House Targaryen is easily the most influential one in the House of the Dragon: they have been the rulers of Westeros since Aegon’s Conquest, and are able to tame and ride dragons.
There are many famous Targaryens throughout history, from Aegon I Targaryen who conquered six of the seven kingdoms under a single ruler, to Jaehaerys I who kept his family from breaking out into a civil war. We will show you just how far back this House goes in the history of Westeros, while also pointing out some notable members from it.
House Targeryen is easily the most powerful in Westeros, and is one of the only houses of Valyrian decent, being one of the few that survived the Doom of Valyria. Targaryens have ruled the realm ever since Aegon’s conquest of Westeros.
Targaryens are well renowned for their beauty, and typically have silver or platinum hair. Another trait exhibited by the members is something known as “dragon dreams”: premonition-like dreams that will show Targaryens an event meant to happen in the future.
Targaryens are also infamously known for being prone to madness, presumably caused by their tendency to inbreed. King Jaehaerys II Targaryen once said about the Targarens that “madness and greatness are two sides of the same coin. Every time a new Targaryen is born, the gods toss the coin in the air and the world holds its breath to see how it will land”.
Known as Aegon the Conqueror or Aegon the Dragon, he led his family in an invasion of Westeros to unite it — the event known as Aegon’s Conquest. Riding the Black Dread Belarion, he, his two sister-wives, and a small army invaded the Seven Kingdoms, successfully uniting six under one ruler. A Targaryen has ruled over the realm since.
One of the primary reasons inciting his conquest was a dragon dream he had. He called it “The Song of Ice and Fire”. In it he saw the return of the White Walkers, and that in order to counter them there must be a Targaryen from his line ruling Westeros — known as The Prince that was Promised.
As the second King of Westeros, Aenys had to deal with some of the fallout from Aegon’s Conquest — namely a revolt by the Faith of the Seven. He broke the oath Aegon made to the Faith to stop the incestuous marriages Targaryens were known for, causing them to see his family as an abomination that needed to be stopped.
Aenys was not the conqueror that his father was, however, and fled King’s Landing entirely during the revolt. He eventually died during his self-exile due to cramps from his stress.
The third King of Westeros, Maegor, was the polar opposite of his brother Aenys — known as one of the most tyrannical kings ever to rule the realm, he was given the nickname Maagor the Cruel. Once he took over the Throne, he wasted no time fighting back against the Faith’s revolt. After defeating their leaders in a Trial by Combat, he rode Belarion, Aegon the Conqueror’s dragon, to the Sept of Remembrance, and ordered the Black Dread to burn it down, along with everyone that was inside. He continued to war with the Faith for the rest of his reign.
During his reign, he finished the construction of the Red Keep, including his own central fortress, Maegor’s Holdfast. Once everything was built, he ordered that all the workers and masons who worked on it be killed, supposedly so that only he would know of all the secret tunnels that were built throughout the castle. Eventually his reign of terror was ended by his own Iron Throne.
The fourth king of Westeros, Jaehaerys had a lot of work ahead of him to fix the fallout of his uncle’s reign. The first thing he did was finally make peace with the Faith of the Seven, ending their long revolt. He proceeded to have the longest reign in the history of Westeros, which got him a few nicknames — Jaehaerys the Conciliator, Jaehaerys the Wise, and The Old King.
When his first two heirs died, the line of succession was starting to come into doubt. In order to prevent a civil war, Jaehaerys convened a Great Council in order to decide who would succeed the Iron Throne. Eventually, his son Viserys I Targaryen was chosen to be his heir.
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