The Targaryens are one of the most powerful families in Westeros. They ruled over the land and Game of Thrones showed the legacy of their rule.
Game of Thrones tells the story of a nation in peril following the fall of House Targaryen — the most powerful dynasty in the history of George R.R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire series. The Targaryens had reigned over Westeros for hundreds of years — sometimes peacefully, but more commonly with copious bloodshed and political in-fighting. While many wanted them ousted from power for a long time, the Targaryens’ eventual absence didn’t help Westeros when it came to stifling the violent turmoil.
Whether the people of Westeros recognized it or not, the Game of Thrones audience did — the Targaryens are an irreplaceable and important staple to the world found in the series, most specifically the continent of Westeros. Over 8 Seasons of Game of Thrones, many Targaryes were introduced, each with an important role in their long dynasty.
Aerys II Targaryen Was the Mad King
Cause of Death: Murdered in the Red Keep by Jaime Lannister
Title: Lord of the Seven Kingdoms
Nickname: The Mad King
Aerys II Targaryen — the seventeenth Targaryen to sit on the Iron Throne — was the son of King Jaehaerys II Targaryen and Queen Shaera Targaryen. He was sworn in as Lord of the Seven Kingdoms in the year 262 AC — and the people of Westeros had no way of knowing what horrors their new king would instill upon them in the future. During the early years of his reign, Aerys was a fairly peaceful ruler — often being encouraged with nicknames such as “Aerys the Wise” or “Aerys the Great.” However, in 277 AC — when attempting to defy Lord Darklyn of Duskendale — Aerys and his men were attacked, and the king was taken prisoner.
Aerys was tortured by Darklyn for six months until Tywin Lannister — the acting Hand of the King — led an army to save his ruler. Following the torture, Aerys was never the same and quickly deteriorated into what the common folk referred to as The Mad King. Aerys was eventually responsible for the deaths of Eddard “Ned” Stark’s brothers Brandon and Rickard, which led to Robert’s Rebellion — one of the most pivotal moments in Westeros’ history. This is where Robert Baratheon and Ned Stark worked together to remove the Targaryens from power for good. Yet, it was a member of Aerys’ own Kingsguard, Jaime Lannister, who landed the killing blow. The events of Robert’s Rebellion are the immediate prologue to what viewers saw in Season 1 of Game of Thrones.
Rhaella Targaryen Was The Queen of Westeros
Born: 245-247 AC, King’s Landing
Died: 284 AC, Dragonstone
Cause of Death: Complications of childbirth
Title: Queen
Rhaella Targaryen isn’t discussed very often in Game of Thrones — and she never appears on-screen — but she’s still notable in the history that led to the HBO series. Not only was she the Queen of Westeros while being married to King Aerys II Targaryen, but she was also the mother of Rhaegar, Viserys, and Daenerys. Rhaella’s story is mostly a tragic one — being anchored down by The Mad King during his darkest days. It got so bad that the two rulers of the Seven Kingdoms would only have intercourse after Aerys had burned someone alive. Still, Rhaella became pregnant once again — though she rarely had time to enjoy her pregnancy.
Shortly after the death of her son, Prince Rhaegar Targaryen, during Robert’s Rebellion, Rhaella was evacuated to Dragonstone to avoid the sacking of King’s Landing. There, she crowned Viserys king, although Westeros’ Great Houses already recognized Robert Baratheon as the true King. This would later lead to Viserys’ illusions of grandeur during the first season of Game of Thrones. Nine months later, Rhaella gave birth to Daenerys Targaryen — one of the primary characters in Game of Thrones — before dying due to complications brought on by the birth.
Rhaegar Targaryen Started a War for Love
Born: 259 AC, Summerhall
Died: 283 AC, the Trident
Cause of Death: Killed in battle by Robert Baratheon
Title: Prince
Nickname: Silver Prince
Rhaegar Targaryen was said to be a kind, caring prince despite who his father was. These descriptions of him led many to doubt that he was evil enough to kidnap and assault the love of Robert Baratheon’s life, Lyanna Stark. Regardless, that’s exactly the picture of Rhaegar that the heroes of Game of Thrones painted to help justify Robert’s Rebellion — especially Robert himself, whose pride made him feel the need to lash out. Robert killed Rhaegar during the Battle of the Trident — but not before Rhaegar and Lyanna were married in a secret ceremony.
Sometime following Rhaegar’s demise, Lyanna gave birth to Rhaegar’s final remaining child — Aegon Targaryen, who Game of Thrones audiences were introduced to as Jon Snow. Ned Stark was present immediately following the birth, where he witnessed his sister Lyanna die — and where he promised to protect his enemy Rhaegar Targaryen’s son from his longtime friend and new king, Robert Baratheon.
Viserys Targaryen Was the King of Cowards
Born: 276 AC, King’s Landing
Died: 298 AC, Vaes Dothrak
Cause of Death: Murdered with molten gold by Khal Drogo
Title: Prince
Nickname: The Beggar King
Viserys Targaryen was a bratty, spoiled man who felt entitled to the Iron Throne solely because of his last name. He did have good reason to, however. Viserys’ family had ruled for centuries before his mother, Rhaella, made the poor decision to name him the new king following the death of his father, the Mad King Aerys Targaryen. With Robert Baratheon firmly seated on the Iron Throne following Robert’s Rebellion, Viserys had little more than a pipe dream to work off.
Viserys attempted to marry his sister Daenerys off to the Dothraki Khal Drogo in exchange for an army, but this decision ultimately resulted in Daenerys gaining more favor with the Khal than Viserys could have ever imagined. The Beggar King’s story was ultimately a comedy of errors, being way too far over his head in his political machinations to the point that it got him killed. After pushing Drogo’s buttons one too many times, Viserys got the gold crown he had desperately sought — in the form of molten gold poured over his head by the Dothraki Khal.
Daenerys Targaryen Was the Last of The Targaryens
Born: 281 AC, Dragonstone
Died: 305 AC, King’s Landing
Cause of Death: Murdered by Jon Snow (Aegon Targaryen)
Title: Queen of the Seven Kingdoms
Nickname: Mother of Dragons
Daenerys was the final child of the Mad King Aerys Targaryen, having been born on Dragonstone the year Aerys died. For most of her young life, she was forced to put up with her brother Viserys and his misguided belief that he’d one day become King of the Seven Kingdoms. After Viserys offered Daenerys to Khal Drogo in exchange for a Dothraki army, however, Daenerys rose in prominence as Drogo grew to care far more for her than the Beggar King himself. Following the deaths of both Viserys and Drogo, Daenerys and her three newly hatched dragons took control of the Dothraki army and went on a crusade across Westeros’ neighboring continent, Essos. After amassing an even larger army through the Unsullied, the Mother of Dragons set her sights on the Iron Throne — which she, like her brother before her, viewed as her birthright.
Daenerys forged an alliance with Jon Snow and helped Westeros defeat the White Walkers during the Battle of Winterfell — and in doing so, helped to save the entire world — but lost her longtime ally Jorah Mormont in the process. When Queen Regent Cersei Lannister had Daenerys’ other loyalist, Messendai, beheaded, she grew more paranoid by the day. Believing Jon Snow and her informant, Varys, to be turni
