The history of Westeros is inextricably linked to the lineage of House Targaryen, a dynasty that ruled the continent for nearly three centuries. The **Targaryen Family Tree: Complete Lineage from House of the Dragon & Game of Thrones** offers a complex tapestry of conquest, incestuous tradition, civil war, and eventual exile. From the arrival of Aegon I the Conqueror to the final claimants witnessed in the modern saga, understanding this dynastic structure is crucial for grasping the political machinations that shaped the Seven Kingdoms, particularly the devastating conflicts central to *House of the Dragon* and *Game of Thrones*.
The Targaryens, dragonlords who survived the Doom of Valyria, established their foothold on Dragonstone before Aegon’s monumental invasion. Their lineage is defined by a commitment to maintaining the purity of their bloodline, a practice that, while preserving their unique connection to dragons, frequently produced rulers of both exceptional brilliance and debilitating madness.
Establishing the Dynasty: Aegon's Conquest and the Golden Age
The foundation of the dynasty begins with **Aegon I Targaryen**, known as the Conqueror. In 2 BC, Aegon, alongside his sister-wives, Visenya and Rhaenys, launched the invasion that unified six of the seven independent kingdoms. The subsequent century saw the establishment of the rule of the Dragon Kings, a period often characterized by relative stability following the initial upheaval.
The Immediate Successors and the Seeds of Conflict
Aegon I’s direct line initially faced challenges related to succession and religious conflict, particularly during the reign of his son, Aenys I, and his brutal half-brother, Maegor I (The Cruel). However, the longest and most prosperous reign came with **Jaehaerys I Targaryen**, the Conciliator. Ruling for 55 years, Jaehaerys I brought peace and established the Westerosi legal code, solidifying the Targaryen hold.
The challenge of succession, however, persisted. By the end of Jaehaerys’s life, the immediate heirs had died, forcing the first major dynastic resolution through a formal political mechanism.
- **The Great Council of 101 AC:** Called to resolve the succession crisis after the death of Prince Baelon, Jaehaerys bypassed his granddaughter, Rhaenys (The Queen Who Never Was), and her son, Laenor Velaryon, in favor of his grandson, Viserys. This decision established a crucial precedent: that the Iron Throne should not pass to a woman, even if she was the eldest claimant.
This single decision, aimed at ensuring stability, directly set the stage for the catastrophic civil war that followed, marking the shift into the era chronicled by *House of the Dragon*.
The Dance of the Dragons: The Critical Fork in the Targaryen Family Tree
The reign of **Viserys I Targaryen** (Jaehaerys’s chosen successor) serves as the immediate flashpoint for the civil war. Despite the precedent set by the Great Council, Viserys I named his eldest child, **Princess Rhaenyra Targaryen**, as his heir. He spent decades securing oaths of fealty for her, attempting to override the traditional primogeniture that favored male heirs.
The main conflict, known as the **Dance of the Dragons** (129 AC – 131 AC), pitted Rhaenyra’s faction (the Blacks) against her younger half-brother, **Aegon II Targaryen** (the Greens), the eldest son of Viserys I and Queen Alicent Hightower. This was not merely a political struggle but a devastating war fought almost entirely between members of the same family, involving large-scale dragon combat that decimated the royal beasts.
Key Lineage Implications of the Dance
The conflict drastically pruned the **Targaryen Family Tree**. Many direct branches were severed during the two-year war, impacting the gene pool and the availability of dragonriders for centuries to come.
The Dance concluded with both Rhaenyra and Aegon II dead, leaving the throne to Rhaenyra’s son, **Aegon III Targaryen**, known as Aegon Dragonbane. His ascension marked the formal end of the civil war and the beginning of a slow, painful restoration. Crucially, Aegon III’s reign saw the death of the last living dragons, forever altering the power dynamic of the Targaryen monarchy.
The Post-Dance Era: Consolidation and Decline
Following the Dance, the Targaryen lineage continued, though its immediate rulers were often young or troubled by the trauma of the civil war. This middle period of the dynasty, spanning from Aegon III to Aerys II, is characterized by several colorful, yet often ineffective, rulers who struggled to maintain the absolute authority established by the Conqueror.
Notable figures in this period include:
The Dragonless Kings
The immediate successors focused on rebuilding the realm and dealing with internal conflicts:
- **Daeron I (The Young Dragon):** A charismatic warrior who conquered Dorne briefly, dying young without issue.
- **Baelor I (The Blessed):** A pious, ascetic king whose religious fervor often clashed with political necessity; his celibacy created further succession issues.
- **Aegon IV (The Unworthy):** One of the most reviled kings, whose numerous bastards—the Great Bastards (like Daemon Blackfyre)—led to the Blackfyre Rebellions, major conflicts that further destabilized the realm and created rival branches to the main **Targaryen Family Tree**.
The Blackfyre line, though eventually extinguished, posed a constant threat for over a century, illustrating the enduring danger posed by secondary, illegitimate branches of the royal house.
The Unlikely King and the Rise of the Mad King
The later generations demonstrated a pattern of increasingly unpredictable behavior, perhaps due to the continued adherence to Valyrian tradition. **Aegon V (The Unlikely)**, popularized in the *Dunk and Egg* novellas, ascended unexpectedly and attempted major social reforms, often clashing with the nobility. His attempts to hatch dragons resulted in the tragedy at Summerhall, a disaster that remains shrouded in mystery but significantly weakened the family.
The final century culminated in the reign of **Aerys II Targaryen**, famously known as the Mad King. Aerys II was initially promising, but descended into paranoia and violence, fueled by the persistent Targaryen strain of madness. His actions, including the murder of the Stark heir and lord, triggered Robert’s Rebellion, the war that ended the Targaryen rule in Westeros.
The Final Branches: The Targaryens in Exile and *Game of Thrones*
Robert’s Rebellion resulted in the deaths of Aerys II and his eldest son and heir, **Prince Rhaegar Targaryen**. Rhaegar’s two children with Elia Martell were also killed, effectively wiping out the main line. The only survivors of the immediate royal family were Aerys’s younger children, who were smuggled into exile across the Narrow Sea:
The Last Dragon and the Secret Heir
The narrative of *Game of Thrones* focuses on the two remaining, known descendants of Aerys II:
- **Viserys Targaryen (The Beggar King):** The elder brother, whose desperate attempts to reclaim the throne led to his death in Essos.
- **Daenerys Targaryen (The Stormborn):** The youngest child of Aerys II, who resurrected the dragon bloodline and became the Mother of Dragons. Her journey from exile to Queen represented the final, dramatic resurgence of the dynasty.
The final, crucial twist in the **Targaryen Family Tree: Complete Lineage from House of the Dragon & Game of Thrones** involves the secret identity of **Jon Snow**. Revealed to be **Aegon VI Targaryen**, the legitimate son of Prince Rhaegar Targaryen and Lyanna Stark, Jon represented the true continuation of the main royal line, bridging the gap between the exiled family and the dominant political powers of Westeros.
The discovery that Jon Snow was a Targaryen—and thus Daenerys’s nephew and a claimant with a stronger technical right to the Iron Throne—underscored the enduring power of bloodline politics, even after the dynasty had been overthrown. The entire saga of the Targaryens, from Aegon the Conqueror’s first landing to Daenerys’s final fate, reveals a cyclical pattern where the quest for absolute power through purity of blood ultimately leads to self-destruction. The family’s legacy is defined by their unique ability to achieve magnificent heights, only to fall prey to the inherent instability encoded within their own dynastic traditions.
The complex, often tragic, progression of the **Targaryen Family Tree** provides the historical and emotional weight necessary to understand the world of ice and fire, demonstrating that the past is never truly dead, only waiting for the next claimant to light the flame.
