HOUSE TARGARYEN

House Targaryen of Dragonstone is an exiled Great House of Westeros and the former royal house to the Seven Kingdoms for approximately three-hundred years. House Targaryen conquered and unified the realm before it was deposed during Robert's Rebellion and House Baratheon replaced it as the new royal house by the usurper king, Robert Baratheon. The two surviving Targaryens, Viserys and Daenerys, fled into exile to the Free Cities of Essos across the Narrow Sea in order to avoid certain death as the heirs to the Iron Throne. House Lannister later replaced House Baratheon as the royal house following Cersei Lannister’s destruction of the Great Sept of Baelor, but the realm was reconquered by Daenerys Targaryen, who took back the Iron Throne following the Battle of King's Landing.

After she laid waste to the surrendered capital of King’s Landing, Daenerys was assassinated by her ally, Jon Snow, in order to prevent further destruction, as she was responsible for the deaths of hundreds of innocent civilians, much like her father, King Aerys Targaryen, during Robert’s Rebellion. Jon Snow then became the last known living member of House Targaryen, as his identity as the son of Prince Rhaegar Targaryen was kept hidden from Westeros for decades. Following the assassination of Daenerys, Jon is exiled to the Night's Watch for the rest of his days. Outside of Jon Snow, the bloodline of House Targaryen still exists in various houses, such as House Baratheon, House Velaryon and House Martell.

House Targaryen's sigil is a three-headed red dragon on a black background, and their house words are "Fire and Blood."

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 during “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 was said to have kidnapped Lyanna Stark of Winterfell for unknown reasons. When Lyanna's brother Brandon protested, Aerys responded by having both him and his father Rickard Stark arrested and executed. 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 children, Viserys and Daenerys, were taken by Targaryen loyalists into exile in the Free Cities of the East. Unknown to most, however, Rhaegar had his marriage with Elia Martell annulled and remarried Lyanna, with whom he also had a son, Jon Snow. As Lyanna lay dying after giving birth to her son, she pleaded with her brother Eddard to keep her baby safe from Robert, who surely would want her baby dead due to her betrothed’s immense hatred for Rhaegar as well as his promise to wipe out the Targaryen bloodline. She reveals her son's name is 'Aegon Targaryen'. To protect his sister's son from Robert, Eddard takes his infant nephew back with his home of Winterfell, names him 'Jon,' and claims him as his illegitimate son, raising Jon as his own child alongside his trueborn children. The child would become Jon Snow, who grows up with the maternal side of his family.

Generations of compound inbreeding have preserved in the Targaryen bloodline the classic Valyrian features of silver-white or platinum blonde hair, and very fair, pale skin. Allegedly, this also preserved in their bloodline the ability to successfully bond with and ride dragons. They also seem to be somewhat more tolerant of extreme heat and high temperatures than other people, though they are by no means invulnerable to fire – or at least, not all of them. Unfortunately, some believe that this practice of inbreeding has also caused the trait of insanity to plague House Targaryen; though some members are known to be perfectly normal psychologically-speaking, other Targaryens throughout history have displayed bizarre, erratic and sometimes violent behavior, succumbing to the so-called 'Targaryen madness'.

 MEMBERS and ALLIES

*REPRESENTED IN THE SERIES*