Game Of Thrones: House Of The Dragon – The Targaryen bloodline

Aemon

Maester Aemon of the Night’s Watch was not a prominent character on the show, but was instead of a member of the Night’s Watch.

He was the oldest seen member of the Targaryen clan, and the uncle of Aerys II.

Due to their positions on the Night’s Watch together, he had a close bond with his great-nephew, Jon Snow, and advised him after

He died of old age in his bed at 104.

Aerys II

Aerys II has the unflattering nickname of the Mad King, after descending into madness and paranoia, which in the books is blamed on the centuries of inbreeding the Targaryen bloodline. 

He relied heavily on Tywin Lannister, who mostly ran the kingdom in Aerys’ place as he began to succumb to his madness.

His cruelty and erratic behaviour soon caused an uprising, with Robert Baratheon and Eddard Stark leading the battle where Baratheon usurped the throne. 

Aerys died in front of the Iron Throne he fought for at the hands of Jaime Lannister, who he had commanded to kill his family, burn down the city and all its residents rather than surrender his crown. 

He was married to his sister Rhaella and had three children – Rhaegar, Viserys and Daenerys. 

Rhaegar

Rhaegar was the last Prince of Dragonstone, and was rarely seen in the movies. 

He was remembered by his family and shown in the series to be kind-hearted but a fearless warrior, who was determined to reclaim the throne after his father was overthrown by the Baratheons. 

He was married to Elia Martell, and they had two children – Rhaenys and Aegon. 

But he secretly ran off and married Lyanna Stark, despite their previous betrothals and marriage, where they had a son. Lyanna died during childbirth.  

Rhaegar was killed by Robert Baratheon, who had usurped his Aerys’s throne during his time away with Lyanna, during an epic battle for the throne, causing the Targaryen army’s collapse. 

Viserys

Cruel and violent, Viserys felt he deserved the Iron Throne following the death of his father, and so sold Daenerys to the Dothaki leader Khal Drogo in exchange for use of his army to take bath the throne into the Targaryen name.

However, his impatience got the better of him and he got more demanding, even threatening his sister’s unborn child to get them to move quicker.

For his entitlement and stubbornness, Khal Drogo poured molten gold over his head, killing him in the process, but allowing him to die with the crown he craved.

Daenerys

Initially seeming timid and used by her brother to marry and acquire an army, Daenerys soon proved herself to be a fair and true leader of people.

Fighting build an army to overthrow King’s Landing and take the kingdom back for her family, told from birth the leadership was rightfully hers anyway, Dany created allies on her trip to the final battle, becoming renowned as the Mother of Dragons.

Unfortunately, as madness runs in the family, and her desire for power soon overruled her goodness and she burned an entire city to the ground after she’d earned power, as she didn’t feel as vindicated as she thought she would.

This ultimately caused her downfall, and realising that she would be an uncontrollable ruler, Jon killed her right in front of the throne she’d been fighting to get to.

Aegon (aka Jon Snow)

A last minute addition to the Targaryen name, it was revealed at the end of season seven that Rhaegar secretly married Lyanna Stark but she died in childbirth.

This actually meant the Iron Throne was his birthright.

This wasn’t discovered though until much later, and when he discovered it he declined the name anyway, seeing as he had given his word to stand by Daenerys (and also by that point he was sleeping with his aunt).

This is not currently canon in the books, although it’s a highly popular fan theory,and will likely not be touched upon in the new series.

Which Targaryen ancestors will we meet in House Of The Dragon?