{"id":445528,"date":"2026-02-25T22:16:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-25T22:16:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/445528\/"},"modified":"2026-02-25T22:16:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T22:16:09","slug":"how-the-targaryens-of-a-knight-of-the-seven-kingdoms-connect-to-house-of-the-dragon-and-game-of-thrones","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/445528\/","title":{"rendered":"How the Targaryens of \u2018A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms\u2019 Connect to \u2018House of the Dragon\u2019 and \u2018Game of Thrones\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

It was simpler back in Game of Thrones when there were so few Targaryens to keep track of. Before the once-great dynasty winnowed down to just an old maester at Castle Black and a couple of exiled siblings in the Free Cities, Westeros was ruled by generations of (mostly) platinum-blonde royals with a fondness for dragons and a tendency toward madness.<\/p>\n

The sheer number of family members is complicated by their tendency to fight among themselves and their obsession with reusing names. Don\u2019t forget, in A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms<\/a>, the Aegon Targaryen we know as Egg tells Dunk there have been four King Aegons so far in Westeros. (As House of the Dragon<\/a> fans well know, King Aegon II<\/a> is Alicent Hightower\u2019s bratty son with a not-so-solid claim to the throne.) \u201cEgg\u201d is a goofy nickname, but at least it sets him apart from all the others.<\/p>\n

If A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms has got you curious about where Egg and his immediate relatives fit in, especially with House of the Dragon season three coming in June, you can read up on all the gory details in George R.R. Martin\u2019s Fire and Blood<\/a>. But if you\u2019d rather skip over all that Targaryen history and just get a quick crash course, here\u2019s a guide focused on the members of the family we met (or who got significant mentions) in season one of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms.<\/p>\n

As a reminder, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms takes place after House of the Dragon but before Game of Thrones, with enough time between them that there\u2019s not too much overlap in characters between the three.<\/p>\n

\"Emilia\u00a9 HBO Egg to Dany (and Jon Snow) <\/p>\n

Egg is the son of Maekar Targaryen. Egg\u2019s older brothers include Daeron and Aerion\u2014who make an impression in A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms\u2014as well as Aemon, who doesn\u2019t turn up at Ashford Meadow because he\u2019s at the Citadel, studying to be a maester.<\/p>\n

Aemon appears in Game of Thrones as a very old man; we meet him as the maester at Castle Black during Jon Snow\u2019s time in the Night\u2019s Watch.<\/p>\n

A few decades after the events of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, Egg ascends to the Iron Throne as King Aegon V. He is the grandfather* of King Aerys II, aka \u201cthe Mad King\u201d\u2014the last Targaryen to sit the Iron Throne, a fascinating era soon to be explored in a play premiering at the Royal Shakespeare Company<\/a>.<\/p>\n

As his reign progressed, the Mad King became increasingly unhinged. He\u2019s overthrown in Robert\u2019s Rebellion\u2014\u201cRobert\u201d being Robert Baratheon, a main character in early seasons of Game of Thrones. Jaime Lannister, another Game of Thrones regular, lands the killing blow, thereby earning him the nickname \u201cKingslayer.\u201d<\/p>\n

That\u2019s why King Robert Baratheon is in charge when Game of Thrones begins, and the Targaryen line\u2014greatly reduced amid the uprising\u2014is suddenly nearly as extinct as the family\u2019s dragons.<\/p>\n

*An important note: Game of Thrones eliminated a generation to simplify things, making Aegon V the Mad King\u2019s father, rather than his grandfather. In the books, Egg\u2019s son King Jaehaerys II is the father of the Mad King.<\/p>\n

\"Danyandjon\"\u00a9 HBO <\/p>\n

The Mad King is also the father of Daenerys Targaryen, which means Egg is her great-grandfather in the books, and her grandfather in the Game of Thrones TV series. (That choice also made Maester Aemon the great-uncle of Daenerys, instead of her great-great uncle.)<\/p>\n

No doubt Egg would have been proud to know Dany brought dragons back to life in Westeros, even though her attempts to reclaim the Iron Throne went almost as badly as the last season of Game of Thrones.<\/p>\n

Game of Thrones also added more detail about Jon Snow\u2019s Targaryen parentage, making it clear that he\u2019s the son of the secret couple comprised of Dany\u2019s older brother, Rhaegar, and Ned Stark\u2019s younger sister, Lyanna, who had been previously married to Robert Baratheon.<\/p>\n

Rhaegar dies in Robert\u2019s Rebellion, and Lyanna dies after giving birth. As we saw in Game of Thrones, Ned pretends Jon Snow is his own bastard son and raises him at Winterfell with his other kids. At the end of Game of Thrones, which famously extended its plot far beyond Martin\u2019s existing books, Jon Snow\u2014born Aegon Targaryen, as it happens!\u2014is the last known surviving member of the once-great house. In the books, any connection between Jon Snow and the Targaryens has yet to be explicitly confirmed, although it\u2019s long been an enduring fan theory.<\/p>\n

Egg Back to Rhaenyra <\/p>\n

Going back in time to the House of the Dragon era, the connection is as follows: Aegon, aka \u201cEgg,\u201d is the son of Maekar; Maekar is the son of King Daeron II; King Daeron II is the son of King Aegon IV; King Aegon IV is the son of King Viserys II; and King Viserys II is the son of\u2026 Queen Rhaenyra and Prince Daemon.<\/p>\n

\"Emma\u00a9 HBO <\/p>\n

So, while that is a bit of a House of the Dragon spoiler\u2014we aren\u2019t saying what it takes to get Viserys, Rhaenyra\u2019s second son with Daemon, on the throne, mind you\u2014it means that Aegon is the many-greats grandson of the characters in House of the Dragon. Add a few more \u201cgreats\u201d (depending on whether you\u2019re going with the family tree from the books or the Game of Thrones show), and you can see Rhaenyra\u2019s generational link all the way to Daenerys, too.<\/p>\n

What Happens to Maekar After\u00a0A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms <\/p>\n

Egg\u2019s father moves up in the line of succession after accidentally killing his brother, Baelor, during the Trial of Seven in A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. Maekar and Baelor (RIP) were the sons of King Daeron II, the ruler in power during the HBO show\u2019s first season.<\/p>\n

But Maekar is still pretty far from the Iron Throne, even after Baelor\u2019s passing. We meet Baelor\u2019s son, Valarr, in A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms; Valarr becomes the royal heir after his father\u2019s death.<\/p>\n

Due to a series of unfortunate events, however, Valarr never gets crowned. Another of Maekar\u2019s brothers, the eccentric King Aerys I, ascends to the throne after Daeron\u2019s death instead. More unfortunate events after that bumped Maekar up to being next in line.<\/p>\n

\"Sam\u00a9 Steffan Hill\/HBO <\/p>\n

Long story short, Maekar becomes king eventually. But when he dies, there\u2019s a great deal of confusion over who should take over\u2014not unlike the succession quandary that sets House of the Dragon in motion.<\/p>\n

Daeron and Aerion, our pals from A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, are both dead by that time (let\u2019s face it: those guys were clearly not built to last).<\/p>\n

Aemon, by then a maester, doesn\u2019t want the job, and the other potential contenders are deemed to be supremely ill-suited, including Daeron\u2019s \u201csimple\u201d daughter and Aerion\u2019s infant son.<\/p>\n

A Great Council, an event nearly as rare as a Trial of Seven, was therefore convened. It\u2019s there that the kid once known as Egg\u2014by then in his 30s\u2014gets anointed King Aegon V, appropriately dubbed \u201cAegon the Unlikely.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brynden Rivers, aka Lord Bloodraven <\/p>\n

This Targaryen-adjacent character with extra-spooky vibes doesn\u2019t appear in season one of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. But if HBO stays the course with its adaptation, we\u2019ll meet him in that world eventually.<\/p>\n

He appears in a Daemon Targaryen vision in House of the Dragon\u00a0and as a very old man in Game of Thrones. In the latter, he\u2019s the mysterious \u201cThree-Eyed Raven\u201d (crow in the books) who helps Bran Stark develop his psychic abilities.<\/p>\n

\"Isaac\u00a9 HBO <\/p>\n

In the family tree, Brynden is one of King Aegon IV\u2019s many illegitimate offspring. On his deathbed, the king proclaimed that all his children were legitimate, a chaotic move that soon kicked the door wide open for uprisings and civil wars.<\/p>\n

King Aegon IV\u2019s successor was King Daeron II, the ruler during season one of A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms. Daeron is the victor in that first Blackfyre Rebellion<\/a>, whose aftermath we see in the flashback scenes exploring Dunk\u2019s childhood in Flea Bottom.<\/p>\n

Brynden chose sides wisely; after staying loyal to the trueborn Targaryens during the Blackfyre Rebellion, he became Hand of the King to both King Aerys and King Maekar. But after an act of unsanctioned violence, he runs afoul of the newly crowned King Aegon V, who sends Lord Bloodraven to the Wall as punishment.<\/p>\n

Brynden\u2019s travel companion on the long journey north? A member of Aegon\u2019s Kingsguard\u2014some guy named Ser Duncan the Tall.<\/p>\n

Want more io9 news? Check out when to expect the latest Marvel<\/a>, Star Wars<\/a>, and Star Trek<\/a> releases, what\u2019s next for the DC Universe on film and TV<\/a>, and everything you need to know about the future of Doctor Who<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It was simpler back in Game of Thrones when there were so few Targaryens to keep track of.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":445529,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[83319,96,3892,98764,1636,46695,391,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-445528","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-tv","tag-a-knight-of-the-seven-kingdoms","tag-entertainment","tag-game-of-thrones","tag-george-r-r-martin","tag-hbo","tag-house-of-the-dragon","tag-tv","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/445528","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=445528"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/445528\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/445529"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=445528"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=445528"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=445528"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}