House of the Dragon family tree
Three generations, one contested succession, and a war that killed almost every dragon in the world. Here is who is related to whom, and why it mattered.
The House of the Dragon family tree
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Where the war actually starts
Not with Rhaenyra. It starts in 92 AC, when Prince Aemon died on Tarth and Jaehaerys had to choose a new heir. He passed over Aemon’s daughter Rhaenys in favour of his second son Baelon. Nine years later the Great Council of 101 AC did the same thing again, choosing Baelon’s son Viserys over Rhaenys and her son Laenor.
Twice the realm had ruled that the Iron Throne does not pass through a woman. Then in 105 AC Viserys named his daughter Rhaenyra his heir, and then had four children by a second wife and never chose between the two claims. He died in 129 AC leaving both sides certain they were right.
Rhaenys is called the Queen Who Never Was for a reason. She is the precedent that destroyed her own family.
The principals
Twelve people whose relationships explain almost the entire series.
- Viserys I Chosen king at the Great Council of 101 AC. He named his daughter Rhaenyra his heir, then fathered sons by a second wife and never resolved which claim stood.
- Rhaenyra I Black Named heir by her father in 105 AC and crowned on Dragonstone in 129 AC. The maesters of the Citadel do not count her among the seventeen kings, which is itself part of the argument.
- Daemon Targaryen Black Brother to Viserys I, wielder of Dark Sister and rider of Caraxes. He married three times, the last to his own niece, and every Targaryen king after the Dance descends from that marriage.
- Alicent Hightower Green Daughter of Ser Otto Hightower and second wife of Viserys I. She put her son Aegon on the throne and led the Greens through the Dance.
- Aegon II Green Crowned in the Dragonpit within days of his father’s death, ahead of his older half-sister. He won the war and did not survive the peace.
- Aemond Targaryen Green Lost an eye to his nephew as a boy and claimed Vhagar the same night. Killing Lucerys over Shipbreaker Bay turned a succession dispute into open war.
- Helaena Targaryen Green Sister and wife to Aegon II, and by all accounts the gentlest of Alicent’s children. She was made to choose which of her sons would die.
- Rhaenys Targaryen Black the Queen Who Never Was, 74 to 129 AC Passed over twice: once when her uncle Baelon was named heir, and again at the Great Council of 101 AC when the lords chose Viserys. She rode Meleys, the Red Queen.
- Corlys Velaryon Black Nine great voyages made him the richest man in Westeros and gave House Velaryon the largest fleet in the world. He served Rhaenyra as Hand and Aegon III as Lord Regent.
- Laenor Velaryon Black Rhaenyra’s first husband and rider of Seasmoke. The marriage was political on both sides and he loved men.
- Laena Velaryon Black Claimed Vhagar, the largest living dragon, before she was twelve. Second wife of Daemon and mother of Baela and Rhaena.
- Daeron Targaryen Green son of Viserys I, 114 to 130 AC The youngest and best liked of Alicent’s sons, fostered at Oldtown. He rode Tessarion, the Blue Queen.
The Strong boys
Jacaerys, Lucerys and Joffrey are drawn on this chart as sons of Rhaenyra and Laenor with a dashed line, because that is the honest state of the evidence.
- What canon says. They were legally Laenor Velaryon’s sons and were never formally declared otherwise.
- What everyone at court saw. Brown hair, brown eyes, pug noses. Both their parents of record were silver haired and purple eyed.
- What it cost. Vaemond Velaryon said it out loud and lost his head. Aemond called them Strongs at dinner and lost an eye a few years earlier for less.
- Why it never got proved. Ser Harwin Strong and his father burned to death at Harrenhal in 120 AC, and Larys the Clubfoot inherited.
The generation that inherited the wreckage
Six of these eight were dead before they turned twenty. The two who lived carried the dynasty another one hundred and fifty years.
- Jacaerys Velaryon Black Rhaenyra’s eldest and her heir. He flew north to win Winterfell and the Vale to his mother’s cause.
- Lucerys Velaryon Black Sent to Storm’s End to treat with Lord Baratheon, where he found Aemond had arrived first.
- Joffrey Velaryon Black Rhaenyra’s third son. He tried to reach the Dragonpit to save the dragons during the riots.
- Baela Targaryen Black Fought Aegon II and Sunfyre over Dragonstone on the smallest ridden dragon of the war, and lived. She refused the husband the regents picked for her.
- Rhaena Targaryen Black daughter of Daemon, born 116 AC Baela’s twin. She hatched Morning, one of the last four dragons in the world.
- Aegon III Black Watched his mother eaten by a dragon at ten and never flew again. The last dragon died in his reign, in 153 AC.
- Viserys II Black Hand of the King to three kings before ruling for barely a year. Every Targaryen after him, Daenerys and Jon Snow included, descends from this man.
- Jaehaera Targaryen Green Jaehaerys’s twin, and the peace of the realm made flesh: she was married to Aegon III to bind Green to Black.
House of the Dragon family tree questions
How many years before Game of Thrones is House of the Dragon?
About 172 years. House of the Dragon opens at the Great Council of 101 AC and the Dance of the Dragons runs from 129 to 131 AC. Game of Thrones begins in 298 AC.
Who is the father of Rhaenyra’s first three sons?
Legally Laenor Velaryon. Almost certainly Ser Harwin Strong. Jacaerys, Lucerys and Joffrey were all brown haired and brown eyed, while Rhaenyra and Laenor were silver haired and purple eyed, and no one at court failed to notice.
Who are the Greens and who are the Blacks?
The Greens backed Aegon II and were led by Alicent Hightower and her father Otto. The Blacks backed Rhaenyra and were led by Daemon Targaryen and House Velaryon. The names come from the colours the two women wore to a tourney.
How are Viserys and Daemon Targaryen related?
They are brothers, both sons of Baelon the Brave and his sister-wife Alyssa. Viserys was born in 77 AC and Daemon in 81 AC.
How is Daemon related to Rhaenyra?
He is her paternal uncle, the younger brother of her father Viserys I. They married in 120 AC, which made him her uncle and her husband at once.
Why did Viserys name Rhaenyra his heir?
His first wife Aemma died in childbed in 105 AC and the son died with her. Rather than name his brother Daemon, whom he did not trust, Viserys named his daughter and made the lords swear to her.
Who is Alicent Hightower?
The daughter of Ser Otto Hightower and second wife of Viserys I. She bore Aegon II, Helaena, Aemond and Daeron, and led the Green faction that put her son on the throne ahead of Rhaenyra.
Who rules after Aegon II dies?
Aegon III, son of Rhaenyra and Daemon, who took the throne in 131 AC aged eleven and married Aegon II’s daughter Jaehaera to bind the two sides together.
Is the House of the Dragon family tree accurate to the book?
Mostly, with real changes. In the book Alicent is nine years older than Rhaenyra and never her friend, Laenor is murdered rather than escaping, Laena dies of childbed fever rather than dragonfire, and Aegon II has a third son named Maelor.