Aegon burns Harren the Black alive inside Harrenhal, melting the castle's stones with dragonfire.

Aegon's dragon kills thousands of enemy soldiers at the Field of Fire, the decisive battle of the Conquest.

Aegon is crowned king and builds the Iron Throne from the melted swords of his defeated enemies.

Rhaenys Targaryen and her dragon Meraxes are killed while fighting in Hellholt, Dorne.

Maegor the Cruel kills his brother Aenys's heir in single combat, violating his duty to protect kin.

Maegor is found dead on the Iron Throne, having bled out from wounds inflicted by its many blades.

The Great Council of lords chooses Viserys I as heir, rejecting the claims of Rhaenys and all female lines.

Viserys I names Rhaenyra Princess of Dragonstone and forces lords across Westeros to swear oaths recognizing her as heir.

After Viserys I dies, the Greens secretly crown Aegon the Elder king in the Dragonpit.

Aemond Targaryen kills his nephew Lucerys Velaryon in a dragon battle, making full-scale war inevitable.

Rhaenyra takes King's Landing and sits on the Iron Throne, but emerges bleeding from its many cuts.

Smallfolk in King's Landing storm the Dragonpit and slaughter the remaining dragons.

Aegon II uses his wounded dragon Sunfyre to kill Rhaenyra at Dragonstone as her young son watches.

Aegon II is poisoned to death, and his councilors install Aegon the Younger as King Aegon III.

Aegon III dismisses his regents and Hand on the day he becomes king in his own right.

Beginning with Aegon the Conqueror's brutal seizure of Westeros, this pool follows the main arc of Targaryen rule through its greatest triumphs and most catastrophic failures. After Aegon establishes the Iron Throne, later rulers like Maegor the Cruel demonstrate how quickly power can be lost through unchecked violence. The dynastic question of succession becomes catastrophic when Viserys I names his daughter Rhaenyra heir, splitting Westeros into the Green and Black factions. The Dance of the Dragons tears the realm apart, ending with Rhaenyra's brutal death and the crowning of a deeply traumatized child king. These headline events trace the main bloodline of Targaryen power and show how each generation's failures shaped the next.

The rise and fall of Targaryen kings from conquest to civil war.

Lord Torrhen Stark surrenders to Aegon's forces rather than face his dragons, becoming the King Who Knelt.

Visenya Targaryen creates the Kingsguard, a sworn brotherhood of seven knights pledged to protect the king's life.

Aenys I gifts the Valyrian sword Blackfyre to his brother Maegor, granting him a symbol of equal authority.

Maegor and Visenya fly their dragons to the Starry Sept and burn it, breaking the power of the Faith Militant.

Jaehaerys I takes power and exiles rebel lords who served Maegor, declaring that their words alone cannot earn back trust.

Jaehaerys sends the Seven Speakers across Westeros to build popular support for the Doctrine of Exceptionalism.

Elissa Farman steals three dragon eggs from Dragonstone and sells them to the Sealord of Braavos to fund her escape.

Aerea Targaryen returns from Valyria atop Balerion, dying as creatures writhe and cook her from the inside.

Angry citizens lynch the master of coin Rego Draz, blaming him for heavy taxes and the shivers plague.

Daemon Targaryen is made commander of the City Watch and unexpectedly transforms it into a disciplined fighting force.

Rhaenyra Targaryen marries Laenor Velaryon in a match designed to strengthen her claim to the Iron Throne.

Rhaenyra's son Jacaerys puts out Aemond's eye during a fight over who has the right to ride the dragon Vhagar.

Alicent Hightower surrenders the Red Keep to Rhaenyra's forces without open battle.

Cregan Stark is appointed Hand and sentences Larys Strong to death as an oath-breaker and conspirator.

The scarred Tyland Lannister serves as the Hooded Hand and restores order to Westeros before dying of the Winter Fever.

While the main plot follows kings and heirs, these events reveal the institutions, betrayals, and lesser crises that defined Targaryen rule over generations. From the founding of the Kingsguard to the fatal theft of dragon eggs, each moment exposes a fragility in the dynasty's grip on power. Key figures like Daemon Targaryen and Cregan Stark act decisively at moments when the throne is most vulnerable, pulling the realm back from the brink or pushing it further into chaos. The steady loss of dragons to theft, disaster, and battle gradually erodes the Targaryens' greatest military and symbolic advantage. By the time the civil war ends and a semblance of order is restored, the damage to the dynasty and the realm has become nearly irreparable.

The supporting events and rivalries that shaped the Targaryen dynasty.

Aegon Targaryen commissions the Painted Table, a detailed model of Westeros, revealing his conquest was years in the planning.

Jaehaerys and Alysanne secretly wed on Dragonstone, defying their family's plans and the wishes of their regents.

Rogar Baratheon arrives with knights to annul the secret royal marriage, but the Kingsguard refuses to lay hands on the king.

Alysanne Targaryen travels Westeros holding women's courts, giving smallfolk women access to justice and protecting widows' rights.

Jaehaerys's heir Baelon dies unexpectedly, leaving the succession dangerously uncertain and forcing a great council to decide the crown's future.

Daemon Targaryen crowns himself King of the Stepstones without permission, and Viserys I forgives him and welcomes him home.

Viserys I banishes Daemon from court after confronting him about rumors that Daemon seduced the princess Rhaenyra.

Harwin Strong and his father Lyonel both die in a suspicious fire at Harrenhal, removing a threat to the Greens.

Viserys I nearly dies from cuts on the Iron Throne, then forces Alicent and Rhaenyra into a public but false reconciliation.

Daemon's hired assassins kill Helaena's son Jaehaerys as direct revenge for the death of Rhaenyra's son Lucerys.

Dragonseeds Hard Hugh and Ulf the White betray Rhaenyra's forces and defect to the Greens at the Battle of Tumbleton.

Daemon and Aemond kill each other in a dragon battle over Harrenhal, a loss neither faction learns of immediately.

Baela and Rhaena present young Daenaera Velaryon at the royal bride-show, thwarting Unwin Peake's plan to install his own daughter as queen.

Alyn Oakenfist returns to Westeros with Viserys II, long believed dead, giving Aegon III an unexpected heir and reason to hope.

Unwin Peake's plot to control the king collapses when his co-conspirators lose the will to defy Aegon III and Viserys II.

These events mark the moments where unexpected choices, buried secrets, and startling discoveries changed the course of Targaryen history. From Jaehaerys and Alysanne's defiant secret marriage to the explosive betrayals of the Dance of the Dragons, personal decisions repeatedly outweighed political calculation. Key revelations — such as the return of a prince thought dead for years and the unmasking of a regent's scheme to seize control — show that survival often depended on what rulers failed to anticipate. Conspiracies, acts of revenge, and hard-won reconciliations punctuate every reign, demonstrating that power is as much about information and timing as it is about dragons and swords. The pool ends with Aegon III finally wresting control of his own reign after years of manipulation by those around him.

The hidden decisions and shocking revelations that redirected the fate of Westeros.