreakingItHero: His flat out refusal to sire an heir left the way clear for Aegon the Unworthy, and locking his sister-wife away meant she had Aegon's son instead- the boy who would become Daemon Blackfyre. The Blackfyre Rebellions, the War of the Ninepenny Kings, [[spoiler: Aegon VI's invasion]], not to mention everything Aegon IV did during his reign and all the people the Golden Company ended up killing over their long existence, can be laid at his feet. |
| 602 | * NoHistoricalFiguresWereHarmed: Baelor I is almost a direct parallel of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_VII_of_France Louis VII of France]]. Both were the second sons of their fathers, the reigning kings; both were fervently devoted to their faiths and were training for ecclesiastical careers before coming to the throne. As kings, both proved to be meek, timid, and pious, but also strengthened relations between the Crown and the Church/Faith. Just like Baelor had three sisters, Louis had three wives, [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eleanor_of_Aquitaine the first of whom was a passionate, free-spirited, temperamental young woman who defied her royal husband and kept lovers.]] |
| 603 | ** He also shares many traits with [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_IX_of_France King Louis IX of France]] as both monarchs were also extremely pious that oversaw many religious-based changes in their governments, performed pilgramage to desert areas and made attempts at reconciliation with enemy territories (the Dornish/the Saracens). Key difference is that Louis IX was more... [[ChurchMilitant martial]] about it. |
| 604 | ** Another possible inspiration is [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_the_Confessor Edward the Confessor]], who was similarly famous for building a great religious building in the kingdom's capital, and similarly infamous for refusing to consummate his marriage and sire an heir. |
| 605 | * NotSoAboveItAll: |
| 606 | ** It's known that he ''did'' like Daena and very much loved her, even expressing admiration for her beauty, but decided to keep her at an arm's length because he considered an incestuous relationship to be fundamentally wrong. He even had to put his sisters under lock and key because he had considerable trouble fighting his urges. |
| 607 | ** He burned copies of the "Testimony of Mushroom", which is the slimiest and raunchiest account of the Targaryen dynasty. It was so raunchy that even his reputation as a holy man would have been marred. The book didn't disappear, though. |
| 608 | ** He may have been a great supporter of the Faith, but he didn't allow them to reform [[ChurchMilitant the Warrior's Sons and Poor Fellows]]. |
| 609 | ** He built the Great Sept of Baelor, which is a markedly ostentatious landmark. The High Sparrow later denounces that the building's fanfare goes against the tenets of the Faith itself. |
| 610 | * SexIsEvilAndIAmHorny: He locked up his sisters so they wouldn't tempt him. Some Lords and knights sent their young daughters to the vault as well to keep the Princesses company and to curry favor with the King. Tyrion said he was "afraid of his own cock." He even banished all the whores from the capital. |
| 611 | * SketchySuccessor: He and his brother Daeron aren't well liked by historians despite their popularity with the common man. In Baelor's case, said historians tend to credit his Hand and uncle Viserys for keeping the realm stable during his rule. |
| 612 | * UnexpectedSuccessor: Baelor was studying to become a septon when his brother's death without issue gave him the crown. |
| 613 | * UniversallyBelovedLeader: None of the Targaryen kings are as beloved as Baelor. Many remember him as a great example of TheGoodKing. |
| 614 | * UnwantedHarem: His three sisters whom he didn't touch. He instead locked them up in the Maidenvault. |
| 615 | * UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: His attempts to keep his sister Queen Daena in the Maidenvault backfired, as it led her to frequently escape and carry out an affair with their cousin, the future Aegon IV. Had Baelor [[LieBackAndThinkOfEngland swallowed his misgivings to do the deed with her himself]], there likely would never have been a Daemon Blackfyre. (Then again, if Aegon IV hadn't given that boy his sword, there would only be Daemon Waters, one of many Targaryen bastards to contend with.) Him burning Septon Barth's dragonlore books also deprived his successors the knowledge to reawaken the dragons, which likely played a role in the tragedy of Summerhal. |
| 616 | * WhatTheHellHero: A lot of his lords were angered by Baelor's desire to negotiate a peace with Dorne, given how many had died fighting under his brother to conquer it and the dishonourable way in which Daeron had been killed. |
| 617 | [[/folder]] |
| 618 | |
| 619 | [[folder:Princess Daena Targaryen]] |
| 620 | !!Princess Daena Targaryen |
| 621 | !!!The Defiant |
| 622 | [[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/daena_targaryen_woiaf_4199.jpg]] |
| 623 | |
| 624 | -->''"I was born to ride a dragon."'' |
| 625 | --->-- '''Princess Daena''' |
| 626 | |
| 627 | Third child of Aegon III and Daenaera, sister-wife to her brother King Baelor. He dissolved their (never consummated) marriage as soon as he became king, and locked her and their two sisters in a tower because he refused to abide by the Targaryen practice of incest. She was "rescued" by their cousin, the future Aegon IV. They had an affair which resulted in a son, Daemon Waters (later Daemon Blackfyre). |
| 628 | ---- |
| 629 | * ArentYouGoingToRavishMe: It's revealed that Daena liked to tease Baelor and that she was indeed the "active" party to their relationship, only that he just wouldn't respond to her advances, and even would respond in the complete opposite manner from what she was expecting of him. Oh, she was ripe, ''she was willing'' and she tried and tried to no avail; it's not like she went towards her cousin Aegon at the first opportunity, though. |
| 630 | * BigBrotherWorship: Towards Daeron. |
| 631 | * DaddysGirl: She idolized her father, Aegon III. |
| 632 | ** She always wore the golden three-headed dragon pendant she had inherited from her father. At court she wore it on a fine golden chain; when in disguise, she hung it on a leather thong and hid it beneath her clothes. Supposedly she even wore it when bathing and when making love. |
| 633 | * DragonRider: She really wanted to be one. Unluckily for her, she was born one generation too late to see a living dragon. So she had to settle for a golden dragon pendant instead. |
| 634 | * FanOfUnderdog: She admired her eldest brother Daeron I despite that the guy was a GloryHound king who got himself killed in the war he started. She also admired her infamous grandfather, Daemon the Rogue Prince, whom she named her son after. [[LoserSonOfLoserDad Guess how her son and his descendants turned out to be?]] |
| 635 | * FatalFlaw: Had she been less "the Defiant" with her cousin, she ''might'' have been Queen in her own right (granted, the epitaph of the Dance would have been a giant hurdle). But, a less outrageously HotBlooded display on her part contrasted with Aegon's own feckless behaviour could have meant no King Aegon the Unworthy, no Blackfyres, no Rebellions and no Golden Company siphoning exiled, skilled men still seeking some honour from the Wall for decades. A call for a Great Council could have seen it all happen upon Baelor's death, given Viserys' support -- which he might well have given... ''if he trusted her''. Shagging his son to get back at your husband by baby? Not very trust-inducing. Whatever else could have gone wrong, Westerosi history would look different. |
| 636 | * GirlInTheTower: ... [[CardboardPrison That so didn't work entirely as planned, now, did it?]] She may not have got out quite as much as she would have liked, but those walls turned out to be decidedly permeable. |
| 637 | * HeirClubForMen: She was passed over in favor of her uncle King Viserys II after Baelor's death, despite actually having some supporters. |
| 638 | * HotConsort: Subverted. She had a reputation for being a total stunner, but Baelor had their marriage dissolved not long after he became king. |
| 639 | * ICouldaBeenAContender: She came quite close to being Queen of Westeros on two occasions but was denied her claim by really bad luck. |
| 640 | ** The first was that she was married to Baelor and ideally should have been his Queen, but his religious piety led to their marriage going unconsummated and dissolved with Daena becoming a hostage in the Maidenvault instead. Her defiant act of rebellion in fathering a bastard with the future Aegon IV, probably didn't help matters though considering what Baelor denied her, it was more than justified as an act of revenge. |
| 641 | ** Her second chance was on Baelor's death as she was the oldest child of Aegon III but the succession passed to her uncle Viserys II instead of her since nobody wanted to repeat the CivilWar of the Dance of the Dragons, since her grandmother Rhaenyra's claim was discredited despite the fact that her sons succeeded to the throne anyway. |
| 642 | * InsultBackfire: She used to dress in black like her father but switched to white to shame Baelor. Except Baelor liked her in white. |
| 643 | * KissingCousins: With Aegon IV. |
| 644 | * RebelliousPrincess: With knobs on. You can't get more rebellious than a surprise baby you refuse to give clues over. |
| 645 | * VirginInAWhiteDress: Deliberately invoked in order to remind Baelor he was flouting his marital duty towards her and shaming him into finally taking her maidenhood. [[InsultBackfire Unfortunately for Daena]], Baelor liked her this way because she looked so pure and innocent. |
| 646 | * WarriorPrincess: She was a great archer and unafraid to rub people's noses in it. |
| 647 | * WhatHappenedToTheMouse: It is unknown what happened to her after Daemon was legitimized. |
| 648 | [[/folder]] |
| 649 | |
| 650 | [[folder:Princess Rhaena Targaryen]] |
| 651 | !!Princess Rhaena Targaryen |
| 652 | [[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/rhaena_targaryen_woiaf_6117.jpg]] |
| 653 | |
| 654 | Fourth child of Aegon III and Daenaera. Locked away along with her sisters. Unlike Daena and Elaena, however, Rhaena accepted her confinement, becoming deeply religious due to her brother's influence and eventually becoming a septa. |
| 655 | ---- |
| 656 | * GirlInTheTower: Thanks to her brother's... quirks. Notable in that she seems to have actually stuck to her imposed grounding. |
| 657 | * GoldAndWhiteAreDivine: Wore white lace with gold trimmings and often embroidered depictions of the Faith on her clothing. |
| 658 | * NearAndDearBabyNaming: Likely named after her aunt Rhaena and/or her grandmother Rhaenyra. |
| 659 | * NiceGirl: By reputation, at least. |
| 660 | * ProperLady: Was said to be this. That's how her relatively meek acceptance of the situation is usually read, at least. |
| 661 | * TakingTheVeil: When it became feasible, she took vows as a septa. |
| 662 | * TomboyAndGirlyGirl: She was more traditionally feminine than her sisters. |
| 663 | * WhatHappenedToTheMouse: It is unknown when she passed away. |
| 664 | [[/folder]] |
| 665 | |
| 666 | [[folder:Princess Elaena Targaryen]] |
| 667 | !!Princess Elaena Targaryen |
| 668 | [[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/elaena_targaryen_woiaf_9951.png]] |
| 669 | |
| 670 | Fifth and youngest child of Aegon III and Daenaera. Locked away along with her two sisters. Was married for three times (to Ossifer Plumm, Ronnel Penrose and Michael Manwoody) and had a total of seven children, five by two of her husbands and two born out of wedlock (fathered by her cousin and lover Alyn Velaryon). |
| 671 | ---- |
| 672 | * AllThereInTheManual: The confirmation of her first husband's identity (previously only a theory) and the names of her second and third husbands and legitimate children were only mentioned in ''Literature/TheWorldOfIceAndFire''. |
| 673 | * ArrangedMarriage: Her first two marriages, to Ossifer Plumm and Ronnel Penrose, were at Aegon IV and Daeron II's behest respectively. |
| 674 | * BeautifulAllAlong: She is said to have been considerably less graceful than her sisters, though she grew out to be beautiful. |
| 675 | * BehindEveryGreatMan: Elaena was the driving force behind two of her husbands, Ronnel Penrose and Michael Manwoody. |
| 676 | * FamousAncestor: She ended up siring two sons whose descendants play roles in the main series in unexpected ways. |
| 677 | ** Her son with Ossifer Plumm, Viserys, became an ancestor of Brown Ben Plumm, the commander of the Second Sons whom Daenerys meets in Yunkai. Ben claims that one of his ancestors is "King Aegon", but Dany is confused since [[OneSteveLimit there have been five King Aegons in history]]. |
| 678 | --->'''Ben''': I have me a drop of the dragon blood myself, you know.\ |
| 679 | '''Daenerys''': You? How could that be?\ |
| 680 | '''Ben''': Well, there was some old Plumm in the Sunset Kingdoms who wed a dragon princess. My grandmama told me the tale. He lived in King Aegon's day. |
| 681 | ** Her bastard son with Alyn Velaryon, Jon Waters, had a son who founded a minor noble house, House Longwaters. Present-day member Rennifer Longwaters serves as an elderly undergaoler of the Red Keep's dungeons. |
| 682 | --->'''Rennifer''': I am not one to boast, but there is royal blood in my veins. I am descended from a princess. My father told me the tale when I was a tad of a lad. She was the fairest treasure of the Maidenvault. Lord Oakenfist the great admiral lost his heart to her, though he was married to another. She gave their son the bastard name of "Waters" in honor of his father, and he grew to be a great knight, as did his own son, who put the "Long" before the "Waters" so men might know that he was not basely born himself. So I have a little dragon in me. |
| 683 | * GirlInTheTower: In her case, not happily, very reluctantly... and intermittently. She seemed to find ways to get up to trouble even when she was supposed to be banged up. Which pretty much suggests frequent [[CardboardPrison "not being as cloistered as thought."]] |
| 684 | * GoodWithNumbers: Very good at math, which resulted in her effectively acting as Daeron's master of coin -- a role that her husband Ronnel Penrose technically filled. |
| 685 | * ImportantHaircut: Cut off her braid after she was imprisoned. |
| 686 | * KissingCousins: Her affair with Alyn Velaryon. It is possible she also had a fling with Aegon IV that resulted in her being impregnated with Viserys Plumm. |
| 687 | * MarryForLove: Her third marriage to Ser Michael Manwoody. |
| 688 | * MassiveNumberedSiblings: She had a total of seven children: two bastards by her cousin Alyn Velaryon (twins Jon and Jeyne Waters), a posthumous son from her marriage to Ossifer Plumm (Viserys), and four children from her marriage to Ronnel Penrose (Robin, Laena, Jocelyn and Joy). |
| 689 | * TheMistress: To Alyn Velaryon, who was married to her aunt Baela. Possibly to Aegon IV as well. |
| 690 | %% * MayDecemberRomance: Alyn Velaryon was 35 years older than her. |
| 691 | * OutWithABang: Her husband Ossifer Plumm supposedly dropped dead upon seeing her naked during their consummation, although Elaena insisted that he "did the deed" before he expired. Although it was never said to her face, it is rumoured that Viserys's real father was Aegon IV. |
| 692 | ** The entire incident was the subject of InUniverse MemeticMutation over the course of the next century. One of Viserys' descendents, Brown Ben Plumm, claimed to his queen [[Characters/ASongOfIceAndFireDaenerysTargaryen Daenerys I Targaryen]] that Elaena had wed Lord Ossifer on account of his GagPenis, which was an astounding six feet in length. (Though he agrees with Dany that six ''inches'' would be more likely, he points out that [[DumbassHasAPoint such a thing is scarcely memorable]].) Tyrion, learning of this later, reflects that the rumor started because Viserys Plumm was born more than 9 months after the wedding, resulting in jokes that Plumm impregnated his widow from six feet under. |
| 693 | * RebelliousPrincess: She took after her older sister in this regard. While she didn't cause quite as much trouble as Daena, she still found ways to stick it to Baelor. |
| 694 | * TheRuntAtTheEnd: The youngest daughter of Aegon III and the least graceful when she was young. |
| 695 | * ShesAllGrownUp: She only got prettier as she aged. |
| 696 | * SilverVixen: Her looks only improved with age. Some accounts state that she was more beautiful at seventy than at seventeen. |
| 697 | * StarCrossedLovers: With her [[KissingCousins cousin]] Alyn Velaryon, with whom she had two bastard children, twins Jon and Jeyne Waters. |
| 698 | * TarnishingTheirOwnBeauty: Attempted when she got her ImportantHaircut, sending her cut braid to Baelor as a hope he would find her now boyish looks unable to attract men and not lock her up. It didn't work. |
| 699 | * WhatHappenedToTheMouse: It is unknown when she passed away, although it is implied that she lived to at least 70 (and being more beautiful at that age than she was at 17). |
| 700 | [[/folder]] |
| 701 | |
| 702 | !!Court of Viserys II |
| 703 | |
| 704 | [[folder:Viserys II]] |
| 705 | !!King Viserys Targaryen, the Second of His Name; r. 171-172 |
| 706 | [[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/viserys_ii.jpg]] |
| 707 | |
| 708 | -->''"Viserys might only have reigned a year, but he ruled for fifteen, while Daeron warred and Baelor prayed."'' |
| 709 | --->-- '''Tyrion Lannister''' |
| 710 | |
| 711 | Second son of Rhaenyra by her second husband/uncle Daemon. Married to Larra Rogare, with whom he had three children (Aegon IV, Aemon and Naerys). He served as Hand for his brother Aegon III and nephews Daeron I and Baelor I. He was already fairly old when he became king, and reigned for only a year before his death, the crown then passing to his older son, Aegon IV. He is remembered either for killing Baelor to take the crown or as an unsung hero who steered the realm through the oddities and eccentricities of his predecessors. He wore the crown of his brother, Aegon III. |
| 712 | ---- |
| 713 | * AbsurdlyYouthfulFather: His oldest child, Aegon, was born when he was only 13. Which probably explains a lot about the ParentalNeglect: it's hard to juggle work and life even when a bit older, but becoming a dad at that age? How do you begin to wrap your head around that, given your own war-torn, broken and very brief childhood? |
| 714 | * AdorablyPrecociousChild: Was not born as robust as his siblings, but was said to be more mature than any of them. He carried his dragon egg everywhere he went as if it were a teddy, too. D'aaw. |
| 715 | * AwesomeByAnalysis: When Thaddeus Rowan confessed his involvement in a plot against the crown and named the Rogares as his co-conspirators, Viserys quickly deduced that Rowan's confession was under severe duress due to his broken state and began poking holes in the testimony by asking more outlandish questions (with Mushroom joining in), all of which Rowan gave the exact same response. |
| 716 | * CloudcuckoolandersMinder: Whatever his dynamic with Baelor actually ''was'', it had flavors of this on his end. |
| 717 | * CynicismCatalyst: It's said Viserys became a lot more stern after his wife left him to return to Lys. |
| 718 | * DeathByIrony: If the rumors about him were true. He is claimed to have ordered the death of King Baelor I in order to give back some dignity to the family. Likewise, his son Aegon IV is claimed to have poisoned Viserys himself and all of that dignity left out through the window. |
| 719 | * DragonAscendant: Rose to the throne after both Daeron and Baelor died childless. |
| 720 | * EvilChancellor: Was viewed as this, though he was probably doing terrible things to protect the regime. Such as--allegedly--having a lackwit High Septon and, later, King Baelor killed. |
| 721 | * EvilUncle: Suspected of poisoning his nephew Baelor, after which he became King. Played with, in that Baelor may have actually died from his excessive fasting. Also, if Viserys did do so it may have been because his nephew's insanities, which though making them beloved among the smallfolk were not particularly helpful in running the realm. |
| 722 | * FallenHero: Viserys went from a miracle child to an evil chancellor over the course of his life. |
| 723 | * GenerationXerox: Died under similar circumstances as his namesake grandfather. |
| 724 | * TheGoodChancellor: Despite his brother's depression and his nephews' antics, he managed to hold the kingdom together for around 20 years. |
| 725 | * HypercompetentSidekick: Tyrion considers him one of the best rulers of the dynasty. |
| 726 | * ICouldaBeenAContender: Yandel states that had Viserys II lived longer, he might have become another Jaehaerys the Conciliator and joined the ranks of the great kings. Instead, he was "merely" regarded as one of the greatest Hands the kingdom has seen. |
| 727 | * IDidWhatIHadToDo: ''The World of Ice and Fire'' suggests Viserys poisoned Baelor to stop a war with both the North and the Iron Islands, as Baelor had gotten it into his head that the Seven wanted him to convert all the non-believers in the realm. |
| 728 | * IHaveYourWife: After Viserys was taken prisoner after the Battle of the Gullet, Sharako Lohar, the Lyseni admiral in command of the Green-allied fleet kept him as a well-treated prisoner, with the seeming intention of ransoming him back to either his mother or his uncle once the Dance was over. Unfortunately, the plan was rendered moot by the deaths of Rhaenyra, Aegon II and Lohar himself. |
| 729 | * InheritanceMurder: It's commonly believed that Viserys II poisoned his nephew Baelor to acquire the Iron Throne, and was in turn poisoned by his own son Aegon IV for the very same reason only a year later. |
| 730 | * LikeFatherUnlikeSon: |
| 731 | ** Viserys's father was Daemon Targaryen, the devilishly dashing Rogue Prince who spent his whole life waiting and scheming for a crown he never got the chance to wear. While both spent good amounts of their respective lives in the background, Viserys seems to have been more patient and less flamboyant. |
| 732 | ** He is well-known to be a disciplined, duty-bound and competent Hand and King, while his son Aegon IV would eventually be known as probably the worst and dumbest out of all of them. |
| 733 | * LikesOlderWomen: His wife was seven years his senior. Although it should be noted that this was a political marriage done when he was 12 and a hostage, so it may be a downplayed case (then again they did stay together until she left back for Lys). Regardless of the dubious nature of the arrangement, it's shown that Viserys indeed loved his wife and took it hard when she left. |
| 734 | * LivingEmotionalCrutch: To his older brother King Aegon III. Aegon never forgave himself for leaving him behind during the ''Gay Abandon'' capture. Finding out he was alive and having him back was one of the few joy of his life, and became the only one he trusted completely. It would be pretty much HarsherInHindsight if Viserys indeed killed Aegon's son. |
| 735 | * MadeASlave: Averted; Lysandro Rogare had initially been apparently considering selling Viserys to a pleasure house because of his handsome looks, but when Rogare learned who Viserys truly was, he realised there was more profit to be had in cultivating ties with the heir to the Iron Throne. |
| 736 | * TheManBehindTheMan: Also according to Tyrion, married to the general view of him. However, not necessarily in a totally bad way: being unscrupulous or subtle in directing or curbing his nephews kept things on an even enough keel. |
| 737 | * MarriedToTheJob: This appears to be the case once he became Hand of the King and his wife left him, resulting in him spending more time holding the realm together than raising his kids. |
| 738 | * MercyKill: His alleged killing of Baelor has overtones of this, as Baelor was supposedly off his rocker by the time he was "terminated". It is unknown if this is true. |
| 739 | * ModestRoyalty: Like his brother Aegon. He even wore his crown. |
| 740 | * NearAndDearBabyNaming: He was named in honor of his grandfather, King Viserys I. |
| 741 | * NiceJobBreakingItHero: |
| 742 | ** After the horrific mess that was his brother's regency, he decided Daeron wasn't going to go through that crap (probably not incidentally motivated by the fact that Unwin Peake had tried to kill his wife and use him as a political pawn, which would sour anyone on the concept). And then the problem of letting a fourteen year old be in absolute power became very readily apparent when Daeron picked a fight with Dorne, which ended up getting him killed by the age of eighteen. |
| 743 | ** When he found out his son Aegon had coerced a peasant woman into marrying him, Viserys annulled the marriage and sent the woman back to her cuckolded husband, who [[DomesticAbuse beat her to death within the space of a year]]. |
| 744 | ** Arguably his biggest mistake was marrying his children Aegon and Naerys to each other in continuation of Targaryen tradition. The result was an unhappy marriage on both sides, with Aegon taking every opportunity to undermine it with his infidelities, accusations towards Naerys of adultery with their brother Aemon, and claims that their son Daeron is illegitimate. The last one played a role in kickstarting the Blackfyre Rebellions. |
| 745 | * NoHistoricalFiguresWereHarmed: |
| 746 | ** While not as obvious as other examples in the franchise, he's modelled after UsefulNotes/RichardIII, with his image above even resembling many of Richard's portraits -- complete with the stoop and hand gestures. Like Richard, Viserys served his brother and later his nephews, the latter of whom were ahead of him in the line of succession. And much like how Richard imprisoned (and possibly murdered) his nephews to claim the throne, Viserys was rumored to have poisoned his nephew Baelor -- supposed acts that would tarnish their reputation following their deaths. Fellow archetype of Richard III, Tyrion Lannister, even finds himself relating to Viserys II in that they were both Hands who were underappreciated for all they have done. |
| 747 | ** Ironically, he also takes inspiration from Richard III's rival [[UsefulNotes/TheHouseOfTudor Henry VII]]. An unlikely candidate to the throne who spent his earlier years away from his homeland due to an ongoing SuccessionCrisis, though Viserys only returned years after the conflict was over as opposed to Henry whose return and victory over Richard III ended the War of the Roses. It was under their rule that their respective kingdoms were able to recover politically and financially. Yet for all their achievements, they would end up being overshadowed by excesses of their sons and heirs. They also chose not to remarry after losing their wives at a young age (though Viserys's wife had left him and only died a few years later), a loss that hardened them significantly. |
| 748 | ** And lastly, to Holy Roman Emperor [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leopold_II,_Holy_Roman_Emperor Leopold II]], being the younger son of a female ruler who had to fight a war to assert her place on the throne and ended up succeeding his less capable elder brother -- though Viserys had to wait until his brothers' sons ended up dying without heirs first. And though they ruled for a short time before dying under mysterious circumstances, their reforms played an instrumental role in bringing their dynasties back from the brink. |
| 749 | * NumberTwo: Before ascending to the Iron Throne himself, he had spent most of his life as Hand of the King to three successive rulers: his brother and two nephews. |
| 750 | * TheParagon: Considered the best Hand of the King that has ever served the Iron Throne and a model to follow, which says a lot especially considering the kings he was Hand for (or indeed, ''because'' of the kings he had to be Hand for). |
| 751 | * ParentalAbandonment: He seems to have neglected Aegon because he was busy holding the reins of the kingdom from his nephews Daeron and Baelor. As such, the young Aegon grew a RoyalBrat, surrounded in excesses and unaccountability. |
| 752 | * PutOnABus: In-universe, during the Dance of the Dragons, Viserys was sent to be fostered by the Prince of Pentos for his protection at the behest of his half-brother Jacaerys Velaryon. Things didn't quite work out that way, and Viserys wound up in Lys for several years. |
| 753 | * RuleOfSymbolism: He was the subject of InUniverse debate among the Greens and Blacks, though actually emblematic of the Targaryens as a whole, as one of the first Targaryens to have an egg that did not hatch. The power both literal and figurative of the Targaryens is about to decline. |
| 754 | * UnexpectedSuccessor: He was the youngest child of both his parents, but succeeded to the throne after his nephews died without children. |
| 755 | * YouShallNotPass: When the Kingsguard, acting against Aegon III's orders, try to arrest his wife for the crime of being Lyseni, he stood in front of them holding an axe. At the age of thirteen, so the minute they actually draw steel, he books it, and lets his bodyguard, Sandoq, do the killing instead. |
| 756 | * YoungestChildWins: The only one of Queen Rhaenyra's sons who was actually able to pass the crown on to his descendants for longer than one generation. |
| 757 | [[/folder]] |
| 758 | |
| 759 | !!Court of Aegon IV |
| 760 | |
| 761 | [[folder:Aegon IV]] |
| 762 | !!King Aegon Targaryen, the Fourth of His Name; r. 172-184 |
| 763 | !!!The Unworthy |
| 764 | [[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/aegon_iv_targaryen_woiaf_5318.jpg]] |
| 765 | -->"''Aegon was not called the Unworthy without cause.''" |
| 766 | --->--'''Arys Oakheart''' |
| 767 | |
| 768 | Oldest child of Viserys II and Larra Rogare. Married to his sister Naerys, who gave birth to his only legitimate children, Daeron II and Daenerys. His unchecked libido, and the large number of royal bastards thereby produced, would ravage the Seven Kingdoms for generations to come.[[note]]Rumors that his son Daeron II was actually the son of his brother Aemon the Dragonknight -- rumours quite possibly encouraged by Aegon himself -- caused him to favor his bastard Daemon Blackfyre.[[/note]] Aegon's epitaph, "the Unworthy", proved to be apt in the face of his excesses and misrule, and many recall him as '''the''' very worst of the Targaryen kings. He had a new crown made for himself of red gold, huge and heavy, each of its points a dragon head with gemstone eyes. |
| 769 | ---- |
| 770 | * ZeroPercentApprovalRating: Until the Mad King Aerys II, he was regarded as the worst king of Westeros, tied alongside Maegor the Cruel -- which of them came first was pretty much down to the personal preference of the given writer, with some noting that Maegor ''at least'' built the Red Keep and played a (rather brutal and excessive) part in suppressing the Faith Militant, while Aegon the Unworthy has nothing to his credit. Hell, even Aerys II, who ended up ''destroying the entire 300-year dynasty,'' was supposedly a decent enough king early in his reign, and you could at least ascribe his horrific actions later on to insanity, while Aegon IV was completely worthless from the first day of his ascent to the throne, with no excuse for his behavior better than "he was a colossal jerk". Some historians (such as in ''The World of Ice and Fire'') half-seriously remark that he seemed devoted to misrule, as if he was trying to be the worst king in history. |
| 771 | * AddledAddict: To what? To ''everything''. The man was TheHedonist taken to grotesque ChaoticStupid extremes, overindulging on every possible pleasure until his body simply gave out (and his ravaged kingdom almost followed). |
| 772 | * AdiposeRex: Became this. Arguably a FatIdiot, as well. Or, just a really pig-headed, dedicated FatBastard. |
| 773 | * ArchnemesisDad: Daeron II criticized his father for many of his stupid actions, being closer to his mother Naerys and his [[CoolUncle uncle Aemon the Dragonknight]]. Aegon IV retaliated by frequently threatening to disinherit him, possibly spread rumours that Daeron was in fact Aemon's son, and finally wound up legitimizing all of his bastards on his deathbed, which many people saw as a spiteful "fuck you" to his own son. It's largely suggested the only reason he didn't disinherit Daeron is because doing so would have likely caused a CivilWar with Daeron's supporters defending his claim to the throne. |
| 774 | * ArrangedMarriage: With his sister Naerys. |
| 775 | * BatheHerAndBringHerToMe: Some said his motto should have been "Wash Her and Bring Her to My Bed". It is no exaggeration. |
| 776 | * BigBrotherBully: He treated his younger siblings Aemon and Naerys (especially Naerys) quite terribly, even after they died. At 1 1/2 years old, he struck Aemon while he was still in the cradle. |
| 777 | * BitchInSheepsClothing: Was a veritable PrinceCharming in his youth, but was kind of a jerk even then. |
| 778 | * BrotherSisterIncest: Married to his sister Naerys. Even when she begged off after having Daeron II, since another pregnancy could kill her, and asked for them to simply live as brother and sister, Aegon replied "That is what we have been doing." |
| 779 | * TheCaligula: The Targaryen madness manifested so extremely in him that he was barely even a person, just a walking appetite that had somehow manifested the ability to hold grudges, and he had such a ChaoticStupid lack of impulse control that even explaining his actions through motives as simple as lust and spite could sometimes be difficult. |
| 780 | * TheCasanova: His lovers and mistresses include: Daena Targaryen (his cousin and the wife of Baelor), Falena Stokeworth, Cassella Vaith, Megette aka Merry Meg, Bellegere Otherys (the Black Pearl of Braavos), Barba Bracken, Melissa Blackwood, Bethany Bracken (Barba's younger sister), Jeyne Lothston, Serenei of Lys and the three daughters of Lord Butterwell (whose favors he bought for a gift of a dragon egg). |
| 781 | * ChaoticStupid: The man was basically pure id, a runaway train fuelled by hedonism and spite who left a trail of mayhem across Westeros until he eventually self-destructed from massive overindulgence. |
| 782 | * CruelAndUnusualDeath: He died too fat to even rouse himself from his couch as parasitic worms infested his body. [[KarmicDeath Of course, when you consider who it happened to, it's kind of appropriate]]. |
| 783 | * DidntThinkThisThrough: This could have been another motto applied to him. Diddling my cousin (Daena) behind her brother-husband's (Baelor I) back when she's obviously wanting to get back at him: what fun! Sorry I got your three daughters pregnant: have a dragon egg as payment! Surely having many children with different ladies from important noble houses couldn't be a problem, surely: it's just so funny watching people steam... neither would legitimizing most of them before I die become an issue, at all. Or, how about undermining my (very likely) trueborn son by favoring one of my bastards by handing him the fancy family sword? Making my own Kingsguard very tempted to hate my guts through a supreme act of hypocrisy is also a wonderful plan... and, '''''wooden''''' siege-"dragons" containing wildfire? WhatCouldPossiblyGoWrong... the guy was a vengeful idiot with the long-term planning skills and consideration of a [[GullibleLemmings bomber lemming]] resting on the nuke button. |
| 784 | * EnfanteTerrible: Gyldayn's first notable mention of him is at one and a half years old, trying to bludgeon newborn Aemon with a dragon egg for no reason whatsoever, only being stopped because his mother heard the baby's crying. Kind of set the tone for the rest of his life. |
| 785 | * EvilCounterpart: A once handsome and charismatic king who became morbidly obese from frequently indulging in every vice possible, while abusing his wife, neglecting his children, siring numerous bastards, and whose death plunges the Realm into a SuccessionCrisis? He's basically Robert Baratheon without any of the latter's redeeming qualities. |
| 786 | * FatalFlaw: He had absolute zero impulse control and just did everything that came to mind. He bedded whoever he wanted, he gave away dragon eggs, he gave the sword that symbolized Targaryen kings to one of his bastard sons and raped his frail and sick wife. |
| 787 | * FreudianExcuse: His mother left home when he was quite young, and his father was away on business practically all the time, leaving young Aegon effectively adrift without anyone to rein his behavior in or give him a solid upbringing, let alone something constructive to do -- or just company his own age early on. While it doesn't excuse the worst of his excesses as king, it certainly helps one understand how he became the man he did. |
| 788 | * GenerationXerox: He's not the first Targaryen to inherit the Conqueror's name yet turn out to be [[InadequateInheritor utterly undeserving of it]]. His distant predecessor and great-uncle, Aegon II was very similar to him. Both were shown as lecherous, gluttonous, cruel and unfit for the throne, both inherited the throne after the reign of a peaceful king (coincidentally both kings were named Viserys, if that doesn't hammer the point in further) and both fathered children at a ''very'' young age. Unfortunately, neither of them did anything positive during their reigns and were equally despised by all in life (and celebrated in death), so the only way to distinguish the two is to decide who did the most damage to the Targaryen dynasty, reputation or otherwise. |
| 789 | ** Speaking of Viserys, he shares a few similarities to his great-grandfather, Viserys I. Both of them were [[AdiposeRex corpulent monarchs]] whose reigns each directly led to a CivilWar and both of them had a tumultuous relationship with their respective younger brothers. But while Viserys was a good-natured man of peace and smart enough to continue his predecessor's good work, Aegon was a mercurial, greedy and cruel hedonist who only cared for his own pleasure and had an axe to grind against Dorne, in defiance of Baelor's peace. Viserys's actions stemmed from misguided love for his family, while Aegon's actions stemmed from spite towards his son, Daeron. |
| 790 | * HairTriggerTemper: Another natural consequence of his total lack of impulse control - his anger was as swift, unpredictable, and unconstrained as any other emotion he felt. This played a key role in creating the SuccessionCrisis after his death - it wasn't just a question of which of his many children had his favour, but also which of them had earned his disfavour most recently and severely. |
| 791 | * TheHedonist: Very much. When Targaryens decide to channel what gifts they have into something specific, they tend to go all out. And, he decided early on that enjoying himself in the here-now was what he most wanted to do. Bonus if it screwed somebody else over. Could be interpreted as a means of drowning his fears and insecurities that went well over the top. |
| 792 | * {{Hypocrite}}: He killed Ser Terrence Toyne for breaking his vow of celibacy, despite the fact that Aegon was a massive philanderer himself (the woman in question was Bethany Bracken, one of Aegon's mistresses, to boot!). |
| 793 | * IRegretNothing: His shenanigans stained the Iron Throne's reputation, caused the deaths of many people far better than him and sowed the seeds of civil war and a struggle for the throne that lasted ''four'' generations, yet he died unrepentant. In fact, his last actions were seemingly born out of a vindictive desire to further destabilize the realm after his death. |
| 794 | * ItsAllAboutMe: All available indicators point to... yes. Big time. |
| 795 | * ItSeemedLikeAGoodIdeaAtTheTime: Although you could rely on him to always convert this trope to full-scale DidntThinkThisThrough, his bungles ''always'' had either YOLO or trollololol as the root cause. |
| 796 | * IWasQuiteALooker: Started out as a typical PrettyBoy Targaryen, but his appetites took their toll and he bloated up like a balloon. |
| 797 | * JerkAss: He was not called "The Unworthy" without cause. But... perhaps his biggest jerk move came when he found out that Terrence Toyne, a member of his Kingsguard, had slept with Bethany Bracken, one of his mistresses, with both claiming they had fallen in love. He then had Toyne dismembered and [[ForcedToWatch made Bethany watch]], then had her and her father (his Hand at the time) executed. It's also stated that he was the source of the rumors about Daeron II's illegitimacy, and deliberately gave Daemon the sword Blackfyre to spite his legitimate son, his wife, and his brother Aemon. |
| 798 | * JerkassHasAPoint: Was once asked of whether or not the rumors of Lord Rogar Baratheon sent Lady Coryanne Wylde to seduce King Jaehaerys. The notoriously lascivious King points out that if the rumor were true it would have been far smarter had he instructed all of the ladies to try and seduce Jaehaerys. The smallfolk seem to agree with his assessment. |
| 799 | * KarmicDeath: His dissolute lifestyle eventually made him too morbidly obese to even ''get up'', and he died wallowing in his own filth. Basically everyone in Westeros agreed it was an apt fate for him. |
| 800 | * KavorkaMan: Despite his loathsome personality and, in his later life, equally repulsive appearance, he kept attracting a flock of bedmates and mistresses. This is almost certainly due to the fact that he was (by law, at least) the most powerful man in Westeros in a feudal system where Kings were all-powerful which meant that women didn't really have the option of saying no, and considering that the City Watch procured women for him (not only prostitutes but "decent women") the consent is dubious. |
| 801 | * KidAnova: He was ''14'' when he had his first mistress, Falena Stokeworth, who's 10 years his senior. He also possibly fathered Falena's daughter Jeyne Lothston around this time. |
| 802 | * KingOnHisDeathbed: Legitimized his illegitimate sons as his last wish. Everyone knew this was a bad idea but they obeyed. |
| 803 | * KinslayingIsASpecialKindOfEvil: The sudden death of Viserys II led to suspicion that Aegon IV had poisoned his father to speed up his accession—which, if true, would paint Aegon as not only a kinslayer, but a ''king''slayer as well. Aegon's particularly ugly demise could well be seen as karma for it—the maesters had never seen anything like it before, and a number of septons deemed it a 'judgment of the gods' as well. |
| 804 | * KissingCousins: With Daena the Defiant. Though, according to Maester Yandel, Daena deliberately wanted to give birth to a child to spite Baelor, and Aegon IV was more than happy to comply. |
| 805 | * LastOfHisKind: By his own actions. He was the last Targaryen monarch that held the sword of kings, Blackfyre, since he gave it away to [[Characters/ASongOfIceAndFireHouseBlackfyre one of his bastard sons]]. This created enormous problems for the crown, as the sword remained a significantly symbolic item, prompting people to believe that this bastard son of his was the rightful King of Westeros just because of his combat prowess and the fact that he bore the damn sword. |
| 806 | * LetUsNeverSpeakOfThisAgain: The wildfire-spewing "dragons" Aegon commissioned for his planned invasion of Dorne failed so miserably that he never spoke of either his plans or the province for the rest of his days. |
| 807 | * LikeFatherUnlikeSon: He inherited ''none'' of the wisdom or the ability to rule from his father, Viserys. |
| 808 | ** Also with his son Daeron II. Fortunately for everyone in the kingdom, Daeron inherited his grandfather's political skills and made the second best ruler after Jaehaerys I. |
| 809 | * LoveRuinsTheRealm: Subverted in that it's very much ''lust'' and ''not'' love here. [[ReallyGetsAround Repeated lust]]. Played very straight in that it was actually the dumbass move of legitimizing ''every single one'' of his many great bastards that kicked off major problems. Worse: by taking lovers from ''opposing'' Houses and having retroactively legitimized children by them, he only heated old, cross-Kingdom resentments up into a mess of a civil war. So, by not being able to stick to just his wife or using his brain for his choice of lovers... yeah. Problems. For that matter, it can easily be said that Aegon IV really didn't love anyone but himself: self-love ruined the realm. |
| 810 | * MaritalRapeLicense: After Queen Naerys gave birth to their son Daeron, she was told that having any more children could very well kill her. So she asked Aegon IV to keep separate beds from then on, as she had already given him an heir, but he (despite not loving her ''and'' being unfaithful) insisted she continued performing her wifely duties purely out of spite. |
| 811 | * MassiveNumberedSiblings: He had at least six children by his sister-wife Naerys (Daeron II, a set of twins that died as infants, Daenerys and her stillborn twin brother, and a child whose birth led to Naerys's death in childbed) and numerous bastards, including: four daughters by Merry Meg (Alysanne, Lily, Willow and Rosey), three children by Bellegere Otherys (Bellenora, Narha and Balerion), Daemon Blackfyre by his cousin Daena, Aegor Rivers aka "Bittersteel" by Barba Bracken, three children by Melissa Blackwood (Mya, Gwenys and Brynden Rivers aka "Bloodraven"), Shiera Seastar by Serenei of Lys and three unnamed children by the daughters of Lord Butterwell. It is also possible he was the true father of both Viserys Plumm and of his own eighth mistress, Jeyne Lothston. |
| 812 | * TheMistress: While he had a massive number of bedmates, there were around nine "official" mistresses that were quite prominent in his lifetime. |
| 813 | ** Falena Stokeworth (149-151 AC), whom he had lost his virginity to when he was fourteen. And even after his father had Falena married off to Ser Lucas Lothston, the Master at Arms at the Red Keep and newly named Lord of Harrenhal, in order to remove her from court, Prince Aegon would still continue to visit Harrenhal frequently for two years afterwards, and possibly more, according to rumour. |
| 814 | ** Megette (155-158 AC), who had been married to a blacksmith near Fairmarket when Aegon took her with him to King's Landing, in which they had around four daughters. This ended when Viserys found out, and after giving their daughters to the Faith to be trained as Septas, Megette was returned to her husband, who beat her to death. |
| 815 | ** Cassella Vaith (158-161 AC), who had been one of the fourteen highborn hostages escorted by Aegon after the Submission of Sunspear during King Daeron's Conquest of Dorne, to King's Landing. There, Aegon had her kept in his own chambers until King Daeron's death, which she was returned to the other hostages by Aegon, who had grown bored of her, after his father planned to have the hostages executed, only for the new King, Baelor, to be returned to Dorne personally by him. Cassella would, for years, be so consumed by the delusion that she had been Aegon’s one true love and that he would soon send for her, that she would never wed or have children. |
| 816 | ** Bellegere Otherys (161-171 AC), a smuggler, trader, occasional pirate, and the captain of the ''Widow Wind'' who Aegon had met after he was sent to Braavos as an envoy on a diplomatic mission, and fathered two girls and a boy (although their parentage is up for speculation due to Bellegere having a husband in every port, it was said). |
| 817 | ** Barba Bracken (171-172 AC), who had been a companion to Princesses Daena, Rhaena and Elaena in the Maidenvault, and had caught Aegon's attention after King Baelor's death made them free to leave. A year later, when Aegon became the King, he had named Barba's father as his new Hand of the King and she openly became Aegon's mistress. Barba gave birth to a son Aegor, just a fortnight before Naerys had nearly died in childbirth, which lead to a scandal when Barba's father openly began talking over making his daughter the new Queen. After Naerys' recovery, Daeron and Aemon put pressure on Aegon, who sent away Barba and her son from court. |
| 818 | ** Melissa Blackwood (172-177 AC), who came even remotely close to being actually ''loved'' by Aegon IV, to the point of almost being his concubine. During her time in court, in which she gave birth to two daughters and one son, she even became a friend to Daeron, Aemon and Naerys, thanks to her kind heart, generosity and modesty. Even after she was dismissed after the Brackens groomed Bethany Bracken to replace her, Melissa's son Brynden was able to maintain close relations due to his mother being well-loved there. |
| 819 | ** Bethany Bracken (177-178 AC), Barba's younger sister who had been groomed by her father and Barba to displace Melissa Blackwood as Aegon's mistress. Although she delighted him at first, Bethany would later be so distressed by the King, who had at this point grown fat and foul-tempered, that she embarked on an affair with Ser Torrence Toyne of the Kingsguard, leading to the deaths of her father, her lover and Bethany herself when Aegon found out. |
| 820 | ** Jeyne Lothston (178-178 AC), the daughter of Falena Stokeworth and Lucas Lothston (although it was even rumoured that she was Aegon's daughter), she didn't last long due to catching the pox from Aegon and thus, Jeyne and family went away from court afterwards. |
| 821 | ** Serenei of Lys, his last mistress who had been brought to court by Lord Jon Hightower, Aegon's newest hand. A rumoured sorceress, she had died giving birth to the last of Aegon's bastards, Shiera Seastar. |
| 822 | * NearAndDearBabyNaming: He was named after his uncle, Aegon III. |
| 823 | * NoHistoricalFiguresWereHarmed: Martin describes him as the UsefulNotes/HenryVIII of Westeros. Others might notice a similarity to [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_of_Gaunt,_1st_Duke_of_Lancaster John of Gaunt]], too. He's practically the worst aspects of both put together, without the foresight of either. And his legitimized bastards cause a lot of trouble, rather like how those descended from Gaunt's bastards, the Tudors, ended up usurping rule of England. |
| 824 | * NotSoHarmlessVillain: To people who never met him, Aegon IV was a clown. Let him bang your daughter, niece, sister, or wife, and he'll grant you any favors you want. To the rest of the court, he was the devil himself who would stop at nothing to fulfil his desires and whose spiteful decisions would tear the kingdom apart for years to come. |
| 825 | * ParentalAbandonment: His excesses stemmed from the fact that his father was busy ruling the kingdoms of his cousins Daeron and Baelor. He did not have any responsibilities or accountability as the son of the Hand of the King until he found himself as Prince of Dragonstone under his father's reign. To add insult to injury, his mother left for Essos because she didn't like Westeros. A young man too much rich and too unsupervised. |
| 826 | * ParentalFavoritism: Favored his bastard Daemon Blackfyre over his trueborn son Daeron II. |
| 827 | * PetTheDog: Deconstructed. You'd think that legitimising your illegitimate children on your deathbed would be a kind act. Not so kind when you have several bastard sons from highborn mothers who are now going to play havoc with the line of succession. Particularly Daemon, who was a full Targaryen and who Aegon quite likely made legitimate as one last, spiteful dig at Daeron. |
| 828 | * ThePornomancer: He boasted of sleeping with 900 women at last count, and some said that he didn't go to sleep without company ever. His mistresses included Falena Stokeworth and later ''her'' daughter, Jeyne Lothston (who may or may not actually have been [[ParentalIncest Aegon's own offspring]]) and it's stated that he might have had a threesome with both. Everything is [[TheTysonZone possible with this guy]]. |
| 829 | -->'''Joffrey''': That King Aegon, he had any woman he wanted, whether they were married or not. |
| 830 | * PracticallyDifferentGenerations: As a consequence of him ReallyGetsAround, some of his bastard children are actually younger than his legitimate son's kids. Even his legitimate children Daeron and Daenerys are 19 years apart in age. |
| 831 | * ReallyGetsAround: As long as they were female, Aegon went out to nail any female, whether they were highborn or common. It was said not even the decent women of the capital were safe and the Gold Cloaks were far too eager to "procure" women for him. |
| 832 | * RoyalBrat: In his youth, he was essentially Joffrey with a lust for women instead of murder and humiliation. Although he certainly enjoyed the latter two at certain points. |
| 833 | * RoyalHarem: Essentially converted the Red Keep into this. Many Lords of the Seven Kingdoms won favors from Aegon IV by pimping their daughters to him, and exploited him shamelessly for favors granted in exchange for their daughters' services in his bed. |
| 834 | * SecretWeapon: He had "wooden dragons" built. They weren't effective. At all. They were filled with unstable wildfire and before being deployed spilled on the way and murdered several hundreds of their own support crew in a chain reaction. |
| 835 | * SketchySuccessor: His father Viserys didn't have a particularly long reign as king in his own right, but he was instrumental in holding the kingdom together as Hand of the King for many years prior (and, had he lived longer, might have been remembered as a great king himself). Aegon, on the other hand, was quite possibly '''the''' worst king that has ever sat on the Iron Throne. |
| 836 | * SelfMadeOrphan: If the rumors about him poisoning his father had some truth to them. |
| 837 | * SpeakIllOfTheDead: After Aemon and Naerys died, Aegon did nothing to honor their memory. In fact he kept insinuating that they had had an affair to undermine Daeron's claim to the throne. |
| 838 | * StupidEvil: The only way to explain his tendency to go for the worst possible plan to screw himself (and everybody else) over for the short-term giggles. That, and/or being Mr Full-Time {{Troll}}. |
| 839 | * UnfitForGreatness: It's lampshaded, even: "The Unworthy". In retrospect, perhaps letting somebody else rule would have been a better move... |
| 840 | * UngratefulBastard: How does he reward the brother who served him faithfully for many years and even died to save his life? By trying to ruin his reputation after he died. Of course. |
| 841 | [[/folder]] |
| 842 | |
| 843 | [[folder:Queen Naerys Targaryen]] |
| 844 | !!Queen Naerys Targaryen |
| 845 | |
| 846 | -->'''Queen Naerys:''' I have done my duty by you, and given you an heir. I beg you, let us live henceforth as brother and sister.\ |
| 847 | '''King Aegon IV:''' That is what we are doing. |
| 848 | |
| 849 | Third and youngest child of Viserys II and Larra Rogare, and sister-wife of Aegon IV, with whom she had two (surviving) children, Daeron II and Daenerys. She was sickly all her life, and very thin and delicate. Her marriage to her brother Aegon was a very unhappy one, and she wished to stop sharing his bed after their son's birth, as any further pregnancies could endanger her life, but he refused. She was very close to her other brother, Aemon the Dragonknight (some rumors claimed the two were lovers), and it was said he was one of the very few people who could make her laugh. Naerys eventually died in childbirth closer to the end of Aegon's reign as a result of her poor health. |
| 850 | ---- |
| 851 | * ArrangedMarriage: With Aegon IV. |
| 852 | * BrotherSisterIncest: Married to her brother Aegon IV, and ''might'' have had an affair with her other brother, Aemon the Dragonknight (while Aemon was almost certainly carrying a torch for her, he was also compulsively dutiful and there is no actual evidence of this, meaning it's entirely possible that the whole thing may have been made up to support Daemon Blackfyre's claim). |
| 853 | * CourtlyLove: Her relationship with Aemon. Deconstructed when it was claimed it went beyond this trope and that Naerys had actually given birth to his son (though it's likely those were just rumors as there was little evidence to support them). |
| 854 | * DeathByChildbirth: Revealed in ''[[Literature/TheWorldOfIceAndFire The World of Ice & Fire]]'' that she died in childbirth a year after Aemon's death. Since there's no further mention of the child she gave birth to, it's safe to presume they died as well. |
| 855 | * DomesticAbuse: Aegon IV insisted she continued performing her wifely duties despite not loving her ''and'' being unfaithful while fully knowing that another pregnancy could kill her (and [[DeathByChildbirth it eventually did]]). And then there's him allegedly using Ser Morgil to accuse her of adultery. |
| 856 | * AFamilyAffair: It was rumored that she was carrying on an affair with her husband [[RoyalInbreeding and her own]] brother Aemon, though most believe it was a rumor made up by Aegon IV and Blackfyre supporters opposing her son's claim to the throne. |
| 857 | * GoodParents: Do you ''really'' think Aegon took time out of his busy, hedonistic schedule to raise their kids with her? Yet, those who made it to adulthood were decent human beings with functional moral compasses. Uncle Aemon probably helped out by acting as a surrogate father figure, at the very least. |
| 858 | * LadyAndKnight: The Lady to Aemon's Knight. Aemon defended her honor when Ser Morgil accused her of adultery and he crowned her Queen of Love and Beauty. |
| 859 | * MassiveNumberedSiblings: From ''[[Literature/TheWorldOfIceAndFire The World of Ice & Fire]]'', we learn that her and Aegon IV had at least six children: Daeron II, a set of twins who died in infancy, Daenerys and her stillborn twin brother, and at least another child (whose birth led to her death). |
| 860 | * ModestRoyalty: She preferred simple clothing and rarely wore any jewelry at all, even her crown. |
| 861 | * NiceGirl: Pretty nice, unlike her husband. |
| 862 | * TheQuietOne: Her delicate nature and sheltered lifestyle made her very introspective. |
| 863 | * StarCrossedLovers: With her brother Aemon, ''maybe''. If you believe the propaganda spread by Aegon and his Blackfyre descendants. |
| 864 | * TakingTheVeil: She was dedicated to the Faith of the Seven and wanted to become a septa, but her father made her marry her brother Aegon IV instead and become queen. |
| 865 | * TextileWorkIsFeminine: She enjoyed sewing and embroidering. |
| 866 | * UnwantedSpouse: After their son Daeron was born, Queen Naerys asked Aegon IV to release her from her vows so she could [[TakingTheVeil join the Faith of the Seven]]. He refused. She also asked to sleep in separate beds since they didn't love each other--[[MaritalRapeLicense he refused even more]]. |
| 867 | [[/folder]] |
| 868 | |
| 869 | [[folder:Prince Aemon Targaryen the Dragonknight]] |
| 870 | Second child of Viserys II and Larra Rogare, brother of Aegon IV and Naerys. Joined the Kingsguard shortly after Aegon married Naerys. |
| 871 | -->See [[Characters/ASongOfIceAndFireHistoricalKingsguard The Historical Kingsguard]] page. |
| 872 | [[/folder]] |
| 873 | |
| 874 | !!!Aegon IV's Great Bastards |
| 875 | Towards the end of his life and on his deathbed, King Aegon IV decided to legitimize his bastard children from various mothers. Among these children, four of them became prominent in their own right. |
| 876 | |
| 877 | [[folder:Daemon Blackfyre]] |
| 878 | -->See the [[Characters/ASongOfIceAndFireHouseBlackfyre House Blackfyre]] page. |
| 879 | Daemon Blackfyre (born Daemon Waters) was the bastard child of two Targaryens--King Aegon IV and his cousin, Daena the Defiant (wife of Baelor I, whom he kept locked in the Maidenvault). A favorite of his father, he was gifted the family sword Blackfyre, whose name he took for his new House upon being legitimized, becoming the first and greatest of the Blackfyre Pretenders. |
| 880 | [[/folder]] |
| 881 | |
| 882 | [[folder:Aegor Rivers]] |
| 883 | !!Aegor Rivers |
| 884 | !!!Bittersteel |
| 885 | -->See [[Characters/ASongOfIceAndFireTheGoldenCompany The Golden Company]] page. |
| 886 | Aegor Rivers, known as "Bittersteel", was the bastard son of Aegon IV by his fifth mistress Barba Bracken. He was one of Daemon Blackfyre's chief allies. A great warrior, upon his exile he became the founder of the long-running mercenary outfit, the Golden Company. |
| 887 | [[/folder]] |
| 888 | |
| 889 | [[folder:Brynden Rivers]] |
| 890 | !!Brynden Rivers |
| 891 | !!!Lord Bloodraven, Hand of the King, Lord Commander of the Night's Watch [[spoiler: The Last Greenseer, The Three-Eyed Crow]] |
| 892 | [[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/ef6c9c374468f45465cbd6a80e30641d.jpg]] |
| 893 | [[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/brynden_rivers_heraldry.png]] |
| 894 | [[caption-width-right:300:Top: ''"Lord Brynden at the Redgrass Field, wielding a Weirwood Longbow"''; |
| 895 | Bottom: Personal coat of arms]] |
| 896 | ->''"A Thousand Eyes, and One."'' |
| 897 | |
| 898 | Brynden Rivers was the youngest of three children (and the only son) of Aegon IV by his sixth mistress Melissa Blackwood, giving him the rare distinction of having Valyrian ''and'' First Men descent. An albino with a red skin patch (whose supposed raven shape gave him the nickname Bloodraven), Lord Brynden remained loyal to House Targayren fighting against his half-brothers (Bittersteel and Daemon Blackfyre) during the Blackfyre Rebellions. |
| 899 | |
| 900 | A fearsome warrior, Bloodraven wielded Visenya's sword Dark Sister, though he was proficient with a weirwood longbow as well. He used it to kill Daemon Blackfyre and his twin sons in the Battle of Redgrass Field, an action which marked him as a kinslayer. For this, his half-brother and rival [[Characters/ASongOfIceAndFireTheGoldenCompany Bittersteel]] gouged his left eye out in ire. Bloodraven in turn refused to wear an eyepatch for the rest of his life, adding to his creepy appearance. Bloodraven later served as Hand of the King under Aerys I and Maekar I, but due to his murder of Aenys Blackfyre to remove him as a potential successor of Maekar, he was deposed and imprisoned in the Black Cells on Aegon V's orders. Given the option, he chose to take the black and was sent as a conscript to the Night's Watch as part of the "honor guard" for Aemon Targaryen. He eventually rose to became Lord Commander, but went missing when ranging in 252 AC. |
| 901 | |
| 902 | In ''A Dance With Dragons'', it is revealed that Bloodraven still "lives" in symbiosis with a weirwood tree and is the Three-Eyed Crow that has been advising Bran in his dreams as well as a powerful skinchanger and greenseer, the true source of his reputation for sorcery. |
| 903 | |
| 904 | For the Beings Beyond The Wall page, see [[Characters/ASongOfIceAndFireBeingsBeyondTheWall here]]. |
| 905 | ---- |
| 906 | * TheAce: Bloodraven was the most important political figure during his time at King's Landing and most certainly the greatest Master of Spies to have ever served the Iron Throne. He was highly educated and cunning, as well as a formidable swordsman, archer, strategist and, secretly, a powerful sorcerer. He is often considered by the common folk to be more influential to the events at the time than the kings he served, especially Aerys I, who recognised Brynden's superior acumen for statecraft. Hyperbole aside, he was rumoured to influence '''even the damn weather itself'''. On top of all that, he successfully won the most beautiful woman in the realm, his half-sister Shiera Seastar, [[NotGoodWithRejection to the eternal ire of their half-brother, Aegor "Bittersteel" Rivers]]. |
| 907 | * AffablyEvil: Despite his terrifying reputation, his apparent lack of any moral scruples, and his frankly ghoulish appearance, he had a good sense of humour and was capable of charming the most beautiful woman in the world. |
| 908 | * AgeWithoutYouth: He was born during the rule of Aegon IV Targaryen, which means that [[spoiler: when Bran finds him, he is in his mid-120's and ''looks it''; he is only technically alive because of Children's magic fusing him with a tree]]. |
| 909 | * AnimalEyeSpy: [[spoiler:It's implied that his amazing skills as a spymaster were/are attributable to his ability to skinchange into ravens.]] |
| 910 | * AnnoyingArrows: His elite group of archers "The Raven's Teeth" were a deadly aversion of this to others. A fact House Blackfyre learned all too well. |
| 911 | * ArchEnemy: One could argue that it is he, rather than the Targaryens themselves, who is the sworn enemy of the Blackfyres. No Targaryen has shown as much fervour as Bloodraven does in wanting to see the Blackfyres wiped off the face of Planetos, and he has played a key role in thwarting the Blackfyres' attempts to claim the Iron Throne time and time again. |
| 912 | * BigBrotherIsWatching: He was notorious during his tenure as Hand for having a vast network of spies and informers and was remorseless to anyone who stated pro-Blackfyre sentiments publicly. In ''The Mystery Knight'', several lords complain about how people were no longer free to express their sentiment out of fear of being spied upon. [[spoiler:It's implied that his talents as a skinchanger contributed to this, hence his reputation as a sorcerer. And know that he's the Three-Eyed Crow... it's heavily implied ''he's still watching'' Westeros and his descendants.]] |
| 913 | * BigStupidDoodooHead: In a pretty unsophisticated moment for such a smooth operator, he dubs Lord Butterwell "Lord Butter''butt''". And this is after telling the man he's going to tear down his castle and salt his land. |
| 914 | * BowAndSwordInAccord: His main weapons were a Weirwood Bow and the Valyrian Steel Sword Dark Sister. |
| 915 | * BrotherSisterIncest: The love of his life was his half-sister, Shiera Seastar. For her part, she was fond of him, but she also liked tormenting him by sleeping with other men. |
| 916 | * ByronicHero: Bloodraven was the most important political figure during his time at King's Landing and most certainly the greatest Master of Spies to have ever served the Iron Throne. But he was a very controversial guy: rumored to be a [[EvilSorcerer sorcerer]] [[spoiler: (and indeed he was, since he could skinchange in his crows)]] who controlled the kingdom with his crows, and suppressed the Blackfyre Rebellion in blood. His ruthless actions to keep the Targaryens on the throne eventually earned him a one-way ticket to The Wall. But even there he managed to become Lord Commander until he disappeared Beyond the Wall. [[spoiler: It's revealed he didn't disappear—he instead became a powerful half-weirwood figure in a cave with the Children of the Forest and ''he's still watching Westeros and his descendants'']]. The true meaning of most of his ruthless actions are yet to be found out, but it's safe to say that he would see them as [[IDidWhatIHadToDo part of a bigger picture]]. |
| 917 | * CainAndAbel: He was enemies with his half-brother (and {{Foil}}) Aegor Rivers, known as "Bittersteel", who also loved Shiera Seastar. [[FeudingFamilies On top of that, Bloodraven's mother was a Blackwood and Bittersteel's mother was a Bracken.]] (As you might be able to tell, Aegon IV did the realm no favors when picking his mistresses.) On the battle of the Redgrass Field, he and his archers rained down arrows on Daemon Blackfyre and his twin sons, succeeding in killing all three. This action earned Bloodraven the tag of "kinslayer" (Daemon being another of his bastard half-brothers, and the twins therefore his nephews). Bloodraven was ruthless and unsentimental when it came to engagements. He advised Aerys I to kill Bittersteel, his half-brother and Aerys's uncle, but the former refused. Years later, Bloodraven executed Daemon's son Aenys Blackfyre (his nephew) and put his head upon a pike on the Red Keep. |
| 918 | * ChildOfTwoWorlds: As a child of Valyrian and First Men ancestry, where said relationships are allegedly a rarity in Westeros. [[spoiler: And he's the one who shows how powerful a child of Valyrian and First Men heritage may turn out. He's in fact an immensely powerful [[{{Seers}} greenseer]] and skinchanger. One could wonder how it'd be if Targaryens ever mated with Starks, [[EpilepticTrees and it's a very good question]].]] |
| 919 | * CleverCrows: His names, his birthmark, the Blackwood sigil and his [[spoiler: skinchanging]] all have one thing in common: ravens. Add him becoming a Lord Commander of the Crows on top of that? Yeah. [[spoiler: He's not dropped the symbology even though he's taken "Black''wood''" to heart: he's not just the Three-Eyed Crow, but there are a lot of hints that one of his regular animals is a certain Lord Commanders' raven who loves corn.]] |
| 920 | * CockFight: He and his [[SiblingRivalry half-brother Aegor]] Bittersteel had feelings for their half-sister Shiera Seastar, who choose Brynden over Aegor. Bittersteel was apparently NotGoodWithRejection and invested the energy of his wrath in conspiring against the throne... |
| 921 | * CoolSword: One of the Targaryen warriors (including Prince Daemon Targaryen and Prince Aemon the Dragonknight) to wield Visenya's Valyrian steel sword Dark Sister. |
| 922 | * CombatPragmatist: His signature style can summed up thusly, "Chivalry is for the losers." ''Every'' dirty move was used -- no exceptions made; no quarter given. |
| 923 | * CourtMage: Due to his uncanny ability to sniff out even the most closely-concealed treasonous plots, people began spreading rumors that he was some kind of sorcerer who used dark magic to spy on them. [[spoiler:They were right, in a sense -- he's a powerful skinchanger and greenseer who also had some skill with glamours.]] |
| 924 | * DistinguishingMark: A large, reddish birthmark on his neck that was somewhat bird-shaped, and the source of his nickname. |
| 925 | * DragonInChief: As Hand of the King to Aerys I, Bloodraven essentially ruled the kingdom while Aerys spent most of his time studying scrolls and prophecies. |
| 926 | * EvilSorcerer: By reputation. [[spoiler:He definitely ''was'' a sorcerer, although the evil part is still up in the air.]] |
| 927 | * EvilChancellor: His reputation was as one, but his appearance in ''The Mystery Knight'' suggests something more like a [[TheGoodChancellor Loyal]] and [[WellIntentionedExtremist Extremely Ruthless Chancellor]]. One thing to keep in mind: a major reason why Aegon V had a relatively peaceful, productive reign was because all of the major Blackfyre-related problems were out of his hair thanks to Bloodraven's hard work during the previous years. Even if nobody quite acknowledges that. |
| 928 | * EvenEvilHasLovedOnes: In the ''Dunk & Egg'' stories, Bloodraven has expressed sincere fondness for his grand-nephew Egg; the unlikely circumstances that led Egg to be crowned as King Aegon V (meaning, all the people that had to die for him to receive the crown) have undertones of Bloodraven's hand. Later, [[spoiler:as the Three-Eyed Crow]], he expresses his love for two of his half-siblings (one of them being his [[BrotherSisterIncest sister-lover]] Shiera). |
| 929 | * {{Expy}}: |
| 930 | ** Is one for [[Literature/TheElricSaga Elric of Melnibone]], as he is the albino sorcerer descendant of a dynasty vaguely associated with elfin characteristics. |
| 931 | ** As a one-eyed wizard who uses ravens as spies, he is also one for [[Myth/NorseMythology Odin]]. |
| 932 | * TheExtremistWasRight: Arguably a case of this. If he hadn't gone after the Blackfyre side as ruthlessly as he did while earning such a dismal reputation for himself, the problem could well have haunted Aegon's reign and beyond quite directly. [[spoiler:As it is, he may have missed a couple: if the newer Aegon turns out to be a feint, that is.]] Still, that ''would'' prove the point: trouble brews if you leave it be. |
| 933 | * EyeScream: He lost one of his eyes to Bittersteel during the Battle of Redgrass Field. He often traveled leaving the socket open which added to his sinister aura. |
| 934 | * FatalFlaw: His obsession with focusing on the greater evil, specifically the Blackfyres, his WellIntentionedExtremist ways having a cost. He was so busy fixated on fighting them that he ignored and inadvertently empowered the reaving of the Ironborn under Dagon Greyjoy, who got away with it for a long time before the Iron Throne finally responded. [[spoiler: He may be [[HistoryRepeats repeating this mistake]] in the present on a grander and magical scale instead of just a political one as the Three Eyed Crow, if he really did empower [[EvilOverlord Euron Greyjoy]] when [[EnfantTerrible he was a boy]] with magic and apocalyptic knowledge, one of the many dreamers he visited in the hopes of teaching and using him to defeat the [[GreaterScopeVillain Others]], as he's currently attempting to do with Bran.]] |
| 935 | * FlawExploitation: Bloodraven lured Daemon Blackfyre into the open by shooting his son, knowing he would never leave him behind. He then rained arrows on him and his other son. In that one stroke, he ended the battle of the Redgrass Field and the Blackfyre rebellion. |
| 936 | * TheFriendNobodyLikes: He was loyal to the Targaryen cause during the Blackfyre Rebellion, despite being a bastard himself. However, his unusual looks and sinister aura meant that even his own supporters did not like him very much. This is especially notable in regards to his service as Hand of the King to Maekar; Maekar personally disliked Bloodraven, and was quite capable of ruling in comparison to his predecessor, yet still trusted him enough to have him serve as Hand. |
| 937 | * GenerationXerox: Shares several similarities to his paternal grandfather Viserys II. They both ran the Seven Kingdoms as Hand for years [[TheManBehindTheMan for their ineffectual nephews]], only to go down in history as {{Evil Chancellor}}s despite them being chiefly responsible for holding the realm together in times of strife. They were both reputed to be kinslayers, with Viserys being rumoured to have poisoned his nephew Baelor while Brynden killed his half-brother Daemon during the Blackfyre Rebellion, and that is not without taking into account the possibility that he orchestrated the death of many other Targaryens to pave the way for Egg to become king. They even had similar tastes in women, specifically of Lyseni descent, and had eyes for no one else. |
| 938 | * TheGodsMustBeLazy: A possible aversion; some of the apparently supernatural acts in ASOIAF might well have been caused by him. |
| 939 | * HatedByAll: He was thought to be an evil sorcerer and everyone blamed him for the realm's problems. Being an albino bastard certainly didn't help him with all the sinister connotations both conditions have, culturally. Or just having the one eye, either. |
| 940 | * HeroicBastard: With the terrible reputation he has you'd think he's a BastardBastard, but actually he is this. He was an accomplished warrior, a competent general and politician (despite, or perhaps because of, his iron-fisted approach to power) has sided with his legitimate half-brother King Daeron seemingly for the affection he had for him and the rivalry he had with Bittersteel, and ''[[UndyingLoyalty never]]'' betrayed his legitimate half-brother or his offspring in those shady years, and was seemingly their most devoted follower, although one could question [[KnightTemplar his methods]] (and some did). |
| 941 | * HiddenDepths: If he is indeed [[spoiler:the hedge knight Maynard Plumm, and if Plumm's rambunctious personality isn't entirely a ruse,]] it seems that TheDreaded Bloodraven can be quite the party animal. |
| 942 | * HidingBehindYourBangs: He uses his bangs to cover his missing eye. [[spoiler:They're still (mostly) there, even in the state he's currently in.]] |
| 943 | * IDidWhatIHadToDo: His justification for [[spoiler:killing Aenys Blackfyre]], under a truce sign and parley, violating all codes of diplomacy. On becoming King, Egg arrested him and sent him to the Night's Watch. |
| 944 | * IHaveManyNames: Bloodraven for his unusual birthmark and [[spoiler: also, the Three-Eyed Crow and the Last Greenseer.]] |
| 945 | * ItsPersonal: He did not take Daemon Blackfyre and Bittersteel's betrayal of their dear shared half-brother Daeron II very kindly, so he dedicated most of his life to squashing their pretensions and their legacy with implacable prejudice. Bittersteel and Bloodraven also shared an enmity because of a number of aspects, like the fact that Bloodraven's mother replaced Bittersteel's as their father's favorite, the fact that Shiera Seastar preferred Bloodraven over Bittersteel, and the fact that Blackwood and Bracken had been in constant conflict for thousands of years. |
| 946 | * KavorkaMan: {{Downplayed}}, as Brynden was strikingly handsome, but he was also deathly pale, gaunt, minus an eye, and very morally bankrupt. Yet, he was able to court Shiera Seastar, renowned as the most eligible bachelorette in the Seven Kingdoms. Their half-brother Aegor, who was more conventionally attractive by most standards, could never understand what Shiera saw in Brynden. |
| 947 | * LeanAndMean: In contrast to Daemon Blackfyre and Aegor Rivers who are tall and muscular, Brynden is thin and gaunt. As for the "mean" part, he is ruthlessly pragmatic. |
| 948 | * LegallyDead: Aged 77, he disappeared into the woods beyond the wall on 252 AC, fifty years before the events of ASOIAF. [[spoiler:When Bran encounters him, he's ~125 years old; colloquially ''old as balls'']]. No wonder no one went looking for him. |
| 949 | * TheMadnessPlace: Very, very highly likely. He's focused (or, perhaps, obsessive) even by the standards of both his stubborn bloodlines. As for thinking outside the box using unthinkable, yet creative strategies... that worked? Check! [[spoiler: Making strides in skinchanging, greenseeing and other assorted magical schools when all of them are practically extinct south of the Wall must have taken something unusual. On top of that, going for the tree option as a seer certainly takes a radically different take on things, even by MadOracle metrics.]] |
| 950 | * TheManBehindTheMan: |
| 951 | ** He was widely held to be this for King Aerys I. ''Literature/TheWorldOfIceAndFire'' also holds him responsible for sparking the First Blackfyre Rebellion when he gave intelligence to Daeron the Good that Daemon and Bittersteel were going to make their move. Historians state that it's almost impossible that Bloodraven could have obtained this information, [[spoiler:but readers will know it can be attributed to his greenseer and skinchanger abilities]]. |
| 952 | ** An awful lot of Targaryens had to die for Egg to become King Aegon V Targaryen, nicknamed "The Unlikely". Bloodraven's dabbling in secrecy and the occult suggests that there might have been foul play on these deaths; he even had to [[spoiler:blatantly kill Aenys Blackfyre]] to clear the way for Aegon from having serious contenders to the Iron Throne. Only time will tell if he did the deed. |
| 953 | * MoralEventHorizon: InUniverse, [[spoiler:his treacherous murder of Aenys Blackfyre after luring him to the Great Council was seen as this by everyone who had previously put up with Bloodraven's disturbing penchant for committing reprehensible crimes in the name of the greater good. Aegon V finally had enough of Bloodraven's nonsense and sent him to the Wall as punishment.]] |
| 954 | * MyMasterRightOrWrong: He loyally served the interests of every Targaryen king, even the useless ones like Aerys I. Bloodraven's misguided belief that the Targaryens hated the Blackfyres as vitriolically as he did eventually backfired, as one too many pragmatic Blackfyre backstab manoeuvres ended with Aegon V exiling Bloodraven to the Night's Watch. |
| 955 | * NeverFoundTheBody: Disappeared when ranging beyond the Wall. [[spoiler:He somehow ended up North of the Wall as a half-weirwood figure in a cave with the Children of the Forest]] |
| 956 | * NoGoodDeedGoesUnpunished: Years of dedicated (and fanatical) service to House Targaryen and all he got was a one-way ticket to The Wall. |
| 957 | * NotSoAboveItAll: He has some moments that contrast with his sinister reputation. |
| 958 | ** He's known to get jealous whenever his half-sister/lover Shiera beds another man, something that she finds endearing. |
| 959 | ** [[BigStupidDooDooHead He called Lord Butterwell "Butterbutt"]]. |
| 960 | ** If one considers [[spoiler: the heavy implication that he was disguised as the hedge knight Maynard Plumm (which the immature joke above may serve as evidence for)]], Brynden seems to have a taste for booze, bawdy jokes, and even playfully mocking his royal father's licentious reputation (complete with a juicy dose of dramatic irony in his SarcasticConfession to being one of Aegon IV's many bastards). |
| 961 | * OOCIsSeriousBusiness: [[spoiler:His killing of Aenys Blackfyre]] after ''personally inviting him'' to the Great Council was considered especially vile and dishonorable, even beyond the standards he had set so far. All sympathy for his actions went straight down the toilet, leaving Aegon V to give him two options: execution, or join the Night's Watch. He chose the latter. |
| 962 | * PetTheDog: In "The Mystery Knight", he seems to have a soft spot for his great-nephew Egg, as well as for Dunk [[spoiler:even more so if he was indeed disguised as Maynard Plumm via a glamour, as Plumm saved Dunk's life]]. |
| 963 | * PoliceState: His tenure as Hand of the King largely consisted in turning Westeros into one. He built a vast network of spies, had his own private organization "The Raven's Teeth", run security and likewise [[spoiler:used his magical abilities]] to peek wherever he could. Any public declaration of Blackfyre sympathies however innocuous was found and stamped out with extreme prejudice and nobody felt comfortable speaking their minds. This needless to say made him highly unpopular and the popular song "A Thousand Eyes, and One" is not complimentary. |
| 964 | * PracticallyDifferentGenerations: Was 22 years younger than his big brother, Daeron II and 5 years younger than Daeron's eldest son, Baelor. |
| 965 | * PragmaticHero: |
| 966 | ** He is particularly vilified for killing Daemon Blackfyre in the most unceremonious way possible by raining arrows on him and his twin sons instead of facing him on the field of battle. While Bloodraven carried Dark Sister, it's uncertain if he would have stood up in swordsmanship to Blackfyre, who was said to be able to fight like the Warrior himself. |
| 967 | ** When Daemon II Blackfyre challenged him to a duel at the beginning of the Second Blackfyre Rebellion, Bloodraven nipped the whole thing in the bud by immediately having him arrested instead... and then keeping him as a hostage rather than having him executed with the rest of the rebels, which prevented his younger brother from being named as heir. |
| 968 | ** In another incident, when Aenys Blackfyre (another of Daemon's sons) pressed his claim to the throne following Maekar's death, Bloodraven called a great council to offer a peaceful resolution as a way of avoiding a civil war... [[spoiler:and then, when Aenys arrived for these peaceful negotiations, Bloodraven ''immediately murdered him'', in violation of all codes of diplomacy, in order to quash the threat of civil war for good]]. |
| 969 | * ReassignedToAntarctica: Aegon V ("Egg") had him sent him to the Wall as part of a honor guard to accompany Maester Aemon [[spoiler:(a fate which he chose to avoid execution for his murder of Aenys Blackfyre)]]. He eventually became Lord Commander of the Night's Watch. |
| 970 | * RoyaltySuperpower: What can you get when you cross the blood of the First Men with that of Old Valyria in a time without dragons? [[spoiler:A greenseer and skinchanger, that's what.]] |
| 971 | * ShootTheDog: This seems to have practically been his life philosophy -- coupled with prejudices against his appearance, that caused him to become ''very'' unpopular. |
| 972 | * ShroudedInMyth: The banner carrier for the trope. He's one of the most over-the-top HighFantasy characters in ASOIAF, a series that is generally considered LowFantasy, to the fringes of absurdity. |
| 973 | * SinisterSurveillance: The meaning of the song written about him, "A Thousand Eyes, and One". The "one eye" part is a reference to him having lost one eye in battle, and the "thousand eyes" part because he seemed to have spies ''everywhere''. [[spoiler:And he does. As a powerful skinchanger, he can control animals and see through their eyes.]] |
| 974 | * TheSpymaster: Master of Whisperers... it was his job. His information network seems to have exceeded that of Varys. |
| 975 | * TwoAliasesOneCharacter: |
| 976 | ** It's implied in the Dunk and Egg novella ''The Mystery Knight'' that [[spoiler:a hedge knight calling himself Maynard Plumm (who is revealed as one of Bloodraven's spies) was actually Bloodraven himself using a glamour]]. |
| 977 | ** It's revealed in ''Literature/ADanceWithDragons'' [[spoiler:that he and the Three Eyed Crow are one and the same]]. |
| 978 | ** The text seems also to suggest that he may also be fond of [[spoiler:warging Mormont's raven and hanging around Jon Snow. ''That'' would explain ''a lot'' of the raven's interactions with Jon Snow]]. |
| 979 | * TheUnfettered: There is absolutely no moral line Bloodraven won't cross in order to protect the interests of House Targaryen. Maintaining peace in the realms by crushing Blackfyre rebellions before they can even gather steam was always his greater cause that justified every awful deed he committed. |
| 980 | * UndyingLoyalty: While he is prone to taking drastic actions to protect their legacy, he has total, unwavering loyalty to House Targaryen ever since his father legitimised him. |
| 981 | ** His personal guard, the Raven's Teeth, were this to him. When Brynden was sent to the Wall by Aegon V, his men opt to join him in taking the black. |
| 982 | * TheUnreveal: While it's known why he had a rivalry with Bittersteel, it's not known why both Bloodraven and Shiera stayed so staunchly loyal to the Targaryens. There are no accounts of their relationship with King Daeron and Bloodraven's infamy has only added darkness to the already muddy waters. [[spoiler:His appearance on the underground cave suggest that there might have been an element of magic even to this aspect of him.]] |
| 983 | ** It's also not revealed what precisely did he have against the Blackfyres and why was it so damn important to keep them away from the Iron Throne. At first, it seemed to be plain and simple loyalty to his Targaryen family, but his actions against [[spoiler:Aenys Blackfyre]] border on the illogical and have touches of zealotry or even something more macabre. Like many Targaryens, he may have been partially motivated by prophecy, but nobody knows for sure. |
| 984 | ** While it's known that he was sent to the Wall for [[spoiler:killing Aenys Blackfyre]], it's not known whether he did it to intentionally head North [[spoiler:being summoned by his destiny like Bran Stark did]]. There's credence to this, as he [[spoiler:has willingly spent half a century imbued in a tree beyond the Wall]]. |
| 985 | ** Much like ''Blackfyre'', the Sword of Kings, the sword ''Dark Sister'' disappeared when Bloodraven went to the Wall. |
| 986 | ** [[spoiler: It's also a legitimate question wondering if most of the supernatural or ambiguous events of ASOIAF have something to do with him. It's rather unlikely that he spent something like fifty years doing nothing but watching and warging.]] |
| 987 | * WeDoTheImpossible: "A Thousand Eyes And One" is not really that far-fetched when you have the medieval-equivalent to CCTV at your disposition. The way he was able to employ it so effectively bordered on the absurd, however. |
| 988 | * WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Bloodraven disappeared beyond the wall for half a century before the events of ASOIAF; [[spoiler:it's known to the reader that he became the Three Eyed Crow, but the rationale behind his decision hasn't been revealed; also, no other person than Bran Stark and Meera and Jojen Reed know that he's alive, so to the rest of the world, he simply disappeared.]] |
| 989 | * WhatTheHellHero: Personally invited Aenys Blackfyre to stake his claim to the Great Council, [[spoiler:only to have him captured and executed as soon as he touched ground]]. This was especially heinous, as Aenys' claim meant a banner of peace even if he wasn't chosen. Having been elected, Aegon V's first order of business was to give Bloodraven an ultimatum: execution, or the Night's Watch. |
| 990 | * WhiteSheep: Remained loyal to the family, unlike his half-brothers Bittersteel and Daemon Blackfyre. His personal coat of arms was an albino dragon on a black field. In fact, he was so trusted by Daeron that he was allowed to wield Dark Sister, the sword usually given to the most dangerous and loyal Targaryen, in spite of being a Great Bastard with a bad reputation. |
| 991 | * WouldHurtAChild: Killed his nephews Aegon and Aemon Blackfyre who were both just 12 years old. |
| 992 | [[/folder]] |
| 993 | |
| 994 | [[folder:Shiera Seastar]] |
| 995 | !!Shiera Seastar |
| 996 | [[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/sheria_seastar.jpg]] |
| 997 | ->''"Bittersteel and Bloodraven both loved Shiera Seastar, and [[LoveRuinsTheRealm the Seven Kingdoms bled]]."'' |
| 998 | -->-- '''Ser Barristan Selmy''' |
| 999 | |
| 1000 | The youngest of Aegon IV's "Great Bastards", her mother being Lady Serenei of Lys, Aegon's ninth and last mistress. She was considered to be the most beautiful woman of her time and [[TheBeautifulElite one of the most beautiful women that have ever lived]], to such a degree that she was rumored to have been a sorceress. |
| 1001 | ---- |
| 1002 | * AllGirlsWantBadBoys: While Aegor Rivers was the sturdier warrior and arguably fit the Westerosi male beauty standard most, Shiera evidently preferred Brynden's sexy sorcerous charms. The two were practically a [[NinjaPirateZombieRobot Valyrian-gothic-bastard-power-couple]] and they may have practiced dark magic together. |
| 1003 | * AlliterativeName: ''S''hiera ''S''eastar. |
| 1004 | * BloodBath: She was said to have bathed in blood to retain her beauty. |
| 1005 | * BrotherSisterIncest: The most lasting relationship of her life was with her half-brother Brynden "Bloodraven" Rivers. |
| 1006 | * {{Bookworm}}: By reputation, she was one of the most well-read of her generation... on certain topics, at least. |
| 1007 | * CunningLinguist: More than most Targaryens. Which says something. |
| 1008 | * IconicOutfit: She possessed a famous silver necklace, alternating sapphires and emeralds to match her unusual eyes. |
| 1009 | * RepetitiveName: Shiera Seastar, with "Shiera" also meaning "star of the sea". |
| 1010 | * TheTease: Bloodraven was the love of her life, and she shared her bed with him more than any other man. This didn't stop her from sleeping around, though, because she thought Bloodraven was cutest when he was jealous. |
| 1011 | * TheUglyGuysHotDaughter: King Aegon IV was fat, bloated and repulsive while his bastard daughter Shiera was a drop-dead gorgeous Lyseni-Valyrian beauty. |
| 1012 | * VainSorceress: Rumored to be one, like her mother. |
| 1013 | * TheVamp: Well, her appealing to a wide range of men did trigger a few issues, yes. |
| 1014 | * WhatBeautifulEyes: Shiera had one blue eye and one green eye, but they were said to make her more lovely, not less. She even wore a sapphire-and-emerald necklace to further bring them out. |
| 1015 | * WhatHappenedToTheMouse: We still have no clue about what happened to her. [[spoiler:And considering Bloodraven is (sort of) alive and well still, that's quite an important consideration.]] |
| 1016 | * WorldsMostBeautifulWoman: She was considered the most beautiful woman of her time. |
| 1017 | [[/folder]] |
| 1018 | |
| 1019 | !!!Other Bastards |
| 1020 | |
| 1021 | [[folder:Mya and Gwenys Rivers]] |
| 1022 | !!Mya and Gwenys Rivers |
| 1023 | The two eldest bastard daughters of Aegon IV and Melissa Blackwood. They were the older sisters of Bloodraven, not usually included within the Great Bastards. |
| 1024 | ->See the [[Characters/ASongOfIceAndFireHouseBlackwood House Blackwood page]] |
| 1025 | [[/folder]] |
| 1026 | |
| 1027 | [[folder:Alysanne, Lily, Willow and Rosey]] |
| 1028 | !!Alysanne, Lily, Willow and Rosey |
| 1029 | The four bastard daughters of Aegon IV and his second mistress Megette. |
| 1030 | ->See [[Characters/ASongOfIceAndFireTheFaithOfTheSeven The Faith of the Seven page]] |
| 1031 | [[/folder]] |
| 1032 | |
| 1033 | [[folder:Bellenora, Narha and Balerion Otherys]] |
| 1034 | !!Bellenora, Narha and Balerion Otherys |
| 1035 | The three purported bastard children of Aegon IV and Bellegere Otherys. |
| 1036 | ->See the [[Characters/ASongOfIceAndFireEssosTheFreeCitiesBraavos Braavos page]] |
| 1037 | [[/folder]] |
| 1038 | |
| 1039 | !!Court of Daeron II |
| 1040 | ->See the [[Characters/ASongOfIceAndFireCourtOfDaeronII Court of Daeron II]] page |
| 1041 | |
| 1042 | !!Court of Aerys I |
| 1043 | |
| 1044 | [[folder:Aerys I]] |
| 1045 | !!King Aerys Targaryen, the First of His Name; r. 209-221 |
| 1046 | ->"His Grace cares more for old scrolls and dusty prophecies than for lords and laws. He will not even bestir himself to sire an heir. Queen Aelinor prays daily at the Great Sept, beseeching the Mother Above to bless her with a child, yet she remains a maid. Aerys keeps his own apartments, and it is said he would sooner take a book to bed than any woman." |
| 1047 | -->-- '''Septon Sefton Staunton''' |
| 1048 | |
| 1049 | Second son of Daeron II and Mariah Martell. Was married to his cousin Aelinor Penrose, but died without issue. The monarchy reached a new low under his reign, as he was rather unconcerned about reigning and did not produce issue. He wore the crown of his grandfather Aegon IV. |
| 1050 | ---- |
| 1051 | %%* ArrangedMarriage: To Lady Aelinor Penrose. |
| 1052 | * {{Bookworm}}: He devoted himself to the study of books and scrolls and left the actual ruling of the kingdom to his uncle, Brynden Rivers. |
| 1053 | * TheFarmerAndTheViper: After Bittersteel was captured in the Third Blackfyre Rebellion and brought in chains to the Red Keep, Aerys I (against the advice of Bloodraven) ordered to have him sent to the Wall. The ship was captured and Bittersteel escaped to plan further rebellions, spitting on his mercy. Downplayed to an extent, of course, because Bittersteel only managed one more rebellion and it was over in a single battle. |
| 1054 | * TheGhost: Aerys is king by the time of "The Mystery Knight" but it is Bloodraven who does the heavy lifting. |
| 1055 | * NonActionGuy: Like his father. Still, his short reign saw two of the Blackfyre Rebellions. |
| 1056 | * PassedOverPromotion: Aerys should have been made Prince of Summerhall as the king's second son. It was instead given to his younger brother Maekar. To spite him (or so it is said), Aerys made their uncle Bloodraven his Hand of the King. |
| 1057 | * PuppetKing: Aerys may have have worn the crown and sat the Iron Throne, but Brynden “Bloodraven” Rivers was the true ruler of Westeros during his reign. In a slight subversion, he was quite content with this arrangement, as he preferred his scholarly pursuits over ruling the realm. |
| 1058 | * SexlessMarriage: Deconstructed since he was supposed to produce heirs to the throne as part of his royal duties, only for him to shun his bride for his scholarly research. It caused a great deal of criticism directed his way. |
| 1059 | * SmallRoleBigImpact: [[spoiler: Aerys discovered the prophecy of The Prince who was Promised which hoped to restore the Targaryens to true greatness.]] |
| 1060 | * TheSmartGuy: Though perhaps TooCleverByHalf considering he cared for little else but knowledge. This was also the main reason he made Bloodraven his Hand, since they had similar interests in magic. |
| 1061 | * UnexpectedSuccessor: He was the second son but became king after the premature deaths of his older brother and nephews. |
| 1062 | * UnfitForGreatness: He was a great scholar but devoted more effort to his scholarly pursuits than to ruling his kingdom. Aerys should have refused the crown if he cared so little for its duties. |
| 1063 | %%* WizardBeard: Had a long pointed beard. |
| 1064 | [[/folder]] |
| 1065 | |
| 1066 | !!Court of Maekar I |
| 1067 | ->See the [[Characters/ASongOfIceAndFireCourtOfMaekarI Court of Maekar I]] page. |
| 1068 | |
| 1069 | !!Court of Aegon V |
| 1070 | |
| 1071 | [[folder:Aegon V]] |
| 1072 | !!King Aegon Targaryen, the Fifth of His Name; r. 233-259 |
| 1073 | !!!Egg, The Unlikely, The Fortunate |
| 1074 | [[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/13a0964b4521720e8b3db310a1c6688e.png]] |
| 1075 | |
| 1076 | ->''"Someday the dragons will return. My brother Daeron's dreamed of it, and King Aerys read it in a prophecy. Maybe it will be my egg that hatches. That would be splendid."'' |
| 1077 | |
| 1078 | Fifth child and youngest son of Maekar I and Dyanna Dayne. Was married to Betha Blackwood, with whom he had five children: Duncan, Jaehaerys II, Shaera, Daeron and Rhaelle. Deceased by the time of Robert's Rebellion, Aegon was called "the Unlikely", as he was the [[SpareToTheThrone fourth son of a fourth son]] and absolutely ''no one'' ever expected the throne to ever come to him. A wise and well-loved ruler, he eventually died at the [[NoodleIncident "Tragedy at Summerhall,"]] on the same day his granddaughter Rhaella gave birth to a son named Rhaegar; his best friend, Lord Commander Duncan the Tall of the Kingsguard, and his oldest son Duncan (called "the Small" to differentiate him from his namesake) perished along with him. His daughter Rhaelle wed [[Characters/ASongOfIceAndFireHouseBaratheon Ormund Baratheon]], which later provided her grandson Robert's claim to legitimacy after he won The War of the Usurper. He wore the crown of Aegon III. |
| 1079 | |
| 1080 | Of course, readers of the prequels know King Aegon by another name: Egg, one of the main characters of the ''Literature/TalesOfDunkAndEgg''. Taking place about eighty years before the main series, these prequels cover the adventures of a seven-foot-tall hedge knight named Duncan who is persuaded to take on a bald kid named Egg as his squire. After discovering that Dunk was a genuine KnightInShiningArmor, Egg's father Maekar formally apprenticed him to Dunk as his squire, and the two began WalkingTheEarth. |
| 1081 | ---- |
| 1082 | * AllThereInTheManual: Much of what we know of his adult life and reign comes from ''[[Literature/TheWorldOfIceAndFire The World of Ice & Fire]]''. |
| 1083 | * ArrangedMarriage: To his sister Daella in their childhood. Ultimately averted, as he eventually married Betha Blackwood, with whom he was in love. |
| 1084 | * BirthDeathJuxtaposition: He died in the Great Fire of Summerhall, the same time and place where his great-grandson Rhaegar was born. |
| 1085 | * BrainsAndBrawn: Broadly his relationship with Dunk, wherein Dunk was street smart whereas Egg started out as a book-smart, sheltered prince (although further subverted in that Duncan was surprisingly naive, and Aegon already had some familiarity with court politics). |
| 1086 | * CoolCrown: {{Averted}}. As he was a ModestRoyalty, he refused to wear his father's warlike crown or his grandfather's huge red gold one, but settled for Aegon III's slender gold band instead. |
| 1087 | * DarkhorseVictory: Sort of. He was given the crown by a council that passed over both his niece Vaella (the feeble-witted daughter of the late Prince Daeron) and his infant nephew Maegor (the son of the insane and also late Prince Aerion) and wanted to crown his brother Aemon, who refused the crown due to taking their Maester's vows seriously. |
| 1088 | * DoomedByCanon: He, Dunk and one of his sons die in the Tragedy of Summerhall. |
| 1089 | * GenerationXerox: Daenerys is usually compared to Aegon I. And, not without cause: she is a conqueror who has three dragons and who rides the Black Dread of the current day. However, her instincts to help the downtrodden and save slaves by imposing reform, damn what the nobility say? In this, she takes more after Aegon V -- albeit, an Egg who successfully hatched dragons. |
| 1090 | ** The [[spoiler: would-be-King Aegon VI's]] whole story arc is one enormously deliberate invocation of the life of Prince Egg, including a baseborn knight called "Duck" -- just add an N. [[spoiler: How close he'll actually be remains to be seen: already there are doubts.]] |
| 1091 | * TheGoodKing: And this. Although without what Bloodraven did when he was a lad, he could have been up to his knees in Blackfyres instead of focusing on running the kingdom. |
| 1092 | * GoodOldWays: Tried to change this, but failed. |
| 1093 | * HeroOfAnotherStory: We've got a few windows into it. But only a few. |
| 1094 | * InnocentlyInsensitive: In the Sworn Sword, he tells Dunk that his father taught him that all bastards are untrustworthy by nature. Dunk then explains to him that he (Dunk) is most likely a bastard, which makes him reconsider his prejudice. |
| 1095 | * InternalReformist: He tried to be this for the Iron Throne and the Targaryen Dynasty. His actions, which favored the smallfolk by eroding the privileges of the nobility, earned him hostility and indeed [[AristocratsAreEvil Tywin Lannister]] made his reputation by completely removing all his reforms as Hand of the King. |
| 1096 | * KindheartedCatLover: Was fond of his cat but Aerion threw it down a well. |
| 1097 | * KingIncognito: Though was this long before he became King. He shaved his head to hide his signature Targaryen blondness. |
| 1098 | * LikeFatherLikeSon: Egg, the fourth son of King Maekar, fourth son of King Daeron II, had pretty much the same problems his father had: being a strong willed patriarch of an unmanageable brood of determined kids who defy their Dad's wishes and have a series of wildly different personalities. |
| 1099 | * LostHimInACardGame: Egg's eldest brother, Daeron, known as Daeron the Drunk, once took him to a tavern and completely misplaced him. This is how he first stumbled across Dunk. |
| 1100 | * LoveRuinsTheRealm: According to Ser Barristan Selmy (who was [[OldMaster around at the time]]), Egg married for love, and all three of his sons did the same. Duncan, Prince of Dragonflies, actually abdicated his status as heir to the throne to wed a commoner, Jenny of Oldstones. Unfortunately, the match Duncan spurned was one with the daughter of Lyonel "the Laughing Storm" Baratheon, who took this as a personal insult and rebelled against Aegon (although the two eventually reconciled). Fallout from this also supposedly led directly to the Tragedy at Summerhall. As per ''Literature/TheWorldOfIceAndFire'', Aegon V and his wife Betha Blackwood wanted to end the Targaryen dynastic incest and become [[GoingNative fully Westerosi]], while making major reforms to improve the lives of the smallfolk. To conciliate some of the high lords for taking their privileges away, Aegon V and his wife planned on marrying their older children to members of powerful Houses, which said children quickly abrogated by falling in love (one of his sons being gay) and refusing the arranged matches. He was too much of a softie to go full-Tywin on them. |
| 1101 | * MassiveNumberedSiblings: His children with Betha Blackwood: Duncan, Jaehaerys II, Shaera, Daeron and Rhaelle. |
| 1102 | * ModestRoyalty: His adventures with Dunk made many people scoff about him being "more than half a peasant". As a King, he tried to make several reforms to improve the lives of smallfolk, whose living conditions he had seen first hand. |
| 1103 | * MoralityPet: From what it's seen in ''[[Literature/TalesOfDunkAndEgg The Mystery Knight]], [[TheDreaded Bloodraven]], of all people, seemed to have been fond of that bright grandnephew of his. [[spoiler: So much that one could wonder if he didn't actually clear the way for him to the throne...]] |
| 1104 | * NiceJobBreakingItHero: Much like many other characters in the series, he tried to be a good man ''and'' a good ruler and found it harder than expected. |
| 1105 | ** He made several reforms to improve the lives of the smallfolk, which earned him the enmity of the highborn. The ArrangedMarriage contracts for his children he planned with his wife to counter the opposition backfired when his sons and older daughter decided to follow their parents' example and marry for love (or in the case of his son Daeron, who was gay, remaining unmarried in favor of his "friendship" with a knight with whom he died in battle). He got even more frustrated when his son Jaehaerys II and daughter Shaera proved more conservative than him in reviving dynastic incest, which he had wanted to put an end to. |
| 1106 | ** His obsession with trying to revive dragons led to the Tragedy of Summerhall, his death and those of Ser Duncan the Tall and his own son Duncan. The marriage between his daughter Rhaelle and Ormund Baratheon eventually led to Robert Baratheon deriving his claim to the Throne from his descent from Aegon. Tywin Lannister made his reputation by removing many of his reforms. |
| 1107 | * NoHistoricalFiguresWereHarmed: He resembles, in many aspects, Louis XVI. Both are intelligent young boys, who become king unexpectedly (Louis when his older brother died at a young age, Aegon when... a lot of his family died under various circumstances). Both attempt to reform archaic institutions, losing the support of the nobility, which sets off a chain of events that led to their deaths and, the fall of their dynasty and likely, [[spoiler:the end of the monarchy in their country]] (although Aegon at least did not live to see it). |
| 1108 | * NoodleIncident: What exactly went down at Summerhall that resulted in a massive, out-of-control blaze and claimed the lives of Aegon V, his eldest son, Duncan the Tall and many others. According to [[ConvenientlyInterruptedDocument an ink-splattered letter by Maester Corso]], it involved seven dragon eggs to honor the seven gods, multiple pyromancers, wildfire, and sorcery. |
| 1109 | * NotSoAboveItAll: In spite of his scorn towards the incestuous tendencies of his family later in his life, he did court his own sisters when he was young, admitting so much to Dunk. The towering knight does find weird how the boy talks about it as if it were second-nature to him, but he brushes it off because Targaryens are "special". This indicates that his grandfather King Daeron II, and his father Maekar were not so disinclined against incest in spite of their marriages to Dornish women. Having become king himself and denouncing incest, Aegon V was dismayed at his son Jaehaerys' return to the practice. |
| 1110 | * OlderThanTheyLook: Maester Aemon points out that despite being a husband and father at the time of his accession, Aegon seemed more boyish and youthful than his years. Granted, he came to the throne at 33 which, even by Westerosi standards, is still relatively young. Still, Aegon's need to "kill the boy so the man could rule" was a major part of his arc. |
| 1111 | * OpenMouthInsertFoot: His sassy tongue more than once gets him and Dunk in trouble. Leading to Dunk's frequent threat to cloat him on the ear. |
| 1112 | * OutlivingOnesOffspring: His youngest son Daeron predeceased him, being killed in battle years before Aegon's own demise. |
| 1113 | * PragmaticVillainy: Failed to convince the nobles of the realm to do this. (Treating the peasantry better than absolute crap, even if said improvement would still be relatively slight, pushing for better working conditions and trying for improved social safety nets with accountability ''could'' have led to much less trouble and revolt down the line... and, say, a more robust economy maybe capable of surviving, say, a meddling Littlefinger or an overdue long winter.) |
| 1114 | ** At a personal level, he refused to strong-arm his children into accepting the arranged marriages he had planned for them. If those marriages had went ahead, it is likely that Egg would not have become desperate enough to think about reviving dragons to push through his reforms. |
| 1115 | * RashomonStyle: The Tragedy of Summerhall was either caused by his disastrous attempt at hatching dragons or a sabotage by those resentful at Aegon allowing his son to marry a common girl. |
| 1116 | * RoyalsWhoActuallyDoSomething: Or, you know, try. ''Hard''. For a lot of his adventures, being a kid can be [[NotNowKiddo rather the roadblock]] to the instinct to Do Something, being a Targaryen notwithstanding. Particularly when being set against other, older Targaryens. [[spoiler:Or, you know, Blackfyres.]] |
| 1117 | * ShootTheShaggyDog: How his life story seems to have played out in ''[[Literature/TheWorldOfIceAndFire The World of Ice & Fire]]''. His youthful adventures with Dunk showed him first hand what the lives of the smallfolk were actually like, and as a King he sought to relieve their plight by making reforms. The chief obstacle for those reforms were his own children, whose headstrong willfulness (which they inherited from both him and their mother) he couldn't control or stifle, leading him to dream of bringing back the dragons, which in turn led to the Tragedy of Summerhall and the beginning of the end of the Targaryen dynasty. In the end, Tywin Lannister reversed all his reforms, later rulers don't even bother ameliorating the lives of smallfolk and the dragons he wanted to bring back carry more ominous threats than ever. |
| 1118 | * TheSquire: To Dunk. |
| 1119 | * SpareToTheThrone: And then some. When he was born his grandfather Daeron II still sat the Iron Throne, with ''twelve other spares'' ready to step up to it. The years 209-233 AC were not good to House Targaryen. |
| 1120 | * TagalongKid: Being Dunk's squire, they formed a BadassAndChildDuo. |
| 1121 | * ThirteenIsUnlucky: Played with. Egg was thirteenth in line for the throne, but he himself seems to have been the last popular Targaryen ruler. So on the one hand, the Seven Kingdoms loved having him on the throne; but on the other, his rule was the sole HopeSpot in a century that ended with the War of TheUsurper, the [[CivilWar War of Five Kings]], and, eventually, [[spoiler:the return of the Others]]. There's also the fact that his life ended with the Tragedy at Summerhall, strongly hinted to be an attempt to hatch dragon eggs GoneHorriblyWrong. |
| 1122 | * TragicHero: Egg came into the throne determined to make life better for the poor and oppressed but his idealism was crushed by real world politics. The Summerhall tragedy besmirched his name and he is now remembered as another mad Targaryen who got himself and others killed when he tried hatching dragon eggs. |
| 1123 | * TroublingUnchildlikeBehavior: It's understandable as Aerion is a bastard, but to scream for a stranger to kill him is still creepy. |
| 1124 | * UndyingLoyalty: To Dunk and his Father. Routinely defends Maekar which occasionally gets him into fights. He also refuses to be anyone but Dunk's squire and is almost always by his side. He later names his first son Duncan. |
| 1125 | * UnexpectedSuccessor: It's even in his nickname. Being the fourth son of a fourth son of a king, an awful lot of his relatives have to die for him to become the king. |
| 1126 | * WellIntentionedExtremist: Unlike other Targaryens, who wanted to return dragons to regain glory, adventure or power, Egg wanted to bring back the dragons so he can have more leg-room to radically alter the Seven Kingdoms society in favor of the smallfolk. It led to the Tragedy of Summerhall. |
| 1127 | * TheWisePrince: He had his faults, but evens out as this. Particularly when compared to what his brothers could have done in similar circumstances. Well, two of them, at least. |
| 1128 | [[/folder]] |
| 1129 | |
| 1130 | [[folder:Prince Duncan Targaryen]] |
| 1131 | !!Prince Duncan Targaryen |
| 1132 | !!!The Prince of Dragonflies, The Small |
| 1133 | [[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/duncan_targaryen_woiaf_1144.jpg]] |
| 1134 | ->''"The Prince of Dragonflies loved Jenny of Oldstones so much he cast aside a crown, and Westeros paid the price in corpses.'' |
| 1135 | -->-- '''Ser Barristan Selmy''' |
| 1136 | |
| 1137 | The eldest child of Aegon V and Betha Blackwood, named after Ser Duncan the Tall. Married Jenny of Oldstones. Died during the Tragedy at Summerhall along with his father and his namesake Ser Duncan. |
| 1138 | ---- |
| 1139 | * AbdicateTheThrone: Despite being crown prince, Duncan so loved Jenny of Oldstones that he chose her over the realm. King Aegon thereafter styled him "Prince of Dragonflies" so that he could show up at the Red Keep and not look like a ''complete'' beggar. |
| 1140 | * AllThereInTheManual: Some of the information about him (his original betrothal, for instance) comes from ''[[Literature/TheWorldOfIceAndFire The World of Ice & Fire]]''. |
| 1141 | * ArrangedMarriage: Duncan was originally betrothed to a daughter of Lyonel Baratheon. However, he refused that match to marry Jenny of Oldstones, a commoner, instead. |
| 1142 | * DisasterDominoes: The history of Westeros would have been totally different had Prince Duncan kept his marriage vow. His brother Jaehaerys would not have been King, would perhaps have not followed his brother and choose to follow his heart, MarryForLove and revive Targaryen incest, as a result of which Aerys and Rhaegar would not have been born. |
| 1143 | * GenerationXerox: He seems to have taken after his father quite a bit, which brought them both much sorrow as both proved to be rather strong-willed. He's also named after his dad's HeterosexualLifePartner. |
| 1144 | * InSeriesNickname: "The Prince of Dragonflies", "Duncan the Small" (to contrast with Ser Duncan the Tall). |
| 1145 | * InterClassRomance: To the point he gave up the crown for Jenny. |
| 1146 | * LoveRuinsTheRealm: Ser Barristan mentions that when someone in his position marries for love rather than duty, it often brings about misery to the realm. The Prince of Dragonflies was just one example among many from the old knight's perspective. |
| 1147 | * MarryForLove: Like his father, much to Aegon's own sorrow. |
| 1148 | * ModestRoyalty: So modest he fell in love with a commonborn girl and abandoned his claim to the throne to marry her. |
| 1149 | * NearAndDearBabyNaming: He was named after his father's best friend, Ser Duncan the Tall. |
| 1150 | * NiceGuy: He was the only one gracious enough to accept kid Barristan's challenge at a tourney, even though Barristan was not even a knight & quite obviously not even in the same league, skill & experience wise. Even after unhorsing kid Barristan, Prince Duncan did not laugh at him but helped him to his feet & nicknamed him "The Bold". |
| 1151 | * TheNicknamer: The reason why Barristan became "the Bold". |
| 1152 | * NoHistoricalFiguresWereHarmed: To Edward VIII of Britain, who abdicated the throne because he wanted to marry a divorced woman. |
| 1153 | * OddNameOut: Is the only Targaryen without a Valyrian name, having been named after the commonborn Ser Duncan the Tall. |
| 1154 | * RebelPrince: He inherited the willfulness of both his parents, and chose to give up his claim to marry a commoner (which also makes him something of a gender-flipped RebelliousPrincess.) |
| 1155 | * StarCrossedLovers: With Jenny of Oldstones. |
| 1156 | * UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: As a direct consequence of Duncan [[AbdicateTheThrone giving up his claim to the throne]]: |
| 1157 | ** Jaehaerys II became the royal heir and his sister Rhaelle married a Baratheon Lord in compensation for a Rebellion sparked by Duncan breaking the engagement. Jaehaerys also cited Duncan's love marriage as justification for marrying his sister whom he was in love with. This essentially led to the Baratheons getting a claim for the Iron Throne (as a result of Rhaelle's marriage) and Jaehaerys II fathering Aerys who became the Mad King. |
| 1158 | ** Duncan's MarryForLove and rebellious attitude urged his siblings to FollowTheLeader and break their engagements as well. This led to their father, King Aegon V, to dream of bringing the dragons back, leading to the Tragedy of Summerhall, which Ser Barristan claims resulted from Duncan and Jenny's romance. |
| 1159 | [[/folder]] |
| 1160 | |
| 1161 | [[folder:Prince Daeron Targaryen]] |
| 1162 | !!Prince Daeron Targaryen |
| 1163 | [[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/f3e20b4060b2a64c7170c924c563bbb1.png]] |
| 1164 | |
| 1165 | The third son of Aegon V and Betha Blackwood. Rejected the betrothal his parents had arranged for him, remaining unmarried and leaving no issue. He was killed in battle against the Rat, the Hawk and the Pig in 251 AC. |
| 1166 | ---- |
| 1167 | * AllThereInTheManual: Practically everything we know about him (including his own ''name'') comes from ''[[Literature/TheWorldOfIceAndFire The World of Ice & Fire]]''. |
| 1168 | * AmbiguouslyGay: Rejected a betrothal, showed no interest in women and was constantly in the company of Ser Jeremy Norridge, with whom he had been a squire at Highgarden. |
| 1169 | * ArrangedMarriage: Betrothed to Olenna Redwyne, today called "the Queen of Thorns." He rejected the match, however. |
| 1170 | * BitCharacter: Briefly touched upon in ''[[Literature/TheWorldOfIceAndFire The World of Ice & Fire]]''. |
| 1171 | * BloodKnight: He rejoiced in tournaments and battles. |
| 1172 | * DeadGuyJunior: Likely named after his uncle Daeron the Drunken, his great-grandfather Daeron the Good, Daeron the Daring or even King Daeron, The Young Dragon. |
| 1173 | * IncompatibleOrientation: Despite being betrothed to the beautiful and rich Olenna Redwyne for an arranged marriage, he wasn't interested in her and asked his father to cancel it. If the rumors are true, it wasn't just her he wasn't interested in. |
| 1174 | * RebelPrince: Rejected his betrothed, just like his other siblings. Unlike his siblings, it wasn't because he wanted to marry for love (though love [[AmbiguouslyGay may have been a factor.]]) |
| 1175 | * TogetherInDeath: Died in battle alongside his "close personal friend" Ser Jeremy Norridge. |
| 1176 | * WarriorPrince: A prince who was also a badass fighter. |
| 1177 | [[/folder]] |
| 1178 | |
| 1179 | [[folder:Princess Rhaelle Targaryen]] |
| 1180 | !!Princess Rhaelle Targaryen |
| 1181 | |
| 1182 | ->''"Tell me, what right did my brother Robert ever have to the Iron Throne? Oh, there was talk of the blood ties between Baratheon and Targaryen, of weddings a hundred years past, of second sons and elder daughters. No one but the maesters care about any of it."'' |
| 1183 | -->--'''Renly Baratheon''' |
| 1184 | |
| 1185 | Princess Rhaelle Targaryen was the youngest child of King Aegon V Targaryen and Queen Betha Blackwood. She was married to Lord Ormund Baratheon of Storm's End. |
| 1186 | ---- |
| 1187 | * AffectionateNickname: While reminiscing on his deathbed, Maester Aemon recalls that his niece used to call him "Uncle Maester" when she was a little girl. |
| 1188 | * AltarDiplomacy: She was married to the Baratheon heir after her brother Duncan broke off his engagement. |
| 1189 | * ArrangedMarriage: To Ormund Baratheon. |
| 1190 | * TheDutifulDaughter: The only one of her siblings to marry who she was actually betrothed to. |
| 1191 | * FamousAncestor: The current Baratheon trace their royal line to her, and Robert Baratheon's claim to the crown was legally justified by the fact that she was his grandmother. |
| 1192 | * LadyInWaiting: Initially to Lady Baratheon. |
| 1193 | * UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: Her marriage made her grandmother to the three Baratheon boys (contrary to Renly's claim of "hundred years past" it was around three and a half decades before he was born) which made them cousins of the Targaryens. This gave them a claim to the Crown that allowed Robert to claim it decades later. |
| 1194 | [[/folder]] |
| 1195 | |
| 1196 | !!Court of Jaehaerys II |
| 1197 | |
| 1198 | [[folder:Jaehaerys II]] |
| 1199 | !!King Jaehaerys Targaryen, the Second of His Name. r. 259-262 |
| 1200 | [[quoteright:300:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/c9bbc36233c496025913a7c900baf803.jpg]] |
| 1201 | |
| 1202 | ->''"King Jaehaerys once told me that madness and greatness were two sides of the same coin. Every time a new Targaryen was born, the gods toss the coin in the air and the world holds its breath to see how it will land."'' |
| 1203 | -->--'''Ser Barristan Selmy''' |
| 1204 | |
| 1205 | Second child of Aegon V and Betha Blackwood. Married his sister Shaera, with whom he had two children, Aerys II (the Mad King) and Rhaella. His short, three-year reign was hardly remarkable, save for the War of the Ninepenny Kings, which bore witness to the end of House Blackfyre when Ser Barristan Selmy slew Maelys the Monstrous. He wore his grandfather Maekar's crown. |
| 1206 | ---- |
| 1207 | * ArrangedMarriage: Was betrothed to Celia Tully, but refused the match to marry his sister Shaera. |
| 1208 | * BecauseDestinySaysSo: He and his siblings married for love, but he arranged the marriage of his children Aerys and Rhaella because the prophecy of [[TheChosenOne The Prince That Was Promised]] would be born of their line. |
| 1209 | * BrotherSisterIncest: He and his sister Shaera had been in love since their childhood and married in secret against their parents' wishes. |
| 1210 | * DisappointedInYou: Aegon V was not too pleased that Jaehaerys II was far more conservative than him, marrying his sister despite his intentions to end dynastic incest, and then forcing Aerys and Rhaella to marry as well. He was stated to have been quite frustrated over this turn of events. |
| 1211 | * EveryoneHasStandards: Barristan is frustrated at King Hizdahr's indecision when dealing with Groleo's death and notes Jaehaerys (remembered for being weak) would have ordered the arrest of Groleo's murderers. |
| 1212 | * TheGoodKing: Subverted; he tried to be this, but he lacked his dad's strength of will. Ser Barristan at least remembers him as ruling fairly well in his short reign, and that he rose to the occasion during the War of the Ninepenny Kings. In other words, he wasn't a bad king, but he wasn't an exceptional one either. |
| 1213 | * HistoryRepeats: Eloped with his sister so they could escape having to marry other people, just like the first Jaehaerys. |
| 1214 | * {{Hypocrite}}: He got married for love, albeit to his own sister, which his father (the first Targaryen to realize that incest is simply not worth it) discredited, but ordered his children Aerys and Rhaella to marry each other, despite neither loving the other. |
| 1215 | * IronicName: A weak and forgettable king who ruled for only 3 years, has the same name as arguably the most brilliant of the Targaryen kings who ruled for 55. |
| 1216 | * {{Irony}}: Jaehaerys' quote seems profound at first, then you realize that he was a Targaryen who was neither insane or brilliant and you have to wonder if he was lacking in self-awareness. He also chose to wear the crown of his grandfather Maekar Targaryen, a capable WarriorPrince who became King, despite lacking all of his martial prowess. |
| 1217 | * {{Jerkass}}: Despite normally being considered a nice guy, his biggest jerk moment was forcing Aerys and Rhaella to wed one another despite neither wanting it, all on account of some prophetic material he heard from a woods witch. |
| 1218 | * MarryForLove: As mentioned above, this was the case with him and his sister Shaera. |
| 1219 | * NiceGuy: While he was a weak king, and a bad father, he was at the very least a rather pleasant person to be around. |
| 1220 | * RebelPrince: Escaped his previous engagement to Celia Tully to MarryForLove. |
| 1221 | * UnexpectedSuccessor: He was the second son of his father, but succeeded to the throne after his elder brother renounced his rights. |
| 1222 | * UnwittingInstigatorOfDoom: He forced Aerys and Rhaella to marry, politely ignoring that they were more attracted to other people (Joanna Lannister for Aerys, Ser Bonifer Hasty for Rhaella) than to each other, and for that matter didn't like each other all that much. This forced marriage only fueled Aerys' abuse of Rhaella after his madness got even worse with time; as such, the family was decidedly fractured and were picked apart and nearly exterminated during Robert's Rebellion. |
| 1223 | [[/folder]] |
| 1224 | |
| 1225 | [[folder:Queen Shaera Targaryen]] |
| 1226 | !!Queen Shaera Targaryen |
| 1227 | |
| 1228 | Third child and older daughter of Aegon V and Betha Blackwood. Married her brother Jaehaerys II and had two children by him, Aerys II and Rhaella. |
| 1229 | ---- |
| 1230 | * AllThereInTheManual: Only mentioned in ''[[Literature/TheWorldOfIceAndFire The World of Ice & Fire]]''. |
| 1231 | * ArrangedMarriage: Was betrothed to Luthor Tyrell (who would end up marrying Olenna Redwyne, the "Queen of Thorns", originally betrothed to Shaera's brother Daeron), but ran away with Jaehaerys so that they could get married against their parents' wishes. |
| 1232 | * BrotherSisterIncest: Said to have been in love with Jaehaerys since childhood, despite Aegon and Betha's best efforts to separate them. The two eventually got married as mentioned above. |
| 1233 | * MarryForLove: Married her brother Jaehaerys despite being betrothed to another and their parents being against the relationship. |
| 1234 | * RebelliousPrincess: She shared the willfulness of both her parents. Because of this, she married her brother against their wishes. |
| 1235 | * WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Her eventual fate is unknown. We only know she was still alive when Jaehaerys became king from ''[[Literature/TheWorldOfIceAndFire The World of Ice & Fire]]''. She's not mentioned again past that point. |
| 1236 | [[/folder]] |
| 1237 | |
| 1238 | !!House Targaryen of Dragonstone |
| 1239 | The ancestors of Aegon the Conqueror; a Valyrian dynasty that had settled on the western colony of the Island of Dragonstone before the Doom of Valyria, they became the only remaining dragonlords after the Doom. |
| 1240 | |
| 1241 | Not much is known about the pre-Conquest Targaryens on Dragonstone, other than a brief family tree outlined in a single paragraph of ''The World of Ice and Fire''. In general, they spent the ensuing Century of Blood in isolation, slowly shepherding their strength until Aegon I's time. They actually brought five dragons with them from Valyria: one was Balerion, while the other four later died -- but they left behind eggs, from which hatched Meraxes and Vhagar. It's not stated ''how'' the unnamed four died, but it is also stated that the later fight between Balerion and Quicksilver during the reign of Maegor the Cruel was the first time dragon fought dragon since the Doom of Valyria, so these four didn't die fighting each other. |
| 1242 | |
| 1243 | Seven generations of Targaryens lived on Dragonstone, with Aenar being the first and Aegon I being the seventh: |
| 1244 | |
| 1245 | * 1 -- Aenar the Exile |
| 1246 | * 2 -- Daenys the Dreamer & Gaemon the Glorious -- brother/sister incest couple who ruled Dragonstone together |
| 1247 | * 3 -- Aegon & Elaena -- another brother-sister incest couple who co-ruled. Children of Daenys & Gaemon. The first Targaryen generation born on Dragonstone. This Aegon isn't included in the numbered count of Aegons because the Targaryens weren't kings of Westeros yet -- thus his descendant was known as "Aegon the First". |
| 1248 | * 4 -- Maegon, son of Aegon & Elaena. Succeeded by his younger brother Aerys (through undescribed circumstances). |
| 1249 | * 5 -- The three sons of Aerys (and an unnamed wife), all three of which ruled Dragonstone in turn: Aelyx, Baelon, and Daemion. |
| 1250 | * 6 -- Aerion -- son of Daemion and an unnamed wife from House Velaryon. His wife was Velaena Velaryon, herself half-Targaryen on her mother's side -- apparently an unnamed daughter of Aerys or Maegon? |
| 1251 | * 7 -- Aegon I, his older sister Visenya, and younger sister Rhaenys -- both sisters married Aegon I at the same time. All three were children of Aerion and Velaena. It was also strongly rumored Orys Baratheon was actually Aerion's bastard son, and Aegon I's half-brother. |
| 1252 | |
| 1253 | [[folder:Lord Aenar Targaryen]] |
| 1254 | !!Lord Aenar Targaryen |
| 1255 | !!!The Exile |
| 1256 | |
| 1257 | A dragonlord of the Valyrian Freehold who relocated the family to the backwater outpost of Dragonstone twelve year prior to the Doom of Valyria. He had two children, Gaemon and Daenys. |
| 1258 | ---- |
| 1259 | * TheExile: A self-imposed version, as he fled Valyria voluntarily. |
| 1260 | * ImpoverishedPatrician: After his daughter had a vision of the Doom, he had his family pack whatever they and their slaves could carry and move to Dragonstone, giving up their power and influence in Valyria. They figured he was a fool, right until the Doom happened. |
| 1261 | * OurFounder: While he might not be as remembered as his descendants, it's thanks to him they existed to conquer and change Westerosi history. |
| 1262 | * ThePatriarch: He was the first Targaryen to settle in Westeros, and the ancestor of the entire royal line. |
| 1263 | [[/folder]] |
| 1264 | |
| 1265 | [[folder:Lord Gaemon Targaryen]] |
| 1266 | !!Lord Gaemon Targaryen |
| 1267 | !!!The Glorious |
| 1268 | The son and eldest child of Aenar Targaryen. Married his sister Daenys, with whom he had two children, Aegon and Elaena. |
| 1269 | ---- |
| 1270 | * BrotherSisterIncest: With Daenys, per Valyrian custom. |
| 1271 | * TheExile: He fled Valyria alongside his father and the rest of his family. |
| 1272 | * TheMagnificent: The Glorious, although there's no explanation provided for the nickname. |
| 1273 | [[/folder]] |
| 1274 | |
| 1275 | [[folder:Lady Daenys Targaryen]] |
| 1276 | !!Lady Daenys Targaryen |
| 1277 | !!!The Dreamer |
| 1278 | The daughter and younger child of Aenar Targaryen. She married her brother Gaemon, and they had two children together, Aegon and Elaena. |
| 1279 | ---- |
| 1280 | * BrotherSisterIncest: With Gaemon, per Valyrian custom. |
| 1281 | * CassandraTruth: She foresaw the Doom and the destruction of Valyria around twelve years before they happened, but her warnings were dismissed as nonsense by the other dragonlords. Her relatives were the only ones to believe her, and thus were the only noble line to survive the Doom. |
| 1282 | * DreamingOfThingsToCome: She had visions of the Doom of Valyria twelve years before the event, prompting her father to relocate the whole family to the backwater outpost of Dragonstone. |
| 1283 | * TheExile: She fled Valyria alongside her father and the rest of her family. Her visions were what prompted the Targaryens' departure. |
| 1284 | * OracularUrchin: She saw the Doom of Valyria coming well in advance, allowing her family to save themselves by getting as far away as possible. |
| 1285 | * TomesOfProphecyAndFate: She collected her visions in a book called ''Signs and Portents''. It's long-lost by the present day, although one maester claims to have recovered three pages. |
| 1286 | * VirginPower: She had visions while a maiden. |
| 1287 | [[/folder]] |
| 1288 | |
| 1289 | [[folder:Lord Aerion Targaryen]] |
| 1290 | !!Lord Aerion Targaryen |
| 1291 | |
| 1292 | Son of Daemion (who was the grandson of Aegon and Elaena, Gaemon's and Daenys' children, by their son Aerys), and Lord of Dragonstone. Married to Valaena Velaryon, with whom he had three children, the future monarchs Visenya, Aegon I, and Rhaenys. Also had a bastard son, Orys Baratheon. |
| 1293 | ---- |
| 1294 | * DroitDuSeigneur: Him engaging in this practice resulted in the birth of Orys Baratheon |
| 1295 | * KissingCousins: Married Lady Valaena Velaryon, who was half-Targaryen on her mother's side. |
| 1296 | * OvershadowedByAwesome: When your three kids conquer most of a continent by themselves, you should be proud to count as a footnote in history. |
| 1297 | [[/folder]] |
| 1298 |
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