In the article we will talk about the Targaryen house. This is the royal dynasty that we find in the works of George R. R. Martin and in the wonderful series Game of Thrones. We will examine in detail the history of the house, the motto of which is the words “Flame and Blood”, the family tree and other details that few people know about.
Start
Initially, the family lived in Valiria. Here she was one of the forty richest and most noble houses that fought for power. All the hungry authorities of the house owned dragons, and I must say that the Targaryen house was far from the most powerful. What was the beginning of the story for readers? The story of the Targaryen house begins with the fact that the daughter of Einar Targaryen, 12 years before the Rock of Valiria, saw a fall in flames. Denis persuaded his father to move, and he with his slaves, wives and all the riches moved to the Dragon Stone. It was the extreme western point of Valiria, the old fortress on the island, which was under a smoking mountain. Residents and rulers of Valiriya interpreted such an act as recognition of the weakness of the Targaryen house.
On Dragon Stone
Here the dynasty ruled for another long hundred years. This time was called the Bloody Age for a reason, because Einar was a cruel and even crazy ruler. Enrichment allowed location. The Targaryen and their allies lived very close to the Blackwater Gulf. Thanks to this, the Velarions and Targaryen collected huge requisitions from merchant ships that passed through the bay, and it was impossible to get around it. Two families from Valiria who were Einar's allies - the Velarions and the Seltigars - guarded the middle part of the strait, while the Targaryens controlled the situation from the sky, sitting on their dragons.
Family Tree of the Targaries
The brother and wife of Denis the Dreamwalker was Gaimon, who inherited Einar and became known as Gaimon the Glorious. The couple had two children: son Eigon and daughter Elaine, who ruled together after the death of his father. After that, power passed to the son of Elaine Meigon, his brother Ayris. Further, the throne was taken by the sons of Airis - Beylon, Damon and Eiliks. The Dragonstone was inherited by the son of one of the three brothers Eirion, who married a girl from the Velarion clan. They had the only son who was destined to become a Conqueror. Eigon married both of his sisters - Rainis and Hanging.
Dominion
In the book “A Song of Ice and Fire,” the Targaryens more directed their policies to the east, and Westeros until a certain time they were almost not interested. First, thoughts of the conquest of the sunset kingdoms were visited by Eigon I. He ordered the creation of a painted table in the form of the mainland of Westeros with the drawing of all geographical objects. Volantis later invited the Conqueror to join him in order to destroy the remnants of the Free Cities. However, Eigon supported the Storm King. It is not for nothing that the words “Flame and Blood” are the motto of the Targaryen House.
During the reign of Eigon, Westeros consisted of 7 states. The last Storm King Argillac Durrandon proposed that Aigon strengthen his ties through a marriage. In addition to his daughter Argella, the king also offered land. These were territories, in fact, belonging to the kingdom of Islands and Rivers, despite the fact that Argilak considered them his own. And if Eigon took these lands on his own behalf or on behalf of Argilak, this would mean the inevitable war between the two states. If the royal troops had resisted, then the new acquisition would have been just a buffer between the enemies. However, Avon did not like this proposal, and he put forward a counter. He offered Argel's hand to his brother Oris Baratheon. However, Oris was illegitimate, so Argillac considered such a proposal humiliating and rejected it. He ordered the hands of Ambassador Aigon to be cut off.
This situation pushed Eigon to action. He gathered his vassals and sent the rest of the kings an ultimatum that they should recognize him as the king of Westeros, otherwise they would be cast to dust.
Conquest
Eigon set off to conquer Westeros. He landed on Chernovodnaya, where Royal Harbor, the capital of all kingdoms, will later be founded. Someone immediately obeyed the dragons, and someone tried to fight. Soon, the lord of the red dragon created the Small Council and divided the army into three parts.
The army of Viseny Targaryen went to the Valley of Arren, but was defeated there at the Chayachy city. The army, led by Rainis, went to Stormlands. Oris Baratheon destroyed the army of Argilak and killed himself. Eigon set off for the Iron Islands, ruled by Harren Black. Lord Tully, along with his subjects, went over to the side of the conquerors and helped in the siege of the castle of Harrenhall, where Harren was hiding with his army. Dragon Ballerion burned to the ground the castle of Harren and himself. This allowed the Targaryen to seize power over the shores of the Trident.
Strong opposition
Other opponents of the Targaryen house were able to provide stronger and more serious opposition. The King of the West and the King of Expanse have merged. The army of Merth Gradener and Lauren Lannister opposed the enemies. Eigon's troops were 5 times smaller, despite the fact that most of them were river lords, who had only recently sworn allegiance to the king and which were not worth relying too much on.
However, this did not stop Eigon, and he went to the rebels along with his sisters and dragons. The armies met near the town of Stone Septa, where the Golden Road would later arise. The battle took place on a clean field, not far from Chernovodnaya. The representative of the red dragon managed to win, even despite the small number. Dragons turned out to be a significant advantage. King Prostor was killed right on the battlefield, and a representative of the Lanister clan was captured, where he soon swore allegiance to Eigon.
Stark Attack
Knowing that the situation is developing in this way, Stark still decided to oppose the conqueror. Torrhen Stark gathered all his troops and set up camp on the north side of the Trident. His sibling Brandon Snow planned to kill the dragons, but Torchen unexpectedly changed his mood during the battle and recognized the Targaryen power. At this time, the Queen of the Mountains and Valleys of Sharra Arren was fortifying her castle, preparing for a siege. Hangings flew into the valley on her dragon and forced Sharra to take the side of the conquerors, but not by force, but with the help of diplomatic tricks.
After a while, Eigon took Old Town. Here, High Septon held a celebration dedicated to the glorious conqueror. Eigon even managed to conquer the Iron Islands, where people were initially elected rulers of the Greyjoys.
Martell Disagreement
Meria Martell flatly refused to swear allegiance to the new king. The army managed to invade Dorn and even capture the main castle of the Sun Spear. But the price of this was the death of Rainis and her dragon. Because of this, the Dornissians rose morale, and they started a successful uprising.
However, in this confrontation, Meriya still died. Her heir, Nimor, during his growing up had seen enough of what the war was leading to, and therefore he was inclined to make peace. He sent his daughter Deria to bring peace and the skull of Merakes. The conditions of the world were such that the Martells did not want to swear allegiance to the Targaryen and asked to leave Dorn independent. Of course, such conditions outraged the courtiers, but the document was accompanied by a letter addressed personally to Aigon. The king read it and became angry, but nevertheless agreed to the conditions of the Dornians. This gave them a century and a half of their own power.
After eigon
The coat of arms of the Targaryen house is weakened. Ejenis was weak and painful, he lost power over many lands. After Meigor the Cruel ascended the throne, who died on the Iron Throne during an uprising against himself. The situation was managed by Jeyeheyris the Peacemaker - the son of Ejenis. His reign was remembered as a time of peace and prosperity. Then Viseris ascended the throne, who ruled calmly, but in his personal life there was real chaos, which later turned into a real tribal war, during which ordinary people, lords and representatives of the Targaryen house were killed.
Deyeron I, who was nicknamed the Young Dragon, sat on the throne, because he ascended the throne at age 14. He immediately decided to conquer Dorn, and he succeeded, but the guy could not hold such a strong state in his hands. After him, his brother Beyelor sat on the throne, who was especially pious. He ruled peacefully and calmly.
After him, Viserys II became the ruler, before that he was the right hand. A year later, he died and Aegon IV ascended the throne. He started the board perfectly, but ended it as an old depraved old man. He legitimized his four bastards before his death. The throne was occupied by Deyeron. After that, power passed alternately to all his sons. The people loved King Eyegon V very much, but he did not rule for long. In his place was his son Jaeheiris II, who remained in power for only 3 years. Then the time began for his son Ayeris, who was popularly called the Mad King. In his youth, he was a good king, but everyone noticed his unjustified temper, which in his adult years became his scourge.
Before the overthrow
The Targaryen dynasty had to come to an end sooner or later, and he arrived. King Ayeris II suffered from a mental disorder that manifested itself in excessive cruelty, frequent hallucinations, and paranoia. He became close with pyromancers, which the Lords and people did not like. Later, the famous knightly tournament was held in Harrenhol, and the Mad King also came to watch it, as he was afraid of the evil intentions of his eldest son. The tournament was won by Reyegar, who called Lianna (daughter of the North Keeper Ricard Stark) the most beautiful woman. At the same time, Jaime (the eldest son of Tywin Lanister) joined the Royal Guard. After a while, Reyegar abducts Lianna to the Tower of Joy (Dorn).
Overthrow
Rickard Stark and Brandon asked Ayeris to restore justice, but he severely executed them. After that, he demanded that Lord John Arren (owner of the Eagle's Nest) to give him Eddard Stark. Eddard became the new successor to Winterfell after the execution of his father and brother. The King also demanded to give him Robert Baratheon, who was the lord of the Storm Reach and the bridegroom of Lianna. The Guardian of the East prevented this from happening. Other participants in the process that were threatened with execution did not lose time. Eddard Stark arrived to the North and armed his vassals, and Robert Baratheon did the same. Mace Tyrell, Lord of Highgarden, spoke out against Robert, who, with the help of Randill Tarley, defeated the Baratheon army and besieged their ancestral castle for a whole year. At this time, John Arren and Eddard Stark enlisted the support of Lord Riverran Tully by marrying his daughters Lisa and Katylin.
The bell battle could not prove that the Targaryen house came to an end, but the Mad King clearly understood that a powerful and united force was resisting him. Aereis turned to Prince Dorn Liven Martell and secured his support. The ruler came up with an amazing plan - to mine the battlefield. Reyegar led an army against the enemies, and a battle took place on the banks of the Trident River, but the Targaryen were defeated, and Robert Baratheon killed the Prince of Dragonstone.
The Mad King sent his pregnant wife and son Viserys to the Dragon Stone. Along with this, the army of Tywin Lanister arrived at the walls of the capital. Meister Pitzel persuaded the King to open the gate, and this became the ruler’s global mistake. Jaime killed the Mad King. Stark captured the capital, and Baratheon made peace with Tywin, taking his daughter Cersei as his wife.
Faithful people of the Targaryen hid his wife and children in the Free Cities. In the future, it is Daenerys Targaryen who will try to conquer the Seven Kingdoms.
Marriage tradition
The Targaryen House kept the blood clean. From the very beginning, brothers took their sisters as wives. That is why the series “Game of Thrones” says that the golden blood of ancient Valiria flows in Daenerys' body. In the case when the family did not have enough unmarried men or women, they were searched for in the ancient Valyrian Velarion family or in the Free Cities.
Those who have not read the book, expect the continuation of the aggressive policy of Daenerys Targaryen in the series.