Explained · A Song of Ice and Fire
How does the Targaryen family tree fit together?
Three centuries of dragon-riding kings, a family that married itself, and a line that ends in the show with an aunt and a nephew.
Spoilers for Game of Thrones, House of the Dragon and the histories in Fire & Blood and The World of Ice & Fire.
The short answer
The Targaryens came to Westeros from Valyria by way of Dragonstone. Aegon I won six of the Seven Kingdoms with Visenya and Rhaenys, the two sisters he had married, and seventeen Targaryen kings followed on the Iron Throne until Aerys II lost it in Robert's Rebellion. Aerys's children were Rhaegar, Viserys and Daenerys, and in Game of Thrones Rhaegar's son Jon Snow makes Daenerys an aunt to the last male Targaryen.
In one place
- Founder of the line in Westeros
- Aegon I, the Conqueror
- Seat before the Conquest
- Dragonstone
- Came to Dragonstone
- About a century before the Conquest
- Targaryen kings on the throne
- 17, from Aegon I to Aerys II
- Aegon I's queens
- His sisters Visenya and Rhaenys
- Marriage custom
- Valyrian: siblings, cousins, uncles and nieces
- Last Targaryen king
- Aerys II, reigned 262 to 283 AC
- How the dynasty fell
- Robert's Rebellion, 282 to 283 AC
- Children of Aerys II
- Rhaegar, Viserys and Daenerys
Where does the family come from?
The Targaryens were one of the dragon-riding families of Valyria, the old empire across the sea, and they had moved to the island of Dragonstone about a century before they invaded the mainland. That move is what saved them: when Valyria was destroyed, the Targaryens were already far away, and they and their dragons came through the catastrophe that ended the old empire.
From Dragonstone, Aegon I crossed to the mainland, Visenya and Rhaenys beside him, and took six of the seven kingdoms. The calendar the realm still uses counts its years from that conquest, which is why the reigns in the table below are given in AC. Everything in the family tree after Aegon descends from that one invasion and the two sister-wives who rode beside him.
Why did the Targaryens marry within the family?
Because their Valyrian ancestors did, and because they believed it kept the blood of the dragon pure. The custom covered brother and sister, cousins, and uncle and niece alike, and the first king set the pattern by marrying both of his sisters. In a land whose own lords did not marry that way, it marked the ruling family as something apart, which was arguably part of the point.
The cost shows in the tree itself. A family that marries inward has fewer branches and more knots, so a single disputed succession can split it into factions who are all close relatives, which is exactly what happens in the civil war that follows the death of Viserys I. And the reputation for instability that clings to the line, culminating in the king remembered as the Mad King, is one that later characters read back into the whole of the family's history.
How does the line split during the Dance of the Dragons?
Viserys I had a daughter, Rhaenyra, by his first wife, Aemma Arryn, and he named her his heir, which no king had done for a daughter before. After Aemma's death he married Alicent Hightower and had sons by her, among them Aegon. When Viserys died, both of his children claimed the throne, and the family's habit of marrying within itself meant that both sides of the war were led by siblings, uncles and cousins of one another.
The war ended with both claimants dead and the crown passing to Rhaenyra's son by Daemon Targaryen, who reigned as Aegon III. In the tree, that makes the Dance a branch that rejoins the trunk at once: Aegon II's claim dies with him, and the crown passes to Rhaenyra's son, the child of both halves of the Targaryen quarrel. The Dance of the Dragons has its own page with the war in more detail.
How does the tree end, in the books and in the show?
The last Targaryen king was Aerys II, who lost the throne to Robert Baratheon's rebellion. His children by Queen Rhaella are where both the books and the show pick up the story: Rhaegar, his heir; Viserys; and Daenerys, who becomes one of the central characters of the series. By the time the novels open, the throne has been lost for years and the surviving children of the old king are claimants without a kingdom.
The show complicates that belief. In Game of Thrones Rhaegar had a son by Lyanna Stark, born Aegon Targaryen and raised as Jon Snow, which makes Daenerys his aunt and gives him the stronger claim by the old rules of succession. The published novels have not confirmed that parentage, so in print the tree still ends with Daenerys, while on screen it ends with an aunt and a nephew who meet as allies before either knows.
Key Targaryens, from the Conquest to the show
| Member | Parents | Reign (AC) | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aegon I | Not covered here | 1 to 37 | The Conqueror; wed both of his sisters |
| Aenys I | Aegon I and Rhaenys | 37 to 42 | Aegon's elder son and first heir |
| Maegor I | Aegon I and Visenya | 42 to 48 | Took the throne after his half-brother |
| Jaehaerys I | Aenys I and Alyssa Velaryon | 48 to 103 | The longest reign of the dynasty |
| Viserys I | Not covered here | 103 to 129 | His succession led to the Dance of the Dragons |
| Rhaenyra | Viserys I and Aemma Arryn | Claimant, 129 to 131 | Named heir by her father; leader of the Blacks |
| Aegon II | Viserys I and Alicent Hightower | 129 to 131 | Rhaenyra's half-brother; leader of the Greens |
| Aegon III | Rhaenyra and Daemon Targaryen | 131 to 157 | Crowned when the Dance ended |
| Aegon V | Maekar I | 233 to 259 | Egg, the squire of the Dunk and Egg stories |
| Aerys II | Jaehaerys II and Shaera | 262 to 283 | The last Targaryen king |
| Rhaegar | Aerys II and Rhaella | Did not reign | Son of Aerys II; father of Jon in the show |
| Viserys | Aerys II and Rhaella | Did not reign | Daenerys's elder brother |
| Daenerys | Aerys II and Rhaella | Did not reign | Last of Aerys's children |
| Jon Snow (show) | Rhaegar and Lyanna Stark | Did not reign | Born Aegon Targaryen |
Questions people also ask
Why did House Targaryen marry within the family?
House Targaryen kept the custom of Valyria, where the dragonlords married siblings, cousins and close kin, believing it kept the blood of the dragon pure; the first king, Aegon I, married both of his sisters.
Who founded the House Targaryen dynasty in Westeros?
Aegon I, called the Conqueror, who sailed from Dragonstone with Visenya and Rhaenys, his sisters and his wives, took the mainland and reigned from 1 to 37 AC.
How is Daenerys Targaryen related to Jon Snow in Game of Thrones?
In Game of Thrones Daenerys is Jon Snow's aunt: her brother Rhaegar Targaryen was Jon's father, which the show confirms in the final episode of its seventh season.
Sources, last checked 21 October 2026
- The World of Ice & Fire, by George R. R. Martin, Elio M. García Jr. and Linda Antonsson (Bantam Books, 2014): cited for facts only; nothing reproduced. Located and checked via A Wiki of Ice and Fire, Great house, revision 329543; A Wiki of Ice and Fire, House Targaryen, revision 352777; A Wiki of Ice and Fire, King of the Andals, the Rhoynar, and the First Men, revision 328251; A Wiki of Ice and Fire, Iron Throne, revision 350272; A Wiki of Ice and Fire, Doom of Valyria, revision 353086; A Wiki of Ice and Fire, Aegon's Conquest, revision 352180; A Wiki of Ice and Fire, Torrhen Stark, revision 347742; A Wiki of Ice and Fire, Field of Fire, revision 350143; A Wiki of Ice and Fire, Robert's Rebellion, revision 347183; Wikipedia, World of A Song of Ice and Fire, revision 1379358001; Wikipedia, Iron Throne (A Song of Ice and Fire), revision 1368708928; Wikidata Q18786788.
- Aegon I Targaryen (Wikidata), Wikidata Q47616729: free to reuse (CC0).
- Aerys II Targaryen (Wikidata), Wikidata Q18920152: free to reuse (CC0).
- Rhaegar Targaryen (Wikidata), Wikidata Q20818052: free to reuse (CC0).
- Viserys Targaryen (Wikidata), Wikidata Q12902594: free to reuse (CC0).
- Daenerys Targaryen (Wikidata), Wikidata Q2708078: free to reuse (CC0).
- Fire & Blood, by George R. R. Martin (Bantam Books, 2018): cited for facts only; nothing reproduced. Located and checked via A Wiki of Ice and Fire, Dance of the Dragons, revision 352554; A Wiki of Ice and Fire, Rhaenyra Targaryen, revision 347592; A Wiki of Ice and Fire, House Targaryen, revision 352777; Wikipedia, Fire & Blood (novel), revision 1370967895; Wikipedia, A Son for a Son, revision 1375771230; Wikipedia, Rhaenyra Targaryen, revision 1380747696; Wikidata Q55611675.
- A Storm of Swords, by George R. R. Martin (George R. R. Martin, 2000): cited for facts only; nothing reproduced. Located and checked via Wikipedia, Jon Snow (character), revision 1378114497; Wikipedia, Jaime Lannister, revision 1381260590; Wikipedia, Tyrion Lannister, revision 1380451546; Wikipedia, Daenerys Targaryen, revision 1380455171; A Wiki of Ice and Fire, Night's King, revision 354651; Wikipedia, White Walker, revision 1378924650; Wikidata Q431927.
- Rhaenyra Targaryen (Wikidata), Wikidata Q55452801: free to reuse (CC0).
- Aegon II Targaryen (Wikidata), Wikidata Q55452778: free to reuse (CC0).
- Aegon III Targaryen (Wikidata), Wikidata Q55513155: free to reuse (CC0).
- Jon Snow (Wikidata), Wikidata Q3183235: free to reuse (CC0).
- Game of Thrones, season 7, episode 7 (HBO, 2017): cited for facts only; nothing reproduced. Located and checked via Wikipedia, The Dragon and the Wolf, revision 1373476546; Wikipedia, Jon Snow (character), revision 1378114497; Wikidata Q38067702.
- Aenys I Targaryen (Wikidata), Wikidata Q55548262: free to reuse (CC0).
- Maegor I Targaryen (Wikidata), Wikidata Q55548581: free to reuse (CC0).
- Jaehaerys I Targaryen (Wikidata), Wikidata Q55583339: free to reuse (CC0).
- Aegon V Targaryen (Wikidata), Wikidata Q23749763: free to reuse (CC0).
- A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, the collected Tales of Dunk and Egg, by George R. R. Martin (HarperVoyager, 2015): cited for facts only; nothing reproduced. Located and checked via Wikipedia, Tales of Dunk and Egg, revision 1370633835; Wikidata Q105967821; Wikidata Q2975594.
Drafted with AI assistance and checked against the sources listed above. See a mistake? Tell us in the Game of Thrones forum room.
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