House of the Dragon Timeline EXPLAINED

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It's time for a dragon deep dive! Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we’re looking at how “House of the Dragon” fits into the larger history of the Targaryens.

Transcript

00:00The idea that we control the dragons is an illusion.

00:05Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're looking at how House of the Dragon fits into the larger

00:10history of the Targaryens.

00:12There will be spoilers for events in both House of the Dragon and Game of Thrones.

00:16The Dragonlords, the highest of the nobility, lived here.

00:22The Doom of Valyria.

00:24Four centuries before the events of Game of Thrones, a Targaryen named Daenys dreamt of

00:28a fiery apocalypse that would destroy Valyria, the capital city of the Valyrian Freehold.

00:34The Freehold of Valyria, as it came to be known, became the most advanced civilization

00:39in the known world.

00:40Ruling over the Freehold were the Lords Freeholder, the most powerful of which were the Dragonlords.

00:45At the time, the Targaryens were not a particularly prominent Dragonlords family, but that was

00:51about to change.

00:52Heeding his daughter Daenys, Lord Aenar Targaryen and his family left Essos behind, settling

00:57in Dragonstone.

00:58Sure enough, 12 years later in 102 BC, a devastating volcanic eruption reduced the mighty Valyrian

01:04civilization to ashes.

01:06The peninsula itself was shattered, becoming what is now the Smoking Sea.

01:11In the aftermath, the Targaryens were left as the last Dragonlord standing, and so began

01:17the Dragonriding clan's rise to even greater power.

01:20For thousands of years, the Valyrians were the best in the world at almost everything.

01:27Aegon's Conquest

01:31For decades, Targaryen eyes remained fixed on events to the east in Essos.

01:36However, Aegon I changed that, his gaze drawn westward.

01:41When he launched his conquest in the year 2 BC, he arrived on Westerosi shores with

01:45only a modest army.

01:47But he had his dragon Beleriand the Black Dread, and his two sisters, who were also

01:52his wives, had their dragons Vhagar and Meraxes.

01:55The quarrelsome kings of Westeros stood little chance against them.

01:59Within just two years, they all fell, with the exception of Dorne.

02:04After his victory, Aegon forged the Iron Throne from the swords of his foes, and established

02:09the city of King's Landing where he and his sisters had first come ashore.

02:13And Aegon ordered the construction of a royal castle on its highest hill, the Red Keep.

02:19The year 1 AC, after the Conquest, marks the beginning of his reign.

02:23Despite the Targaryen's control over fire-breathing dragons, there was no challenging them.

02:28Ironically, the only ones capable of destroying the Targaryens were the Targaryens themselves.

02:34Here's another twist.

02:36Aegon didn't conquer Westeros on a whim of power-hungry ambition.

02:39As revealed in House of the Dragon, a prophetic vision of the end of the world influenced

02:44his decision.

02:45It was a dream, and just as Daenys foresaw the end of Valyria, Aegon foresaw the end

02:50of the world of men.

02:52This vision comes true centuries later with the rise of White Walkers in the Game of Thrones timeline.

03:02From Aegon I to Rhaenyra, the Targaryens continued the Valyrian tradition of incestuous marriage

03:08to keep their bloodline pure.

03:10Aegon I fathered sons with both his sister-wives, the crown passing first to his son with Rhaenys,

03:16Aenys.

03:18However, after Aenys' death, Aegon's son with Visenya Maegor claimed the throne.

03:22Maegor the Cruel proved to be a tyrannous ruler and came into conflict with the Faith

03:27over his multiple wives.

03:29Amid rising discontent, Aenys' son Jaehaerys put forth his own claim to the throne.

03:35Soon after, Maegor was found dead on the Iron Throne, slashed and impaled by the very swords

03:40he sat on.

03:42Wise and just, Jaehaerys reigned for 55 years.

03:45Which brings us to the events of House of the Dragon, where Jaehaerys must choose an

03:49heir from among his grandchildren.

03:51Although Rhaenys was eldest, tradition favoured male succession, and Jaehaerys chose Viserys,

03:57forever branding Rhaenys the queen who never was.

04:00The Prince Viserys Targaryen.

04:03Bucking tradition, Viserys eventually named his daughter Rhaenyra as his heir.

04:08Rhaenyra Targaryen, Princess of Dragonstone, and heir to the Iron Throne.

04:15However, the widowed king remarried to Rhaenyra's childhood friend Alicent Hightower, and in

04:20a royal twist, after his death, their son Aegon II claimed the throne.

04:32The Dance of the Dragons.

04:34With both Aegon II and Rhaenyra crowned and claiming the throne, a brutal war was inevitable.

04:40Taking place in 129 AC, nearly 170 years before the events in Game of Thrones, the

04:46Dance of Dragons led to the near extinction of the world's last dragon lords.

04:58Those loyal to Rhaenyra, nicknamed the Blacks, rallied to her, while the Greens backed Alicent.

05:03One of the catalysts for the royal bloodbath was the murder of Rhaenyra's son Lucerys,

05:08and the murder in revenge of Aegon II's son Jaehaerys.

05:17We won't go into too many details about what followed, as we don't want to spoil the rest

05:22of House of the Dragon, but this bloody civil war almost led to the complete destruction

05:27of the Targaryens and their dragons, and ended the House's golden age.

05:38The Decline of House Targaryen.

05:40As with many dynasties, the history of the Targaryens is one of conquest, power, and

05:46eventual decline.

05:47During the reign of Aegon III, the last dragon died, and their remaining eggs would not hatch.

05:53This had been crucial to the Targaryen grip on power.

05:56Over subsequent decades, Targaryen rulers struggled to squash various rebellions, most

06:01notably those led by the Targaryen bastard Daemon Blackfyre and his descendants.

06:06Adding fuel to the fire was their infamous penchant for intermarriage.

06:10While intended to maintain the purity of their Valyrian blood, it sometimes resulted in offspring

06:15prone to eccentricity and cruelty.

06:18This may help explain why later Targaryen rulers proved to be incompetent and self-destructive,

06:23dragging their once-great house down to ruin.

06:26Which brings us to the Mad King.

06:34Robert's Rebellion.

06:38The Mad King Aerys II was fond of burning his enemies, but his murder of Rickard Stark,

06:44Lord of Winterfell, and his son Brandon sealed the fate of his house.

06:48The Starks had been protesting the apparent abduction of Lyanna Stark by Prince Rhaegar.

07:06In 282 AC, Robert Baratheon, who had been betrothed to Lyanna, rebelled, together with

07:12Lord of the Eyrie Jon Arryn and Eddard Stark, Rickard's son and Brandon's brother.

07:18It was, however, Tywin Lannister's cunning that led to the brutal sack of King's Landing

07:21and the end of the Targaryen reign.

07:24The Targaryen line was almost wiped out, the king stabbed to death by a member of his own

07:29Kingsguard, Ser Jaime Lannister.

07:40Only two of his children, Daenerys and Viserys, survived, smuggled out of Dragonstone before

07:45Robert's brother Stannis captured it.

07:47Robert ascended the throne, and this, of course, leads to the events in Game of Thrones, where

07:52Daenerys outlives her cruel brother and manages to hatch three new dragons.

08:04The Last Targaryen

08:05In the screen adaptation of George R.R. Martin's novels, it's revealed that another Targaryen

08:10survived, Jon Snow, son of Rhaegar and Lyanna.

08:14In Martin's book series, there's also a young man, young Griff, who claims to be the son

08:19of Rhaegar and Elia Martell, yet another Aegon.

08:22It remains to be seen how events will play out in the books, but in Game of Thrones'

08:26controversial final season, Daenerys does conquer Westeros, only to go from savior to

08:32mad queen, unable to avoid her father's fatal flaws.

08:42Her tragic end leaves Jon Snow as the last surviving member of the once-great House Targaryen.

08:53Which Targaryen do you deem the greatest of them all?

08:56Let us know what you think in the comments below.

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09:12Thanks for watching!

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