House Targaryen



House Targaryen is one of the former Great Houses of Westeros and the previous ruling royal house of the Seven Kingdoms, before House Baratheon took the Iron Throne. House Targaryen's symbol is a three-headed red dragon on a black background and their motto is "Fire and Blood".

According to the TV series official pronunciation guide developed for the cast and crew, "Targaryen" is pronounced "Tar-GAIR-ee-in", as opposed to "Tar-gar-yen" etc.

Background
Once a noble family of the vast Valyrian Freehold, an empire spanning most of the eastern continent, the Targaryens were given control of the island of Dragonstone in the Narrow Sea some centuries ago. After the obliteration of Valyria in the Doom, 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.

During the increasingly erratic reign of King Aerys II, his son Rhaegar kidnapped Lyanna Stark of Winterfell for reasons unknown. This sparked a massive uprising led by Eddard Stark, Robert Baratheon and Jon Arryn. At the end of this war Aerys and Rhaegar were dead and the Targaryen power-base in Westeros destroyed. Aerys's youngest two children were taken by Targaryan loyalists into exile in the Free Cities of the East.

Targaryens have some common genetic traits, such as their silver-white hair and possibly the ability to withstand higher temperatures than most people. Daenerys Targaryen is specifically shown to have this trait whilst Viserys is noted as not possessing it.

Season 1
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. The marriage was brokered by Illyrio Mopatis, a magister of Pentos. Illyrio gives Daenerys a trio of ancient dragon eggs as a gift. Daenerys comes to love both Drogo and his people while Viserys is increasingly frustrated by Drogo's failure to deliver on his promise. 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.

Drogo then pledges to invade Westeros for Daenerys when she survives an assassination attempt. He raids villages of the Lhazareen to enslave their inhabitants, intending to use them to barter passage across the Narrow Sea. He takes a superficial wound during the attack. When the wound festers Daenerys turns to the captive Mirri Maz Duur to treat him. Duur's reputation as a "maegi" causes friction between Daenerys and Drogo's warriors. Daenerys allows Duur to use blood magic to treat him. Drogo's bloodrider Qotho violently objects, injuring Daenerys and triggering premature labour. Duur's spell leaves Drogo catatonic and Daenerys's son stillborn. His khalasar splinters leaving Daenerys with only dozens of riders remaining. Daenerys kills Drogo to end his suffering. She then has Duur burned alive on his funeral pyre, also placing her dragon eggs among the flames. She steps into the inferno and emerges the next day unharmed with three newborn dragons.

Season 2
Daenerys's adviser Ser Jorah Mormont warns that rival khals will target her and advises that she flee into the Red Waste. Her crossing is harrowing and she loses the majority of her horses and some of her people. Upon arriving in Qarth she is allowed into the city under the protection of wealthy merchant Xaro Xhoan Daxos. Xaro makes a pragmatic marriage proposal, promising to fund Daenerys return to Westeros in exchange for becoming a king. Jorah counsels against entering Xaro's debt and reveals his own, unrequited, feelings for Daenerys.

Members

 * King Aerys II Targaryen, the Mad King, slain by Ser Jaime Lannister at the end of Robert's Rebellion.
 * His sister-wife Queen Rhaella, also of House Targaryen, died in childbirth.
 * Their oldest son and heir, Prince Rhaegar Targaryen, slain by Robert Baratheon at the Battle of the Trident.
 * Prince Rhaegar's wife, Princess Elia of House Martell, slain during the Sack of King's Landing by Lannister armsmen.
 * Prince Rhaegar's daughter, Princess Rhaenys, slain during the Sack of King's Landing.
 * Prince Rhaegar's son and heir, Prince Aegon, slain during the Sack of King's Landing.
 * Aerys and Rhaella's second son, Prince Viserys Targaryen, the Beggar King, in exile in the Free Cities. Killed by Khal Drogo for threatening his wife (see below) and unborn son Rhaego.
 * Aerys and Rhaella's daughter, Princess Daenerys Targaryen, in exile in the Free Cities. Widow of Khal Drogo of the Dothraki.
 * Daenerys and Drogo's stillborn son Rhaego.
 * Aemon Targaryen, known popularly as 'Maester Aemon', the uncle of Aerys II Targaryen, a maester serving at Castle Black. Still alive, despite being almost a hundred years old.

King Aerys's aunt, Princess Rhaelle, married into House Baratheon. Robert Baratheon and his brothers are her grandsons and the Mad King's first cousins once removed, giving Robert his claim to the Iron Throne that he pursued during the civil war.

Household and allies

 * Ser Jorah Mormont, exiled Lord of Bear Island, advisor and bodyguard to Queen Daenerys.
 * {Irri}, a Dothraki handmaiden. Killed during the robbery of Daenerys' dragons
 * Doreah, a Lyseni handmaiden and former bedslave.
 * Jhiqui, a Dothraki handmaiden.
 * Kovarro, a Dothraki warrior and Bloodrider to Daenerys.
 * Aggo, a Dothraki warrior and Bloodrider to Daenerys. Missing in the Red Waste
 * {Rakharo}, a Dothraki warrior and Bloodrider to Daenerys. Killed and beheaded by a rival khalasar

Military strength
From exile Daenerys commands a khalasar containing only dozens of riders, less than half of whom are warriors. Her trio of hatchling dragons are not yet large enough to fight.

King Robert Baratheon expressed fear that even after all these years, there are still a sizable number of noble Houses in Westeros who are either secret Targaryen loyalists, or who later developed some grievance with Robert's rule, and would flock to the Targaryen banner if they attempted to retake the throne in open war.

In the books
In the books House Targaryen moved from Valyria to Dragonstone, apparently in fear of a prophecy predicting the destruction of Valyria a century before it happened. After the fall of Valyria, the Targaryens stayed on Dragonstone for a hundred years, apparently hoarding the strength of their dragons and debating whether to invade Westeros or to attempt to seize control of the Valyrian colony-states which later became known as the Free Cities. In the event, they chose to invade Westeros instead.

House Targaryen ruled Westeros for 283 years, during which time they survived substantial civil wars (including the Dance of Dragons and no less than five Blackfyre Rebellions), plague (the Great Spring Sickness) and even an attempted foreign invasion (in the War of the Ninepenny Kings). They were brought down when the Mad King's insanity became too dangerous to be ignored.

The Targaryens adopted the religion and many of the customs of Westeros, but two old Valyrian customs they continued to perform in defiance of public disapproval: Targaryen princes and kings were allowed to have multiple wives and Targaryens were allowed to marry brother to sister, something considered an abominable sin elsewhere in Westeros.

Due to constant inbreeding, insanity became a common factor in Targaryens. By the later centuries of their rule, it was joked that when a new Targaryen was born the gods would flip a coin to decide if it would be a brilliant statesman or insane. This does not mean that all Targaryens were as a rule mentally unstable, as seen with how Daenerys is mentally stable while her own brother Viserys is disturbed.

The generations of Targaryen inbreeding produced a distinctive set of physical features shared by all of their members during the House's three centuries of rule. This includes a generally pale appearance with silver-white (platinum blonde) hair, and purple irises. While pale they are not albinos, but even their eyebrows are white. The TV series opted not to portray Targaryens with purples eyes, given the logistical difficulty in matching up purple contact lenses for actors in every shot. Another slight difference is that they didn't dye the dark eyebrows of actors playing Targaryens (the actors playing both Daenerys and Viserys are actually dark-haired in real life).