Alysanne Targaryen

Alysanne Targaryen
Biographical information
Born	Red Keep, King's Landing
Political information
House(s)	Targaryen
Title(s)	Princess Queen Consort
Personal information
Also known as	Good Queen Alysanne
Culture	Valyrian
Father	{Aenys I Targaryen}
Mother	{Alyssa Velaryon}
Spouse(s)	{Jaehaerys I Targaryen}
Issue	{Aegon Targaryen} {Daenerys Targaryen} {Aemon Targaryen} {Baelon Targaryen} {Alyssa Targaryen} {Maegelle Targaryen} {Vaegon Targaryen} {Daella Targaryen} {Saera Targaryen} {Viserra Targaryen} {Gaemon Targaryen} {Valerion Targaryen} {Gael Targaryen}

"King's Landing has been in decline since my grandmother passed."

―Viserys I Targaryen

Queen Alysanne Targaryen, remembered as Good Queen Alysanne, was the sister-wife of King Jaehaerys I Targaryen, fourth king of the Targaryen Dynasty. Alysanne rode the dragon Silverwing, and her husband Jaehaerys rode the dragon Vermithor.

Biography

Background

Alysanne's name appears on-screen in a list of dragons and dragon riders from an in-universe manuscript.

Alysanne was the sister-wife of Jaehaerys I, the fourth king of the Targaryen dynasty. Like Jaehaerys, she was a child of the second Targaryen king, Aenys Targaryen. Their uncle Maegor the Cruel seized the Iron Throne upon their father's death, during the Faith Militant uprising.

After Maegor eventually died, Jaehaerys ascended to the throne, with Alysanne as his queen. Jaehaerys and Alysanne visited Winterfell and the Wall during their reign. Jaehaerys and Alysanne ruled so long that upon Jaehaerys's death, he was succeeded by their grandson, Viserys I Targaryen.

Queen Alysanne was a dragonrider. Her mount was Silverwing, one of the large second-generation progeny of the original three Targaryen dragons.

House of the Dragon: Season 1

Viserys says that Daemon's radical reforms of the City Watch may be a good thing, as King's Landing has been on a decline since Queen Alysanne's death.

Lord Beric Dondarrion claims that Queen Alysanne visited Blackhaven, and was inspired by the view across the Marches.

House of the Dragon: Season 2

Cregan Stark tells Jace that when Jaehaerys and Alysanne visited the Wall, their dragons refused to fly past it.

Family

Ancestors

Visenya Targaryen Deceased

Aegon I Targaryen Deceased

Rhaenys Targaryen Deceased

Orys Baratheon Deceased

Argella Baratheon née Durrandon Deceased

Aenys I Targaryen Deceased

Alyssa Velaryon Deceased

Maegor I Targaryen Deceased

Ceryse Hightower 1st wife Deceased

Alys Harroway 2nd wife Deceased

Tyanna of the Tower 3rd wife Deceased

Elinor Costayne Black Bride Deceased

Jeyne Westerling Black Bride Deceased

Rhaena Targaryen Black Bride Deceased

Axel Baratheon Deceased

Raymont Baratheon Deceased

Rhaena Targaryen Deceased

Aegon Targaryen Deceased

Viserys Targaryen Deceased

Jaehaerys I Targaryen Deceased

Alysanne Targaryen Deceased

Vaella Targaryen Deceased

Child Stillborn

Child Stillborn

Child Stillborn

Child Stillborn

Descendants

Rhaena Targaryen Deceased

Aegon Targaryen Deceased

Viserys Targaryen Deceased

Jaehaerys I Targaryen1 Deceased

Alysanne Targaryen Deceased

Vaella Targaryen Deceased

Aemon Targaryen Deceased

Jocelyn Baratheon Deceased

Rodrik Arryn Deceased

Daella Targaryen Deceased

Baelon Targaryen Deceased

Alyssa Targaryen Deceased

Corlys Velaryon

Rhaenys Targaryen Deceased

Aemma Arryn Deceased

Viserys I Targaryen2 Deceased

Alicent Hightower

Daemon Targaryen

Rhea Royce Deceased

Daemon Targaryen

Laena Velaryon Deceased

Laenor Velaryon3

Rhaenyra Targaryen2

Daemon Targaryen

Aegon II Targaryen

Helaena Targaryen

Aemond Targaryen

Daeron Targaryen

Baela Targaryen

Rhaena Targaryen

Jacaerys Velaryon

Lucerys Velaryon Deceased

Joffrey Velaryon

Aegon Targaryen

Viserys Targaryen

Jaehaerys Targaryen Deceased

Jaehaera Targaryen

¹ Jaehaerys had thirteen children in all. For simplicity, only the direct ancestors of future generations are on this family tree and they are not in the exact order of birth. The thirteen children in correct order are: Aegon, Daenerys, Aemon, Baelon, Alyssa, Maegelle, Vaegon, Daella, Saera, Viserra, Gaemon, Valerion, and Gael.

² Due to the nature of their respective births and deaths, Baelon Targaryen, son of Viserys and Aemma, and Visenya Targaryen, daughter of Rhaenyra and Daemon, are not included on this family tree.

³ While Jacaerys, Lucerys, and Joffrey are officially Laenor's, he and Rhaenyra never had any biological issue. Their three sons were in fact fathered by Harwin Strong.

In the books

Alysanne Targaryen by Roman "Amok" Papsuev.©

In the A Song of Ice and Fire novels, Jaehaerys I is fondly remembered as one of the best kings the Targaryen dynasty ever produced, and his sister-wife Alysanne is similarly remembered as one of its best queens. Indeed, Alysanne was practically a co-ruler with Jaehaerys, heavily involved in governing the realm - and given that they were both children of the past king and married to each other, it was somewhat of a moot point exactly which one of them was the "official" monarch (technically Jaehaerys was).

Jaehaerys I and Alysanne were the youngest children of Aegon I's older son, Aenys I, a weakling who did not easily hold onto the throne. He died of stress at the outbreak of the Faith Militant uprising, at which his younger brother Maegor the Cruel usurped the throne ahead of Aenys's own children. Maegor killed Aenys's eldest son Aegon in battle, then forced his sister-wife Rhaena (Maegor's own half-niece) to marry him. When Maegor's mother Visenya died in 44 AC it caused enough of a distraction for Aenys's wife Alyssa Velaryon to flee their captivity on Dragonstone along with Jaehaerys and Alysanne. Aenys's second son, Alysanne's elder brother Viserys was then tortured to death by Maegor at King's Landing in retaliation. Jaehaerys was left as Aenys's heir, and in the face of Maegor's continuing depravity, rebel lords across the realm increasingly switched their loyalty to him. In the end there was no great new civil war as all of Maegor's allies totally abandoned him, and he opened his wrists on the Iron Throne rather than be taken alive.

Jaehaerys, who knew well how the Faith regarded incestuous marriage, took precautions to assure that his marriage would be accepted by his subjects - not by force (as his weak father and evil uncle acted), but willingly. For that purpose, he sent out three men and four women - known as the "Seven Speakers" (among them was one of Maegor's wives, Elinor Costayne) - throughout the realm to tell anyone they met about Alysanne's kindness, piety, and generosity, her sweet and gentle nature, and her love for her husband and all the people of the kingdom, great and small. Whenever someone challenged the Seven Speakers by citing passages from The Seven-Pointed Star, they had a ready answer, known as the Doctrine of Exceptionalism: the Targaryens were different, their roots were not in Andalos, but in Valyria of old, where different laws and traditions held sway, therefore the laws of the Seven did not apply to them. The Seven Speakers successfully performed their assignment, and no one rose against the King Jaehaerys and Queen Alysanne (though there was a nasty incident at Maidenpool when a band of particularly fanatical septas tried to assassinate a pregnant Alysanne; she survived the attack thanks to the swift intervention of her ladies in waiting and the Kingsguard, but the shock of her ordeal soon after sent Alysanne into premature labor. The child, a boy she named Aegon, died three days after his birth, a loss she always blamed on the trauma of the assassination attempt).

The subsequent reign of Jaehaerys I and Alysanne lasted over 50 years and was a golden age of peace and prosperity across all of Westeros. Alysanne is popularly remembered as "Good Queen Alysanne". Among her many acts governing the kingdoms, she convinced Jaehaerys to enact several new domestic violence and rape laws, among them the "First Night" right; by that, Alysanne earned the love of the smallfolk. A dragon rider like her husband, Alysanne once flew to Winterfell on a royal visit - her on Silverwing, Jaehaerys I on Vermithor, along with four other dragons. On a whim she flew ahead to the Wall; recognizing the poor state of repair that the Night's Watch had dwindled to, she became a great patron of the order, paying with her own jewelry. She also persuaded her husband to extend the Gift.

Jaehaerys and Alysanne ruled wisely and well for over fifty years. Jaehaerys lived so long that he actually outlived Alysanne as well as most of his children (many of whom died untimely deaths), and was thus succeeded by his grandson Viserys I - the only time in history that a king was succeeded by his grandson. Alysanne predeceased Jaehaerys by about three years, and her loss broke the old king for the few remaining years of his life, leaving him bedridden until his death.

In terms of Alysanne's personality and temperament, Alysanne was the very model of a dignified, wise, yet powerful monarch (much like her brother-husband). George R.R. Martin described her appearance (for licensed artwork) as similar to Katharine Hepburn's portrayal of Eleanor of Aquitaine in the 1968 film adaptation of The Lion in Winter.

Children

Jaehaerys and Alysanne had thirteen children together. In order of birth, their names were Aegon, Alyssa, Aemon, Baelon, Daella, Aeryn, Vaegon, Maegelle, Valerion, Viserra, Gaemon, Saera, and Gael - but of these thirteen only nine would live to adulthood: Aegon, Aeryn, Valerion, and Gaemon all died young. Apparently, only four of them had children in turn (and two of them, Baelon and Alyssa, were married to each other). According to Fire & Blood, however, the second child was called Daenerys (the first Targaryen who was named Daenerys, preceding the daughter of Aegon IV and Daenerys Stormborn), and there was no Aeryn.

Aemon married outside of the family, to his aunt (his parents' half-sister) Jocelyn Baratheon, by whom he had a daughter he named Rhaenys, after his father's grandmother. Aemon died in 92 AC fighting against Myrish pirates who had seized the eastern side of Tarth. Jaehaerys ultimately chose Baelon over Rhaenys as his heir - despite the fact that an older daughter normally succeeded ahead of a younger uncle according to the normal inheritance laws in Westeros. The exact circumstances that led to such a decision are unclear but it briefly caused a major rift between Jaehaerys and Alysanne.

Baelon himself had two surviving children with his sister Alyssa, sons Viserys and Daemon. Baelon was also named Hand of the King, but later died of a burst belly in 101 AC, two years before Jaehaerys I died, leading to a Great Council to determine who the heir should be. Rhaenys again put forward her claim, along with those of her children Laenor and Laena Velaryon, but she was again rejected in favor of Jaehaerys's grandson Viserys I Targaryen. Daella married Lord Rodrik Arryn and died giving birth to a daughter, Aemma Arryn, who was the first wife of Viserys I and the mother of Rhaenyra Targaryen.

Vaegon was given to the Citadel at a young age and later became an archmaester, holding a ring, rod, and mask of yellow gold suggesting that he mastered economics. Maegelle joined the Faith and became a septa. Well known for her compassion, she nursed children afflicted with greyscale, but she eventually contracted the disease herself and ultimately died of it. Viserra was a high-spirited girl who as betrothed to Lord Manderly of White Harbor, but she died in a mishap when she fell off her horse while racing drunkenly through the streets of King's Landing. After becoming embroiled in a number of scandals at court, Saera was given to the Faith, in hopes time serving in the Silent Sisters would temper her, but she had other wishes and left across the Narrow Sea and did not return from the East, greatly saddening Jaehaerys I in his old age. She later became the owner of a famous pleasure house in Volantis. Gael was a simple-minded but sweet girl who was Queen Alysanne's favorite. It was said that she died of a summer fever but the truth was that she drowned herself in the Blackwater. The reason was that she had been seduced and abandoned by a traveling singer who left her pregnant. In her grief, Alysanne would die a year later - leaving the elderly Jaehaerys an empty shell of himself for the last three years of his life.

The practical result of all this is that despite Alysanne giving birth to thirteen children by Jaehaerys, they only had three grandchildren who survived to adulthood and had children of their own: Rhaenys, Viserys I, and Daemon.

Appearances

• The Dance of Dragons (mentioned in text)
• – "The Heirs of the Dragon" (mentioned)
• – "King of the Narrow Sea" (mentioned)
• – "A Son for a Son" (mentioned)

External links

• Alysanne Targaryen on A Wiki of Ice and Fire (potential spoilers for House of the Dragon)