How Long Will Aegon II Be King & Who Becomes King After Him?
Join us on Reddit for the latest Marvel & DC news!
Episode 9 of House of the Dragon allowed us to see a new sovereign rising to the Iron Throne. Even though he was reluctant to take the throne, Prince Aegon became the new king and is now Aegon II, as he basked in the cheers of the smallfolk during his coronation. Aegon II’s coronation marks the early part of the Dance of the Dragons, which will take the lives of those who were fighting for the crown. So, how long will King Aegon II reign?
King Aegon II’s reign lasted for only two years, as far as the book is concerned. He reigned from 129 to 131 AC, as he had a relatively short reign due to the ongoing war. The one that succeeded him was King Aegon III, who was the son of Rhaenyra and Daemon and was able to reign for 26 years.
Even though King Aegon II was the one who was left standing in his rivalry with Princess Rhaenyra, he wasn’t exactly the winner of the Dance of the Dragons because the war was still ongoing due to the fact that the Black supporters didn’t want to accept his reign. That was why his reign was relatively shorter than most kings. That said, let’s look at King Aegon II’s reign.
How Long Will Aegon II Reign As King?
One of the episodes that were full of tension was episode 9, as it allowed us to see a mad scramble for Prince Aegon, who was missing after a night in King’s Landing. Both Alicent and Otto Hightower wanted to be the ones to have custody of Aegon so that they could crown him as they saw fit. Nevertheless, Aegon was reluctant to take the crown because he knew that he wasn’t fit for it and that he never wanted any kind of responsibility on his shoulders.
However, he still accepted the role of king, as he reluctantly took on the responsibility of being the puppet of the Hightowers. Aegon even basked in the adoration of the crowd after his coronation because that was the only time he felt truly loved. Now, King Aegon II, it is needless to say, wants to hold on to his power. But how long will Aegon II reign as king?
In the book, after Aegon II’s coronation in 129 AC, Princess Rhaenyra also announced her claim to the Iron Throne by staging her own coronation as well. This effectively started the Dance of the Dragons, which allowed us to see a series of different battles involving the two people who wanted to claim the Iron Throne. During a good part of the Targaryen civil war, it was Aegon who was sitting on the Iron Throne, but he ended up losing it to Rhaenyra about a year later when she successfully took the capital from the Greens.
King Aegon II, however, found a way to flee King’s Landing before Rhaenyra could get to him, and that allowed him to hide during the time that the princess was sitting on the Iron Throne. Rhaenyra sat on the throne for a period of six months before the people of King’s Landing started rioting due to her growing cruelty and paranoia. That was when she had to leave the capital as well as the riots had reached the Red Keep.
Rhaenyra was betrayed by one of her men when she got to Dragonstone, as Aegon II was there the entire time. King Aegon II was able to restore his place on the Iron Throne shortly after he killed Rhaenyra by feeding her to Sunfyre. In that regard, he was the uncontested monarch at that time while he held Aegon the Younger, the firstborn child of Rhaenyra and Daemon, hostage.
But while Rhaenyra was already dead, the Black forces didn’t want to surrender as they didn’t want to recognize Aegon II as their ruler. That was when the Green forces were all but defeated as the Blacks were marching on King’s Landing sometime in 131 AC. However, Aegon didn’t want to give up his throne despite the fact that Corlys Velaryon believed that he had no way of winning the battle against the Blacks.
That was when Corlys and several other people conspired to kill King Aegon II, whose wine was poisoned by an unknown assailant. In 131 AC, he died in his carriage while he was on his way to the royal sept. His reign lasted for only two years, as it was his death that effectively ended the Dance of the Dragons.
Who Will Succeed Aegon II?
Upon the death of the king, Corlys rode out with Aegon the Younger to the Black forces to announce that Aegon II had been killed. In that regard, the different lords of Westeros convened and decided to install the only living Targaryen male on the Iron Throne, as Aegon the Younger was now King Aegon III. And to appease the Green supporters, he was married to Aegon II’s only living heir, Jaehaera. This allowed the two Targaryen bloodlines to unite.
However, because Aegon III was still far too young to rule as king, there was a regency period that was put in place until he was ready to truly rule as the Lord of the Seven Kingdoms. During the regency period, there were several lords that ruled the Seven Kingdoms as his regents. These included the likes of Lord Corlys Velaryon, Lady Jeyne Arryn, and Lord Roland Westerling.
Aegon III’s regency also had a lot of different Hands that served him. The first and most prominent one was Lord Cregan Stark, who only served as Hand of the King for one day so that he could seek justice for the death of King Aegon II. He resigned from his post after he was able to deal with the punishments for those who were responsible for Aegon II’s death. Aegon III’s final Hand was his younger brother Viserys, who was actually still alive and was elevated to his position as the Hand when the king came of age.
In that regard, Rhaenyra’s bloodline won the Dance of the Dragons because it was her son that eventually ruled the Seven Kingdoms after King Aegon II’s death. Meanwhile, it was King Viserys II who continued her bloodline as none of Aegon III’s sons left heirs.
Aegon III reigned for 26 years during a time period that was quite peaceful but was known for the fact that it was during that time that the dragons started to die out, as the king had no love for dragons because of the trauma he experienced during the Targaryen Civil War. That’s why King Aegon III was often called Aegon the Dragonbane and Aegon the Unhappy.
Liked this article? Join us on Reddit for the latest Marvel & DC news!