The Targaryen Kings of the Iron Throne: From a Conqueror’s Dream to a Dynasty’s Collapse

The Iron Throne was never meant to be comfortable. The seat is an asymmetric monstrosity of spikes and jagged edges and twisted metal, and it was constructed by Aegon I Targaryen from the melted, twisted, beaten, and broken blades surrendered by his enemies. Its creator built it that way deliberately, on the principle that a king should never sit easy. It is a fitting symbol for a dynasty that, across nearly three centuries, produced rulers ranging from the wisest in Westerosi memory to the most catastrophically unhinged.

With ‘House of the Dragon’ now deep into its third season and ‘A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms’ expanding the franchise further, the full arc of Targaryen rule has never been more relevant to television audiences. Seventeen male Targaryens ruled from the Iron Throne, and the dynasty ended with the death of Aerys the Mad King during Robert’s Rebellion, in which the Targaryens were overthrown and replaced by House Baratheon. Each reign tells a different story about what it means to hold power over a fractured world.

Aegon the Conqueror and the Founding of the Targaryen Iron Throne

Aegon Targaryen, who became known as Aegon the Conqueror, changed everything for Westeros. He and his sister-wives, Visenya and Rhaenys, flew their three dragons from Dragonstone to Westeros, conquering almost all in their path and uniting the realm, which until that point had been broken into distinct kingdoms, under their rule, beginning the Targaryen dynasty.

Following his victories, Aegon was crowned the first king of a united Westeros and forged the Iron Throne from the swords of his defeated enemies, creating a symbol of Targaryen authority that would endure for nearly three hundred years. His new capital of King’s Landing was founded on the site where he first came ashore, a deliberate symbolic choice that tied the seat of power to the origin of the conquest itself.

Aegon also began what would become known as the small council, as well as the office of the Hand of the King, with Lord Orys Baratheon becoming his first Hand. He treated conquered lords with a degree of pragmatism, allowing each region to retain its own laws and customs, a political calculation that kept the peace in the immediate years after the conquest.

Aegon is depicted in one of four statues in the throne room of the Red Keep. When Viserys decides to name his daughter Rhaenyra his heir, he tells her a secret known only by the king and his heir since Aegon’s time: it was not ambition that led Aegon to conquer the Seven Kingdoms, but a dragon dream he called ‘The Song of Ice and Fire.’ In that dream, Aegon foresaw the return of the White Walkers, and that only a Targaryen seated on the Iron Throne could unite the realm against them.

The Middle Kings and the Rise of the Targaryen Civil War

Aenys I, the oldest son of Aegon and his sister-wife, became the second king to sit on the Iron Throne. Aenys was quite sickly as a young child, and while he eventually outgrew his ailments, he proved exceptionally intelligent, involving himself in sciences like astronomy and alchemy. His weakness for decision-making, however, left him ill-equipped to manage the rebellions that arose during his reign.

Maegor I Targaryen, also known as Maegor the Cruel, was Aenys’ younger half-brother and the son of Aegon the Conqueror. Trusting no one and preferring physical confrontation over discussion, Maegor earned his cruel reputation in spades, and his rule was nothing short of tyranny. He was later found dead on the Iron Throne, and the throne passed to Jaehaerys I, who ruled 55 years and unified laws across the realm.

The longest-reigning Targaryen king by a long margin was Jaehaerys I, revered as the best to have ever lived. This primarily stemmed from the peace, stability, and prosperity he brought to the Seven Kingdoms after the reign of his predecessor Maegor the Cruel. He is known for building the Kingsroad and reconciling with the Faith after the Faith Militant uprising, and was the first king to establish a unified system of laws across the entire realm.

Viserys I’s reign as Jaehaerys’ successor was predominantly peaceful. Jaehaerys’ strength as king saw Viserys inherit the Seven Kingdoms at the best time. Viserys’ death before clarifying a successor led to the Dance of Dragons, marring an otherwise peaceful reign. The seeds of that war had been planted long before his death, when he named his daughter Rhaenyra as heir while his second marriage produced male children who would eventually press rival claims.

The Dance of Dragons and the Costs of Targaryen Power

Aegon II spent his entire reign embroiled in the civil war known as the Dance of the Dragons, with the realm divided between supporters of him, the Greens, and supporters of Rhaenyra, the Blacks. He fed Rhaenyra to his dragon, Sunfyre, after she fled to Dragonstone, but he refused to surrender even as his side had essentially lost the war. He was later found dead from poison, though who killed him remains a mystery.

Rhaenyra’s eldest son with her uncle Daemon Targaryen, Aegon III ascended to the throne at the end of the Dance of Dragons. He is known as the Dragonbane because of his distaste for the creature, which stemmed from having witnessed his mother be eaten alive by one. His reign marked the beginning of the end for the Targaryens’ most defining advantage: their dragons.

Aegon III was succeeded by his fourteen-year-old son Daeron, who led the conquest of Dorne, then by his brother Baelor I. When Baelor the Blessed died after a forty-day fast, his uncle Viserys II Targaryen was crowned. Viserys reigned for only a year, but it is said he truly ruled and preserved the land for much longer, having served as Hand of the King during several prior reigns. After Viserys II died, his eldest son became the deeply problematic Aegon IV, remembered in Westerosi history as “the Unworthy.”

Aerys II and the End of Three Centuries of Targaryen Rule

Aerys II Targaryen, also called the Mad King, was the seventeenth and last member of the Targaryen dynasty to sit the Iron Throne, ruling from 262 AC to 283 AC. Aerys showed great promise at the start of his reign, bringing peace and prosperity to the Seven Kingdoms. His later descent into insanity was caused by, among other factors, multiple miscarriages and stillbirths, the deaths of three sons, and a brief uprising known as the Defiance of Duskendale, in which he was held prisoner for half a year by a rebellious lord.

Aerys ultimately ordered wildfire to be set loose on King’s Landing using underground caches he had previously set up, intending to level the city rather than surrender it. Ser Jaime Lannister killed Aerys and his pyromancer to prevent the destruction of countless innocent people, earning himself the nickname Kingslayer. The act ended the Targaryen dynasty’s hold on the Iron Throne, though its legacy would outlast the throne itself.

The story of Aerys’ final years has remained so compelling that George R.R. Martin has now teamed up with the Royal Shakespeare Company, writer Duncan Macmillan, and director Dominic Cooke to produce ‘Game of Thrones: The Mad King,’ a prequel stage play. The play will have its original run at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre in Stratford-upon-Avon between July 20 and September 5. That a single Targaryen king can anchor an entirely separate theatrical production speaks to the depth of a dynasty that began with a conqueror’s dream and ended with a ruler who wanted to burn the world he was meant to protect.

The Targaryen rulers of the Iron Throne remain one of the richest chronicles in modern fantasy, and with multiple HBO projects continuing to unpack their history, there has never been a better time to ask: which of these seventeen kings do you find most compelling, and does any one of them deserve a more sympathetic reading than history has given them?