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- "After Aegon's coronation, Rhaenys returned to Dorne with Aegon and Visenya and their dragons. But no armies met them in the field and no lords defied them in their castles. As the dragons approached, Dorne simply emptied."
- ―Varys
The occupation of Sunspear was the opening engagement in the First Dornish War, which saw the armies of Aegon the Conqueror invade Sunspear, the capital of Dorne. Expecting to meet the forces of House Martell, they instead found the Dornish capital empty and thus proceeded to occupy it on behalf of King Aegon.
History[]
Prelude[]
During Aegon's Conquest, Queen Rhaenys Targaryen confronted Meria Martell, the Princess of Dorne, demanding her surrender in Meria’s castle, Sunspear, and allowing for the full unification of the Seven Kingdoms. Despite her old age and in the presence of Rhaenys’s dragon, Meraxes, Meria firmly told Rhaenys that the Targaryens were not welcomed in Dorne and her people would never yield, no matter how badly they burn. Even though Rhaenys had Meria at her mercy and had the opportunity to kill her and take Dorne by force, Rhaenys was disturbed by Meria’s demeanor and promptly left Dorne for King’s Landing.
The occupation[]
Following the coronation of Aegon I Targaryen at the Starry Sept, Rhaenys returned on Meraxes, alongside Aegon atop his dragon, Balerion the Black Dread, and Visenya Targaryen atop hers, Vhagar. However when they reached Dorne, they discovered that Sunspear was empty, while the Dornish lords they encountered willingly surrendered without a fight. Dorne knew from the Field of Fire and the Burning of Harrenhal that it would be inappropriate to engage against three dragons in the open and thus decided to desert the city instead and hide within the Dornish desert. Believing House Targaryen to be victorious, King Aegon installed a royal garrison in Sunspear and castellans for each Dornish stronghold, as House Targaryen ruled from the capital city of King's Landing to a supposedly united Seven Kingdoms.
Aftermath[]
After Aegon and his sister-wives had departed, the Dornishmen, who had went into hiding, revolted against the Targaryen army. They began throwing castellans off of the towers of Sunspear, the seat of House Martell, and then deserting them for the deserts of Dorne once again. The incident ignited a protracted insurgency in Dorne, as the Dornish resorted to guerilla warfare to resist the Targaryen conquest.
In the books[]
In 4 AC, King Aegon I Targaryen launched an invasion of Dorne, intend on completing his conquest of the Seven Kingdoms. However, although House Wyl led an assault against the Targaryen forces in the Boneway, the other Dornish lords abandoned their castles, neither willing to defend them nor willing to bend the knee.
The first assault was led by Queen Rhaenys Targaryen. On her way to Sunspear, she seized the Dornish seats she encountered and had her dragon Meraxes burn the Planky Town. Meanwhile, King Aegon I and Lord Harlan Tyrell fought in the Prince's Pass, facing heavy resistance as their forces were ambushed by Dornish defenders who fled and hid as soon as the dragons took to the air, while Lord Orys Baratheon led a force through the Boneway. Lord Harlan Tyrell, while leading his army to Hellholt, saw many of his soldiers die of thirst and from the heat. Those who finally managed to reach Hellholt found the castle to be deserted.
King Aegon briefly besieged Yronwood, which was defended by a few handful of old men, boys, and women. He later found the castle of Skyreach abandoned, but at Ghost Hill was challenged to single combat by Lord Toland's champion. After Aegon slew him with Blackfyre, he discovered that the "champion" had in truth been Lord Toland's mad fool. Worse, Ghost Hill turned out to be deserted as well.
Lord Orys Baratheon fared worse in his assault up the Boneway. His army was pelted with rocks, arrows, and spears from above, while his men were murdered in the night. Towards the end, the Dornishmen blocked the Boneway both in front of Orys's army and behind, and the Wyl of Wyl managed to capture Lord Orys and many of his bannermen and knights. They would remain captives of House Wyl until 7 AC.
When the Targaryens finally arrived at Sunspear, they discovered that Princess Meria had vanished. Declaring themselves victorious, King Aegon and Queen Rhaenys placed Dorne under the rule of the Iron Throne. They returned to King's Landing, leaving Lord Rosby as castellan of Sunspear and charged Lord Harlan Tyrell with putting down any revolts that might arise.
Full-out war[]
Meraxes and Rhaenys Targaryen were killed during the First Dornish War, as depicted by Chase Stone in The World of Ice and Fire.
Aegon and Rhaenys had only just returned to King's Landing when the Dornish rebelled against the Targaryens. From Sunspear's shadow city, Dornishmen came forth, retaking the castle. Lord Rosby was captured, and thrown from a window atop the Spear Tower by Princess Meria Martell. In 5 AC, Lord Harlan Tyrell marched his army from Hellholt, intend on taking the castle of Vaith and Sunspear. In the deserts of Dorne, Harlan and his entire army disappeared never to be seen again.
References[]
External links[]
| Aegon's Conquest | |
| First Dornish War |
Occupation of Sunspear · Defenestration of Sunspear · Assault on Oldtown · Attack on Hellholt · Dragon's Wroth · Attempted assassination of Aegon I Targaryen |