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"Fire and blood."

- Varys to Lady Olenna Tyrell, quoting the words of House Targaryen

The Targaryen Invasion of Westeros began shortly after the enslaved populace of Slaver's Bay, now known as the Bay of Dragons, was liberated by House Targaryen. Following the liberation, the claimant Queen of the Iron Islands Yara Greyjoy formed an alliance with Queen Daenerys I Targaryen, sharing with her the Iron Fleet. The new Targaryen royal fleet was also made up of the ships of the former slave masters, as well as contributions from Dorne and House Tyrell, who once more pledged fealty to House Targaryen through an alliance brokered by Varys. The royal fleet is currently en route to Westeros to take back the Seven Kingdoms from House Lannister.

Prelude
Since the War of Conquest, House Targaryen was the royal house of the unified realm of the Seven Kingdoms of Westeros. However, the rule of King Aerys II Targaryen, the Mad King, was threatened during Robert's Rebellion, in which several noble houses rose up in rebellion against the Iron Throne. The rebellion ultimately resulted in a rebel victory; House Baratheon of King's Landing was formed by Lord Robert Baratheon, who was crowned King of the Andals and the First Men. The Mad King and his eldest son, the crown prince Rhaegar Targaryen, were both slain, the former during the Sack of King's Landing and the latter during the Battle of the Trident. Queen Rhaella Targaryen and her son Viserys fled to Dragonstone, where she died giving birth to Daenerys Targaryen. The two were eventually smuggled across the Narrow Sea to Essos.

Though the realm was relatively stable under Robert I, his death threw the Seven Kingdoms into another civil war, the War of the Five Kings. Two independence movements arose - the Kingdom of the North led by Robb Stark and the Kingdom of the Iron Islands led by Balon Greyjoy - while three individuals lay claim to the Iron Throne: Robert's alleged son, Joffrey Baratheon, who in reality was the bastard son born of incest - as well as his brother and sister - between Robert's wife Cersei Lannister and her twin brother Ser Jaime Lannister, backed by House Lannister, Robert's eldest brother Stannis Baratheon, and Robert and Stannis' younger brother Renly Baratheon. Renly was initially backed by House Tyrell until his assassination; the Tyrells then sided with the Lannisters, and helped them defeat Stannis Baratheon at the Battle of Blackwater Bay. Stannis would meet his final defeat at the Battle of Winterfell, where his army was broken by House Bolton and he himself was executed by Brienne of Tarth, who was a member of Renly's Kingsguard and witnessed his own death.

The Lannister-Tyrell alliance came to an end after Cersei Lannister destroyed the Great Sept of Baelor with wildfire, murdering Lord Mace, Ser Loras, and Queen Margaery Tyrell in the process. King Tommen I committed suicide after the explosion, rendering House Baratheon legally extinct once and for all, and finally allowing House Lannister to rule as the new royal house, with Cersei herself as the Queen of the Andals and the First Men. Following this massacre, Lady Olenna Tyrell sided with House Targaryen, led by claimant Queen Daenerys I Targaryen, who had been building up her own army in Essos while liberating the enslaved populace of Slaver's Bay. In Dorne, after poisoning the innocent Princess Myrcella Baratheon as revenge against Cersei, Ellaria Sand, paramour to the late Oberyn Martell, and the Sand Snakes murdered Prince Doran Martell, Oberyn's brother, and Trystane Martell, Doran's son, seizing power in Dorne for themselves. After this, Dorne also entered into an alliance with Daenerys Targaryen. On the Iron Islands, the King of the Iron Islands Balon Greyjoy was murdered by his brother Euron, who was later chosen at a kingsmoot by the captains and lords of the Iron Islands to rule as the new king. Following the kingsmoot, Balon's children Yara and Theon stole the best ships of the Iron Fleet and sailed to Meereen, where they made a pact with Daenerys Targaryen, who agreed to support Yara's claim to the Salt Throne of the Iron Islands.

The North, the Riverlands, and the Vale of Arryn have all been involved in the War of the Five Kings but have not (possibly yet) spilled over to the new conflict. Though the King in the North Robb Stark was betrayed and murdered by Houses Frey and Bolton at the Red Wedding, House Bolton was only able to hold onto the North for a few short years. Following the Battle of the Bastards, in which House Bolton was destroyed and House Stark took back Winterfell and the North, the "bastard of Winterfell" Jon Snow was chosen by his bannermen, as well as the lords of the Vale, as the new King in the North. House Frey's control over the Riverlands, meanwhile, has been slipping as riverlords and smallfolk rebel against House Frey, refusing to accept their rule; despite this, the Freys are still backed by the Iron Throne.