Why the Targaryens married their own
It was not a habit or a scandal. It was policy, inherited from Valyria, defended against the Faith, and maintained for nearly three hundred years because they believed it was what let them ride dragons.
The reason, stated plainly
House Targaryen were dragonlords of the Valyrian Freehold, and in Valyria the dragonlord families wed within themselves. The stated purpose was to keep the blood of the dragon pure, because they believed the bond with dragons travelled in the blood and would thin if it were diluted. When the Doom destroyed Valyria in 102 BC, the Targaryens were the only dragonlord family left, and they kept the custom that had defined the rest.
The Faith of the Seven calls this abomination, and said so loudly. The Faith Militant uprising from 41 to 48 AC was fought over exactly this. Maegor the Cruel broke the Faith by force; Jaehaerys I then settled it with the Doctrine of Exceptionalism, an agreement that the Targaryens alone were permitted Valyrian custom. Which is to say the family did not win the argument. It won the war and then negotiated an exemption.
The cost is in the tree. Roughly half of Targaryen pregnancies ended in stillbirth or deformity. Maegor’s six marriages produced three monstrous stillbirths and no heir. Aerion drank wildfire. Aerys II burned people alive. The house saying is that every time a Targaryen is born, the gods toss a coin.
Every close marriage in the tree
18 marriages between blood relatives, in chronological order. These are the red connectors on the interactive chart.
- brother and sister
- brother and sister
- brother and sister
- brother and sister
- brother and sister
- brother and sister
- cousins
- uncle and niece 47 AC
- brother and sister 41 AC
- brother and sister 49 AC
- brother and sister
- uncle and niece 120 AC
- brother and sister 122 AC
- cousins 131 AC
- brother and sister 153 AC
- brother and sister 160 AC
- brother and sister 240 AC
- brother and sister
This counts only the marriages recorded in this chart. The full histories add several more first cousin matches, and Maegor the Cruel married six times in total, three of them to women taken by force and remembered as the Black Brides.
Where the policy finally broke
Aerys II and Rhaella were the last Targaryen siblings to marry, in 246 AC, and it was not really their decision. Their father Jaehaerys II arranged it on the strength of a prophecy that the prince that was promised would come from their line. Rhaella bore at least nine children. Three lived.
The generation after them married out entirely. Rhaegar wed Elia Martell of Dorne, and whatever happened at the Tower of Joy involved a Stark. By then the dragons had been gone for a hundred and thirty years, and so had the only argument that had ever justified any of it.
Questions about Targaryen marriages
Why did the Targaryens marry their siblings?
They were Valyrian dragonlords. In the Freehold, dragonlord families wed brother to sister to keep the bloodline pure and preserve the bond with dragons that they believed the blood carried. The Targaryens kept the custom after Valyria fell.
Did Targaryen inbreeding cause madness?
In world, that is the accepted explanation. The saying is that every time a Targaryen is born the gods toss a coin. Roughly half of Targaryen marriages produced stillbirths, deformities or instability, and Aerys II is the case everyone points to.
How many Targaryens married their siblings?
At least ten sibling marriages are recorded across the dynasty, plus several uncle and niece matches and a number of first cousin marriages. Aegon the Conqueror married both of his sisters at once.
Did Aegon the Conqueror marry both of his sisters?
Yes. He wed Visenya, the elder, for the dynasty, and Rhaenys, the younger, because he wanted to. All three rode dragons and all three took part in the Conquest.
How was this allowed under the Faith of the Seven?
It was not, at first. The practice triggered the Faith Militant uprising from 41 to 48 AC. Jaehaerys I settled it around 48 AC with the Doctrine of Exceptionalism, an agreement that Targaryens alone could keep Valyrian custom.
Was Daenerys the child of a brother and sister?
Yes. Aerys II and Rhaella were brother and sister, married in 246 AC by their father Jaehaerys II on the strength of a prophecy. Daenerys, Rhaegar and Viserys are all children of that marriage.
Was Jon and Daenerys’s relationship incest?
Yes, by any ordinary reckoning: she is his aunt. It is also a deliberate echo of Daemon and Rhaenyra, an uncle and niece, one hundred and seventy years earlier.