House of the Dragon: The Targaryen family tree explained
The final episode of the Game of Thrones prequel is dropped this evening but how does the complex Targaryen tree look?
The long-awaited Game of Thrones prequel, House of the Dragon, is drawing to a close this Sunday. Many Thrones fans felt short-changed by the controversial eighth series of the iconic HBO show and have been looking forward to a return to Westeros this summer.
The new series focuses on the Targaryens, the House of the Dragon, who ruled over Westeros for three centuries in the build-up to Game of Thrones’ timeline. George R.R. Martin’s story collection ‘Fire and Blood’ is the basis for the upcoming series and it outlines some key elements of Targaryen family history. (Warning: spoilers from here on!)
The incestuous ruling family is comprised of confusing familial relations and an abundance of Aegons, Aemonds and Daemons. Fortunately, DeviantArt user Maryon B has constructed an entire Targaryen family tree, approved by Martin himself, which covers the full three centuries.
In 2016 the artist spoke to Vox, admitting that she was frustrated at the lack of individuality in the Targaryens’ depictions.
The upcoming series takes place in the middle of the family tree, roughly halfway between Aegon Targaryen’s conquest of Westeros and the death of Daenerys Targaryen in the finale of Game of Thrones.
Which Targaryens feature in House of the Dragon?
In the process of building out the world in which both Game of Thrones and House of the Dragon play out, George R. R. Martin introduced his own dating system, with years defined as either “Before Conquest” (BC) or “After Conquest” (AC). The conquest in question is Aegon’s unification of Westeros’ seven kingdoms with the help of his dragons.
House of the Dragon begins with the rule of Viserys I Targaryen’s rule, which began when he succeeded succeeded his grandfather Jaehaerys in 103 AC.
Viserys chose his daughter, Princess Rhaenyra, rather than his yonger brother, Daemon, to succeed him as ruler of Westeros. But after their respective spouses die the two siblings instead marry each other and have three children: Aegon the Younger, Viserys and Visenya, who is stillborn.
After Viserys’ death Aegon II ascends to the throne as the kingdom is divided into factions. This is where episode nine has left off so we are not going to say what happens next.
Fast forward to Game of Thrones and the year is 298 AC, so some 200 years in the future from House of the Dragon. There are only a few Targaryens left: another Aegon, in the Knight’s Watch, Daenarys, her brother Viserys and, as revealed in the final series, Jon Snow is another.