Game of Thrones Facts History of House Targaryen, Valyria

Game of Thrones Facts History of House Targaryen, Valyria

History of Valyria –

East of Westeros lies the Smoking Sea, where no ship dare sail.
Thousands of years ago there a cataclysmic event occurred, destroying one of the great civilization in history.
It is said that Valyrians were once a modest community of Shepherds, tending their flocks on a small peninsula of the great eastern continent.
One fateful day, in a volcanic area known as the Fourteen Fires, they made a shattering discovery – dragons.
They were monstrous scaled creatures, with massive wings, sharp claws and fiery breath.
They were also said to have a deep rooted connection to magic.
In time, the Valyrians were able to tame the beasts.
Harnessing their immense power they established a city of wonder unlike any before or since. They became skilled at sorcery and metallurgy, creating uncommon weapons of spell-forged steel. Wielding these weapons astride their dragons, the valyrians conquered the surrounding lands and slowly expanded west.
At the time Ghiscari Empire dominated much of the great eastern continent, and tried to stop Valyria expansion.
The Ghiscari legions attacked the Valyrians five times, but could never defeat them.
Finally, the Valyrians marched on their capital Old Ghis and obliterated it, turning its streets and buildings to ash with dragon flame, and wiping the Ghiscari people and their culture off the face of the earth.
The freehold of Valyria as it came to be known, became the most advanced civilization in the known world, with its own language, gods and culture.
The Valyrians reach extended far and wide, covering most of the continent.
Great cities were built and roadways paved, all of which led back to Valyria.
The Freehold would prosper for nearly 5000 years.
But it was not to last.
An event that became known only as the Doom laid waste to the Valyrians, their capital city and its surrounding lands.
The peninsula itself was shattered, becoming what is now the smoking sea.
Every dragon was thought to be lost, as were the Valyrians spells, knowledge and recorded history.
Thus the mighty empire collapsed.
What caused this cataclysm?
No one knows for certain.
Some say it was a volcanic eruption. Others say the Valyrians own sorcery got the better of them.
In any event, the Dooms devastation of the Valyrian people was total
With the exception of a small rocky island in the narrow Sea-Dragonstone.
For it was there that the Targaryens the last of old Valyria dwelled.
That would lie in wait for another hundred years before unleashing the fury of the dragon on another Continent-Westeros.

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House Targaryen is a former Great House of Westeros and was the ruling royal House of the Seven Kingdoms for three centuries, before it was deposed during Robert's Rebellion and House Baratheon replaced it as the new royal House.
The few surviving Targaryens fled into exile.

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House Targaryen's sigil is a three-headed red dragon on a black background, and their words are "Fire and Blood".

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The Targaryen dynasty united the seven kingdoms and lasted nearly three centuries.

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It was a dynasty forged in fire, sealed in blood and destroyed by rebellion.

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The Targaryens are blood of the dragon descended from the nobility of ancient Valyria a once mighty empire in the East.

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When the cataclysmic Doom laid waste to Valyria and its people, the Targaryen’s survived, having settled on the island fortress of Dragonstone years before.
They remained there for a century until the rise of Aegon the Conqueror.

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Instead of attempting to reclaim the eastern lands of his ancestors, Aegon sailed west for the seven Kingdoms, his sisters Visenya and Rhaenys at his side.

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To keep the bloodline pure Aegon continued the custom of his Valyrian ancestors and married his both sisters.
Took his both sisters as wives to maintain purity of blood.
Together they came ashore on the eastern coast of Westeros.

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The days of the Andals were numbered.
One by one their so called kings lost the war with Aegon.
After defeating the Ironmen at Harrenhal and slaying the last of the storm kings, Aegon and his sisters Rhaenys and Visenya, set their sights on other prizes – the gold mines of the Rock and the fertile lands of the Reach.
King Loren Lannister of the Rock and King Mern Gardener of the Reach foolishly thought their combined armies could beat back the Targaryen host.
They rode forth together, their proud banners flapping in the wind, and faced off against Aegon in a vast golden field of wheat.
The two kings commanded a massive force of nearly 60,000 and it appeared the day was theirs. Until Aegon unleashed all three of his dragons, for the first and only time.
Each beast was named after the Valyrian Gods of Aegons forefathers.
Visenya rode Vhagar, whose fiery breath could melt armor.
Rhaenys rode Meraxes, whose jaws were big enough to swallow a horse whole.
The greatest of all was Balerion the Black Dread, with fire dark as night and wings so huge, whole towns were covered in shadow when he flew overhead.
This magnificent creature was ridden by Aegon himself.
4000 men were bathed in glorious dragon flame that day on what came to be known as the field of fire.
King Mern was among the dead, and House Gardener died with him.
His stewards, the Tyrells, surrendered his ancestral stronghold of Highgarden to Aegon, and were appointed Lords Paramount of the Reach and Wardens of the South.
When Loren Lannister witnessed Merns fate, he wisely bent the knee.
Aegon spared Loren’s life and the Lannisters were made Lords Paramount of the Westerlands and Wardens of the West.
After his triumph on the Field of Fire, Aegons conquest was assured.
the Targaryens launched a devastating invasion of Westeros using three dragons to spearhead their attack. In a short period of time, six of the seven formerly independent kingdoms had surrendered to the Targaryen leader, King Aegon I, unifying the continent under his rule. The last hold-out, Dorne, joined the kingdom through a political and marriage alliance some two centuries later
In short time the so called Seven Kingdoms were melted down in the heat of the dragons’ flame and transformed into a single realm.
Aegon would forever be known as Aegon the Conqueror.

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He got the swords of his enemies and melted them by the fiery breath of his dragon, Balerion the Black Dread, and forged into the Iron Throne.

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The capital city of Kings Landing was build on the eastern coast, where Aegon and his sisters first came ashore and Aegon ordered the construction of a Royal castle on its highest hill -The Red Keep.

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For 300 years the Targaryen dynasty stayed strong in the face of rebellion, civil war and plague. But the line of dragon kings was broken when Aerys Targaryen, the second of his name, was overthrown in the rebellion.

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The last of the Targaryens to reign, Aerys was known as the Mad King due to his unpredictable temper.  Instead of ransoming Brandon Stark and his companions to their fathers as he did promised, Aerys murdered everyone in full sight of his court, thus inciting Ned Stark and Robert Baratheon to take up arms against him.

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The sister of King Aerys Targaryen, Rhaella followed the Targaryen tradition and married her brother to preserve the blood of the dragon.
After Aerys was killed during the sack of Kings Landing, Rhaella fled with her son Vierys to Dragonstone where she gave birth to her daughter Daenerys.


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Aerys Targaryen, the second of his name was betrayed and slaughtered by Ser Jaime Lannister a member of his own king’s guard.
His son and heir Rhaegar, perished on the field of battle at the hands of Robert Baratheon, who claimed the Iron Throne for himself.

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Only Surviving members of the Targaryen Dynasty are
Prince Viserys rightful king of the Andals and Ruler of the Seven Kingdoms and his sister Daenerys both were sent to the free cities of the Easy by loyalists and lived in exile.
Both dreamed of crossing the narrow sea and take back Iron Throne.
Later on Prince Viserys also dies.

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King Aegon I Targaryen, known as Aegon the Conqueror, is an unseen character in Game of Thrones. He died almost three hundred years before the time of the series
Aegon I Targaryen conquered all of Westeros (with the exception of Dorne) with three great dragons, Balerion, Vhagar and Meraxes, and unified the realm under his rule, founding the Targaryen dynasty. He was married to both of his sisters, Visenya and Rhaenys. He is a direct ancestor of Daenerys Targaryen.
Aegon founded the city of King's Landing, began construction on the Red Keep, and forged the Iron Throne from the swords of his defeated enemies, melted with dragon fire. His descendants ruled the Seven Kingdoms for a further three centuries.
"Aegon Targaryen changed the rules. That's why every child alive still knows his name, three hundred years after his death."  ―Tywin Lannister to Arya Stark

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Aerys II Targaryen – The Mad King –
"He loved to watch people burn, the way their skin blackened and blistered and melted off their bones. He burned lords he didn't like. He burned Hands who disobeyed him. He burned anyone who was against him. Before long, half the country was against him."
―Jaime Lannister talks about Aerys II Targaryen, the Mad King

Aerys II Targaryen, popularly called "the Mad King", is an unseen character in Game of Thrones. Deceased prior to the events of the series, Aerys Targaryen was the last member of House Targaryen to rule from the Iron Throne.

Popularly remembered as "the Mad King", his reign became increasingly erratic and murderous. A final round of blood-letting, unleashed when his son, Prince Rhaegar, kidnapped Lyanna Stark of Winterfell, saw many houses in the realm rebel against his rule. Brandon Stark protested the abduction of his sister and demanded justice. Aerys had him arrested for treason and then offered to ransom him to his father. When Rickard Stark rode to King's Landing to ransom Brandon, Aerys had him arrested too, and then brutally executed both father and son.

The noble houses of Stark, Tully, Arryn, and Baratheon raised the flags of rebellion and destroyed the royalist armies in several major engagements, culminating in the Battle of the Trident where Prince Rhaegar fell.

King Aerys was betrayed by his former friend and King's Hand, Lord Tywin Lannister, who led an army to apparently defend the capital at King's Landing but instead brutally sacked the city.

Ser Jaime Lannister, a member of the Kingsguard, stabbed Aerys in the back and then cut his throat

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Aerys' death brought to an end the Targaryen dynasty, which had ruled the Seven Kingdoms for three centuries. He was replaced on the Iron Throne by the leader of the rebels, Robert Baratheon. However, the Targaryen bloodline survived through his two youngest children, Viserys and Daenerys, who were spirited away to the Free Cities.

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Aemon Targaryen, Maester Aemon –

Maester Aemon: "The gods were cruel when they saw fit to test my vow. They waited until I was old. What could I do when the ravens brought the news from the south? The ruin of my house. The death of my family. I was helpless, blind, frail, but when I heard they had killed my brother's son, and his poor son, and the children. Even the little children!"
Jon Snow: "Who are you?"
Maester Aemon: "My father was Maekar, the First of his Name. My brother Aegon reigned after him, when I had refused the throne, and he was followed by his son Aerys, whom they called 'the Mad King'."
Jon Snow: "You're Aemon Targaryen?!'"
Maester Aemon: "I am a maester of the Citadel, bound in service to Castle Black and the Night's Watch."
 — Aemon reveals that he is a long-forgotten uncle of King Aerys II Targaryen.

Aemon is the maester at Castle Black and is one of Lord Commander Jeor Mormont's closest advisers in the Night's Watch.

Aemon was born into the royal House Targaryen, the son of King Maekar I.
Aemon and his brothers were not born out of marriage between brother and sister. Their father and grandfather respectively married Dyanna of House Dayne and Myriah of House Martell
Prince Aemon Targaryen, was not his father's eldest son, so he eventually joined the order of Maesters. Aemon gave up all rights to inheritance when he took his vows, which also included dropping his surname "Targaryen".

Aemon's older brother, Aerion, later died
Many felt that the crown should pass to him. Aemon refused the throne, and it passed to his younger brother, who became King Aegon V.
Aemon then joined the Night's Watch to remove himself from the political intrigues of the royal court, and those who wished to set him up as a rival against his brother.

Many years later the crown passed to Aegon V's son, Aemon's nephew Aerys II, called "The Mad King".

Around one hundred years old, Aemon is thought to be one of the oldest living men in Westeros, though he has retained all of his wits and his mind is still very sharp. He has served as the maester at Castle Black for many decades

Aemon has long since gone blind due to old age. It is not clear when he went blind (he was not born blind), though he has stated that he was already old and blind during Robert's Rebellion.
As a man of learning, he laments not being able to read anymore, even though Castle Black ironically has an ancient and well-stocked library consisting of thousands of books.
Because one of a maester's basic duties is to handle messages sent to and from a castle by messenger-ravens, Aemon has to rely on the assistance of others to physically read the letters for him.

Samwell Tarly is assigned as Aemon's steward, to help physically read letters delivered by messenger-ravens to the blind old man

Maester Aemon is still at Castle Black when Samwell Tarly returns with Gilly after escaping from Craster's Keep. Aemon at first advises Sam that he swore an oath when joining the Night's Watch, believing that Sam fathered Gilly's son. Samwell corrects him that he is not the father, but that the girl is one of Craster's daughter-wives, which engenders sympathy in Aemon. Because it is too dangerous beyond the Wall, Aemon relents and offers shelter to Gilly in Castle Black for the time being.

Maester Aemon is one of the five black brothers to "judge" Jon Snow for his actions during his time with the wildlings

Janos Slynt believe that Jon should be executed for his actions and for the breaking of his vows, but Aemon defends him, saying that Jon was merely following Qhorin's orders and that he isn't the first to have broken his vow of chastity.



    "If we beheaded every ranger who lay with a girl, the Wall would be manned by headless men."
―Maester Aemon about Jon Snow.

"They came to us from White Harbor and Barrowton, from Fairmarket and King's Landing. From north and south, from east and west. They died protecting men, women, and children who will never know their names. It is for us to remember our brothers. We shall never see their like again...and now, their watch is ended."
―Maester Aemon delivery the eulogy of those who died during the Battle of Castle Black


Season 5 –
Maester Aemon presides over the choosing of the 998th Lord Commander of the Night's Watch. When all of the votes are counted, it is revealed that there is a tie between Jon Snow and Ser Alliser Thorne. Aemon is the last to vote and breaks the tie by voting for Jon

Jon Snow notices Maester Aemon's absence at a meeting of the Night's Watch and questions Sam.

According to Sam, Aemon does not feel well and apologizes for not being able to attend the meeting. Jon tells Sam to take good care of the old maester.

Sam reads him a letter from Slaver's Bay detailing the recent activities of Daenerys Targaryen, Aemon's great-niece. In spite of his dedication to his vows, Aemon muses with sadness at the injustice of Daenerys fighting her battles alone, with her last relation "useless and dying" thousands of miles away.

Jon Snow then arrives, asking for Aemon's advice on a plan he's been devising. Jon asks how he's feeling, and Aemon sardonically points out he feels like a hundred year old man slowly freezing to death at the Wall.

Aemon bluntly tells him to "kill the boy, and let the man be born", that Snow must make the mature decisions that will save lives, rather than the immature decisions that will get people to like him.

Aemon's old age catches up to him and he takes to bed as he grows weaker, tended by Gilly and Sam. His mind starts to wander, and he imagines conversations with his late brother "Egg" before he passes away. Sam gives a eulogy as Aemon's body is cremated on a funeral pyre

Aemon was 104 when he died in the novels; the TV series never gave him an exact age, only a line of dialogue in which he generically said that he was over 100 years’ old

"His name was Aemon Targaryen. He came to us from King's Landing. A Maester of the Citadel, chained and sworn, and sworn Brother of the Night's Watch, ever faithful. No man was wiser, or gentler or kinder. At the Wall, a dozen Lord Commanders came and went during his years of service, but he was always there to counsel them. He was the blood of the Dragon... but now his fire has gone out. And now his Watch is ended."
―Samwell Tarly eulogizes Aemon.

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Deceased members -
Aerys II, the Mad, Rhaella Targaryen, Rhaegar Targaryen, Elia Martell, Rhaenys Targaryen, Aegon Targaryen, Viserys Targaryen, Drogo, Rhaego, Aemon Targaryen

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Prince Viserys aka Viserys III Targaryen, son of Aerys II, called "the Beggar King" due to his impoverished exile in the Free Cities.
Killed by Khal Drogo and his claim passed to his sister.

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Viserys Targaryen arranges for the marriage of his sister Daenerys to the powerful dothraki Khal Drogo in exchange for a promise that Drogo will help him to reclaim his crown.
Daenerys becomes pregnant with Drogo's son and he is prophesied to be the "Stallion that mounts the world." Frustrated by the acceptance of Daenerys by the Dothraki, Viserys drunkenly threatens her unborn child and demands his crown.
Drogo kills him by pouring molten gold over his head
Daenerys I Targaryen, Queen of Meereen, daughter of Aerys II, called "Daenerys Storm born", "Mother of Dragons", and "the Queen Across the Sea", inherited her late brother's claim.
Heirs – None
Military strength - 3 dragons, under 100 Dothraki cavalry, 8,000 Unsullied (heavy infantry), 2,000 Second Sons (armored mercenary cavalry)

Video - Game of Thrones Season 6: Targaryen Battle Banner Tease (HBO)



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Tuesday, March 22, 2016

Tags – Game of Thrones History House Targaryen History Valyria