Targaryen kings in order
Seventeen crowned kings across two hundred and eighty three years, plus the one queen the maesters refuse to number. Sort the table however you like.
Summary
- Crowned kings
- 17
- Years on the throne
- 283
- Longest reign
- 55
- Shortest reign
- 1
Aegon I to Aerys II
1 AC to 283 AC
Jaehaerys I, the Conciliator
Viserys II, poisoned or unlucky
Every reign, sortable
Click a column heading to reorder. Reign length exposes the pattern quickly: the dynasty was at its steadiest under long reigns and tore itself apart during short ones.
| How the reign ended | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Aegon I the Conqueror | 1 to 37 AC | 36 | Balerion | Died of a stroke at the Painted Table on Dragonstone, 37 AC. |
| 2 | Aenys I | 37 to 42 AC | 5 | Quicksilver | Died of a belly flux on Dragonstone, 42 AC. Poisoning by his stepmother Visenya was suspected but never proved. |
| 3 | Maegor I the Cruel | 42 to 48 AC | 6 | Balerion | Found dead upon the Iron Throne in 48 AC, wrists opened and a barb through his neck. Suicide or murder is still argued. |
| 4 | Jaehaerys I the Conciliator | 48 to 103 AC | 55 | Vermithor | Died of old age in 103 AC, aged sixty nine. |
| 5 | Viserys I the Peaceful | 103 to 129 AC | 26 | Balerion | Died in his sleep in the third moon of 129 AC. |
| - | Rhaenyra I the Realm’s Delight claim disputed | 129 to 130 AC | 1 | Syrax | Fed to Sunfyre on Dragonstone on the twenty second day of the tenth moon, 130 AC, in front of her son Aegon III. |
| 7 | Aegon II the Elder | 129 to 131 AC | 2 | Sunfyre | Poisoned in his litter in King’s Landing in 131 AC, aged twenty four, almost certainly by his own lords. |
| 8 | Aegon III the Dragonbane | 131 to 157 AC | 26 | Stormcloud | Died of consumption in 157 AC, aged thirty six. |
| 9 | Daeron I the Young Dragon | 157 to 161 AC | 4 | none | Killed in Dorne in 161 AC, aged eighteen, at a parley under a peace banner. |
| 10 | Baelor I the Blessed | 161 to 171 AC | 10 | none | Starved to death on the forty first day of a fast, 171 AC. |
| 11 | Viserys II | 171 to 172 AC | 1 | none | Died of a sudden illness in 172 AC. His son Aegon IV was suspected of poisoning him. |
| 12 | Aegon IV the Unworthy | 172 to 184 AC | 12 | none | Died in 184 AC, so obese he could not leave his bed. |
| 13 | Daeron II the Good | 184 to 209 AC | 25 | none | Died of the Great Spring Sickness in 209 AC, along with two grandsons. |
| 14 | Aerys I | 209 to 221 AC | 12 | none | Died of natural causes in 221 AC. |
| 15 | Maekar I the Anvil | 221 to 233 AC | 12 | none | Killed at Starpike in 233 AC during the Peake Uprising. |
| 16 | Aegon V the Unlikely | 233 to 259 AC | 26 | none | Died in the fire at Summerhall in 259 AC, trying to wake dragons from stone. |
| 17 | Jaehaerys II | 259 to 262 AC | 3 | none | Died of a sudden illness in 262 AC, aged thirty seven. |
| 18 | Aerys II the Mad King | 262 to 283 AC | 21 | none | Throat cut by Ser Jaime Lannister of his own Kingsguard during the Sack of King’s Landing, 283 AC. |
The Citadel counts seventeen Targaryen kings and does not number Rhaenyra among them. She held King’s Landing for roughly six months in 130 AC, so she is listed here with her claim marked as disputed rather than quietly dropped.
What the list shows once you sort it
Four kings died violently at the hands of their own people or their own guards: Maegor on the Iron Throne, Daeron I under a peace banner in Dorne, Aegon II by poison from his own lords, and Aerys II by his own Kingsguard. Two more, Baelor and Viserys II, died in ways their heirs found suspiciously convenient.
The two longest reigns, Jaehaerys I at fifty five years and Daeron II at twenty five, are also the two the maesters rate most highly. Neither man fought a war of conquest. Jaehaerys built roads and wrote laws; Daeron married Dorne into the realm rather than burning it.
And the succession itself never settled. Two Great Councils, one civil war, five Blackfyre rebellions and a final rebellion that ended the dynasty all came down to the same unresolved question: whether the throne can pass through a woman. The realm answered no in 101 AC, Viserys I answered yes in 105 AC, and nobody ever reconciled the two.
Questions about the Targaryen kings
How many Targaryen kings were there?
Seventeen crowned kings ruled from the Iron Throne, from Aegon I in 1 AC to Aerys II in 283 AC. Rhaenyra is not counted among them by the maesters, although she held King’s Landing for about six months.
Who was the first Targaryen king?
Aegon I Targaryen, the Conqueror, crowned at Oldtown in 1 AC by the High Septon after taking six of the seven kingdoms.
Who was the last Targaryen king?
Aerys II Targaryen, the Mad King, killed by Ser Jaime Lannister in 283 AC during the Sack of King’s Landing.
Who was the longest reigning Targaryen king?
Jaehaerys I, the Conciliator, who ruled for fifty five years from 48 to 103 AC. His reign is generally treated as the high point of the dynasty.
Who had the shortest reign?
Viserys II, who ruled for roughly one year from 171 to 172 AC before dying of a sudden illness. His son Aegon IV was suspected of poisoning him.
Was Rhaenyra a queen?
It depends who you ask, which is exactly what the Dance of the Dragons was about. She was crowned on Dragonstone and held the capital for about six months in 130 AC, but the Citadel does not number her among the monarchs.
Why are there so many kings named Aegon?
Naming a son Aegon invoked the Conqueror. Five Targaryens ruled as King Aegon, and several more carried the name without reaching the throne, which is the single biggest source of confusion in this family tree.
How long did the Targaryens rule Westeros?
Two hundred and eighty three years, from Aegon’s coronation in 1 AC to the death of Aerys II in 283 AC.